Blow Your Trumpet For The Lord

Isaiah 58:1 ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and shew My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.’

Trumpets have long been used to sound and summon people to attention.  As Christians, each of us can be a trumpet.  We can announce the coming of the Kingdom of the Lord.

Judges 6:14 ‘And Yahweh looked upon him (Gideon), and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Yisrael from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?’

National security is a constant source of debate in these troubling times of war and terrorism.  Far too many preach fear, intolerance and vengeance.  Few turn to the Lord for answers.

Judges 7:2 ‘And Yahweh said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Yisrael vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved Me.’

America has been vaunting itself against the Lord.  This is a nation that believes it saves itself.  We have learned from the worldly that by numbers we are justified.  We have learned from the worldly that success is its own reward.  We have learned from the worldly that might is right.

Genesis 11:5-6 ‘And Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded.  And Yahweh said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do.’

This is a perfect example of a one world order.  Just because mankind can do a thing, does not mean they should.  Try telling that to the worldly.  The Lord confounded their language at Babel so they could not complete their goal and vaunt themselves up. 

One of the key ingredients missing in the life of many Christians today is humility.  The majority of Christians in this world feel that any inspiration they imagine to do is the will of “God”.  They are not restrained by anything.

Judges 7:4 ‘And Yahweh said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many. . .’

I cringe every time I hear politicians, generals and pundits, calling for more troops to be sent into Iraq and Afghanistan.  In their worldly mindset, it is only by sheer numbers victory is possible.  Newsflash: The Lord is nowhere to be found in the war in the Middle East.  The conflict is only an edification of the United States and her place in the world, not the Lord.  Christians should avoid it.  Christians should avoid any war.

Judges 7:7 ‘And Yahweh said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand. . .’

The wars fought between nations are nothing new.  Justifying these wars however from a Christian perspective is relatively new.  Constantine accepting the Christian-god as the state religion of Rome was the impetus of this misguided belief.

James 4:1-2 From whence come wars and fightings among you?  Come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members?  Ye lust and have not:  ye kill and desire to have, and cannot obtain:  Ye fight and war, yet ye have not because ye ask not.’

The war on terrorism is a war of fear and it has nothing whatsoever to do with a people.  Those that preach a constant and heightened state of alert have chosen the kingdoms of the world as their truth.  They will willingly break the commandments of the Lord to secure the glory and prosperity of their nation.  Many still believe that America has been and still is a godly kingdom.  It never was.  It never will be.

John 18:36 ‘Yahshua answered, My kingdom is not of this world. . .’

Let that sink in.  Yahshua has a kingdom – a very real kingdom – and it is not of this world.

2 Peter 2:20 ‘For if they have escaped the pollution of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Yahshua the Messiyah, and they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.’

War is a form of pollution.  Once we choose Christ as our Savior, we cannot entangle ourselves in the pollution of the world.  Many people are born into Christianity simply because their parents were Christian.  You were probably raised in a denomination, baptized and christened.  That is not the same thing as you choosing it for yourself.

Once you come to the knowledge of what your promise and devotion is going to mean, you have to change and adapt to the truth before you.  It all starts with love.

John 15:17 ‘These things I command you, that ye love one another.’

There is world changing power in love.  There is more power in love than in any bullet or bomb ever created.  Don’t ever let those with mercenary hearts convince you that eye for an eye, bullet for bullet, bomb for bomb, is justified and can bring about peace.  When they shoot – we love.  When they bomb – we love.  The peace created by destructive methods is false and temporary because hate, anger, and vengeance still prowl inside any submission it creates.  When you win by love however, the victory is total and complete and there is no resentment lurking below the surface.

John 15:19 ‘If ye were of the world, the world would love his own:  but because ye are not of the world but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.’

One of the biggest lies mixed into Christianity is the idea that we can Christians can be Christian while being loyal to a worldly kingdom because they are not the same thing.  They then justify killing in the name of the earthly kingdom.

John 17:16 ‘They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.’

Do people really hear what the Bible says or have the traditions of our forefathers gotten the best of us?  You were chosen out of the world.  You are not worldly.  Although you live in the world, you are no longer a part of this world – and the world will hate you for this.  In their fearful carnal minds, you are disloyal and unpatriotic, and stand against everything they believe in.  You have chosen another kingdom to serve.

John 17:9 ‘I pray for them:  I pray not for the world. . .’

As Christians we have to see that every nation and every kingdom on earth is doomed.  As unpatriotic as it sounds, America is as doomed as the rest.  Why fight for it?

Our King is not allied with any kingdom.  This is why all the kingdoms of the world will come together to resist Him.  None of them is for Him.  We have to choose a side.

Revelation 11:15 ‘And 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 Messiyah; and He shall reign forever and ever.’

This is the real war.  The war in the Middle East and the war on terrorism have nothing on this war.  Our King is coming back and when He does come back, everything here will be His.  As Christians, we need to be found working for the betterment of His kingdom when He returns – not the betterment of earthly kingdoms.  Everything they better will be used to resist Him.

Joshua 6:1 “Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Yisrael: none went out and none came in.’

Joshua surrounded the city of Jericho with the trumpets of ram horns.  Seven days later the walls came tumbling down.

Joshua 6:17 ‘. . .only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are in her house because she hid the messengers that we sent.’

We as Christians are the messengers of Yahshua in this world of Jericho.  We come with a warning for those that live here – a warning that no one wants to hear – in fact – we are perceived by them to be the enemy, the criminals, and the ones who predict a foolish message that says this world is coming to an end.  They don’t want to hear it.

Judges 7:12 ‘And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seaside for multitude.’

The enemy facing Gideon was enormous and yet Yahweh gave Him only three hundred men to do battle with.  Gideon didn’t send for reinforcement but rather, he dismissed nearly 12,000 troops.  The victory would be nothing any man or nation could boast of.  Yisrael would not be able to vaunt itself up or say it saved itself. 

America does not understand this kind of faith.

Judges 7:16 ‘And he divided the three hundred men into three companies and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand. . .’

Not a sword – but a trumpet.  The sound they made sent the enemy into panic and the enemy fought amongst themselves, even laying their swords into one another before fleeing.  The victory was won.  Did the people turn to the Lord?  How do worldly people react to victory?  Truth is they love success and want a guarantee of more success and security.  They want to feel they are protected.

Judges 8:22 ‘Then the men of Yisrael said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son’s son also.  . .’

Mankind just can’t get away from the idea of having an established government.

Judges 8:23 ‘And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my sons rule over you :  Yahweh shall rule over you.’

As Christians, we are not a nation of the earth anymore.  We are strangers and pilgrims here.  This truth has been lost on us.  We must remember that we have spiritual brothers and sisters in every nation of the world, not just where we live or amongst the people we know.

Matthew 12:50 ‘For whosoever shall do the will of My Father in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.’

Knowing this, I cannot limit my distinction anymore.  My brotherly love will not allow me to judge whole nations for the actions of a few.  Any drive to destroy a few tares in those nations will also uproot beautiful wheat.  I cannot be party to that.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ‘Let brotherly love continue.  Be not forgetful to entertain strangers:  for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.’

Rahab entertained angels in Jericho, for by accepting and understanding that a new kingdom was coming into Jericho and taking over her old world, she switched her loyalty and was saved.  The world is wrong.  You cannot serve a worldly kingdom and His kingdom.

Luke 12:4 ‘And I say unto you My friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.’

If you serve a worldly kingdom and fight for the maintenance of a worldly kingdom, fear of those who threaten the security of your kingdom takes precedent over your love for all mankind.  You will do some evil to accomplish good.  You will destroy some wheat while flushing out the tares and call it justifiable collateral damage.  What if someone called the loss of your loved one, your child or parent, justifiable collateral damage?

Romans 12:21 ‘Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.’

This is the road the worldly are not prepared to walk.  They cannot see any other way.  It is kill or be killed. 

How can Christians still justify an eye for an eye?  They justify it because they have conformed and compromised.

Romans 12:2 ‘And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. . .’

Today I am sounding the trumpet and announcing the coming of a better kingdom.  This is war.  My King is coming back to this earth and all the nations of it will be His.  I am content with this truth and thus I know peace in my spirit.  I want you to know this peace also.

Isaiah 57:20-21 ‘But the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose water cast up mire and dirt.  There is no peace, saith my Creator, to the wicked.’

Amen