The reason we
are to picture these tragedies as trumpets is because they carry with them a
loud and piercing warning of a coming day when God’s judgment against the world
will be final. Every person who has remained an enemy of God through their
unbelief will receive the just reward for their sin and disobedience.[2]
If we are
alive to know about a disaster, we have heard God’s trumpet. Tsunami’s, floods,
famines, oil spills, earthquakes, pandemics, any event where some people die
and others are alive to know about it, are like trumpets in the orchestra of
God, reminding everyone that death comes to us all. As Scripture says, “…it is appointed for man
to die once, and after that comes judgment...””[3] Those who have died await judgment. Those who are alive hear a
trumpet warning them to “flee from the
wrath to come.”[4]
The trumpet
that brings disasters and tragedies to our attention is playing a dirge, a
mournful song of lament, because the curse of death has taken lives, and left
ruin and destruction in its path. The living cannot ignore what has happened to
others. Neither can they ignore that it did not happen to them. In the same way
as funeral music tells us that someone has died, and, at the same time, that we
are still alive to join in the memorial of grief, the trumpets sing a dirge to help
us mourn the dead, and to let the living know that death comes to us all.[5]
The trumpet’s
dirge is also gracious. God leaves us with many warnings of the greatest,
final, complete disaster that is coming on the world, and the good news of how
we can escape that coming judgment. The book of Revelation gives many symbols
of the disasters that will fill history books. It is also full of hope for
those who let history lead them to Jesus Christ.
As I
considered all this, I thought of a seasoned gun-fighter who grieves that a
young upstart wants to take him on. He tries to convince the youngster that it
is foolish and deadly, but to no avail. And so, upon drawing, the veteran shoots
the young fool in the shoulder of his gun-arm to convince him that he is not as
good as he thinks he is. The youngster’s injury is a lifetime reminder of his pride,
and of the seasoned gunfighter’s mercy. So too, God’s trumpets are a recurring
reminder of man’s pride that is destroying us, and of God’s mercy in inviting
us to forgiveness and cleansing through faith in Jesus Christ.
There is
coming a day when the return of Jesus Christ will be announced with a trumpet,
the trumpet of God.[6]
For those who belong to Jesus Christ, who will feel themselves rising up to
meet our Lord and Savior in the air, the trumpet blast will resonate in our
hearts like the most beautiful announcement of joy we have ever heard. Our
hearts will cry out, “Finally!” as we rise up into that joy that is “inexpressible and filled
with glory.”[7] For hearts that presently long for Jesus appearing,[8] that trumpet blast will be the best sound we have ever heard since
our hearts first received the new song of the kingdom of heaven.[9]
Earlier
in this post I mentioned that “…it is
appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…”[10] For those who are still God’s enemies at the time, that is not
a good picture. However, the verse continues with a wonderful hope. It says, “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will
appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting
for him.”[11]
This
post may not sound like a trumpet. However, please let its attempt at singing harmony
with the words of God lead you to see the wonder of how Jesus has graciously
dealt with sin in his first appearing. Repent and believe this good news,[12] so that his second appearing will sound like the most glorious
music you have ever heard, or felt.
From
my heart,
Monte
© 2013 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Revelation 8ff
[2]
Matthew 25; Revelation 20:11-15
[3]
Hebrews 3:27
[4]
Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7; (And yes, in spite of the stereotypes
of old men wearing sandwich boards announcing the end of the world, we are in
the end times, and the end of the world that means hope for God’s children,
also means final judgment for all those who do not belong to him.)
[5]
“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one
man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all
men because all sinned—“ (Romans 5:12)
[6]
“16 For the
Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ
will rise first. 17 Then
we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore encourage
one another with these words.” (I
Thessalonians 4)
[7]
I Peter 1:8
[8]
“waiting for our blessed
hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” (Titus 2:13)
[9] “He put a new song in my
mouth, a song of praise to our
God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.”
(Psalm 40:3); “9 And they
sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its
seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from
every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have
made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”
(Revelation 5)
[10]
Hebrews 9:27
[11]
Hebrews 9:28
[12]
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark
1:15)
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