The bells give us a good start. Now try the same exercise with the passage about trumpets. Look again for their purpose and the authority behind them.
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Make two silver trumpets. Of hammered work you shall make them, and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for breaking camp…. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the trumpets. The trumpets shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings. They shall be a reminder of you before your God: I am the LORD your God.” (Numbers 10:1-2, 8-10)
As you read Numbers 10, what do you find? What is the authority for these two trumpets? They are “a perpetual statute”—a lasting and official rule—given by God for the exclusive use of the Aaronic priests. Psalm 81:3-5 calls these trumpets “a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob…. a decree in Joseph” (cf. Ezra 3:10-11; Nehemiah 12:35, 41).
What is their purpose? There are two sides to the purpose. The first has to do with human attention, and the second with divine attention. On the human side, the trumpets give simple messages: Gather for a meeting! Set off on a march! Muster for battle! No mystery there: trumpets, sirens and claxons have long served such functions.
The mystery is on the divine side: “When you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies” (Numbers 10:9). The blast of the earthly trumpet reaches, so to speak, into heavenly realms. This music alerts God to remember His people so as to fight for their success. Likewise, the trumpet flourishes at the appointed time of sacrifice “shall be a reminder of you before your God” (Numbers 10:10). These are the divinely revealed purposes.
So far, we have found nothing emphasizing our feelings, our human pleasure in music. Instead, what we encounter raises more questions. God knows everything and forgets nothing, right? So, why would God arrange “a reminder”? Why would God, who is spirit, want an earthly signal to alert Him? We would expect God’s thoughts to be higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:9). With God, be prepared for deeper mysteries.