At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses. (Numbers 9:23)
“At the command of the LORD….” what a thought. How obedient. How faithful. I think the goal of every Christian, at least for the first five to ten minutes he or she becomes a believing Christian, strives for this example– to come and go at the command of the LORD. Even as a professional Christian, like myself, I know if I can even achieve this feat for five minutes in any given day, then I’ve finally matured enough to reach the bottom of where I need to be in terms of obedience to God’s commands.
But I’m not going to talk about how we constantly and consistently fail to reach the obedience demanded by a Holy God; rather, I see this as an opportunity to understand why the Israelites coming out of Egypt strives for obedience to God at His command. If you read the story around this verse you will see that there is a cloud on the tabernacle of God (read “portable house of God”) both day and night. In fact, when you read the story, you see that the cloud descended upon the tabernacle and led the Israelites as it ascended from the tabernacle. Their queue came from the movement of this cloud going forth in different directions from the tabernacle and the Israelites chased after it. The reason the Israelites moved at God’s command was because God was at the center of their movements.
They did and went as God did through the cloud coming and going from the tabernacle. It was so simple for the Israelites to follow God because God was visibly present in their lives– there was a cloud in the skies that was distinct and apart, in that it glowed with fire. Is the problem with us being obedient to God and following His lead in our lives a result of us not being able to visibly see God in our present lives? Most likely. Moreover, is the problem with obeying God’s commands and direction the result of not inviting Him to dwell at our camp? It probably is!
If we want to bring on the Christian imagery of how our body is a temple of God and God dwells in and around and amongst that temple, then that works. However, I want to take this in a different direction– when was the last time we invited God into our lives sincerely and earnestly?
Isn’t our problem with not being able to follow God’s commands, the reason why we only strive to following God’s command, a problem of not wanting Him to be in our lives past the five to ten minutes we experience the saving grace of Jesus for the very first time? If you want to see power in your life and direction from God in your life you need to sincerely invite Him into the camp you’re living in.
When you invite God into your camp and ask Him to lead it, He will come down like a cloud of fire and lead you from the inside out.
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