It is our understanding that Joel 2:1 describes the burden of the Lord in the heart of the Christian who has experienced Pentecost and who now is ready to move on with God. "Sound an alarm in my holy mountain."

The blowing of the trumpet is associated with warfare. As we press forward with the Lord we enter an understanding of Him as the "Lord of Hosts." The Old Testament in numerous passages speaks of God as the Lord of Hosts. The warrior is one of the most important roles of God, according to the Scriptures.

There is a fighting aspect of God's nature. God is the Lord of tremendous forces. The Day of the Lord is a military engagement, a battle involving many personages and that will be fought with terrific fury until the Lord Jesus has destroyed His enemies totally.

At Passover we are spiritual babies, just having been born again. At Pentecost we may have gone a step further. When we come to the Blowing of Trumpets, God shares with us His concern for spiritual warfare and the destruction of His enemies. The Spirit of the Lord of powerful forces cries war! war! war! in our soul.

My bowels, my bowels. I am pained at my heart, my heart maketh a noise in me, I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. (Jeremiah 4:19)

The Lord Jesus Christ always is a fighter against evil forces. One of the outstanding characteristics of His ministry is the casting out of devils. The unclean spirits, who were so upset by the Presence of the Lord Jesus as He ministered on the earth, are God's enemies against whom God wages war.

The Scriptures do not go into detail concerning the rebellion of spirits in the heavenlies. There is enough said in the Scriptures for us to understand there was a revolt against the authority and will of God. How and when the rebellion took place is not made clear to us.

As soon as Adam and Eve were placed in the garden of Eden a personality appeared, counseling them to have no faith in God's Word. It is not true that sin commenced in the garden of Eden. From the account, we know sin existed already in the life of a person or persons who were in rebellion against God. The deceptive counsel given to the two babes in Eden assuredly was a cunning temptation—one that to this day is leading people away from God's will.

There is a kingdom of wicked personalities. Paul teaches us that we "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of the world, against spiritual wickedness in high [heavenly] places."

The wicked lords of darkness in heavenly places are God's enemies. At the present time they are active among people on the earth, counseling them and urging them to defy God, to lust, to murder, to lie, to take part in occult practices, to idolize things and people, to steal.

To be continued.