“The Last Trumpet”: The Real Sound of Freedom

Recently, Angel Studios released a movie that draws attention to the global scourge of child trafficking. Sound of Freedom is based on a true story of some who risked their lives to save innocent children who were kidnapped and sold for evil intentions.

In the United States alone, some 800,000 children are reported missing each year. While a large number of those cases are young people who have run away from home, about half are a result of abduction. Most of those abductions are perpetrated by family members, primarily divorced and separated parents.

Fortunately, about 99 percent of missing children worldwide are ultimately returned to their homes. Still, that leaves some 80,000 children who are abducted annually, many of whom are sold for child trafficking purposes!

And sadly, of those who are abducted, some 40 percent are killed by their kidnappers in the end.

The whole world has been kidnapped

Yes, this is a real evil that exists in our world. However, the Bible also teaches us that the entire world has been kidnapped by an evil being called Satan the devil.

How did this happen?

Many abductors lure their victims with lies and false promises. They often prey on the naiveties of children and young adults.

Satan the devil is no different.

The Bible tells us that in the Garden of Eden “the serpent” approached Eve, appearing to be harmless and only wanting a simple conversation. But he had ulterior motives. He asked her about God’s warning not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

What seemed like an innocent question was actually a cunning ploy. After Eve answered Satan, he then told her that God was lying to her, which—in accordance with Satan’s true intentions—caused her to question and doubt God (Genesis 3:1-4).

By rejecting God and embracing Satan, Adam and Eve were now under his sway. And from that day on, all of their descendants have been held captive by him to do his will. Continuing with his deceptive motives, Satan proceeded to tell Eve that God was holding something back from her (verse 5).

She thought about what he said, and then chose to believe Satan instead of God. Eve disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit. She then gave the fruit to Adam and he ate as well (verse 6).

And thus Satan kidnapped our first parents!

Eve was deceived by Satan’s cunning tactics, just as many innocent children are deceived by their kidnappers.

But unlike abducted children, Eve was not an innocent child. She allowed herself to be deceived. She could have easily talked to God about the things that the serpent was telling her, but she chose to believe the serpent’s story over what God had instructed.

By rejecting God and embracing Satan, Adam and Eve were now under his sway. And from that day on, all of their descendants have been held captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26).

The deceptive tactics Satan used on Eve are the same tactics he uses on people today. We are told in Revelation 12:9 that this “serpent of old” has deceived the whole world!

But why did God allow this abduction? Why didn’t He intervene?

To learn more, read “A World Held Captive?” 

God will ultimately free humanity from our captor

God gave all of us free will. But with that freedom to choose come consequences (Galatians 6:7).

The consequences of yielding to Satan instead of God are all around us. All the evil, suffering, tragedy and death are the result of rejecting God.

The world of freedom and self-reliance that Satan promised Eve was a lie. His promise of never dying was a lie. Christ reinforced the sad reality we see all around us when He said there is no truth in Satan (John 8:44).

Satan is both a liar and, as Christ said in the same verse, a murderer.

Just as many kidnappers ultimately kill those they abduct, Satan’s main objective is to murder humanity. He knows that we have the potential to become children of God, an opportunity he will never have.

When they are born into God’s family, the children of God will be exalted higher than the angelic realm, which is the level of existence Satan will always occupy. So he wants to prevent us from reaching our godly potential.

But even though Satan has the world in bondage for now, God promises to eventually deliver us from his control and give us the freedom to choose to follow God instead.

The day will come when humanity will be freed from bondage

In one scene of Sound of Freedom, some children who were rescued from their captors sing and clap their hands in joy. At this point, one character said that noise was “the sound of freedom.”

The Bible also mentions a sound of freedom. In Micah 4:1-4, we read of a future time when fear will not exist. No one will be afraid of strangers because it will be God’s world, not Satan’s world. And in Zechariah 8:5 we read, “The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.”

The sound of children playing in public places with no fear will be a sound of freedom. They will be free from Satan’s world because he will not be around (Revelation 20:1-3).

Yet another sound of freedom will be heard before the sound of children playing in the streets is possible. 

All will hear the sound of Jesus Christ’s return

Upon His return, Christ will subdue the armies influenced by Satan, that will try to fight Him (Revelation 19:11-21).

And then Christ will rescue humanity as a whole from bondage to Satan.

To learn more, read “Jesus Christ Will Return to Earth.” 

The day the captor is captured

Since the time when Satan first kidnapped Adam and Eve, he has been the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4; John 12:31). But when Christ returns, Satan will be dethroned, removed and restrained. This event is pictured by the next of God’s annual festivals, the Day of Atonement.

“Then I [the apostle John in a vision] saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more” (Revelation 20:1-3).

After the armies that fight Christ are destroyed and Satan is imprisoned, Christ will rescue those who have been enslaved. Freed from Satan’s evil influence, humanity will more willingly embrace God’s ways. After the armies that fight Christ are destroyed and Satan is imprisoned, Christ will rescue those who have been enslaved.

The prophet Jeremiah talks about this emotional rescue: “Tears of joy will stream down their faces, and I [Christ] will lead them home with great care. They will walk beside quiet streams and on smooth paths where they will not stumble . . . The young women will dance for joy, and the men—old and young—will join in the celebration. I will turn their mourning into joy. I will comfort them and exchange their sorrow for rejoicing” (Jeremiah 31:9, 13, New Living Translation).

The movie Sound of Freedom draws attention to the reality of kidnapping and child trafficking. The Bible draws attention to the reality of the kidnapping and trafficking perpetrated by Satan the devil.

Rescue will come!

Just as so many are not truly aware of the magnitude of child trafficking, many are not aware of the magnitude of Satan’s deception and exploitation of humanity.

But God has revealed that truth to some now. Understanding the incredible plan of God will change your life forever!

God the Father will send His Son Jesus Christ to rescue not only the innocent victims of child trafficking, but also all of humanity from the grips of Satan. Humanity will at last have the opportunity to follow God and enjoy the incredible peace and joy that will come from that.

Yes, the sound of the last trumpet will be the real sound of freedom!

Date Posted: September 15, 2023