The Word, The Trumpet and the Shout
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth …….And God said, Let there be light: and there was light “
Genesis 1:1&3
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God The same was in the beginning with God All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made…” John 1:1-3
Sound is caused by vibration – or a series of vibrations of the air. Colour, on the other hand, is caused by the vibrations of light. So says Dr. Bullinger in his book; ‘Number in Scripture’. In fact, he goes so far as to say that there is a relationship between the two, and that for instance, a particular colour corresponds to a particular note in music.
I am quite sure that if I had great scientific knowledge it would make me marvel all the more at the works of Almighty God! Looking upon our world and the surrounding universe, how can anyone possibly think that it is all a product of chance? Creation is a marvellous outpouring of the Spirit and Love of Almighty God.
How was it all created? Only the Lord Himself knows, of course. But it seems to me that one of the main tools our wonderful Creator used, is sound – or vibration.
“In the beginning was the word … and the Word was God … All things were made by Him …” So says John, and we know that the Word was made flesh, and came and dwelt among us, for a short, but momentous time. Our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. But He always was with God – from the beginning. And if we accept John’s words in the first three verses of his first chapter, we perceive that it was God the Son, who did the acts of creation – when “God said Let there be light…”
If you have ever read the children’s story ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, by C. S. Lewis, I wonder if you also read the first book of the Chronicles of Narnia? Films have been made of some of the other stories, but “The Magician’s Nephew” has been seemingly forgotten, which is a shame, because this story, relating how Narnia was created, could well be along the lines of how our world – and the Universe itself – came in to being.
‘In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away … it was hard to decide from what direction … sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes almost as though it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself … it was beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard … so beautiful he could hardly bear it …”
‘Then two wonders happened … first the voice was joined by others … more than you could possibly count. They were in harmony, but far higher up the scale … The second wonder was that the blackness overhead became blazing with stars … One moment there had been darkness, next a thousand, thousand points of light … single stars, constellations …”
This is just a snippet from C.S. Lewis’ book, and whenever I hear the music from the Planets symphony by Holst, for Venus, for some reason I always see the creation story in my mind’s eye – everything bubbling up and bursting out from nothing, as the notes of music resonate. Not just the stars and planets, but, more specifically, all aspects of the life forms on the earth.
All matter is made up of atoms and molecules, and you could say these are the building blocks of matter. In the Sci Fi series Star Trek, they have a room called a ‘Holodeck’ where the computer can manipulate and change the atoms and molecules within, to resemble any part of the earth’s landscape, buildings or whatever. Now, whether science actually thinks this is possible I do not know. But I do know that with God ALL things are possible.
We know that a certain high pitch tone of voice can cause such a vibration that will break glass. Interestingly, we also know that microwaves directed at a glass window can be used to eaves drop on any conversation within a given room. This was discovered several years ago in Russia, by US diplomats, who were spied upon in this manner. Ironically this was only discovered because those living in the Embassy developed cancer, the cause being the microwaves.
The power of sound – and vibration – is revealed to us when we read our Bibles. We know well the story of Joshua and the Walls of Jericho. Bonnie Gaunt, in her book; “Apocalypse – and the Magnificent Sevens”, takes a special look at this event, linking it up with the seven seals and the seven trumpets of Revelations. I recommend you read this book, from start to finish.
‘The story proceeds with the actual marching around Jericho. For each of six days, armed soldiers marched in procession with seven priests, each blowing trumpets. For each of the six days they thus marched around the city once: ‘…And Joshua had commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor make any noise with your voice, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout. … And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early about the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner, seven times … and it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, shout … so the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets … the wall fell down flat.’ Joshua 6:10,15,16
Of course, the priests were also carrying with them the Ark of the Covenant, but with the marching round seven times, and the trumpets blowing, – repeated each day – built up some type of resonance – and it was doing something to the structure of the walls, so that, at the right moment, on the seventh day, at the seventh encircling, the sudden shouting of the peoples accompanying the trumpet sound, brought the wall down.
The trumpet is an important instrument in the Bible. Concerning the Return of Our Lord, we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God …”
Strong’s Concordance describes “Trump” as a blast, quavering, reverberation, vibration, billow and wave. And bearing in mind the wall of Jericho, I wonder what effect the shout, and the trump will have upon the very structure of our planet. The trump of God would surely be many times more effective than even the trumpets that helped to bring Jericho down!
Dr Bullinger, in his amazing book, tells us; `There are vibrations which the ear cannot hear, so slow as to make no audible sound, but there are contrivances by which they can be made visible to the eye. When sand is thrown upon a thin metal disc, to which a chord is attached and caused to vibrate, the sand will immediately arrange itself in a perfect geometrical pattern. The pattern will vary with the number of the vibrations. These are called Chladri’s figures.” Moist plaster on glass or moist water on rigid surfaces will vibrate at the sound, say, of the human voice, or of a coronet, and will assume forms of various kinds – geometrical, vegetable and floral; some resembling ferns, others resembling leaves and shells, according to the pitch of the note.”
And did you know that the wonderful mechanism of the human voice, being created by God, far excels every instrument that man can make’? And you know, I once read that the larynx, – or voice box – is similar in shape to the womb….
We should not underestimate the action or power of sound. Even of our own voices. The sound of hymns sung to God in a church – or even our own homes. Praying out loud together, as well as quietly on our own. Reading the Word of God together. Preaching. All these things have an effect. That is why we need to take care what things we utter – did not Our Lord Himself say this.
Bonnie Gaunt alludes to the Hebrew alphabet, which are also numbers, to our musical notes. I would be intrigued if someone transposed the Hebrew letters of a given chapter of the Bible – say Genesis chapter 1 – into the equivalent musical notes. Is this a symphony waiting to be written?
It most surely is the case that – ‘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.” 1 Cor 2:9
Amen indeed!
