Today I want to share a word about playing Taps as I comment on Genesis 35:9-21. This passage reads:
And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him. And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Bethel. And they journeyed from Bethel; and there was but a little way to come to Ephrath: and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the midwife said unto her, Fear not; thou shalt have this son also. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Benoni: but his father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto this day. And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
I served on Active Duty in the Army in the Headquarters of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, HI. One day I went into the office where the post public address system was operated. Every Army post uses bugle calls to mark out the periods of the day, but at that time they had all been recorded on audio tape and projected over loudspeakers. In any case, I noticed that the PA system had been labeled with a name: “Private Prewitt.”
Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt was the character played by Montgomery Clift in the movie “From Here to Eternity.” Pruitt was a talented bugler assigned to the band at Fort Shafter, but he was also a skilled boxer. After he blinded a man in a boxing match, he refused to box anymore, and was transferred to Schofield Barracks as a rifleman.
The only time Prewitt played the bugle in the entire movie was when his best friend died in the post stockade. That evening, at lights out, he played Taps.
The haunting notes of that tune always stir the soul, but on that occasion the clear crisp sound of the bugle would chill you to the bone. You could feel Prewitt’s grief pouring out though the bell of that instrument. He was grieving his lost friend, his lost career, his lost avocation, and the lost sight of his erstwhile opponent. The emotion of that moment could rip the heart out of your chest.
Jacob faced a similar moment when he lost his beloved Rachel. Let’s consider from God’s Word how He dealt with that heart-rending event.
JACOB LOST HIS BELOVED:
Jacob loved Rachel like no other person on earth. He loved her better than his first wife, Leah, and Rachel was his soul mate. He had worked for Rachel’s father for fourteen years to earn the right to marry her, and his world revolved around her.
Jacob also loved Rachel’s children. His favorite was Joseph, but he loved them all. Rachel knew that God wanted Jacob to become a great nation, and she wanted to give him more and more children. Trying to give him one more child, she died while giving birth, but not before calling the baby, Benoni, or “Son of My Sorrow.” Jacob, out of his deep love for her, changed his name to Benjamin, or “Son of My Right Hand.”
Then, Jacob buried his beloved. He had no other choice. He could not hold her back; she was gone, and he had to let her go. So, he buried her, put a headstone on her grave, and then went on his way. It was all over. Their love was finished. Or was it?
JACOB GRIEVED HIS BELOVED:
Although the Bible does not explicitly say it, there can be little doubt that Jacob grieved Rachel. Humans long for what they have lost and like the father of the Prodigal Son, they want their beloved back. They wish they could turn back the clock for even a moment, like the line from the song, Me and Bobby McGee, says, “I’d trade all of my tomorrows for a single yesterday . . .” with the singer’s loved one.
How do we know Jacob grieved Rachel? Because he grieved the reported “death” of his favorite son, Joseph, in Genesis 37:34-35:
And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
My experience in ministry has shown that it is particularly difficult for a man to be widowed. Husbands usually die first, and men are often less emotionally resilient than women. Truth be told, many men really do need a woman to look after them, though this may be changing some as our culture develops.
Like Jacob, we, too, grieve our lost loved ones. It usually takes up to a year or more to adjust to the loss of a loved one. Often it can take much longer, and people can lapse into depression as they fixate on the loss of their beloved. It is as if they played Taps over and over and over again.
Jacob’s grief was all the worse because he probably had no hope of seeing Rachel again. He did not know all we do today because, while God had revealed Himself to Jacob, he did not have the full counsel of the entire canon of Scripture as we do today. Life after death was not assured at that time and Jacob probably felt that, once lost, Rachel was lost forever.
When death comes, it is all over. We play Taps, relationships are finished, and that’s all she wrote. Or is it? Let’s consider what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18:
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
JACOB WILL SEE RACHEL AGAIN:
The early Christians had a similar problem to Jacob. They knew Christ was coming again for His people, but in the meanwhile, believers were dying. Where did they go? Were they lost? What happened to them? Paul, understanding their grief and confusion, wrote to the church at Thessalonica to help them.
Paul taught that Christians are not to grieve as those with no hope. We can and should grieve because we miss the departed, for this is part of the human condition. Christians, however, have a hope that others do not have. Our hope is in Jesus!
Jesus has saved us from our sins, and He will come again for His people. When He comes, He will also bring with Him those that have gone before. That means those who have gone before are safe with Him. A horn will play, but it won’t be playing Taps!
- There will be a shout.
- The archangel will announce that Jesus is coming.
- A trumpet will sound in victory.
- Jesus and all our loved ones will come for us.
- We who remain shall rise-up and meet them in the air.
- There will be a reunion such as the world has never seen.
I don’t know what the archangel’s horn will sound like, but I believe it will sound more like Charge than Taps!
CONCLUSION:
For the Christian, we have the assurance that our loved ones are safe in the arms of God. They are not playing Taps in heaven, so, although we miss them, we should not be playing Taps continually for them on earth. One day, Jesus will come for us, with our beloved ones in His wake, to take us home to be with Him and them also. Will you rise-up to meet them? You can if you have Christ in your heart!
Every Blessing,
Dr. Otis Corbitt
