While in the U.S. Army, there were two trumpet events that happened daily. First was Reveille, which was sounded in the morning. Nicknamed “The Army Wakeup Call,” it designated the morning assembly and start to the day. It was accompanied by the raising of the flag. The second took place at the end of the day, and is known as “Taps.” It signals the end of the day when the flags were lowered, and is also played at funerals of military personnel. In days gone by there were also trumpet or bugle calls for advance and retreat.
In the Numbers 10:1-10, God instructed Moses to have two silver trumpets made. Each was beaten from a single piece of silver. Their use was designated as: Blowing both trumpets (but not the advance) was a signal that all the congregation of Israel was to assemble. A single trumpet (again, not the advance), called all the leaders together. Then there was the advance. The first sound of the advance was a signal that all the tribes camped to the East were to pack up to go. Once they had started their advance, the trumpets sounded again letting those camped to the South know that it was their turn.
The trumpets were also blown as an alarm during times of battle. The purpose of this alarm was so they would be remembered before the LORD and be saved from their enemies (see Numbers 10:9). They were also blown during the official, national feasts, at the beginning of each month, and over offerings and sacrifices. But just anyone could not blow those two trumpets. It had a priest – a descendant of Aaron.
While these trumpets, in their literal representation, had no spiritual significance to believers in Christ, but in their proper context, related to the People of Israel, especially while enroute to the Promised Land, still, we could compare them to what God has given us as our guides today. Just like there were two silver trumpets to be used as tools for guidance, we also have two very important “trumpets” guiding us as well.
First, we have The Holy Spirit. Jesus promised the that He wouldn’t leave His disciples without help. He said in John 14:18 that God would give them another Helper in His absence. He said this several times in John’s Gospel. That Helper is the Holy Spirit. We talk about conscience. We say, “let your conscience be your guide.” But the Holy Spirit is much more than our inner thoughts keeping us on a moral path. He is there to guide us. When we are getting into things we shouldn’t be doing, or that will be detrimental to our spiritual condition, He will warn us. He will give us that feeling that what we are about to do isn’t right, or will harm us. I know because I have experienced it on much more than one occasion. He guides me in things I should or shouldn’t do. He also pulls the reigns when I’m about to say something I shouldn’t say. As a Christian, I know you have experienced that too.
There have been times when I ignored His warnings. When I did, I always paid a price. Sometimes it cost me a lot more than it would have if I had just did what He was prompting me to do or say. Had I been obedient, I would have been a lot better off.
The Holy Spirit sounds the alarm when its time to move up in my Christian walk. He sounds the alarm when I’m about to do something wrong. He also sounds the alarm when I need spiritual help.
We often see the depiction of a small angel on one shoulder whispering the right thing to do in one ear and a small devil telling us to do the wrong thing in the other. Literally we don’t have little beings standing on us like that – of course not. But it seems like it, doesn’t it? We need to listen to what the Holy Spirit is telling us. When we do, we won’t go wrong.
The other trumpet is none other than the Word of God; that black-backed Holy Bible that may be gathering dust in a closet, or sitting on a shelf or perhaps your coffee table. Of course, in today’s world, it could be a variety of colors and it may be on your computer or phone. The same thing applies. In essence, even if it exists electronically for you, if you never open the App, it is collecting nano-bytes of electrical dust.
Sometimes we pray and it seems that an answer never comes. But could it be because God has already given it to us in the Bible? Maybe we just haven’t taken the time to look it up. Perhaps we want God to tell us so we don’t have to put any effort to it. Just sayin’. When was the last time you sought guidance directly from God? There’s nothing wrong with Christian counseling. But sometimes we could keep a few dollars in our pockets if we’d just read what God has to say about the matter.
Our two trumpets sound when we need help. When God is calling and when we need an answer, if we’d just take time to listen, we might just get the help we need. If, pardon my frankness, we’d learn to shut-up sometimes and listen to God through His two trumpets – The Holy Spirit and the Holy Bible, we might just get the solution to our problems.
Many haven’t realized the benefit of these two mighty trumpets. But I’m here to tell you today, if you’ll listen for their signal, you might just get the answer you need to advance or to stay still.
God loves us so much that He provided these two trumpets just to help us out while Christ is preparing our room in the New Kingdom. Listen, obey and trust and we just might see a sparkle shining off those trumpets as they sound out what we need to do in our lives.
— Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these.