THE LORD SPOKE (February 26)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Numbers 8-10

A call to arms. We all recognize that purpose for a trumpet blast. But this passage (Num. 10:1-10) gives four purposes for the use of the trumpet blast.

By the way, these are not the same kind of trumpets frequently found elsewhere in Scripture. For example, the horns used in the attack on Jericho (Josh. 6), on the occasion of David bringing the Ark to Jerusalem (II Sam. 6), or for the Feast of Trumpets (Lev. 23; Num. 29) were made of a ram’s horn (shofar in Hebrew). The trumpets here in Numbers 10 are hatzotzerot and are made of “hammered silver” (Num. 10:2).

The four uses given for these silver trumpets are:

1. for announcement (vs. 1-4) - A single note would summon the leaders to receive instructions from Moses at the Tent of Meeting.
2. for assembly (vs. 5-8) - A series of blasts would indicate the proper order of movement as the tribes were instructed to gather.
3. for attack (vs. 9) - A martial blast would alert the people for war and lead them in battle. It would also call forth God’s protection.
4. for appointment (vs. 10) - The music was a memory aid at God’s special appointments (moedim in Hebrew). The sound was a reminder that accompanied the sacrifices.

We’re not done with trumpets yet. By God’s design, trumpets will still be used to announce future events. Seven angels will blow seven trumpets during the Tribulation (Rev. 8:2). The seventh will be sounded to announce when “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever (Rev. 11:15). But the believer in this age will not go through that experience. Instead, he is awaiting a great trumpet blast that will call forth the resurrection and the rapture of Church saints before the Tribulation (I Cor. 15:52; I Thess. 4:16).

Are you ready for that? Are you listening for the trumpet?


New Testament: Luke 13

JNN nightly news (that’s 1st century CNN in Jerusalem) could get pretty gory. Terrorist activity depicting human sacrifices (Lk. 13:1), and frightening tragedies, like eighteen people crushed under a building at the national capitol (Lk. 13:4), were regular fare. You didn’t want your kids to be watching when the anchorman got started.

Jesus turned it into a teaching opportunity. Not having read Calvin, He didn’t use all the fancy theological jargon that later religious news analysts might have used. But He laid it out very straight. Even in English translation, His meaning is clear. “You think that maybe those people had it coming? They got what they deserved? They were no worse than you! If you don’t change your ways, the same will happen to you!”

In the very next breath, He told them a parable (Lk. 13:6-8). It had to do with an unfruitful tree that the farmer decided to uproot. The tree was worse than useless because it was sucking up the nutrients but producing no fruit. Of whom do you think He was speaking? His immediate listeners, certainly!

And to whom does it now apply? Who should be listening to this parable and feeling its point? It wasn’t to foreigners or some other group that He was speaking; in Jesus’ day it was people who came to Him with questions. Today the message is for those who read this text and question, “Is it I, Lord?” Don’t look somewhere else to find an application.

Am I productive for the Lord? Does He smile when He sees the lovely fruit I offer Him? Or is He concerned about the wasted effort in getting me to produce? Am I worthwhile to Him or just another drag, sucking up the nutrients?

O, Lord...
Grant that I may put a smile upon Your face.

Allow me to bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness.
Please direct my efforts into fruitful productivity.

Thank you for being patient and long-suffering.
May I be pleasing to You.