Today, Sunday January 23
“I Heard Behind Me a Loud Voice…” Revelation 1:10-12 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,”
Whenever God would speak in the Bible, He spoke clearly and most often loudly, and there could be no doubt that it was God speaking. And also there could be no doubt as to what God was saying. In the very first book and chapter of the Bible (Genesis 1), we read at least 10 times, “And God said”. When we first meet God in the Bible, He is speaking and time begins and all of the universe comes into existence! Wow!!!! It is also interesting to me that the very last book of the Bible (Revelation), begins with a reference to God speaking. “I heard behind me a loud voice…”
I love reading Hebrews 1:1-3, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
From this verse we understand that in times past, in the Old Testament, God would speak to His people through His prophets, often in dreams and visions, sometimes through angels, and sometimes even in an audible voice! But now, in these last days God is speaking to us by His Son! Today, I believe Jesus wants to say something to me and also to you! And the way He speaks to us is by His Son in His Living Word, the Bible through the Person and ministry of the Holy Spirit!
John said that this loud voice that he heard was “as of a trumpet”. Often in scripture, whenever God was about to make an important announcement and give a revelation to His people, it would be accompanied by the “sound of a trumpet”. Remember when God called Moses up to Mount Sinai to give him the Ten Commandments in Exodus 19:16-20: “Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.”
The two passages in the New Testament that describe the rapture tell us that the coming of Jesus for His Church will be accompanied by a trumpet! (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) I know if I heard a loud trumpet begin to sound behind me, it would get my attention!
There are so many things we could learn from this passage, but today I believe that what the Lord wants us to take from this, is that He is still speaking to us loudly and clearly, and we need to turn from whatever has our attention, to Him and listen and pay attention to what He wants to say to us. Jesus said that when we pray we should enter into the closet and shut the door! That means shut the door to all the noise around us from the world and concentrate on Him, His Word and what He has to say! (Matthew 6:5)
What do you think the Lord is trying to say to you today! Remember, you first are going to have to “turn” from whatever else you are doing or listening to, to hear and see what He has to say and reveal to you!
God bless!
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