Day 58: Numbers 8-10

Welcome to five -minute Bible your daily guide for your daily reading today's February the 27th

And we'll be looking at numbers 8 through 10 Now today's reading marks a decisive turning point in the narrative for nearly a year

Israel has been camped at the base of Mount Sinai The laws have been given the tabernacle has been built the priest and the

Levites have been Inconsecrated and the camp has now been arranged around the presence of God with precision and now in numbers 8 through 10 the preparations are giving way to Movement the lampstand is lit the

Levites are set apart The Passover is kept and then the cloud that has been stationary for more than a year

Begins to move and redemption is no longer just a memory of what God did in Egypt It's now becoming a journey through the wilderness.

The presence of God will not remain stationary any longer It's going to lead and numbers 8 opens up inside of the tabernacle

The lampstand is arranged and it's lit so that it's light shines forward and the image is very simple

But but really powerful the dwelling place of God is not dark But it's illuminated with light because God is a

God of light Now immediately after the Levites are formally purified and presented before the

Lord and they are sprinkled with water shaved Washed and publicly offered as substitutes for the firstborn of Israel So the nation no longer has to give their firstborn children to the service of God now an entire

Tribe has been given into the service of God an entire nation lays hands on them and it's not private

It's a corporate transfer of responsibility They belong to the Lord for his service and numbers 9 then returns to the

Passover Even as Israel prepares to March God commands them to remember the redemption that was in the past Before you can move forward you have to rehearse what actually is behind you and this ritual is so important that a provision was even made for those who are

Ceremonially unclean at the appointed time that they could have a second opportunity to celebrate the

Passover later once they're clean because faithful participation Matters now the narrative then shifts upward the cloud that is rested over the tabernacle for so long becomes the controlling presence in the narrative when the cloud lifts

Israel moves and when it settles they camp and Sometimes for a day and sometimes even for months

They're gonna be camped their calendar is not determined by their own self -will or their own creativity its presence

Determined now numbers 10 introduces two silver trumpets. They're not instruments for music

They are signals for gathering for marching and for battle and the people are not going to move about chaotically

They're gonna move in response to the clear commands of God as they ring out on these trumpets and then it happens

The cloud lifts the trumpet sound the camp breaks formation and after nearly a year at the foot of Mount Sinai Israel begins its march toward the land of promise.

So as you read today, I want you to ask the following question What does it look like to move only when

God moves? Numbers 8 through 10 teaches us that redeemed people are led They are not self -directed and the pattern binding these chapters together is presence directed movement

The lamp is lit. The Levites are consecrated. The Passover is observed. The trumpets are fashioned Everything is ordered and made ready, but none of it starts the movement the cloud does better yet.

God does Israel doesn't advance because of opportunity and they do not depart because of restlessness

They do not march because the conditions feel favorable They move when God moves and this speaks directly into our daily life today because we often confuse motion with obedience

We equate activity with faithfulness We chase urgency and fear and delay and assume that progress must always be visible but numbers teaches a different kind of rhythm the people were to wait until the cloud rest and they were to move when the

Cloud lifts and redemption in that way is not only a rescue from bondage. It is submission to divine

Guidance numbers 8 through 10 also finds its fulfillment in Jesus Because the lampstand anticipates

Jesus as the light of the world who's gonna lead his people out of darkness and into his marvelous light

The Passover continues to foreshadow him as the Lamb of God slain before the foundations the world whose blood is going to Save his people from their sin the cloud guiding

Israel Anticipates something greater because under the New Covenant the presence of God no longer hovers over fabric and poles but the risen

Christ leads his people by his Spirit who now lives inside of our hearts instead of outside of us in a cloud by day and fire by night

And just as Israel followed the visible signs of God's presence believers now follow the one who goes before them

He's not only the Savior from Egypt, but he's the leader through the wilderness He's not only the Redeemer of the past, but he's the shepherd of our future

The wilderness will expose hearts, but the presence of God will not abandon the camp

Now as you read numbers 8 through 10 today I want you to feel the anticipation of the departure that camp is ordered the leaders are prepared the cloud has been lifted and tomorrow

We're gonna see how quickly all of that excitement gives way to complaint and how the wilderness begins to reveal what?

Redemption alone does not automatically cure but with that read your

Bible carefully Devotionally and joyfully and may the Lord use his word to sanctify you completely and we will continue our journey tomorrow.