Numbers 10:31 Ulasan

In this chapter we have, I. Orders given about the making and using of silver trumpets, which seems to have been the last of all the commandments God gave upon mount Sinai, and one of the least, yet not without its significancy (Num 10:1-10). II. The history of the removal of Israel's camp from mount Sinai, and their orderly march into the wilderness of Paran (v. 11-28). III. Moses's treaty with Hobab, his brother-in-law (Num 10:29-32). IV. Moses's prayer at the removing and resting of the ark (Num 10:33, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 10 This chapter gives an account of the directions given for making two silver trumpets, and of the use of them, the ends and purposes for which they were to be made, Num 10:1; and of the time of taking up of the cloud from the tabernacle, and of the removal of the camp of Israel from the wilderness of Sinai, and of the order of their march, Num 10:11; when Moses most earnestly passed Hobab, his brother in law, to continue with him, Num 10:29; and the chapter is closed with the prayer of Moses at the setting forward of the ark, and the resting of it, Num 10:33.

And it came to pass, when the ark set forward,.... Carried by the Kohathites, Num 10:21, that Moses said; in prayer, as both the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem express it; and it was a prayer of faith, and prophetic of what would be done, and might serve greatly to encourage and animate the children of Israel in their journeys; for the following prayer was put up not only at this time, but at all times when the ark set forward; and so Ben Gersom says, it was the custom of Moses, at whatsoever time the ark was moved, to pray as follows: rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; the Jerusalem Targum is,"rise up now, O Word of the Lord;''and the Targum of Jonathan,"be revealed now, O Word of the Lord;''the essential Word of God, the Messiah, to whom these words may be applied; either to his incarnation and manifestation in the flesh, his end in, which was to destroy all his and his people's enemies, particularly the devil and his works, Heb 2:14; or to his resurrection from the dead, these words standing at the head of a prophecy of his ascension to heaven, which supposes his resurrection from the dead, Psa 68:1; at the death of Christ all the spiritual enemies of his people were defeated, scattered, confounded, and conquered; Satan and his principalities were spoiled, sin was made an end of, death was abolished, and the world overcome; at his resurrection the keepers of the sepulchre fled; and after his ascension wrath came upon the Jewish nation, those enemies of his, that would not have him to rule over them, and they were scattered about on the face of the whole earth, as they are to this day: and let them that hate thee flee before thee; the same petition expressed in different words, but to the same sense; enemies, and those that hate the Lord, are the same, as their defeat, conclusion, and destruction, are signified by their flight and dispersion; and it may be observed, that those who were the enemies and haters of Israel were reckoned the enemies and haters of God himself; as the enemies of Christ's people, and those that hate them, are accounted Christ's enemies, and such that hate him. Perhaps Moses may have a special respect to the Canaanites, whose land was promised unto Israel, and they were going to dispossess them of it, in order to inherit it, and Moses might expect it would be quickly done, at the end of these three days; which brought them to the wilderness of Paran, so near the good land that they sent from thence spies into it, and in all probability they would have then entered the possession of it, had it not been for their complaints and murmurs, and the ill report brought on the good land, on which account they were stopped thirty eight years in the wilderness.

Moses is commanded to make a second set of tables, Deu 10:1, Deu 10:2. He makes an ark, prepares the two tables, God writes on them the ten commandments, and Moses lays them up in the ark, Deu 10:3-5. The Israelites journey from Beeroth to Mosera, where Aaron dies, Deu 10:6; and from thence to Gudgodah and Jotbath, Deu 10:7. At that time God separated the tribe of Levi for the service of the sanctuary, Deu 10:8, Deu 10:9. How long Moses stayed the second time in the mount, Deu 10:10, Deu 10:11. What God requires of the Israelites, Deu 10:12-15. Their heart must be circumcised, Deu 10:16. God's character and conduct, Deu 10:17, Deu 10:18. They are commanded to love the stranger, Deu 10:19; to fear, love, and serve God, Deu 10:20, because he had done such great things for them and their fathers, Deu 10:21, Deu 10:22.

Thou mayest be to us instead of eyes - But what need had they of Hobab, when they had the pillar and fire continually to point out their way? Answer: The cloud directed their general journeys, but not their particular excursions. Parties took several journeys while the grand army lay still. (See Numbers 13, 20, 31, 32, etc). They therefore needed such a person as Hobab, who was well acquainted with the desert, to direct these particular excursions; to point them out watering places, and places where they might meet with fuel, etc., etc. What man cannot, under the direction of God's providence, do for himself, God will do in the way of especial mercy. He could have directed them to the fountains and to the places of fuel, but Hobab can do this, therefore let Hobab be employed; and let Hobab know for his encouragement that, while he is serving others in the way of God's providence, he is securing his own best interests. On these grounds Hobab should be invited, and for this reason Hobab should go. Man cannot do God's work; and God will not do the work which he has qualified and commanded man to perform. Thus then the Lord is ever seen, even while he is helping man by man. See some valuable observations on this subject in Harmer, vol. ii., 286. Instead of, And thou mayest be to us instead of eyes, the Septuagint translate the passage thus: Και εσῃ εν ἡμιν πρεσβυτης, And thou shalt be an elder among us. But Moses probably refers to Hobab's accurate knowledge of the wilderness, and to the assistance he could give them as a guide.

THE USE OF THE SILVER TRUMPETS. (Num. 10:1-36) Make thee two trumpets of silver--These trumpets were of a long form, in opposition to that of the Egyptian trumpets, with which the people were convened to the worship of Osiris and which were curved like rams' horns. Those which Moses made, as described by JOSEPHUS and represented on the arch of Titus, were straight, a cubit or more in length, the tubes of the thickness of a flute. Both extremities bore a close resemblance to those in use among us. They were of solid silver--so as, from the purity of the metal, to give a shrill, distinct sound; and there were two of them, probably because there were only two sons of Aaron; but at a later period the number was greatly increased (Jos 6:8; Ch2 5:12). And although the camp comprehended 2,500,000 of people, two trumpets would be quite sufficient, for sound is conveyed easily through the pure atmosphere and reverberated strongly among the valleys of the Sinaitic hills.

Leave us not, I pray thee . . . and thou mayest be to us instead of eyes--The earnest importunity of Moses to secure the attendance of this man, when he enjoyed the benefit of the directing cloud, has surprised many. But it should be recollected that the guidance of the cloud, though it showed the general route to be taken through the trackless desert, would not be so special and minute as to point out the places where pasture, shade, and water were to be obtained and which were often hid in obscure spots by the shifting sands. Besides, several detachments were sent off from the main body; the services of Hobab, not as a single Arab, but as a prince of a powerful clan, would have been exceedingly useful.

The Silver Signal-Trumpets. - Although God Himself appointed the time for removal and encampment by the movement of the cloud of His presence, signals were also requisite for ordering and conducting the march of so numerous a body, by means of which Moses, as commander-in-chief, might make known his commands to the different divisions of the camp. To this end God directed him to prepare two silver trumpets of beaten work (mikshah, see Exo 25:18), which should serve "for the calling of the assembly, and for the breaking up of the camps," i.e., which were to be used for this purpose. The form of these trumpets is not further described. No doubt they were straight, not curved, as we may infer both from the representation of these trumpets on the triumphal arch of Titus at Rome, and also from the fact, that none but straight trumpets occur on the old Egyptian monuments (see my Arch. ii. p. 187). With regard to the use of them for calling the congregation, the following directions are given in Num 10:3, Num 10:4 : "When they shall blow with them (i.e., with both), the whole congregation (in all its representatives) shall assemble at the door of the tabernacle; if they blow with only one, the princes or heads of the families of Israel shall assemble together."