The Bible is the greatest book of prophecy ever written. This amazing book has a flawless track record of predictions spanning thousands of years. It predicted events that are taking place right now, for anyone to see. Admittedly, there are some prophecies that are difficult to discern, but many others are so straightforward that a child can understand them. Many have already come to pass. Others are yet to be fulfilled.
Some prophecies are found where you might never suspect... such as hidden within the seven biblical Festivals and Holy Days. These are the same Days and Festivals observed by Jesus, His Apostles, and the Church of God from the first century until now.
This is the third in a series on the biblical Holy Days. On today’s program, I’ll be offering you a brand new DVD of all three programs, plus an introductory program by Mr. Richard Ames that asks why professing Christians observe days steeped in heathen practices. This initial airing marks the first time this DVD is being offered and it's free of charge. Be sure to have writing material available to jot down contact information to receive your copy of Why Biblical Holy Days Are Important.
You may be shocked to learn what the biblical Holy Days predict for your future and that of your loved ones. They prophesy shocking events soon to be fulfilled and you may very well live to see them. If you want to know the future, don’t go away!
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Welcome again to Tomorrow’s World where on today’s program we will explore the last four biblical Festivals and Holy Days and see what they tell us about our future, for they portend dramatic events that will change our world forever!
The first three festivals (Passover, Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Pentecost) were prophetic in nature, but for the most part have already been fulfilled. The last four have yet to be fulfilled, and when they are, they will literally ROCK the world! Everyone will be affected. Most people will not understand what is happening, but you can understand!
These last four Biblical festivals are observed in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, equivalent to our September/October. The Feast of Trumpets is the first of them. The remarkable earthshaking events prophesied by the Feast of Trumpets will most likely begin within the lifetime of many of you watching this program. This Feast is first introduced to the children of Israel in Leviticus 23, verses 23 & 24:
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.’” [Leviticus 23:23-24]
As we saw in the previous two programs, these biblical festivals foreshadowed future events, but what could blowing trumpets possibly tell us about the future? We need not speculate, because the Bible interprets its own symbols. In the New Testament of the Bible, the sounding of trumpets point us to a one- year period of time called the Day of the Lord. This is a time when great cataclysmic disruptions take place leading up to and including the return of Jesus Christ to rule and bring harmony to this troubled planet. This is also the time when Christ’s servants will be resurrected from the dead. Notice the connection between a trumpet blast, Christ’s return, and the resurrection as found in 1 Thessalonians 4:16:
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
This same event is also referred to in Matthew 24:31:
And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
No discussion of Christ’s return and the resurrection of the dead would be complete without turning to 1 Corinthians 15, and here we learn that this trumpet blown at Christ’s second coming, is only the last of several trumpets. Verses 51 & 52:
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. [1 Corinthians 15:51-52]
The Feast is named, the Feast of TRUMPETS, plural. The above scriptures emphatically show us what happens at this last trumpet: Christ returns and those who are Christ’s are resurrected to eternal life. But how many trumpets are there and what significance can they possibly have for you and me? The book of Revelation reveals that there are SEVEN trumpets.
And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. [Revelation 8:2]
Each trumpet introduces dramatic events that will take place. We’ve already seen what happens when the seventh trumpet is blown—Christ returns and His followers are resurrected to eternal life, but what about the others? Time does not permit me to explain all of them, but let’s notice two. We read in Revelation 8, verses 8 and 9:
Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. [Revelation 8:8-9]
Bill Bryson’s book, A Short History of Nearly Everything, is a book about science. In it he reveals some important facts that can help us understand this second trumpet. Yellowstone National Park in the United States sits on a large dome of molten lava a short distance under the earth’s crust. There are numerous hot springs, geysers, and mud pots found throughout. Every scientist familiar with the park is well-aware that it has a volcanic origin, but for many years no one seemed to know, or for that matter even care, where the caldera was located.
A caldera is the crater left behind after a volcanic eruption. It is most often associated with the top of a cone-shaped volcanic mountain, such as Mt. Fuji in Japan; but in the case of Yellowstone, there isn’t a cone, and no one knew where the crater was located. This all changed when Bob Christiansen of the United States Geological Survey saw a photograph of the park from space. He immediately realized why no one recognized the caldera. It turns out that Yellowstone is a supervolcano and the entirety of the Park, stretching 40 miles across (approximately 65 kilometers) IS the caldera. It is so large that standing on the ground you don’t recognize it!
What scientists now know is that there have been volcanic explosions in the distant past infinitely greater than anything known in recent history. The second trumpet in the book of Revelation is likely describing such a supervolcano located near busy shipping lanes. Note it again:
...And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships destroyed. [Revelation 8:8-9]
As a point of interest, one-third of all ships pass through the highly concentrated shipping lanes of the South China Sea. And, this same region hosts some of the world’s largest and most explosive volcanoes.
The explosion of such a supervolcano will shake the earth, but the third trumpet is equally dramatic. We’ll read about that in a moment, but first, today’s offer. Why Biblical Holy Days Are Important, is a brand new DVD we’ve put together covering all three programs on the Biblical Festivals and Holy Days. It also contains an introduction to this series by Mr. Richard Ames, contrasting professing Christianity’s holidays. It will be sent to you free of charge. All you have to do is pick up the phone and ask for today’s DVD on the Holy Days. Do it today! And I’ll be right back to show you the catastrophic event to occur when the third trumpet sounds.
As we have seen, the Feast of Trumpets pictures seven trumpets to be blown at the end of the age. Each one introducing some dramatic event, culminating in the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of His faithful followers. Let’s now look at Revelation 8:10-11 to see what happens when the third trumpet is blown.
Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.
The word asteroid is Latin meaning star-like, and we often refer to meteors entering earth’s atmosphere as shooting stars. They appear like stars falling to the earth. In recent years, scientists have learned that there are a lot of objects floating in space crossing earth’s orbit. Some of these asteroids are large enough to do massive damage if they were to impact our planet. According to Bill Bryson:
Altogether it is thought—though it is really only a guess, based on extrapolating from cratering rates on the Moon—that some two thousand asteroids big enough to imperil civilized existence regularly cross our orbit. But even a small asteroid – the size of a house, say—could destroy a city. The number of these relative tiddlers in Earth-crossing orbits is almost certainly in the hundreds of thousands and possibly in the millions, and they are nearly impossible to track. [Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, page 194]
This third trumpet seems to indicate that a large object will strike the earth and affect about 1/3 of the world’s freshwater supply. Could that be in the Himalayas, the headwaters for Asia’s greatest rivers? The Great Lakes and Canada also contain massive amounts of freshwater.
The 5th and 6th Trumpets introduce a war of unimaginable proportions involving hundreds of millions and killing one-third of mankind. It was impossible when this was written to understand the kind of futuristic weapons that are described in Revelation, but these prophecies describe such mass destruction that all life could be destroyed. This is what Jesus predicted could happen except for His return. Here it is in Matthew 24:22.
Had not those days been cut short, not a soul would be saved alive; however, for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
That's from the Moffatt translation.
The Feast of Trumpets reveals that God WILL intervene to stop man’s madness. Revelation 11:15:
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"
The Biblical festivals and Holy Days were instituted to foreshadow future events. Passover predicted the coming of the Lamb of God to shed His blood for you and for me. Pentecost foreshadowed the coming of the Holy Spirit to write God’s law in our minds and on our hearts. The Feast of Trumpets pictures a time in the near future when catastrophes will strike the earth, and culminate in the return of Jesus Christ. You can have your own copy of these programs explaining these biblical festivals and how they show God’s plan of salvation for mankind. All you have to do is pick up the phone and ask for the free DVD, Why Biblical Holy Days Are Important. Or you can order it online at www.TomorrowsWorld.org. There are three Biblical Festivals that follow Trumpets and they give us the really good news. You’ll want to know what that good news is. I’ll be back in about 15 seconds to give it to you.
The next Holy Day is called the Day of Atonement, and it answers a lot of questions. How is it my friends, that we can send men to the moon, but can’t live harmoniously here on earth? Why can’t nations put down their swords and live with each other in peace? Why can’t husbands and wives get along? WHAT IS OUR PROBLEM?
The Day of Atonement gives us the answer. What happens on that day will literally change the way men think!
This special day, known by Jews as Yom Kippur, will follow closely on the heels of Christ’s return. Even with Christ ruling as King of kings and Lord of lords, the world could never live in peace unless a powerful spirit being is removed. As we have shown on other Tomorrow’s World programs, the god of this present world is none other than Satan the Devil. Ephesians 2:1-3 explain how he influences our world.
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Atonement is a contracted English word that means at-one-ment. In other words, it pictures how we can become one with God. Revelation 20 describes the removal of that spirit being who creates disharmony between man and God, and between man and fellow man. Notice verses 1-3.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. [Revelation 20:1-3]
That deceptive manipulator who influences us to live in disharmony will be taken out of the way and wars among individuals and nations will end for a thousand years.
Now we come to the sixth Biblical Festival. The Feast of Tabernacles foreshadows this thousand-year period of peace and harmony. It’s difficult for us to believe that the world can be at peace. History shows us that the world has never known peace, and conflicts between nations, neighbors, husbands and wives, and family members are commonplace.
Yet, the Feast of Tabernacles foreshadows a peaceful, harmonious world. It's the result of the return of Jesus Christ (pictured by the Feast of Trumpets) and the removal of Satan (pictured by the Day of Atonement). The Feast of Tabernacles assures us of a peaceful future for all. Note this portrait of that time as predicted in Isaiah 2:2-4.
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
Isaiah 11, verse 9 shows that the whole world will come to understand God’s righteous ways that bring about this condition:
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. [Isaiah 11:9]
When Christ returns He is not going to bring about harmony all by Himself. He'll give rewards of rulership to His servants who have, during this lifetime, learned to love God and love their neighbors. Jesus is even now training His followers to exercise a very different kind of leadership, as shown in Matthew 20:25-28:
...You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Those who truly learn that it is better to give than to receive are the ones spoken of in Revelation 20, verse 4:
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them... And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. [Revelation 20:4]
But what happens AFTER the thousand years? There is one final Biblical festival and it predicts one of the most amazing truths you could ever hope for. It answers so many questions. It gives wonderful encouraging news! And I’ll give that to you in a moment, but I want to remind you one more time of this specially prepared DVD, Why Biblical Holy Days Are Important. It contains Mr. Richard Ames’ message showing what is wrong with the holidays commonly thought of as Christian. And it has my three programs on these biblical Holy Days that Jesus and His Apostles kept. Why Biblical Holy Days Are Important can be yours free for the asking. So order your copy today, and I’ll be right back with wonderful news that, seriously, you don’t want to miss.
There is one last prophetic festival in God’s master plan, and it's called The Last Great Day. And what a great day it is! It looks forward to a time in the future when God will resurrect to life all those who never heard the true gospel message, or if they did, they were so deceived by Satan that they couldn’t understand it. This Feast foreshadows the time when billions of people will have their first real opportunity to choose God’s way.
Those who are Christ’s will be resurrected upon His return, but what about everyone else? Revelation 20, verse 5 gives the answer:
But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. [Revelation 20:5]
So what happens to these people? They are not Christ’s at His coming, but they come up in a resurrection at the end of the thousand years. Let’s continue in Revelation 20:11 and 12:
Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away... And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. [Revelation 20:11-12]
The books that are opened are the books of the Bible that have been closed to their understanding. Note also that the book of life is open, not closed. Jesus referred to this time of judgment on several occasions and one is found in Matthew 11:23-24:
And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.
God is fair! He's going to give all human beings a legitimate chance to choose His way! This resurrection is described in Ezekiel the 37th chapter and the valley of Dry Bones, where we read of a physical resurrection. Notice it in verses 7 and 8:
...and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them [Ezekiel 37:7-8]
Are these people who went to their graves thinking they were saved? Did they have God’s Spirit during this lifetime? Not at all! Notice beginning in verse 11:
They indeed say, "Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!" Therefore prophesy and say to them, "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live... Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD. [Ezekiel 37:11-14]
The Bible reveals that God first works with Israel, but He cares for everyone everywhere, both the small and the great.
There truly IS hope for your friends and relatives who are not saved at this time, but I need to emphasize this is not a second chance. It's a first chance for those who never heard of Christ, or who were so confused or deceived by false religion, even false Christianity, that they never understood God’s plan for them.
Be sure to request your free DVD Why Biblical Holy Days Are Important. And if you want to speak with a minister who can give you more understanding on this subject, or if you want to meet with others on these Holy Days, let us know and a minister in your area can contact you, but he will only do so if you clearly indicate this is something that you desire.
Be sure to come back every week when Richard Ames, Wallace Smith, guest presenter Rod McNair, and I will bring you more good news of Tomorrow’s World. Until then, may the peace and truth of Almighty God and Jesus Christ be with you.
