Silver

Silver Trumpets

The metal, silver, is very closely associated in the scriptures with the subject of redemption. Trumpets are closely associated with the subject of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The number two is associated with the subject of witness.

The 10th chapter of the book of Numbers details to us the use under the Old Covenant of two silver trumpets: Num. 10:1-10 "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. And when they shall blow with them, all the assembly shall assemble themselves to thee at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And if they blow but with one trumpet, then the princes, which are heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.

When ye blow an alarm, then the camps that lie on the east parts shall go forward. When ye blow an alarm the second time, then the camps that lie on the south side shall take their journey: they shall blow an alarm for their journeys. But when the congregation is to be gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for an ordinance for ever throughout your generations.

And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. Also in the day of your gladness, and in your solemn days, and in the beginnings of your months, ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; that they may be to you for a memorial before your God: I am the LORD your God."

These two silver trumpets had the following uses:
1. They were used to call together the assembly of the people.
2. They were used for the journeying of the camps.
3. They were used for the call to go forth to war.
4. They were used to signify the people's gladness over their burnt offerings and the sacrifice of their peace offerings.

Like as the trumpets were used in the Old Covenant, the gospel is used in the New Testament Church to call the people of God to assemble to worship the Lord. The Lord illustrated this in Matthew 22:2-9 as the Lord spoke a parable about a King sending forth his servants to call those that were bidden to the marriage feast.
Moreover, the gospel educates the Lord's people about how they should live their lives in this untoward world. It teaches us to study the scriptures for knowledge and to follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit in the conduct of our lives.

Furthermore, the gospel prepares us for spiritual warfare. It teaches us that we are to be good soldiers of Jesus Christ and that we are to put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil.

Additional, through the hearing and believing the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we are made to rejoice in the sacrificial atonement of our Savior and the fact that he made us to be at peace with our God.

All of the above are predicated upon the redemptive work of Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary. Thus, the central theme of the gospel is that redemptive work of Jesus Christ on behalf of his people.
The two trumpets that were blown in the Old Testament were of silver. The gospel declared by the witnesses prepared of Jesus Christ are to testify of the redemption of God's people through the redemptive blood of Christ.

Joseph's Gift to Benjamin

In the Old Testament, Joseph, the next to youngest son of Jacob, was a strong type of Christ. There are over 100 parallels between the life of Joseph and the life of Christ. Thus, Joseph was a strong type of Christ. When Joseph was promoted to be second only to Pharaoh in the government of Egypt, he sent for his father, brethren, and their families to come to Egypt to escape the ravages of the famine that had engulfed Egypt and its neighbor countries. Joseph gave gifts to all of his brothers, but unto Benjamin he gave a special gift as follows: Gen. 45:21 "And the children of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way. 22 To all of them he gave each man changes of raiment; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of raiment."

In the representative language of the scriptures the metal silver is closely associated with the subject of redemption. Also, the number 300 is closely associated with the subject of faith. Moreover, the number 5 if closely associated with the subject of death.

Each of the brothers of Joseph received a change of raiment, but Benjamin received five changes of raiment and 300 pieces of silver. Similarly, all of God's elect receive from their elder brother, Jesus Christ, a change of raiment. Through the redemptive work of Christ we go from being clothes with filthy raiment of sin to wearing the white raiment of Christ's imputed righteousness. This is true for all the elect family of God.

Benjamin received a special blessing from Joseph. He received something that the other brothers of Joseph did not. He received five changes of raiment and 300 pieces of silver.

Similarly, those who are members of the Lord's church kingdom here on earth receive a special blessing from the Lord in their knowledge of what the Lord has done for them. First, they receive five changes of raiment as set forth in Rom. 8:29, 30: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified." We receive these five changes of raiment: foreknow, predestinate, called, justified, and glorified; through our understanding of God's covenant of redemption that he made before the world began. Through this covenant of redemption Christ came down to redeem his people from their sins and to take them home to heaven's glory world. This covenant of redemption is really a covenant of death, whereby through the death of Jesus Christ those chosen in Christ before the world began, would ultimately be housed in heaven's glory world. This is the antitype of Benjamin's receiving five changes of raiment.

Second, those who are members of the Lord's church kingdom here on earth, receive a knowledge of Christ's redemptive work through the faith that has been imparted unto them in the new birth and through their exercise of that faith in believing the gospel truth of salvation by grace through the redemptive work of Christ on the cross of Calvary. This is the antitype of Benjamin's receiving three hundred pieces of silver.

Redemptive price of children of Israel

There is a strong correlation between the use of the bible metal, silver, and the bible subject of redemption. This correlation is illustrated in the Old Testament in what God established as the price of redemption for the children of Israel:

1. Ex. 30:12-16 "When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls."

2. Num. 18:15-16 "Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem. And those that are to be redeemed from a month old shalt thou redeem, according to thine estimation, for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs."

From the above we gather the price of atonement or redemption was the same for each individual: a half shekel of silver. There weren't different atonement prices for different individuals. Further there weren't different ways in which a person was redeemed. It was the same for every individual and the same price for every individual. Likewise, the price for redemption from sins is the same for each elect child of God. There are not different ways in which some are redeemed in different ages of time. They are all redeemed in the exact same way. They are redeemed by the shed blood of Christ who gave his life on Calvary to save his people from their sins. This principle is firmly established in the following verses of scripture:

1. Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."

2. Heb. 9:12-15 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."

SILVER CONTINUES