From “Feast of Tabernacles,” Chapter 6- The Blowing of Trumpets: An Introduction to Tabernacles, continued
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TRUMPETS
“Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them…” (Num. 10:2). In the verses which follow it is clear what the blowing of the Trumpets signified to Israel:
1. Calling the assembly. (vs. 2)
2. Journeying of the Camps. (vs. 3-6)
3. Preparation for war. (vs. 9)
4. Celebration of the Feasts. (vs. 10)
We will deal with each of these later; but first, what about the significance of the “silver,” and the fact there were “two” trumpets? It is evident that “silver” in the Scriptures speaks of redemption. Whenever Israel was numbered, every man was required to give by way of ransom a half-shekel, and the money thus collected was used in the service of the sanctuary. (See Ex. 30:12-16; Lev. 25:48). The number “two,” as we have discovered, speaks of Christ in union with His people, the “one new man” who was “created in Himself.” Hence the significance of the blowing of the two silver trumpets on the first day of the seventh month. “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.” (Lev. 23:24). It is the day and hour of the fullness of redemption’s story, proclaimed in the power of the Holy Spirit by God’s people. Yes, the trumpets were blown for all the Feasts as their seasons came around; but there was a day and an hour when the blowing of the Trumpets took on what you might call a seasonal significance, hence a dispensational significance. And that hour is upon us. From the historical standpoint the Church has enjoyed her Passover and her Pentecost–and the age of Pentecost is now about to reach her glorious climax, giving way to the Feast of Ingathering. We stand now in fields “white unto harvest,” when the corn and wine and oil must be gathered in, and God is beginning to send forth his ministers as never before–for this is the Day of the blowing of Trumpets. As one age or dispensation draws to a close, and another follows, there is always that overlapping and merging of the one into the other. Thus the Law merged into Grace through the ministry of John the Baptist and that of Christ. And so it is, we believe, with the Feasts. Even as Pentecost draws to its climax, the Day of Trumpets is being ushered in. And even as the full glory of Pentecost is about to break upon us–so also the Trumpets are beginning to blow, heralding the coming of a still more glorious Feast. The Trumpet ministry, as we have mentioned, is fourfold:
1. CALLING THE ASSEMBLY (Num. 10:2)
Once again is the Lord raising up a John the Baptist ministry to declare the Day of the Lord, and the approaching Kingdom. Again there is the “voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord.” Again the cry goes forth from God’s anointed ministries everywhere for the saints to assemble themselves together in the unity of the Spirit, to cast aside their carnal sectarian ways, and to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. John on Patmos was caught away in the Spirit and heard the words of One like unto the Son of Man calling the seven churches, and the voice “was a great voice, as of a Trumpet.” (Rev. 1:10). With clarion call is the Lord now speaking unto His people through the various ministries which He hath established in the Body of Christ, calling the assembly together that they might hear “what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Not only does this refer to the seven churches of Asia, nor yet to the seven historical church periods from Pentecost until now–but it refers to the seven-fold church of this present day and hour. That is to say, He is addressing the complete Church of this day and hour in which we live, “seven” being the number of completion. With trumpet voice the Spirit calleth to His people everywhere: to patience, to love, to repentance, to endurance, to faith in Christ in the midst of Satanic opposition, to holiness of life. In this great Day of Trumpets we should all study carefully the first three chapters of Revelation, and pay heed to their trumpet-like appeal to the people of God. They constitute the burden of the Spirit to God’s people everywhere, wooing them to repentance, and promising them great and mighty things if they will “overcome” the world, the flesh, and the Devil. “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness…” (Isa. 58:1, 2). This is no time for pretty sermons and soothing words to a backslidden and corrupt Church; this is the Day of Trumpets. GHW
Complacency, or a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements, can lure us into letting down our guard, not realizing that our self-adulation opens the gates for the enemy to enter unopposed. Of all the letters written to the churches in Revelation, the one most revealing of the complacency in Christendom is the letter to the church at Laodicea. In Revelation 3:17-19, Jesus tells this church,
17‘Because you say, ” I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19‘ Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
Bro. Warnock is right in saying, “This is no time for pretty sermons and soothing words to a backslidden and corrupt Church; this is the Day of Trumpets.”
Late Harvest Wesleyan Ministries 