The Trumpets Sound

Exeter Temple Message notes: Sunday 11^th October 2015

Bible Reading: Numbers 10

The two trumpets were for the quick relay of orders to the camp of Israel. In Israel there were set days when trumpets would sound.  The people could prepare for those times but the call to move camp or the call to battle could come at any time.

For us there are prescribed things that are laid down in the Bible that we need to obey but we need to be alert to what God is leading us to do in the times in which we live.

1.      A Call to Community

 “Make two trumpets of hammered silver and use them for calling the community together.  V 2

In our highly individualistic culture we need to recognise that whilst Christian faith is personal it is not lived out in isolation but in community. 

One of our Corps values is “Engage in authentic Christian fellowship.”

It is a call was not just to meet with one another but with God,

“to assemble at the Tent of Meeting” v 3

This tent was the place where the people met to seek the presence of God.

When one or two people come into corporate worship with a holy expectancy it can change the atmosphere.  We imagine that it is the content of a gathering, music, numbers, preacher’s skill etc. that matter most but what is offered in a worship meeting is just a doorway.  We all need to come with a willingness to seek God’s presence.

The unique thing about the people of Israel was that they had a God who could and would communicate with them. Of other communities it was said:    

“idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. The have mouths and cannot speak.” Psalm 115:4

 “Like a scarecrow in a melon patch their idols cannot speak.” 

(Jeremiah 10:5)

In contrast Jeremiah says, “But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God.”   (Jeremiah 10:10)

This is why Jesus often said, “He who has ears, let him hear.” (e.g. Matthew 13:9)

 “He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:11)

2.      A Call to Action

A distinction was made between simply blowing the trumpet and sounding a blast. When the blast was sounding it was a signal to break camp.

 “The blast of the signal for setting out.” V 6 

All the tribes moved in response to the trumpet blast. It would have been disastrous for the unity of the nation and for the strategy for the conquering of the Promised Land if each tribe did their own thing, regardless of the direction of the leadership.

Similarly as God’s people today it is important that our activity is based on more than personal whim but is a reaction to God’s particular will and purpose.

 “Action without meaning is futile just as thinking without action is sterile.” (Anon)

Sometimes we rush ahead of God with doubtless sincere enthusiasm but this is not the gravest danger.  More often than not we talk about going on with God but never go. We dream of launching out but we don’t. We soak up the experiences of others but fear taking the kind of risks they took. 

“O God our Father, let us not be content to wait and see what will happen but give us the determination to make the right things happen. Whilst time is running out save us from patience which is akin to cowardice. Give us courage to be either hot or cold, to stand for something lest we fall for anything.”  Peter Marshall

More often than not the blast of the trumpet for the Israelites meant they would soon be immersed in battle. Theirs was a physical fight to gain occupation of a land. For us there is a spiritual implication. Christians are called to go and win over those who are opposed to Christ.

 “We are sent to war! We are not sent to minister to a congregation and be content if we keep things going. We are sent to make war and to stop short of nothing but the subjugation of the world to the sway of the Lord Jesus.   (William Booth 1878)

Many things oppose that aim. There is a war against selfishness, apathy, division, pride, greed, materialism, despair etc. Just as ISIS is behind so many terrorist attacks is a power behind all of these things The Bible calls this enemy the devil and we are not just expected to ignore him.  Paul tells us to stand against his evil schemes (Ephesians 6:11) and Peter tells us we should resist him. (1 Peter 5:9)

In the Old Testament the trumpet was blasted to send the troops into battles and then another was sounded to call them home when the battle was over. One day there will be a trumpet call to tell us that it is time to lay down our arms.

“For the Lord himself will come down from heaven and with a loud command with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God and the dead in Christ will rise first after that. We who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Whilst Paul goes on to say we should comfort ourselves with these words there is no sense of inactivity whilst we wait in hope for the glorious day. Instead there is advice to be alert, self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as a helmet. That sounds like the action of soldiers to me. (1 Thessalonians 5:4-8)

That’s fighting talk.  The final trumpet has not yet sounded.

3.      The Call to Repent and Rejoice

Trumpets were used to alert people that Fasts and Feasts were about to start.

Also at your times of rejoicing-your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals-you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God." (Numbers 10:10“)
One feast was actually called the Feast of Trumpets.  It called God’s s people to gather together for spiritual awakening, repentance, judgment, and his enjoyment.

This Feast was held on the first day of the seventh month and ushered in the new civil year. Unlike our modern New Year's Day celebrations, the Jews used the first day of their new year for prayer, meditation, and confession. They sought to make a new beginning with the Lord.

It afforded the people an opportunity to review where they were with God and if need be make a new spiritual beginning at the start of a new year. 

"The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings."

(Alexander Whyte)

It was on the Feast of Trumpets that Ezra read the Law to the Jews that had returned home to Jerusalem.  As God spoke through his word, the people began to weep they were so touched by what they had heard and so began a period of repentance and consecration to put God first in their lives again. (Nehemiah 8)

We do not have to wait for New Year to make a new beginning with the Lord today.

There were battles to be won and at times a need to get on their knees in confession, repentance and consecration there was also always much to celebrate. God had done marvellous things for them which they must always remember. Even when life was tough, God was tougher and that was something to celebrate.

Jesus used the imagery of feasting to describe his rule. New life in him was as full of blessing as a sumptuous banquet.  

Human beings are very choosy about who they celebrate but the Bible makes it clear that God’s blessings should be shared.

In the OT festivals many festivals included in the invitation to the poor, the widow, the orphan, the traveller and the foreigner despite their ability to contribute much. (Deuteronomy 16)

Jesus makes it clear that the life he offers with all its blessing is not just for those of us who think we deserve it but for everyone who will come to him.

There are some bugle calls that some soldiers can ignore.  They are particularly for officers and sergeants, but others when they are sounded are for everyone.  The call of the trumpets we have thought about this morning are to all people.  They mean you and they mean me.

Blessings 

Alan and Carol