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i. “Will you and I go home and pray this prayer by ourselves, fervently laying hold upon the horns of God’s altar? I charge you, my brethren in Christ, do not neglect this private duty. Go, each of you, to your chambers; shut to your doors; cry to him who hears in secret, and let this be the burden of your cry –‘Rise up, Lord; and let thine enemies be scattered.’” (Spurgeon) After all, if you want voters to believe in the political good news which you are proclaiming, it probably helps if you believe in it yourself. The book opens with Arthur Balfour, Prime Minister from 1902-1905 and a senior and significant Cabinet minister until shortly before his death in 1930.
Numbers 10:2 " Make yourself two trumpets of silver, of hammered work you shall make them; and you shall use them for summoning the congregation and for having the camps set out. YLT Numbers 10:9 'And when ye go into battle in your land against the adversary who is distressing you, then ye have shouted with the trumpets, and ye have been remembered before Jehovah your God, and ye have been saved from your enemies. The sound should be loud enough to be heard ( use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps, Numbers 10:2). Merrill on day of your gladness - might be coronation days (e.g., 2 Kgs 11:14; 1 Chr 29:22), victory celebrations (Nu 10:9; Esth 8:17; 9:17), or the annual festivals (2 Chr 30:21, 23, 26; Ezra 6:22; Neh 8:17)....This use of the trumpets was not so much to announce these various festivals as to invoke and celebrate the presence of God among His people on those special occasions. They would each be a memorial for the people before God, a kind of reminder of His guidance and blessing in the past, particularly in the wilderness. (BKC) i. The idea was simple: “God, go before us and take care of our enemies. It’s too dangerous ahead unless You do this.” This is a fitting prayer for every believer to pray, and that faith here displayed gives the sense that Canaan would soon be theirs.
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iv. “I quote not this except as a picture and illustration of the history of the entire Church. Methinks, in a spiritual sense, when Luther first bowed his knee, the Church began to chant, ‘Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered.’ When Knox in Scotland upheld the glory of Jesus’ name, was it not once again, ‘O God arise, let them that hate thee flee before thee’? When Whitefield and Wesley, seraphic evangelists of Jesus Christ, went through this land, was not this the very song of Israel, ‘O God, arise, and let thine enemies be scattered?’ And shall it not be ours to-day?” (Spurgeon) religion as something living, that was about the world around me rather than a special one-to-one relationship with a remote being on high. Suddenly I began to see its social relevance. I began to make sense of the world.” THOUGHT: This passage reminds me of Hebrew 2:18 + "For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able (HE HAS THE INHERENT ABILITY) to come to the aid ( boetheo = literally to run to give aid on hearing a cry! UPSHOT? WE NEED TO CRY OUT, TO "SOUND THE TRUMPET!") of those who are ( present tense - continually being) tempted. NIV Numbers 10:9 When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies.
NET Numbers 10:7 But when you assemble the community, you must blow, but you must not sound an alarm. When convening the assembly, however, you shall blow without sounding an alarm - "The signal for moving camp was apparently different in tone and may have been sharper notes or a different sequence. It was in some way distinguishable." (NET) b. So they started out for the first time according to the command of the LORD by the hand of Moses: This was the first time Israel marched as an organized, prepared nation. They were not the same group that escaped Egypt as a mob. We get Blair’s account of how at Oxford he discovered, thanks to Peter Thomson, an Australian Anglican cleric,i. God will use the sound of a trumpet to gather His people for the ultimate assembling together – the catching away of the church, to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
As the century progressed, and especially from 1960 onwards, we find that Britain’s Prime Ministers became more believing. CSB Numbers 10:10 You are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and your fellowship sacrifices and on your joyous occasions, your appointed festivals, and the beginning of each of your months. They will serve as a reminder for you before your God: I am the LORD your God." vi. “The faith which Moses affirms so confidently stands in ironic contrast to what happens in the succeeding chapters: whereas Moses is sure God will do good to Israel, the people begin to complain of the evil (Numbers 11:1) that he is doing them. Moses prays that all God’s enemies will be scattered: the spies declare Israel will be defeated (Numbers 13). This chapter’s triumphant conclusion deepens the poignant tragedy of the succeeding scenes.” (Wenham) Similarly, the number 40 is associated with testing and trial. Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before leading the Israelites out of Egypt, and Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert before beginning his ministry. then you shall sound an alarm ( rua) with the trumpets - The trumpets were also to herald going to battleTHOUGHT - The trumpets are a type or symbol of God's Word. It was the priests who blew the trumpets to give direction. The Bible says that God's people are a royal priesthood. We are to trumpet God's Word and depend upon His Word and the Holy Spirit for direction....We are to trumpet God's Word and give a clear message. Our witness and testimony should be clear that Jesus is our Savior, Lord, and master. The words "preach" or "evangelize" are words that mean "to trumpet." We are to trumpet the truth! As the trumpet was for the purpose of sounding an alarm, we too are to warn others too. (Mattoon) NIV Numbers 10:10 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."