The Great Gathering

Both Ezra and Nehemiah kept the Feast of Trumpets and give us a picture of things to come… “When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem” (Ezra 3:1).

Eighty years later, Nehemiah records… “And when the seventh month had come, the children of Israel were in their cities. And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the Water Gate…” (Nehemiah 7:73-8:1).

This is the truth behind the Feast of Trumpets for everyone in Christ… “Now we appeal to you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus and by our ‘gathering together’ to Him…” (2 Thessalonians 2:1). The word for “gathering together” here means “a complete collection” – no one left behind. At the Rapture, not a single person who loves Christ on earth will be accidentally missed, forgotten, or overlooked. And Jesus is bringing those already in Heaven with Him when He descends…

“Those who sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him… for the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:14-18).

The opposite of gathering and unity is division. The division we’re witnessing in our world between darkness and light is preparation for Christ’s return. One day soon, Christ's trumpet voice will shatter the sound barrier, and gather us to His side forever. What a Day that will be!