The Hebrew Roots of The Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah)

The Hebrew Roots of Yom Teruah

The Feast of Trumpets

As we approach the Fall Festivals, we begin to get excited as we anticipate each one and what it means to us. We all have our favorite and once we get past the anxiety of making travel arrangements and for time off from work, we begin to relax into the comfort of knowing that we are practicing that which is pleasing in God’s sight. There’s a sense of peace that comes as we rehearse the return of our Savior and a time when this world will be transformed into His Kingdom.  

Each feast is deeply rooted in the Hebrew culture of ancient times, however, that seems to get lost in translation to our modern day and age. Each one has its nuances and subtleties that when we understand them adds a richness to the word of God and to the overall meaning of the feast. I won’t take time today to cover them all but I will give you a taste of the richness of the first of the fall festivals – the Feast of Trumpets.

Let’s turn to Numbers chapter 29. We typically go to Leviticus 23 when discussing the feasts but Numbers 29 has a fascinating phrasing that brings out the richness of the Hebrew.

(Num 29:1)
And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, ye shall have an holy convocation; ye shall do no servile work: it is a day of blowing the trumpets unto you. 

The Hebrew word for "day" in this passage is Strongs -
H3117 יום yôm yome – meaning “day” 

The Hebrew word translated as "blowing the trumpets" is Strongs -
H8643 תּרוּעה terû‛âh  ter-oo-aw' 
From H7321; clamor, that is, acclamation of joy or a battle cry; especially clangor of trumpets, blow an alarm, rejoicing, shout(-ing)

It is a day of blowing the trumpets or as it’s called in Hebrew – Yom Teruah!

We see that the day of the Lord is a day of the blowing of trumpets.

(Joel 2:1) 
Blow ye the trumpet [shofar] in Zion, and sound an alarm [rua] in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 

 One more place just to be sure -

 (Zep 1:14-16)

The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day [yom] of the trumpet [shofar]  and alarm [teruah] against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. 

Now let’s go back to Numbers 29:1 take a quick look at the word, “convocation”. The Hebrew word is –

H4744 מקרא miqrâ' mik-raw'

From H7121; something called out, that is, a public meeting (the act, the persons, or the place); also a rehearsal: - assembly, calling, convocation, reading. 

So this convocation is a ‘migra’ or dress rehearsal of the day of blowing the trumpets!  

Isn’t that what we do each year? Rehearse the return of Christ and the setting up of the Kingdom of God? 

In fact, every one of the feasts is a dress rehearsal. The spring feasts were a dress rehearsal of His first coming and the establishment of His Church through the giving of the Holy Spirit. 

The fall feasts are a dress rehearsal of His second coming!

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The Last Trump

During the day on Yom Teruah, they would blast the shofar all day long! A shofar is trumpet of sorts made from a ram’s horn.

There are four primary types of shofar blasts:

1. Tekiah (תְּקִיעָה) - A long single blast (the sound of the King's coronation)
2. Shevarim (שְׁבָרִים) - Three short wail-like blasts (signifying repentance)
3. Teru'ah (תְּרוּעָה) - Nine quick staccato blasts of alarm (to awaken the soul)
4. Tekiah ha-Gadol (תְּקִיעָה הַגָּדוֹל) - A great long blast (for as long as you can blow!)

(Psa 89:15)

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound [teruah]: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.

Have a listen to this joyful sound! - [sound the shofar] 

On the Feast of Trumpets this series is blown throughout the day. 

The final blast is known as “The Last Trump” !

(1Cor 15:51-53) Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 

So when does this event occur? Yom Teruah!

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No Man Knows the Day or the Hour

When does the Feast of Trumpets occur? The Feast of Trumpets always occurs on the 1^st of Tishri on the Biblical calendar which typically corresponds to September/October on the Roman calendar.

(Psa 81:1-3)
Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery. Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

The Feast of Trumpets is the only feast day that occurs on a New Moon. All the rest are on a full moon. A new moon occurs when the sky is dark and basically there is no moon.

So, how do you determine when there is a new moon? Without the aid of modern astronomical calculations, the only way to determine a new moon was to watch for the first appearance of just a sliver of the moon. Well, at the mouth of two or three witnesses shall a matter be established, right? Two men were chosen to stand out on a hill and watch for the beginning of a crescent to appear. They know about when it would occur but not exactly so they had to watch for it.

During the Diaspora (the scattering of the Jews from Jerusalem) it’s especially difficult to know when Yom Teruah begins. By the time the crescent moon is spotted and the word gets out to the rest of the people, half the festival could be over. So to compensate for this, they started celebrating it for two days but regarded it as “One Long Day”.

Because it’s the first day of the month, was 2 days long, and was based on the sighting of the New Moon by two witnesses it’s known as the Feast where no one knows “The Day or the Hour”!  Sound familiar?

(Mat 25:13)
Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

It was to be a day symbolically hidden even from Satan so he would not be 100% aware of its arrival.

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A Thief in the Night

To set this next one up we’re going to spend a little time in the book of Revelation. Turn to Revelation chapter 3 where it talks about the seven churches. We’ll take a look at the warnings given to two of them.

(Rev 3:1-3) 
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 
(Rev 3:17-18) 
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

One more reference to watching and keeping our garments –

(Rev 16:15)
Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

We know that garments are symbolic of innocence and righteousness. We are warned here to take care to keep our garments lest we lose them. Similar to losing one’s crown, we would not want to lose our garments either.

Before the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, 24 guards were stationed around the Temple on three different shifts or watches to guard the Temple grounds.

(Luke 12:37-41) 

Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all?

A direct reference to the second and third watch at the Temple. Especially if He comes later than expected (in the 2^nd or 3^rd watch) … and finds them so, refers back to watching.

(Luke 12:42-46) 

And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

So who gets caught unawares and loses his garment? The dead church, the rich church, the unfaithful servant – all who are NOT watching and ready for His return!

Each night, the captain of the Temple, (Acts 4:1; 5:24) would patrol the Temple Mount, inspecting each and every station. Burning torches are borne before him in order for the guards to recognize that it is he and if perchance he encounters a watchman who does not rise up before him, the captain cries out to him, "Peace be unto you!". But if the captain receives no reply, it is obvious that the guard has been caught asleep. He could then, at his option, as a punishment for not carrying out his duty properly, either rap the sleeping Levite with his stick or could even set his robe on fire sending him running away naked without his garments. 

The guards were never quite sure when the captain of the Temple would come so he came to be known as “a thief in the night”.

(1Th 5:1-6)
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. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 

We may not know what year He is coming but we will not be overtaken as a thief in the night because we have been rehearsing the Hebrew roots of the times and the seasons and are listening for the sound of the trumpet and watching for His imminent return!

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http://www.elshaddaiministries.us/audio/feasts/2006yomteruahdvd_n.html
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Fall_Holidays/Rosh_Hashannah/rosh_hashannah.html
http://www.templeinstitute.org/rosh_hashana/introduction.htm
http://philologos.org/__eb-ttms/temple07.htm

Imagine

 In 1971, John Lennon wrote a song where he asked us to imagine a world with “no heaven,” “no hell,” “no religion,” and “nothing to kill or die for.”

In 2007, thirty-six years later, the piano on which he wrote that iconic song was taken on a symbolic peace tour that took it to sites of violence and persecution around the world. Paraded before them as if it were the Ark of the Covenant, the trip included: 

- Ford's Theatre, DC (Lincoln)

- Dealey Plaza, Dallas (JFK)

- Lorraine Motel, Memphis (MLK)

- Oklahoma City (bombing Federal bldg)

- Waco, TX (Branch Davidians)

- Columbine High School

- Auschwitz, Germany (holocaust)

- Tower of London

- London 2005 train bombing 

As if its mere presence could somehow heal the world and usher in Lennon’s utopia.

 

In Lennon’s world, you can believe anything you want as long as you don’t believe it too sincerely.

 

Today the great virtue is tolerance, defined not in the classically liberal sense of non-aggression, but as an imperative to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that all beliefs and lifestyles are equally valid. 

Except, of course, those that are labeled “judgmental.”

 

What he failed to realize is that a world with “nothing to kill or die for” is a world with nothing to live for. He recommends we all subordinate our individual faiths to an indeterminate “brotherhood of man.”

 

At the Paris Olympics this year, “Imagine” was performed in the opening ceremonies by Juliette Armanet accompanied by pianist Sofiane Pamart. It was performed on a flatbed boat, a sort of raft floating down the River Seine and the visual was that of dark destruction. The raft was dark and desolate except for the piano itself which was set ablaze as Sofiane began to play. The scene symbolized the burning down of what has been in order to build back what can be.

 

If one is to build back better you must first tear down what has been.

 

“To build back better what can be, unburdened by what has been.”

 

Just like the rest of the opening ceremonies, the visuals are hard to ignore and carry meaning all their own. We should pay close attention to the underlying meaning.

When we see these things we need to put our antenna up and be discerning to understand what's really going on.

 

As athletes from countries all over the world of varying faiths assembled to compete with each other, the song was performed strangely exalting how great it would be if there were no countries and no religions.

 

The song was first initiated into the Olympics by Stevie Wonder who performed it during the closing ceremonies of the summer games in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996. Since then, it has become a mainstay and somewhat of a theme song for the Olympics themselves.

 

It was performed again Turin, Italy in 2006 during the opening ceremonies, in London in 2012, South Korea in 2018, Tokyo in 2020, Beijing in 2022, and now Paris in 2024.

 

Lady Gaga performed the song at the 2015 European Games Opening Ceremony held in Azerbaijan.

 

Shakira performed the song before the Pope at the United Nations in New York City in 2015.

 

Additionally, since 2005, event organizers have played "Imagine" just before the New Year's Eve Times Square Ball drops in New York City. It has been played at the WEF, UNICEF, in support of Ukraine, and by numerous artists in various venues and their causes.

 

In 2023, the song was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for its cultural and historical significance. “Imagine” has been accepted all over the world as a template for peace and hope.

 

What is the appeal of this particular song that it is sung regularly at world events and awarded for its cultural and historical significance?

 

Released in 1971, the song is a plea for peace, calling for an end to divisions among mankind. John Lennon proposed to accomplish this is by letting go of country, nationality, religion, war, and personal possessions in favor of "living for today" in harmony, a brotherhood of man. His message of hope for the world. It is considered one of the most beautiful pieces of music and an inspiration to all to lay aside all conflict among our fellow man.

 

It sounds like a wonderful vision of what could be. A vision of peace. Who doesn’t want to live in peace? What mother, what father wants to send their son or daughter off to war? The issue lies in how he proposed to go about it.

 

As they say, the devil is in the details. And in the case of the song, “Imagine” he truly is.

 

To understand peace, let’s first understand where war comes from.

 

Jas 4:1-5 KJV

(1)  From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

(2)  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. [you don't involve God]

(3)  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

(4)  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, [those who have turned away from God] 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.

(5)  Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

 

War begins in the spirit of man. Apart from God the world will never know peace. Despite all of man’s best efforts, the nature of carnal man will never allow him to find peace without God and His Holy Spirit.

 

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1John 2:16)

 

 

Isa 59:8 KJV 

The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

 

They have made them crooked paths.

Though they may make treaties, establish organizations with members from every country on Earth, hold peace accords, and even sing award winning songs, man can only make crooked paths that lead to destruction,

 

John Lennon’s view of utopia is seemingly one shared by all. But is it? Is this the answer to all of humanity’s problems?

 

Let’s examine the lyrics.

 

 

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

 

No hell below us

Above us, only sky

 

There’s nobody up there! There’s no God, the fool has said in his heart!  (Psa 14:1; 53:1)

 

God has given man a great gift of mind and imagination. God has endowed us with the ability to imagine great things. We can imagine most anything. We can imagine space travel flying to the moon or to Mars. And it is in the imagination that seeds of the future are sown.

 

So, yes it would be easy to imagine these thing’s Lennon sings about. Sadly, maybe too easy. Easily imagined, but harder to do. It is in our imaginings that we have deluded ourselves into thinking we can bring about world peace on our own.

 

“Heaven” here represents the divine reward for living a moral life in obedience to God. And “hell”, equals eternal punishment for dismissing God and going your own way, following your own fleshly desires.

 

There’s no hell below us either! That’s “hell” as they understand it. If there’s no heaven above us and no hell below us, there’s no judgment! And there's No Judge! No penalty! No accountability! No retribution! No lake of fire!

 

If it feels good, do it. Freedom to do whatever makes you feel good. There are no consequences. Do what thou wilt!

 

This concept was codified by Aleister Crowley, an English writer, mystic, occultist, and ceremonial magician, in a text he entitled, The Book of the Law, a text he maintained was dictated to him by a voice he reported to have heard April 8^th, 9^th and 10^th in 1904 [a spirit, a demon] named Aiwass.

 

It is key to the philosophy of Thelema which is the concept of discovering and following one's True Will. Man's true will apart from God.

 

This work outlines key principles, exalting the axiom "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law," emphasizing personal freedom and the pursuit of one's true path, guided by love. Love as you see it. Love and the path to personal freedom. Freedom from God’s Law.

 

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." he says.

 

Why get yourself all worked up trying to live up to some externally applied standard in life? Why harbor the guilt and angst of not measuring up? Why struggle to be a better person? Who gets to define what a better person is anyway? Don’t beat yourself up. Be who you are without apology. You don’t have to live up to anybody else’s expectations. You do you.

 

There’s no standard of goodness. No right. No wrong. No good and evil.

 

Is this true? What does the Bible say?

 

Isa 5:20 KJV 

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

 

God is love. His view of love is very different from how carnal man views love.

 

And freedom, as intended by our God-fearing founding fathers, was not freedom to do whatever you want but the freedom to do what is right. They came here to have freedom to worship God in accordance with biblical principles and not what the State commanded according to the Church of England or the Catholic Church. They weren’t seeking freedom to satisfy their every lust but freedom to seek God.

 

Imagine all the people

Living for today

 

If today was the last day on Earth, no tomorrow, no God to face after we die, no White Throne judgment, no lake of fire (no hell) how would people act?

Everyone would be doing what was right in his own eyes. Like in the last verse of Judges when there was no King in Israel. They had no one to answer to. God was their King but they had rejected him.  (Jdg 21:25)

 

Gen 6:5 KJV 

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Left to their own devices, spurning God, the thoughts they imagine become more and more wicked. They had all rejected God with one exception.

Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. (Luke 17:26)

 

We don’t live for today.

We don’t take thought for tomorrow, what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will put on, but we don’t live for today as if there is no tomorrow. We plant, we grow, we harvest, we work to improve our lot in life, to better the circumstances for our families.

Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof as we earn our bread by the sweat of our brow.

But we don’t live for today, eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. (1Cor 15:32)

YOLO – You Only Live Once, so grab all the gusto you can grab with both hands. Nothing awaits you but the grave.

 

Jer 18:12 KJV 

And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

If there's no hope, what do people do? They do the imagination of their evil hearts.

 

Jer 23:17 KJV 

They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.

 

What do we hear from our clergy today? What to we hear from our leaders today?

The Lord is with us! God bless America! 

And He has blessed America. Is He still blessing us today?

These things they spoke, saying the Lord as said when he has not spoken are just lies and blasphemy!

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

 

It’s easy. Just pretend. There are no borders. Just walk across the border like you live there.

 

With no borders we would be free to move about as we want. We could migrate wherever we wanted. Live wherever we want.

 

Eliminate national sovereignty. We only need one authority, the world government. The State. The United Nations and The International Court would rule for the “common good.” They'll take care of us.

  

You have no individual rights. You can’t work and build to better your family. You might get ahead and make somebody else feel bad. We must all be equal after all.

 

We wouldn’t have to worry about competing with our fellow man. The State will ensure we have what we need. They will provide and we will all be the same.

 

So, we must destroy national borders.

We would have no homeland to defend, nothing to go to war over.

We are all just citizens of the World.

 

One community. One world.

 

This idea implies that all nations would live in peace and harmony sharing the same values and morals. That something like the Ten Commandments, or more likely some secular humanist manifesto would have to be esteemed and obeyed by all. That all people everywhere would exercise self-control in accordance with this common set of values and principals.

 

Or else.

 

Without God’s guiding Spirit, these principles would have to be enforced by the State to keep the people in line.

 

The laws, statutes, and precepts that we are taught and live by are universal. All God’s people carry the same values and a like-minded Biblical worldview. But in Lennon’s imagined scenario they do not.

 

It was God who divided the nations. And it was God who called Israel out, sanctified them, set them apart to be His own people, a model nation for all the others to emulate.

 

Israel was to teach all nations what blessings would come to the nations whose God is the LORD. (Psa 33:12)

 

The Bible says we are to welcome the stranger and to allow him to become part of our community. And we should. The key though is that he must assimilate. (Exo 12:48; Lev 16:29, 18:26) He must become as one of us adopting our ways and our values, which are God’s ways and values.

 

That’s why we must vet every individual who enters our country to see if they are clear of a criminal past and will comply with our laws and conform to our values. Will they relinquish their past allegiances and become Americans?

 

There were no hyphenated individuals in the Nation of Israel.

 

Ruth didn’t consider herself a Moabite-Israelite. (Ruth 1:16-17)

 

There weren’t meant to be any hyphenated Americans either. We were to come together as a melting pot sharing a common set of godly principles, morals, and values.

Relying on the people to live up to the morals and values that God gave them.

 

 

 

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

 

No wife and children to protect. No honor to defend.

All women can be shared by all men, and all men shared by all women. There’s no adultery, no jealousy.

 

All is shared in common.

 

No country, morals, or values to uphold

No family to instruct in the ways of righteousness. Children are wards of the State. You don’t have the right to bring them up any other way than to become model world citizens in accordance with the world creed. Children are immediately world citizens upon birth with rights all their own apart from their parents’ wishes. That is, if they survive long enough to be born in the first place and are not snuffed out in the womb.

 

There are some who believe that religious strife has been at the root of all wars, killing, and death.

In the Lennon dream, there would be no strife caused by fighting to defend a righteous way of life.

 

No clinging to your guns and your Bible

 

Nothing worth dying for.

A world with “nothing to kill or die for” is a world with nothing to live for.

A belief for which one is unwilling to either kill or die is a belief too weak to provide the vital energy necessary to sustain civilization.

 

How long does Lennon imagine his utopia would last if none of its citizens were willing to take up arms and risk their lives to defend it?

 

Life therefore has no meaning.

 

What are we here for? Why were you born?

 

If there’s no God, there’s no Kingdom of God. There’s no family of God to look forward to. And there’s no hope.

 

 

 

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

 

Living in harmony. No strife. No differences in character. We’re all the same. We’re ALL honorable people, aren’t we?

All you need is love. (Beatles, 1967)

C’mon people now. Smile on your brother. Everybody get together try to love one another right now. (Youngbloods, 1967)

[Both songs released in the 1967 “Summer of Love”.]

They’ve forgotten the true corrupt nature of carnal man, or maybe never knew it in the first place. Without God’s Holy Spirit, the spirit of man is contentious, competitive, envious, and self-centered.

 

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

 

A challenge this time – because it would be difficult to give up our possessions

Christ told us in Luke 12:15 that a man's life consists not in the things he possesses.

And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Luke 12:15)

 

But giving them up would be difficult.

But yet… the World Economic Forum –

 

“You’ll own nothing.

And you’ll be happy”.

 

Possessions are just things to squabble over. “I want” is at the root of all strife. Jealousy, envy, greed.

 

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

 

Besides, The State will decide how to fairly divide the food and resources and distribute it to you according to need. Providing, that is, you are a citizen in good standing with a high enough social credit score. (DEI, ESG)

 

No greed, no envy. Brothers aren’t envious of each other, are they? I seem to recall the very first murder was between brothers. (1John 3:12)

 

But somehow, we will all be our brother’s keeper and will put our brother’s needs ahead of our own, or else the State will take it from us and give it to him if we don’t.

 

What’s mine is yours and more importantly what’s yours is mine.

 

 

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

 

 

 

We’ll all be one big happy community sharing everything in common, all for the common good. Do a careful study sometime of “communitarianism” and you’ll find that those who espouse this philosophy always see themselves as the ones administering it.

 

The Pilgrims tried this before. They initially established a communal property system when they landed in 1620, but within three years they abandoned it in favor of private property. They almost died, starving to death. The Pilgrims' experiment with a common storehouse in 1621-23 was unsuccessful. Young men refused to work in the common fields to produce goods for the storehouse, only to have the goods divided equally among families. Why do I have to work? Let somebody else do the work.

 

After receiving petitions from the planters, Governor William Bradford and his council decided to assign each family a personal plot of land based on family size and abolish the common storehouse.

 

Bradford wrote that the change was successful because it created economic incentives that made people more industrious. Families could keep everything they grew for themselves, and they planted more corn than they would have otherwise.

 

Sharing all the world is the view of socialism.

 

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” ~Winston Churchill

 

We will all be equal. Equal poverty and equal misery. But be sure, some will be more equal than others. Those elites at the top who administer the program.

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” ~George Orwell, Animal Farm

A proclamation by the pigs who control the government in the novel Animal Farm, by George Orwell. The sentence is a comment on the hypocrisy of governments that proclaim the absolute equality of their citizens but give power and privileges to a small elite.

 

True social equity is not equality of outcome but equality of opportunity. We defend the right of all to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But we don’t guarantee all will have their version of happiness. They must apply themselves and work for it.

 

 

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

 

I’m not just some crackpot wild-eyed dreamer. There’s a whole host of us.

(An implied majority. With an implied superiority.)

 

The people of God might be considered dreamers too but ours is not a dream. It is a vision of certainty, a vision of hope, for He is faithful that promised. (Heb 10:23)

 

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will (be) live as one

 

One world. One people. One big commune.

 

It’s worth noting that in the first refrain it says, “and the world will be as one” and the second time it says, “and the world will live as one.”

 

At first in this utopian dream, the world will be as one whether we like it or not, whether we comply willingly or not. But eventually, the world will live as one, adapting to the new order of things as if it’s their own.

 

This is their dream.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gen 11:4-6 KJV

(4)  And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

(5)  And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

(6)  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

 

 The people is one.

What does the Bible teach us about their dream?

 

Psa 2:1 KJV 

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

 

They plot in vain. They engage in designs which the result proved to be unsuccessful. In particular, this passage refers to the agitation among the nations in the sense that they resist and oppose the coming Messiah yet their efforts will prove useless and ineffectual. And that's good news.

 

They have tried this before and as verse 4 tells us the Lord laughs at them and holds them in derision.

 

Do they care that God holds them in derision and hates the wicked abominations they have imagined?

 

 

Jer 7:24 KJV

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.

 

They may say we’re not going back, but they are.

 

God will have the final say.

 

Deu 29:19-20 KJV

(19)  And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:

(20)  The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

 

But better times are coming!

 

Jer 3:17 KJV

At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart.

 

 

 

 

Imagine God’s Way

 

Our dream, our vision is quite different.

 

All people everywhere want hope. Hope of a better life without tears, without oppression, without pain.

Politicians on both sides claim that their party will heal our land and they hard sell their dreams of hope and a better life.

But we know the truth of 2 Chronicles 7:14

 

2Ch 7:14 KJV 

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and [I] will heal their land.

 

Turn from their wicked ways. Repentance.

Without repentance and God’s blessing it’s just a pipedream that evaporates like the smoke from the pipe itself.

We argue over so many issues –

¾   Abortion

¾   War

¾   The economy

¾   Healthcare

¾   And on and on

Man argues and fights not over the “what” but the “how.”

Generally, we don’t fight about what we want.

We all want peace, to live in safety without fear of harm

We all want our children to grow up big and strong and to make a good life for themselves and their children

We all want enough healthy food to eat, and to live a long life

But man fights over the how, how to bring these things about apart from God.

If we just followed God and His way of life, we wouldn’t have any of these issues. We argue about how to solve them but we don’t involve God.

As I pointed out earlier, this is a spiritual problem. And you can’t solve spiritual problems by political means.

When listening to John Lennon’s song, “Imagine,” rather than a feeling of hope, those who understand get a feeling of hopelessness, that life has no meaning, no purpose.

What comes after? There is no after without God.

We know God is creating a wonderful family in the Kingdom of God. And we look with great hope and anticipation for its coming.

 

Though we have been given a great gift to be able to imagine the future God has in store for us our view is still quite limited in its scope. We see only through a glass darkly. (1Cor 13:12)

 

1Co 2:9 KJV 

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. (Isa 64:4)

 

We know it will be amazing, astonishing even, but our limited minds cannot imagine what God has in store for us!

 

In the meantime, we endure and await the consolation. (Luke 2:25)

And while we wait…

We imagine our future in the Kingdom, what it will be like

We imagine what it will be like, both in the Millennium and the New Jerusalem.

We keep the vision of the Kingdom of God burning brightly, a vision of certainty and hope. Staying focused on the goal.

We don’t get discouraged. We have no reason to fear.

We weary not in well doing.

We cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God (2Cor 10:5)

We continue to fight the good fight brethren, as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

We stand in the gap against the evil onslaught.

Having no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather exposing them. (Eph 5:11)

We trust in the LORD for He is faithful and true.

We come out from among them and be separate and be not partakers of their sins and receive not their plagues. (Luk 6:22; 2Cor 6:17; Rev 18:14)

 

Rev 21:1-5 KJV

(1)  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

(2)  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

(3)  And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

(4)  And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

(5)  And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

 

Rev 22:6-7 KJV

(6)  And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

(7)  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

 

Rev 22:12-13 KJV

(12)  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

(13)  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

 

Rev 22:20-21 KJV

(20)  He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

(21)  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

 

 

Just imagine.

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