February 16

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish, in the land, of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. - Isaiah 27:13.

TRUMPETS were much used among the Jews. Trumpets directed their journeys and animated them on their march. Trumpets roused them to arms against the invader, and sounded the dreadful onset to battle. Trumpets proclaimed the joys of victory, and called the people to divide the spoil. But on sacred as well as civil occasions was the trumpet used. Trumpets called the people together to the services of religion, just as our parish bells call people to church. One of these services in particular was called “the feast of trumpets,” when from the morning until the evening the trumpets sounded over the sacrifices. The feast of “Jubilee” is too remarkable to be passed over. It was called the “acceptable year of the Lord;” it was celebrated on the day of atonement. As the people were fasting and afflicting themselves before the Lord, the trumpet sounded “throughout the land.” And what were its announcements? It proclaimed relaxation from all servile work; the earth spontaneously yielded her increase, and of the produce all were allowed to partake. It announced that every insolvent debtor was discharged from his creditor; that every bond-servant was free; that every lapsed inheritance returned to its original owner: all this was typical. To this it is supposed David refers when he says, “Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound.”

Yet we imagine the reference in the prophecy is not to this institution, and for this reason:-the Jubilee trumpet regarded the Jews in their own land, this, in other lands; it was to be heard in the “land of Assyria” and in the “land of Egypt.” The case was this:- From the common use of the trumpet among the Jews, its sound became typical of a proclamation of good. This prophecy refers especially to the proclamation of Cyrus. They were previously in circumstances of deep distress; they were oppressed by those who carried them away captive; they were worn down by fatigue and disappointment; and when God turned away their captivity they seemed like men that dreamed. Their deliverance was altogether unlooked for; tyrants are not prone to disgorge what they have once devoured. And who was to control Nebuchadnezzar? They had no arms, no property, no correspondence; all their efforts must have terminated in enlarged sufferings and increased distress.

But with God all things are possible: the signal is given, the great trumpet is blown, the proclamation is issued. “Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, and build the house of the Lord; and whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold.” Thus they gained their freedom; the dispersed assembled together, they returned to Judea, and there they adored the God of their fathers. In consequence of this edict many thousands returned unto Zerubbabel; they all appeared before God in Zion, and came to worship at Jerusalem.

Let us then, in subsequent exercises, contemplate the grandeur of the gospel; its dispensation; the condition of those whom it addresses; its attraction, and the effect of its influence.