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Context No. 2339 of 4322 · Numbers

Context · Reflection

Numbers 9:14-23: in context

14“‘If a foreigner lives among you and desires to keep the Passover to the LORD, then he shall do so according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its ordinance. You shall have one statute, both for the foreigner and for him who is born in the land.’” 15On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony. At evening it was over the tabernacle, as it were the appearance of fire, until morning. 16So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night. 17Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, then after that the children of Israel traveled; and in the place where the cloud remained, there the children of Israel encamped. 18At the commandment of the LORD, the children of Israel traveled, and at the commandment of the LORD they encamped. As long as the cloud remained on the tabernacle they remained encamped. 19When the cloud stayed on the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the LORD’s command, and didn’t travel. 20Sometimes the cloud was a few days on the tabernacle; then according to the commandment of the LORD they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of the LORD they traveled. 21Sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they traveled; or by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they traveled. 22Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and didn’t travel; but when it was taken up, they traveled. 23At the commandment of the LORD they encamped, and at the commandment of the LORD they traveled. They kept the LORD’s command, at the commandment of the LORD by Moses.

As Israel journeys through the wilderness, their movements are governed entirely by the cloud over the tabernacle, the visible sign of God's presence. When the cloud lifted, they set out; when it settled, they camped. At the command of the LORD they journeyed, and at the command of the LORD they camped. Whether the cloud stayed a night, or many days, or a month, or a year, they stayed as long as it stayed and moved only when it moved. Their whole journey was ordered by following God's leading, going and staying entirely at his direction.

Israel's journey was a continual following of God's leading. They did not set their own course or timetable; they followed the cloud, moving when it moved and staying when it stayed, entirely at God's direction. When the cloud lifted, they went, even if they had just arrived; when it settled, they stayed, even if for a year. Their movements were not their own but God's, and they kept the LORD's command, journeying and camping at his direction rather than their own. This is a picture of what it means to follow God's leading in our own lives. We are prone to set our own course, to move on our own timetable, to go where and when we choose. But the model of Israel following the cloud is one of following God's leading: going when he directs, staying when he directs, moving at his command and waiting at his command, rather than setting our own course. To follow God is to let him lead, to go and stay at his direction rather than our own. I will instruct you, God says, and teach you in the way you should go; the one who follows God's leading is led by him. And this includes the discipline of waiting. When the cloud stayed long, Israel stayed; they did not move on their own impatience, but waited as long as the cloud stayed, even for a year. This is often the harder part of following God's leading: not the going, but the waiting, staying where God has us until he leads us on, rather than moving on our own timetable out of impatience. Israel waited when the cloud stayed and moved when it moved; and following God's leading involves both the readiness to go when he directs and the patience to stay when he directs. This calls us to follow God's leading, going and staying at his direction rather than our own. Israel's whole journey was ordered by the cloud, moving when it moved and staying when it stayed, at the command of the LORD; and we too are called to follow God's leading in our lives, going where and when he directs, waiting when he directs, keeping his command rather than setting our own course. In all your ways, the proverb says, acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. This calls us to the readiness to follow God's leading, both going when he leads and waiting when he leads, ordering our journey by his direction as Israel ordered theirs by the cloud, rather than moving on our own timetable and course, and trusting the God who leads us to bring us, in his time and way, to where he intends.

Do I set my own course and timetable, going where and when I choose, or do I follow God's leading, going when he directs and staying when he directs, and can Israel, whose whole journey was ordered by the cloud, moving when it lifted and staying when it settled, at the command of the LORD, move me to follow God's leading in my life, both the readiness to go when he leads and the patience to wait when he leads, ordering my journey by his direction rather than my own timetable, and trusting him to bring me, in his time, where he intends?

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