“Also at your times of rejoicing–your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals–you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”’
~ Numbers 10:10
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you always like to have everything in place and in order? Do you always like to have everything that is in your room in a certain place? Does your ma always like to have her house picked up and clean? Does your dad always like to have papers scattered over his desk? Your grandpaa always has some papers on his desk but other than that, your grandpaa always wants his office looking neat. Your grandmaa always keeps her house clean, wants everything in their place and creates a warm ambiance that makes visitors feel welcome. Do you think that God does order? What does it mean to you to have order? To have order is to do things with a plan and a reason. Do you know why you get up each morning at the time that you do? Do you know why you go to school? Do you know why your dad does what he does – and why your ma does what she does? Your grandpaa writes lots of letters. There are good reasons why your grandpaa writes lots of letters. Your grandmaa and grandpaa believe that the guys and/or gals who have written to them using snail mail or e-mail are praying regularly for them. Your grandpaa wants to regularly thank the guys and/or gals who are praying for your grandmaa and grandpaa. Your grandpaa also wants to pass on to the guys and/or gals who are praying for your grandmaa and grandpaa requests that these guys and/or gals can talk to God about in their prayers. Your grandmaa and grandpaa believe that the guys and/or gals who are supporting them through money gifts have a genuine interest in your grandmaa and grandpaa and in what your grandmaa and grandpaa are doing in Guatemala. Your grandpaa wants to regularly thank that the guys and/or gals who are helping your grandmaa and grandpaa through regular money gifts. Your grandpaa wants to let the guys and/or gals who are helping your grandmaa and grandpaa with money gifts know how God is using their gifts through your grandmaa and grandpaa to bless God’s specially elected Guatemalan guys, gals and kids. As soon as your grandpaa is able to do it, your grandpaa will write back to a guy and/or gal who has sent your grandmaa and grandpaa an e-mail or a letter. Your grandpaa sends a letter every three months to the guys and/or gals who are supporting your grandmaa and grandpaa with regular monthly money gifts. Your grandpaa will also as soon as he is able to do so send a letter to a guy and/or gal who has given a onetime money gift to your grandmaa and grandpaa. Your grandpaa sends a single page letter every two weeks to his dad and ma, your dad and ma and your Aunt Lynn and Uncle Chris. Every letter that your grandpaa writes is written in a certain way. Your grandpaa knows that he overdoes writing letters but . . . your grandpaa wants the guys and/or gals who your grandpaa is writing to to know that he and your grandmaa really appreciate them and that they are very thankful for all that they do for him and your grandmaa.
Do you like to ‘toot your horns’? If you were one of Aaron’s sons, you would have been able to toot a horn while you led God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids to the land God that had promised to give them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . God told Moses to have two trumpets made out of silver. God in Numbers 10 explains to Moses how the two trumpets were to be used. The two trumpets were to be used to alert God’s specially chosen guys and gals to get ready to move on to their next stop. These two trumpets were also to be used to signal God’s specially chosen guys to get ready to fight an enemy or to prepare a celebration to thank God. Two sons of Aaron used the two trumpets to toot different signals or sounds that God’s specially chosen guys and gals understood. God gave through Moses the order and plan how He wanted His specially chosen guys and gals to move as they trekked to the land that He had promised to give them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . do you remember how many guys, gals and kids there were among God’s specially chosen guys, gals and kids – the Israelite people group’s guys, gals and kids? Moses was leading twelve tribal clans of guys, gals and kids totaling over two million guys, gals and kids. God’s specially chosen guys and gals – as they left Egypt, took with them their possessions – including cattle and sheep. God used a cloud to lead His specially chosen guys, gals and kids during the day and He used fire to lead His specially chosen guys, gals and kids at night. God told Moses that during the times that He would have His specially chosen guys, gals and kids walk from one place to another that He wanted the ark of covenant to be carried upfront with guys from the Levi tribal clan carrying it – that the tribal clans of Judah, Issachar and Zebulun were to go next – that the tabernacle was to carried next with guys from the Levi tribal clan carrying it – that the tribal clans of Reuben, Simeon and Gad were to go next – that the holy things were to be carried next with guys from the Levi tribal clan carrying them – that the tribal clans of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin were to go next – and that the tribal clans of Dan, Asher and Naphtali were to be last in line. Because God’s specially chosen guys and gals disobeyed Him early on – while they were encamped close to Mount Sinai, God had His specially chosen guys and gals wander about in a desert for the next forty years. Why do you think that God always had His specially chosen guys and gals move in the same precise order about a desert for forty years?
The new worship norms that God passed on through Moses to His specially chosen guys and gals to obey had order to them. Verse 10 says “Also at your times of rejoicing–your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals–you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God.”’ How is God teaching you today to always have order in your lives?
Numbers 10 (172)