March 26, 2002
Sound the Trumpet
Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests who minister before the Lord, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, “Spare your people, O Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” Joel 2:15-17 (NIV)
Blow the trumpet in Zion! In Exodus 19, the trumpet called the people to the mount to assemble and be made holy. In verse 19, the Lord answered the call of the trumpet with a voice. In Leviticus 25, the trumpet sounded the Day of Atonement. The trumpet was used to call together an assembly of the people (Numbers 10:2). The trumpets were sounded on the first of every month, on special days, and over the sacrifices (Numbers 10). In Jeremiah 4: 19-21 the trumpet is the call to war. This trumpet that is to be sounded is the trumpet of assembly. God says to gather his people together to be made holy. When we know that we are not pleasing unto him, we are to humble ourselves in his presence. God says to leave no one out. We are to gather together in his presence so that he can make us holy, set apart, righteous. We have sinned against the Lord. We have made light of his word. We have not lived the way he would have us to live. Now, he says to sound the trumpet and gather together before him.
What is it that he is gathering us together to do? He is calling his people to be made holy. He is calling us to mourn, to let out hearts be broken by his presence, to pour out all that is not of him and to be filled with him. We are not seeing the miracles, signs and wonders that we should be seeing. We have forgotten to what it means to worship a holy God. We are more concerned about being out by noon or whatever time we are “supposed” to be out of our “service.” What ever happened to the day when we went to worship him? Bride, come out of your chambers! Children come! Babes that are still drinking milk, come! Preacher and teachers, come! Housewives, workers, lawyers, doctors, and all who serve the Lord, come! Gather together, fast, mourn, pray, and lament for the great ways we have wronged a holy God. Beg of the Lord that you not fall away. Pray that your flight not take place in winter. Come and learn to worship him in a way that is pleasing unto him. Fast, pray, and seek his face. Be made humble before him. Beg of the Lord that he spare us in the time to come. Beg of him his guidance, his leadership, and his covering. To put it all in a nutshell, he calls his bride to repent! This day, tarry no longer. Return to your first love, confess your sins and let him make you clean! The best is yet to come. We must be made ready to receive his best!
Father, it is a broken and contrite heart that you long to see in us. Father, teach us to fast the fast that is pleasing unto you. Teach us to care for one another. Father, forgive us our sins for we have sinned against you greatly and we have sinned against you alone. Father, in Jesus name and for the sake of his name, let us not fall away. Prepare our hearts to receive the best that you long to send to us. Father, in Jesus name, we mourn and beg of you your mercy. Cover us with the blood of Jesus. Cover us with the garment that has been washed in his blood. Make us holy before you. Have mercy that we not pass away from the face of this earth. People laugh and say, “Where is the God that you serve?” They say, “If he were so mighty and great then he would not allow such horrible things to happen to those who serve him.” Lord, in Jesus name, we need you to be seen. Remove the sin nature that is within us and replace it with you. Let our faces and our countenance glow from being in your presence. Make us bold to go and do as you would have us to do. In Jesus name, restore us, amen and amen!
All rights reserved: Amy Seelbach
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