This obscure little passage below from Numbers 9:17-23 has largely set the tone for every Christian’s walk. There is a beauty in the simplicity of this message, but to own it for yourself requires a level of discipline that can only be gained by the grace of God. 

To set the scene, Moses and over a million Israelites have just left Egypt and are on their way to the Promised Land. They are in a hurry to get there to experience God‘s 400-year-old promise that a land flowing with milk and honey would finally be theirs. God‘s presence in the form of a cloud would rest over them and go before them as he showed them the way.

“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. At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.”

The Word of God is extremely efficient in how it communicates so much in such few words.  Then we run across a passage like this.  Wow! God used nine more sentences to continually repeat what he seemed to say quite adequately in the first sentence.  Why? Here are a few insights that have served me well. They reveal God’s rhythm, timing, schedule and his repetition.

God’s Rhythm 

The perfect rhythm of life might sound like this: (God speaking) “I love you so much; I know what I have planned for you today; here, follow me.”  I would love to hear those words every morning when I wake up for the rest of my life.  I could so much more easily live out Jesus’ sermon to not worry about my life, what I will eat or drink, about my body, what I will wear. For I would be reminded each morning that life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes, and since he feeds the birds and clothes the flowers of the field, obviously, he will do even more than that for me.  

The normal Christian life has a flow and rhythm to it that should be the envy of the rest of the world.  If we don’t see that envy in them, it is because they don’t see that flow and rhythm in us. This passage exposes that flow and rhythm of waiting when the Lord waits (regardless of our pressing schedule) and moving when the Lord moves (regardless of how inconvenient). God does not adjust his perfect rhythm to accommodate the timing of our goals or even though stress of our deadlines. He requires that we adjust our rhythm to his. Then, we will find peace.

God’s Timing

Did you notice the sentence in the passage that said, “Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out”? This would suggest that at two o’clock in the morning God may have decided to move and he fully expected over one million Israelites to get up, pack up and move out. I doubt the pregnant women, the elderly or even the animals liked that very much. But God had a plan that justified their inconvenience. And, without a doubt, a large part of that plan was to establish an honor for the ways and timing of the Lord that completely overshadowed what they thought about their own convenience. 

God’s Schedule 

Did you also notice that the cloud sometimes “stayed over the tabernacle for days, or a month or even a year” without moving?  The travel time for a crowd that size to go from Egypt to Jericho was about two months.  The passage above is from chapter nine.  The Israelites had not yet been sentenced to their 40 years in the wilderness until chapter 13.  So the people in chapter nine were expecting to go straight to the Promise Land.  Every day the Lord didn’t move, two inconvenient things occurred: it delayed getting them to their much-awaited Promise, and it kept them in a hot, dry desert (without the modern conveniences) with a million other people who didn’t want to be there either.  Why did God appear so random?  He wanted to teach them that He was their real Prize; he was their Promise; he was their Security, their Provision, the Rock of their salvation and their very life. If they did not learn that in the desert, they would never remember that in the Promised Land.

God’s Repetition 

The words “set out” are repeated nine times in this passage, the word “camp” is repeated five times and “at the Lord’s command” is also repeated many times.  

We don’t serve a bossy God bent on micromanaging his people.  He was looking for a people who would place their trust in him and in him alone.  They had been slaves for four hundred years.  They were told when to sleep, when to rise, when to work and when to stop.  God was taking them to a land flowing with milk and honey where they were going to enjoy great abundance and great freedom.  But he wanted to know if he could trust them not to forget him and fall back into slavery to an even more vicious taskmaster (Satan) when they got there.  So, he tested their faithfulness and their obedience.  

Have you been willing to be content to stay where he put you for days, months or even years without wandering out from under the cloud?  Moving on is easy, no matter how hard the move.  Everyone likes the feeling of moving on – especially from a dry place. Staying put is hard.  When you’re not moving, you appear unmotivated to your friends, family and perhaps even to your spouse.  And what are you going to say when they say, or you know they are thinking, “Are you really going to just sit there and not go and do everything possible to take care of your family or grow your business?” Are you going to say, “This is where the Lord put me for now and I’m going to be obedient and stay right here until he has me move”? That is one tough response in today’s world.  The temptation is so great to run out from under the cloud, especially when you have begun to assume that you missed his command to “move on”.  

The Lord ordered me to encamp at a time when I was bracing myself for warp speed.  

Just as the Lord condemned a whole generation of the unfaithful, idol worshipers to die so he could bring the next generation into the Promise Land, he condemned to death everything in me that I could turn to other than him.  And, in his great love, he continues to do so. 

After a while, I noticed the same rhythm, timing, schedule and repetition at work in my life.  I would see a prospect show signs of becoming a client.  I would immediately think that this new client would be the source of my financial relief that I wanted so badly.  And the prospect would dry up and go away.  And the Lord kept providing.  Another promising prospect would show up.  I’d focus on how a big check from this person would solve my problems – and they too would slip away.  And the Lord kept providing.  After a few years of this rhythm, I got the message.  The prospective client was not my Strong Tower, my Rock or my Salvation.  Whether the prospect came, or didn’t come, bought or didn’t buy, I trained my eyes on the Lord – and he kept on providing.

This was the obedience the Lord desires.  His Presence over me wasn’t going to move on until I learned that I was never to look to anything other than him for my provision.  If I did, out of his great love, and like Peter, he would let me sink into the waves once again.  But he was always there to pull me out and let me try again.

He is our provision and our all in all.  In him is all we could ever need or want. It is very important to him (and to us) that we learn that.

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