LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?
THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Still doing good... So far, in this section of the book, signs seem hopeful. There are many summary statements about Israel's willing obedience all over this section. The Levites are obeying the Lord (Num. 8:22), the people are celebrating the Passover according to God's instructions (Num. 9:4-5), the whole camp is willing to pick up and go, or stay, when they are instructed (Num. 9:18-19), they listen to Moses (Num. 9:23), and one year after they had originally set out into the wilderness, they are finally ready to move on from Mount Sinai to enter the Promised Land (Num. 10:11-13). Looks like everything is going well and the book must be just about over! Wait, if everything's going along well, why is there a whole 26 more chapters left in Numbers?
By the blood of the lamb. God intentionally kept the people of Israel in the wilderness for a year before commanding them to set out from Sinai. He arranged it so that the people left Egypt after celebrating the Passover in Exodus 15, then they set from Sinai after celebrating the Passover in Numbers 9, and then they entered the Promised Land by celebrating a Passover in Joshua 5. There's an old song that says "we shall overcome, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony." That's essentially the pattern shown here. The people are freed from their oppression by the blood of the Passover Lamb. They set out from the wilderness by the blood of the Lamb. They enter into the land of God's promise by the blood of the Lamb. It all foreshadows Jesus--of whom John the Baptist said when he saw him, "behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).
We are in the best possible position when we are trusting (a posture of waiting) and obeying (a posture of acting) towards the Lord, and when we're focused on where he is taking us. If Israel had maintained this obedient posture before the Lord, they would have been fine. I wonder, if we heard God's trumpet call (Num. 10), would we pull up the stakes on what we've got going on in life to set out in the direction that he's called us to? Or would we try to hold on? Would we wait in the middle of the heat and discomfort of our own personal wilderness, not knowing how long it will last, if God told us to? It seems so often like our hearts are inclined to passively "wait on God to move" when God has told us to get up and go, only to then anxiously move out on our own when God has told us to be patient. What are you in right now--a season of responding to God by trusting and waiting, or a season of responding to God by active obedience?
PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?
Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, I am willing to follow you. I want to see you do great things. Tell me what you want me to do, and where you want me to go, and I will do it. Give me great faith so that I can step out into the unknown. Give me patience so that if you want me to learn here in the wilderness, I can do that with gladness as well. Draw me close to you through the work of your Son. Help me to remember that whatever else you bring into my life, He is all that I need."
No comments:
Post a Comment
Enter into the conversation! No anonymous comments.