Scroll to the bottom for thoughts/discussion questions!
One-sentence summary: The Lord leads Israel in a cloud by day and fire by night and gives commandments for the blowing of trumpets.
The Lord tells Moses to tell Aaron how to arrange the lamps in the tabernacle. He gives instructions for cleansing and dedicating the Levites for the work of ministry to the tabernacle. He makes it clear the all firstborn males of men and beast belong to Him, but that He will accept the Levites in lieu of that, and they will be as a gift to Aaron and his sons to do the work for Israel in the tabernacle and to make atonement for them so that there will be no plague on Israel when they come near the sanctuary. Moses obeys the Lord in all this. The Lord also tells him how the Levites are to serve (from aged 25-50 only).
The Lord also speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the 1st month of the 2nd year after they had come out of Egypt, commanding Israel to keep the Passover, and they keep it on the 14th day of the 1st month at twilight. However, certain men had been defiled by a corpse and could not keep it that day, so they come to Moses and Aaron to ask why they could not make offerings. Moses inquires of the Lord, and the Lord tells him that if anyone is defiled or away on a journey, they may still keep the Passover. But if anyone is clean and not on a journey and does not keep it, he will be cut off from his people because he did not bring the Lord an offering at the appointed time. If a stranger wants to keep it, he must follow it just as God commanded Moses. A cloud covers the tabernacle by day and fire by night. Whenever it is taken up, Israel journeys, and they pitch their tents wherever it settles. Whenever the Lord commands, they journey and camp, whether by day or night, whether the cloud stays two days, one month, or a year over the tabernacle.
The Lord tells Moses to make two silver trumpets to call the congregation and direct the movements of the camps. (If they are blown twice, all should gather around the tabernacle, but if only once, the elders should meet. He gives more instructions of different calls and what they mean.) The sons of Aaron should blow them, and they will be "ordinances forever throughout [their] generations." Whenever Israel is oppressed by their enemies, they should sound the trumpets, and the Lord will remember them and save from their enemies. Also, at their feasts and at the beginning of the month, they should blow them over their sacrifices for the Lord to remember them.
On the 20th day of the 2nd month of the 2nd year, the cloud is taken up, and Israel leaves Sinai and settles in another wilderness.
Moses tells his father-in-law's son to come with them to the promised land, but the man says he will go to his own land and back to his relatives. Moses pleads with him, because he says he needs his help to guide them through the wilderness and says that the Lord will bless him if he goes, so they journey together. And whenever the cloud goes up, Moses says, "Rise up, oh Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You!" And whenever it rests, he says "Return, oh Lord, to the many thousands of Israel!"
Thoughts/Discussion Questions:
Blowing the trumpet was clearly important to God then. We know God does not change. What do you think this means for us today?
The Lord still leads His people faithfully today.