The two trumpets – Numbers 10:1-10
V 1-10 The trumpets were long, thin tubes. They were wider at one end. There are pictures of this type of trumpet on ancient coins. Josephus, a Jewish writer, described this type of trumpet also.
The priests used the trumpets for four reasons:
1. To call the Israelites or their leaders to meet together.
2. To give the signal to set out.
3. To ask God for help in a battle.
4. To call the Israelites together at their festivals.
The priests made different sounds to give different signals. The priests also used the trumpets at their festivals. They used them when there was a war. Also, they used them when there was peace. In the book of Joshua, the trumpets were very important in the siege of Jericho, when they walked around the city and eventually the walls fell down.
In v10, God said, ‘This will help you to remember me’. This reminded the Israelites that they must ask God to help them. Also, it reminded them that He had helped them before. He had rescued them from the Egyptians and He would rescue them from their enemies again, but they had to ask Him!
God wants to help us, but He wants us to talk to him first. That is prayer.
The Israelites begin their journey – Numbers 10:11-28
v11 “It was the 20th day of the second month of that same year. The cloud rose away from God’s Tent. (v12)Then the Israelites began their journey out of the Sinai desert. They travelled until the cloud stopped in the Paran desert. (v13)They set out, this first time, as the LORD ordered them by means of Moses.”
v11-28 The Israelites had been in the Sinai desert for nearly one year. They set out in the order that God had described in chapter 2. Levi’s tribe carried the Ark in front of the Israelites’ army (v 33). This showed that they were following God as their leader. The clans in Levi’s tribe did not all march together. Gershon’s clan and Merari’s clan marched before Kohath’s clan. This was so that they could put up the tabernacle to be ready for the sacred objects.
Moses speaks to Hobab – Numbers 10:29-36
v 29-36 Moses invited his relative Hobab to come to Canaan with them. He was not an Israelite, he came from the tribes of Midian, who were descendants of Ishmael. The tribes of Midian lived in the desert that was next to Canaan. Hobab knew the desert well. So, he was able to give them practical advice, including where to find water.
This teaches us something very important. Whilst God guides us by means of the Holy Spirit, He also often uses people. We must be willing to let God speak to us even by means of people.
It is clear that he agreed to come because his descendants lived with the Israelites (Judges 1:16 and 4:11).
Whenever the cloud started to move, Moses prayed asking God to protect them. Whenever the cloud stopped, Moses prayed again, asking God to live among them in the camp. Moses knew that God commanded Israel’s army. The Israelites needed God to protect them from their enemies. They needed God more than anyone or anything else.
We need God more than anyone or anything else, too. When we trust Him completely, He will look after us, too. Christians are in a battle against the devil. The devil tries to make us do wrong things. He makes troubles for us. But when we ask God for His help, He will protect us. He has defeated the devil already. He did this at the cross when Jesus died, and when Jesus rose again. So, we must remember to pray for God’s help always.
This passage ends the first part of the Book of Numbers. The Israelites had begun their journey to the Promised Land.
