The Mystery of the Rapture & the Feast of Trumpets | Rosh Hashanah | Jonathan Cahn Sermon

Summary of Jonathan Cahn Sermon (Rosh Hashanah / Feast of Trumpets)

The sermon argues that Rosh Hashanah is not simply a “New Year” celebration, but part of God’s autumn “holy times” connected to the seventh month (Tishrei)—a sacred season that builds toward major end-times themes. It emphasizes Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets) as a key point leading up to Yom Kippur.

---

1) Feast of Trumpets as Preparation and an End-Times Wake-Up Call

The speaker presents the shofar (trumpet) sounds as a command to:

• Prepare
• Repent
• Get right with God, because God’s people will “meet God.”

He also connects the feasts to prophetic “timing” patterns:

• Passover → Firstfruits → Shavuot/Pentecost → Trumpets (as a future climactic event)

Biblically, he frames trumpets as:

• Markers of time
• A wake-up call, including the idea of trumpets sounding in relation to the dead

He links trumpet themes to passages that include:

• Christ’s return, with angels carrying a great trumpet and the gathering of God’s elect
• Resurrection and transformation of believers
• The “mystery” of believers being changed “at the last trumpet”

The sermon frames the “rapture” not as date-setting, but primarily as the gathering of God’s people when God’s kingdom is established.

---

2) Critique of a 2025 “Feast of Trumpets” Rapture Date Theory

The sermon directly addresses internet claims that the rapture would occur on the Feast of Trumpets in 2025 (Sept. 23, 2025). It says the frenzy began with:

• An African pastor’s vision claiming Jesus would return/rapture on Sept. 23, 2025
• A constellation-based theory connected to Revelation 12 (the woman, the dragon, and the woman giving birth to the Messiah)

The speaker argues the theory is flawed on multiple grounds, including that:

• The Bible does not use constellations/astrology as a foundation for end-times events in the way claimed
• The alleged signs would only be visible to experts or astrology-oriented people, not as a clear universal biblical sign
• The Revelation 12 mapping is criticized as forcing details that don’t align cleanly (e.g., claims tied to star counts and symbolism of “Leo”)
• While he argues Revelation 12 imagery connects with Israel/Messiah themes, the constellation explanations are viewed as stretching and importing pagan symbolism
• The sermon claims the specific alignment was already said to have happened in 2017, with “nothing happened,” making anniversary-based “signs” unreliable

Overall conclusion: the outcome is described as “a lot of nothing,” and the fact that Christians are “rattled” is presented as evidence of weak grounding.

---

3) What the Bible Says About the Rapture (Without Asserting a Date)

After rejecting the 2025 date-setting narrative, the speaker outlines key rapture-related texts:

• Matthew 24: “one taken, the other left,” with gathering imagery tied to the coming of the Son of Man after tribulation
• 1 Thessalonians 4: the descent from heaven with a trumpet of God, resurrection of the dead in Messiah, and believers “caught up” to meet the Lord
• 2 Thessalonians 2: the “day of the Lord” will not come without prior developments—especially a falling away and the revelation of the man of sin/Antichrist—along with warnings not to be shaken by deception or certain-sounding claims

---

4) Timing Doctrines: Pre-Trib, Mid-Trib, Post-Trib

The sermon explains three major schools about when the rapture occurs relative to the tribulation (the “last 7 years” framework):

• Pre-trib: rapture at or just before the beginning of tribulation
• Mid-trib: rapture about the middle (around 3.5 years)
• Post-trib: rapture at the end, tied to Christ’s visible return and resurrection events

He then connects the Feast of Trumpets to a general end-times pattern (trumpet/sound → gathering → judgment → wake-up), while insisting that major prophetic developments and related events must precede the final climax.

The emphasis: watchfulness over calendars.

---

5) Application: Don’t Be Shaken—Be Ready Any Day

The practical message of the sermon includes:

• Don’t abandon biblical grounding for emotionally driven or unsupported “prophecies”
• Test claims by Scripture; emotions aren’t the authority
• Readiness matters more than date-setting

The speaker concludes that a person is effectively “one heartbeat away from eternity,” and that the Feast of Trumpets calls believers to:

• repent
• address unfinished business
• live in God’s will so they can meet the Lord at any moment.

---

Presenters / Contributors

• Jonathan Cahn — preacher/lecturer; main speaker