Use of the Silver Trumpets

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Numbers 10:1) And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, (2) “Make you two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece you shall make them; that you may use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps."

In the last chapter and post, God had given instructions to Moses about how the people were to move and camp according to the pillar of cloud above the tabernacle.  When it rested on the tabernacle, they were to camp and stay camped until the cloud lifted up into the pillar, at which point they were to move.  Now the Lord told Moses to make two silver trumpets that were to be used when it was time to move, or whenever he needed to call an assembly.  Each trumpet was to be made from a single piece of silver, hammered into shape, rather than in pieces joined together.

(3) "And when they blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to you at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation."

When they blew both trumpets together, the whole congregation was to come together at the door of the tabernacle.  "They" who blew them were the priests, as will be revealed in a later verse.

(4) "And if they blow but one trumpet, then the princes, heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you."

If the priests blew only one trumpet, that was a signal for just the princes of the tribes to assemble.  Both trumpets were sounded for the whole congregation, one can assume because it was louder and could be heard at a greater distance; but if only one was sounded, that was a signal for just the princes to assemble.

(5) "When you blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward."

When they blew an alarm, which apparently was a different sound from the other signals, then the camps on the east side, the camps of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun, were to move forward.

(6) "When you blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey; they shall blow an alarm for their journeys."

When the alarm sound was blown a second time, the camps on the south side, Reuben, Simeon, and Gad, were to march forward.  The alarm, which was evidently different than the signals for assembly, was to be sounded when the people were to journey.  Although scripture didn't report it, the historian Josephus said that at the third sounding of the alarm, the camps on the west (Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin) moved, and on the fourth, the camps of the north (Dan, Asher, and Naphtali).

(7) "But when the congregation is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm."

Once again, we are told the trumpet sound for the gathering of the assembly was not the same as the alarm sound for movement of the camps.

(8) "And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance forever throughout your generations."

The sons of Aaron, the priests, were the ones who were to blow the trumpets.  I believe the meaning of the second part of the verse is that it was to be an ordinance forever, or at least as long as the Levitical priesthood lasted, that only the priests blew the trumpets.

(9) "And if you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then you shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and you shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies."

If the people went to war in their land against an oppressive enemy, they were to blow an alarm with the trumpets, in a sense calling to the Lord to be with them and save them from their enemies, which is what the Lord promised to do in this verse.  As Matthew Henry stated in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "Not that God needed to be awaked by sound of trumpet...But where he intends mercy it is his will that we should solicit it."  God wants us to depend and call upon Him and Him alone for our salvation.

(10) “Also in the day of your gladness, in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, that they may be to you for a memorial before your God; I am the LORD your God."

God named times when the priests should blow the trumpets:  in their days of celebration, rejoicing, and thanksgiving; in their solemn days which referred to their appointed festivals like Passover and Pentecost, etc.; at the beginnings of the months; and over their burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of their peace offerings.  The blowing of the trumpets purposefully brought their Lord to their minds, remembering His promises, faithfulness, and blessings.

(11) And it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony.

On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year since their coming out of Egypt, the pillar of cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle of the Testimony, indicating it was time to move on from their camps.  They had been encamped almost a year according to Exodus 19:1, which stated they came to the wilderness at Sinai in the third month of the first year of their exodus from Egypt.

(12) And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.

At the sign of the pillar of cloud the people packed up and journeyed out of the wilderness of Sinai and to the wilderness of Paran, which is where the cloud again rested on the tabernacle.  I like what Matthew Henry wrote about this relating to our current times:  "All our removals in this world are but from one wilderness to another. The changes which we think will be for the better do not always prove so; while we carry about with us, wherever we go, the common infirmities of human nature, we must expect, wherever we go, to meet with its common calamities; we shall never be at rest, never at home, till we come to heaven, and all will be well there."

Although this is a relatively short post, I have to separate this chapter into two different posts because Blogger limits the number of labels I can have per post, and I find them all important and don't want to omit any of them.  This seems a good stopping point as it ends the Israelites' many months (and chapters) of encampment.