The year of jubilee was ushered in by the sound of a trumpet (Lev.

25:9).  In Leviticus 23:24 we find the first day of the seventh month opened

with the blowing of trumpets.  This is a holy convocation.  What is of

importance is that the trumpet which sounded on the tenth day of the seventh

month is 'the last trump' of Israel's typical year.  1 Corinthians 15:50 -57

is 'the last trump' in reality.  Revelation 10:7 and 11:15 is the last trump

of the seventh angel, and fulfils the type.  The 'trump of God' of 1

Thessalonians 4:16 is not called the 'last' and may be a fulfilment of the

earlier trump on the first day of the seventh month.

The jubilee trumpet not only means deliverance for Israel, but the

overthrow of Israel's enemies, for the very word 'jubilee' is translated

'rams' horns' in Joshua 6 which tells of the fall of Jericho.  Seven priests

bear trumpets before the Ark, seven trumpets are blown and the city

encompassed six days.  On the seventh day the priests compass the city seven

times and blow with the trumpets.  At the sounding of a long blast of the

trumpet all the people shout and Jericho falls:

'And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew with

the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for the Lord hath

given you the city' (Josh. 6:16).

This shout and the sounding of the jubilee trumpet on the overthrow of

the accursed city finds its echo in the hallelujahs that go up at the

judgment and overthrow of Babylon (Rev. 19), and the 'shout' of 1

Thessalonians 4.

Summarizing what Scripture actually says, we find that the jubilee is a

wonderful type of redemption, emphasizing by the language used, the liberty

and the re -entry into forfeited rights that are inseparable from the

conception of redemption everywhere presented in the Word.  We have been

redeemed (Eph. 1:7), we are looking forward to our jubilee (Eph. 1:14) to the

day of the redemption of the purchased possession.  Let no man rob us of the

blessed hope, ours by the blood of Christ.

While we must ever stress the importance of observing 'things that

differ', and in all our ministry seek rightly to divide the Word of truth, it

is equally important to recognize, that while dispensations vary and callings

are associated with differing spheres, in many features these different

dispensations are parallel.  A particular instance of this is the resemblance

in character that exists between the closing days of the different

dispensations.  The earthly ministry of the Son of God ended in His rejection

by His own people; the ministry inaugurated at Pentecost ended with the

stoning of Stephen.  Paul's great ministry of the Mystery ends in apparent

neglect and opposition (2 Tim. 4:3 -5), and the ministry entrusted to Peter

is overshadowed by the mockers of the last days.

While the blessings of the redeemed may differ in character and in

sphere, the opposition of the ungodly is much the same in all dispensations

and times, for they are not influenced by the dispensational changes among

the redeemed.  This will be particularly so as the end of the present age