RMECHAP's Devotions

Chapter 10 seems to be a chapter for the musician and the one that is interested in military history.

This chapter is chocked full of music for the musician and military history.  You see military precision in this chapter.  The first half of the chapter God has Moses make some silver trumpets.  How many musicians would not love a 100% silver trumpet.  The trumpet here was intended for the same purpose it is used for today in the Army.

We see that God instructs Moses about the different type of sounds to play from the trumpet.  As I read this chapter I reflected on the number of formations that I have been a part of where the trumpet is used to signal the various movements from the sound for the adjutant to the movement of troops.  Each note, each fanfare, each sound has meaning.  So it was for the trumpets that Moses used to assemble the people.

The rest of the chapter deals with the movement.  The trumpet we see signaled the time to move and who moved when.  The only way to move such a large group of people was by military precision.  The organization of who moved and what order provided scouts, protection, and the ability to have the Tent of Meeting set up prior to the arrival of the instruments for that tent.  Take a moment and think about the size of this tent and how long it would have taken to set up.  Now think of the distance back the rest of the things had to be in order to arrive just in time to move them into the tent.  We are talking a lot of people and distance separated the tent from the other parts.

For the military historians besides the trumpet take a look and see the guidons or probably better known today as battalion colors or brigade colors.  The bottom line is each family had a flag that went before them when they moved similar to what we see in the modern military.

At the end of the chapter as little to do for the musician or the historian but it has a lot to do with what many of us do on a daily bases, or at least whenever we go on a long trip.  It is the prayer covering for the travel.  It is in some way similar to many prayers that I have said before we travel.  Moses says a prayer for the travel of the Israelites and follows that upon arrival with another prayer.

Application

So how do we apply this?  The first thing to remember is that no matter where you go if you are following God he will go before you.  The other thing to remember is that God has things organized so that things will arrive in the proper time.  Remember it is not your time but his.  One of the most important things to learn from this chapter is to listen to God’s leading.  You have to become familiar with his voice and his direction.  Remember in the chapter there was a different sound for movement then it was for assembly.  As you draw closer to God you will get to know his guidance to you and you will be able to tell the difference between a call to assemble and a call to move.  Most people I talk to have not gotten in tune with God enough to distinguish what is being asked of them.  This leads to much confusion between what God is saying.  Read the first part of this chapter again.  You will see that God gave distinguished sounds for each thing he wanted done.   Seek after and learn God’s voice so you can be confident in what he is asking.