Audio Download

Rev 1:10 – Part 3,  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet

[Updated September 15, 2023]

Last week we saw with many verses of scripture cited that being “in the spirit” was nothing more or less than living out “the words that I say unto you, [which] are spirit.” Being “in the spirit” is nothing other than keeping “the things that are written therein.” We also saw that “the Lord’s day” is absolutely not a day of the week, but is rather “that great and terrible day of the Lord” which is the “day of wrath and fierce anger to destroy sinners out of the land.” We have seen in the scriptures, that “the day of the Lord,” just like all of “the things which are written therein” in God’s Word, “never passes away.” It is always “nigh at hand,” and “the Lord’s day” is intended to be lived in “this generation,” meaning every generation which is “reading the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” Here again is our weekly reminder as to how we are to approach God’s Word:

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Which accords with Christ’s other words in:

Mat 24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

There are many false prophets who tell us that Christ’s words here in Matthew 24 and in the book of Revelation, were addressed only to the people of that day, as if the words “Whoso readeth, let him understand” were not even there.

A brother once commented, “If I do not see my name written on every page of God’s Word, then I am taking away from or adding to that word.” That is the Truth, and that is why Christ tells us:

Mat 23:34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

These words are addressed only to those with “eyes that see and ears that hear.” They are not addressed to the spiritually blind and deaf who cannot see or hear the words “whoso readeth…”.

We have been shown that “the words of this prophecy” are the same as “every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”

Finally, we also saw that “the great voice” which John heard “behind him” was nothing less than the voice of the true shepherd of the Lord’s sheep. That “great voice” is, was and will always be “my words which will never pass away.” We saw that the ability to hear that “great voice” is really nothing less than the gift of discernment of spirits and the ability to hear and distinguish the “voice of the true shepherd” of God’s sheep from the voice of “another Jesus with another gospel and another spirit.”

This week we will see who is given ears to hear this great voice, why the voice was behind John, and why that great voice is said to be “as a trumpet.”

Who hears this “great voice as a trumpet?”

We are actually given the answer to this question. That straight forward answer is:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto [the multitudes] in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because [the multitude of Christians] seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Christ reinforced to whom it is given to hear His “great voice as a trumpet” in:

Mat 22:1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
Mat 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

Christ then explains that all the people called to this marriage were too busy doing good works to come to the marriage supper of the King’s Son, and He concludes:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen [to see or hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God and to be at that marriage supper].

Remember the story of Gideon and his army. Gideon is a type of Christ. Gideon’s final army of three hundred men typifies Christ’s elect who have Christ, the light of the world, in earthen vessels, which earthen vessels are destroyed in the battle to which they are called. It is through the destruction of those earthen vessels by the trumpets which call us to battle, that God’s elect fight and win the battle to which they are called. Victory requires the destruction of the earthen vessels by the trumpets. Yet we have those who teach en masse that the trumpets are not for us, because we never experience God’s wrath. It all amounts to saying that certain parts of God’s Word have no personal application.

Jdg 6:34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.
Jdg 6:35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

The whole of Israel hears and answers the call of the trumpet, but very few are chosen from those who respond to actually conduct and fight the battle. Gideon had 32,000 respondents, but ended up with only 300 men in his army.

Jdg 7:2 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

Babylon within and without both boldly proclaim that they are “saving the world for Christ.” When we first come to Christ, we all think we did so because we chose to do so. Outwardly also, those are their own words. They actually boast that they are the ones who are “saving the world for Christ,” instead of Christ saving the world for them.

What does God do under these ever present circumstances?

Jdg 7:3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.

Gideon’s original army was 32,000. “Many are called but few are chosen” to deliver God’s people. 99% of God’s own people have far more fear of the “foes of [their] own household” (Mat 10:36), and being “hated of all men” (Mat 10:22) than they fear God. Our calling is not really a marketable calling to which the masses of God’s people will flock in droves. It is actually those who do not at first leave Christ who end up eventually selling out our Lord.

After “many went back and [no longer] walked with [the Lord]”, this is what we are told of the few (12) remaining disciples:

Joh 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Joh 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Joh 6:69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
Joh 6:70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
Joh 6:71 He spake of Judas Iscariot [the son] of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

Through Adam in us all, we, too, deny our Lord and crucify Him and all of the prophets (Luk 11:50-51).

So what does God do when so many respond to His call and yet do not really have their heart in His service?

Jdg 7:4 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.

Judges 7:4 is the Old Testament way of telling us what Christ tells us in the New Testament:

Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few [are] chosen.

I am often asked, “How many do you think are chosen to be God’s elect?” The answer to that question is the answer to our question, “Who hears the great voice as a trumpet?” It certainly is not anyone who doesn’t believe that some of those trumpets are for them. This story of Gideon demonstrates that it is only those whose clay vessels are destroyed by the trumpets who are given to “hear a great voice as a trumpet.”

Jdg 7:19  So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the [clay] pitchers that were in their hands.
Jdg 7:20  And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the [clay] pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.

Consider carefully these words of our Lord, because Babylon cannot see or hear these words:

Joh 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.

Joh 8:26 I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.

Joh 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.

Act 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Tit 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

What do these verses show us? They show us God’s word is eventually for “all men” of all time. They are for “the world.” They show us that all “man[kind] will live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” in their appointed time. Even the words He said to the adversary:

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

The false doctrine of the rapture, combined with the false doctrine of an immaculate conception, either of Christ or His mother Mary, are believed by most of orthodox Christianity. When it is not believed by some, they willingly tolerate their own differences and think nothing of “leavening the whole lump.” The whole lump has been leavened to the point that God makes this incredible statement:

Isa 3:1 For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

Consequently, at this time, most of mankind cannot understand how one can be “saved from the wrath to come” by “being children of wrath, even as others” now. Neither can they understand how one “will not be judged” by being judged now. They cannot understand how one can “lose his life” now, in order to “find it.” Most men simply are not given to understand how it is possible for one who is “drawn from the breasts” is made mature in Christ by becoming “as this… humble… little [teachable] child” now. The multitudes who come to Christ simply are not at this time being given to understand how one is given spiritual sight only if they admit that they are spiritually blind (Joh 9:39-41). It is not given to the multitudes of Christians to understand how we are Christ’s sons (1Jo 3:2) and His wife (2Co 11:2), both at the same time.

Only those who can hear that “great voice as a trumpet” can see and hear “the things of the spirit” (1Co 2:14), and understand clearly how there is a “beast [that] was, and is not, and yet is” and see no contradiction at all in that statement.

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

To the natural man God’s Word is full of contradictions, and when you are faithful to those words of God, you, too, will be accused of contradicting yourself by the very people who “oppose themselves.”

2Ti 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

Christ said He came into this world “for judgment”:

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

It is only those who are “in the spirit on the Lord’s day,” being judged of Christ now “in this present time” (Rom 8:18), who can read and hear the words of this prophecy and “keep those things which are written therein” or who even understand that “the time is at hand.”

Only those who are now being judged (1Pe 4:17) can read and hear. Both ‘read’ and ‘hear’ mean ‘to spiritually understand.’ It is only those who read and understand how all of these apparent contradictions are actually great hidden truths which the world “cannot receive” who are “hearing a great voice as of a trumpet.”

For example:

1Th 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

If while in these vessels of clay we are being judged by the fiery trials of this life and we are enduring the chastening and scourging of God’s wrath on our sins now and God pours out his wrath on us “for a little moment… [now] that we should not be condemned with the world,” only then are we acknowledging that “we were all by nature children of wrath even as others…” and only then will we be “delivered from the wrath to come.”

Isa 26:20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

This verse is not saying that if we “hide in our chambers” we will never experience God’s indignation on our sins.

Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

What Isaiah 26:20 is saying is that we had better not be flaunting our sins as the Corinthian fornicator did. What it is saying is that the sooner we acknowledge and repent of our blindness and our sins, the sooner “the indignation [will] be overpast.” The very next verse makes it crystal clear that “what we sow is what we will reap:”

Isa 26:21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

The “little moment” of Isaiah 26:20 is the same “small moment” of Isaiah 54:7-8.

Isa 54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

The way we avoid “the wrath to come” is the same way we avoid any of the words of God. We live them first. We live them now and thereby avoid “the wrath to come”:

Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Do we really believe that those who “enter into their chambers and shut the doors about them” are somehow not “of the earth” and will not “reap what they sow?”

God will forsake us all “for a moment” in which our bodies of sinful flesh will be destroyed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. As with all God’s Word, this will be lived by us, both within and without.

Isa 54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.

Isa 63:4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.
Isa 63:5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
Isa 63:6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.

Salvation comes only through “God’s fury” upon our sinful dying bodies of flesh. This is what Christ Himself endured as a ‘body of death’ on the cross. Knowing the necessity of it all still could not keep His flesh from crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Mat 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, *My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Who hears this “voice as of a great trumpet?” The sum of God’s Word shows us that not every man can receive God’s word at this time. God’s Word is “the testimony of Jesus Christ” to God’s elect, but that same word is also a testimony against all who teach that we are not to “keep the things that are written therein.”

Mat 10:18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.

Joh 17:9 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

All we do is remain faithful and say, “Yes, I have indeed kept the things written therein.” Contrariwise they testify against themselves that they have taught men not to keep the things written therein, but rather than acknowledge that we have all, in the past, been children of disobedience, they say we are instead to guard against doing so.

Mar 6:11 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.

Act 10:40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly;
Act 10:41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead.
Act 10:42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.

“Him God raised up the third day, and showed Him openly, but not to all the people, but unto [His two] witnesses…unto us” are who eat and drink with Him in His resurrected “spiritual body.”

Eph 5:30  For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

As His “chosen… witnesses” we also should not be praying for the world, but for those God has given us, for they are Christ’s body. They are those who are enduring the trials that are endured by all those who are living “in the spirit on the Lord’s day, hearing behind them a great voice, as of a great trumpet.”

Why is the voice behind John? Let’s look at this verse in the context of the next two verses:

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Rev 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

John “heard behind [him] a great voice as of a trumpet, and he “turned to see the voice that spoke to [him].” Where was John when he turned around to see this “great voice?” We can know where John was “in spirit” by what he says when he “turned to see the voice that spoke to [him].” What John saw tells us where he was. Let’s read the next verse:

Rev 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

The only place any man who had “kept the things written in this book” could be standing and “looking behind” himself and seeing the seven golden candlesticks” which are in the holy place, is if he himself is standing in the holy of holies.

The tabernacle and the temple always faced the east. One could only enter into the temple from the east. If John “looked behind [himself]” and saw “seven golden candlesticks”, then he had passed through the veil that was torn at the death of Christ, and He was in the very presence of the Lord Himself.

Mat 27:50  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.
Mat 27:51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mat 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Mat 27:53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

In other words, John (signifying you and me) was in the very temple of God and in the very presence of God, as Christ was being revealed within him:

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2, and many other verses of God’s Word, reveal that if we are “raised up together and made to sit together… in Christ Jesus,” then we are, at this very moment, “seated with Him in His Father’s throne in the heavens.” Yes, it is all “in earnest of the spirit” (Eph 1:14), but from Christ’s perspective it is a present reality with a future completion:

1Jn 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1Jn 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Where are we in the Revelation of Jesus Christ? We all are at the very point where we can look behind us and see Him walking among our candlesticks. We are all right where we see him in a glass (mirror) and “are changed into that same image, from glory to glory.” We are not seeing today what we will see tomorrow, because the revelation of Jesus Christ is, was, and will be, “as He is” as we see that image more clearly “from glory to glory.”

2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord. (KJV)

2Co 3:17  This Lord is the Spirit. Wherever the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom.
2Co 3:18 As all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (GW)

2Pe 3:18  But grow [“from glory to glory”] in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

In scriptural terms, “turning to see the voice behind us” and “reflecting the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils… being changed into His image with ever increasing glory” is the same thing. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ within to whatever degree that revelation has come thus far in each of us. It is all of “the Lord, [who] is the spirit.”

Why was the great voice said to be “as a trumpet?”

The answer to this question is revealed throughout God’s word for those with eyes to see. Here is a verse that makes the answer very plain. Paul is dealing with the abuse of the gift of languages in the church at Corinth when he makes this inspired statement:

1Co 14:8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

This call “to the battle” Paul knew was mentioned throughout the Old Testament:

Num 10:5 When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward.
Num 10:6 When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys.

This life of fiery trials (1Pe 4:12) is not intended to be our reward. It is intended, for God’s elect, to be a “stranger’s and pilgrim’s” journey directed by that “great voice as of a trumpet.”

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

1Pe 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

So much for those who loudly proclaim that they “are sick and tired of hearing of streets of gold;” who loudly proclaim, “If I hear another word about ‘I can’t wait to get to walk on those streets of gold,’ I’m going to slap that person in the face because I want my gold now! I don’t want my pie in the sky by and by. I want it now!” Let’s continue with the scriptural meaning of the “a great voice as of a trumpet.”

Num 10:9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

An alarm was blown for two reasons. It was blown both (1) for “taking their journey” and (2) for “going to war.” If you are not yet aware that the words ‘trumpet’ and ‘battle’ are spiritual words which have nothing at all to do with a physical trumpet or a literal, physical battle, with literal, physical weapons, then you simply are not yet “in the spirit on the Lord’s day.” Until you are “in the spirit” of Christ’s words of His “hidden wisdom,” you will never understand a word of this “signified” book” (Rev 1:1).

To what battle is the ‘trumpet preparing us? Here is the battle to which both Paul and John refer:

1Ti 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
1Ti 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
1Ti 1:20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].
Eph 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Eph 6:15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Eph 6:16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
Eph 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

There you have all the weapons of a true Christian soldier. No brother in Christ who depends upon physical weapons of warfare can receive these spiritual weapons. They are foolishness to him.

These are the words of one of the founders of the Concordant Publishing Concern: “‘Love your enemies’ is at best foolish, and at worst they will get you killed.” That is the reasonings of the mind of the natural man. “All that is needed for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing” is only true if, when you ‘do something’, you are using only the spiritual weapons of Ephesians 6:12-17. Otherwise the moment you pick up a physical weapon, you have lost your spiritual protection.

The second purpose for which God’s Word is called ‘a great trumpet’ – God calls His people to Himself with “a great sound of a trumpet:”

Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Num 10:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Num 10:2 Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
Num 10:3 And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 10:4 And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.

Num 10:7 But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm.
Num 10:8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.
Num 10:9 And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.

If the words and phrases, “trumpet… gather together… four winds, [or the word] heaven”, mean only things literal to you, then you have been given no spiritual perception at all to this point. There will be no physical trumpet sound, there will be no physical gathering together. Our ‘gathering together’ will be as spirits. This is not speaking of four literal winds, and it is not speaking of the literal, physical heavens. The Son of Man is already sounding a spiritual trumpet because we are told that in Matthew 24:33 and Revelation 1:3, “the time is at hand” to “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Rev 1:3, Rev 22:7). The Son of Man is already gathering together His elect from the four winds of heaven (Mat 24:31), because we are told in the very next few verses (Mat 24:34) that “this generation will not pass till all these things are fulfilled.” The spirit clarifies “this generation” as “he that readeth” (Mat 24:15) and not just those disciples he was speaking to at that moment. These are spiritual words concerning spiritual conditions within the spiritual hearts and minds of God’s elect.

Mat 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

God’s elect are being “gathered together” simply by being “in Christ in… this generation,” which is reading these words of Christ because verse 34 comes after verse 31.

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together [Aaorist tense], and made us sit together [Aorist tense] in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

This Matthew 24 “Olivet prophecy” is something that took place in that generation as well as taking place in “this [and every] generation [since Christ].” Look at how Christ speaks of “the abomination of desolation” earlier in this very same chapter:

Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Christ knew very well what He meant by “this generation.” He knew that He was referring to the generation reading His words in every generation. He also knew that His words were all in parables which would keep the mysteries of the kingdom of God hidden from the multitudes of “those Jews which believed on Him”, typifying the multitudes of Christians today, who “believe on Him” and yet despise and “cannot understand His words because His words have no place in them.”

Joh 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

There is no reason to believe that any of “these Jews which believed on Christ” were physically hearing impaired, but there is every reason to believe that “Christ’s Word had no place in them.” They did not understand one word of:

Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Those with eyes that see and ears that hear know that “the four winds of heaven” is a parable for the whole spirit world. It is all of the spirits and doctrines which are battling to gain and maintain control in the heavens of our hearts and minds.

Eph 6:12 Because our struggle is not against blood and flesh but, against the principalities, against the authorities, against the world-holders, of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. (REV)

Where does this battle, this “struggle,” take place? It takes place “in the heavens,” in the hearts and minds of Christ’s elect.

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Christ has granted you and me to know where that temple in those heavens is located. Christ enters into His temple, which temple we are, and occupies His throne in His holy place in the “temple of God, which temple we are.”

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God [in heaven], and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple [in heaven] ye are.

When Christ does so, then “the great dragon is cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he is cast out into the earth, and his angels are cast out with him.” Read What and Where Is Heaven on iswasandwillbe.com. Do not compare physical with spiritual and expect to arrive at a spiritual understanding of any of these spiritual matters. It simply cannot be done.

When “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world… is cast out… his angels,” that is, all of his false doctrines proclaimed by all of his false prophets, are cast out with him. He is no longer able to deceive God’s elect. This infuriates “that old serpent.” He is now on a mission to destroy, not the woman, but the remnant of her seed who take God’s words seriously.

Here is the “war” to which this “great voice as a trumpet” is calling us:

Rev 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman,* and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

We saw earlier that “those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” are those who “keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” These are God’s elect. These are those who hear the trumpet calling them to do battle in the heavens:

Gal 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

That is the battle to which we have been called by the “great voice as a trumpet.”

Conclusion

We have seen who hears “the great voice,” and we have seen the scriptures that reveal that it is only those to whom it is given to see and hear the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

We saw that the voice is behind us because we cannot hear or see what we have not yet already lived and that what we have already lived and seen is always behind us. We saw the scriptures which tell us that “Now are we the sons of God,” but we also saw that “it does not yet appear what we shall be.” This tells us that we see behind us what we have been “changed into from glory to glory, by the spirit of the Lord.” Each of us, being at our own stage of understanding ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ’ within us, “keep the things that are written therein.”

Finally, we have seen that the scriptures reveal that “a great voice as a trumpet” is nothing less than the voice of the true shepherd calling His elect together in His mind and spirit, to move forward in their pilgrim’s journey, and to engage their enemy in battle. We were shown that that enemy is none less than “a great red dragon” along with all of his messengers. We have seen exactly how we are to wage war, and we have been given all the instruments of war with which we are to do spiritual battle.

In our next study, we will be reminded of who the “seven churches of Asia” are, and we will, Lord willing, learn why our Lord walks in the midst of those churches, and why He so often refers to Himself as “the Son of man,” and what is the spiritual significance of the description of His clothes.