sermon: Psalm 81 and the Feast of Trumpets

Looking Back to the Symbolism of the Spring Holy Days
John Plunkett
Given 23-Sep-06; Tape #794C; 74 minutes

Description: (show)

Topics: (show)

Listen Download

(To download, right-click on the icon for the format of your choice and select "Save target as...")

Four times in the book of Revelation, Jesus Christ tells us, "I am the Alpha and the Omega." And, if the spring holy days are the "Alpha" of God's sacred year, then these fall holy days must be the "Omega."

What I would like to do today is to conduct a Bible Study on this holy day afternoon. In the Bible study, I would like to examine what God has to say to spiritual Israel through Psalm 81.

Each year on the Feast of Trumpets, the Jewish people read Psalm 81. Some commentators believe that Psalm 81 was written specifically for the Feast of Trumpets.

As we go through Psalm 81 today, I want you to notice although God firmly roots us in the "Omega" of the fall holy days, He frequently points us back to the "Alpha" of the spring holy days.

Right at the beginning of Psalm 81, even before verse 1, we see this preface, "To the Chief Musician upon Gittith." This is what it says in the King James Version. Strong's says that the word, "Gittith," comes from the word, "Gittiy," which means, "a Gittite," or, "an inhabitant of Gath," which was a Philistine city. Both words, "Gittith," and "Gath," mean "a wine-press," "treading grapes," or "wine-fat." It is used in the preface of this psalm, as well as Psalm 8, and Psalm 84. This word is thought to refer to a musical instrument common to the Philistine city of Gath, in the same way, perhaps, as bagpipes are common to Scotland.

I am not sure what the connection is between a wine-press and musical instruments. Perhaps they looked alike, or perhaps their workings were similar. Or perhaps the authors of these three psalms were recommending that these particular psalms be sung to the accompaniment of the "Gittith" instrument.

The second thing that it says in the preface, "A Psalm of Asaph." What do we know about Asaph? We know that his name means "convener" or "collector." He may have been one of the men who collected all the Psalms together. We do know that he was a Levite, a son of a man named Berechiah, of whom we know little or nothing, and that Asaph was one of the leaders of God's choir in the temple. We know that twelve of the Psalms were attributed to Asaph, and we know that he was very skilled in music. There is a group of people called the "sons of Asaph," (mentioned in I Chronicles 25:1, II Chronicles 20:14 and Ezra 2:41) and perhaps they were his literal sons or his descendants, or perhaps they were musicians who accepted Asaph as their mentor.

So that is a little preface of the psalm, now let us get into the psalm proper. We will see that there is a lot of music mentioned in this psalm.

Psalm 81:1 Sing aloud to God our strength; make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.

This psalm begins with great power, and we are encouraged here to sing out loud to our great and powerful God; to joyfully shout out to Him. The Feast of Trumpets symbolizes the return of Jesus Christ and the beginning of the new world, the World Tomorrow, but it is also a commemoration of the original creation of this world.

Job describes this event, using some of the same words as Asaph:

Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.

The angels sang, they shouted for joy. As we approach the Feast of Tabernacles, I want to briefly examine the matter of hymn singing. Are we embarrassed, or ashamed to sing out loud to our great and wonderful God? Do we sometimes whisper or mumble the wonderful hymns that have been so lovingly written around the words of the psalms and other scriptures in order to help us to praise God? In these last few services that we have before the Feast of Tabernacles, let us practice singing out loud with power and strength so that, when we are together with 300 or more brethren at the Feast, we can raise the rafters!

Psalm 81:2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the lute.

In the first part of verse 2, we are told to, "Raise a song," to raise the volume of our voices, to lift up our voices to God—the God who dwells so much higher than we do. When we raise something, we lift it from a lower plane to a higher plane. And God is on a much higher plane than we are. Just how high is He?

Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Now that is high! Jesus Christ is not called the High Priest for nothing! Speaking of the highness of our High Priest, the author of Hebrews wrote:

Hebrews 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Jesus Christ is higher than the heavens.

Psalm 81:2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel, The pleasant harp with the psaltery.

Now to the second half of verse 2, "...and strike the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery."

In this verse, we go from the enthusiastic singing of psalms to God, to instrumental music. Here we see a band pictured, the smallest size being a trio—three types of musical instruments: Timbrel, harp and psaltery. Perhaps the temple ensembles were larger than just a little trio. Perhaps there were multiple sizes of timbrels, harps and psalteries, in the same way that today's orchestras have many different sizes of string, woodwind, brass and percussion instruments.

What were these instruments?

1. The word "timbrel" is translated from the Hebrew, "toph," and is thought to have been a kind of drum or tambourine.

2. The English word "harp" is translated from the Hebrew word, "kinnowr," which means to "twang." Perhaps it was like a harp or lyre. Or perhaps it was more like a guitar. How many of you oldies remember Duane Eddy from the late sixties, who was renowned for his twanging electric guitar sound? He had an album called "The Twang's the Thang."

3. Now the "psaltery" is an interesting one. The word is translated from the Hebrew word, "nebel," which can mean: Bottle, flagon, pitcher, vessel, jar, or bag, all of which can be made either from animal-skin or earthenware. Various scholars have thought the psaltery to be a harp, lute, guitar, or some other type of musical instrument. But to me, the derivation from bottles, flagons, pitchers, vessels or jars brings to mind instruments like those used in North American or British jug-bands, where the musician plays a tune by blowing into the necks of bottles or jars. Some of you will remember the jug-band hit, "In the Summertime," from the early seventies.

Another possibility, from the idea of the "animal-skin bag," is that this word refers to a kind of bag-pipe, similar to those popular in Scotland and Ireland. I remember from my early years in the church that this was the common interpretation of the word "psaltery."

Psalm 81:3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed [New King James Version, at the full moon on our solemn feast day.]

Here is our fourth musical instrument. The trumpet has been added in separately. Here, at last, we see the direct relationship with Psalm 81, and the Feast of Trumpets. The well-known Hebrew word used here is, "shofar," which was a wind instrument made from the horn of a ram.

Although our modern perception of the shofar of Bible times might be one of a simple, limited, one-note instrument, Strong says that this word comes from another similar word, "shafar," through "the original sense of incising," writes Strong's. I am not totally sure of what he is getting at by this. To incise means to cut into, to carve, or to engrave, score, notch, slit open, score, and chisel. Perhaps the shofars were ornately carved. Or perhaps holes or notches were chiseled into them so that multiple notes were possible, similar to our modern woodwind instruments. Incising, to cut into, to cut through—perhaps Strong's is referring to the shofar's sound, as it cuts through the air.

I have a sound clip of the shofar for you to hear.

It certainly does cut through the air. I think that sound could cut through hardened steel! It is an uncomfortable sound for anybody to listen to. As a military trumpet, the sound of the shofar could be heard over long distances, and through all of the noise and the din of battle.

Strong's says that the word shofar comes from the word "shafar," and adds that it means goodly, pleasing, beautiful, fair, comely, bright or glistening. I am not sure that I would describe this sound as goodly, pleasing, beautiful, fair, comely, bright, or glistening. But perhaps God's musical appreciation is different than ours. God has lived for eternity and His musical appreciation is probably much more mature than ours.

Here in verse 3, God tells us to blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our solemn feast day.

The full moon indicates the middle of each lunar month. The notable full moons, which are also solemn Feast days are, as you know, The First Day of Unleavened Bread, and The first holy day of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The new moon, the "chodesh" of the Old Testament, indicates the beginning of each lunar month. In those days the blowing of trumpets marked every new moon. Although most new moons are not holy days, but it is good for us to mark them and note them mainly in reference to how many months we are away from the spring or fall holy days.

Still, a few of the new moons are notable, specifically, the one that begins the first month of the sacred year called Abib or Nisan. When we see that, we know that Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread are right on our doorstep. The other one is called Tishri or Ethanim, and that begins the seventh month of the sacred year, and the first month of the administrative year. This one is, of course, the day we are celebrating today, the Feast of Trumpets. This is both the new moon and the solemn feast day mentioned in Psalm 81:3.

Psalm 81:4 For this is a statute for Israel, a law of the God of Jacob.

Asaph writes that "this" is a statute and a law of God, for physical Israel of which we, in modern Ephraim and Manasseh, are a part. And more importantly, we are part of the Israel of God; we are the New Testament church of God.

What is this statute and law that He is talking about here? Is it just to mark the new moons, full moons and solemn feast days? Should we be sounding trumpets on these days too? But as John mentioned, it is only the priests that are to blow these trumpets in the temple or the tabernacle. But do we really need to blow trumpets to fulfill this command?

The Jews take this command one hundred percent literally. I do not know about you brethren in Portland, Anaheim and others within the sound of my voice, but here in Victoria, we do not have a shofar to blow. I suppose we could buy one, and get one of our members to blow it each year. So I guess we do not have much excuse! It would certainly be nice to have an accomplished modern trumpet player come and play a nice trumpet tune at services on each Feast of Trumpets, but most of our congregations do not have one of them locally either.

I think it is somewhat important to play some trumpet music on the Feast of Trumpets each year – to fulfill this command, and to remind us of the significance of the trumpet on this day.

What we have traditionally done here in Victoria, is to play a short, recorded clip from a pleasant classical trumpet concerto during the taking up of the Holy Day Offering. And/or to sing hymn number 124, "God Speaks to Us," with its inspiring "trumpet" chords played on piano at the beginning of each verse. I trust that this is acceptable to God. If it is not, perhaps we should pray that He might reveal to us what we should do in this regard.

Psalm 81:5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.

This is a very interesting and seemingly pivotal verse which raises a few questions, all of which I am not sure of the answers to, especially regarding the pronouns "he" and "I."

Asaph says that the "he" mentioned here established the blowing of trumpets "as a testimony" on the new moons, full moons, and Feast days "in Joseph". Who was the "he" that established this testimony? Who was this "he" who traveled throughout the land of Egypt? The New King James `Version capitalizes this word "he." Was it God? Jacob, or Joseph?

Then we see the "he" suddenly change to "I" for the first time. This "I" tells us that this person heard a language that he did not understand.

The use of the pronoun "I" in the following verses obviously refers to God, but what about "I" in verse 5? Is there is any human language that God is unable to understand? I do not think so. Could Asaph have been applying it to himself? Perhaps Asaph had visited Egypt and was unable to understand their language. Or was he applying it to Joseph when he first arrived in Egypt, and he was unable to understand their language? Or possibly to Jacob, who was mentioned there too, upon his later arrival during the time of the great famine?

If Asaph is referring to Joseph, is he talking about the time when Joseph was actually alive and living in Egypt? Or is he referring to Joseph's descendants, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, in Egypt in later years when they were under the lash of slavery, as the following verse (6) seems to imply?

Another question about verse 5: What is a testimony? The word is translated from the Hebrew "eduwth," which can also mean "witness." Strong's says that it comes from the word "ed," which means, "witness," "proof," or "evidence of truth."

We all know that God does not like confusion. He likes truth, logic, proof, clarity, and common sense. And this concept brings to mind what Paul says about speaking in tongues in what almost appears to be a New Testament parallel scripture of this section of Psalm 81.

I Corinthians 14:6-7 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

Paul, like Asaph, makes a similar use of the analogy of musical instruments. Paul says that each musical instrument has its own distinctive sound, which makes a unique impression as a solo instrument, or when included in an ensemble. Different musical instruments played in different ways can give different musical messages. Many experienced classical music aficionados can listen to certain pieces of music and can know what the composer is trying to "say" to the listeners, even though no words are being spoken or sung.

I Corinthians 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

Like Asaph, Paul adds the trumpet as a special instrument to the other instruments he had listed previously. The military trumpet must not give an uncertain sound. It must give a certain—instantly recognizable—sound.

In the barracks, when the military trumpet plays, "Reveille," the soldiers know that they must get up and get out of bed; "Come to the Cookhouse Door, boys," they know it is meal-time; and

"Last Post," they know it is time to go to sleep. On the battlefield when the "Charge" is sounded on the trumpet, they know that they are being commanded to speedily advance, and to do their best to put holes in the enemy before the enemy puts holes in them. And, "Retreat," they know that they are being commanded to withdraw.

I Corinthians 14:9-12 So likewise you, except you utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For you shall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices [or sounds] in the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice [or sound], I shall be unto him that speaks a barbarian [a foreigner], and he that speaks shall be a barbarian [a foreigner] unto me. Even so you, forasmuch as you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel to the edifying of the church.

What does it mean to edify the church? It means to enlighten, inform, educate, instruct, improve, or teach the members of Gods church. Paul goes on to show in practical terms that this cannot be done, "in a foreign language that we do not understand."

Again I repeat that God does not like confusion. He likes logic, clarity, proof, common sense and truth. God wants His people to be able to understand what is being said and sung. It just shows that the Roman Catholic services in the Latin language was so obviously wrong.

Psalm 81:6 I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

It is obvious here, in this case, that the "I" is not Asaph. Who did the removing and delivering? It must refer to God. But who does the "his" refer to? Whose shoulder was removed from the burden? Whose hands were delivered from the pots? Was this the young Joseph when God freed him from the Egyptian dungeon? Or was it his Ephraimite and Mannasite descendants in the Egyptian brickyards?

What we start to see here is that the narrative of this psalm is broadening out from just talking about Joseph, and it seems to be going back to his father Jacob, and forward to his descendants. It also alludes to the New Testament "Israel of God."

Let us apply some of this to the Israel of God—the Church of God today.

Again, God wants us to listen to His Word in a language that we understand. If we are willing, God will give us the understanding of things that the wise of the world are totally unable to comprehend. God is removing our shoulders from the burden and our hands from the pots. He is delivering us from our slavery to sin. This refers right back to the Alpha. When I talk about Alpha I am not talking about these Protestant things that you see on the banners on the church on the corner. But rather, this refers right back from the beginning of the Administrative New Year to the beginning of the Sacred New Year; from the beginning of the fall holy day season, to the beginning of the spring holy day season. This takes us back to our pre-Passover self-examination, to the Passover itself, and to the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Psalm 81:7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder: I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

Before we get into the meat of this verse, let us consider this last word "Selah." This word "Selah" is thought to have been a kind of musical term to show a pause, accentuation or interruption. We, in the church, have historically interpreted it as a recommendation for us to "Think on these things!" It is almost like God is saying, "Think on these things." But it is interesting that the Hebrew word "Selah" actually means, "to lift up," or "to exalt". That takes us right back to verses 1 and 2, where God through Asaph tells us to raise our voices, to lift up our voices in songs of praise to Him.

Now in the main part of verse 7, we see Israel pictured at three different times and in three different places. The first one is when they called to God out of Egypt and He heard, responded and delivered them.

Exodus 2:23-25 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

The second is when He answered them in the secret place of thunder.

Exodus 19:16, 19 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet [shofar] exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled...And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.

We heard something like that shofar blast in the sound clip. Can you imagine that getting louder and louder? It would frighten the living daylights out of you!

The third is when God proved them at the waters of Meribah. The word Meribah means strike or contention. There were actually two places called Meribah. At both of them the Israelites complained because of a lack of water.

The first was in the Wilderness of Sin, near Rephidim, and the second one was in the wilderness of Zin, near a place called Kadesh, on the southern border of the Promised Land.

I do not have time today to quote all of the relevant scriptures there, but if you would like to read about that, look in Exodus 17 and Numbers 20, where it talks about those two Meribahs.

What is God telling us, in the church, by grouping these events together? "Massah," or "Maccah," is the Hebrew word for "temptation." This was the place in the wilderness where the Israelites tested God. Meribah is the Hebrew word for "strife" or "contention."

The second Meribah was in the Wilderness of Zin near Kadesh on the southern border of the Promised Land.

Numbers 20:1-13 Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, "Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink." And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, "Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink." And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, "Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?" And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, "Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them." This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

So, what is God telling us by grouping these three or four events together in verse 7 of Psalm 81?

He is reminding us that, He heard the Israelites when they cried to Him in their slavery. Also, He knew us, New Testament Israel, even before we knew Him, even before we knew enough to cry out to Him, even before we recognized the fact that we were in slavery. And then, He brought Old Testament Israel out of slavery in Egypt by means of a series of huge miracles. Also, He brought New Testament Israel out of our slavery to Satan's world by means of even greater miracles. And then, He frightened the living daylights out of the Old Testament Israelites in order to get them to properly fear and reverence Him. Also, He uses much gentler means to get His New Testament children to fear Him.

One of the main purposes of the Feast each year, is to teach us to fear Him:

Deuteronomy 14:23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

What else is He saying to us through verse 7 of Psalm 81? That even when the Old Testament Israelites had seen such huge, incredible miracles and signs, they murmured against God. That even Moses and Aaron sinned at the second Meribah in the Wilderness of Zin. They vainly tried to attribute to themselves and their own power, in the Israelites' eyes, the miracle of bringing the water out of the rock. That we, the New Testament Israel of God, must learn from our mistakes, and we must keep clearly in our minds the vast miracles God used to bring us out of sin. We must remember His vast power and that we must continue to fear Him... always! And that we must remember who is the Rock from whom the water of the Holy Spirit is poured out upon us. We must never be tempted to murmur against God, or to attribute any spiritual power to ourselves.

Psalm 81:8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto you: O Israel, if you wilt hearken unto me.

Hearken means to listen. At the beginning, God commanded us to sing and shout to Him. Now He commands New Testament Israel to "Shut up and listen!" And especially at this fall Feast time!

Over the next three weeks, from the Feast of Trumpets to the Last Great Day, God wants us to do a lot of listening—thirty-one messages: Fourteen sermonettes; four split sermons; and thirteen sermons. That is a lot of listening.

He promises in verse 8 that if we will open our ears He will testify to us. What does the English word "testify" mean? It is translated from the little Hebrew word, "ood," but it is filled with much rich meaning.

"Ood" means that God will:

Testify on our behalf, for our benefit.

Have us as His witnesses.

Hire us to bear witness for Him.

Record our names in His Book of Life.

Take us to Himself.

Admonish and correct us as necessary like a Father to His children.

Exhort and encourage us each day.

Surround us with His protection.

Restore us to top spiritual health & eventually give us eternal spirit bodies.

Relieve us from any distress.

Give us advance warning of what is ahead of us.

Charge us with a set of important duties.

Then, even though this is a festive season of rejoicing, He gives us some stern commands:

Psalm 81:9 There shall no strange god be in you; neither shall you worship any strange god.

We know this. Right? Of course we do. But take care. So did ancient Israel. And look what they did as soon as Moses' back was turned. They built a golden calf and worshipped it! Yes, but we would not do that. We would not commit idolatry. Would we?

I do not know if John Ritenbaugh has given his recent Bible study in Anaheim, or Portland, or the other places on this teleconference this afternoon—the same study that he gave here in Victoria in July. However, a recording is available on the CGG website and I urge you to listen to it. In it, he answers a question that I had wondered about for a long time. "What was the idolatry that caused God to blow spiritual Israel apart?"

I will not spoil it for you by telling you the answer. But it is living proof that we are as subject to idolatry as were our ancient Israelite forebears!

Psalm 81:10 I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt: open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.

He blasts this message to us! "I am the YHWH—the Eternal your God! These physical idols are not real gods. They have no power at all."

Deuteronomy 4:28 And there you shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

II Kings 19:18 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.

Daniel 5:4, 23 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. But have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you, and your lords, your wives, and your concubines, have drunk wine in them; and you have praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, have you not glorified.

Habakkuk 2:18-19 What profits the graven image that the maker thereof has graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusts therein, to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that says to the wood, "Awake"; to the dumb stone, "Arise, it shall teach!" Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath [life] at all in the midst of it.

Revelation 9:20 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk.

"Do not waste your time or your efforts on them!" God commands. "I am the YHWH—the Eternal your God"!

Then He takes us back again, back from the symbolism of the Feast of Trumpets, back to the symbolism of the Feast of Unleavened Bread to remind us that it was He who had the power to bring the Israelites out of mighty Egypt and the humanly powerful hand of Pharaoh; to remind us that it was He who had the power to rescue New Testament Israel out of the powerful hand of Satan, sin and the world.

He has the power! So why waste our time on powerless idols? "Open your mouths!" He commands us, "And I will fill them." What with? Physical food? Yes, yes! We have had plenty of that already today. God has blessed us with plenty of food for most of our lives. How many of us have ever known real and prolonged hunger? Very few! And we will get plenty of food during the Feast, probably more than we really need. But God wants us to develop an even greater desire for spiritual food—the very Bread of Life itself!

We do not open our mouths to receive spiritual food. We open our ears and our attention!

We are seeing that much of this Psalm 81 is about hearkening and listening. Let us, over the next three weeks, get ourselves ready to do that for this spiritual Feast.

Psalm 81:11 But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

The last phrase of this verse, in the King James Version, does not make good grammatical sense to us today. "Israel would none of me," is like there is a word missing. Various modern Bible versions translate this phrase in different ways, but the main idea is, "Israel would have none of me," or "Israel would have nothing to do with me."

And oh how true this is in modern physical Israel today. Perhaps more so in modern Ephraim than in any other tribe! At least in modern Manasseh, many pay lip service to God!

What about in the New Testament Israel of God—God's New Testament people—God's true church? Are we refusing to hearken to His voice? Are we saying, that by our actions (or lack thereof) if not with our words, "We will have nothing to do with you, God?" This dire warning cuts through, brethren, yes right in the middle of the rejoicing on this holy day. And we all need to heed it!

Psalm 81:12 So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

Yes, God has given up the people of modern physical Israel to the lust of their own hearts. Lust, enjoyment and entertainment seem to constitute the "raison d'etre"—the sole purpose of life—of the majority of the people of our modern Israelite nations. All they seem to care about is the physical—entertainment, fancy cars, fancy houses, ongoing partying and endless vacationing. And, they cannot really afford it. "That is okay, we will put it on the plastic! Live now, pay later!" And that is the relatively decent people! I know that I do not have to tell you about the gross immorality of our nations! Just take a glimpse – but not too long a glimpse – at the average evening's television offerings. Do not blame the television networks, they are only giving the people what they want—an endless stream of depictions of homosexuality, adultery, fornication, violence, and murder.

And yes, from the second phrase of this verse, the nations of modern physical Israel do walk totally according to their own counsel. There is virtually no fear of God any more—not in our peoples, not in our leaders, not at any level of government, federal, state or provincial, municipal, even down to our school boards and parent-teacher associations. All of them seem to be totally godless.

God says that He has given up on physical Israel for the time being. He has given them up to these things, this lust and this living according their own counsel.

But, what about us in spiritual Israel? Are we being caught up in it all? We had better hope that God has not given up on us, that He has not given us up to gross immorality and to being guided by our own human counsel.

God warns us again on this day of rejoicing: "Do not follow the lustful ways of your unconverted, physical Israelite brothers. And do not emulate their ways of decision-making and problem solving, because their methods are based upon the Babylon model. Come out of her, my people!"

Psalm 81:13 Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

Here is that "H" word again. Here God seems to lament! What a tragedy, brethren. Our great God lamenting on this Feast day when He should be rejoicing. "Oh!" He cries. How He "wishes" His people had hearkened—listened—to Him and walked in His ways. God seems to be very upset with His people here, and rightly so. It is very upsetting for a parent or a teacher to be instructing a child, and that child ignores him. There is the aspect of the ignorance—the lack of respect—for the teacher or parent. But there is also the disappointment that, because the child is not listening, he will not enjoy the benefits of what the teacher or parent is telling him.

What are some of those benefits?

Psalm 81:14 I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.

God says that He would have defeated their enemies for them. He showed them repeatedly how He was able to do this so easily, but they continued to be faithless, so He had to remove His protective hand away from them.

Let us citizens of spiritual Israel, God's New Testament people, heed this warning, brethren.

Let us take it very seriously, because the enemies and adversaries of New Testament Israel are so very much more powerful, vicious and hateful than those of Old Testament Israel. Their enemies were mere fellow human beings. Our enemies are Satan and his demon foot soldiers—powerful and tremendously fierce spirit beings who hate us with a passion that is hard for us to even imagine.

We know that the Feast of Trumpets pictures a day of terrible warfare, the like of which has never been seen on this planet before, when the surviving human armies of this world will attempt to fight the returning Christ, His angels and His newly spirit-born brothers and sisters.

Who do you think is the instigator of this warfare? Satan, of course—the one whose very name means "the adversary," along with his demon followers.

Revelation 16:12-14, 16 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils [demons], working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

But notice how God inspired John to insert verse 15 into this narrative as a warning to us:

Revelation 16:15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Christ will return at a time that men will least expect. What does He command us to do? We are to watch, and to keep our spiritual garments so that we will not be caught spiritually naked.

Just as an aside, do you know what "our spiritual garments" symbolize? I believe that they are God's New Testament tabernacle, His New Testament church. Keep the "clothing" of the church around you for spiritual warmth and protection. Do not let it go, or you will be spiritually naked!

Psalm 81:15 The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

The grammar of this verse is a little awkward, and has been taken in different ways in different translations. But let us take the King James Version as it stands. Those who hate Jesus Christ would have been wise to submit to Him at their earliest opportunity. To continue our last example from Revelation 16, we know what the outcome of the "battle" of Armageddon will be. It will not be a "battle" at all.

Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

What chance have the most advanced of humanity's weapons against God's arsenal? Those haters of God, whom Satan has deceived into thinking that they have a chance of military success, will have no chance whatsoever.

The second and last phrase of this verse, "But their time should have endured for ever," may be taken two ways. Some translations give the Protestant and Roman Catholic view that, because this is the only day of salvation, if these haters of Christ refuse to repent and submit to Him immediately, the punishment He imposes on them will be everlasting, i.e. eternal life in hell fire. Satan and his demons would have us believe that the penalty God has in store for him is also in store for errant humans, hence, if we apply this interpretation to Satan and his demons, and not human beings, it may carry some weight.

But I think that this version twists the scripture. I think that what God is saying through Asaph here is this: If human haters of the Lord would repent and submit to Him, He, our supremely merciful God, will give even them an opportunity for eternal life.

Now on to the final verse:

Psalm 81:16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied you.

The psalm finishes on a very positive note, but also one of warning.

If and when those who hate God (and we all did hate Him, or love Him less, to some extent at one time before our conversion) truly repent and submit to Him, He will feed them with the finest of the wheat.

What kind of reward is this? It does not sound very appealing, does it? What is "the finest of the wheat?" And, is it really worth giving up a lifetime of doing our own thing for?

God is, of course, giving us another physical symbol of something spiritual here. What is the main use for wheat? It is used for making into flour to make into nutritious bread. The finest of the wheat is the first of the firstfruits, which God threshed, and winnowed, and then ground into flour from which He "baked" the Bread of Life. God is saying that those who will repent and submit now in this age will be given a place among the firstfruits of His people, and He will feed them with the Bread of Life—with Jesus Christ.

Remember reading about the Bread of Life in John 6, a little over five months ago at the Passover service? And so again, God picks us up amidst the rejoicing and symbolism of the Feast of Trumpets, and points us right back to the symbolism of the Passover. It is almost like He is saying, "Look, I certainly do want you to rejoice over the wonderful symbolism of these fall feasts, over the first resurrection, the return of Jesus Christ, the putting away of Satan, the Millennium, and the Last Great Day. But while you are doing so, I want you to keep a tight grip on yourselves. I do not want you to let go of what I taught you back at the beginning, at the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread."

Let us look at the second half of the verse which concludes the Psalm, "With honey out of the rock should I have satisfied you."

Although it was common in the Israelite territory of Asaph's time for honey bees to make nests in clefts in rocks, I think there is more to the wording here.

Did you notice, by the way, that in the first half of the verse, God and Asaph are talking about "them?" Presumably, it is the same "them" that He was talking about in the previous verse, verse 15, the haters of God. But in this second half, He is talking to "you". There seems to be an "us and them" distinction going on here. "Them" are the haters of God. "You" are those who love God, the people of God.

And again we seem to be pointed back from the Feast of Trumpets; back to the time following the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the time when Israel was in the wilderness, when God miraculously drew water out of solid rock. Remember that He mentioned either one or both Meribahs back in verse 7 where God miraculously brought life-giving water out of solid rock to give life to the physical Israelites, despite their murmuring.

But for His faithful people, He promises not just water, but honey! For us, He will bring honey out of the Rock. Honey has at least two symbolisms in the Bible, probably more. I will just mention the two that are relevant to the Feast of Trumpets, a feast day that promises both sweet and sour prophecies. Strangely, these two are somewhat opposite in their symbolism.

One is that honey is symbolic of good health, riches, abundance and prosperity to the point of absolute luxury. It is symbolic of good health because honey was known for its medicinal qualities. And, it is symbolic of agricultural abundance because a land with much honey will normally have lots of pastures with flowering plants. There are at least twenty mentions of the "land flowing with milk and honey," referring to the Promised Land, which is prophetically symbolic of the World Tomorrow, the Millennium and the eternal Kingdom of God.

Another is that honey is symbolic of an appropriate level of self-denial, even in the midst of plenty. Self-denial is for the purposes of learning about the consequences of rebellion against God; about the importance of repentance, obedience and spiritual renewal; about choosing right over wrong.

In this we have both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ Himself as our examples:

Matthew 3:1-4 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, "Repent you: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare you the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.'" And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leather girdle about his loins; and his meat [food] was locusts and wild honey.

Isaiah 7:14-15 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good."

Luke 24:36, 42 And as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said unto them, "Peace be unto you." And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and a honeycomb.

So there we have it, Psalm 81. Over and over again in this Psalm, God tells us, "Go forth and rejoice on this Feast of Trumpets, and on the other Fall Feast days too. But do not forget the instruction and warnings I gave you during the Passover and the Spring Holy Days!"