“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.”
Numbers 9:23
As
God’s chosen nation, Israel had the privilege of knowing the living, Creator of
everything. The people did not imagine a God… they did not make a God…
they did not sculpt one out of created material… they knew, in a personal way,
the one and only, living God. Their
connection to Him was not tangential but one that was deep and abiding.
In book of Numbers, this relationship was physically revealed in a cloud which
covered the tabernacle. The cloud signified the presence of the Lord God,
the Great I Am. The people of God so needed, so desired the presence of
the Lord, that as the cloud move so moved the people. For the people,
following the cloud meant following their Lord. The ninth chapter of
Numbers recounts the peoples obedience when it states, "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."
Many
of us may say, of course they would follow the cloud. It was
obvious where God was and was easy for them to follow Him. This may seem
the obvious reply to this narrative found in Numbers, yet is it the appropriate
response? I would contend it is not! It
easy to observe the people of Israel, their obedience and disobedience, and to think
the whole time that following God during this state of redemptive history would
have been so easy. Yet, this is a flippant
approach and demonstrations a superficial understanding of Scripture. Yes, God physically manifested Himself to the
people of Israel. Yes, one could
experience God in visible, tangible manner.
Yet, it is my contention that the same God can be felt as palpably today
as then… maybe more so. You see, this
early in redemptive history, the people primarily knew God experimentally. The people of ancient Israel had knowledge of
God through His current actions and accounts of His past actions. In the present day, God’s people are privilege
to have a deeper understanding of Him and His ways. With a completed canon of Scripture, each
person who pics up a bible can know the Great I Am in a way the people of ancient
Israel could not have even imagined.
If
this is the truth, if the God who appeared before Israel in the cloud appears
before those who seek him, then how is a person to respond? In view of this reality, it is the duty of
each Christ-follower to find the ‘cloud’ that rest over his or her life and
follow its movement. An easy
Christianity who requires nothing out of its adherents is just a gathering of
cloud watchers. A biblical Christianity is
one in which devotees move as the cloud moves!