Feast of Trumpets
Prophet Elisee Yao / 18 Sep 2020
‘For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God’ (1 Thes 4:16, NKJV).
This Rosh Hashanah is a turning point announcing that things are changing. We serve a God of precision and time, and all is lining up for the return of the Messiah. The Jewish year 5781 is the year to widen your mouth in silence or the year of silence in the mouth.
Isaiah 53:7, New King James Version
He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
The Prophetic Implications of this Feast of Trumpets
1. A year of obedience and humility
Matthew 26:36-42, New King James Version
36Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go and pray over there.” 37A...and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed...39He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” 40Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”
There will be things God will require of you to do that will only be possible to accomplish through the strength of the Holy Spirit inside of you. Similar to Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane, our prayer needs to be 'not according to my will, but Yours Lord!' It is time to lay aside our own will and ways, and pick up the will and ways of God. It is a strategic year that will show the difference between the sheep and the goats.
Humility is an attitude of the heart. Genuine humility is to agree with the Word of God. Those who agree with God this year will do great exploits in His name because their obedience will lead them to the altar of sacrifice.
Remember Abraham. Obedience led him to the mountain of sacrifice. It’s the year of laying down our Isaacs. We need to lay down the Isaacs in our lives because we are preparing to meet the Messiah. Isaac is that thing that we love more than God Himself. Isaac was Abraham's promise; he was not an evil gift. But God had to test Abraham to see if he loved Isaac more than God. Many of us are willing to lay down the small things, but what if He askes you for your job, your business, your children or your spouse? There are things that we enjoy that have been given to us by God's grace, and God will ask you to lay these down for His namesake this year.
2. Many will be offended by the Ways of the Lord this year BUT those who wait patiently will have the victory
Isaiah 30:15, New King James Version
For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: “In returning [repentance] and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence [trust] shall be your strength.”
Many will be offended because they want God to do things their way, while God wants to do it another way. And the way He wants to do it might not suit us at all! Yet, in this time, your strength will originate from your silence. When you wait upon the Lord, and you trust God’s abilities more than your own abilities, you will create a legacy for yourself.
3. It’s the year of repentance and the searching of hearts
2 Chronicles 7:14, New International Version
If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
We have entered a time where we must constantly search our hearts. It must be a DAILY practice. How? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you the motives of your heart (why you do what you do). It’s a time to watch what we dwell on. Whatever we meditate (think a lot) on, we crystallize that reality in the spirit. Your success can be created before it is even transferred into the natural. The Bible instructs us to think about 'whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy...' (Phil 4:8, NIV). Why? Because by that meditation, you create a reality in which you enjoy the blessings of the Lord.
The opposie is also true: when you dwell on wicked thoughts, hell is transferred back to you. Fatalistic thinking is responsible for much of the chaos in our lives. Consider Job who said that 'the day I have thought about is coming upon me'. Job was thinking and worrying about losing everything before it happened, and Satan was attracted by those thoughts. The hedge of protection that God placed around Job was broken by the way he was thinking.
4. When you open your mouth wide in silence, God fills it
Psalm 81:10, New King James Version
I AM the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
This is a year of dependency on the Lord: Jehovah Jireh. Opening your mouth wide is a picture of hunger (like birds feeding their chicks). God will feed those who will live a life of submission, repentance, obedience and humility over this time with the revelation of His Word and the goodness of the land in the midst of worldly turmoil. Opening your mouth means that you know the provision is coming from somewhere (God), which also means that you should not be the one to actively seek out and make your own plans for provision. This is the time that God will feed you!
When Abraham was on top of the mountain, and Isaac asked where the lamb was, he said that 'God will provide'. So, on top of your mountain, God will meet and satisfy your needs. But the climb will not be easy. Lazy people are not willing to climb. Many stay in want because they remain at the foot of the mountain begging for the provision that is stored at the top! God is saying that the provision is already there, but you need to climb. If Abraham decided to set up his altar at the foot of the mountain, Isaac would have been dead. The very life of Isaac (Abraham's promise) was at the mercy of climbing that mountain. Just like your blessings are at the mercy of your consistency in the kingdom.
Keys for This Season
Intimacy, preparing your heart, humility, repentance, and agreement with God's Word.
There are laws in the spirit (e.g. prayer or sowing and reaping) and in the natural (e.g. gravity); breaking these can cause your downfall. You will make a success of the new beginning offered in this Rosh Hashanah if you apply these spiritual principles. God has finished the work, so everything you need for this life on earth is already downloaded inside of you. It’s the application of these spiritual laws that makes the difference between moving forward or stagnating in the spirit.