📖 Biblical Definition
Reveille is the morning call — bugle, drum, fife, or now whistle — that wakes a military unit at dawn for the day’s service. Scripture has its reveille verses. "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Ephesians 5:14) — the gospel summons to spiritual life. "Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early" (Psalm 57:8; 108:2) — the worshiper’s self-summons. "Awake to righteousness, and sin not" (1 Corinthians 15:34) — the apostolic alarm. The kingdom calls its saints to rise. Christian men learn early rising not as cultural pose but as bodily reveille — answering the King’s summons before the world begins to call.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(French.) A bugle call at sunrise to wake soldiers; the morning summons to duty.
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Webster 1828 enters reveille as a French military loanword: ‘the beat of drum at break of day, to give notice that it is time for the soldiers to rise, and for the sentinels to forbear challenging.’
The Psalmist's and Paul's call to wake describe a similar scene at the spiritual level: the kingdom's reveille for the saint who has overslept.
📖 Key Scripture
Ephesians 5:14 — "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light."
Romans 13:11 — "Now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."
Psalm 57:8 — "Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early."
Isaiah 60:1 — "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity often slumbers; the New Testament repeatedly sounds reveille and the saints repeatedly hit snooze.
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Romans 13:11 says it is high time to awake. Ephesians 5:14 commands awake thou that sleepest. Both addresses are to professing believers, not unbelievers. The sleep is real; the call is urgent.
The household that sets a reveille — an actual hour, an actual habit — recovers ground the world's schedule has stolen. Morning prayer is the saint's reveille; without it, the day belongs to whoever else gets the first word.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
French loanword; biblical equivalent in Hebrew ur (awake) and Greek egeirō (to raise up).
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French réveiller — to awaken.
Greek egeirō — to raise up, awaken; the verb of resurrection and of spiritual awakening alike.
Usage
"Morning prayer is the saint's reveille."
"Awake thou that sleepest — New Testament command, not metaphor only."
"Whoever gets the first word owns the day."