The Israelites are about to leave Sinai in tomorrow's passage. They are going to need a way to communicate to the entire assembly when to come together to move out. The Lord will command Moses to have two silver trumpets manufactured and these trumpets will be used for communicating several types of information to the congregation, much like we use churchwide texts in today's world. I have been signed up for several years now to receive these texts from my church. The texts have notified me about all sorts of things like church schedule changes, prayer requests, the deaths of church members, funeral services for church members---and of course this year there have been a lot of texts regarding service cancellations due to Covid-19 outbreaks and/or changes in safety protocols. But the ancient Israelites didn't have the technology we possess today. This doesn't mean they were left in the dark about anything important that was going on; the Lord is going to make sure every person is able to receive all the notifications they need to receive.
"The Lord said to Moses: 'Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting.'" (Numbers 10:1-3) It was necessary to construct two trumpets. If both trumpets are sounded, everyone is to assemble together. If only one trumpet is sounded, only the community leaders need to assemble while everyone else goes on with their day. "If only one is sounded, the leaders---the heads of the clans of Israel---are to assemble before you." (Numbers 10:4) We learned the names of these men in Numbers 1: Elizur, Shelumiel, Nahshon, Nathanel, Eliab, Elishama, Gamaliel, Abidan, Ahiezer, Pagiel, Eliasaph, and Ahira.
It is believed these would have been long trumpet sounds: a long blow on both trumpets to assemble the entire community, a long blow on one trumpet to assemble the leaders. It appears that a shorter blast is used to tell the tribes to break camp and move out. "When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to move out. At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out." (Numbers 10:5-6a) The breaking of camp is to be conducted in an orderly fashion. The first short blast lets the eastern camps know to move out. The second short blast lets the southern camps know to move out. As the Apostle Paul said when telling the Christian churches that their services must be conducted in a respectful and orderly fashion, "God is not a God of disorder." (1 Corinthians 14:33a) Some translations of the Bible render this verse as, "God is not a God of confusion." The Lord is going to make it clear when and how the people are to move out so that there is no confusion.
If the Lord had not given specific instructions for how the tribes are to break camp and move out, confusion might have ensued. People would have gotten in each other's way and arguments might have broken out or people might have tripped over each other or gotten their livestock all entangled with each other. Breaking camp would have taken far longer than necessary if it hadn't been done in an orderly fashion, just as if everyone in the entire church congregation got up at one time and rushed for the doors. In my church they dismiss the congregation one row of pews at a time and this is an effective, respectful, and orderly manner of exiting the building. The tribes of Israel are to break camp and move out in an effective, respectful, and orderly manner.
The particular blast the Lord speaks of in verses 5 and 6 is unique and is to be taken as an order to get ready to move out immediately. "The blast will be a signal for setting out." (Numbers 10:6b) This blast for moving out is never to be used to gather the assembly. "To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the signal for setting out." (Numbers 10:7)
Someone must be put in charge of blowing the trumpets and now we find out who that is. "The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets." (Numbers 10:8a) No one else is in charge of performing this duty.
The two trumpets are blown long and loud to assemble the entire community. One trumpet is blown long and loud to assemble only the leaders. A short blast is sounded to tell the eastern camps to move out. A second short blast is sounded to tell the southern camps to move out. The trumpets are also to be sounded for other occasions, such as when going into battle or when celebrating a festival to the Lord. "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy that is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies. Also at your times of rejoicing---your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts---you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God." (Numbers 10:8b-10)
When an enemy comes against Israel, the trumpets are to be blown not only to call the army together but to call the Lord to their aid. It's not that the Lord doesn't know when an enemy comes against His people; it's that the trumpet call acknowledges their need for Him and their dependence upon Him. The trumpet call is like a prayer for help and it symbolizes the fact that God is the mighty defender of Israel. A number of times in the Bible we'll find the Lord's people being victorious in battle even when they are vastly outnumbered. This is because the Lord is fighting on their side. With the Lord on their side, they can't lose. Or as the Apostle Paul put it, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)
You and I have the trumpet call of prayer at our disposal whenever we find ourselves facing a battle. Our first instinct should always be to call out to the Lord for help. We need Him. We can't make it through this world victoriously on our own. We don't have to fight our battles alone and the Lord never intended for us to fight our battles alone. "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me." (Psalm 28:7)
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