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Apostle Paul tells us that we are to be ready to preach “in season” (2nd Tim. 4:1–2), translated from καιρός kairos (Strong’s lexicon No. G2540), the Greek word used for the appointed times of God. Because this is the “season” of יוֹם תְּרוּעָה Yom Teruah (Num. 29:1), this is the focus of today’s talk.
We will get to hear the sound of the trumpet if we respond to the Messiah’s call of salvation first. The blowing of the trumpets gives us an idea of what God has in mind. We might seem unimportant to those in the world but God has a job for all of us to do.
Texts: Num. 10:1-10, 29:1-6; Matt. 24:31-36; 1st Cor. 15:52; Psa. 98; 1st Thess. 4:13-18; Psa. 47:5; Rev. 1:10; 4:1; 8:7-9:21; Heb. 12:18-24
The trumpets were blown for several reasons:
- Assembly. If two trumpets blown, all the congregation shows up, if one trumpet is blown, only the elders or leaders gather.
- War. Specifically, trumpet blasts would gather the people to prepare for defensive war, if an outside oppressor invades the land.
- Appointed times, aka feasts, festivals or convocations. They are also supposed to also blown during times of gladness of joy.
Yeshua in Matt. 24:31 says that there will be the sound of one trumpet, not two or more trumpets, to gather the elect. 1st Cor. 15:52 also mentions the sound of one last trumpet, which the dead who are in the Messiah will hear. Those who are alive in the Messiah will also hear it. Those who are not in the Messiah will see His coming but they will not hear the trumpet because He is not gathering all the world, but only those who are connected to Him.
We are also told that the trumpets are sounded for war. Not everyone goes to war, though. God says to call only 1,000 per tribe, a total of 12,000. If every single able-bodied man went to war and the Israelites won, then the army would want to take credit for victory. If there is only a selected, predetermined number of men going to war, then God gets the credit for the victory.
Joel tells us that there will be a trumpet blown in Zion, not for joy but for war. God is warning that Zion will tremble in fear. The first place that will face judgement and correction is Zion, not Jerusalem.
In Matthew 24, Yeshua tells us how the world will be as His coming comes closer. Yeshua said,
“As in the Days of Noah, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day when Noah entered the ark and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away so the coming of the Son of Man will be.” (Luke 17:26–27)
We have this idea that the generation of Noah’s generation was the zenith of evil, but that is not what Yeshua is telling us here. The Flood did not cleanse the world of sinfulness. Noah and his family did not exit that ark with the perfection of the pre-Fall Adam by any stretch.
What Yeshua is telling us is that they were living the same kind of normal lives that we live: eating meals, drinking, marriage and weddings. These things in and of themselves are not evil but they were distracted and the Flood caught them by surprise and they were washed away.
That is how the world of the final days will be: eating, drinking and marriage. They will be going about their normal lives at that time and just as those in Noah’s day were caught unaware, so were they.
Revelation elaborates on this over and over. Some of the passages use the theme of the blowing of the trumpet in alarm and for war.
In Hebrews, the author tells us that when Yeshua comes, the world will be in fear, just as those who were at Mt. Sinai at the giving of the Torah were terrified. Just as the Israelites could not bear to hear the commands of the Lord, those outside of Messiah Yeshua will also be unable to bear the sound of the trumpet and His words.
There is a way to be ready for that final trumpet: living by “every word that comes out of the mouth of God” (Deut. 8:3).
Banner Image: The Apocalypse triptych by Meister Bertram von Minden, painted circa 1380, currently housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, UK
Speaker: Richard Agee. Summary: Tammy.