The military has many cadences that are sung during marching. When I was a younger girl around five or six years old, we sang a song in my Sunday School class called “I’m in the Lord’s Army.” Here are the beginning of the lyrics:
“I may never march in the infantry.
Ride in the cavalry
Shoot the artillery
I may never shoot for the enemy.
But I’m in the Lord’s army!”
We may not have enlisted in the military in the natural, but we are an army–His army. Ezekiel saw a valley of dry, dead bones and was told to prophesy over those bones in Ezekiel 37.
Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and tell the breath that this is what the Lord GOD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, so that they may live! So I prophesied as He had commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet—a vast army.
We need to know how to shoot and fire at the enemy—We need to put on the armor of Elohim. (Ephesians 6).
Those who are in the military have a uniform and rank. They know their titles (identity), where they are stationed, and how to use all the equipment given to them. We have entry-level up the command chain in the army–Private, Corporal, Sergeant, Sergeant first class, and Sergeant Major, to name a few.
“The locusts have no king Yet go they forth all of them by bands” (Proverbs 30:27).
Even the locusts have an order/rank. Does a Private arise in the military and say, “I cannot put my uniform on today and prepare because I am not a Corporal? No. Does a private look the other way and not salute a higher ranking official? No.
We are servants of Elohim. We are also in His “Army.” The word army is ḥa·yil, and it means strength. In Exodus 18, Moses chose able (ha.yil) men and made them heads over the people: rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
A man recently shared a dream he had where he heard the call for Reveille. What is Reveille?
“Reveille” is a bugle call, trumpet call, drum, fife-and-drum or pipes call most often associated with the military; it is chiefly used to wake military personnel at sunrise” (Wiki).
Reveille is said to start at 7 a.m., but it may be as early as 5 a.m.
Clocks generally work on a 24-hour system for telling time. Soldiers are to be dressed and ready when the trumpet sounds.
Are we unprepared for 13 o’clock?
George Orwell’s famous novel 1984 begins with,
“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
1984 seems to be creeping upon us, but I wanted to share a different story about clocks striking 13:
“There is an 18th-century London legend of a clock that struck thirteen times and saved a man’s life. The story goes that St Paul’s Cathedral clock on one occasion struck thirteen bongs of the bell at midnight, with the result of saving the life of a soldier accused of sleeping at his post. An obituary notice of a John Hatfield that appeared in the Public Advertiser a few days after his death states that a soldier in the time of William III and Mary II was tried by a court-martial on a charge of having fallen asleep when on duty upon the terrace at Windsor. It goes on to say that he categorically denied the charge against him. He swore as a proof of his having been awake at the time that he heard St Paul’s Cathedral clock strike thirteen, the truth of which was much doubted by the court because of the great distance. Affidavits were made by several persons verifying that the clock actually did strike thirteen instead of twelve, and the soldier was pardoned.” (Arthur’s Home Magazine. 42: 290. 1874)
1 Thessalonians 5:1-10 explains that the day of the Lord Adonai will come as a thief in the night.
“A thief in the night” is a Hebrew idiom. This is not about a thief we would see on television breaking into a home.
“An overseer was appointed over all the watches of guards. He was called: “The officer of the Temple Mount.”Throughout the night, he checked on all the watches. Torches were lit before him. If a guard did not stand before him and greet him: “Peace be unto you, officer of the Temple Mount,” he would assume that he was sleeping and would strike him with his staff. He was even granted permission to burn [a sleeping guard’s] clothing.
Thus, it was commonly said in Jerusalem: “What is the noise in the Temple Courtyard [at night]? It must be the voice of a Levite being beaten and his clothes burned because he slept on his watch.” (Chabad).
The Levites were stationed like soldiers at their post. The priests would guard the fire on the altar to keep it burning throughout the night to be ready for the morning sacrifice. The fire could not go out. Has ours?
The Book of Revelations gives us a picture of this: (Revelation 16:15) “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.”
Saint (Apostle) Paul’s bell is sounding. The High Priest will come and make His rounds at a time when we may not be aware.
(Mark 13:35) “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning.”
(Ephesians 5:14–) “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” We must keep our fires burning. We must be awake and ready with our oil lamps full of pressed pure oil, our garments washed and ironed so that when we hear the call of Reveille, we will not sleep through it.
Each nation’s military has its own lyrics and song to sing titled Reveille. Sadly, America seems to be the only one where everyone is lazy and refuses to get out of bed, even the elite. America’s reveille song sounds like the cry of the prophet Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others:
“I can’t get ’em up,
I can’t get ’em up,
I can’t get ’em up this morning;
I can’t get ’em up,
I can’t get ’em up,
I can’t get ’em up at all!
The corporal’s worse than the privates,
The sergeant’s worse than the corporals,
Lieutenant’s worse than the sergeants,
And the captain’s worst of all!
I can’t get ’em up
I can’t get ’em up
I can’t get ’em up this morning;
I can’t get ’em up
I can’t get ’em up
I can’t get ’em up at all!
And tho’ the sun starts peeping,
And dawn has started creeping,
Those lazy bums keep sleeping,
They never hear my call!”
THEY NEVER HEAR THE CALL.
May we hit our knees during this time and be spared as the soldier who heard the 13th strike of the clock to inform the judge he was not sleeping on his watch. It is time for “Watchmen to arise.”
(Luke 21:36)
“But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:6)
“So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”
May the dead rise first indeed!
Blessings,
Tekoa
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Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reveille
https://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/rambam.asp?tdate=12/6/2020&rambamChapters=3
Lord’s Army song: http://www.divinehymns.com/lyrics/i-may-never-march-in-the-infantry-song-lyrics/