Under the Radar

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Feast of Trumpets
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 23:23-25

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at them to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

When I was growing up in St. Louis, Michigan, a loud whistle blew every weekday at 7:55am, 8am, noon and 5pm. It came from the Michigan Chemical Company who were letting their employees know what time it was. You could set your watch by it.

 

In fact, we did. My Dad worked at the Chemical and he would drop me off at school on his way to work. We left the house as the 8:00 am whistle was blowing.

 

If you’re like me, you probably never thought much about trumpets, or ram’s horn as they are often called in the Bible. For the most part, they’re under the radar; they kind of blend into the narrative. On the other hand, they appear in some very significant stories.

 

One such story takes place at Mount Sinai. The Lord told Moses to prepare the people to meet him outside of the camp. Here’s what happened next.

 

¹⁶ On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled. ¹⁹ As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply.               NLT   Exodus 19

 

Another story was when Israel was entering Canaan. Jericho was a walled town, and the gates were securely locked. But the Lord promised Joshua that he would give him the town. The Israelites were to march around the walls for six days. Then on the seventh, here’s what he said would happen next.

 

⁴ Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. ⁵ When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”        NLT   Joshua 6

 

Although not as dramatic as the previous stories, but certainly just as significant, the Feast of Trumpets also included trumpet blasts.

 

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.            NIV    Leviticus 23

 

Like the whistle from the Chemical plant, trumpet blasts were to get your attention and to make sure you were aware of something significant that was about to happen.

 

There’s one more trumpet blast that believers in Christ can look forward to. Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the resurrection of the body. Here is what he revealed to them… and to us.

 

⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  NIV 1 Corinthians 15

 

Wow! “In the twinkling of an eye” we will be transformed from perishable to imperishable. I bet that won’t happen under the radar.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

The Straight and Narrow

A Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Festival of Tabernacles

(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 23:33-44

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at them to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

During the summer of 1969, while I was washing dishes at a Jerry’s Restaurant in Morehead, Kentucky, a historic festival called Woodstock attracted between 450,000 - 500,000 young people. The organizers had planned on 50,000! Needless to say, they weren’t prepared for the crowds.

 

Despite heavy rain, traffic jams, and a lack of food and adequate sanitation, the festival went on. People camped out wherever they could. Many had tents, some had sleeping bags, others a blanket. But lots of people just laid out in the open air.

 

The Lord chose Israel to be his people. It started with the Lord’s covenant with Abraham and continued through his son Isaac, followed by his son Jacob. During a famine, Israel moved to Egypt only to be enslaved later. After 400 years the Lord freed them, but he needed to prepare them for the Promised Land.

 

This would present many new challenges for Israel. The Canaanites, who already lived there, worshipped pagan gods who they believed blessed their farming. On the other hand, the Israelites had never owned land, let alone farmed it. It would be a monumental change for Israel, filled with temptations to disobey the Lord.

 

That’s why at Mount Sinai, in addition to the Law, the Lord gave Moses festivals and sacred days for Israel to observe. These would give them a spiritual infrastructure, so to speak, that would help keep them on the straight and narrow with the Lord.

³³ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days.                         NIV

The Festival of Tabernacles was one of three pilgrimage festivals where every Jewish man was to travel to the tabernacle in order to be in the presence of the Lord. It was a seven-day festival that followed the fall harvest to give thanks for God’s provision. But it also served a third purpose.

 

Like the people who attended Woodstock, the Israelites who came to the Festival of Tabernacles were to live in temporary housing. Here’s why.

⁴² You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³ that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’”                                                                                           NKJV     

  

The tabernacle was the dwelling place of God providing Israel with the Lord’s presence as they wandered through the desert. A booth was a temporary shelter where Israelites would stay during the Festival of Tabernacles when they would be in the presence of God. Both words point to being in the presence of the Lord.

 

The world we live in is not so different from the world that Israel was about to enter. Today, there are still many gods to tempt us to disobey the Lord. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” 

 

The Lord provided the Festival of Tabernacles to help keep the people of Israel on the straight and narrow. We also need to find ways to keep on the straight and narrow; to live in the Lord’s presence.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

Muscle Memory

A Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Day of Atonement
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 16; Hebrews 10:1-14 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at them to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

I’ve always loved piano music and wished that I knew how to play. So, when I retired it seemed like a good time to take lessons. For me, the most difficult aspect of learning is playing one thing with your right hand and something totally different with your left hand. It’s very confusing.

 

To deal with that, my piano teacher occasionally talks about the importance of muscle memory. By that she means practicing something over and over until my fingers automatically know what to do. I think she just wants me to practice more. But it does seem to help.

 

When the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, he gave him instructions on building the tabernacle as well as instituting the sacrificial system. The tabernacle was the place where God would dwell among his people as they began their journey to the Promised Land. It also provided the place for sacrifices to be made.

 

Central to the sacrificial system was a means for the Israelites to atone for their sins. This was done through daily animal sacrifices. In addition, once a year the high priest was to enter the Most Holy Place, the innermost chamber in the tabernacle, to observe the Day of Atonement.

 

On that day, the priest made atonement for himself and all the people through multiple sacrifices which included a bull, a goat and two rams. Then he sprinkled their blood over the atonement cover, or lid, of the ark of the covenant. Which is where the Lord’s presence would dwell.

 

Although bloody, it was required by the law – “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”. All of this was done in an attempt to restore their relationship with the Lord. However, it only covered their sin, it didn’t actually take their sin away.

 

¹ The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. ⁴ For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.                        NLT   Hebrews 10

 

Then Christ came into the world changing everything.

 

¹¹ Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. ¹² But our High Priest (Jesus) offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.          NLT   Hebrews 10

 

Muscle memory was an important aspect of Israel’s sacrificial system. The daily sacrifices, as well as the Day of Atonement, were reminders not only of their sin, but of the holiness of God.

 

Just like the sacrificial animals had to be spotless, so did Jesus, the Lamb of God. He was without sin, and because of that he was able to take our sin upon himself. To do that he bore the consequences of our sin on the cross once and for all.

 

As a result, Jesus provided the perfect Day of Atonement making it possible for us to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com

 

 

 

More Than Meets the Eye

Series on Old Testament Festivals and Sacred Days – Festival of Weeks
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Leviticus 23:15-22; Acts 1:1-8; Acts 2:1-4 

[Many of the festivals and sacred days from the Old Testament don’t seem to be relevant for us today. In this series, we’re going to take a closer look at them to learn what the significance was for the people of Israel at the time. And to learn what the significance is for us today.]

  

“Five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, forty…

Here I come, ready or not!”

 

Does that sound familiar to you? Does it bring back childhood memories? When I was a kid, that’s how we started every game of Hide and Seek… by counting.

 

Just like we counted as kids, Israel was to count out 49 days, plus one, following the end of Passover week. On the fiftieth day, they were to celebrate the Festival of Weeks. It was a festival of thanksgiving to the Lord for their wheat harvest.

 

²¹ That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.                NLT   Leviticus 23

 

The book of Leviticus is basically a manual of regulations that Israel was given by the Lord through Moses while at Mount Sinai. The purpose of these regulations was to help Israel to live as the Lord’s holy people in the Promised Land. The Festival of Weeks was one of those regulations.

 

However, besides the immediate purpose of the Festival of Weeks, it was also a foreshadow of something even bigger. Following his resurrection, Jesus told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem where they would “be baptized with the Holy Spirit”. After his ascension, here’s what happened.

 

² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.      NIV    Acts 2

 

It happened during the Festival of Weeks which is one of the three major festivals where Jewish men are expected to celebrate by making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. As a result, the city was packed with devout Jews from all across the world.

 

But there’s more than meets the eye happening here. Peter boldly stood and spoke to the skeptical crowd about Jesus. As a result, about three thousand believed in him as the Messiah. Just like the Festival of Weeks was originally instituted to give thanks for the wheat harvest, now there was a new harvest – a spiritual harvest.

 

Also, over the years the Festival of Weeks became known as Pentecost, which is Greek for the number 50. Providentially, Jesus was crucified and buried 50 days prior to Pentecost. It was the birth of the Christian church, and the beginning of the harvest.

 

During his last days on earth, Jesus made a promise to his disciples.

 

⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”            NIV    Acts 1

 

Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit and being his witness is still true for us today. We may not have the physical manifestations of the Spirit, but he is at work in and through our lives to continue the harvest.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

Feel free to share this blog with others.

www.lifelinebasketball.blogspot.com