Trumpets: January 2022
Table of Contents
Theme
Trumpets were used on joyful occasions and at the wars. There were two trumpets made of silver which the priests used, and instructions were given as to blowing different sounds for calling the princes together, for summoning all the congregation, or as an alarm for war. At the dedication of the temple, Solomon had 120 priests sounding with trumpets.
The use of trumpets set forth the public proclamation of God’s rights in His people, whether in their direction or in their relationship with Him. At the giving of the law, there was a loud voice of the trumpet proceeding from the mount, exceeding loud, so that all the people trembled.
In the Roman army, when it was about to start, the trumpet sounded three times: At the first trumpet they pulled down their tents; at the second they put themselves in order; when the last trumpet sounded, they started. When the Lord Jesus comes to fetch His saints, it will be with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God (1 Thess. 4:16). The “last trump” will sound at the resurrection of the saints (1 Cor. 15:52).
Concise Bible Dictionary (adapted)
The Two Trumpets of Silver
Redemption being complete, the Christian is looked upon in three distinct conditions, which are never confused in the Word of God.
First, he is seen as possessor of eternal life in Christ. “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:11). This gift of God is founded on the fact that all his guilt is put away. Death is no more for him the wages of sin, but the entrance upon his eternal rest.
Second, he is also brought into heavenly places in the Person of Christ: He hath “quickened us together with Christ ... and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5-6). In this he has a new place with God.
Third, there is a journey between these two points — a race to be run, a goal to be reached, though reached already if he looks at himself as in Christ. He must press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He must labor to enter into God’s rest and hold fast the beginning of his confidence firm unto the end (Phil. 3:14; Heb. 3:6; 4:11).
The Three-Part Condition
To understand this three-part view of the Christian state is of great importance in understanding the Scriptures and rightly profiting by their teachings. There are warnings and exhortations addressed to him while in the race which would not apply to his standing before God. These warnings and “ifs” of Scripture try his heart if unsettled in redemption, as they would seem to him to make the end far from sure.
Israel had this three-part condition too. But they did not begin as we, with a new place with God; they had to reach it at the close. Israel was brought by redemption, out of Egypt, and brought into Canaan. But they had also to pass through the wilderness to their rest.
The Two Trumpets of Silver
Before the journey commenced, Moses was commanded to make two trumpets of silver: “Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps” (Num. 10:2). The visible guidance of God by the pillar of the cloud and of fire was there by day and by night continually. Then came the testimony of His Word in this type before us, given through those silver trumpets, by the varied notes which were sounded. Finally, the ark of the covenant went before the camp.
Those three things expressed the guidance of God to Israel — His commandments, then His Word, and then Himself.
But there was more in the silver trumpets than all this. In this book of Numbers, we find that they are the only instruments which the Lord directed to be made in this book, in the wilderness journey. The silver may point to redemption, when the book in question treats of such. But in Numbers where it is the journey that is before us, these trumpets are the means by which God communicated with His people. I would suggest that the trumpet is the testimony of His Word, while the silver is the immutability of His ways. The silver here then has this meaning — the unchangeableness of His ways, so abundantly proved during their eventful journey.
We read of four distinct blasts or notes of these trumpets in Numbers 10, and we find these notes echoed by the Spirit in the epistle to the Hebrews. In Israel, the people were under the leadership of Moses and Aaron, the apostle and the high priest of Israel, in their earthly calling. Now the Christian assuredly is under the leadership of Christ — the Apostle and High Priest of our profession.
The Notes of the Trumpets
The first note of the trumpets in Numbers was “for the calling of the assembly” of Israel, when they were to be gathered together for the necessary activities of that day. In Hebrews this finds its antitype in the words, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:25).
The second blast was “for the journeyings of the camp.” “At the commandment of the Lord they rested in their tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed” (Num. 9:23). How blessed to know that no movement was undertaken and no halting place was chosen in the desert but “at the commandment of the Lord.” No matter where the direction of the journey pointed, “at the commandment of the Lord,” or how much delay there seemed to be, till another order for the march was sounded from the resting place, Canaan alone was the goal! Those blasts of the trumpets are a picture of what we get in Hebrews: “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.” “Let us run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.”
The third occasion on which we read of the sound of the trumpets is “an alarm.” They have translated this word in Psalm 89:15 as “the joyful sound,” but it was both, for it was heard both when the enemy was astir, and to the accustomed ear it was a “joyful sound.” The Lord of Hosts was with His people; no enemy could take them unawares. But it was “an alarm” too, for it stirred up the faithful to the need of vigilance against a watchful foe, and to the enemy it was the “alarm” of impending defeat and ruin.
For the Day of Gladness
“Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings, that they may be to you for a memorial: I am the Lord your God” (Num. 10:10). This was the fourth “blowing of trumpets” in the desert — the “days of gladness” were there marked, and over the “burnt offerings” and “peace offerings” the sound was heard. How full the end of Hebrews is (ch. 9-12) of the worth of Him in whom all the offerings found their answer “once” and “forever”! It is a day of gladness we are called to there, to “eat the fat, and drink the sweet; to send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for the day is holy unto our Lord; neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). Or as the epistle to the Hebrews would put it: “To do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb. 13:16).
Thus we find Numbers with its types and Hebrews with its interpretations, fitting themselves together with the perfection of God’s communications to our souls. “These things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come” (1 Cor. 10:11 JnD).
The trumpet then characterized the starting point of the journey of the people of God. If they had hearkened to its joyful sound, they would have known the blessedness of “the people that know the joyful sound.” “They shall walk,” says the psalmist, “O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance” (Psa. 89:15).
F. G. Patterson (adapted)
The Joyful Sound
“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance” (Psa. 89:15). What is the joyful sound here spoken of? The Hebrew word is t’ruhah— the sound of a trumpet. But not every sound of the trumpet was so called. To assemble the people to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, no such sound was required. The single blast for the princes to gather together was not this. To call Israel to their feasts and fasts, the trumpet sounded, but not such a blast as is here referred to. But if the congregation, as they lay encamped in the wilderness, were to strike their tents, the camp to be broken up, and the people to keep close to the symbol of the divine presence, as it preceded the camps or journeyed in their midst, then this special sound was heard. Also, if the land should be invaded, they were to sound the alarm, which seems to have partaken of the character of this sound.
Besides these special occasions, there were two regular times when the trumpet sound t’ruhah was heard: the one, the fiftieth year, on the tenth day of the seventh month, to proclaim the advent of the year of jubilee (Lev. 25:9); the other, annually, on the first day of that same month, called the day of the trumpet-sound, or, as in our KJV, a day of blowing of trumpets (Num. 29:1).
It is not the announcement of the Jewish festivals in general as is often understood; for them, no such trumpet-blast was blown. The reference is surely to the first day of the seventh month, when, after a pause in their feasts since the day of Pentecost, the trumpet sounded to tell the people of the commencement of Tisri, in which the day of atonement and the feast of tabernacles would be kept, and the year of jubilee would be, from time to time, proclaimed.
Looking at the psalm from a dispensational point of view, this explanation will be found in character with the circumstances of the people in this, the third book of Psalms. They are restored to their land, their captivity brought back (Psa. 85); the day of blowing of trumpets has had its fulfillment; they are gathered again round the center God has appointed on earth, but the full blessing is not yet entered upon. For this, the psalmist by the spirit of prophecy pleads. His promises to David are unfulfilled. But, restored to their land, they plead for them, so can say, “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance.”
Bible Treasury, Vol. 6
The Trumpet and the Harp
The trumpet blast is startling to those who are asleep, but the music of the harp helps to soothe us to sleep. The importance of clear teaching in the assembly in order that all may be edified is compared with the differences in sounds of musical instruments, specifically the trumpet and the harp. “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? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” (1 Cor. 14:7-8).
In Israel’s journey through the wilderness, trumpets were an important means of communication. It was imperative that there be a distinction between an assembling call and an alarm. Chaos and disorder would have marked Israel’s movements if the trumpets had not been properly sounded (Num. 10:1-10).
The trumpets were made of silver, typifying the Lord’s rights over us by redemption. Silver was used as atonement money (Ex. 30:12,15; 38:25; 1 Peter 1:18). The hymnwriter expressed this truth nicely when he wrote:
I love to own, Lord Jesus,
Thy claims o’er me divine;
Bought with Thy blood most precious,
Whose can I be but Thine.
The Various Trumpet Blasts
The children of Israel were to blow the trumpet on various occasions. Likewise, the believer is responsible to declare the Lord’s claims over him in all seasons, whether they be days of happiness or days of trouble.
Ministry that would exercise us to own the Lord’s authority practically in our lives may be likened to the blowing of the trumpet. The trumpet blast is startling to those who are sleeping and most needful when there is spiritual lethargy and slothfulness. The trumpet sound is also exhilarating. How good to hear ministry that gives us guidance, refreshes our spirits, quickens our steps and encourages us to press on.
In Scripture, the trumpet blast is often connected with victory (Josh. 6:20; Judg. 7:20; 1 Thess. 4:16). It is a grand testimony when souls publicly stand for Christ and confess His name amid scorn and ridicule.
Misuse of the Trumpet
There is a danger, however, of misuse of the trumpet. A trumpet blown at a wrong time can be very jarring and rude. It is also important that a distinction is made in how it is sounded. Sometimes a trumpet is sounded in hopes of energizing the people of God to make spiritual progress and unite in the interests of God. Instead, an alarm has sounded and the people of God mistake the noise as a call to battle. Misunderstandings and friction result. We are earnestly to contend for the faith, but with what caution should the trumpet be used lest a wrong message is sent!
The prophets’ ministry of old bore the character of the trumpet. Their mission was to call the people of God to repentance by ministry that dealt faithfully with their spiritual state. The people’s attitude was one of indifference to the claims of God as they continued in a willful course of lust, arrogance and impudence. Yet, these same prophets brought messages of cheer and hope. It is time well spent to peruse the writings of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Haggai, Malachi, as well as the other prophets to find these words of comfort. This line of ministry would answer to the harp.
The Sound of the Harp
While a trumpet would rouse one from sleep, a harp would help put one to sleep. The Lord delights for us to be at rest and peace in His presence. David used the harp to relieve Saul of the troubling evil spirit. What a calming influence is brought in by one walking in communion with the Lord! How rare is the ministry of the harp!
For the harp to give its beautiful sound, the strings must be taut. The Lord often tightens the strings in our lives in order that we may give a true and beautiful sound. It may be by means of trial, ill health, financial hardships, domestic sorrows, assembly troubles, secular demands, social pressures, loss of loved ones, rejection, isolation or misunderstanding. The Lord works in us so that we may feel a need of Him and draw near to Him.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:4 of the comfort that he received from God, and it fitted him to be a comfort to others. If one were to speak only in theory of the comfort of God without some practical firsthand experience, it would sound as discordant as a loosely tuned harp. God insists upon reality. We need both the ministry of the trumpet to stir us and the ministry of the harp to calm us. Care is needed not to strum the harp when the trumpet ought to be sounded nor to blow the trumpet when the soothing sound of the harp is required. May we seek the Lord’s mind to know how and when to use them both. “He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation [the trumpet], and comfort [the harp]” (1 Cor. 14:3).
W. Brockmeier
The Feast of Trumpets
The first four feasts came close together at the beginning of the year; this is clear from Leviticus 23. Then came the time of reaping until the last sheaf was cut (Pentecost), though there was still good grain left standing in the corners of the fields. We will now seek with God’s help to look at the last three feasts. These all come very close together in the seventh month.
The same Lord who is now glorified in heaven as the Head of the church will also reign on earth as King of Israel and Lord of all creation. He will be honored in the heavens above and in the earth below, and all will unite to own Jesus of Nazareth, “Lord of all.” For these reasons, we suggest that the remaining feasts have perhaps a double meaning. Their primary meaning is, no doubt, a telling forth of the events coming on this earth, but it would seem that the remaining feasts also have a secondary application that might foretell events connected with the church in heaven, for we must never forget that Israel’s portion is the earth, but the church’s portion is always in the heavens.
The Last Series of Feasts
The Feast of Trumpets begins the last series of “Jehovah’s set feasts.” In Numbers 10:2, God commanded Moses to make two silver trumpets. This feast was a special time of blowing these trumpets. It was called, “A memorial of blowing of trumpets” (Lev. 23:24). Does this not tell us of that great trumpet that is to be blown in a coming day? Then “He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:31).
We read in Isaiah 18:3-7 JND, “All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, when a banner is lifted up on the mountains, see ye, and when a trumpet is blown, hear ye! ... In that time shall a present be brought unto Jehovah of hosts of a people scattered and ravaged .... to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, the Mount Zion.” There are many more passages that show us that the Feast of Trumpets foretells that trumpet blast that will call Israel back to their own land.
The Feast of Trumpets
But in the Feast of Trumpets, is it not God who blows the trumpet Himself? If God in His grace speaks of remembering again His people, is it not truly God that blows the trumpet to call His people to remember Him? Israel forgot their God and forsook Him, and now it appears as though God had forgotten and forsaken and cast away His people. But it is in appearance only. Paul asks, “Hath God cast away His people?” And the reply is clear and decisive: “God hath not cast away His people which He foreknew” (Rom. 11:1-2). The day is near when the trumpet will be blown that shows God again remembers Israel and His covenant with them. Poor Israel, how little do they know of rest and joy now, with all the turmoil in their land! But even though we know Israel must first pass through the most terrible judgments, yet their rest and joy is soon to come. May it not be possible that the first notes of that silver trumpet, or their echo from above, are beginning to fall on the ears of Israel?
The Trumpet Call From Heaven
But if even the echo of the notes from afar are beginning to sound, telling us that the silver trumpet is “about to sound,” let us rejoice and lift up our heads and listen the more longingly for the note of another trumpet that would seem to be one short, sharp peal: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump” (1 Cor. 15:52).
No, it is not the trumpet that calls Israel back to their land that we, the church, are looking for, but for the Lord Jesus Himself, 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 which 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” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). And again, “Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:51-52).
What a day of joy and gladness and rest will this be for the church! Then we will be forever with the Lord. We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Then, no longer through a glass darkly, but face to face! And the loved ones who have gone before will be raised first, and we shall be together again to go no more out!
The Trumpet After the Harvest
At the Feast of Trumpets the Lord specially warns against any “servile work” on that day. How different to the teaching of some that it is only by our own efforts in watching and overcoming that we can even hope to see that day or hear that trump! Such teachers little know the value of the redemption told out in those notes of the silver trumpet, nor do they know the worthlessness of their own servile work in making themselves fit for that day. No, it is not the fear of being left behind at that day that God sets before us a motive to keep clean down here, but the blessed hope of seeing Him and being like Him. “Every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 John 3:3).
The Feast of Trumpets follows the harvest described in Leviticus 23:22. We believe that the harvest typifies the coming of the Lord for His church, but the silver trumpets of this feast cannot but call to our mind the trumpet that calls the church to be forever with the Lord, and they are evidently intimately connected with it. The Feast of Trumpets came on the first day of the month; that is the time the moon is blackest and smallest. The morning star appears just before dawn, when the night is the darkest. So, brethren, as we see the professing church getting worse, as we see it growing darker and colder and more and more like the world, let us look up and watch more earnestly for the Morning Star and listen more intently for the sound of the trumpet.
The Lord always makes it clear that His coming is imminent. “Yet a very little while and He that comes will come, and will not delay” (Heb. 10:37 JND). May we ever, daily and hourly, be expecting Him, and our hearts ever be crying, “Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
G. C. Willis (adapted)
Feast of the Blowing of Trumpets
The first four feasts of Jehovah — the Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, the feast of firstfruits, and Pentecost — have already been fulfilled in Israel’s history. The last three, yet to be fulfilled — the feast of the blowing of trumpets, the day of atonement, and the feast of tabernacles — begin with what Israel today calls Rosh Hashanah—the blowing of trumpets. (For a more complete discussion of the feasts of Jehovah, the reader is directed to the May 2009 issue of The Christian (bibletruthpublishers.com/the-seven-feasts-may-2009/the-christian-volume-05/lpv24902-24907).
While the Jews keep this feast as a joyous occasion in their calendar of religious festivals, they little realize that it too is to have a fulfillment. The time of its typical enactment is drawing nearer, but two things must precede the realization of it: the coming of the Lord for the church and the seven eventful years which will follow — the latter half of which are designated as “the time of Jacob’s trouble.” As we are on the very eve of the church’s home-going, so the true “memorial of blowing of trumpets” for Israel is close at hand. Just as surely as the first feasts have had a literal fulfillment, so likewise will the last three.
Rosh Hashanah
The main typical significance of Rosh Hashanah is the calling back of Israel when the Lord comes with His saints in power and great glory. Then “He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:31). “It shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem” (Isa. 27:13).
Occasions of Trumpets
Trumpets were blown in Israel on various occasions, as outlined in Numbers 10. They could be used to call the assembly together or just to call the princes; they could sound an alarm in preparation for war, announce days of gladness, or the beginnings of the months. In Joel 2 it says, “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand” (vs. 1). This verse is not what Rosh Hashanah means, for this is an alarm to be sounded when the Lord comes back to execute judgment, when He will bring all nations against Jerusalem for their destruction. This will precede the calling together of Israel at the memorial of the blowing of trumpets. Later in Joel 2 (vs. 15), other sounds of the trumpet are to be heard: “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them. ... Then will the Lord be jealous for His land, and pity His people” (vss. 15-18).
This last quotation signifies a national humbling before God in all phases — political, religious and family life. When the Lord calls the Jews back with His purpose of blessing, it will be for humiliation and repentance. Even today the Jews look upon the 10 days following Rosh Hashanah as days of penitence and the Sabbath following their New Year celebration as “Shabat Shubah” (the Sabbath of Repentance).
P. Wilson
The Trumpet, The Lamp and the Sword
It is very clear from the history of Gideon that God used a man who was little in his own eyes. Then the Lord humbled him further, even to the point where he had to hear himself being compared to a “cake of barley bread” (Judg. 7:13). The lessons he learned in the school of God prepared him for service, while at the same time making nothing of Gideon and everything of the Lord. But then the Lord’s strength and glory were paramount; the victory was won, and the Lord got the glory.
We see the results of God’s working with Gideon in the way that he approached the battle. With only 300 men, he could not hope, by human strength, to gain the victory over the Midianites and Amalekites, who were in the valley “like grasshoppers for multitude.” Accordingly, Gideon does not arm his men in the normal way, with weapons such as spears and swords. No, he recognized the Lord’s power and equipped them with “lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands” (Judg. 7:20). Both hands were full; there was no hand with which to hold a weapon. Then they were to blow the trumpets and break the pitchers which covered their lamps, while they cried, “For Jehovah and for Gideon!” (Judg. 7:18 JND). No mention was made of the sword, for Gideon had learned that it would be the Lord who achieved the victory. So it was, for the enemy destroyed themselves; Gideon’s men did not need to lift a weapon.
The Three Hundred
But then, when the 300 men followed Gideon’s instructions, we find them saying, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” (Judg. 7:20). I suggest that there are two thoughts here. First of all, Gideon is now a type of Christ — the only One who always acts in perfection. Even the most faithful of His servants does not act with the perfection of his Master. Gideon’s men, faithful as they were and brave soldiers, had not gone through the same training as Gideon. They mentioned the sword, although not told to do so. They had not learned the Lord in the same way that Gideon had.
But was there no use for the sword? Yes indeed, for when the victory was won, there were still enemies to deal with. There were still 15,000 left of the host of Midian and others, after whom Gideon needed to pursue. The princes and kings of Midian were still at large, and they needed to be caught and executed. Also, sad to say, there were those of Succoth and Penuel, in Israel, who had refused help to Gideon when he was pursuing the kings of Midian. It was only righteous that judgment be carried out against them. The swords were certainly well used in all these situations.
The Treasure in Earthen Vessels
All this has a lesson for us too. The Christian counterpart to the story of Gideon is found in 2 Corinthians 4:6-7: “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” The treasure is Christ, like the lights carried by Gideon’s army, but it is a light in an earthen vessel — ourselves. Often the Lord must break the earthen vessel in order that the light may shine out. It is not pleasant to have our earthen vessel broken, but it is worth it, for then Christ shines out more brilliantly. Then the power of God is manifested, and He gets the glory.
Our strength is not our own, but the Lord’s, so that we do not get the victory by human means. The light and the trumpet (which announces that God is working) are all that is needed. But then, when the victory has been won, we do have what Scripture calls “the sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17), which is the Word of God. More accurately, it is the Word of God which we have read, meditated upon, and walked in. We do use it in spiritual warfare, but recognizing that the victory has already been won for us by our Lord and Master. Then we use the sword to maintain our place in the enjoyment of heavenly things and in conflict with the “spiritual power of wickedness in the heavenlies” (Eph. 6:12 JnD).
W. J. Prost
Blowing Your Own Trumpet
Very often we find among the people of God today that there is a recognition of a difficulty, but no power to deal with the situation—a recognition, perhaps, that there is something wrong in our lives; a recognition, perhaps, that the enemy has taken that which rightfully belongs to the Lord; a recognition that things are creeping in which are not according to the mind of God. Yet there is no power, it seems, to deal with the situation. Here in 1 Samuel 14 we find a young man by the name of Jonathan. We are not told how old he was, but we find him taking the thousand men that were delivered to him and smiting the garrison of the Philistines.
I say to the young people, and especially to the young brothers here, this should be an encouragement to your heart and to mine. Jonathan evidently was not concerned with the number of men that he had to deal with; he went out on his own with the thousand men which were delivered to him and gained the victory. The power of the Lord is still there! So, do not be discouraged by the fact that you see failure all around you. We own it. You will see failure in others; you will see failure in your brethren; you will see failure in your fellow young people; and, most of all, you will see failure in yourself. But that should not discourage us, because God has given us the ways and means of dealing with that. And, if there is a true heart and self-judgment before God, then He delights to give the power to go out and deal with the difficulty or problem.
Notice what happened here. Jonathan did not tell anyone about the victory. The Philistines heard of it without any problem. “Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.” What was the result? “All Israel heard that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines.” Sometimes when you go out and do something for the Lord, someone else tries to take the credit for it. Here we find that a man who did not have the energy himself, who did not have the mind of the Lord or the spiritual power to go out and deal with the situation, when his son went out and did it, he takes the credit. We often find that happening in the things of God. I believe that this is a category that we need to be careful of — a man who would take the credit to himself for that which others have done. Let us see that we do not fall into that category.
On the other hand, we do not find that Jonathan raised his voice to try and set the record straight. Never try to defend yourself. I can still remember an old brother saying that over and over again to us, “Never defend yourself!” Jonathan just goes on with the Lord, content to leave what he had done for the Lord’s approval. In the day in which we live, we find men making a great show of things, symbolized here by the blowing of a trumpet, and sometimes that creeps into the church of God. Sometimes there is more outward show than there is spiritual power underneath. Here was a young man who was content to act for the Lord, and he did not worry about who heard about it or how they heard about it; he left it for the Lord to vindicate him.
W. J. Prost (from a young people’s address, 1985)
The Rams' Horns — The Silver Trumpets — The Last Trump
1. The Rams’ Horns — Judgment
Turn to Joshua 6 and see those priests as they march after the armed men around the city of Jericho for seven days, and on the seventh day they compass the city seven times. Hear those loud, hoarse, awakening blasts they blow with those trumpets of rams’ horns. Wearied and tired with marching around the city, did they expect they were going to blow the strong walls of Jericho down with those puny blasts?
There were a few who had taken shelter in Rahab’s house, the only place of safety in that city, where the scarlet line hung at the window, but the city, as a whole, despised the warnings. At last the moment comes — the last note has sounded — the order has been given to raise the shout of victory; the mighty power of God overthrows the walls, while the sword of judgment does its deadly work on the inhabitants. So shall it be with this world.
Now look at another instance in the book of Jonah. Jonah is sent to that great city Nineveh to announce coming judgment because the wickedness of it had gone up to God. Hear the loud, alarming note which he sounds, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” Thank God, the note which Jonah sounded was an effectual one. The people heard, repented, and were saved from the judgment which he announced.
So it is in this great, godless, wicked world. Listen again to that long, loud, soul-startling blast the Apostle blows in Acts 17:30-31. “God commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom He hath ordained.” The ram’s horn has sounded its warning note. If you perish in the lake of fire, you will remember that you heard judgment announced, but did not heed, and then you are lost, eternally lost. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).
2. The Silver Trumpets — Grace
Now that we have heard the solemn blasts of judgment, let me turn your attention to the sweet notes of grace. First, read Numbers 10 with its two trumpets of silver. Silver is typical of grace in atonement. The people of Israel had to give a half shekel to make atonement for their souls (Ex. 30:11-16). These silver trumpets were for the calling of the assembly, as well as other uses, and only the priests could blow either these or the rams’ horns. Men consecrated to God must do God’s work. And is He not gathering His assembly just now? He is causing His servants to blow through the silver trumpets the sweet notes of grace and gather His loved ones — His blood-bought ones — together in this world, before the last trump sounds to summon them to another world. Thank God He is doing it.
Turn to Leviticus 25:9-10 — “Thou shalt cause the trumpet to sound ... in the Day of Atonement ... and proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants ... . and ye shall return every man to his possession — and to his family.” How precious this is; the silver trumpets sound their sweet note in the year of Jubilee, on the Day of Atonement. Everything is based on atonement. What a year of joy! How precious to the poor, wearied bondsman as he walks out from his servitude “a free man.” Ah, liberty is only valued when slavery has been felt. The liberty of the gospel is only the more appreciated when the drudgery and slavery of the devil has been experienced.
How blessed to hear the Lord Himself sounding that sweet note in the synagogue in Luke 4:18: “He hath sent me ... to proclaim deliverance to the captives ... to set at liberty them that are bruised.” Redemption is accomplished, and now He says to His servants, Go and sound the note of grace, and “turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me” (Acts 26:18). The gospel of the grace of God is sounding out far and wide, softly and sweetly through the silver trumpets.
3. The Last Trump — Glory
Now just a word about the last trump (1 Cor. 15:51-52). “Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” Through the Lord’s mercy, some of us were awakened by the loud, solemn, startling blasts of judgment; then we heard the sweet, blessed, silvery notes of grace and got peace in our souls. Now we are waiting for the sounding of the “last trump” to summon us to glory. How comforting to those who have trusted Christ to know we are to be up there with Christ forever. We wait the sounding of the last trump to call us away.
I suppose it is a Roman figure. The first trump was to strike their tents; the second trump was to get into marching order; the last trump was to march. How precious the thought that all is in readiness for the sounding of the last trump. We do not wait for death, nor do we look for signs. We wait for the Lord Himself; we listen for the last trump. Then the sorrows will cease, then the trials will end, then the wearied pilgrims will enter into the Father’s house and be forever with the Lord.
Oh, the joy of meeting Him! Who can express it? And the last trump is the announcement that the coming One has arrived, and we march to meet Him — or, as the Spirit puts it, “We are caught up to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17). How precious the thought that it is Himself who is coming: “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.” I am sure the longing in our souls must grow stronger for His coming again. Yet a little while longer, and the welcome note shall sound in the air. In a moment we shall be gone — caught up — changed — our bodies of humiliation, fashioned like His body of glory (Phil. 3:21), and we shall enter those courts above, to share glory forever. We shall be with Him who loved us and gave Himself for us, and to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
W. E.
The Trumpet Judgments
During the building of the wall around Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day, there was the trumpeter. “He,” says Nehemiah, “that sounded the trumpet was by me” (Neh. 4:18).
The use of the holy trumpets may be gathered from Numbers 10. It was for “the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.” Moreover, in times of war, “an alarm” was to be blown — an alarm which not only assembled the people, but also came up before God, called Him in — so that they might be saved from their enemies. And it was a command that only the priests should blow with the trumpets — only those who, from their nearness, had intelligence of and were in communion with the Lord’s mind. So here, he who sounded the trumpet was to be with Nehemiah, and, therefore, only to sound it at his master’s bidding. It was for Nehemiah to discern the moment to sound and for the trumpeter to catch the first intimation of Nehemiah’s mind and will. In like manner now, only those who are living in the enjoyment of their priestly privileges, in nearness to and in communion with the mind of Christ, know how to sound an alarm. To blow at their own will or on their own apprehensions of danger would only be to produce confusion, to call the builders away from their labors, and thus to do the work of the enemy. To be able to sound at the right moment, they must be with and having their eye upon their Lord.
E. Dennett
The Alarm of the Trumpet
In connection with bringing matters before the assembly, I have always heard it taught by those of a past generation that it took more than one voice to bring a matter before the assembly. One man could not stand up and say, “Now here is what we ought to do.” That was out of order; it took two voices. Brother Potter used to refer to the silver trumpets that were made in Numbers 10. It says that when they blew with the two trumpets, the whole assembly would be gathered together, but one trumpet brought the elders together. Brother Potter used to insist on that. So for one brother to attempt to call the assembly together really is not in accordance with the teaching of Scripture.
J. L. Erisman
The Use of Two Trumpets
The opening of the seventh seal is followed by silence in heaven for the space of half an hour; there is something intensely solemn in this. For long ages evil has been increasing, but at last God is about to intervene, and the silence of the ages will be broken by the trumpets of God that announce His judgments.
The judgments under the first seals had been of a providential character, but with the opening of the seventh seal, we see a more direct intervention of God. The sound of a trumpet would symbolize the fact that God is directly announcing that His judgments are about to fall upon man.
John sees seven angels standing before God, to whom seven trumpets are given. It would thus appear that the last seal embraces the whole period of the judgments under the seven trumpets and thus carries us up to the time under the seventh trumpet when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15-18).
The First Trumpet Judgment
This judgment under the first angel, sounding the first trumpet, falls upon the earth, probably used as a symbol to set forth an ordered and prosperous portion of the world in contrast to uncivilized nations set forth by the sea. The “third part” in this and the three following trumpet judgments would limit the judgment to a restricted area. From chapter 12:4 this would seem to indicate the sphere of the revived Roman Empire. It may be the western part of the Roman Empire in contrast to the sixth trumpet, which is connected with the Euphrates or eastern portion, while the seventh trumpet tells us of a universal judgment (Rev. 11:15-18).
This judgment falls upon the trees and green grass. Often in Scripture trees are used as a symbol to set forth great men of the earth, while the green grass speaks of prosperity. It would thus seem that this first trumpet judgment falls upon Europe, or western part of the Roman Empire, dealing in judgment with the leaders and sweeping away all prosperity.
The Second, Third and Fourth Trumpets
In the judgment of the second trumpet John saw “as it were a great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea.” In Scripture we know that a mountain is used to symbolize a great and long-established power. This trumpet would thus appear to foretell the overwhelming destruction of a great world power that in its fall will bring ruin and death upon a third part of the nations, as their channel of subsistence is destroyed through commerce being brought to a standstill by the destruction of the ships.
The judgment that follows the sounding of the third trumpet is symbolized by the fall of a great star upon the third part of the rivers. Does not a great star set forth some prominent leader of thought to whom men have looked for guidance? The fall of a great burning star would seem to indicate that in the judgment of God some intellectual leader is allowed to put forth false teaching which poisons the minds of men, bringing bitterness and moral death, or separation from God, upon a third part of the earth.
The judgment of the fourth trumpet is set forth under the figure of a third part of the sun, and moon and stars being smitten with darkness. The sun, moon and stars are used in Scripture to set forth different grades of governmental authorities ordained of God. Do not these symbols suggest that a third part of the political powers will be smitten, leaving people in darkness and confusion in every walk of life?
The Last Three Trumpet Judgments
The three last trumpet judgments are distinguished from the first four by the announcement of the angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to them that dwell upon the earth, for the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound” (Rev. 8:13 JnD).
It will be noticed that the first four trumpet judgments dealt more especially with the circumstances of life, symbolized by the trees, the rivers, the sun, moon and stars. The last three trumpet judgments are more severe and terrible in their character, inasmuch as they fall upon men rather than their circumstances. They bring woe to that special class referred to as dwellers upon the earth — those who, like Cain, go out from the presence of the Lord and seek to build a world without God.
In the times of these judgments God will seal as His own a great number from Israel, who will be preserved for the reign of Christ. The fifth trumpet judgment, or first woe, falls on “those men which have not the seal of God on their foreheads” — the apostate portion of the nation of Israel.
Satanic Delusion
This fearful judgment appears to be some Satanic delusion that darkens the minds of men. This evil teaching is set forth under the symbol of a swarm of locusts that, with irresistible power, sweep all before them leaving misery in their trail. The natural locusts destroy the grass and every green thing, and strip the trees. But the evil influence set forth by these symbolic locusts poisons the minds of men even as a scorpion poisons the body. To such mental misery will men be brought that they will seek death but not find it. The very people that were once called to be a witness to the true God will, through falling under this Satanic delusion, seek to find relief to their minds by attempting to throw off all knowledge of God.
This evil influence will affect men for a limited period, for the power to hurt will last only for five months. The leader in this terrible delusion will be Satan, the angel of the bottomless pit.
May we not conclude that the fifth and sixth trumpet judgments set forth the strong delusion of which the apostle Paul speaks in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12?
A Voice from the Golden Altar
A voice from the golden altar before God calls forth the sixth angel, or second woe judgment. This again reminds us that all these judgments are directed from heaven, and that evil in its fullness is restrained until the moment for judgment is come.
This judgment is very similar to the last; but this second woe is said to fall upon “the third part of men,” an expression which is used in chapter 12:4 to set forth the sphere of the Roman Empire, which would embrace professing Christendom.
The mention of the Euphrates would indicate that this judgment comes from the East, for this river is the natural barrier between the East and the West. It would seem that this barrier will be removed and some evil influence from the East will sweep over the sphere of professing Christendom. In result the third part of men are killed, setting forth, probably not physical death but that men are led into all the misery of apostasy, or moral death to God. Apparently there will be some that escape this terrible delusion, but even so they do not repent, for it is evident from the closing verse that as in the days before the flood the world will be given over to violence and corruption.
The Seventh Trumpet
For the sounding of the seventh trumpet, we must pass on to Revelation 11:14. It does not bring some fresh infliction similar to the preceding trumpets. Rather, great voices in heaven proclaim that which is the end of all God’s judgments — the establishment of the kingdom “of our Lord and of His Christ.” Here all man’s proud opposition is quelled and the reign of the Lord by His Anointed is established. Once established, His dominion abides.
The reaction in heaven, symbolized by the twenty-four elders, is one of worship, but on earth “the nations were angry” (Rev. 11:18), for man’s natural heart is unchanged. When the age of the gospel closes and wrath comes, bringing with it righteous judgment, it will extend over a long period, only ending in “the time of the dead that they should be judged” (Rev. 11:18)— the final scene of wrath at the great white throne.
All sin is destructive in one way or another. As man has become increasingly inventive and willful, his powers of destruction have increased. These false ideas reach into the moral, the political, even the material world, and today leading men are intoxicated with them, resulting in uncontrollable violence. “Them which destroy the earth,” (vs. 18) under cover of improving conditions, whether materially, socially or religiously, are becoming more and more numerous and powerful. The establishment of the glorious kingdom of our Lord will mean the destruction of all such. Then, at last, earth’s golden age will begin.
H. Smith (adapted)
Are You Ready?
A Lesson From the Roman Army
The morning appears on the distant hills,
A white fog curls up from the little rills,
And nothing is heard in the Roman camp,
Save the sleepers’ snore and the sentries’ tramp;
But hark! that sound, shrill, loud and clear,
As the trumpet’s notes fall on each sleeper’s ear.
From end to end of the camp resounds,
And away to the echoing hills rebounds;
A change now breaks on that quiet scene,
Bustle and life where rest had been,
As warriors step forth in their armor bright,
And greet the first rays of the dawning light.
The horses are saddled, the baggage is packed,
The tents are struck, and the tent poles stacked,
And cavalry, infantry, horses and men
Are ready, and waiting the march to begin;
But hark! again the trumpet’s din,
The camp is fired, and the ranks fall in.
And now they await, in unbroken array,
The trumpet’s loud peal, the third time that day,
’Tis heard; the third, the LAST great trump;
Ere its notes die away or its echoes die out,
A voice is heard; it demands, Are YOU ready?
In loud, cheerful tones they reply, We ARE ready.
But the time is coming, it hastens along,
It might be here ere tomorrow’s sun,
When the Lord Himself, with His heavenly shout
With archangel’s voice and the trumpet’s note,
Shall summon His saints to Himself in the air;
My reader or hearer, will you be there?
For that trumpet call can only be heard
By those who have known and received Him as Lord,
By those who have found that by simple faith,
In His precious blood poured out at His death,
That their SINS ARE FORGIVEN, their guilt put away,
Turned from darkness to light, made children of day.
“At the last trump” (for the trumpet shall sound,
And from end to end of the world rebound),
And the dead in Christ shall first rise, and we
Who are alive and remain on the earth shall be
Caught up together with them in the air.
My reader or hearer, will YOU be there?
C. Ε. T.