Numbers 9:15-23

This inset of instructions is positioned on the first day of the first month as the second year of leaving Egypt began. The tabernacle—the central place of worship—had just been established, and in the analogy we are to understand that God occupies the same position in relation to us. "He is there!" That is the name Abraham gave to God. "He is there." Wherever His people are, He is there. It is His Family that He is with, and His oversight of His Family is to be understood by anybody who is trying to live by faith. He is there!

We cannot literally see the Cloud, but nonetheless, by faith we know that He is there, and one of the major elements in this section is establishing not only that God's presence is with them, but His sovereignty over them at all times. I read the whole thing so that you could see when God said, "Go," they went. When God said, "Stop," they stopped. If it was for one year, one day, or whatever, God was always in charge of His Family and the progress they made toward the Promised Land. So in terms of their overall movement toward the Promised Land—the goal—He always triggered them.

Numbers 9:18-23

Do you see what God is doing here? He is describing how He directed His work (His covenant people) to accomplish His will. He did it through the pillar of fire. He did it through the cloud. Those were the signs that they looked at as to what they were to do.

So when the children of Israel, after coming out of Egypt, did God always lead them in the same direction? Did they always stay at the same rest area the same number of days? Is there something that we are to learn from this? Yes. That God is sovereign. He determines when (and in what direction) His church moves, or camps, or what they do.

Numbers 9:18-21

The situation changed. The circumstance changed. Who changed it? God did. They were no longer camped. Now they were on the move. God was leading and guiding them through their journey.

Are you getting the picture? God changed circumstances. Sometimes they were camped a long time. Sometimes they were camped a short time. Sometimes God made them move and journey at night. At other times they journeyed in the daytime. God, brethren, kept shifting gears on them. He kept varying their life. They were not facing the same things all the time.

Numbers 9:21

Do you see the purpose of this section here? Beginning in verse 15, God is teaching us that He is sovereign. He is running the show. He determines where and when His work will go. He determines if we rest. He determines if we move. And He gives the indication of the direction that He wants us to go. Now, in this case, that was revealed by the moving of the cloud or the pillar of fire. So whether by night, by the pillar of fire, or by day, by the cloud, God indicated the direction.

Numbers 9:15-23

You can see that things are beginning to develop. This is not an accident. The people of God are led by God in and out of things! The people of God move forward at the command of God. They stop at the commandment of God. They are dispersed and scattered by the command of God. They are brought together by the command of God. It is God who raises up leaders. It is God who puts down leaders—in the church.