A VOICE LIKE A TRUMPET -- Monday:
"I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet" (Revelation 1:10)
It was "the Lord's day," and John was "in the Spirit." This was, we understand, the first day of the week. Some are of the opinion "the Lord's day" means the day on which Jesus appeared to John. But there really is no difference between the two. After Jesus' resurrection, He also appeared to His disciples on "the first day of the week" (John 20:19), so it should not be strange to us that He did so again to John. While John is in deep meditation, his cogitations are suddenly interrupted! He hears a "loud voice," like the blast of a mighty trumpet! Every wandering thought is summoned to the center of his consideration, as he is ushered into the realm of Divine contemplation. There is a solemnity on this occasion that transcends all purely earthly experience. The crashing waves of the sea can be heard no longer. The circumstances in which he finds himself recede into the background as though absolutely insignificant. He again hears the voice that once stilled the tempest and quieted the raging sea--but now it has greater power than was ever heard on the sea or shores of Galilee!
It is no low muttering voice that John hears, but one that is "loud." It is a voice like that described by the Psalmist. "The voice of the LORD is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; The voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, Yes, the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the LORD divides the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness; The LORD shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth, And strips the forests bare; and in His temple everyone says, "Glory NKJV (Psa 29:3-9). Nature bows prostrate before the "Voice," as the Sovereign of the universe speaks. Advancements that take place in nature do so by "the voice of the Lord." Now, that very voice speaks to the exiled Apostle and prophet, John the beloved. It shatters the silence, and transforms the day into a most glorious one.
The voice was "as a trumpet," laden with significance, relevance, and supremacy. Of old time, the trumpet had often been connected with the Lord. It was associated with the giving of the Law at Sinai (Ex 19:6). Festivals instituted under the Old Covenant were inaugurated with trumpets (Num 10:10). The Davidic prophecy of the ascension of the Lord Jesus into heaven mentions "the sound of a trumpet" (Psa 47:5). Also, the Lord shall descend from heaven accompanied by the sound of a trumpet (1 Cor 15:52; 1 Thess 4:16). What John heard was not merely a piercing sound, but a heavenly alert to what he was about to hear! The message would be more significant than the giving of the Sinaitic Law. It would have more gravity than the feasts observed by the ancient people. He was about to hear words that would be the objects of contemplation for centuries to come! And, they were spoken to a person in exile.
These words would define the real King, the real enemy, the real battle, and the real outcome. They would reveal the past, and open up the future. They would speak of decline, and of glorious triumph, of the destiny of the ungodly and the godly. This trumpet-like voice called for the Apostle's attention, and it has captured ours as well.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for the arresting nature of the voice of the Lord.