Wherever He Leads, I'll Go

THE BOOK OF NUMBERS?

The Book of Numbers is named as such due to the fact that the first chapter begins with God telling the leaders of Israel to number the people of Israel according ot their tribes. This would seem to be a trivial task and, if we are honest with ourselves, an unnecessary step along the journey of faith that God was leading His people on. However, when Moses was called by God to number the tribes of Israel, they had an understanding that we may not immediately have. The numbering of peoples was a strategic military move that was done by a king/nation before going into battle so that the king and his military leaders would know how to strategize for war.

WANDERING AROUND AND LEARNING HOW TO FOLLOW GOD

The historical flow of the Old Testament suggests that this numbering of Israel most likely took place before the people left Mt. Sinai. Even though all signs pointed to the time being right for God to bring His people into the land promised many years before to their ancestor, Abraham, there were still some lessons to learn before they were ready to take the Promised Land. This makes sense. They had spent 400 years living as slaves and under the lordship of Egyptian leaders and now they have been set free to follow God. This was all foreign to them as a people and just like a child has to learn certain things along the way before they can fully walk, so does Israel have to learn what it means to really follow God before can really walk with Him.

Therefore, I have entitled this series of messages “Wanderers” because we are going to see how God will use seasons of wandering in our lives to teach us what it looks like to really do life with Him. Let’s go on a journey of wandering together and see what God will teach us as we walk with Him.

Numbers 9:

Numbers 9:15–23 ESV

On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.

One of the first practical experiences Israel had with God having been delivered from Egyptian bondage and set free to walk with Him involved learning when to move and when to stay. When to walk and when to sit. When to go and when to stay put.

GOD WITH THEM: THE TABERNACLE

The first thing that God wanted His people to learn about this new season of their life was that He did not call them out of Egypt to leave them but that He called them out of Egypt to be with them. The Tabernacle was the portable version of the Temple that would be built hundreds of years later. This was more than just a structure. This was more than just an altar to pray at or offer a sacrifice on. The Tabernacle was God’s literal presence among His people for it was within the Tabernacle that the Ark of the Covenant rested. The lid to the Ark was overlaid with something called the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat was surrounded on both sides with ornate angelic statues and it was at the Mercy Seat where God’s presence dwelt with His people. It was at the Mercy Seat that God met with men like Moses that was appointed to lead and guide God’s people. Therefore, when we read all the intricate details recorded in the Scriptures about the construction of the Tabernacle, and later the Temple, we are not simply reading a blue print for construction we are reading God introducing His presence to His people so that they may learn to live with God.

As we read over and over again about the presence of the Tabernacle among the people of God it reminds us that God’s presence was with His people. It is also important to not the position of the Tabernacle among God’s people. The Tabernacle literally took center stage in Israel. The tribes of Israel, after being numbered, were instructed to settle in their camps around the Tabernacle resulting in the Tabernacle being in the center of His people.

In all of this we find God teaching His people what it meant to do life with Him. First off, they were set free from their former oppressors but not simply to be left alone possible facing harsher conditions than they did as slaves. God not only delivered them from there enslavement but He came to them to be with them. He did not come to them to be a sideline observer. He came to them to show them the joy of life when their lives operated out of Him being center. God never organized His people the way we tend to organize our lives. We tend to compartmentalize our lives in such a way that we put God first and then everything else in descending order of importance as we determine it. When God instructed the Tabernacle to be located in the center of the people, I believe that God was showing Israel that life was not so much about Him first and then everybody and everything else second but that life is truly experienced when everybody we relate to and everything we do flows out of Him being the center of our lives.

GOD LEADING THEM: THE CLOUD

As we continue to consider our passage together we learn that God was teaching His people that His presence was with Him and that their lives will find its fullness when He is the center of their lives. The next thing we see God teaching His people is that He is not just among them to be a sideline observer as they try to figure out this new life they are entering in to. Our passage centers on this experience of a cloud that would settle over the Tabernacle. So long as the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle the people of Israel would stay in camp in that place but when the cloud moved, Israel would pack up their camp and the Tabernacle of God and follow the cloud until it stopped. We are not given any details about where God was leading HIs people. As far as we know, it could have been in a circle. All we are told is that there were times when the cloud stayed over the Temple for a day or two and there are times when the cloud would stay over the Temple for much longer periods. Where God was leading His people is not the point. The fact that God would lead His people is the point.

They had only knew where they had come from not where they were going. They did not see the land of Promise the way that Abraham and Moses had. They had only the spread of news about it to depend upon. Therefore, God taught them how to follow Him through this “cloud” experience.

This new life that God was calling His people into was greater than they could ever think or imagine. It was beyond their accomplishment apart from God’s intervention so He taught them how to follow Him.

In the same way, God teaches us how to follow Him as His people today. While there may not be a “cloud” that we are to follow when it moves from place to place, we have been given the Holy Spirit that will direct us in the paths of righteousness which includes His plans and purposes for our lives.

GOD’S PEOPLE TRUSTING HIM: MOVING AND STAYING

We cannot walk away from this passage of Scripture without acknowledging that Israel learned how to do life with God in the area of following Him as He led them as He led them. Although there were times when they were encamped for a day or two and there were times when they were encamped for a month or two, through it all we find that when God showed them the way they did not hesitate to follow Him in it. It did not matter how long the cloud stayed, whenever the cloud moved the people packed up camp and moved.