Silver Trumpets, Preaching & Departing From Mount Sinai (The Book of Numbers Chapter 10)

The Silver Trumpets and the Call to Worship and War

All right, let's open up to the Book of Numbers, Chapter 10. We were making a lot of ground covering four, five chapters a week there for a couple weeks, and then we kind of slowed down last time to Chapter 9 and now Chapter 10, and I have no idea what we're going to be doing for next week.

So maybe Chapter 11, maybe Chapters 11 through 15. You'll just have to, just have to wait and see, but let's open in prayer and we'll get into our study. Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for all that you've done for us, but most of all, we're thankful for who you are, a creator, sustainer, a savior who loved us so much that you sent your son.

And Father, as we consider the things that are going on in our nation and in the world today, things that are going on in our own personal lives, things that would distract us and maybe even cause us to become anxious, I just pray that you would give us peace and calm to be able to look to you and your word and see how you were so faithful and fulfilling your promises to the children of Israel.

And knowing that Lord, we know that you will fulfill all of your promises to us as members of your New Testament church. So be with us tonight. Give us ears to hear, give illumination to your word that we would understand it.

We pray all these things in Jesus name, amen.

Numbers chapter 10, God spoke to Moses, make two silver trumpets for yourself. You shall make them of hammered work. You shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.

When they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel shall gather to you.

When you sound the advance, the camps that lie on the east side shall then begin their journey. When you sound the advance the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall begin their journey.

They shall sound the call for them to begin their journeys. And when the assembly is to be gathered together, you shall blow but not sound the advance. The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets, and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations.

When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.

Also in the day of your gladness, in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, and they shall be a memorial for you before your God.

I am the Lord your God.

Now it came to pass on the twentieth day of the second month in the second year that the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of the testimony, and the children of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sinai on their journeys.

Then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Palin. So they started out for the first time according to the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses. The standard of the camp of the children of Judah set out first according to their armies.

Over their army was Nashun, the son of Aminadad. Over the army of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethan, the son of Zuhar. And over the army of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliah, the son of Helan.

Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Mererai set out carrying the tabernacle. And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their armies. Over their army was Eliezer, the son of Shediah.

Over the army of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiah, the son of Zurishaddai. And over the army of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaf, the son of Dual. Then the Kohathites set out carrying the holy things.

The tabernacle would be prepared for their arrival. And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set out according to their armies. Over their army was Elisha, the son of Amidah. Over the army of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel, the son of Pedazah.

And over the army of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidon, the son of Gideonai. Then the standard of the camp of the children of Dan, the rearguard of all the camps, set out according to their armies.

Over their army was Ahaziah, the son of Amishaddai. Over the army of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pegiel, the son of Akron. And over the army of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira, the son of Enon.

Thus was the order of march of the children of Israel according to their armies when they began their journey. Now Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel, the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law,.

We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Come with us, and we will treat you well. For the Lord has promised good things to Israel. I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives.

Please do not leave. Inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes, and it shall be, if you go with us, indeed it shall be, that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.

So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three days' journey to search out a resting place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp.

So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said, Rise up, O Lord.

Let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel.

The Trumpet as a Picture of Preaching

All right, well, maybe you've noticed this, maybe you haven't, but since Exodus chapter 32 and the whole story of the golden calf, the Israelites have actually been very faithful and obedient to everything that God has said.

So tonight, we're going to cover just this one chapter, Numbers chapter 10, and we're going to try to hit the highlights. That's what we're doing through Numbers, hit the highlights as we go through making spiritual application.

Numbers 10, 1 through 4, And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Make two silver trumpets for yourself, and you shall make them of hammered work, and you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps.

And when they blow both of them, all the congregation shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. But if they blow only one, then the leaders, the heads of the divisions of Israel shall gather to you.

So obviously, the purpose of sounding the trumpet was to get everybody's attention, right? They're trying to make an announcement with the sounding of the trumpet. Today, if an announcement needs to go out to everybody, how is it done?

It's done through television, through radio, or if something devastating happened and everyone in the nation had to know, we'd get a little notification on our cell phone, right? But obviously, with the Israelites camped in the wilderness blowing a trumpet, this was the best way.

So they had these two silver trumpets hammered out and made for that purpose. So different sounds sent out different messages. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14 verse 8, for if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?

There's other passages we could look at. But in Israel, there was a certain sound of the trumpet that was a call to worship. But then there was another sound that was a call to battle. Look at verses 9 and 10.

And when you, and you want to know the difference, don't you? Make, make a, make a few problems if you couldn't distinguish. Verses 9 and 10, when you go out to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, and you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets and you will be remembered before the Lord, your God, and you will be saved from your enemies.

Also, in the day of your gladness and your appointed feasts. And at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings.

And they shall be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord, your God. So depending on what was happening, the trumpets had to be blown properly, the right sound. And of course that required the people to listen, to be able to discern the different sounds.

Now in the New Testament church, I'm guessing not too many of you have been in church services where trumpets were blown, right? I don't, I've never experienced this. So this isn't practical anymore. There's no need for us to have silver trumpets.

So what do they represent? Why do we care? You know, what's the application here? Well, when we assemble for worship and when we want to stir up the troops, so to speak, we do it by not blowing a trumpet.

We do it by lifting up our voice, right? Isaiah 58 verse 1, the prophet writes, cry aloud, spare not lift up your voice like a trumpet. Lift up your voice like a trumpet. So he's talking about preaching here where you elevate your voice.

And when the Bible talks about crying or cry aloud, it's not weeping. It's shouting. Basically, I just imagine John the Baptist in the wilderness preaching. He must have had to shout for everyone to hear him, right?

So preachers, you've noticed this, right? You've noticed this preachers raise their voices. What is that signal? It's a way to get people's attention and it communicates something that, hey, this is important.

We need to take heed to this. When you're preaching, you're calling upon people to to act. Teaching is a little different. Like a Wednesday night Bible study, something like that. Sunday school teaching tends to be a little more calm, maybe, or communicating information.

But preaching, there's a making urgent appeal for people to do something. Matthew Henry writes this about the silver trumpets in Numbers chapter 10. These trumpets typify the preaching of the gospel. It sounds an alarm to sinners, calls them to repent, proclaims liberty to the captives and slaves of Satan, and collects the worshipers of God.

It directs and encourages their heavenly journey, stirs them up to combat against the world and sin, encouraging them with the assurance of victory. And I read Matthew Henry just about every week because he has such great, great commentary.

That's my opinion. So all that to say that there should be passion in our preaching. I know in some places it's common to have the monotone voice and it's just kind of the same tone throughout the whole thing.

Hey, I don't, I think, I think we should be excited. I think we should shout once in a while. I think people need to get excited. You know, more amens, the better as far as I'm concerned, but amen. See, it's working.

People are getting excited. So when we, but when we teach, which Wednesday night normally is teaching or Sunday school, sometimes you notice Dennis and I, we do sometimes go into preaching mode, even when we're teaching.

What's the difference between preaching and teaching? Who wants to give that those definitions in your own words? Measured in decibels. Okay. Measured in decibels. See, all preaching contains teaching.

Yes. Not all teaching is going to have preaching. Teaching is, again, communicating information. You're listening, hopefully learning. Preaching is what you're supposed to do with that information. So here in the old Testament, you have these loud trumpets being blown in the wilderness.

And when we get to the first few pages of the new Testament, what do you have? You have a voice of one crying out in the wilderness. You have a preacher, John the Baptist, who was the herald of the new covenant.

Okay. Any questions or comments so far? I mean, if you grew up in a church or in an environment where the preacher never raised his voice, the first time you experience a preacher that does, it can be a little, whoa, I've never experienced this.

But I think it's important.

Yes, Marcus. The Messianic Jews still use shofars, which are the ram's horns, to make announcements and so forth. The group that I am affiliated with in Israel is Shofar HaYeshua, the trumpet of salvation.

And you might have noticed Yeshua means salvation, and it also means Jesus. Good. Thanks for sharing that.

One last comment on this. But when we were outside April, May of 2020, you know, being outdoors, I kind of had to shout and speak a little louder. And I don't look to me. I can't speak for others. But to me, there seemed to be more excitement.

To me, it seemed like an exciting time. And I did hear more amens. And I felt like we were getting more of a reaction. Now, we did get a reaction from, you know, the heathen. We got a reaction down on the sign.

And someone told me, Pastor, you better tamp it down a little bit. But, you know, that's the way it goes. But we should be excited about the Word of God. If Christians can't get fired up about the Word of God, then we have some problems.

Departing from Sinai and Following God's Leading

All right. Starting in verse 11, this section is titled Departure from Sinai. Numbers chapter 10, verse 11. It says, Now it came to pass on the twelfth day of the second month in the second year that the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of the testimony.

John MacArthur says this only 13 months after the exodus from Egypt and 11 months after the arrival at Sinai. Israel began to march toward Canaan. It would take them a little while to get there, right?

A little while. And we talked about this last week, how the Israelites were to follow the pillar of cloud by day. It was as a pillar of fire by night. When the cloud stayed put, they stayed put. When the cloud went up, started to move, they followed the cloud.

And that represents for New Testament believers. It represents us following the leading of the Holy Spirit. So here the cloud was taken up. Look at verses 12 and 13. And the children of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sinai on their journeys.

And then the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. So they started out for the first time, according to the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses. And then it gets into their movement, which we're not going to go through all of these details.

But do you remember which tribe went out first? It's the biggest tribe, the most powerful tribe, probably the most prominent tribe at this point. Judah. Good. So Judah goes out first, and then it goes through all of the tribes.

And in verse 29, we see this account where Moses is speaking to his family or to his in-laws. And he wants to convince them to make the journey with them. And, hey, come with us. Come into the promised land.

But they seem a little reluctant. Does anyone know why they might be reluctant? Could be several reasons. Getting up and going to a new place is difficult. I like what Matthew Henry writes about this.

So remember, he's trying to get his family members to come along with him to the promised land. Matthew Henry writes this. Moses invited his kindred to go to Canaan. Those that are bound for the heavenly Canaan should ask and encourage their friends to go with them.

I think most of us can relate to this. When you first came to saving faith, one of the first things that you wanted to do is you wanted to tell other people. Once you came to that knowledge that you were going to heaven and you were saved and you had this assurance, you wanted everyone that you cared about to come along with you, just like Moses is convincing them.

Come on, come on. Now, that doesn't always work. And the danger is over time, after you get rejected enough, the danger is, well, people just aren't interested and maybe that fire can start to go down.

We got to be careful about that. But we should try to get our friends, family, anyone who's willing to listen. Try to get them to, we want them to go to heaven too, right? So that attitude that we want our loved ones, friends, coworkers, neighbors, whoever it is, we want them to make the journey of faith as well.

Well, that's a godly attitude. Here's what is not a godly attitude. Well, if my loved one isn't going to be in heaven, I don't even know if I want to go. Have you ever heard someone say that? There was an archbishop, Episcopal Anglican, I don't know what he was.

Desmond Tutu. Have you ever heard of this guy? Yeah, well, he passed away a month or two ago. And all the cable news networks were, you know, hailing the great man he was. And anytime cable news takes a religious leader and just promotes them and celebrates them, I always think, okay, what's wrong?

There's something wrong here. But he made a comment, something to the effect that, well, if God won't allow, you know, LGBT people into heaven, then I don't want to go. That's not the type of God that I want to worship.

That's a pretty remarkable statement. But, you know, there are people who they have a loved one who passed, and they're pretty sure because you never know. You never know what happened in a person's heart right at the end.

But I've heard that expressed that if my loved one isn't there, or here's something that's very common. How can I enjoy heaven knowing that a loved one is in hell? That's very, very common. And, you know, it's understandable.

But one thing I would say about Moses, and this isn't about heaven, it's the promised land. Never once did Moses say, you know, I'm going to go, but the promised land just won't be the same if Jethro isn't there.

That was not his attitude. Whether Jethro and the family went, it wasn't going to hinder Moses' walk. So we should have a genuine concern for the lost. That's a healthy thing. It's a godly thing. But if somebody isn't willing to go, we cannot allow that to affect our walk.

Because Satan could use something like that to sour us on the glories to come.

Yes. I did struggle with that for many years. Dennis pointed this out to me, and it was a comfort. In Isaiah 65, 17, it says, For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.

Yeah. Now that's in the new heaven and the new earth. I'm not sure about in the millennium, but it was, I will always appreciate knowing that, because it's the only way that it seems to me that I could be in paradise forever without my father, brother, grandmother, etc.

So perhaps he will just wipe away our memories.

Yeah, in Revelation 21, verse 4, talks about this,. In the new heaven and the new earth, the God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain.

For the former things have passed away. So I don't know how all of that works, but there will be no sorrow in eternity.

Marcus. And those words are like passed away. That's like in 1 Corinthians 5, 17, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Or sometimes when we refer to someone that's dead, we say they've passed away.

Any other comments?

So we need to focus on our walk with the Lord, first and foremost, because if we're not healthy and doing the right thing, we're not really equipped to help someone else. So, you know, we focus on ourselves and our walk, and that way we're better equipped to help others.

So Moses has this conversation with Hobab. That's H-O-B-A-B. It's not a name you hear too often. How many Christians have named their child, their son Hobab? I've never met one. But who is Hobab? He's the son of Rul.

That's also known as Jethro, right? Moses' father-in-law. Look at verse 33. So they departed after trying to convince them to go along. It says, so they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days.

And if you compare that with, I think there's a verse in Judges. Can't say 100%, but it appears that Moses convinced them to go along with him. And it says, the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three days' journey to search out a resting place for them.

And the cloud of the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp. So it was, and I love this, so it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said, rise up, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.

And when it rested, he said, return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel. I think that first statement would look really great on a plaque. Put it on a plaque, hang it on the wall. Rise up, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered.

Let those who hate you flee before you. Maybe we won't put that up at the front door of the church, but I'd put it in my office. Does that sound familiar, that statement? Let's turn to Psalm 68, if you would.

Psalm chapter 68. Well, if it does sound familiar, it's because David began this psalm with this statement. Psalm chapter 68, starting in verse 1. David writes, let God arise, let his enemies be scattered.

Let those also who hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the Lord, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God.

Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly. Sing to God, sing praises to his name. Extol him who rides on the clouds by his name, Yah. That's shortened for Jehovah. Of course, there was no J sound, so it's Yehovah.

Of course, people dispute the name. Extol him who rides on the clouds by his name, Yah. And rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy habitation. This reminds me back to Exodus 15.

Do you remember what Exodus 15 called the Lord? The Lord is a man of what? A man of war. So God consistently through their wanderings, and then once they're in the land, God fights for his people. Of course, they were fighting physical battles, right?

Physical wars in the name of God. We, as I think we were talking about this last week, we fight what? Spiritual, right? Spiritual battles. Ephesians 6, verse 12, you know the verse.

For we wrestle not against flesh.

For we wrestle not. Some people stop there, and they just don't wrestle at all.

Unless you're a policeman, then you do wrestle. All right, what's the verse? Give us the verse. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. Against the rulers of the darkness of this age.

Against spiritual wickedness and high places. We were like Simeon.

For we wrestle not. That's how the King James Version starts, okay? Little differences. That's the problem when I started memorizing Bible verses. I had them all in the King James originally. Then I switched over to the new King James, and then they kind of blended together.

Then I read through the NIV once, and then it was just all downhill from there. Just a piece of advice. This has nothing to do with numbers. That's nothing against the NIV. But what I'm saying is, if you're going to memorize Bible verses, try to stick to one translation.

I think that's good advice. Anyways, moving on. Usually, from there, from that statement, we wrestle not against flesh and blood. From there, you typically hear, goes to the next passage, that we put on the whole armor of God, right?

We've all heard sermons, I think, about putting on the whole armor of God. I just want to go back to the verses before. You don't have to turn to Ephesians 6. But what are the verses before that say? Ephesians 6 comes right after Paul writing about submission to Christ in Ephesians 5.

Submission to Christ, wives submit to your husbands. Husbands, love your wives. Children, obey your parents. Raise up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So my point is, I think we need to make sure we're doing all of those basic duties.

If we really want those lofty spiritual battles, we need to be faithful in just kind of the basic things. Then we're in a stronger position to stand against the wiles of the devil, as Paul puts it. All right, let's go back to Numbers chapter 10.

And actually, we're just going to cover the first few verses in chapter 11. But any questions or comments about anything we've talked about so far? No, all right. So Numbers chapter 11, unfortunately, this is kind of a turning point.

Because I said at the beginning, since Exodus 32, the children of Israel had really stepped up. The tabernacle was being built. They had donated goods. They gave above and beyond. And they were really doing the right thing.

But now in Numbers chapter 11, obedient Israel becomes complaining, rebellious Israel. So they're kind of going back to their old ways. They had a good thing going so far in Numbers. Remember some of the statements.

I just picked a few out. This is usually how a chapter would end. It said, they kept the charge of the Lord. Remember that. And then it said one chapter, according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did.

It's like, all right, they're really turning things around. I think it was since the golden calf incident. They saw what happened. They saw the Levites and how they exacted judgment on the idolaters. I think that woke a lot of people up.

Like, we don't want this repeated. And then there was the plague that the Lord sent after that, right? Was it 23 ,000? Is that the number? 23 ,000 fell. So I think Israel saw that it was a big wake-up call.

And now they're on the straight and narrow. Well, up until chapter 11. So that streak, that faithful streak is going to end. And I just think as way of application, just in conclusion. Remember these things are written, 1 Corinthians 10.

They're written for what? Our admonition. They're for us to instruct us of what not to do. We don't want to be like Israel and have a spiritual walk that's consistent only for a while, right? And maybe you've gone through this, but we know people who've done this.

You know, they get fired up for God, and they're on fire for God. And that goes week after week after week after week. And then they just kind of fall off. And then it's back to the old ways. That's what Israel did.

They had their highlights, low, up, and down, up, and down, up, and down. So that's an example of what not to do. So just this basic spiritual discipline, reading your Bible, praying, being in church, Christian fellowship.

These are just things that we do. We don't consider, am I going to do it? It's just things that we do. And if we stumble and fall, we get right back up and get right back at it. We don't want to be like Israel and have these highs and lows and valleys.

So Israel had been doing good, but now they're going back to their old ways. And we'll close with the first few verses of Numbers chapter 11. This is how it begins. Now, when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused.

So the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched.