Mourning Before the Trumpets

The three readings teach one work of wisdom: to stop excusing sin, to accept rebuke, and to pray while there is still time. Ezra does not hide behind the failures of the crowd. He rends his garment, blushes for the people’s uncleanness, and confesses that their guilt has risen high. Ecclesiastes says this sober path is better than the mirth that drowns the conscience. “namely, It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. Ecclesiastes 7:2” The house of mourning is where a man remembers death, weighs his deeds, and becomes teachable. Better the sharp word of the wise than the song of fools.

Revelation shows that history is not endless. There is silence before God, the prayers of the saints rise like incense, and then the fire of the altar is cast upon the earth. Mercy is still present, for heaven receives prayer; yet judgment is not asleep. Therefore do not make peace with what Ezra mourned, nor laugh away what Ecclesiastes bids you consider. If God’s people join themselves to the abominations of the nations, the rod follows. But repentance is not shut. “Now John, in the Apocalypse, declares that the ‘incense’ is ‘the prayers of the saints.’” Let your prayer then be joined to confession, fasting, and amendment of life.

A good name is better than precious ointment because it is formed by obedience. Before the trumpets sound, let there be silence in us: a halt to excuses, a readiness to be corrected, and a turning of the whole heart to God.