CHAPTER 10

(1490 B.C.)

TWO TRUMPETS

¹And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,

²Make thee two trumpets of silver (in the Old Testament, silver portrays Redemption); of a whole piece shall you make them: that you may use them for the calling of the Assembly, and for the journeying of the camps (the two silver trumpets illustrate the Old and the New Testaments; they were made of one piece; and their testimony to the host of Israel, however varied the Message, was one; their ministry was: first, to gather the people together around the Tabernacle; and, second, to set them in motion for Canaan).

³And when they shall blow with them, all the Assembly shall assemble themselves to you at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation.

⁴And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the Princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto you.

⁵When you blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward (the trumpets were used to sound an alarm for war and, as well, a joyful sound for Festival).

⁶When 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 (the trumpets, as well, were a Type of the Word of God being rightly divided and presented to the people).

⁷But when the congregation is to be gathered together, you shall blow, but you shall not sound an alarm (this particular blast did not signal war, but rather a Festival gathering).

⁸And the sons of Aaron, the Priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an Ordinance forever throughout your generations (as stated, the sound of these trumpets continue in the presentation of the Word of God, and shall do so forever).

⁹And 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 (in the Word of the Lord alone do we find victory over our enemies, and that particular word is the Cross [Rom. 6:3-14; I Cor. 1:17-18, 21, 23; 2:2; Gal. 6:14]).

¹⁰Also in the day of your gladness, and 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 (whether in war or in worship, the 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; if systematically the Priests were to blow the trumpets the first of each month over their Sacrifices, which signified the Cross, this means that unless we preach the Cross, we arent blowing the correct sound [I Cor. 1:18]).

LEAVING SINAI

¹¹And 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 (Israel had rested an entire year at Mount Sinai; the tender love which planned such rest after the excitement of the coming out of Egypt, and the march to Horeb, showed how real was the care and affection that God had for His people; the cloud moved, so they were to move).

¹²And the Children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran (even though it was a wilderness, the cloud was there; the Presence of the Lord can turn a wilderness into a Paradise, that is, if we will only believe Him).

¹³And they first took their journey according to the Commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

ORDER OF THE MARCH

¹⁴In the first place went the standard of the camp of the Children of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab (Judah means praise, so Israel was led by praise when they marched; this is our example, so it should be followed presently, as well; everything should begin by Praise to the Lord [I Cor. 10:6-7]).

¹⁵And over the host of the Tribe of the Children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar.

¹⁶And over the host of the Tribe of the Children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon.

¹⁷And the Tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the Tabernacle (the general structure of the apparatus was packed upon the six wagons provided for this purpose [7:5-9]).

¹⁸And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur.

¹⁹And over the host of the Tribe of the Children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

²⁰And over the host of the Tribe of the Children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

²¹And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the Sanctuary: and the other did set up the Tabernacle against they came (the Kohathites could not set up the sacred Vessels of which they were in charge, until the Tabernacle was erected, of which the Gershonites and Merarites were in charge).

²²And the standard of the camp of the Children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud.

²³And over the host of the Tribe of the Children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

²⁴And over the host of the Tribe of the Children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni.

²⁵And the standard of the camp of the Children of Dan set forward, which was the rereward of all the camps throughout their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai (the Tribe of Dan brought up the rear, whose name means judgment; this meant that any enemy who attempted to strike Israel from the rear would be judged by the Lord).

²⁶And over the host of the Tribe of the Children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran.

²⁷And over the host of the Tribe of the Children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan (it is sad when we read here these names, and realize that they all perished in the wilderness because of a lack of Faith [Heb. 4:1-6]).

²⁸Thus were the journeyings of the Children of Israel according to their armies, when they set forward.

²⁹And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel the Midianite, Moses father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do you good: for the LORD has spoken good concerning Israel (it is not exactly certain as to who was Hobab; some think this could have been another name for Jethro; there is no Hebrew name for father-in-law; the Hebrew word simply means a marriage relation; so this man probably was Jethro or a brother of Jethro).

³⁰And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to my own land, and to my kindred (Hobab foolishly refused to join the people of God; as a result, his descendants [I Sam. 15:6] nearly perished as the result of their ancestors folly; wherever the Lord is, that is where we should desire to be).

³¹And he said, Leave us not, I pray you; forasmuch as you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you may be to us instead of eyes (this had nothing to do with direction, that being provided entirely by the Lord; it rather pertained to the peculiarities of the wilderness, of which Hobab evidently was greatly familiar).

³²And it shall be, if you go with us, yes, it shall be, that what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto you (the same invitation is now given to all! [Mat. 11:28-30]).

³³And they departed from the Mount of the LORD three days journey: and the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days journey, to search out a resting place for them (this was their first move after leaving Sinai, but, regrettably, because of unbelief, the future would not bode well).

³⁴And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp (they journeyed, the entire near 3 million of them, under the shadow of the cloud; today we have more and better, in that the Holy Spirit abides permanently within us [I Cor. 3:16]).

³⁵And it came to pass, when the Ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let Your enemies be scattered; and let them who hate You flee before You (the 68th Psalm seems to have been written as a result of this prayer of Moses; let it ever be known, if our Faith is firmly anchored in the Cross of Christ, giving the Holy Spirit latitude to work within our lives, the enemies will most definitely be scattered [Rom. 8:1-2, 11]).

³⁶And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel. (When the Ark and the Cloud set forward, it was the Almighty God going on before to victory; when the Ark and the Cloud rested, it was the all-merciful God returning to protect and cherish His Own.)