YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

We're all fascinated by a mystery. The Apostle Paul tells us about one in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52: "Listen, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye. For the trumpet will sound the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed" (NIV).

What is this mystery Paul is speaking of? It is the resurrection of the dead. When did he tell us this would happen? At the last trumpet. How many trumpets are there? Seven. A trumpet was blown on the first day of every month (Psalm 81:3). “The LORD said to Moses, say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present an offering made to the LORD by fire'" (Leviticus 23:24-25 NIV). Why were the people commanded to rest, blow trumpets, and have a sacred assembly - a worship service? Because it was the Feast of Trumpets which culminates in our ultimate hope - the resurrection from the dead.

A generation ago, icons meant little to us, but as a computer user, you're very familiar with icons. You know they are little pictures or images that stand for something. As you read the Bible, you'll notice icons in many places that are intended to evoke mental images. This is especially true in the Book of Revelation.

Revelation is a description of a vision seen by the Apostle John, and he tells us what he heard and saw. What he saw was symbolic, and it didn’t take place in real time any more than your dreams do. John saw a throne and the One sitting on it was none other than God Himself.

As in other dreams, John was crying his heart out because he saw a scroll and he thought no one was worthy to open the scroll and loose its seal. But an elder told John not to weep. "See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into al the earth" (Revelation 5: 5, 6 NIV).

Did you notice all the icons in that verse? The icon of Jesus Christ being the slain Lamb is well understood across all of Christianity. The Lamb proceeds to open the seven seals. "When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets" (Revelation 8:1-2 NIV). When the seventh trumpet is blown it is the moment of the resurrection of the dead at the end of the period the Bible calls "the Great Tribulation" and just before the period called "The Wrath of God" (Revelation 11:14-19).

As a young adult whose life looks most promising, have you secretly wished that Christ would delay His coming? After all, you'd like to get that degree, that coveted high-salary job, get married, and have a family. These are normal aspirations. But how do you reconcile your desire for not wanting to pray "Thy kingdom come”?

As Sodom and Gomorrah got so bad, God destroyed everyone except Lot and his family who got out of there. Our world is getting more dangerous, more corrupt by the day. In Revelation 9:13-16 the sixth angel sounded, “and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great River Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.”

Keep in mind this is a specific time of one year, one month, one day, and one hour when one-third of the earth's population will be slain! This may sound like science fiction, but when this happens, it will be much easier to pray "Thy kingdom come" and really mean it. This world will be on the brink of total destruction. There won't be a lot left to live for. Your only hope will be in Jesus Christ returning to this earth on a rescue mission to save this world from utter annihilation.

The Bible tells us that no man knows the day nor hour that Christ will return. When you put the Scriptures together, they seem to indicate that Christ will return on the Feast of Trumpets, but we have no idea which Feast of Trumpets. How will delving into the Bible mysteries in this seminar cause you to look at the Feast of Trumpets in a different way than before? What changes will you make in your life? Will you be prepared for that awesome day when Christ's feet stand on the Mount of Olives? The saints will meet Christ in the air and return to this earth with Him. Will you be one of the saints on the Mount of Olives? "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south" (Zechariah 14:4).