Brass at Mass: Take 6

[This is another segment in the Music in the Bible series which begins in Genesis and finishes in Revelation.]

 Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. (Leviticus 23:24)

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In the book of Leviticus, God ordains (among many things) a horn section to announce the start of a sabbath rest. Please don't flood me with comments about what day the sabbath should be celebrated--Saturday or Sunday--since you would be missing the beat here. The point is--God views trumpets as church worthy. If you disagree, you would be disagreeing with the Word of God and not me. It's plainly decreed.

A question that naturally confronts me at this point is: where did the Israelites get their musical instruments from? How were they made? Were the trumpets all shofars--instruments made of ram's horns--or did they have the resources and ability to make actual metal trumpets? Remember: all this is early on in their national development so they are still wandering in the desert but that wouldn't necessarily mean they didn't have the opportunity to trade with passing caravans or other nomadic tribes. 

We surely can't answer the question definitely, but if we fast forward ahead to the time of Jesus using the excellent sources provided by Joachim Jeremias in his scholarly book, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus, we find a good detailed record of the fully developed musical ministry dedicated to temple service. There is more production and musician pay compensation information found in Jeremias' work than in an American Federation of Musicians contract agreement so we might be able to extrapolate backwards in time and just agree that the Lord provided as He always does for His people in order to accomplish His purposes. After all, we serve a perfect God so let's be perfect also in word, deed and music. (Matthew 5:48) Besides, time is irrelevant when the Lord calls the faithful to their knees (lines from Pink Floyd's classic song, Time).