A couple of weeks ago, we were looking at the trumpet and sounding the trumpet. We know that when Christ comes, it is at the sound of “the last trump.”
It says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16:
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
We also find this language in 1 Corinthians 15:52:
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.
This is referring to May 21st. God’s people will be changed at this point.
However, there is also information in the Bible that tells us that God is sounding the trumpet now. He is sounding the trumpet and the trumpet is designed to warn people. It is the equipment that a watchman would have. He would have a trumpet, as he would be in the watchtower to warn the people of what is coming.
We read in Ezekiel 33:2-4:
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
This is referring to the individual’s role as a child of God to be a watchman. We are to keep a watch and a lookout to see when the sword would be coming upon the land. When we see the sword, we are to blow the trumpet and warn the people; and yet what relationship does the blowing of the trumpet have, for example, with Christ coming “as a thief in the night”?
I ask this because of something that is widely proclaimed in the church. I actually do not know of any church that does not teach this. The churches say that Christ is coming “as a thief in the night,” or they quote, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man.”
Well, if Christ is coming “as a thief in the night,” this means that you cannot see His coming. According to the way in which they understand this, no man can know. If this is so, what is the purpose of a watchman? If you think about this, what is the purpose for setting a watch?
This would be like having a man who has his trumpet with him up in the watchtower and who maybe has a looking glass so that he can see far off and then giving him instructions, “By the way, do not ever blow the trumpet. Do not ever blow the trumpet and wake us up in the middle of the night to tell us that an enemy is coming, because you can actually never know. You can never see an enemy approach or an enemy come with the sword. You are a watchman; however, whatever you do, do not blow the trumpet!”
So we have to ask the question: what is the point in setting a watch if you give the watchmen instructions that indicate, first of all, they will never actually be able to see an enemy coming and that, secondly, they should certainly never blow the trumpet? There does not seem to be any point in this and there is not.
God mocks this idea, but I also did a little mocking myself and I need to watch that. I mentioned the 1960’s TV Show “F Troop” and how they had a character by the name of Vanderbilt up in a watchtower. Anyone who watched this show knows what I mean. Vanderbilt wore glasses and could barely see. He would squint his eyes, but he could not see his hand in front of his face. They would place him in a watchtower, which was a ridiculous thing to do. It was ridiculous to put a blind man in a watchtower, but it was a comedy and this was one of many jokes. Was it not silly and stupid to put a blind man in a watchtower to watch for Indians when he could not even see his hand in front of his face?
Well, God Himself mocks the churches of today in the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah 56, He is referring to Israel; but remember that Israel is a type and a figure of the church. We read in Isaiah 56:10-11:
His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
So God speaks of blind watchmen or “dumb dogs.” They are “dumb” in the sense that they cannot make a sound; they cannot bark.
This would be like having a watchdog in a junkyard who could not make a sound. He would run up to the burglar, but no sound would come out and no warning would be given to the owners of the junkyard.
If you remember, we talked about spiritual blindness. What is spiritual blindness? This means that you cannot understand; and God is the One who relates this idea. There is a blindness of the mind and a blindness of the heart. Spiritual blindness is a lack of understanding. It is ignorance; but God tells us that His people, of course, do not have this problem because He gives them “eyes to see.” He gives them understanding. We read, “None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” This is because they are blind when it comes to these things. This is why their watchmen are blind and cannot see the enemy.
So the constant report from the watchman who is in the church is, “All is well; the coast is clear; there is ‘peace and safety.’” This is because they cannot see the enemy and they cannot see the sword in the enemy’s hand.
We read in Ezekiel 33 that the watchman sees the sword coming. Who is bearing the sword? Who is coming? Who is coming like an enemy? Who is it? It is Christ. It is God. He is the One who is coming and He is coming to kill.
For instance, if we go to Mark 13:34, we read:
For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
Jesus is the One who is setting the watch. He is setting the watch. He has established the role of watchman.
He continues on to say in Mark 13:35-37:
Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.
“Ye know not when the master of the house cometh.” This is why we had to watch. It is because we did not know throughout the church age; however, God indicated that He would open up the Scriptures at the time of the end and that He would reveal these things. For anyone watching in the Bible, looking for the judgment of God as God instructed us to do, at the proper time, which is in our day, they would see. They would see; but if someone was never keeping watch, they would not see. This is why Christ instructed all to “watch” for His approach.
Or look at Matthew 21:37-41. It says:
But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
This is related more to the first coming of Christ, but this is the same idea. God is coming to bring judgment on those who are disobedient to His Word.
Look at Matthew 25:14-19. It says:
For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
It is Christ the Lord who is coming to reckon with His servants. God has revealed that His day of coming is May 21st of 2011. It is next year and He is the One who is approaching. It is He who has the sword. The sword is the Word of God. It protrudes out of His mouth, according to the book of Revelation. It is He who is going to destroy man for their rebelliousness against Him.
Let us look at James 4 and we will see how God directly establishes that there is warfare between Him and mankind. We read in James 4:1-4:
From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Here is the battle. Here is the war. It is the kingdom of Satan and the kingdom of darkness against the Kingdom of Christ and the Kingdom of Light. Each unsaved individual is the enemy of God, and so God is coming, as He said He would, to destroy His enemy; and yet the churches are indicating today that there is “peace and safety.”
If we go to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, it says:
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
They see “peace and safety” because they do not see God coming with a weapon. They do not see the battle of Armageddon straight ahead. They understand that God “hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world,” but they will not admit that we can actually know the day.
Therefore, the true watchmen are sounding the trumpet to warn the people and we are telling everyone that this is the day. The church is countering this and saying, “No, no; that is not the day. That is not the day because nobody can know the day.” Therefore, God’s people are saying, “This is the day of battle. This is Armageddon.”
If we look at Revelation 16:14, which is speaking of false prophets, it says:
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
This is the battle. Look at the next verse, Revelation 16:15:
Behold, I come as a thief…
So God is indicating that there is a war, it is a battle. Actually, it is not going to be much of a battle. To tell you the truth, there is not going to be much resistance coming from man towards God on that day. God is just too all-powerful and too almighty. How man could ever think, in his creature-state, that he could actually do battle with the Creator is just part of his blindness. It is part of his spiritual deadness that he would dare to rebel against God. This is what it truly is. If we look at the whole world and all of the things that go on in this world, it is rebellion.
It is just as if there was a King of England who had his subjects, the English people, and they all wanted to do things contrary to the king’s decrees. They would be classified as rebels, because they are rebels.
Of course, there have been evil kings and kings who were not just, but God is perfect and holy and just and good and never has an unrighteous decree. He is the most benevolent ruler possible, the great “King of kings and Lord of lords,” and everyone should desire to serve this King and to offer up their very lives in service to the King who has died for them, the subjects. Yet man does not want anything to do with this kind of a king, this type of a ruler; and so there is constant rebellion and constant revolt against God; and God has put up with this.
He likens this to Him just going away for a short period of time. The Son of Man is like a man who takes a journey, but He is very much aware of what happened during His absence. He is very much aware of what was going on with His subjects and with those who would not have Him rule over them.
So He has set a date in which He will return, and the graciousness and wonderful compassion of God is that He is telling these same subjects when He is coming back in order to hold them accountable. He is even gracious and kind enough to offer a possibility of pardon that all of the rebellious transgressions against this great King could potentially be forgiven.
If someone were to approach God and to humble themselves and cry out, potentially, He might forgive and pardon. He might not say, “Off with their heads!” When He returns, He may grant them the golden scepter. He may extend it so that they can have favor and grace in His sight.
But the rebels want nothing to do with this. They want nothing to do with it. They want to keep rebelling against God. It is only when this great and good God draws these rebels to Himself against their will that any will find grace in His sight and beseech Him on terms that match the terms that God gives in His Bible.
Many people want peace. They want peace with God, but they want it on their terms. They want to determine what the Gospel is. They want to decide how an individual can become saved and have their sins forgiven. This has to do with their effort and their work; but God says, “No; those are not the terms for peace. Those are not the terms at all.”
We hear of armies that surrender to another army. When there is a vastly greater power coming against them, they are in no position to bargain. They are in no position to say to the other army, “Here is the terms of our peace if we do surrender.” No; it has to be an unconditional surrender or they will be destroyed, “We will destroy you unconditionally, because we have the power to do this.”
This is what God says in Luke 14. He uses this image, this example. We read in Luke 14:31-32:
Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
This is what God is saying. Kings have commonsense. They have commonsense. When they see an army approaching whom they realize their army cannot overcome, this is when they will send some ambassadors to approach the enemy army and try to say something like, “We do not want this war. What do you want from us? Do you want our gold? Do you want our silver? What do you want?”
They will try to make peace; because they realize if they do not, it will all be taken away anyway and that they will all be dead. Their women and their sons and their daughters will be taken captive. It will be a horrible situation, and so they will think, “Let us sue for peace.” This would be a wise thing to do. This is a wise thing to do before the enemy gets to you.
So this is an option that can be given; however, first of all, they need to know that the enemy is approaching. Who is going to sue for peace if they are completely unaware of the approaching enemy? Who is going to do this if they are in total ignorance that the enemy army is approaching?
Do you remember how the Babylonian kingdom fell? King Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall and Daniel was called to interpret.
Let us read this in Daniel 5. Daniel begins to interpret the writing in verse 25. We read in Daniel 5:25-28:
And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
Here is the judgment: “Thy kingdom is given to the Medes and the Persians.”
Then we read in Daniel 5:29:
Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
If you remember, Daniel had said earlier that he did not want these things. He said, “Let thy gifts be to thyself.”
Daniel had some sort of advance information about this; because as soon as he was called, as soon as he went into the palace where the king was and this feast was going on, he was able to interpret this particular vision. He did this immediately and without seeking the counsel of the Lord, as he had done previously in the days of King Nebuchadnezzar.
When Nebuchadnezzar had demanded of the wise men what his dream was and the interpretation of it, Daniel and his friends went and prayed and sought the Lord. They had to take some time, and then God revealed it to them. It was then that they went back to the king.
Here, Daniel just walks in, the king tells him about the vision, and Daniel immediately interprets the vision. What was the interpretation? It was that the kingdom of Babylon, which typified the kingdom of Satan, would be destroyed.
This is the 70th year of the Babylonian captivity, which started in 609 B.C. It is the year 539 B.C. It is the end of this 70-year period, which typified the Great Tribulation; and so this is typifying the end of the Great Tribulation and God is indicating that Daniel had some knowledge of this, because he immediately told the king what the vision meant.
Then we read in verse 30, Daniel 5:30:
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
He was slain in that very night. Where were the Babylonian watchmen? What were they doing? Where were they?
Earlier, what were the king and all of his princes doing? They were having a party. They were drinking, they were eating, and they were using the vessels from the temple of Jehovah.
Obviously, they had no forewarning. They had no advance information about the approaching army of the Medes and the Persians. Nobody sounded the trumpet. No one blew the trumpet to warn the people. There is no indication of this, even though the enemy had to be close.
We know that the Medes and the Persians were a mighty empire. Babylon was, also, before it was conquered. Therefore, the Medes and the Persians would not have just sent a couple of platoons against Babylon. They would have sent their full strength. They would have sent a large army.
How was it possible that a large army of the Medes and the Persians apparently just walked right into Babylon and the Babylonian leadership knew nothing about it, from the king, through the princes, and down to all of the nobles? How were they so ignorant of this?
Even after Daniel interprets this vision and tells them that the kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and the Persians, even after he tells them specifically who is going to conquer them, even after this, the King of Babylon, Belshazzar, is ignorant. We can see this because he is still trying to make Daniel the third ruler in the kingdom.
What kingdom? What future did this kingdom of Babylon have? It had very little. We are not told exactly how many hours passed, but it was “in that night.” “In that night,” the king of the Medes and the Persians and his army marched right into where this palace was, because they killed King Belshazzar the same night that this vision was interpreted for him.
So where were the watchmen? Well, historically, we do not know. Were they, themselves, drunk, since this seemed to be the manner of the kings and the princes? Were they asleep in their towers?
They could have been; but, spiritually, we know that this is a picture of the end of the Great Tribulation. The king of the Medes and the Persians was Darius, who was also called Cyrus. God said of Cyrus that he was “his anointed” or “the Messiah.” He says of Cyrus, “He is my shepherd,” which is Christ.
Christ came in the night to the kingdom of Babylon, which represents this world. This is the spiritual picture here. The kingdom of Babylon represents the kingdom of Satan, and Christ took them all by surprise. He marched right in with no advance warning.
Is this because we are not doing our jobs correctly? Is this why on May 21st that so many people are going to be destroyed by this enemy, by God who is coming to destroy them? Is this because the people of the world were not warned?
No, it is not because of this. Belshazzar was warned, but he just did not understand. He was warned, but he did not understand; and so are the people of today being warned. With every way imaginable, God’s people are trying to warn the citizens of this world, the rebels, that the King is coming. He is returning!
So we ask, “Are you ready? Are you ready to meet God?” We ask them if they are prepared, as the Bible says, “to meet thy God, O Israel”? This is really what is being proclaimed and said.
Just look at all of the different ways in which God’s people are sending forth this warning. People are wearing T-shirts. They are putting bumper stickers on their vehicles. They are putting magnetic signs that they can just put on their cars. They are putting up political-type signs in their yards.
I saw one in Delaware the other day. My brother was with me in the car. We were talking about May 21st. He is not a believer at this point. We drove past a yard and there was one of those signs with the message, “Judgment Day! May 21, 2011.” I had an opportunity to point this sign out to him. These signs are very good.
By the way, I have put one of these in my own front yard. I am on sign number four now because the first three were taken over the last couple of weeks. I put one sign out in my yard and it stayed there all throughout the day and night, but I came outside one morning to find it gone. If you buy any of these signs, try to buy several of them.
After the first sign was taken, I had to wait for the second sign to come in. I put this sign out, but this sign was taken in the middle of the night. So I put out a third sign. This time, we started taking the sign in at night. We decided not to leave it out all night. Then this sign had to have been taken between 6:00 and 8:00 P.M. because I had seen it at 6:00 P.M. I came out at 8:00 P.M. and it was gone.
I think it is an adult, because a kid would have just ripped it up or destroyed it; but I have no idea where these signs have gone. I have to admit that I got a little mad because I started thinking about my First Amendment rights and all of this kind of stuff. After this, I thought I would get a half dozen signs and just put them up all over the place, with the idea that if they take one, I’ll put up two more. However, I realized that this was a sort of striving. Even in this, we do not want to strive.
So this is bothering people. They are very disturbed by this information that they are seeing on trucks, etc. A little bumper sticker might bother them a little. A big sign on an R.V. will bother them a lot. This is because this information is very disturbing to them.
I have even thought that there might be someone in my neighborhood who is thinking, “You know, I do not want to see that sign up. I do not like it and the children might see it.”
Have you ever handed out tracts and given one to a child when someone who is not even the parent starts yelling at you because you gave a tract to a child? They are going to come under judgment just like the adults. My feeling about this is that they also should be handed a tract, but there is this sense of protectiveness. However, in actuality, I do not think that this is what is involved.
People say that they do not want their children to see a sign like this because it might hurt their psyche or make them fearful. But is this a valid concern for today’s children? Today’s children watch horror shows where people are being cut up. People say that they are afraid that this might frighten their children. Yet do they not put up witches and ghosts and vampires and all of these things designed to scare people?
This is just an excuse, and so do not try to use the children. It is the individual who does not like this information. I do not like signs either sometimes. People sometimes put up things in their yard that I might not like, but I have never thought of going into their yard and taking it away.
The only thing I can think of is that this is due to one of two things. The first reason could be because they do not believe this and they think that this is a lie. If this is true, how can it hurt anyone? If they think that this was a lie, why would they even be disturbed by this? If they think that this is a lie, why would it bother them at all?
The other reason is because there is the knowledge of judgment that God has placed within man. We know that we are a creature. We know that He is God. We know that we are accountable. It is disturbing on this level because there is truth involved in this. If this is the reason, then why would they not want people to hear the truth? This does not make sense either way.
So God is moving His people to get the message out and to sound the trumpet. I have done very little in comparison to many people, especially in the area of advertising. People have hats and all kinds of things. They are wearing hoodies and jackets, all kinds of things with this information on them, and it is all trying to get someone’s attention.
We are trying to get bolder in this, but are we doing these things because we are just losing it? Or are we trying to do more and more because people are not hearing the sound of the trumpet? It is because they are not hearing it. They are not hearing the warning cry. They are not responding.
It is kind of like you give a blow on the trumpet. However, when you look around, the people are still living like normal. Then you try to sound it a little louder, and yet the people continue on as normal.
All of this advertising of the date is a testimony to the deafness and to the blindness and to the spiritual deadness of the world around us. There is a spiritual deadness that forces God’s people, out of love, to do whatever they can to blow the trumpet and to warn the people so that, perchance, they might notice an R.V. Just maybe someone will notice an R.V., which happens to be worth a lot of money, that someone took the time to wrap or to letter.
God’s people are doing many things in many ways. A lot of money is being spent on a very short-term goal, which is to warn the people about May 21. No one is asking for money in return. It is just to warn the people, to let them know that they may not be seeing this; but God’s people see this. According to the Bible, the child of God has eyes “in his head,” because God gives them a heart of discernment to discern “time and judgment.” He just simply has revealed this information to them and they see the sword coming.
Even if your church does not, even if your pastor and your elder and your deacon keep telling you that the coast is clear and that you are not to sound this trumpet, God has told us what He thinks of them. They are blind watchmen. They are like “dumb dogs” that cannot bark. Do not trust them. Do not trust us either. Trust the Bible, because this is all coming from the Bible. This is why we can be certain that this is going to happen and that this is going to happen very shortly.
Let us go back to 1 Thessalonians 5. We read again in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2:
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
We know that this is referring to Christ coming upon the unsaved, because they cannot see His coming. They cannot receive the warning. They will not respond by going to God; and so they are surprised; just like Belshazzar and the Babylonians must have been surprised when the Medes and the Persians just marched right in.
Then we read again in 1 Thessalonians 5:3:
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
We have mentioned this before, but people have this so engrained in their minds. They know that Christ is coming “as a thief” because the Bible says this, and so they think that He is coming “as a thief” even for His people; but no, this is not possible. This is not possible because a thief, according to John 10:10, “cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” It is negative, negative, negative. It is all bad.
If a thief broke into your house, would there be anything good in relation to this? Except for the fact that “all things work together for good” for the child of God, there would be nothing positive about this. The thief came. He broke a window. He came in. He took your valuables. Maybe even in some cases, if he runs into someone within the house, he can kill someone.
So there is nothing good about a thief breaking into your home. It is all bad; and there is nothing good if Christ comes for you “as a thief.” If you are caught off-guard, if you are unaware that He is coming, and if you insist “of that day and hour knoweth no man,” then you are saying that He is coming for you personally “as a thief.”
Without knowing it, you are saying that you are under the judgment of God and that He is coming to kill you and to steal your treasure, because your treasure should have been in heaven “where thieves do not break through nor steal.” However, obviously, your treasure was on earth. It was on earth. You treasured up things on earth. You are an unsaved individual and Christ has come to steal everything, to take it all away.
Notice that 1 Thessalonians 5:3 speaks of “sudden destruction.” How does this fit with so many warnings being given? How could people be suddenly destroyed?
Look at Proverbs 29:1. It says:
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
This is speaking of “sudden destruction,” but notice how odd this is. It is referring to people who are being “often reproved.” What is a reproof?
We read in 2 Timothy 3:16:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof…
Scripture is given “for reproof.” When we read things in the Bible where God tells us what pleases Him and what displeases Him and we still do what displeases Him, then God’s Word has reproved us. He has reproved us, and God reproves us all of the time.
Likewise, God, out of His wonderful kindness and love, is revealing to the whole world that Judgment Day is May 21st of 2011. We are hearing it and hearing it. Children, are you hearing this? Yes, again and again and again; but notice what Proverbs 29:1 says:
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck…
He is being “often reproved” and he “hardeneth his neck.” This means that he becomes stubborn. He does not like it and he has no intention of listening to what God is saying.
So when we hear about May 21, 2011, what is it that we should do? What response does God want?
God would have us respond like the Ninevites and go to Him in “sackcloth and ashes” and “fasting.” We need to beseech Him and cry mightily to Him that He might turn from the evil that is intended upon us.
What this means is that this information should interrupt our lives. We should not be living life as normal. We should not be looking ahead to school or to a career or to marriage and a family.
This should interrupt our lives like the message from Jonah when he came to Nineveh and cried, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” They stopped what they were doing. They were people, just like we are. They had a lot going on in their lives, just like everyone else, and yet they sat in “sackcloth and ashes.” They stopped the presses. They stopped the work. They stopped everything, because this became the most important thing to them. God gave them “eyes to see.” He gave them an understanding heart and the knowledge that He would do what He had said He would do.
Yet, today, people are hearing these things, but they are not changing the course of their lives. They are continuing on with their plans or with the way in which they have been living. The evil is still in their hands. The violence is still in their hands. The transgressions are still ongoing. They are still disobeying this God who is returning to reckon with all of His servants. He is coming to destroy them. They are hearing this, and yet they are hardening their necks and they are not listening. They are hearing “the sound of the trumpet,” like it says in Jeremiah 6, and they are saying, “We will not hearken.” They are saying, “We will not listen! We will not obey!”
So God is saying:
He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed…
He says “suddenly,” as if by surprise, even though they heard it and they heard it and they heard it; but, again, they never took this seriously or they dismissed this. Whatever method they used, they did not listen to what God was saying.
So God says, “Alright,” but this is going to be the case for the entire world. As this verse ends, this will be:
…without remedy.
There will be no salvation for them, no deliverance, no mercy. Starting on May 21st for that five-month period, it will be nothing but judgment, judgment. God will have “judgment without mercy.” There will be no more “remedy.”
Now is the time for salvation. This is what the Bible tells us, and God is blowing the trumpet to warn the people, “Take warning! Take warning! Listen to the sound of the trumpet. Hearken!”
Of course, we could pray that He would have mercy on us if we realize that the enemy is right at the gate, and He is right at the door. The Bible tells us, “The judge standeth before the door,” and He is ready to come in. The time is very short until that day.
Let us stop here.