Joshua 6:3 And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. 4 And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets. 5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
Seven priests, seven ram's horns, seven marches, on the seventh day, with the Ark of God going on before, then the city will fall. This passage of scripture recounts the instructions that God had given to Joshua for taking the city of Jericho. For six days they were to march around the city and the priests were to blow their trumpets once for each day. But on the seventh day, the Jews were instructed to march around the ill-fated city seven times, and then at the sound of the trumpet the walls would cave in and crumble, according to the word of the Lord. This experience seems to be very much out of the ordinary, but it contains very important information that we should pay attention to.
The only other place in the Bible where we see seven trumpets resurfacing again is in the book of Revelation, the book written specifically for the last generation, in which seven angels are given seven trumpets, and they prepare to sound. Let's read:
Revelation 6:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets. 6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
What is really worthy of note about the information given on the seventh angel, is that the sounding of his trumpet contains glaring similarities to the experience of Joshua at Jericho, too obvious to ignore, and therefore it cannot be a coincidence. For instance, in the experience of Joshua, the priests carrying the Ark of of God containing His law sounded a long, loud blast, after which the city of Jericho collapsed because of a massive earthquake, and thus it became the property of the children of Israel. In Revelation the seventh angel sounds his trumpet and let's observe carefully what takes place next. Let's read:
Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. 19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the Ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
Revelation 16:17 And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18 And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19 And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
It just cannot be a coincidence! For starters, the instructions given to Joshua does contain the number 7, recurring many times for no apparent reason, and it also includes the blowing of 7 trumpets on the seventh day, seven times, with the ark of God containing His law being brought to view very prominently. The question is, what do these things mean? Was it just an isolated incident, with God giving arbitrary instructions with no meaning or relevance for us today, or is it that He is calling our attention to something much more important?
The fact of the matter is that throughout history, God has been doing all He can to remind us of the importance of the Seventh day Sabbath. Wherever and whenever He could bring it to the forefront of our minds, He has faithfully done so. For instance, Naaman was instructed to dip seven times in the river Jordan, the dove from Noah's ark was sent out after seven days on two occasions, Jacob served Laban for seven years to have Rachel as his wife, Jacob bowed himself seven times as he approached Esau, there were seven fat ears of corn and seven lean ears in Pharaoh's dream, and then there were seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Elijah prayed seven times for rain, seven years of corrective discipline was meted out to Nebuchadnezzar, and when Peter asked Christ whether he should forgive seven times, Jesus' answer was seventy times seven.
It must be that God is pointing us to something very important, and that is, without a doubt, the remembrance of the Sabbath day, the 7th day of the week which so many of earth's inhabitants seem to forget. Let's read:
Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
In our passage for today we observed that seven priests marched around the city for six days carrying the ark of God containing His law for all to see. Similarly the law of God which reveals His character has been on display for all to see for six thousand years, for one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. Let's read:
2nd Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
The single blast of the trumpet on each of the six days, represents the concerted efforts made by the servants of God throughout the ages, calling our attention to His downtrodden law, and specifically the fourth commandment which points us to the Creator of the heavens and the earth. If the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, was kept fresh in our memory as God intended it should be, the theory of evolution would not be a part of our schools' curriculum and there would be no atheists or infidels today to teach our children that the earth came into existence by chance. Darwin would have been jailed for promoting his heaven-daring heresy, and the law of God would have been of tremendous benefit to all society, for wherever it's principles are upheld and practiced, there is seen tremendous improvements in all areas of life's experiences. Let's read:
Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
Evolutionists, infidels, and atheists teach that the earth came into existence by chance over millions of years, but they all agree on one thing, that today's date is 4/26/2014. The question then is, where do we get that figure from, if the earth is millions of years old?
The seventh day Sabbath of the Lord is still valid and He is now calling all the inhabitants of the earth to "Remember" His holy day of rest, for it has never been changed to Sunday, a regular working day. We will continue the mystery of "Triple seven" in this evening's blog. Have a happy Sabbath day, and may God's richest blessings that he brings to us every week, fall upon all those who "Remember". God bless!