The Constitution

Studies in Numbers

II Failure

A The Commencement

2 The Constitution, Text:10:11-36

INTRODUCTION

When I was younger I used to love adventure. Several times our young family set out on a journey with a tent or a tent-trailer. We had a month’s vacation, and no particular route. We had a goal but no exact timetable. We set up camp every evening and then broke up camp every morning and hit the road. We crisscrossed the country. Only once or twice did we spend two days in one place, and the places we visited were usually, though not always, pleasant and convenient. It was very difficult for my wife, though she was faithful and willing. Nevertheless we were all glad to get back home with all the comforts and conveniences there. I have some sympathy for what these Israelites were facing in the wilderness. They often failed to trust God. They murmured and complained and disobeyed right from the outset. They behaved like a modern teenager being resentfully dragged along on a family vacation. What we must see here is that Israel passed through these trials to instruct us. They went from the wilderness of Sinai into the wilderness of Paran, and we never get out of the wilderness of this present evil age in this life. We are strangers and pilgrims here, dwelling in tents, not mansions, and that’s what Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” is about. We look at their experience with a view to applying the lessons to ourselves today. Their journey required that it be constituted properly. So, according to our text, they were constituted by gathering, guidance, and grounding, all valuable parts of their and our pilgrimage.

I GATHERING

In 10:11-28 we see Israel gathered for the journey, On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the Testimony. Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. They set out, this first time, at the Lord’s command through Moses. The divisions of the camp of Judah went first, under their standard. Nahshon son of Amminadab was in command. Nethanel son of Zuar was over the division of the tribe of Issachar, and Eliab son of Helon was over the division of the tribe of Zebulun. Then the tabernacle was taken down, and the Gershonites and Merarites, who carried it, set out. The divisions of the camp of Reuben went next, under their standard. Elizur son of Shedeur was in command. Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was over the division of the tribe of Simeon, and Eliasaph son of Deuel was over the division of the tribe of Gad. Then the Kohathites set out, carrying the holy things. The tabernacle was to be set up before they arrived. The divisions of the camp of Ephraim went next, under their standard. Elishama son of Ammihud was in command. Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was over the division of the tribe of Manasseh, and Abidan son of Gideoni was over the division of the tribe of Benjamin. Finally, as the rear guard for all the units, the divisions of the camp of Dan set out, under their standard. Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai was in command. Pagiel son of Ocran was over the division of the tribe of Asher, and Ahira son of Enan was over the division of the tribe of Naphtali. This was the order of march for the Israelite divisions as they set out. Israel is gathered for the march exactly and precisely as God has commanded. The royal tribe, Judah, first with Issachar and Zebulon, followed by the Levites who bore the tabernacle. Then came Reuben with Simeon and Gad followed by the Kohathites who bore the furnishings of the tabernacle which had been covered by the priests. Ephraim with Manasseh and Benjamin came next, and finally Dan with Asher and Naphtali. So they were gathered and observed God’s order. We know that the author of Hebrews reminds us that we should not forsake the gathering of ourselves together, and when we gather we are to do it decently and in order and according to God’s commands in Scripture. We do everything He has commanded and nothing that he has not. We call this the regulative principle of worship and it is sadly lacking in many churches today. Instead they have substituted what men want to entertain them and forget that God has a prescription for worship which blithely ignore as if they knew better. It reminds me of some advice to married couples. If you want to show your mate you love them you have to discover what makes them feel loved. You do not offer what makes you feel loved which is what we usually do. Worship is not for us, it is for God. He is the audience.

II GUIDANCE

Moses conversation with Hobab in 10:29-32 provides the guidance, 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.” He 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.” Another name for Reuel, Hobab’s father, was Jethro, a priest of Midian for whom Moses labored during his exile in Midian. He was shepherding the flock of Jethro when the Lord appeared to him in the bush that burned, but was not consumed in Exodus 3. He married Jethro’s daughter Zipporah and Hobab was her brother, the son of Moses’ father-in-law. Jethro had been with Israel in the wilderness of Sinai and gave good advice to Moses. When Jethro returned to Midian, Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, stayed behind. Now he is asked to act as a guide. He first refuses, but apparently decides to remain with Israel for the next stage of their journey. We know this after they enter the promised land in Judges 1:16 we read, The descendants of Moses’ father-in-law, the Kenite, went up from the City of Palm with the people of Judah to live among the inhabitants of the Desert of Judah in the Negev near Arad. Also in I Samuel 15:6 Saul refers to the Kenites, the descendants of Jethro, and we read, Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. We must remember that, although God was their guide in the wilderness, that did not preclude using human help from someone who knew the territory anymore than God’s guiding you precludes your seeking assistance from human counselors. Thus Israel was gathered and guided on their journey and finally they were grounded.

III GROUNDED

Their roots were in God and He was their foundation. Every journey should be grounded in God and so we read Moses words in verses 33-36, 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. Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Rise up, O Lord! May your enemies be scattered; may your foes flee before you.” Whenever it came to rest, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the countless thousands of Israel.” When they set out following the Shekinah their stopping and starting was spasmodic. They did not know how long they would be in any one spot because it varied. However, Moses understood the significance of the Shekinah. It meant that they were grounded in God both when they moved and when they were encamped. The chants of Moses would be echoed by the people, and would help to maintain the sense of constant relation between the tribes and their unseen Defender. Through the wilderness Israel went, not knowing from what quarter the sudden raid of a. desert people might be made. Swiftly, silently, as if springing out of the very sand, the Arab raiders might bear down upon the travelers. They were assured of the guardianship of Him whose eye never slumbered, when they kept His way and held themselves at His command. Later in Israel’s history Psalm 68 celebrates the Lord’s care here, as we read there in verses 1-10, May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him. May you blow them away like smoke—as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God. But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. When you, God, went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel. You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance. Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor. So the song of Moses here is a song for God’s people in every age including us in our pilgrimage through the wilderness.