Christ in all the scriptures Moving with God

 Christ in all the scriptures

Moving with God   Numbers 10

In chapter 9 we had the visible pillar of cloud; now in chapter 10 we have the audible clarion Divine call.  God dwells among them in visible and audible reality.  He is the living God, and leads and organises His people according to His purpose.  Until now, Israel has been static at Sinai for over a year; now He prepares them to move.  The chapter is all about readiness, organisation, and destination, with obedience and reverence as the key attitudes.  We should point out here that this journey should have taken only 11 days (Deuteronomy 1v2), in fact it took the best part of 40 years (Deuteronomy 1v3).  God's people were very slow to move with God (as many of us are today) and the book presents the remarkable PATIENCE of God.  It has been said that each of the books of Moses presents a unique characteristic of God: in Genesis His Sovereignty; In Exodus His Power; in Leviticus His Holiness; in Numbers His Patience; in Deuteronomy His Love.  We are learning here of Divine patience with a wandering, wilful, murmuring people.  How patient has He been with many of us?

To make this relevant today, like Israel we are on a journey, a pilgrimage to a better land; we are travelling through a foreign land, and are now strangers in this world.  This is clear from the New Testament.  Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world..."John 18v36; In John 17v16 concerning His disciples, "They are not of this world, even as I am not of this world".  The New Testament position is clear, we are in the world but not of it.  The churches are commanded, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world..."-1st John 2v15.   The world system is in opposition to God, and is in conflict with the saints of God.  The song captures the thought, "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passin' through.  My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.  The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, and I can't feel at home in this world any more"-Albert E. Brumley 1980.  We are journeying, and, in the journey we are being prepared for glory-Heb. 2v10. God's instructions to us are unmistakable, like the sound of the two silver trumpets, with which He communicated with Israel.

Trumpets were used to proclaim the will of the Lord, calling them to urgent action.  They were urged to be ready to respond to His call.  The trumpets were made of silver, reminding them of their redemption from Egypt.  The scriptural usage of silver is of ransom, purity, wisdom, and obedience; all of these can be traced throughout.  The Divine call was from a source of great value and importance.  The trumpets were beaten out of one piece of silver, "...of a whole piece shalt thou make them"-10v2.  Intricate hammering and beating was used to mould the long trumpet with its flared ends.  This reminds us of the suffering involved in our redemption.  The God who is speaking, is One who loves us, and at great cost has saved us.  We do not turn away easily from such an one.  He is speaking plainly, there is no dubiety or confusion in His commands to us.  One trumpet blast was for the heads of Israel to gather.  Two trumpet blasts was for the whole congregation to gather.  A short alarm blast was to prepare the soldiers for war.  Repeated short blasts were for the camp to dismantle and journey.  Continuous short blasts was for the celebration festivals during sacrifice.  The camp soon got to know the various calls.  They knew that when the priests blew the silver trumpets, God was proclaiming urgent action.  On the journey to the promised land the call of God was clear, and the people had to respond.

I am reminded of a similar scenario in the book of Revelation to do with the churches.  In Revelation 1v10-11, when John saw a vision of the ascended, glorified, Lord Jesus on the isle of Patmos, he wrote, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last; what thou seest write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea".   What follows is a message from the Lord to each of the seven churches, commending them, condemning them where necessary, instructing them, encouraging them. Each message was tailormade to their situation, and each one ended with the same warning as of the sound of a trumpet: "He that that ears to hear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches".  In the gospels, the same command was issued on seven separate occasions to the apostles, and now the churches are called to hear and to heed the call of the Lord.  On our journey through this world, we need to heed His wisdom, His correction, and experience His comfort on our way to glory.  Instead of resting on our laurels, and indulging in past glories, we need to hear the trumpet call of our Lord for our progress and for our effectiveness as lights in a dark world.  Complacency does not become the churches of God today, we need to move with God, not necessarily geographically, but certainly spiritually.  We must hear what the Lord is saying and take action accordingly.  Five out of seven churches were told to repent, to change their ways, if necessary to alter their practises.  The Lord is speaking today, will we hear Him and make changes?  Our spiritual growth, and our success in evangelism depends on it.

There is one trumpet call we will all hear and answer!  "Behold I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed"-1st Corinthians 15v51-52.  "For the Lord Himself shall descend fro heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall arise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord"-1st Thess. 4v16-17.

Yes we shall all hear that trumpet call.  Will we, before that great day, listen to Him now; search His word; put right the things that are wrong, and move with Him for His glory??

Will even just one church repent, mend their ways, change the bad practices of years, by heeding His voice, to the benefit of all the members and, above all, to the honour of our God.  We can start by acknowledging there are things that need to be fixed.  We all have instructions from the Lord both individually and collectively.  God has spoken in a way that cannot be mistaken.  We need to hear and heed and amend where possible.  God's trumpet does not give an uncertain sound.  We need to observe Divine order, the care of all the saints, the unity of all believers, the need of the lost; then we shall truly be luminaries in a dark world.  Then we shall live in the expectation of His soon return.  Then we shall truly represent Him who gave His life for us.