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"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."
FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 105
THE SOUNDING
OF THE TRUMPETS
And when he had opened the seventh seal, there
was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour
and the seven angels which had
the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound (Rev. 8:1,6).
This vision reveals the
great truth that in the outworking of Gods kingdom purposes, first something happens
in the heavens, and then as a consequence, certain events take place on earth. John
sees seven angels standing before God. It is a heavenly, celestial scene!
There in the high and holy presence of God and His throne seven trumpets are given to the
seven angels, and they prepare themselves to sound. As each trumpet sounds there are
solemn and marvelous events that transpire in the earth, the sea, upon the rivers and
fountains of water, and in the heavens that govern the earth man. Every divine
action that affects the earth realm begins in the heavenly, celestial realm! The
sounding of the trumpets heralds and initiates the next step in Gods great
redemptive and restorative program!
The central portion of
the book of Revelation to which we now come, may be likened to a drama in three acts
the Seals, the Trumpets, and the Vials. Each act of the drama brings to us a
view of the same landscape, but every time we come afresh to it the view is widened by the
fact that we regard it from a greater height and further stage of development. With
the breaking of the seventh seal we expect the end, the final consummation, for now the
book of life within us is fully open and all the seals are broken! We would suppose
the work of God is now fully accomplished, yet the end does not come. John pauses
but for a moment before launching on a new series of visions introduced by the seven
trumpets, which in turn are followed by the pouring out of the seven vials and the events
which follow. As we look at these three acts of the drama it is clear that each in
some measure touches and affects the same realms the heavens, the earth, and the
sea. So here we too pause, and ask what we are to make of this unique scheme of
things!
We would deprive
ourselves of infinite treasure should we refrain from investigating the deep meaning of
the three series of visions the seven Seals, the seven Trumpets, and the seven
Vials. Does series follow series merely for emphasis, or can some difference be
discerned between them? There is a remarkable difference! The breaking of the
seals is an unveiling, thus denoting revelation. It should be observed that with the
breaking of the respective seals, nothing is said about reading anything from the book
which is being opened. The events which accompany the breaking of the seals one
after another are not represented as being read they are dramatic scenes vividly
enacted before the Seers vision opening to his mind and spirit the revelation of
how, the revelation of the process by which the Christ is brought forth into full
manifestation in and through each member of Gods called and chosen elect. Thus
the Lamb in proceeding to break the seals begins His work as a Revealer!
Can we not see by this
that the seals are the revelation of how the Lamb progressively brings forth the
manifestation of the Christ life in the experience of each member of the body of
Christ. Actually, as I see it, nothing really happens when the seals are loosed
except the dawning of spiritual understanding within ourselves. Here the revelation,
the blueprint, of Gods great and glorious purpose in us is made known to us!
This is purely revelation! Nothing ever happens in our lives until first we receive
a quickening, an understanding, a revelation! No man can come to Christ and trust
Him as Saviour until first he has received by revelation (spiritual quickening, awakening)
the awareness of his need and Gods gracious provision of reconciliation, redemption,
and transformation through Jesus Christ. Very few have received healings, miracles,
answers to prayer, baptism in the Holy Spirit, gifts, or any other blessing and benefit
until first the revelation divinely broke within their consciousness of the availability
of these wonderful provisions. All things are received by faith, and faith comes
only by hearing the word of God. The principle is clear the man who has
received no revelation of sonship to God cannot become a manifest son of God! God
has a beautiful plan for everything. Revelation is the prerequisite for initiation,
as initiation is the harbinger of consummation!
The breaking of the
seals is to reveal things that have been concealed, or unknown to us; trumpets, on the
contrary, are to announce new things, summon armies, initiate movement of the camp, call
the Lords people to His great feasts, and in all things to give the signal for
change and transformation. No more delay! The hour has come! When the
trumpets sound, the Lord sets His hand to commence the accomplishment of all that was
revealed through the loosing of the seals!
The seven seals then give us the introduction to the Lords work in us all
that was revealed by the opening of the seals of revelation now, as the trumpets sound,
begins to be inwrought and accomplished experientially in our lives. Beyond the
seals lie the trumpets, and beyond the trumpets lie the vials which also may be contrasted
with the seals and the trumpets. The opening of the seals is the key to the book,
for when they are opened, the book is. Yet we have merely seen by revelation what
God is going to do! The seals break to us the revelation; the trumpets then usher
in the initiation, inauguration, and accomplishment of the work, raising up within
Gods elect the reality we have so clearly seen by revelation, conforming us to the
full stature of manifest sonship. Finally, the vials bring the result of Gods
work in us to and upon the whole creation of God, producing the FINISHED PRODUCT!
Therefore we may say that John beheld the seals of revelation opened; he heard the
trumpets of initiation and accomplishment in Gods firstfruit company, sounding their
herald; and then the vials of consummation bringing an end in all realms to everything
that opposes the kingdom, establishing the nature, life, wisdom, glory, and power of God
from the lowest sea to the highest heaven. What a mighty God we serve!
Many
commentators on the book of Revelation teach that the seven trumpets are contained in the
seventh seal in other words, the seven trumpets proceed out of the seventh seal and
are, therefore, the events of the seventh seal. They further teach that the seven
vials are contained in the seventh trumpet, or proceed out of the seventh trumpet
and are, therefore, the events of the seventh trumpet. I see no ground for believing
that. On the contrary, the vision of the seven seals was finished before John saw
the seven trumpets, and the seven trumpets all sounded before he saw the seven
vials. The same is true in their spiritual fulfillment within us! If we can
insert the seven trumpets into the seventh seal and the seven vials into the seventh
trumpet then all are the contents of the seventh seal. In my mind that destroys the
whole scheme of the revelation! What would be the object of having the seven
trumpets and seven vials if they are not different from the mere contents of the
seals? Why not make the rest of the Revelation also come out of the seals? Yet
the real truth of the matter is far deeper than this!
THE SEVEN TRUMPETS
It is odd what strange
notions some people get concerning the meaning of scriptures they read in the Bible.
As a young boy I was brought up in a church system that taught that every word in the
Bible was to be taken literally, and that the word trumpet, where it appears
in the book of Revelation, referred to a literal angel blowing an actual trumpet at the
end of this age, announcing terrible judgments to be poured out upon the world.
Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth than such a crude and carnal
notion. When Jesus said that He was the Vine and His disciples were the branches, He
certainly did not mean that He was a literal vine growing out of the earth and that they
were literal branches. When He told His disciples that they were the salt of
the earth, He certainly did not mean that they literally were sodium chloride!
The Bible is full of symbols and figures of speech, and Jesus spoke in such allegorical,
parabolic, and spiritual terms that it is said of Him, without a parable spake He
not unto them (Mat. 13:34). The term trumpet is a symbol of
victory, battle, warfare, movement, feasts, deliverance, and a number of other
meanings. The word trumpet appears approximately one hundred times in
the Bible. In the Old Testament the word is found about eighty-five times, while in
the New Testament it occurs only about fifteen times. The first mention of trumpets
is recorded in the book of Exodus, the last in the book of Revelation.
Multitudes of the Lords people throughout the earth are filled with fear and dread
when they read or think about the events connected with the blowing of the trumpets in
Revelation. Because they read the scriptures and understand them only with the
natural, carnal mind, they miss the wonderful and deeply spiritual message that can only
be understood by the spiritual mind. When they read of hail and fire mingled with
blood being cast into the earth, burning up the grass and the trees, the seas turning to
blood, the waters made bitter, the sun, moon, and stars smitten, locusts swarming out of
the abyss tormenting men so that they seek death but cannot find it, they are completely
overwhelmed with anxiety, consternation, and foreboding.
There are many who feel
that every earth-shaking event that shocks the public must be a sign of the
end-time, and we must make certain that we are prepared for the doom
day which is upon us. Millions of Christians suffer from a malady called
Doomsday Syndrome. They constantly fear what the future holds,
believing that the great tribulation or the end of the world is
upon us. Hardly a day goes by that we dont hear some doomsday disciple
pronouncing imminent judgment and damnation. Babylons preachers and teachers
continually have a hey-day with sensational world events, trying to make them fit the
fulfillment of specific Bible prophecies, speculating about their meaning, projecting,
predicting, and even prophesying about their outcome, and never apologizing for all their
past mistakes and erroneous conclusions. Almost every year another super-disaster
hoax is perpetrated upon gullible Christians.
No matter what you have
been hearing about the dark and dreadful things to come upon the earth, let me tell you
something about the doomsday prophecies that keep coming year after year and decade after
decade. Sherlock Holmes once solved a famous murder case by noticing what did not
happen. He observed that the victims dog did not bark on the night of the
crime. Therefore the dog and hence the victim must have known the
assailant. The rest was easy. So it is with the so-called
end-time events! What hasnt happened is significant. For
instance, a great economic crash mindlessly foretold by the parrots of pessimism year
after year has tremendous significance by its very absence! Despite all the prophets
of gloom and doom the communists have not taken over the world, the Roman empire has not
been revived by a ten-nation European Union, America has not been invaded, California has
not fallen into the ocean, the new currency printed by the United States Treasury proved
not to be a conspiracy to confiscate everybodys money, the mark of the beast has not
come via a cashless money system, the government has not declared martial law, the
churches have not been closed, Clinton was not our last president, the Antichrist (as
people think of him) is nowhere to be seen, communist Russia did not invade Israel, we
have not been laser-tattooed with 666 on the forehead, Y2K went the way of all flesh and
the folks who fled to remote areas with their generators, out-houses, guns, and stockpiles
of food had plenty to eat for a while before creeping back into civilization and
the sons of God continue to be processed and matured for the Day of Unveiling! Only
the word of the Lord has stood! All the false prophets have been proven liars, and
God alone is true!
In my files over the
past thirty years I have purposely saved booklets and papers in which people have set
dates for devastating tidal waves, killer earthquakes, the collapse of the money system,
the fall of America, the so-called rapture of the church, the appearance of
the antichrist, and a host of other ominous events. I refer to these prophecies and
predictions from time to time, and with the passing of time their falseness is starkly
evident, for not one single prophecy of gloom and doom has come to pass! Ah,
Sherlock Holmes, what hasnt happened is significant! All these doomsday
apocalyptic pictures of the end of the age, the antichrist, the great tribulation, etc.,
are based upon carnal-minded interpretations of certain prophecies in the Bible which have
nothing whatever to do with the unfolding of the kingdom of God in the earth, are
completely irrelevant to Gods great purposes in this hour, and simply do not enter
into the equation at all. They are founded upon a confusion of thought a
failure to understand the scriptures by the Spirit!
You cannot teach the
book of Revelation as doctrine. It is not a book of doctrine! It is a book of
spiritual pictures and experiential realities! The book of Revelation is not meant
to be preached, it is meant to be experienced! That is the only way to really
understand and know it. We truly grasp it as it happens within us! We must
read and keep (fulfill within ourselves) the words of the prophecy of this book, in order
to receive the promises in it (Rev. 1:3). Remember that Israel was armed too with
seven trumpets which they sounded against their enemies in order to inherit the land of
Canaan (Josh. 6:13,20). In this hour Gods elect are called to act like Joshua
and Caleb who had faith in the promises of God made to Israel and did not look to their
weakness and to the strength of their enemies before them, as did the unbelieving
spies.
Through the unbelief of the ten spies the whole congregation of Israel was turned back
from the onward march of victory, and had to retreat and fell into shame, punishment, and
death. These ten spies were men of high honor. They were rulers chosen
by the Lord for His tribes, but they forfeited their high calling to conquer their enemies
in the land and raise up the kingdom of God in the earth, because of their sin of
unbelief. They refused to sound the trumpets of Gods command and march forward
in the sound of those trumpets to attain the promises. This experience of Israel is
the lesson now laid out before us in the sounding of the trumpets of the Revelation,
through which we must believe the word of our Father unto us in this new day of the
kingdom, pressing on in to conquer all our enemies within and without which prevent us
from inheriting the promises of the Father to those apprehended to become the manifest
sons of God, being conformed to the image of the firstborn Son, putting on the mind of
Christ, thus inheriting the power, authority, dominion, and glory of rulership with Christ
in His kingdom!
PREPARED TO SOUND
Now consider the scene! Seven angels are prepared to blow seven trumpets!
Seven trumpets are about to sound! In chapter five of the Revelation we find a lamb,
as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of
God, sent forth into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). Then we find that out of the
throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire
burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God (Rev. 4:5). Take
note that the horns and the eyes are in the Lamb that is in the throne. The seven
spirits of God originate from the Lamb in the throne! But they are sent forth
into all the earth (Rev. 5:6). Thus there is an emanation out of the throne of
the seven-fold spirit of the Lord, that radiates out until it penetrates and fills all the
earth and every dimension of creation. The seven lamps of fire which burn before the
throne are the first aspect of that emanation! Let us grasp the picture! The
horns and eyes of the Lamb, which are the seven spirits of God, are in the throne.
By this we can understand that the seven spirits of God issue out of the very nature and
authority of God in the Lamb! But the light of the seven lamps or candlesticks,
which are also the seven spirits of God, burn before the throne. There has now been
movement, for both that which is in the throne and that which is before the throne are the
seven spirits of God which eventually are sent forth from before the throne
into all the earth!
In consideration of
these beautiful truths it will be instructive to look again at the significant scene in
chapter eight of the Revelation. And I saw seven angels which stood before
God; and to them were given seven trumpets (Rev. 8:2). Before God!
Before the throne! Is it not clear that the position of the seven angels is
identical with the position of the seven lamps of fire, which are the seven spirits?
The great truth is that these are the same seven angels of the seven churches!
Therefore, the sound of their trumpets is a sound that comes out of the midst of
Gods elect! Consider this, my beloved. Seven lamps of fire are burning
before the throne. And now there are seven angels, and they are standing before the
throne. Furthermore, the seven angels are given seven trumpets a seven-fold
message. They are sounding forth a word! As you study chapter eight you will
see that these trumpet sounds go forth into three dimensions the sea, the earth,
and the heavens. Oh, yes! These are the seven spirits of God sent forth into
all the earth!
Can you not see by this that the seven angels are also the seven spirits? The seven
trumpets they blow are the seven-fold creative word of God which issues forth out of the
spirit in the Lords apprehended people. Oh, how wonderful are these
things! As you follow these seven angels all the way through the book of
Revelation, you will find that their relationship is to everything that happens to the
three realms men live in upon earth. They sound the trumpets that affect the
earth-realm. These same angels pour out the vials that affect the earth-realm.
Follow these seven angels and you will see how they are identified with every activity of
God that affects the earth-realm! The sound of their trumpets is the seven spirits
of God sent forth into all the earth in the power of a creative word! Oh, the
wonder of it!
We are told that these
angels prepared themselves to sound. In what did their preparation
consist? In that preparation, as John saw it in the picture, we would have to
include the erecting of the figure, the standing upon the feet, grasping the instrument,
the bending of the arm, and adjusting of the head, the inflating of the lungs, the
swelling of the cheeks, and the pressing of the trumpet firmly to the mouth. All of
this, and much more, were necessary to the production of a clear, far-reaching, and
reverberating sound. Without that preparation there could not be the intelligent and
effective blowing of the trumpets. Oh, yes! The trumpeting of a message
requires preparation. Today I hear many saying that there is nothing more to do in
order to become the manifest sons of God just wait upon the Lord, they say,
and one day, when Gods hour arrives, we will be magically changed, glorified, and
manifested. There are others today who are trumpeting messages who have not prepared
themselves! If you have ever heard a high school band play you know that they are
amateurs.. There is often a bit of discord in the sound of the music. I have
heard many trumpet messages across the land that spiritually sounded worse
than any high school band I ever heard! I have heard trumpet messages, even among
those who profess to be the sons of God, which to my spirit were naught but a raucous,
screeching, clamorous, discordant noise.
Those who played in the Big Bands of the early and mid twentieth century were accomplished
musicians. Do you think they got there automatically? Those men and
women spent years practicing, every day staying true to their craft, and to the talent God
had invested in them. They perfected that gift through exercise, going beyond the
ordinary effort and toil of everyone else that picked up a musical instrument. They
became masters of their art through discipline, through struggle, through hours of
dedication and unswerving commitment to that which God had placed in their souls.
When the concert opened there was no uncertain sound! There were no discordant
notes, no dissonance! Those who blew the horns and bowed the violins had prepared
themselves to sound! They had practiced the music until it became a part of them
they were in fact themselves the music! Thats what it means to prepare
to sound the messenger becomes the message. When we become the message, then,
and only then, are we truly prepared to sound! When we finally blow the horn we
have something to say and we say it by what we are, more than by what we speak!
The trumpets are
sounded within us by the seven-fold anointing (angels) of the spirit, and we hear them,
not with our external, fleshly ears, but with those greater and more meaningful
ears of the spirit! And if Father has given us hearing ears,
or spiritual ears, to hear the sounds of His trumpets, then we will hear them indeed and
be empowered to experience within ourselves all they call us to! Seeing that the
trumpets are spiritual trumpets sounding first within our spirit, later through us as the
Lords trumpet people, it follows that the preparation for their sounding is likewise
something that takes place within us by the spirit. The preparation comes as Christ
is raised up in our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit! It is the word of the
Lord finding a lodging place and responsiveness in our lives, becoming established
as the law of our life. It means separation from all other voices, heart-felt
consecration and commitment to the ways of our Father, and the inflating of the whole
personality with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit!
With a simple knowledge
like this we should have no trouble at all in understanding that our blessed Lord Jesus
Christ, the Logos of God, is Himself the seven-fold trumpet, the message, the revelation,
and the power! In type Jesus is the trumpet of God, delivering a clear sound, a
living word, introducing us to the reality of the perfection and incorruptible life of
which He is the beginning. Praise God, it is the Lord Himself who comes in the
trumpet-message, and at the sound of His voice we are changed with Him to share the glory
of His sphere of life. Remember it is the Lamb in the throne who has the
seven spirits of God, which seven spirits are also the seven lamps of fire burning before
the throne and the seven angels standing before the throne sounding the seven
trumpets! Oh, the mystery of it! The Lord Himself descends out from the
highest realms of our heavens (spirit) into the lower realms of our earth. We are
the creatures God is creating to express His nature, power, and glory unto creation.
His purpose for coming out of the realm of spirit into our earth (soulish realm) and into
our sea (body realm) is to catch our whole being up into the realm of spirit, to swallow
up all death into HIS LIFE! And He accomplishes this by coming to us in a
trumpet-message, the Living Word of God! It is the living, creative word that
changes us!
SEVEN TRUMPETS
Let us look a little deeper into the meaning of the seven trumpets. The figure of
the trumpets is taken from the Old Testament, and hence we must go back to the Old
Testament for a full understanding. There were different kinds of trumpets under the
Israelite economy. There was first the trumpet of Gods law, when God
manifested Himself in awesome righteousness, in terrible majesty and power. When
Yahweh appeared on the summit of Sinai, there was the voice of the trumpet exceeding
loud, so that all the people in the camps trembled (Ex. 19:16). There was a
military trumpet which summoned the armies of Israel to battle against their enemies (Num.
10:9; Jer. 4:19). There was also the musical trumpet which, like all the other
trumpets, was a wind instrument, which formed a part of the temple orchestra (Ps. 98:6;
150:3). This trumpet was never used in the synagogue service, but always in the
service of the holy temple. In addition to these, there was the sacrificial trumpet
which was blown over the burnt offerings and peace offerings while they were being
presented, announcing to the people outside that reconciliation with God was being
established (Num. 10:10; Lev. 23:24; 25:9). Further, there was the royal trumpet
which was only blown when a new king was anointed and crowned. When Solomon was made
king the trumpet was blown and the shout went up, God save the king! (I Kings
1:34,39; II Kings 9:13). The trumpet of jubilee was also a significant trumpet in
Israel, but only once in every fifty years. Those who were privileged to hear that
trumpet were blessed indeed, for it proclaimed their liberty from all debts and servitude
(Lev. 25:8-12). At the sound of that trumpet all shackles fell from the arms and
feet of the prisoners, and all who had been in bondage returned to their possessions and
their families. During the year of jubilee the people ate of the increase of their
fields and rejoiced with joy unspeakable.
Another important
trumpet was the trumpet of solemn assembly which called all the representative men of the
whole assembly of Israel to the door of the tabernacle, to receive the instructions of the
Lord. Then there was the trumpet of forward movement which was blown when it was
time to break camp and move on to another place at the word of the Lord (Num.
10:3-7). There was also the festal trumpet which called the Lords people to
each of the seven great feasts of Yahweh. There was another trumpet used in Israel,
and it might be called the trumpet of the seventh month. It was blown for one day
only, and that on the first day of the seventh month, and then the whole day was given up
to it. That trumpet called the people to rest, for on that day they ceased from all
their labors and kept holy sabbath. The blowing of these trumpets announced the
beginning of the civil year. It corresponded to our New Years day. It
also ushered in the seventh month of the religious year with its three feasts of trumpets,
atonement, and tabernacles. It is claimed by many that the seventh month trumpet was
the most significant of them all!
With these facts before
us, what is our conclusion concerning the meaning of the seven trumpets in the book of
Revelation? They are truly a figure from the types and shadows of Old Testament
economy, and in the light that the Spirit now brings they are not difficult to
understand. Are they the trumpets of the law? Then they call us to be awakened
to the law or nature of God which He is putting in our minds and writing upon our
hearts!
Are they the musical trumpets of the temple worship? Then they call us to prayer, to
the high praises of God at all times and every situation, to worship in spirit and in
truth, and to the new song that springs forth out of the hearts of the overcoming
sons of God! Men have done all sorts of things and called it worship, and many have
even enjoyed the ecstasy of a realm of spiritual worship where, because of the thrill,
release, and glory of it, rather than truly worshipping the Lord in spirit and in
truth have instead worshipped worship! Those who experience the deep work of this
trumpet rise above all fear, frustration, doubts, depression, and unbelief, recognizing
the hand of God in all that happens in their lives, acknowledging that our great and
glorious Father is absolutely in control of everything that comes our way, and that
He divinely, purposefully, and wisely directs all our steps according to His infinite plan
and purpose. The Lords called and chosen elect who have spiritual ears to hear
this trumpet have come out of the old order religious systems of man with their programmed
and controlled worship to now worship the Father freely in the high places of
the spirit! No longer is it the command of men to raise the hands, clap, dance, and
praise the Lord, but it is a deep, awesome reverence that springs from the spirit and
flows forth unto God. This worship no longer draws attention to the worshipper, nor
yet to the beauty and glory of worship itself, but glorifies the Lord alone, always.
In the lives of Gods apprehended ones in this great Day of the Lord, the Father is
cutting off everything we thought to be worship and leaving us void that we might
really recognize true worship as it is spontaneously energized by the Spirit of God!
Are the trumpets
of Revelation the festal trumpets? Then they call us to follow on to know the Lord
in His feasts! How precious the knowledge that we have a God who hungers, thirsts,
deeply desires to feast with His people! The feast means that God and man are
brought together, the Lord appears unto man to associate Himself with him in an intimate
manner, in an extremely close relationship. There were seven feasts given to Israel,
just as there are seven trumpets in the Revelation. The three primary feasts
were the feast of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. A feast involves an
appointed day, a public assembly at a fixed time or season. The feast days were
times when Israel kept divine appointments; times when they assembled before the Lord;
times when they met with God in the revelation of His great purposes. All their
worship centered around these religious festivals. Our Father has also set some
appointments for us, and He expects us to keep them! Only by keeping all these
divine appointments can we meet with Him or know and experience Him in all His glorious
and eternal reality. The sublime truth is not merely that we are called to appear
before Him in His great spiritual feasts, but that HE COMES to the feasts! HE
APPEARS in the feasts! In Passover we meet the Saviour; in Pentecost we meet the
Spirit as the firstfruits of our inheritance; in Tabernacles we meet the Father in all the
fullness of God! There is a complete salvation that God has ordained for His sons,
in spirit, in soul, and in body. These feasts provide it all! All the feasts
of the Lord are necessary for a full salvation! Ah, as we hear the trumpets blow
spiritually in our walk with God they will call us to His feasts, and as we appear before
Him in all His feasts we are transformed in His presence, they are bringing us to our full
sonship to God!
Are the seven trumpets
of Johns vision the military trumpets? Then they call us to battle with every
enemy of the Christ life, to warfare against the carnal mind, all fleshly desires, every
vestige of self-will, the bondages of religion, the limitations of the natural man, and
every cunning working of sin and death. Our enemies are not outside of us, my
beloved, they are not the world, the church systems, our boss, our spouse, our neighbor,
or the government. Oh, no! The only enemies any of us have are right here
within us, and it is here that the Lords chosen people are learning to cast down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge (knowing) of
God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Cor.
10:5).
Are the seven trumpets the royal trumpets? Then they proclaim the fact that a new
King is on the throne of our lives and that a new reign has begun within us! The
kingdom of God is being raised up within a people who are called and are being perfected,
matured, transformed, and prepared to rule and reign with Christ over the nations!
Are the trumpets of the Revelation the sacrificial trumpets? Then they reveal that
those who are pressing on into the fullness of God have now presented their bodies as a
living sacrifice unto God, holy and acceptable unto Him. Are they the trumpets of
forward movement? Then they proclaim the great truth that in our journey into our
promised land of fullness of sonship to God we have not ever, nor do we now, settle down
in any religious system of man, nor in any calling, ministry, revelation, order, or any
spiritual realm of attainment we have come to in God. There are people who claim to
be in this walk of sonship and the kingdom, but the sad truth is, theyre not!
At least they are not in the message and dealings of the Father that we have received and
are experiencing! They are too comfortable. They are too content. They
are too satisfied. They are too relaxed. They are too set in their ways, too
settled down in an order that is even now ready to pass away! And you cant get
them to move even if their life depends upon it! I tell you, my beloved, wherever we
are camped at this moment in our spiritual experience, we must have our spiritual
ear tuned for the sound of the trumpet, ready at any moment to break camp and
press forward into the next move of God!
Are they the jubilee
trumpets? Then they proclaim liberty to the captives, health to the sick, strength
to the weak, comfort to the sorrowing, joy to the sad, sight to the spiritually blind,
healing to the spiritually lame, understanding and wisdom to all who lack, liberty to
every prisoner of sin, limitation, and death, and glory, authority and overcoming power to
every man who rises up in the spirit to return to His former estate and full inheritance
in God!
Are they the trumpets of the seventh month? Then they announce that just as the
Lords people have experienced the spiritual feasts of Passover and Pentecost, the
hour has now come to celebrate the last feast, the feast of Tabernacles, and all that it
speaks of. The feast of Tabernacles is a further realm and a higher dimension than
has been apprehended by any except the firstborn Son of God! Pentecost is only
the firstfruits of the Spirit, but Tabernacles is the full harvest
FULLNESS! Oh, yes, our gracious Father shall surely give unto the elect sons of God
the FULLNESS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD which rested and now rests upon our resurrected,
glorified, ascended, and enthroned forerunner. Blessed are they that are called to
this great feast, that which supersedes Pentecost, that which is the balance of the meal
of which Passover and Pentecost were merely the first courses. This Tabernacles
feast, being the last, shall bring perfection! It will bring the consummation of
our salvation, spirit, soul, and body! As we leave this feast in great strength,
those who will be in control of this planet from that time forth will be abiding in the
fullness of RESURRECTION LIFE it shall mean a new day of hope and deliverance and
glory for the whole earth as the Lord moves through His body of manifest sons to deliver
the entire creation from the bondage of corruption the tyranny of sin,
sickness, sorrow, limitation, and death. Arent you glad!
It is abundantly clear that the seven trumpets of the Revelation embody within
themselves ALL that the trumpets of God signify throughout the entire word of God!
All the trumpets in the scriptures are models, prophetic pointers to the heavenly and
spiritual trumpets of the new covenant. In these trumpets we see Gods perfect
number, His complete, all-inclusive number SEVEN. All that God will say to
His elect, and do in His elect, as we walk with Christ and grow up into our full spiritual
stature as sons of the Father, will be sounded from these trumpets! At one time it
will be the call to true spiritual prayer, praise, and worship, while at another time it
will be the trumpet calling the camp to war, to rise up in the might of God to defeat all
our enemies! In years past we heard the sound of the trumpets calling us to the
spiritual feasts of Passover and Pentecost, and now in this new day of the Lord we are
hearing the seventh trumpet calling us to arise and gather unto the feast of Tabernacles,
the feast of His fullness! Oh! There are so many trumpets, and in the seven
trumpets of the Revelation we hear them all line upon line, precept upon precept, until we
are changed into His likeness, for they each call us onward to the very fullness of that
life which He is!
THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPETS
If you make a study of trumpets in the scriptures you will discover that the sound of a
trumpet represents the word of the Lord. It is His voice communicating a specific
word to man. The trumpets blow a specific message. It is not a general word,
nor an uncertain sound, nor yet a trumpet sound swallowed up in the harmony of the various
instruments of an orchestra, but a specific and clear word from God. Thats the
main thought with trumpets the word is clear! The sound pierces the air
with the sense of awesomeness. Its a clear, resonant sound, it comes in power,
with enlightenment, opening a revelation in your spirit, and producing the effect of that
revelation in your being. Just one word from the Lord can change our life
forever! It is an announcement, a creative purpose of God proclaimed, put into
action, to bring about a certain transformation within us. Remember that the
messengers were given seven trumpets. They are given the trumpets from
the Lamb upon the throne! Those who have received their trumpet-message directly
from the Lamb on the throne will not blow an uncertain sound, for they receive their word
directly from Him who is the way, the truth, and the life. Such is the
trumpet sound we are hearing in these days, and have been hearing for a number of years,
as the word of the Lord is sounding forth clearly and powerfully in the message of sonship
and the kingdom of God! Isnt it wonderful!
Let us take heed how we
hear, and how we speak, and what we speak! The order of man is passing.
How? BY THE SOUNDING OF THE TRUMPETS! By the very word of our mouth, because
of HIM who speaks out of us! We might compromise the message and bear a message of
appeasement to the old order of the religious systems, but what would that
accomplish? If a trumpeter blows an uncertain sound, how will you know to prepare
yourself? If the trumpeter has no message, how is he going to speak? If he has
a weak or false message, the truly spiritual ear will detect the screeching,
discordant note and reject the sound. I have had to reject many sounds that I have
heard among Gods people!
The seven trumpets are
like the seven eyes, seven horns, seven stars, and seven spirits they are the
seven-fold fullness of Gods trumpet-message, the declaration, proclamation of the
process of His victory wrought out experientially within each of us! Seven angels
sound the seven trumpets. Who are they? THEY ARE THE LORD! It is the
Lord in His people, of course, but it is the Lord! Know this, and you will possess a
great key to the book of Revelation. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ! So
when someone shows up under a symbol, doing something that originates with God, who do you
suppose it is? Why, bless your heart, IT IS THE LORD! The Lord Jesus said in
chapter one, Behold, I come quickly. And throughout the book He comes,
and He comes, and He comes, and He continues to come! He comes as a
trumpet-voice. He comes as a Lion. He comes as a Lamb. He comes as
seven spirits. He comes as seven angels, messengers. He comes as a mighty
angel, or messenger. He comes as the Son of man. He comes as horses galloping
out of a seven-sealed book. He comes as a star coming down out of heaven. We
could go on and on. But when an action originates out of God and out of heaven,
under whatever symbol is used IT IS THE LORD! It is the Lord coming to purge
us, refine us, thresh us, instruct us, enlighten us, perfect us, change us, transform us,
mature us, and conform us to the image of the Son! As the trumpets sound within the
lives of Gods elect we begin to experience the fullness of all that God is!
There has never been an expression of God at this level in the earth at any time except in
the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the firstborn among many brethren. But now
there is a people that has been sealed unto the day of redemption, and as God begins to
sound the trumpets it will bring forth a many-membered expression of God at the same
level of Gods fullness. THIS IS THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST!
Our Father loves us with an everlasting love, and He has a plan that will change,
perfect, mature, and transform us into the image of His firstborn Son. This order, plan, and purpose of God will come
into fulfillment in our lives as we hear the sound of the seven trumpets within ourselves,
respond whole-heartedly to each sound, and begin to walk through the events
they inaugurate in our lives. Do not let
anyone ever tell you that our omniscient and omnipotent Father does not have a precise
order, process, growth, and development to bring us to the fullness of Christ. The God whom we love and serve knows the end from
the beginning, for He planned it all, and He would never awaken within us the revelation
and hope of sonship unless He already had in motion an order, plan, and purpose by which
to accomplish the reality of our call within ourselves.
He knows where we are in our walk with Him today, for He called us to walk in this
wonderful new Day! We are not on this journey
as a result of wishful thinking, for we have heard His
voice and we have beheld His glory! He
has had a plan and purpose for our present
and future attainments in Him that have existed from before the foundation of the world. And even were we to stray and make our bed in hell
(Ps. 139:7-10) our all-wise Father will be there with just the right plan and dealings to
bring us out of it in a better spiritual condition than when we made that bed. Further, our loving, merciful, and faithful Father
has a plan, order, and purpose that will bring us to the very throne of God!
The sounding of the trumpets is fulfilled in us spiritually as we hear the Voice of
the Lord! Every time the word of God comes to
us in and by the Spirit and changes us we are experiencing the mighty power of the seven
trumpets. We cannot go on with God unless
there is one clear sound after another that blasts with power in our spiritual
consciousness. We can only do the will of our
Father by hearing His Voice. Gods will
is also declared in the Bible, but there must be a word beyond the sacred page, spoken by the very breath
and mouth of God, before that word can change and transform us. To try to fulfill the written word by the
obedience of the natural, carnal mind is folly. But
to fulfill the living word of God, spoken out of the mouth of God by the Spirit, by the
mind of Christ within, will surely raise us up to live in His sight!
A THIRD
PART
The seven angels with the seven trumpets are divided into two groups. The first four, which we shall consider first,
announce Gods dealings or judgments upon the world of the carnal man. In the symbolism of Johns vision the first
judgment falls on the earth, the land mass. The
second falls on the seas and oceans. The
third falls on the rivers and their sources. And
the fourth affects the light-bearers the sun, moon, and stars. In each case, a third of their power is destroyed. The expression a third part occurs as
many as twelve times in this passage, surely indicating that the Lord would have us pay
special attention to this particular feature. A
third part of the trees are burned up; and though it literally reads that all the green
grass is burnt up, we take it to mean all the green grass that grows on the third part of
the earth, as would be most natural. A third
part of the oceans becomes blood so that life cannot exist in them; a third part of all
ships on the seas are destroyed; a third part of fresh, flowing water becomes so bitter
that it cannot be drunk, and men die of thirst; and a third part of the light of the
heavens is darkened.
Surely, there is reason for the question: What is indicated by this third
part occurring so often in the text? One third! Three
is the divine number and four is the earth
number. Now, as I have pointed out, under the
first four trumpets, we read the words a
third twelve times! And twelve is Gods governmental number
concerning this earth. Let us see what the
picture means at this point. THERE IS NO PART
OF THE WORLD OF THE CARNAL MIND, THE NATURAL MAN, THE HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS, OR THE ADAMIC
LIFE THAT IS BEYOND THE REACH OF OUR FATHERS DEALING HAND, AUTHORITY, AND DOMINION! Within me, within you, my beloved, there is a
sea realm, the outer man of the body. In
our intellect, in our soul life, there is an earth realm. And in our spirit there is a heaven
realm! There are things that are true
in each of these realms, in each of these dimensions of our life. Every man on earth fits into one of those three
categories every man! There is not a man on this planet who is not
living out his life from one of those three realms. Billions
of people live in the consciousness and power of the sea or body realm (desires and sins
of the flesh); vast multitudes more live in the consciousness and power of the earth or
soul realm (intellectual, moral, and religious); and a little flock of the Lords
elect live in the consciousness and power of the heaven or spirit realm (Christ life).
I have mentioned previously that John saw three series of dramas, each with seven
parts. There is the drama of the seals, that
of the trumpets, and finally the vials. As we
meditate upon these great truths, surely we can see that the opening of the seals is the revelation of Jesus Christ! A revelation is an unveiling, and it is Jesus
Christ who is unveiled unto us and within us as the seals are loosed. The further truth is that all our glorious Father
wrought out in Jesus in order to reveal the fullness of God in Him, must now be wrought
out also in Gods firstfruit company of many sons brought to glory. Gods elect, grown up unto the measure of the
stature of the fullness of Christ, is the second
company to be brought to full and complete redemption, restoration to the life and
glory of God! The third company to be restored back into God again
comprises all the rest of creation. The point
I wish to make is just this: As the loosing of the seals brings the revelation of Jesus Christ, the firstborn Son, so the blowing of
the trumpets accomplishes the very same work of God in His called and chosen elect, the many-membered body of Christ, or the manifest sons of God. And just as the trumpets show the work of our
Father in His chosen elect, so the pouring out of the seven vials reveals the deep and
awesome dealings of God with the rest of mankind! Thus the seals represent the work of God in and
through Jesus Christ, the trumpets show the work of God in His many-membered son company,
and the vials reveal the work of God in all creation.
Three series of dramas, each with seven parts! Three is the number of completeness, seven the
number of perfection. These three dramas with
their seven parts reveal the great truth of Gods complete
redemption and restoration of all things, bringing perfection! There are three stages in the redemptive program, and a full
and complete redemption wrought in each stage. Jesus
has already been resurrected, glorified, and enthroned!
Multitudes who read these lines are even now in the process of full
redemption and restoration! And our Father
has a wonderful plan and purpose to restore all things and all men back into the
perfection and glory of God! Isnt it
wonderful!
It is my deep conviction that the third part mentioned so often in
connection with the trumpets bespeaks of the work of God in His elect in contrast to all
the rest of the Lords people and the people of the world. When this third part has been
thoroughly purged, when the work of perfection and maturity has been fully accomplished in
the sons of God, there remain yet multitudes of the Lords people who are still babes
in Christ and slaves to the man-made religious systems of Babylon, and millions more of
the peoples of the world who do not even know God.
THE SEVENTH TRUMPET
To me, the greatest evidence that the ministry of the seven angels through the
seven trumpets finishes our Fathers great
work of bringing many sons to glory is found in
the fact that at the sounding of the seventh trumpet, which is necessarily also the
last trump, John is explicitly informed that in the days of the seventh angel, when he shall
begin to sound, the mystery of God should be
finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets (Rev. 10:7). This statement gives the meaning and purpose of
the vision of the trumpets, and therefore we know what the work of the trumpets
accomplishes and we have the interpretation of the vision!
The mystery of God which is finished is the mystery
of CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY! (Col.
1:26-27). Yet here, Christ in us is no longer a
hope HE IS BECOME THE GLORY! The mystery is finished, completed, fulfilled,
realized, attained, accomplished, concluded, perfected, and consummated! Isnt it wonderful!
The truth of the statements we have made will be clearly demonstrated by that which
is to follow. The Holy Spirit has not left us
without a witness to all these glorious things! He
testifies unerringly that the seventh angel sounded; and there were great
voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord,
and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever
and ever
and the nations were angry, and Thy wrath (passion) is come, and the time of
the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints
and
shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And
the temple of God ( sons) was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark
of His testament (His presence, glory, and power): and there were lightnings, and voices,
and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail (Rev. 11:15-19).
Just as soon as the seventh angel begins to sound his trumpet-message and the
mystery of God formed as Christ in His sons is finished, the very next scene is the birth of the
manchild who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron! The manchild, or the manifest sons of God, is
caught up unto God and His throne. Oh,
yes! When the seven trumpets have fully
performed their work in the lives of Gods elect, the one third company,
immediately there appears a great wonder in heaven, a
woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of
twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered. And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of
iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne (Rev.
12:1-2,5). And further, before the seven angels pour out the seven vials
of the last seven plagues, which completes the work of God in creation, the 144,000 sons
of God are also seen standing with the Lamb upon mount Zion the mount of kingship,
rulership, and dominion! The work in them is truly finished, for
John describes their glory in these wonderful words, And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the mount
Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Fathers name
written in their foreheads
these are they which were not defiled with women
(religious systems); for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever
He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits
unto God and to the Lamb. And in their
mouth was found no guile: for they are without
fault before the throne of God (Rev. 14:1-5).
ALL OF THE ABOVE IS THE RESULT
OF THE SOUNDING OF THE SEVENTH TRUMPET! Without
doubt, then, the seven trumpets bring full redemption, perfection, maturity, immortality,
and kingship dominion to Gods called and chosen elect. That is the mystery!
FIRE!
Another truth clamors here for our attention.
At the sounding of the trumpets several things are cast into the heavens, earth,
and sea of mans carnal, mortal existence. There
is hail, blood, a great mountain, stars, angels, and a dragon. There is one other item, however, which appears
alike in the sounding of each of the seven trumpets!
Whatever is poured out under a given trumpet, this one ingredient is part of the
mix fire! There is fire and hail mingled with blood, the
great mountain burning with fire, the star from heaven burning as a lamp, the sun is a
fire, there is smoke from the fire burning in the bottomless pit, fire from the
horses mouths, and finally, under the seventh trumpet, there is the fire of
lightning. Ah, can we not see by this that
the seven trumpets bring the purging, refining, purifying, cleansing fire of God into the
religious carnality of our soul-life, and into the bestial nature of our body-life! When our Father wants to change and
transform us, in the totality of ourselves, He commissions His seven angels, the seven
spirits of God, who are the fullness of the Holy Ghost fire of God, to descend as the fire
of His all-consuming glory into every area, part, facet, crevice, dimension, realm,
height, and depth of our being! What
happens when these blessed seven spirits of God cast into the earth and into the sea this
fire which produces such holy blazes? Through
this fire He brings total destruction destruction even as far as the natural
consciousness, the carnal mind, the self life, the fleshly desires, and the human identity
of the man of earth! Then are we able to say
of a truth, It is no more I
that liveth, but Christ liveth in me!
Never forget, my beloved, that the book of Revelation reveals the processes that
God takes His people through so that the bride can make herself ready, arrayed in linen
pure and white; the manchild can be birthed and caught up to Gods throne of
authority, power, and dominion; and all creation redeemed, purged, and transformed by the
fiat of the almighty Creator and Redeemer: Behold,
I make all things new! (Rev. 21:5).
ALL THINGS NEW! Ah, that is the
mystery! Ah, that is the purpose! Oh, yes! That
is the work! In former times we supposed the
book of Revelation was about Gods vindictive, implacable vengeance poured out upon
the inhabitants of the world, and we felt sad for them, or perhaps some felt glad, feeling
that mankind deserved what they would get! Only now, in the light that the Spirit brings, can
we say with the beloved Seer of Patmos, Blessed,
happy, to be envied is the man who reads the word of this prophecy! (Rev. 1:3).
Isnt it wonderful!
---------------------------------------------------
Joyce Morris of Lord Of Life Ministries has published a book called The Book of Life. It is about Gods Ultimate Plan for mankind through His unfailing Love. Did you know that God has a script that He wrote for you before the foundation of the earth for you to walk out? Psalm 139:16 Amp.says: "Every person has their own story, but the greatest story of us all is "The Book of Life."
This book will answer many questions such as: Finding out what your script is; How to get unstuck; Restoration for your loved ones; Life after Death. The book is on the web-site and can be obtained through Pay-Pal or by writing the author. The Web address: www.lordoflifeministries.com. Her email address is: virjoymor@lordoflifeministries.com. To contact her by mail, write to: Joyce Morris, P. O.Box 2007, Fairfax, VA 22031, U. S. A.
To be continued
J. PRESTON EBY
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