Redemption being complete, the Christian is looked upon in three distinct conditions, which are never confused in the Word of God.
First, he is seen as possessor of eternal life in Christ. “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son” (1 John 5:1111And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)). This gift of God is founded on the fact that all his guilt is put away. Death is no more for him the wages of sin, but the entrance upon his eternal rest.
Second, he is also brought into heavenly places in the Person of Christ: He hath “quickened us together with Christ ... and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5-65Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:5‑6)). In this he has a new place with God.
The Three-Part Condition
To understand this three-part view of the Christian state is of great importance in understanding the Scriptures and rightly profiting by their teachings. There are warnings and exhortations addressed to him while in the race which would not apply to his standing before God. These warnings and “ifs” of Scripture try his heart if unsettled in redemption, as they would seem to him to make the end far from sure.
Israel had this three-part condition too. But they did not begin as we, with a new place with God; they had to reach it at the close. Israel was brought by redemption, out of Egypt, and brought into Canaan. But they had also to pass through the wilderness to their rest.
The Two Trumpets of Silver
Before the journey commenced, Moses was commanded to make two trumpets of silver: “Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps” (Num. 10:22Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps. (Numbers 10:2)). The visible guidance of God by the pillar of the cloud and of fire was there by day and by night continually. Then came the testimony of His Word in this type before us, given through those silver trumpets, by the varied notes which were sounded. Finally, the ark of the covenant went before the camp.
Those three things expressed the guidance of God to Israel — His commandments, then His Word, and then Himself.
But there was more in the silver trumpets than all this. In this book of Numbers, we find that they are the only instruments which the Lord directed to be made in this book, in the wilderness journey. The silver may point to redemption, when the book in question treats of such. But in Numbers where it is the journey that is before us, these trumpets are the means by which God communicated with His people. I would suggest that the trumpet is the testimony of His Word, while the silver is the immutability of His ways. The silver here then has this meaning — the unchangeableness of His ways, so abundantly proved during their eventful journey.
We read of four distinct blasts or notes of these trumpets in Numbers 10, and we find these notes echoed by the Spirit in the epistle to the Hebrews. In Israel, the people were under the leadership of Moses and Aaron, the apostle and the high priest of Israel, in their earthly calling. Now the Christian assuredly is under the leadership of Christ — the Apostle and High Priest of our profession.
The Notes of the Trumpets
The first note of the trumpets in Numbers was “for the calling of the assembly” of Israel, when they were to be gathered together for the necessary activities of that day. In Hebrews this finds its antitype in the words, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:2525Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)).
The second blast was “for the journeyings of the camp.” “At the commandment of the Lord they rested in their tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed” (Num. 9:2323At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. (Numbers 9:23)). How blessed to know that no movement was undertaken and no halting place was chosen in the desert but “at the commandment of the Lord.” No matter where the direction of the journey pointed, “at the commandment of the Lord,” or how much delay there seemed to be, till another order for the march was sounded from the resting place, Canaan alone was the goal! Those blasts of the trumpets are a picture of what we get in Hebrews: “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest.” “Let us run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.”
The third occasion on which we read of the sound of the trumpets is “an alarm.” They have translated this word in Psalm 89:1515Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89:15) as “the joyful sound,” but it was both, for it was heard both when the enemy was astir, and to the accustomed ear it was a “joyful sound.” The Lord of Hosts was with His people; no enemy could take them unawares. But it was “an alarm” too, for it stirred up the faithful to the need of vigilance against a watchful foe, and to the enemy it was the “alarm” of impending defeat and ruin.
For the Day of Gladness
“Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifice of your peace offerings, that they may be to you for a memorial: I am the Lord your God” (Num. 10:1010Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye 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. (Numbers 10:10)). This was the fourth “blowing of trumpets” in the desert — the “days of gladness” were there marked, and over the “burnt offerings” and “peace offerings” the sound was heard. How full the end of Hebrews is (ch. 9-12) of the worth of Him in whom all the offerings found their answer “once” and “forever”! It is a day of gladness we are called to there, to “eat the fat, and drink the sweet; to send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for the day is holy unto our Lord; neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:1010Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)). Or as the epistle to the Hebrews would put it: “To do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Heb. 13:1616But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. (Hebrews 13:16)).
Thus we find Numbers with its types and Hebrews with its interpretations, fitting themselves together with the perfection of God’s communications to our souls. “These things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come” (1 Cor. 10:11Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (1 Corinthians 10:1)1 JnD).
The trumpet then characterized the starting point of the journey of the people of God. If they had hearkened to its joyful sound, they would have known the blessedness of “the people that know the joyful sound.” “They shall walk,” says the psalmist, “O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance” (Psa. 89:1515Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89:15)).
F. G. Patterson (adapted)