The Cloud

Studies in Numbers

II Failure

A The Commencement

1 The Cloud, Text: 9:15-10:10

INTRODUCTION

Today if a Christian wishes to discern the will of God he must look at three things. First we look at the Word of God to insure that our actions are in accord with God’s laws. Second, we look at our heart’s desire to make sure that our motives are not selfish, but are aimed at glorifying the Lord. Thirdly, we look at the providential circumstances of our life to discern what direction is indicated by our preparation. opportunities and talents. Now we can make a decision about what God wants us to do and we can be sure that God is guiding us. This does not mean everything will go smoothly. In fact the opposite is true. Proponents of the so-called prosperity gospel will try to tell you that becoming a Christian will solve all; your problems and give you smooth sailing. Consider Joseph in the Old Testament. He was guided by God through dreams. But he was sold into slavery by his brothers and spent years unjustly imprisoned in Egypt. Or consider the holy family. They suffered as refugees in Egypt after Jesus’ birth because of wicked Herod. For Israel in the wilderness guidance was more direct. God indicated His will to them by sight and sound, visibly and audibly. The reasons for this include but are not limited to the time in which they lived, or their immaturity, or the incompleteness of the revelation they had. In this passage we consider how God guided them by sight and sound.

I SIGHT

What they saw was a cloud. This cloud determined the place of their camp, their course, and was their compass in the wilderness.

A THE CAMP

We read about the cloud and the camp in verses 15-19, On the day the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. We must remember that the camp was organized around the tabernacle. God was in the center and he manifested His presence there in a cloud which appeared to be a pillar of fire at night and appeared to be a column of smokey fog by day. This presence is called the ‘Shekinah.” The word means the “dwelling” or “settling,” and in this context denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God, especially in the tabernacle or temple. The word is used in the Old Testament often as in Exodus 40:35, Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, for the cloud rested [shakhan] upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” Thus the Jewish Rabbis used it often to describe God’s glory in our midst. Both our lives and our congregations need to be organized around the presence of God’s glory which for us is in Christ and in the Holy Spirit.

B THE COURSE

The children of Israel ere in the wilderness and they had no map. All they knew was that they were headed for the promised land. However we read in verses 17-22, Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. Do you have a GPS unit in your car? These wonderful modern inventions eliminate the need for maps and they are a tremendous aid to people who have no sense of direction, which, by the way is a deficiency shared by both men and women. On the road through the wilderness both we and they need a course to follow. In their case it was provided by the Shekinah. Elizabeth Elliot tells of two adventurers who stopped by to see her, all loaded with equipment for the rain forest east of the Andes. They sought just a few phrases to converse with the Indians. She felt sad that they had no guide. She wrote, “We think we need a road sign. Something quick and easy to point the way. What we really ought to have is the Guide himself. Maps, road signs, a few useful phrases are things, but infinitely better is someone who has been there before and knows the way.”God keeps His faithful children on course through His Word and providence as He kept Israel on course with the Shekinah.

C THE COMPASS

IN the 1940’s and 50’s I spent years in my local church’s Boy Scout program I was a Cub Scout and then a Star Scout and a Junior Assistant Scoutmaster in our troop. In those days a compass was a standard piece of equipment for a scouting adventure. It was vastly inferior to the present day GPS units because it only told you the directions of the compass in relation to your position. Ancient peoples were about as well guided by the celestial bodies. GPS guidance is fueled by satellites, and so, is also capable of telling you when there is trouble ahead. In the wilderness Israel was in training. Paul reflects on their experiences in I Corinthians 10 and in verses 11-13 he reminds us that they were being tested and tried, as we are in this wilderness in which we live, These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. A magnetic compass would not have provided the experiences that God wanted for Israel. The Shekinah however led them where they would be tested and thus helped to prepare them for the conquest of the Promised Land that lay ahead. In the same way we need to be led by the presence of God in our lives and churches.

II SOUND

The Israelites were also led by sound as we read in 10:1-10. Three things were accomplished by varying signals from the blowing of the silver trumpets: by the trumpets they were summoned march, muster, and meet for worship.

A MARCH

In verses 1-6 we see the call to march, The Lord said to Moses: “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. If only one is sounded, the leaders—the heads of the clans of Israel—are to assemble before you. When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out. At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. I said the Israelites were led not only by sight but also by sound. We have a GPS in our car and it not only shows the route, it dictates it step by step. Turn here, turn there, go a certain distance and turn: frankly it won’e shut up and there are times when it is irritating. This is especially true if you don’t like the route it has chosen and you are inundated with instructions on how to get back to that route you don’t want. More than once my wife has said, “Shut that thing up.” Then finally the GPS gives up and speaks those blessed words, recalculating, which means it will guide you with the route you have chosen without backtracking. Again, the Israelites had no GPS, but they had God and there was no misdirection and no recalculating. There was a distinct signal for the march and as the cloud began to move, the silver trumpets blew and the entire camp was on its way. I trust that the Church is doing the same. I am reminded of a verse of the hymn, “The Church’s One Foundation.” “Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth; her charter of salvation, one Lord, one faith, one birth; one holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food, and to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.”

B MUSTER

In verses 8 & 9 we read of the call to muster the troops for battle, “The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies. Another distinct call was the call to prepare for battle. Here I am reminded of a verse from the hymn, “Onward Christian Soldiers.” “Like a mighty army moves the church of God; brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. We are not divided, all one body we, one in hope and doctrine, one in charity.” The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, as their’s were, but we are in a spiritual battle and we are reminded by Paul with a trumpet call to put on the full armor of God because we wrestle not with flesh and blood but with principalities, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world.

C MEET

In verse 7 and 10 we have the call to meet for worship, To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the same signal…Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals—you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.” Many a preacher has wished for a silver trumpet to awaken the Parishioners on Sunday morn, and eliminate the flimsy excuses for tardiness or absence. Many churches today have electronic chimes or bells, but the first church I served after seminary was built with an old fashioned bell tower over the entrance. It was a real bell and it had a long rope which hung down in the entrance way. it was a neighborhood church and it was my privilege and a most satisfying exercise to ring that bell before the Sunday services. Thus Israel was called to worship by the silver trumpets. I am reminded here that trumpet calls are important in Scripture in general but especially at the last day, because that is how Jesus will summon us from this world to the next and to eternal uninterrupted worship. Paul writes in I Thessalonians 4:15 & 16, According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. That’s one silver trumpet we who believe will here and heed, and we will sing, “Blow, Gabriel blow, go on an’ blow, Gabriel blow, I want to join your happy band, and play all day in the promised land so blow, Gabriel blow.”