The time was close for the Israelites to leave their camp at Sinai and set out on the next stage of their journey across the wilderness. After the celebration of the second Passover, all that remained was for them to receive instructions about how the Lord would lead them.

It was a plan of wonderful simplicity. The Lord would be present in the form of a cloud or a fire over the tabernacle. When the cloud or fire was in place over the tabernacle, the people stayed put. When it lifted, they moved. Since the tabernacle was centrally placed in the camp, everybody would be able to see whether the cloud or fire was there or not, so everybody would be able to respond to the call of the Lord together.

The writer here takes great pains to emphasise the obedience that was required from the people. Sometimes the cloud would lift every morning and the people would move along their journey every day. Other times, the cloud would rest over the tabernacle for days, weeks or even months. The people had to stay put, even if they were impatient and even if they did not understand the reason for the delay. They moved, or stayed, only at the Lord’s will.

There must have been times when the cloud rested but the people were impatient to get moving. There must also have been times when the cloud lifted morning after morning but the people longed to rest from the labour of packing up the camp, travelling and setting camp again.

Yet this procedure was valuable training for God’s people – they were to learn to observe the purpose of God and obey it even if they didn’t understand the reasons for it. There, in the wilderness, without any other distractions, God’s people learned what it meant to follow him. It was an essential lesson for a nation who were walking towards the promises of God. It is essential training for all God’s people today.

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NEWBOLD COMMUNITY CHURCH