Numbers 8 – 10

Posted on Feb 27, 2016 in Reading the Bible in 2016 |

(Saturday)

I can almost hear the fanfare as the Israelites get into formation to head out on their journey. The next step in God’s plan for His chosen ones. What an amazing picture, the massive amounts of people and belongings all being packed up and assembled in order, just waiting for the trumpet to sound and then each section takes off and falls into their proper place. The imagery for me is awesome.

On a more spiritual side, this departure of Israel from Mt Sinai demonstrates for us the life of faith as a journey. Many times you will hear people describing their faith as journey, or a Christian walk. The book of Numbers has given us a great model for us to follow as we journey in our Christian life.

One of the things that we should note is that before they left, they learned that their first action is one of worship. Over the past several chapters, God laid out before them the plan for worshipping Him, for bringing sacrifices to Him, for living in obedience to His Will. (Ch 1 -10) All of this, I believe, was in preparation for their journey.

Before they left Moses invites Hobab, his father-in-law to travel with them. When we travel on our journey with God, we should always be inviting people to join us, to be willing to share the “good things the Lord gives us.” (10:32).

Also, this journey will take them through the Wilderness. The Wilderness is not the destination, but many times we have to go through the hard places, the difficult situations that will strengthen us and make us completely and totally reliable on God for all our needs, physical and spiritual. Journeying with God will often take us away from our securities, we must be willing to let the old pass away.

Here’s the really cool thing that I read in my commentary1…

God is three days ahead of Israel. The ark seems to be taken ahead of them as it will be when they do battle. The ark is there to protect Israel from their enemies. Think about another significant “three days”. The days between Good Friday and Easter. Once again God in the person of Jesus Christ sets out ahead of us. The writer of Hebrews calls to our attention that following Jesus is like journeying through the wilderness. (Hebrews 3 – 4)

For me knowing this says… when I follow Jesus, I cannot remain stationary, I must be constantly moving forward, constantly growing or I will never reach the “promise land”.

Wishing you blessings on your journey.

PK

1The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol 2, Leander Keck, et al. pg. 97.

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