Numbers 10:2 Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.
Have you ever gotten yourself into trouble because you thought you said something that you did not say or thought you heard something you did not hear? Some of our most embarrassing and shame-filled moments come because of a lack of good communication. At the end of the day, communication is not good because it is impressive or filled with a remarkable vocabulary, but because it is clear. Good communication is always clear.
That is evident in Numbers 10 when the Bible talks about how the people of Israel were about to move from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. Numbers 10:1 says, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Make thee two trumpets of silver; of a whole piece shalt thou make them: that thou mayest use them for the calling of the assembly, and for the journeying of the camps.” These trumpets were for communication. Imagine how hard it would be to communicate to hundreds of thousands of people in a wilderness setting. That is exactly what needed to be done.
God spoke to Moses. Moses spoke to the people, and subsequently, they fashioned these trumpets for a way of communication to tell the people when to travel and how to travel. It was imperative for a large group of people to be doing the same thing in the same way at the same time.
Now if we follow God’s example, we would take a lesson here: good communication is clear. In I Corinthians 14:7, Paul writes, “Even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?” He is saying, “Even inanimate objects like a pipe or a harp have to be distinct in their sound or we cannot communicate what we wish to communicate through them.”
I Corinthians 14:8 says, “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to battle?” How would you know if it is time to charge if it is not clear what the trumpet is indicating? “So likewise,” verse 9 goes on, “ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.” Sometimes I think I am communicating merely because I am speaking. Sometimes I think, “I have told them this five times.” But if they are not getting it, it may well be that I am not being clear.
Communication goes two ways, of course, but good communication is clear. It is not impressive; it is clear. So, in the context of I Corinthians 14 Paul is talking about speaking in tongues, but the broad principle is the importance of clear communication. It is important in music as well as speech. It is important to make distinctions.
In Numbers 10, the trumpet was sometimes used when Israel was going to war. Other times it was used for an assembly, for journeying, for a day of gladness, or for a solemn day of offerings. It was important to distinguish the one from the other. What if people thought it was time for war when, in reality, it was time for a day of gladness? In that case, clarity would make a huge difference!
Winston Churchill said, essentially, that a one syllable word is usually the best. It is better than what he called a “polysyllable word.” The point is that the shortest words are often the ones that are most understood and clear. So, all words can be a help to us, but whether it is a long or short word, it is important to be clear in our minds what we are trying to communicate and to communicate clearly.
God spoke to Moses. Moses spoke to the people. Transmitting the authority of God to other people is perhaps the most important reason for our communication to be clear. Good communication: it may be impressive, but it is always clear.