Seeking for the truth
© 2004 -
“So if anyone tells you,
‘There he is, out in the desert,’
do not go out; or,
‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’
do not believe it.
For as lightning that comes
from the east is visible
even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass,
there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the distress
of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
At that time the sign
of the Son of Man will appear
in the sky, and all the nations
of the earth will mourn.
They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.
And he will send his angels
with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather his elect
from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
Now learn this lesson
from the fig tree:
As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out,
you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door.
I tell you the truth,
this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words
will never pass away.”
Matthew 24:26-
The loud trumpet call:
“Immediately after the distress of those days.” (Verse 29)
This makes it sound that immediately after the Romans destroy Jerusalem (AD 70), these things will happen, but these verses are talking about the end of the world.
So what is happening?
When a Prophet speaks of things that are important and serious, it is often spoken of as being near and about to happen.
For example in Jude 14 it says:
“Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied:
“See the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands
of His holy ones.”
He said “the Lord IS coming” making it sound if He had already set out and was about to arrive.
And that was said well before Abraham, and even Noah!
The other thing to bear in mind is that:
“With the Lord a day is like a 1000 years,
and a 1000 years are like a day.” (2 Peter 3)
Let’s continue reading from Peter.
This is an awesome description of the end of the world:
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
The heavens will disappear with a roar;
the elements will be destroyed by fire,
and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way,
what kind of people ought you to be?
You ought to live holy and godly lives
as you look forward to the day of God
and speed it’s coming.
That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens
by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
But in keeping with His promise
we are looking forward to a new heaven
and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” (verse 10)
In a Psalm it says of the heavens and the earth:
“They will perish..
they will all wear out like a garment,
like clothing You (that is God) will change them,
and they will be discarded.” (Psalm 102:26)
What an amazing change there is going to be!
God will just roll up this whole universe like a piece of cloth.
It’s interesting to see the wording in Matthew where Jesus quotes from Isaiah and says: “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give it’s light.” (Matthew 24:29)
The moon shines because of it’s reflected light from the sun, so, when the sun will be blacked out, then the moon won’t shine.
In Genesis it speaks about God creating the world, and says:
“God made two great lights,
the greater light to govern the day,
and the lesser light to govern the night.
He also made the stars.
God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the
day and the night.” (Genesis 1:16-
So, the snuffing out the light of the sun, moon and stars, signifies the putting down of all rule, authority and power, so that the Kingdom may be delivered up to God.
In the new heaven and earth, God will be all in all, there won’t be a sun to govern, God Almighty will be it’s light.
Paul speaking of Christ coming again wrote:
“Then the end will come, when He, that is Christ, hands over the Kingdom to God the Father,
after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1Corinthians 15:24)
At this time Christ will round up the Devil and his angels, and there will be no more rebellions.
God will reign supreme.
Perhaps God snuffs out the created lights, so that for a moment there would be total blackness, then there would be the glorious appearance of Christ in the clouds, Him coming with great power and glory with His angels with Him.
That previous darkness would be a preview of the eternal darkness, that those who have rejected God will be sent to.
Jesus said: “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn.” (Matthew 24:30)
When Christ first came to this earth, He was a sign to be spoken against, as it says in Luke 2:34.
But at His second coming, He will be a sign that will be too powerful to ignore.
John in Revelation 1 says:
“Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced
Him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him.”
The believers will look up with joy, knowing that He is their Redeemer.
They have had their times of mourning over their sin and guilt, but now it is turned to joy.
Whereas the unbelievers had no serious thoughts about the error of their ways, until Christ comes.
Then they will eternally mourn, that they had been caught in their wickedness.
As Mediator between mankind and God, Jesus Christ has been given the responsibility for judging the world.
“The Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgement to the Son,
that all may honour the Son.” (John 5:22)
“God the Father has given Him authority to judge,
because He is the Son of Man.” (verse 27)
Now we come to the sound of the TRUMPET call in Matthew:
“And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather His elect from the four winds,
from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:31)
The sound of the trumpet, is to awaken, and frighten a sleeping world.
Trumpets were used for at least 6 different reasons in the Old Testament, and each one is relevant to the second coming of Christ:
[1] Exodus 19:16 at the giving of the 10 Commandments;
“On the morning of the third day, there was thunder and lightening,
with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast.
Everyone in the camp trembled.
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God,
and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it with fire.”
What an awesome picture! The trumpet announces;
“Come you people, it is time to meet God for a very solemn occasion!!
People may push God aside, but there will be a day when they will have to attend His awesome Presence.
[2] Numbers 10:2
“Make two trumpets of hammered silver,
and use them for calling the community together.”
Again, what a picture, it is for calling God’s people together, all the saints throughout history, and the ones living at Christ's return, a huge gathering of His people.
[3] Numbers 10:9
“When you go into battle .. against an enemy who is oppressing you,
sound a blast on the trumpets,”
At Christ’s second coming this was to be the final battle against the forces of evil.
[4] In Psalm 81 the trumpet assists in worship.
The sound of the tambourine, harp and lyre was joyful in the worship time, but the sound of the trumpet was the solemn announcement to balance that joyful worship with reverence and fear.
The trumpet at the last day, announces:
“Worship God you people, with reverence and fear.”
[5] Numbers 10:10
“You are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings,
and fellowship offerings.”
God was blowing the trumpet over our duties and good deeds that we have done.
All our good deeds and labours are seen, and are pleasing to God, if they are done as a result of faith in Christ.
[6] In Leviticus 25:8 it speaks of blowing the trumpet every 50 years, in the year of Jubilee.
It was the year of release, when any land that had been sold, was returned to it’s original owners, slaves were released, etc, etc.
All the believers will be released from the bondage of corruption, and will be given new resurrection bodies.
Paul wrote:
“Listen I tell you a mystery;
we will not all sleep, (that means die) but we will be changed -
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable,
and we will be changed.
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:51)
This describes us receiving our new resurrection bodies.
Paul also wrote:
“For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven,
with a voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
After that, we who are still alive and are left
will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we will be with the Lord for ever.
Therefore encourage each other with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
Vulture image: thanks to Serif ARTGallery CD
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