“When the Trumpet of the Lord Shall Sound”
Two Silver Trumpets
Machelle McDowell
March 28, 2024
I recently attended a funeral service for my brother-in-law who received Military Funeral Honors. Experiencing the playing of taps and the folding and presentation of the U.S. flag moved me spiritually and emotionally. The powerful sound from the trumpet that permeated the small space we were gathered in left me standing in awe!
I can only imagine the emotions that were felt when the Israelites heard the two trumpets found in Numbers Chapter 10 calling them to break camp and begin to MOVE towards the Promise Land.
I have been camping out in Numbers 10 with the Israelites this week, LOL! I love how God uses the trumpet to call His people out!
It amazed me to learn that a trumpet makes different sounds/blasts that meant different actions! My favorite call was when both trumpets were blown in Numbers 10:2 to summon everyone to come together at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
I had never thought about what significance the trumpet makes in scripture! For me, First Thess 4:16-17 takes on a whole new meaning. By the sound of the trumpet, we will be moved to meet the Lord in the air!
God is summoning His people to be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air! He will be moving us to the Promised Land….Heaven!
Can’t you hear it? The sound of the trumpet summoning God’s people that are alive to be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air!!
The Israelites knew how to interpret the blowing of the trumpet. They had it down to an art. It was like trumpet morse code!
Certain sounds of the trumpet meant certain things. The number of times the trumpet was blown would also determine a different response. Short blasts were battle calls whereas long blasts meant they were to report to the tent of meeting.
This old hym describes it so beautifully, “When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks eternal bright an fair; when the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there!”
The Israelites had been at Mt Sinai for quite some time. I guess you could call it a training camp because God was teaching them to trust Him completely before moving them and it appears they needed extra tutoring!
We have to remember, these people have encountered God in extraordinary ways. God rescued them from slavery and bondage. I would have thought witnessing the miracle at Red Sea would have lasted a lifetime in their memory. Even after that, God provided manna from heaven! God provided water from a rock! Come On.
They were no longer slaves to Pharaoh but slaves of the Living God, that is my goal to be a slave to my God, obedient from the heart, (I love it that Paul calls himself a slave to righteousness found in Romans 6:19).
This was the goal of the past year or so at Mt. Sinai, becoming slaves to righteousness leading to holiness! Are they ready to journey to the Promised Land? NOT!
Three days into the journey, they began to complain! Just one chapter over….three days after that beautiful trumpet sound….they wanted meat to eat. They had already become tone deaf. They forgot the joy of hearing the trumpet sound calling them to move up yonder. They were on their way to the Promised Land.
Friends, we should tune our spiritual ears to listen in anticipation for the last trumpet call! This call is to assemble us and set us into motion! We are to be ready not complaining about things that do not matter in the big scheme of things.
If we read on into Numbers 11 we find the anger of our Lord kindled. The Israelites were whining because they had no meat to eat. Be careful what you ask for!
God gave them their meat. As they put it in their mouths they also swallowed a plague to go with it!
They didn’t receive the plague because they were eating the meat He provided. They received the plague because He loved them so much He gave them something they did not deserve! Sound familiar?….Romans 5:8 “God demonstrates his love for us in that while were were still sinners, Christ died for us”.
Some died because of their craving. They did not crave God! They craved their bellies. Because they rejected God he told the others they would eat meat until it came out of their nose!
The beauty in this story is that the trumpets only worked effectively if God’s presence was there! They had to wait on the pillar of cloud or fire to show them where to go.
Let’s seek Him with all of our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength: that we can celebrate that trumpet blare that moves us into our Father’s arms when He comes to gather His assembled Saints!.