THURSDAY 13 January 2022 “Leaving Sinai” (Numbers 10:11-34)

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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

Anticipation can be a wonderful thing when what you are longing for will be exciting, right? Can you remember the last time you, for a long time, anticipated something significant in your life? Perhaps a baby’s birth, or the first day of school, or graduation or retirement or marriage or relocation to a new place? For the past few days we’ve been with Moses and more than 1 million Hebrews who’ve spent almost a year at Mount Sinai. With the “Tent of Meeting” construction completed, and having celebrated the Passover anniversary there, the people were I’m sure getting anxious to get moving. God had promised them He would lead them from Egyptian slavery to living free in the land He had promised to Abraham, their forefather, 500 years before. Have you been anxious to ‘get moving’, frustrated that something was delaying your plans, your hopes and dreams?

So they waited. Do you remember what Moses and these people were waiting for? What would be their signal that God was leading them from Mount Sinai to resume their journey toward the Promised Land? Numbers 10:11 says: “On the 20th day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony.“ The people had followed God’s cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, as He led them out of Egypt to this mountain. During the nearly 1 year they spent at Mount Sinai, God had promised that He would lead them in the same way from this mountain… so they had been waiting for the cloud to rise up from the “Tent of Meeting”. That would be their signal to pack all their belongings, gather their animals and their families, and follow the cloud! If you’ve ever packed up everything and moved to a new place, I wonder what led you to go? Was it a new job offer, a wedding, a retirement, going off to College or Military service? And how did you know where to go and when to make the move?

You’ll remember there are more than 1 million people with Moses at Mount Sinai, so can you imagine what a challenge it was for all those people to gather up all their belongings and prepare to relocate? But how do 1 million people travel in some orderly fashion? Perhaps you were with us in “Walking with Jesus” a few days ago when we looked at Numbers 2 which described the plan God had given to Moses for a very orderly procession? Here in Numbers 10 we see it again in more detail. The first tribe to head out would be the tribe of Judah, following the cloud. Then behind them the tribe of Issachar, and then Zebulun’s tribe. They would be followed by the Levite tribes of the Gershonites and Merarites. These Levites were the ones entrusted with the privilege of dismantling, carrying, and reassembling this remarkable, portable tabernacle of worship, the “Tent of Meeting”.

After the Levites would come the tribes of Reuben, Simeon and Gad. And they were followed by the third Levite tribe, the Kohathites, who carried the holy articles which were used in worship inside the “Tent of Meeting”. Do you see that by the time they arrived at the site where the cloud had stopped and the first tribes were setting up camp, the other two Levites tribes should have had time to re-construct the “Tent of Meeting” so these Kohathites could bring the holy Ark of the Covenant, the Altar of Incense, the Table of Shewbread, and the Golden Lampstand directly into the “Tent of Meeting”, and place them in their proper positions?

Then the parade continued with the tribe of Ephraim, followed by the tribe of Manasseh and then the tribe of Benjamin. Finally, as the rear guard for this traveling city, the last three tribes in this huge caravan were the tribe of Dan, followed by the tribe of Asher, and finally the tribe of Naphtali. Moses recorded: “This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out.” (Numbers 10:28) I’ve tried many times to imagine what this actually looked like? How far did this caravan stretch from front to back? More than 1 million people with all their belongings and their animals!! What was their pace of travel with so many people, carts, and animals? You’ll remember they were traveling on desert terrain. I’m sure it wasn’t easy or enjoyable. But the cloud over them was a constant reminder that God was with them, guiding them, and leading them to a specific destination. . . His Promised Land!

May I ask us an important question? If you were traveling to a new location and you had some tangible evidence of God’s Presence guiding you, like a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, would you still want to use a map or in our day a GPS? Numbers 10:29-34 tells us Moses evidently wanted more guidance than only the cloud! “Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, ‘We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you,’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel.’

Hobab answered, ‘No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people.’

But Moses said, ‘Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert and you can be our eyes. If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us.”

Now may I ask you my friends, what do you hear in this very interesting conversation? We presume Hobab had some reputation for knowing this section of the desert region, but Moses had a remarkable relationship with God!! Here I see Moses feeling some insecurity in his leadership of these 1 million people, as the cloud begins to rise up from the “Tent of Meeting” indicating they are leaving the place they’ve been for about a year, and heading out into uncharted desert. I can’t blame Moses for wanting a scout that knows where the water wells are out here in this hot desert. But what does it tell us about how easy it is for even a man of great faith and a strong relationship with God to fear the unknown and seek support from other people? This was an important moment in Moses’ life. I wonder how long these two men stood together looking out into the desert before them, talking about the best route across that desert to the land of Canaan, a land Moses had certainly never seen, and probably not Hobab either. The only safe way across the desert would be carefully following God’s leading every step of the way!

Moses records what happened next: “So they set out from the mountain of the LORD and traveled for three days. The Ark of the Covenant of the LORD went before them during those three days to find them a place to rest. The cloud of the LORD was over them by day when they set out from the camp…” (Numbers 10:33) I see no mention of Mr. Hobab, so I presume he did as he said, and returned to his homeland leaving Moses and the people to follow God’s cloud! Moses gives us no further details about this three day journey. Did they stop each night and make camp and then begin again in the morning? Did they also travel in the cool desert night led by the pillar of fire? Where did they find water along the way for themselves and their animals? If you’ve ever hiked on foot for a long distance, you understand that it doesn’t take long for both body and soul to grow weary, and emotions begin to turn sour don’t they? And if you’ve traveled with either children or elderly folks or animals, you know what a challenge that can be, right?

Moses gives us one summary statement of what happened with the attitudes of these people: “Now the people complained about their hardships…” (Numbers 11:1) I’m not sure I can blame them, can you?

So let’s pause right here and walk along with this huge throne of more than a million people, on foot in the desert, with all their belongings and children and animals. Children then were much like children today and thus I assume the question was asked every few minutes… ‘are we there yet?’ or ‘how much further?’ or ‘is it over the next hill’? And of course the answer was truthfully… ‘I don’t know! Nobody knows, not even Moses knows!’

Do you sometimes feel like this is your life my friends? Walking the difficult journey of life, not knowing what’s ahead? Is your faith in God being really stretched already in these first two weeks of 2022? These people were following the cloud of God’s Presence above and before them, but still they complained. May I ask, what are you and I following and what certainty do we have that God is traveling the road of life with us? Do you remember one of the last things Jesus said to His friends before returning to heaven? “…I will be with you always…” (Matt. 28:20) Are you claiming that truth for you today? So what do you see ahead on your journey? Let’s talk with God about that right now my friends. And here’s a song that helps you know that whatever matters to you in your life journey also matters to Jesus!

Today’s Scripture is Numbers 10:11-34.

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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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