In yesterday's sermon, we studied the Festival of Trumpets. Yes, you read that right, trumpets. The passage reads:
On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. (Lev. 23:24)
One point that was made several times in the sermon was that we still hear that trumpet blast today, if we are listening for the voice of Jesus in the midst of the "noise of life."
I like that application, because it underscores something central about this text, something that becomes even clearer when we look at Israel's military history. Notice what the trumpet blasts mean in this passage. They announce "a sacred assembly."
Worship. The assembling of the people of God to (as verse 25 states) "present an offering." The trumpets are first and foremost a call to worship.
But what other function do the trumpets have in Israel? They call the army to battle. They are the sound of war.
We have something to learn here from ancient Israel: war and worship are linked. When Joshua led the people out to conquer Jericho, they first had to cross the Jordan river (see Joshua 3). It was the priests, carrying the Ark of the Covenant, who went first into the water, and when their feet hit the river, God parted the water for the people. Notice that it was the priests leading the way, not the army generals.
When they got to Jericho, their battle plan was to march around the city for six days, with the priests blowing those trumpets and the Ark leading the way. On the seventh day - the day of the covenant, the day of worship - the priests sounded the trumpets again, the people gave a shout of praise, and the walls of the city came down (see Joshua 6).
Trumpets call the worshiping people to assemble, and this becomes the context for warfare - or, we might say, for the advancement of the kingdom of God. Jericho isn't the only example. You'll find this sort of thing littered throughout the Old Testament stories, how Israel always took the Ark with them into battle, how the priests blew the trumpets, how the greatest battles were won in the context of sacred worship.
Incidentally, Revelation tells the same story. The great "apocalyptic" movements of God in history recorded in Revelation are surrounded by liturgy, by worship, by elders and angels and incense and songs of praise. War and worship are linked, both in the Old and the New Testaments.
What was it Paul said? "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Eph. 6:12)
If we want to win the great battles of our time (whether those battles are personal or political), we have to sound the trumpets. And those trumpets are a call to prayer. That's where the kingdom of God advances. That's where God displays His power. In worship, we go to war, and in going to war, we win.
I'll leave off with a quote from Jim Cymbala's book, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire.
Have a great week!
Jacob
I am sure that the Roman emperors didn't have prayer to God in their schools. But then, the early Christians didn't seem to care what Caligula or Claudius or Nero did. How could any emperor stop God? How, in fact, could the demons of hell make headway when God's people prayed and called upon his name? Impossible!
In the New Testament we don't see Peter or John wringing their hands and saying, "Oh, what are we going to do? Caligula's bisexual - he wants to appoint his horse to the Roman Senate - what a terrible model of leadership! How are we going to respond to this outrage?"
Let's not play games with ourselves. Let's not divert attention away from the weak prayer life of our own churches. In Acts 4, when the apostles were unjustly arrested, imprisoned, and threatened, they didn't call for a protest; they didn't reach for some political leverage. Instead, they headed to a prayer meeting. Soon the place was vibrating with the power of the Holy Spirit [Acts 4:23-31]. (Cymbala, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, p. 72)
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