Numbers · chapter 10 of 36
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Numbers 10 tells how God commands two silver trumpets to be made to call the people together and signal the march, and how Israel finally leaves Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, following the cloud in the established order. Moses invites Hobab to come with them, and the ark goes ahead of them as Moses asks the Lord to rise and scatter his enemies.
Up to this point, Numbers has prepared the march: censuses, camp, Levites, offerings, Passover and cloud. In chapter 10 the journey begins. Israel has been camped at the foot of Sinai for almost a year, and the departure marks a change of pace in the book: from preparation to the road toward the promised land, with its joys, complaints and failures.
The Lord tells Moses to make two trumpets of hammered silver, to call the congregation together and to signal the departure of the camps. When both sound, the whole congregation will gather at the entrance of the tent; when one sounds, only the leaders will gather. A blast of alarm will signal the camps to set out, first those on the east and then those on the south. The sons of Aaron, the priests, will blow the trumpets, which will also be used in war, on feast days and over the offerings, as a reminder before God.
On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifts from the tabernacle, and the Israelites set out from the wilderness of Sinai toward the wilderness of Paran. They march in the established order: first Judah, with Issachar and Zebulun; then the Gershonites and Merarites with the dismantled tabernacle; then Reuben, Simeon and Gad; then the Kohathites with the holy things; then Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin; and last Dan, Asher and Naphtali.
Moses invites Hobab, son of Reuel the Midianite, to come with them and promises him good. Hobab first answers that he prefers to return to his own land, but Moses insists: Hobab knows the wilderness and will be eyes for them. The ark of the covenant goes ahead for three days' journey, seeking a resting place, and the cloud covers them by day. When the ark sets out and when it rests, Moses speaks a brief prayer: that the Lord rise and scatter his enemies, and that he return to the many thousands of Israel.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The two silver trumpets are used to call the congregation together and to signal the departure of the camps. God gives a simple language so that the whole people can move together without confusion.
The trumpets also sound on days of gladness, at the feasts and over the offerings, so that Israel is remembered before its God. The sound is not only a military signal but also prayer and celebration.
The cloud lifts and the Israelites set out from Sinai, where they had stayed for about a year. It is the official beginning of the journey and the start of the longest narrative section of Numbers.
Each time the ark set out, Moses asked the Lord to rise and scatter his enemies; when it rested, he asked him to return to the many thousands of Israel. Israel marches trusting that the Lord goes with them.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Two trumpets of hammered silver. — Numbers 10:2
Answer: The sons of Aaron, the priests. — Numbers 10:8
Answer: On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, when the cloud lifted from the tabernacle. — Numbers 10:11-12
Answer: Judah, with Issachar and Zebulun. — Numbers 10:14-16
Answer: Hobab, son of Reuel the Midianite. — Numbers 10:29
Answer: That the Lord would rise and his enemies be scattered. — Numbers 10:35
Numbers 10 shows that God guides with clear signals and simple instruments. The trumpets ordered the life of the people and reminded them that every step was taken together. In a church, clear communication, schedules and calls to gather are not mere details: they help everyone move forward together. In a small group you can ask whether there is some area of your community where clarity is lacking.
Moses' prayer at setting out and at resting is a model. Before each stage he asks God to rise; when they stop he asks him to return to his people. Believers can begin and close their days, their meetings and their projects by placing them in the Lord's hands.
Numbers 10 finally opens the road to the promised land, with the people well ordered and the ark in front. In Numbers 11, that journey quickly stumbles over the people's first complaints in the wilderness.
Hobab is introduced as the son of Reuel the Midianite, and the text connects him to Moses as an in-law; some translations call him Moses' father-in-law and others his brother-in-law, because the Hebrew expression allows both readings. Moses asks him to come because he knows the wilderness. The chapter does not say what his final answer was.
They were used to call the whole people or only the leaders, to signal the camps to set out, to sound the alarm in war and to mark the feasts and offerings. They were the means of communication between the people and their God and among themselves.