I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. – Jeremiah 6:17
The Shofar (trumpet) is the ritual instrument of the ancient and modern Hebrew. It is nothing like the musical trumpet of today.
The Ashkenazi shofar or ram’s horn is the most common. The second most common is the Yemenite Sefardi Shofar.
The Tokea (“Blaster”) also called the Ba’al Tekia (“Master of the Blaster”) played (blasted) the shofar for a variety of occasions such as to summon people to assemble, to accent instruction and commandments, to announce the crowning of kings, to communicate messages in battles, and to commemorate the observance of feasts in Israel.
- Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. -Ps 81:3
- When the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. -Ex 19:19
- The voice of the trumpet was exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. -Ex 19:16
In Revelation 8:2 John tells us that trumpets are used at the throne of God saying, “And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.”
The most important blast of the trumpets will be the last trumpet signaling both the end of God’s patient endurance of sin in the world and the gathering of the saints in heaven. First Corinthians 15:52 says, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
Daniel 12:2 explains why it is important to be ready before the last trump is blasted saying, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
The last trump is not an announcement to prepare. It is a signal that the time to prepare is over. And so, some are listening for the sound of the last trump with great anticipation! Others are living in dread of its sound.
Are you ready to hear the last trump?
