1 minute, 27 seconds

At one memorable triathlon I competed in, a guy in flip-flops and a captain’s hat initiated the start of our swim. Trumpet in hand, the sandal-clad race director stood near the end of the dock that stretched out into the lake where all of us swimmers were bobbing and waiting expectantly.

At the sound of the trumpet, our race would begin.

—

I’m reading 2 Chronicles 29 this morning about temple cleansing, music, and trumpets. King Hezekiah ordered the entire Temple of the Lord to be cleansed and purified, and after purposeful items were recovered and reinstated, the Temple was ready to use again.

The Bible says King Hezekiah stationed the Levites with cymbals, lyres, and harps at the Temple. Interestingly, the Bible says, “The priests took their positions with the trumpets.” 

Why was it the priests that blew the trumpets?

I flip to the New Testament, searching. 1 Corinthians 15:52 says the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised. With goosebumps and a layering of wonder, I whisper, “Who will blow ‘the’ trumpet?”

In Hezekiah’s court, it appears the priests were in charge of blowing the trumpets. The Lord reminds me that Jesus is our High Priest. I wonder onward and upward as I study my Bible to see if there is a correlation. I think there is.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 says, the Lord Himself will descend with the sound of a trumpet. Hebrews, specifically chapters 4:14-5:10, describes Jesus as the Great High Priest. The Bible teaches that Jesus fulfills every requirement of an Old Testament high priest and that His priesthood is eternal.

I lose myself in wonder. What will that trumpet, His trumpet, sound like? Will Jesus blow one long, loud blast of a note, or will it be more like the wake-up call of “reveille? I don’t know, but I imagine it will be a take-our-breath-away beautiful, hallowed, and haunting sound that does not resemble anything we’ve ever heard in this life.

Unlike the sandal-clad race director who started the race in which I competed, when Jesus blows the trumpet, the race of this life will end, and life forevermore will begin.

“Behold! I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” 

1 Corinthians 15:52-55