EXPOSITION
THE SILVER TRUMPETS (Numbers 10:1-4).
And the Lord spake. The command to make the silver trumpets is introduced here, because one principal use of them was connected with the order of march. It does not necessarily, follow that the command was actually given exactly at this time, or that all the different directions for use formed part of one communication. They may have been gathered together for convenience sake. See the Introduction on this subject. It is, however, a mistake to suppose that this use of trumpets has been anticipated in Le Numbers 25:9, or elsewhere, for the "trumpets" there mentioned were altogether different in shape, as in material.
Make thee two trumpets. Hebrew, khatsotserah. From the testimony of Josephus, from the representation on the arch of Titus, and from a comparison of ancient Egyptian trumpets, it is clear that these trumpets were straight, long, and narrow, with an expanded mouth. The shophar, or trumpet of the Jubilee, on the other hand, was a buccina or cornet, either made of a ram's horn, or shaped like one. Of a whole piece. Rather, "of beaten work." Hebrew, mikshah (see on Exodus 25:18). Septuagint, ἐλατὰς ποιήσεις αὐτάς. Probably they were made of a single plate of silver beaten out into the required shape, which was very simple.
When they shall blow with them, i.e; with both of them. All the assembly, i.e; by their natural or customary representatives.
When ye blow an alarm. Hebrew, תְּרוּעָה. This seems to signify a continuous peal, easily distinguished, wherever audible, from the blowing in short, sharp tones (Hebrew, תָּקַע) mentioned below, Numbers 10:7. The peal of alarm was to be blown—לְמַסְּעֵיהֶם—"for their breaking up"—for that purpose, and no other. The camps. Only those on the east (Judah, with Issachar and Zebulun) and on the south (Reuben, with Simeon and Gad) are here mentioned. It may be that the silver trumpets themselves were carried with the sacred utensils after the southern camps, and that some other means were employed to start the remaining tribes; or it may be that the omission is due to some accidental circumstance. The Septuagint inserts in Numbers 10:6, "And ye shall sound a third alarm, and the camps which are pitched westwards shall move; and ye shall sound a fourth alarm, and the camps which are pitched northwards shall move." No doubt this was the actual order of starting, however the signal was given.
The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow. It was natural that they should be made responsible for the custody and use of these trumpets, not because their sound represented the voice of God, but because they were used for religious purposes, and could only be safely kept in the sanctuary. An ordinance forever. The accustomed formula for some sacred institution which was to have a permanent character and an eternal meaning (cf. Exodus 12:24). The truth of these words cannot be exhausted by an actual use of 1500 years, followed by complete disuse for 1800 years. The "ordinance" of the silver trumpets must be perpetuated "forever" in the gospel, or else the Divine word has failed.
If ye go to war. בּוֹא מִלחָמָה, "come into war," or "be engaged," denoting actual hostilities. In your land. The practical use of the trumpets ceased with the years of wandering; the ceremonial use was continued as long as the people dwelt in "their land;" the spiritual use remains an "ordinance for ever," as long as the Church is militant here on earth. That the use of the two silver trumpets was ceremonial, and not practical, after the conquest of Canaan is evident from the purpose and effect ascribed to that use. Whether in war or in worship, that purpose was not to convoke the people, nor to give signals to the host, but to put God in mind of his promises, and to invoke his covenanted grace. Indeed, two trumpets, as here prescribed, could not be otherwise than ceremonially used after the nation was spread abroad over the whole face of Canaan; and there is no direction to make more than two such trumpets. The use of trumpets in subsequent times is indeed often mentioned both in war and in holy festivities, and it was undoubtedly founded upon this Divine ordinance; but it was not in literal compliance with it, for the obvious reason that many trumpets were used instead of two only (see 1 Chronicles 15:24; 2 Chronicles 5:12; Nehemiah 12:35). In these passages (and probably in 2 Chronicles 13:12) we have abundant evidence of one of those expansions and adaptations of the Mosaic ritual which were so freely made under the house of David. Numbers 31:6, and (perhaps) 1 Chronicles 16:6, and Psalms 81:3 may be quoted as pointing to the strict fulfillment of the law as it stands.
In the day of your gladness. Any day of national thanksgiving, celebrated with religious services, as the feast of the dedication (John 10:22) or of Purim (Esther 9:19, sqq.). In your solemn days. מוֹעַדים. The feasts appointed to be observed by the law (see Numbers 28:1-4, and Numbers 29:1-4.). In the beginnings of your months. New moon days (Psalms 81:3). Only the first day of the seventh month was properly a feast (Le Numbers 23:24), but all were distinguished by special sacrifices (Numbers 28:11).
HOMILETICS
THE SACRED TRUMPETS
Spiritually we have in the two silver trumpets the gospel in its twofold use—
(1) as preached to men,
(2) as pleaded before God;
for that which is preached to men must also be pleaded by and for men. The substance of our faith is also the substance of our intercession. Lex credendi, lex orandi. "Our Father,… through Jesus Christ our Lord," is the norm at once of every true sermon, and of every right prayer. The death of Christ, preached, is the voice of God to start the faithful on their way to heaven; the death of Christ, shown, is the voice of the faithful to put God in mind of his sure mercies, to bring themselves into remembrance before him. Consider, therefore—
I. THAT THE SACRED TRUMPET MUST BE OF ONE WHOLE PIECE OF SILVER, NEITHER ALLOYED WITH BASER METAL, NOR MADE UP OF FRAGMENTS. The gospel which we preach or plead must be the whole faith, and the pure faith once delivered to the saints, neither alloyed with human inventions nor pieced together out of fragments and remnants of the Divine revelation. Human art and labour has no further place than in bringing the gospel—as the trumpet—into such a shape as that it can be effectually used, without adding aught to it, or diminishing aught from it.
II. That the PRIMARY USE OF THE SACRED TRUMPET was—
(1) for summoning the people into the more immediate presence of God;
(2) for ordering their march towards Canaan.
The gospel is preached, on the one hand, to call men from their cares, and pleasures, and earthly ties, in order to present themselves for pardon and for blessing before him who is their covenanted God and King; on the other hand, to instruct men in an orderly Christian walk, seeking the kingdom, not as isolated individuals, but as members of one body, soldiers in one army, units in one vast and organized whole.
III. THAT A PLAIN DISTINCTION OF SOUND WAS TO BE MADE IN CALLING THE ASSEMBLY, AND IN ORDERING THE MARCH. The persuasions of the gospel, by which we call men to draw nigh unto God, must needs differ in sound and in tone from the precepts of the gospel by which we seek to direct their onward march; but both are equally sacred, and equally necessary to be observed.
IV. THAT THE SUBSEQUENT USE OF THE SACRED TRUMPETS WAS TO INVOKE, WITH HOLY AND CONSECRATED SOUND, THE DIVINE AID AGAINST THE FOE, THE DIVINE ACCEPTANCE UPON THE SACRED FEAST OR OFFERING: IN DANGER OR IN WORSHIP TO BRING HIS OWN INTO REMEMBRANCE WITH THEIR GOD. The facts of the gospel which we preach, and whereby we "persuade men," the same do we plead; and thereby we "persuade God." All true prayer and intercession of the faithful for aid against spiritual enemies, for acceptance of spiritual sacrifices, is not only founded upon the gospel; it is the gospel, pleaded (whether in holy words or in holy rites) before high heaven; it is "the Lord's death" shown "until he come;" it is the sacred trumpet sounded in the ears of God prevailingly according to his command.
V. THAT THE USE OF THE TRUMPETS FOR THOSE PURPOSES WAS TO BE "AN ORDINANCE FOREVER." The calling of men to draw nigh unto God; the ordering of their onward walk; the cry to heaven for promised aid against our unseen foes; the pleading of the finished work of Christ wherein we trust, will never cease until there shall be no more time. Neither can the Church at large, nor can any faithful soul, dare to despise or to ignore any of these uses of the gospel trumpet; for they are of Divine and perpetual appointment.
HOMILIES BY W. BINNIE
THE SILVER TRUMPETS
The blowing of the silver trumpets by Aaron and his sons has generally been taken to denote the preaching of the gospel. But the interpretation is a mistaken one, and arises from confounding the trumpet of jubilee (Le Numbers 25:9; Luke 4:16) with the silver trumpet. Although bearing the same name in the English Bible, these are quite different instruments, and are called by different Hebrew names. The former is the shophar or cornet, which, as its name implies, was of horn, or at least horn-shaped; whereas the latter, the chatsotser, was a long' straight tube of silver with a bell-shaped mouth. The true intention of the silver trumpets is distinctly enough indicated in the law before us. They were to be to the children of Israel for a memorial before their God (Numbers 10:10); the promise was that when the trumpets were blown, the people should be remembered before the Lord their God, and he would save them from their enemies (Numbers 10:9). In other words, the blowing of the silver trumpets was a figure of PRAYER (cf. Acts 10:4). An exceedingly striking and suggestive figure it is.
I. IT PRESENTS CERTAIN ASPECTS OF PRAYER WHICH CAN HARDLY BE TOO MUCH REMEMBERED. For one thing, it admonishes us that prayer ought to be an effectual fervent exercise (James 5:16). A trumpet-tone is the opposite of a timid whisper. There is a clear determinate ring in the call of a silver trumpet. This is not meant to suggest that there ought to be loud and vehement speaking in prayer. But it does mean that we are to throw heart into our prayers and put forth our strength. The spirit of adoption cries, Abba Father (see 2 Chronicles 13:14). When we call on God we ought to stir ourselves up to take hold of him (Isaiah 64:7.) Moreover, the silver trumpet emits a ringing, joyous sound. In almost every instance in which the blowing of these trumpets is mentioned in Scripture, it is suggestive of gladness, hope, exultation. And ought not a note of gladness, hope, exultation to pervade our prayers? When we pray we are to use a certain holy boldness; we are to draw near; we are to speak in full assurance of faith. This, I confess, may be pressed too far. There was nothing of the trumpet-tone in the publican's prayer. There may be acceptable prayer in a sigh, in a cry of anguish, in the groaning of a prisoner. But it is not the will of God that his children's ordinary intercourse with him should be of that sort. They are to call on him with a gladsome confidence that he is able and ready to help them. And many of them do this. There are Christian people whose prayers are always rising into the ringing' tones of the silver trumpet. I have spoken first of the general design or spiritual intention of this ordinance of the silver trumpets.
Let us now note THE PARTICULARS:—
1. It belonged to the priest's office (Numbers 10:8). It is not to be confounded with the Levitical service of song, instituted long after by David.
2. It served a variety of secular uses. Public assemblies were convened by the sounding of the trumpets, as they are convened among us by the ringing of bells (Numbers 10:2, Numbers 10:3, Numbers 10:7). And they were the bugles by which military signals were given (Numbers 10:4). That it was the priests who blew the trumpets on all such occasions reminds us that Israel was, in a special sense, "an holy nation;" and may also carry forward our minds to the time when "holiness to the Lord" will be written on the life of all Christian nations in all their relations.
3. The blowing of the silver trumpets found place chiefly in the service of the sanctuary. The particulars are noted in Numbers 10:10, and are of uncommon interest for the Christian reader.
(1) The trumpets were to be blown over the sacrifices. How this was done appears from the example related in 2 Chronicles 29:26-14. The intention was as much as to say, "O thou that dwellest in the heavens, give ear to us when we cry; remember all our offerings and accept our burnt sacrifice. Grant us the wish of our heart, and fulfill all our counsel."
(2) The sacrifices particularly named as to be thus signalized are the burnt offering and the peace offering. Not the sin offering. The omission can hardly have been accidental. When I have fallen into some notable sin, I am to humble myself before God with shame. The cry of the publican is what befits me, rather than trumpet-toned exultation. The sin offering is most acceptably presented without blowing of trumpets. As for the burnt offering, which denotes dedication; and the peace offering, which speaks of communion with God and of our communion with each other in the Lord; these are most acceptable when they are attended with gladness and thankful exultation in God.
(3) The blowing of the silver trumpets was especially to abound at the great solemnities. That is to say, at the new moons, at the three great festivals, the "solemn days" of the Jewish year, and on all days of special gladness (cf. 2Ch 5:12; 2 Chronicles 7:6; Ezra 3:10; Nehemiah 12:35).
(4) Above all other solemn days, the first day of the seventh month was to be thus distinguished. The seventh month was that in which the Feast of Tabernacles happened—at the full moon, in the end of September or beginning of October, after the Lord had crowned the year with his goodness. The new moon of this month was the Feast of the Blowing of Trumpets (cf. Leviticus 23:24); and fitly ushered in the Feast of Ingathering, the most joyous of all the festivals of the year.—B.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
THE USE OF THE TRUMPETS
There is a manifest connection between the cloud and the trumpets. At Sinai there was "a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud" (Exodus 19:16). This seems to have been a miraculous sound, but Jehovah now orders Moses to have two silver trumpets made for permanent use. Thus trumpets as well as cloud were remembrancers of Sinai. God uses sound along with light to signify his will to his people; he appeals not only to their eyes, but also to their ears. Though the cloud was there they were not ever watching it. The longer it rested, the less conscious of its presence they became. Therefore God added the sound of the trumpets, a sudden, startling sound, to stop each one in his work, or raise him out of his sleep.
I. GOD TAKES SUFFICIENT MEANS TO CONVEY TO MEN ALL THAT IT IS NEEDFUL FOR THEM TO KNOW. Exactly where they would next pass, and how long stay there, and how long be in the wilderness, the Israelites knew not; but when the hour came for them to move, it was of the first importance that none should be in ignorance or doubt. So with regard to the practical matters of the gospel; we may take it as perfectly certain that difficulties with regard to salvation and Christian duty are in us, not in God. Men have eyes, yet see not; ears, yet hear not. They clamour for more light, more evidence, more signs. "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." And now they have also Christ and the apostles to listen to. All the great appeals and proclamations of the gospel have the trumpet sound in them; only men are so drenched and stupefied with the opiates of sin that the sound is as if it were not.
II. GOD COULD USE THE ONE AGENT TO INDICATE MANY REQUIREMENTS. There were always the same two trumpets, but sounded in different ways for different purposes. There was one sound for the princes, and another for the people. The trumpet called them to the march, and in later days, when the marching was over, it called them to the battle. It had to do with great religious occasions, and times of special gladness, e.g; the jubilee year (Le Numbers 25:9). So there is one Spirit and diversity of operations. There is the Spirit calling the attention of men by signs and wonders; there is the same Spirit breathing through the men who wrote book after book of the Scriptures. And now these Scriptures lie like a silent silver trumpet, till the same Spirit, breathing through them, makes them to teach, console, promise, warn, according to the need of the individual who listens. The trumpet of God gives no uncertain sound (1 Corinthians 14:8). Paul trusted it with the most complete confidence in his missionary work (Acts 16:6-44). There is a trumpet sound telling us not only to do something for God, but exactly what to do. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
III. THE TRUMPET WAS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS. It was not a daily sound. It indicated fresh departures, and was associated with great celebrations. Between the soundings there were intervals for the quiet practice of everyday duties. It is good thus to have the ordinary and the extraordinary mingled in our life. It is an ill thing both for individuals and communities to be settled too long in the same circumstances. Too much change is bad, but too much rest is worse. Times of quiet, plodding toil scarcely noticed, faithfulness in little things day after day—then the trumpet sounds and there is change and strife. But though the trumpet is there for special occasions, God has voices for every day to all who have the listening ear. (2 Chronicles 5:12-14; Isaiah 18:3; Isaiah 27:13; Isaiah 58:1; Jeremiah 4:5; Jeremiah 6:1; Jeremiah 42:14; Jeremiah 51:27; Ezekiel 33:1-26; Hosea 8:1; Joel 2:1; Amos 3:6; Zephaniah 1:16; Zechariah 9:14; Revelation 1:10.)—Y.