Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 9:15
And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, [namely], the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.
15. it used to be upon the Dwelling ] The verbs throughout the rest of the chapter are frequentative, with the exception of ‘they kept’ in Num 9:23.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The cloud … – The phenomenon first appeared at the Exodus itself, Exo 13:21-22. The cloud did not cover the whole structure, but the tent of the testimony, i. e. the enclosure which contained the ark of the testimony Exo 25:16, Exo 25:22, and the holy place. The phenomenon is now again described in connection with the journeyings which are to be narrated in the sequel of the book.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Num 9:15-23
The Cloud.
The history of the cloud
We have here the history of the cloud. Not a natural history–who knows the balancings of the clouds? but a Divine history, of a cloud that was appointed to be the visible symbol of Gods presence with Israel.
I. When the tabernacle was finished this cloud, which before had hung on high over their camp, settled upon the tabernacle and covered it; to show that god manifests his presence with his people in and by his ordinances.
II. That which appeared as a cloud by day appeared as a fire all night; to teach Israel the constancy of his presence with them and care of them (Isa 27:5; Psa 121:6).
III. This pillar of cloud and fire directed and determined all the motions, marches, and encampments of Israel in the wilderness.
1. As long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle, so long they continued in the same place and never stirred. Though no doubt they were very desirous to be pressing forward in their journey towards Canaan, where they hoped to be quickly, yet as long as the cloud rested, if it were a month or a year, so long they rested (Num 9:22). Note, he that believeth doth not make haste. There is no time lost whilst we are waiting Gods time. It is as acceptable a piece of submission to the will of God to sit still contentedly when our lot requires it, as to work for Him when we are called to it.
2. When the cloud was taken up they removed, how comfortably soever they were encamped (Num 9:17). Whether it moved by day or night they delayed not to attend its motions (Num 9:21). And probably there were some appointed to stand sentinel day and night within ken of it, to give timely notice to the camp of its beginning to stir; and this is called keeping the charge of the Lord. The people being thus kept at a constant uncertainty, and having no time fixed for their stays and removes, were obliged to hold themselves in a constant readiness to march upon very short warning. And for the same reason we are kept at uncertainty concerning the time of our putting off the earthly house of this tabernacle, that we may be always ready to remove at the commandment of the Lord.
3. As long and as far as the cloud moved, so long and so far they marched; and just there where it abode they pitched their tents about it, and Gods tent under it (Num 9:17). Note, it is uncomfortable staying when God is departed, but very safe and pleasant going when we see God go before us, and resting where He appoints us to rest.
Lessons:
1. The particular care God takes of His people. Nothing could be more significant of Gods tenderness of Israel than the conduct of this cloud was. It led them by the right way (Psa 107:7); went on their pace; God did by it, as it were, cover them with His feathers. We are not now to expect such sensible tokens of the Divine presence and guidance as this was. But the promise is sure to all Gods spiritual Israel, that He will guide them by His counsel (Psa 73:24) even unto death (Psa 48:14); that all the children of God shall be led by the Spirit of God (Rom 8:14); that He will direct their paths who in all their ways acknowledge Him (Pro 3:6). There is a particular providence conversant about all their affairs to direct and overrule them for the best. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord (Psa 37:22).
2. The particular regard we ought to have to God in all our ways. In our affections and actions we must follow the direction of His Word and Spirit; all the motions of our soul must be guided by the Divine will; at the commandment of the Lord our heart should always move and rest. In all our affairs we must follow providence, reconciling ourselves to all its disposals, and bringing our mind to our condition, whatever it is. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
The pillar of cloud and fire
I. As an emblem of divine truth.
1. Supernatural as to origin.
2. Stable: only a cloud, yet not dispersed.
3. Adapted to both night and day.
4. Reliable.
5. Intolerant: This is the way, and no other.
II. As a symbol of divine providence.
1. Different appearance to different characters.
2. Presented alternations of aspect to the same people.
3. Mysterious in its movements.
4. Aims at the good of all who follow its guidance.
III. As a type of the divine saviour.
1. Mysterious nature.
2. Challenges attention.
3. His purpose beneficent.
4. The source of great comfort.
5. Constant in His attachment.
Lessons:
1. Seek to be on the right side of the cloud.
2. Seek it in the right place–over the tabernacle.
3. Follow its guidance. (J. C. Gray.)
The pillar of cloud and of fire
I. The pillar of cloud and of fire is a perpetual fact in the life of Gods people.
1. We see the pillar in Gods Word. The Bible has not a precept for every emergency which can arise in daily life, so that at such a point you can see a guide-board, like the signs pointing to the old cities of refuge; but it is full of general principles which, if obeyed, will direct without mistake to the promised land.
2. We see the pillar in Gods providences. Sometimes it appears in prosperity, beckoning us onward; sometimes in adversity, turning us back.
3. We see the pillar in Gods special revelations. They come, perhaps, at the threshold of some great undertaking. Shall we move out from Egypt toward the Red Sea? And there, if we are watching, will be the sign in the sky I When Pastor Harms, in Germany, was deliberating whether, without one dollar in his possession, he should build a ship to carry missionaries to Africa, he says, describing his conflict: I prayed fervently to the Lord, laid the matter in His hands, and as I rose up at midnight from my knees I said, with a voice that almost startled me in my quiet room, Forward now, in Gods name. From that moment there never came a thought of doubt into my mind. Such an experience must, indeed, be interpreted with great care, there is so much danger of delusion. Yet it is true that with a prayerful mind, with diligent study of the Word, especially with the intuitions of a filial spirit, such revelations may be as distinct as any that ever came to Moses.
II. The pillar is a blessing only to those who trust and follow it. On some sides the Israelites are a poor example for us, but we may learn something from them in this particular: that they followed the pillar.
1. They followed it promptly. Whenever and wherever it moved, then and thither they moved without delay. If it aroused them from their sleep they obeyed with alacrity. It is when the cloud speaks to us suddenly, unexpectedly, that our obedience is most severely tested. But that is our standard; a mind to run in the way of Gods commandments.
2. They followed the pillar constantly (Num 9:21-22).
3. They followed the pillar by faith. They obeyed even when they could not understand. If troubles were only explained they would be so much easier to bear. But the best faith endures without understanding. A generation ago some of us used to hear of an afflicted woman in Connecticut named Chloe Lankton, who, many will be surprised to know, is living still. For fifty-five years she has lain upon her bed and suffered, but without losing her Christian faith. Acknowledging, not long ago, a remittance sent for her support, she wrote: Jesus only knows how much I endure. He knows it all and supports me I have a strong arm to lean upon and will trust Him to the end Oh, how thankful I feel . . . for the many comforts and blessings God gives me! Poor soul! How long, for her, the cloud has tarried! And she is only one of the great shut-in-society who have learned to trust and follow two days or a month or a year, or a lifetime, if God wills, It would be a mistake, however, to think of this truth as applying only to the darker side of human experience. It is great joy in the brightest prosperity to see the pillar; and no one has so good a right to live in the sunshine as a Christian. Friendship is joy, home is joy, music is joy, learning is joy. The world is full of such pleasures. But does it not intensify these to realise that they are all signs of the Fathers love? Is not the water at Elim more sweet if, as we quench our thirst, we can look up and see the pillar? Then, too, is there not comfort in knowing that if farther on we have cause to apprehend another experience of thirst and suffering, we shall be under the same heavenly presence and can hear the voice out of the cloud? So for all, in every condition and need, the pillar has heavenly blessing. Still we must remember the blessing is only for those who trust and follow. (T. J. Holmes.)
The guiding pillar:
I. The double form of the guiding pillar. The fire was the centre, the cloud was wrapped around it. The former was the symbol, making visible to a generation who had to be taught through their senses the inaccessible holiness and flashing brightness and purity of the Divine nature; the latter tempered and veiled the too great brightness for feeble eyes. The same double element is found in all Gods manifestations of Himself to men. In every form of revelation are present both the core of light, that no eye can look upon, and the merciful veil which, because it veils, unveils; because it hides, reveals; makes visible because it conceals; and shows God because it is the hiding of His power. So, through all the history of His dealings with men, there has ever been what is called in Scripture language the face, or the name of God; the aspect of the Divine nature on which eye can look; and manifested through it there has always been the depth and inaccessible abyss of that infinite Being. We have to be thankful that in the cloud is the fire, and that round the fire is the cloud. God hides to make better known the glories of His character. So a light, set in some fair alabaster vase, shines through its translucent walls, bringing out every delicate tint and meandering vein of color, while itself diffused and softened by the enwrapping medium which it beautifies by passing through its pure walls. Both are made visible and attractive to dull eyes by the conjunction. He that hath seen Christ hath seen the Father, and he that hath seen the Father in Christ hath seen the man Christ as none see Him who are blind to the incarnate Deity which illuminates the manhood in which it dwells. But we have to note also the varying appearance of the pillar according to need. There was a double change in the pillar according to the hour, and according as the congregation was on the march or encamped. Both these changes of aspect symbolise for us the reality of the Protean capacity of change according to our ever-varying needs, which for our blessing we may find in that ever-changing, unchanging Divine presence which will be our companion if we will. When the deceitful brightness of earth glistens and dazzles around me, my vision of Him may be a cloudy screen to temper the deceitful ray; and when there stoops on our path in storm and shade the frequent night, as earth grows darker, and life becomes grayer and more sombre, and verges to its even, the pillar blazes brighter before the weeping eye, and draws near to the lonely heart. We have a God that manifests Himself in the pillar of cloud by day and in the flaming fire by night.
II. The guidance of the pillar. When it lifts the camp marches; when it glides down and lies motionless the march is stopped and the tents are pitched. The main thing which is dwelt upon in this description of the God-guided pilgrimage of the wandering people is the absolute uncertainty in which they were kept as to the duration of their encampment, and as to the time and circumstances of their march. Is not that all true about us P We have no guiding cloud like this. So much the better. Have we not a more real guide than that? God guides us by circumstances, God guides us by His Word, God guides us by His Spirit, speaking through our common sense and in our understandings, and, most of all, God guides us by that dear Son of His, in whom is the fire and round whom is the cloud. The pillar that we follow, which will glow with the ruddy flame of love in the darkest hours of life, will glide in front of us through the valley of the shadow of death, brightest then when the murky midnight is blackest, nor will that pillar which guides us cease to blaze as did the guide of the desert march when Jordan has been crossed, but it will still move before us on paths of continuous and ever increasing approach to infinite perfection. They who follow Christ afar off and with faltering steps here, shall there follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. In like manner, the same absolute uncertainty which kept on was intended to keep the Israelites (though it failed often) in the attitude of constant dependence, is the condition in which we all have to live, though we mask it from ourselves. That we do not know what lies before us is a commonplace. The same long tracts of monotonous continuance in the same place, and doing the same duties, befall us that befell these men. Years pass, and the pillar spreads itself out, a defence above the unmoving sanctuary. And then, all of a flash, when we are least thinking of change, it gathers itself together, is a pillar again, shoots upwards and moves forwards; and it is for us to go after it. And so our lives are shuttlecocked between uniform sameness, which may become mechanical monotony, and agitation by change which may make us lose our hold of fixed principles and calm faith, unless we recognise that the continuance and the change are alike the will of the guiding God whose will is signified by the stationary or moving pillar.
III. The docile following of the guide. That is what we have to set before us as the type of our lives–that we should be as ready for every indication of Gods will as they were. The peace and blessedness of our lives largely depend on our being eager to obey, and therefore quick to perceive the slightest sign of motion in the resting or of rest in the moving pillar which regulates our march and our encamping. What do we want in order to cultivate and keep such a disposition? We need perpetual watchfulness lest the pillar should lift unnoticed. When Nelson was second in command at Copenhagen, the admiral in command of the fleet hoisted the signal for recall, and Nelson put his telescope to his blind eye and said, I do not see it. That is very like what we are tempted to do; the signal for unpleasant duties that we want to get out of is hoisted, we are very apt to put the telescope to the blind eye, and pretend to ourselves that we do not see the fluttering flags. We need still more to keep our wills in absolute suspense if His will has not declared itself. Do not let us be in a hurry to run before God. We need to hold the present with a slack hand, so as to be ready to fold our tents and take to the road if God will. We must not reckon on continuance, nor strike our roots so deep that it needs a hurricane to remove us. To those who set their gaze on Christ no present from which He wishes them to remove can be so good for them as the new conditions into which He would have them pass. We need, too, to cultivate the habit of prompt obedience. I made haste and delayed not to keep Thy commandments is the only safe motto. It is reluctance which usually puts the drag on, and slow obedience is often the germ of incipient disobedience. In matters of prudence and of intellect second thoughts are better than first, and third thoughts, which often come back to first ones, better than second; but, in matters of duty, first thoughts are generally best. They are the instinctive response of conscience to the voice of God, while second thoughts are too often the objections of disinclination or sloth or cowardice. It is easiest to do our duty when we are first sure of it. It then comes with an impelling power which carries us over obstacles on the crest of a wave, while hesitation and delay leave us stranded in shoal water. If we would follow the pillar we must follow it at once. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The pillar of cloud and fire
I. The advantages of its possession.
1. The distinction it maintains. Only Israel so privileged. Christians, you are a peculiar people, your origin is peculiar, your character is peculiar, your spirit, your desires and affections, the objects of your pursuit. You have peculiar privileges and honours conferred on you. There must be a marked difference between you and the world.
2. The guidance it ensures. Jesus is now the guide of His people. He leads in the way of truth and wisdom. How?
(1) By His example. He has gone before us in the path of duty, temptation, and sorrow. By His Word. This is our rule.
(2) By His ordinances. He sends His ministers as your guides.
(3) By His Spirit effectually.
(4) By the leadings of His providence.
3. The protection it affords. God is the Christians hiding-place.
4. The joy it inspires. God is the source of happiness, the fountain of life.
5. The glory it confers. The presence of God is our highest, best, only real glory. This is the glory of our nation–this is the glory of our churches–this is the glory of our religious assemblies–this is the glory of our families–and this is our individual glory. But what is all that God confers here to what is in reserve? Everything shall be glorious there.
II. The perpetuity of its enjoyment.
1. Its necessity. We always need the Divine presence. We are dependent on Him for everything. We need His providential presence and agency to continue us in being and supply our numerous wants; and we require His gracious presence for the maintenance of spiritual life and for the reception of spiritual blessings.
2. The manner in which it is ensured. This may be seen three ways. From what He has done, is doing, and has promised to do. (E. Temple.)
Dependence on Divine guidance
A more lovely picture Of absolute dependence upon, and subjection to, Divine guidance it were impossible to conceive than that presented here. There was not a footprint or a landmark throughout the great and terrible wilderness. It was therefore useless to look for any guidance from those who had gone before. They were wholly cast upon God for every step of the way. They were in a position of constant waiting upon Him. This to an unsubdued mind, an unbroken will, would be intolerable; but to a soul knowing, loving, confiding, and delighting in God, nothing could be more deeply blessed. Here lies the real gist of the whole matter. Is God known, loved, and trusted? If He be, the heart will delight in the most absolute dependence upon Him. If not, such dependence would be perfectly insufferable. The unrenewed man loves to think himself independent, loves to fancy himself free, loves to believe that he may do what he likes, go where he likes, say what he likes. Alas; it is the merest delusion. Man is not free. Satan holds the natural man–the unconverted, unrepentant man in terrible bondage. Satan rules man by means of his lusts, his passions, and his pleasures. There is no freedom save that with which Christ makes His people free. He it is who says, Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And again, If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Here is true liberty. It is the liberty which the new nature finds in walking in the Spirit and doing those things that are pleasing in the sight of God. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
The day and the night journey
We must look to have our portion of the cloud so long as we remain below the skies. It will be the lot of the believer, in the somewhat analogous image of St. Paul, to see through a glass darkly so long as he remains in this tabernacle. Possibly a clearer light to our imperfect organs of spiritual vision would only tend to dazzle and obscure. Enough for us to know there is light enough, and that what there is is light from Heaven that cannot lead astray. In following the cloud Israel followed God. In our obedience to the will of God, as expressed in His providence or revealed in His Word, we obey Him too; and the true believers attachment to and connection with God, is like that which is expressed in the touching and holy plighted troth of marriage–for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health.
I. If the cloud be taken up by day–that is, if God blesses a man with prosperity–it is, in the first place, to make him an eleemosynary ordinance, or means of usefulness to others. It is entrusting him with the five talents, as compared with the two or the one talent.
II. We have to learn, in the second place, that difficulty is no ground for dispensing with duty: whether it was by day or by night the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. To obey under embarrassment is the more characteristic obedience of a Christian. There are many forms of the night-journey of the pilgrim of Christ. We have considered the day-journey under the illustration of wealth and easy circumstances, or in any other shape of general prosperity; let us meditate upon the night-journey in the shape of poverty, sickness, bereavement, or domestic opposition to the Christian life. (J. B. Owen, M. A.)
The journey of life
There is no strain upon the imagination in thinking of life as a journey. That is one of the simplest and most beautiful figures by which the action of life can be represented. We are travellers; we are here but for a little time; on our feet are sandals and in our hands are staves; here We have no continuing city, and we are called upon to testify to the age that we seek a country out of sight. So, then, we are familiar with the figure; it commends itself to us, as life enlarges, as quite expressive of the reality of the case–every day a milestone, every year so much nearer the end. Regarding life, then, as a journey, according to the pattern of this text, is there not a mysterious presence or influence in life which really affects our action? In the text that influence is spoken of as a cloud by day and a fire by night–two striking natural images. Our controversy is not about the image or the metaphor; behind it is there not this ever-abiding solemnity, that in life there is a mysterious action–a ministry we cannot comprehend, an influence we cannot overrule? We speak of impression. When we think of changing our position in life, we say we have an impression. What is an impression? Who created it? Who determined its meaning? How do you account for the impression? Upon what is the impression made?–upon the mind, upon something subtler than itself, upon the consciousness, the soul, the spirit–the innermost man. That is a mystery! Or we speak of circumstances. We say that circumstances seem to point in this direction or that. What are circumstances? Where do they begin? How do they sum themselves up into influence or into definiteness? Having spoken about impression and circumstances, we speak about another mysterious thing which has come to be known by the name of tendency. We say the tendency of things is–; or the tendency of life seems to indicate–. We have created a species of rhythm, or harmonic movement, falling into which we say, This is the sweep of tendency, and to resist tendency is impossible. How anxious we are to get rid of religious names! Men who will speak of impression, circumstances, and tendency, will hesitate before saying Providence, God, Father in heaven. Let the Church beware how it gives up the grand old names–God, Providence, heavenly direction, spiritual influence! Why shrink from the definite religious testimony of the eighteenth verse, At the commandment of the Lord, &c. When a man rises in the morning in Gods strength, lies down at night in Gods blessing, walks all day in Gods energy, he lives and moves and has his being in God; God is in his inmost thought, and every word upon his tongue is an implied or actual confession of childlike trust in God. We need not be ashamed of this definite testimony. It exalts human life. What is the meaning of it? Evidently that our life is recognised by God, our movements are of some consequence to Him; He knows our downsitting and our uprising, our going out and our coming in; and there is not a word upon our tongue, there is not a thought in our heart, but lo, it is known wholly in heaven. This consciousness of Divine guidance in life, Divine care of life, Divine redemption of life, necessitates prayer. The man who seizes this view of things must pray. This religious view of life brings the spirit into the restfulness and blessed joy of obedience. The children of Israel simply obeyed. Theirs was not a life of controversy, ours, unhappily, is. We have made it a life of controversy when we need not. We are always arguing with our orders; we are trying to construe them into different and inferior meanings; we are wasting life by discussing in idle words, which can settle nothing, the gravity and authority of our marching orders. If we accept Gods Book, do let us accept it with full trust, not as a field for criticism, but as a code of life–the Word, or the testimony, by which every thought, feeling, and action is to be determined. Live that life and risk your destiny. To obey is to live. (J. Parker. D. D.)
The cloud tarrying
I. A word of description. The time the cloud tarried was–
1. One of rest.
2. One of spiritual activity.
3. Peculiarly a time of temptation.
II. A word of exhortation.
1. Be more anxious to keep the cloud in sight than to see it tarry. We are responsible for the one, but not for the other.
2. Be more anxious to improve than to enjoy these refreshing times.
3. Be more anxious to improve than prolong these periods.
III. A WORD OF CAUTION.
1. If the cloud tarry long, think not that it will never move. Rest should be the preparation time for exertion.
2. Be not impatient if it tarry when you wish to journey. It does rest sometimes over a desert land.
3. Be ready, that whenever the cloud moves you may be ready to journey. (R. A. Griffin.)
The cloud and the tabernacle:
I. Why is the church in our day so much of the time under the cloud, and seemingly put back in the progress of long-continued revivals of religion? Sin is the trouble. It took but a few moments to bring it into the world, but it takes ages to get it out. It makes us ignorant, weak, self-reliant, and self-seeking, so that we cannot march long at a time without getting so elated that God must let down the cloud a little while; a day, a month, or a year, as our case may be, to get us ready to march again. It requires great grace and a large measure of previous discipline, and frequent humiliations to keep us feeling and saying, as we go to our work of conquest for Christ, Not by might, nor by power, but by Thy Spirit, O Lord. And so, God must often bring us into pecuniary straits, and cut off our men and our means, and cause painful delays, and sad embarrassments, and short triumphs, and unforeseen obstacles, and cloud-falling times, that we may feel our weakness and renew our strength; and, with all our facilities for saving ourselves and the world, that we may just lay ourselves over, with the simplicity of children, upon the supernatural power of God, and the sole guidance of Christ, saying, Help, Lord, for without Thee we can do nothing.
II. What are some of the prominent duties which god requires from us while under the cloud, that we may be ready the sooner to arise and go forward in the more active duties, and in the more joyful experiences of the revival days?
1. In general, to be ready for the lifting up of the cloud, that we may go forth in efficient service in revival scenes, we must be diligent in all the ordinary duties of the tabernacle when it is resting.
2. Among the duties which are specially incumbent when the Church is under the cloud we will enumerate those which God has signalised in the history of the tabernacle as those which are at all times essential to the Christian character and life.
(1) Christian benevolence, which answers quickly to the voice of God, as stewards of His manifold grace, in liberal and conscientious giving to the various objects of religious charity which are designed to promote the good of men and the glory of Christ.
(2) The ordinary means of grace should be specially improved by the entire membership of the Church as a preparation for seasons of extraordinary effort. It is not by artificial stimulants, occasionally taken, that we gain the compactness of muscle and the strength of frame which fit us for those emergencies which call forth great physical strength. This strength is the slow growth of nutriment habitually taken to satisfy the cravings of hunger and to supply the daily waste of the system. (E. S. Wright.)
Gods guidance:–A preacher of the gospel was travelling by steamboat from Chicago to the north of Lake Michigan, and found that at a certain point the course lay through a narrow and difficult channel between several small islands and the shore. The difficulty of advancing here is greatly increased by the fact that a dense fog almost always rests upon the surface of the water. When, therefore, this part of the voyage is reached, a man is sent up to the mast-head where he can see the landmarks on either side rising above the fog, and, though himself out of sight, is able to give directions for steering to those below. Thus the vessel is guided safely through. So our gracious God sits above the clouds of temptation and trial which surround us on earth, and make our voyage through life so perilous, and, seeing all the dangers of the way, He counsels us as to the track of safety. Let us fully trust the guidance of His eye, and boldly proceed as He directs.
A trustworthy guide
I trust myself implicitly to the pilots on the ferry-boats. I do not know the tides and currents that change with every trip across the river, but I have no doubt that they know them, and I have never stopped to question them as to how they came by their knowledge. I am satisfied that they are good pilots, for I see them carrying millions of people back and forth between the two cities without accident; and I think that our Brooklyn and New York ferries as they are served are a miracle of safety; and if I put my life, my happiness, all that is dear to me, in the hands of those men because I believe that they know what they can do, and know what they are about, how much more can I put my trust in Jesus Christ, who has, by His deeds, by His death and by His resurrection, manifested Himself as worthy of all trust. (H. W. Beecher.)
Following the Divine leading:
I said to an aged minister of much experience, All the events of my life seem to have been Divinely connected. Do you suppose it is so in all lives? He answered, Yes, but most people do not notice the Divine leadings. I stand here this morning to say from my own experience that the safest thing in all the world to do is to trust the Lord. I never had a misfortune or a trial or a disappointment, however excruciating at the time, that God did not make turn out for my good. My one wish is to follow the Divine leading. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 15. The cloud covered the tabernacle] See the whole account of this supernatural cloud largely explained, Ex 23:21; and Ex 40:34-38.
Calmet observes that the 15th verse, beginning a new subject, should begin a new chapter, as it has no connection with what goes before; and he thinks this chapter, begun with the 15th verse, should end with the 28th verse of the following.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
1490 Of the cloud, see Exo 13:21. The tabernacle, namely,
the tent of the testimony, or, the tabernacle towards or above the tent of the testimony, i.e. that part of the tabernacle in which was the testimony, or the ark of the testimony; for there the cloudy pillar stood, Lev 16:2. This was an evident token of Gods special presence with and providence over them. See Exo 14:20,24; Psa 105:39. And this cloud was easily distinguished from other clouds, both by its peculiar figure and by its constant residence in that place.
The appearance of fire; that they might better discern it, and direct themselves and their journeys or stations by it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. the cloud covered thetabernacleThe inspired historian here enters on an entirelynew subject, which might properly have formed a separate chapter,beginning at this verse and ending at Nu10:29 [CALMET]. Thecloud was a visible token of God’s special presence and guardian careof the Israelites (Exo 14:20;Psa 105:39). It was easilydistinguishable from all other clouds by its peculiar form and itsfixed position; for from the day of the completion of the tabernacleit rested by day as a dark, by night as a fiery, column on that partof the sanctuary which contained the ark of the testimony (Le16:2).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up,…. Which was the first day of the first month in the second year of the people of Israel’s coming out of Egypt, Ex 40:1;
the cloud covered the tabernacle, [namely], the tent of the testimony; that part of the tabernacle in which the testimony was, that is, where the ark was, in which the law was put, called the testimony; and this was the most holy place; and over the tent or covering of that was this cloud, which settled upon it, as Ben Gersom thinks, after the seven days of the consecration of Aaron and his sons; on the eighth day, when it was said unto the people of Israel, “today will the Lord appear unto you”, Le 9:1; “and the glory of the Lord shall appear unto you”, Le 9:6; and here the Targum of Jonathan calls this cloud the cloud of glory, because of the glory of God in it; of which see
Ex 40:34;
and at even there was upon the tabernacle, as it were, the appearance of fire until the morning; the same phenomenon, which looked like a cloud in the daytime, appeared like fire in the same place in the nighttime, throughout the whole of it until morning light, when it was seen as a cloud again: this was a token of the presence of God with the people of Israel, of his protection of them, and being a guide unto them by night and day, while in the wilderness; and was a figure of his being the same to his church and people, in the present state of things; see Isa 4:5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Num 9:15 Signs for Removing and Encamping. – On their way through the desert from the border of Egypt to Sinai, Jehovah Himself had undertaken to guide His people by a cloud, as the visible sign and vehicle of His gracious presence (Exo 13:21-22). This cloud had come down upon the dwelling when the tabernacle was erected, whilst the glory of the Lord filled the holy of holies (Exo 40:34-38). In Num 9:15 the historian refers to this fact, and then describes more fully what had been already briefly alluded to in Exo 40:36-37, namely, that when the cloud rose up from the dwelling of the tabernacle it was a sign for removing, and when it came down upon the dwelling, a sign for encamping. In Num 9:15, “ on the day of the setting up of the dwelling, ” Exo 40:34-35, is resumed; and in Num 9:15 the appearance of the cloud during the night, from evening till morning, is described in accordance with Exo 40:38. (On the fact itself, see the exposition of Exo 13:21-22). , “ the dwelling of the tent of witness ” ( used for the genitive to avoid a double construct state: Ewald, 292, a). In the place of ohel mod, “tent of the meeting of Jehovah with His people,” we have here “ tent of witness ” (or “testimony”), i.e., of the tables with the decalogue which were laid up in the ark of the covenant ( Exo 25:16), because the decalogue formed the basis of the covenant of Jehovah with Israel, and the pledge of the gracious presence of the Lord in the tabernacle. In the place of “dwellings of the tent of witness,” we have “ dwelling of witness” (testimony) in Num 10:11, and “tent of witness” in Num 18:2; Num 17:8, to denote the whole dwelling, as divided into the holy place and the holy of holies, and not the holy of holies alone. This is unmistakeably evident from a comparison of the verse before us with Exo 40:34, according to which the cloud covered not merely one portion of the tabernacle, but the whole of the tent of meeting ( ohel mod). The rendering, “the cloud covered the dwelling at the tent of witness,” i.e., at that part of it in which the witness (or “testimony”) was kept, viz., the holy of holies, which Rosenmller and Knobel adopt, cannot be sustained, inasmuch as has no such meaning, but simply conveys the idea of motion and passage into a place or condition (cf. Ewald, 217, d); and the dwelling or tabernacle was not first made into the tent of witness through the cloud which covered it.
Num 9:16 The covering of the dwelling, with the cloud which shone by night as a fiery look, was constant, and not merely a phenomenon which appeared when the tabernacle was first erected, and then vanished away again.
Num 9:17 “ In accordance with the rising of the cloud from the tent, then afterwards the children of Israel broke up, ” i.e., whenever the cloud ascended up from the tent, they always broke up immediately afterwards; “ and at the place where the cloud came down, there they encamped.” The , or settling down of the cloud, sc., upon the tabernacle, we can only understand in the following manner, as the tabernacle was all taken to pieces during the march: viz., that the cloud visibly descended from the height at which it ordinarily soared above the ark of the covenant, as it was carried in front of the army, for a signal that the tabernacle was to be set up there; and then this had been done, it settled down upon it.
Num 9:18 As Jehovah was with His people in the cloud, the rising and falling of the cloud was “the command of the Lord” to the Israelites to break up or to pitch the camp. As long, therefore, as the cloud rested upon the dwelling, i.e., remained stationary, they continued their encampment.
Num 9:19-23 Whether it might rest many days long ( , to lengthen out the resting), or only a few days (Gen 34:30), or only from evening till morning, and then rise up again in the morning, or for a day and a night, or for two days, or for a month, or for days ( yamim ), i.e., a space of time not precisely determined (cf. Gen 4:3; Gen 40:4), they encamped without departing. “ Kept the charge of the Lord ” (Num 9:19 and Num 9:23), i.e., observed what was to be observed towards Jehovah (see Lev 8:35). With , “was it that,” or “did it happen that,” two other possible cases are introduced. After Num 9:20, the apodosis, “ they kept the charge of the Lord, ” is to be repeated in thought from Num 9:19. The elaboration of the account (Num 9:15-23), which abounds with repetitions, is intended to bring out the importance of the fact, and to awaken the consciousness not only of the absolute dependence of Israel upon the guidance of Jehovah, but also of the gracious care of their God, which was thereby displayed to the Israelites throughout all their journeyings.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Pillar of Cloud and Fire. | B. C. 1490. |
15 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. 16 So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. 18 At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. 19 And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not. 20 And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed. 21 And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. 22 Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. 23 At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
We have here the history of the cloud; not a natural history: who knows the balancings of the clouds? but a divine history of a cloud that was appointed to be the visible sign and symbol of God’s presence with Israel.
I. When the tabernacle was finished this cloud, which before had hung on high over their camp, settled upon the tabernacle, and covered it, to show that God manifests his presence with his people in and by his ordinances; there he makes himself known, and to them we must look if we would see the beauty of the Lord,Psa 27:4; Eze 37:26; Eze 37:27. Thus God glorified his own appointments, and signified his acceptance of his people’s love and obedience.
II. That which appeared as a cloud by day appeared as a fire all night. Had it been a cloud only, it would not have been visible by night; and, had it been a fire only, it would have been scarcely discernible by day; but God would give them sensible demonstrations of the constancy of his presence with them, and his care of them, and that he kept them night and day,Isa 27:3; Psa 121:6. And thus we are taught to set God always before us, and to see him near us both night and day. Something of the nature of that divine revelation which the Old-Testament church was governed by might also be signified by these visible signs of God’s presence, the cloud denoting the darkness and the fire the terror of that dispensation, in comparison with the more clear and comfortable discoveries God has made of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
III. This pillar of cloud and fire directed and determined all the motions, marches, and encampments, of Israel in the wilderness. 1. As long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle, so long they continued in the same place, and never stirred; though no doubt they were very desirous to be pressing forward in their journey towards Canaan, where they longed to be and hoped to be quickly, yet as long as the cloud rested, if it was a month or a year, so long they rested, v. 22. Note, He that believeth doth not make haste. There is no time lost while we are waiting God’s time. It is as acceptable a piece of submission to the will of God to sit still contentedly when our lot requires it as to work for him when we are called to it. 2. When the cloud was taken up, they removed, how comfortably soever they were encamped, v. 17. Whether it moved by day or night, they delayed not to attend its motions (v. 21), and probably there were some appointed to stand sentinel day and night within sight of it, to give timely notice to the camp of its beginning to stir, and this called keeping the charge of the Lord. The people, being thus kept at a constant uncertainty, and having no time fixed for stopping or removing, were obliged to hold themselves in constant readiness to march upon very short warning. And for the same reason we are kept at uncertainty concerning the time of our putting off the earthly house of this tabernacle, that we may be always ready to remove at the commandment of the Lord. 3. As long and as far as the cloud moved, so long and so far they marched, and just where it abode they pitched their tents about it, and God’s tent under it, v. 17. Note, It is uncomfortable staying when God has departed, but very safe and pleasant going when we see God go before us and resting where he appoints us to rest. This is repeated again and again in these verses, because it was a constant miracle, and often repeated, and what never failed in all their travels, and because it is a matter which we should take particular notice of as very significant and instructive. It is mentioned long after by David (Ps. cv. 39), and by the people of God after their captivity, Neh. ix. 19. And the guidance of this cloud is spoken of as signifying the guidance of the blessed Spirit. Isa. lxiii. 14, The Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest, and so didst thou lead thy people. This teaches us, (1.) The particular care God takes of his people. Nothing could be more expressive and significant of God’s tenderness of Israel than the guidance of this cloud was; it led them by the right way (Ps. cvii. 7), went on their pace: God did by it, as it were, cover them with his feathers. We are not now to expect such sensible tokens of the divine presence and guidance as this was, but the promise is sure to all God’s spiritual Israel that he will guide them by his counsel (Ps. lxxiii. 24), even unto death (Ps. xlviii. 14), that all the children of God shall be led by the Spirit of God (Rom. viii. 14), that he will direct the paths of those who in all their ways acknowledge him, Prov. iii. 6. There is a particular providence conversant about all their affairs, to direct and overrule them for the best. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, Ps. xxxvii. 23. (2.) The particular regard we ought to have to God in all our ways. In our affections and actions we must follow the direction of his word and Spirit; all the motions of our souls must be guided by the divine will; at the commandment of the Lord our hearts should always move and rest; in all our affairs we must follow Providence, reconciling ourselves to all its disposals, and bringing our mind to our condition, whatever it is. The people of Israel, having the cloud for their guide, were eased of the trouble of holding councils of war, to consider when and whither they should march, which might have occasioned strifes and debates among them: nor needed they to send spies before to inform them of the posture of the country, or pioneers to clear the way, or officers to mark out their camp; the pillar of cloud did all this for them: and those that by faith commit their works to the Lord, though they are bound to the prudent use of means, yet may in like manner be easy in the expectation of the event. “Father, thy will be done; dispose of me and mine as thou pleasest; here I am, desirous to be found waiting on my God continually, to journey and rest at the commandment of the Lord. What thou wilt, and where thou wilt, only let me be thine, and always in the way of my duty.”
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 15-23:
God expressed His approval and acceptance of the Tabernacle at its completion, by means of the cloud of glory which overshadowed it, Ex 40:34. This was not the same as the Shekinah Glory within the Tabernacle, Ex 40:35. The cloud covering of the Tabernacle was luminous by night. God directed Israel’s journey by means of this cloud. When the time came for them to move, the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, and went before them to lead the way. But so long as the cloud rested over the Tabernacle, Israel remained encamped, Ex 40:36-38. This continued throughout their Wilderness Journey.
The cloud is a type of the leadership of the Holy Spirit for the Lord’s people today, 1Co 10:1, 11.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
E. THE CLOUD OVER THE TABERNACLE vv. 1523
TEXT Chapter Num. 9:15. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony; and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. 16. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 17. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. 18. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. 19. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. 20. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. 21. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. 22. Or whether it were two days or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. 23. At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
PARAPHRASE
Num. 9:15. On the day that the Tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered it, the Tent of Testimony. In the evening it had the appearance of fire above the Tabernacle until morning. 16. It was this way from then on: the cloud covered the Tent during the day, and an appearance of fire during the night. 17. Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the Tent, the children of Israel would then set forth; and at whatever place the cloud stopped, the children of Israel would camp. 18. At the word of the Lord the children of Israel would set forth, and at the word of the Lord they would camp; while the cloud remained over the Tabernacle, they stayed in camp. 19. And when the cloud remained over the Tabernacle several days, the children of Israel kept the commandment of the Lord and did not travel. 20. Sometimes the cloud stayed a few days over the Tabernacle. Then they stayed encamped, according to the commandment of the Lord; or, according to the commandment of the Lord, they journeyed. 21. Sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they traveled. Whether the cloud was taken up by day or by night, they traveled 22. or, if it were two days, or a month or a year that the cloud remained over the Tabernacle, abiding over it, the children of Israel stayed in camp and did not travel; but when it was lifted up, they traveled. 23. At the commandment of the Lord they stayed in camp, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the commandment of the Lord, when He commanded them through Moses.
COMMENTARY
The presence of the Lord at the Tabernacle was a continual matter, from the moment of its erection. We are taken back to the point of the completion of the Tent to establish the fact. Far from needless redundancy, the Divine Presence is stated here just prior to the account of leaving its original site. Wherever Israel was to go, they were assured of two fundamental facts: God was with them at all times, and He led them in every step of their travels. In a real sense, then, there was no time when Israel was aimlessly wandering about. They were informed by the movement or the halting of the cloud and fire, when to move, when and where to stop moving, and how long to remain in each encampment.
There was one appearance of the overwhelming glory of God within the Tabernaclethe Shekinahwhich came upon the tent at its initial construction and was so great as to delay Moses own entry within (see Exo. 40:34-35). But the cloud specified in our text is not precisely the same. While both are of Gods glory and presence, the first such phenomenon was temporary; the second was continual.
We are not told how long the Israelites camped at their various stations excepting on a few occasions; we do not know where they spent as much as one year after leaving Sinai. But the question is academic. Moses point is simple: the length of the rest is not the important factor, it is the ever-present God who leads them who is being cited.
QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS
167.
What were the two primary functions of the cloud and the pillar of fire?
168.
Is it proper to say that the Israelites wandered during the time they spent in the wilderness before they came to the Land of Promise?
169.
What reasons can you give for a very brief period of encampment; or for a very long one?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(15) The cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony.Better, the tabernacle of (or, belonging to) the tent of the testimony. It is stated in Exo. 40:34, after the account of the erection of the Tabernacle, that the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and that the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. There is, therefore, no sufficient ground for the supposition that the cloud rested on that part of the Tabernacle exclusively in which the two tables of the testimony were kept, i.e., the Holy or Holies. On the contrary, it is stated in Exo. 40:35 that Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, where there is no reference to any particular part of the erection. It is true, however, that it was from above the mercy-seat that the presence of Jehovah was specially manifested, and that it was in the most holy place, in which the ark of the testimony was kept, that He met with Moses and communed with him (Exo. 25:21-23). The account of the cloud covering the Tabernacle is repeated in this place, inasmuch as the history which follows relates the removal of the Tabernacle under the guidance of the same cloud which covered it at its erection.
And at even.The dark side of the cloud afforded a grateful shade by day, and the bright side of the cloud served to supply light by night. Comp. Psa. 78:14 : In the day-time also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire; and Neh. 9:12 : Thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go; also Isa. 4:5 : And the Lord will create upon every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE CLOUD AND THE TABERNACLE, Num 9:15-23.
Jehovah might have directed the movements of the tabernacle and the location of the camp by speaking to Moses. But he chose to make his will in this respect known to all the people by visible tokens. Perhaps in the retrograde movements of the tabernacle it would have been too great a strain of Israel’s faith to have obeyed the command of Moses without the emphasis of supernatural signs. Even with these they often rebelled against his word. Num 20:24.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
15. Cloud covered tabernacle For a striking note on the cloud see Exo 13:21. As soon as the tabernacle was dedicated the CLOUD came down upon it and the glory filled it, so that Moses was not able to enter in. Exo 40:35. From this time onward, till the entrance into Canaan, the cloud which had guided them to Sinai never removed from the tabernacle except to indicate the direction in which the host was to advance. The tent of the testimony, or holy of holies, is signalized by the cloud because it contained the ark of the covenant, the tables of the decalogue, the basis of the covenant of Jehovah. Rosenmuller and Knobel say, that “the cloud covered the dwelling at the tent of witness,” that is, stood over the most holy place. Keil objects to this, inasmuch as , to, is a preposition of motion and not of rest. Moreover, in Exo 40:34-35 , the whole tabernacle of the congregation was covered by the cloud, and not merely one portion. These passages may be harmonized by the supposition that the cloud which at first filled the whole tabernacle, and covered its whole extent, afterward gathered itself into a well defined pillar which stood over the holy of holies.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
SECTION 3 GUIDANCE IN RESPECT OF GOING FORWARD ( Num 9:15 to Num 10:10 ).
The command being made to go forward it is now made clear how they will be guided.
Guidance In Respect of Going Forward ( Num 9:15 to Num 10:10 ).
Godward Side.
a The cloud and fire rest on the tabernacle (Num 9:15-16).
b Movement forward regulated by the cloud (Num 9:17-23).
Manward Side.
b Responses to be determined by the blowing of the silver trumpets (Num 10:1-8).
a The blowing of the silver trumpets as a memorial before Yahweh once they have rest in the land (Num 10:9-10)
The cloud and the fire had been with them from before the crossing of the Reed Sea. In Exo 13:22 we are told that ‘Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light that they might go by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people.’ At that stage they were fleeing and did not stop to pitch camp. When the Egyptian forces came up the cloud went behind them to hinder the Egyptian advance (Exo 14:20), while the fire still illuminated Israel at night.
Once, however, they were encamped for a period of time at Mount Sinai in Horeb and the Dwellingplace had been erected, ‘the cloud covered the Tent of meeting and the glory of Yahweh covered the Dwellingplace’ (Exo 40:34), so much so that for a time Moses was unable to enter it. As Moses was usually able to enter it, and was able to do so in Num 7:89, it is clear that the glory was different from the fire. Thus the glory was temporary at the initiation of the Dwellingplace.
When the cloud was taken up from over the Dwellingplace the children of Israel went onwards throughout all their journeys. If the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey until the day that it was taken up (Exodus 30 35-37). ‘And the cloud of Yahweh was on the Dwellingplace by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys’ (Exo 40:38).
The Cloud and Fire Rest on the Dwellingplace ( Num 9:15-16 ).
The principles would now be laid down by which the march forward was to be regulated. Firstly would be the divine signals through the cloud and the fire. Then would come the human signals through the silver trumpets.
This section can be seen as completing the previous section, or as introducing the section which is to follow. It fits in neatly between the two sections, the cloud being their reward for their obedience to His previous instruction, the trumpets the manward means by which their responses would be controlled as they journeyed.
The account is again composed chiastically.
a Introductory explanation (Num 9:15-16).
b When the cloud was taken up they journeyed, when the cloud abode they encamped (Num 9:17).
c At the commandment of Yahweh they journeyed, at the commandment of Yahweh they encamped (Num 9:18).
d When the cloud tarried they encamped and journeyed not (Num 9:19).
d The cloud was sometimes a few days on the Dwellingplace (Num 9:20 a).
c According to the commandment of Yahweh they encamped and according to His commandment they journeyed – note the reverse order (Num 9:20-21).
b When the cloud abode on the Dwellingplace they encamped, when it was taken up they journeyed – again the reverse order (Num 9:22).
a Final conclusion (Num 9:23).
Num 9:15
‘And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the tent of the testimony, and at even it was on the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning.’
From the very day that the Dwellingplace was set up the cloud covered it by day, demonstrating the earthly presence of Yahweh among His people. And when night came there appeared on it the appearance of fire. They were a continual reminder of Sinai.
“Even the tent of the testimony.” A reminder that within the Dwellingplace lay the tablets which contained the sacred covenant with Yahweh, of which the Tent was a constant reminder.
Num 9:16
‘So it was always. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.’
This was how it always was. The cloud covered it, and by night there was the appearance of fire. This cloud and fire had been with them from the original deliverance at the Reed Sea (see Exo 13:21-22).
Num 9:17
“And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent,
Then after that the children of Israel journeyed,
And in the place where the cloud abode,
There the children of Israel encamped.”
From this point on the narrative takes on a kind of poetic prose. It may well be taken from something the people chanted when they were gathered together.
By means of the cloud Yahweh determined when they should journey. When the cloud arose from the Dwellingplace then they journeyed forward. And when the cloud again settled down there they made their camp, and set up the Dwellingplace.
Num 9:18
“At the commandment of Yahweh the children of Israel journeyed,
And at the commandment of Yahweh they encamped.
As long as the cloud abode on the tabernacle they remained encamped.”
So the cloud was under Yahweh’s control, and it was at the command of Yahweh that they journeyed, and at the command of Yahweh that they camped. And as long as the cloud abode on the Dwellingplace they remained encamped.
Num 9:19
“And when the cloud tarried on the tabernacle many days,
Then the children of Israel kept the charge of Yahweh,
And journeyed not.”
All was in obedience to Yahweh. When the cloud remained abiding on the Dwellingplace for many days, they remained there for many days. They obeyed Yahweh’s charge (or ‘obligation’ or ‘watch’). They did not journey. Thus it was always Yahweh’s will that they obeyed as He kept watch over them. They responded to His ‘watch’.
Num 9:20
“And sometimes the cloud was a few days on the tabernacle.
Then according to the commandment of Yahweh they remained encamped,
And according to the commandment of Yahweh they journeyed.”
Sometimes the cloud remained on the Dwellingplace for a few days. Then, as Yahweh was commanding by this, they remained encamped. But as soon as Yahweh commanded otherwise they moved forward.
Num 9:21
“And sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning,
And when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they journeyed.
Or by day and by night (or ‘a day and a night’), when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.”
When the cloud indicated that they should move they did so, whether it was by day or by night. Sometimes the cloud remained settled during the night, and when it was taken up in the morning they journeyed, but whether it was by day or by night, when it was taken up they journeyed.
Num 9:22
‘Whether it was two days, or a month, or a long time, that the cloud tarried on the tabernacle, abiding on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and journeyed not, but when it was taken up, they journeyed.’
Their journeying was completely at the behest of Yahweh. When the cloud tarried on the Dwellingplace for two days, or a moon period, or a long time, dwelling on it, they remained encamped, and when it was take up they journeyed.
Num 9:23
‘At the commandment of Yahweh they encamped, and at the commandment of Yahweh they journeyed. They kept the charge of Yahweh, at the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.’
They did all at the command of Yahweh. At His command they encamped. At His command they journeyed. They obeyed His command, they kept His charge according to His watch over them. It was all at the command of Yahweh by Moses. Note the threefold emphasis on camping and journeying ‘at the commandment of Yahweh’ (Num 9:18; Num 9:20; Num 9:23).
The overall emphasis of this passage is clear. They were aware that Yahweh kept watch over them. They journeyed only at His command. At His command they remained where they were. And it was all indicated through the cloud, through which Yahweh revealed His personal will and guardianship To some extent this would exonerate Moses. He could not be blamed if they ‘went wrong’ on the journey. The directions were given in the sight of all, they were not of his choosing. But note the final phrase. All recognised that Yahweh led them because of Moses.
For us there is no cloud to guide. But we have before us the unveiled glory of Jesus (2Co 3:1 to 2Co 4:6). He leads us through His Spirit (Rom 8:14; Gal 5:18) and through His word. The cloud has been replaced by the Illuminator and the revelation of the glory of Christ, and His presence is just as surely with us as it was with them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Cloud of the Lord’s Presence
v. 15. And on the day that the Tabernacle was reared up, the cloud covered the Tabernacle, namely, the Tent of the Testimony, v. 16. So it was alway, v. 17. And when the cloud was taken up from the Tabernacle, v. 18. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched, v. 19. And when the cloud tarried long upon the Tabernacle many days, v. 20. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the Tabernacle, v. 21. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, v. 22. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the Tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
v. 23. At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE SIGNALS OF GOD (Num 9:15-23).
Num 9:15
On the day that the tabernacle was reared up. Here we are sent back again to the great day of Israel’s sojourn at Sinai, when God took visible possession of his dwelling in the midst of them (Exo 40:34). Everything after that was but preparatory to the approaching departure, and therefore is narrated not in any order of time, but either as it referred back to the first day of the first month, or forward to the twentieth day of the second month. The cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony. The testimony was the decalogue written on the two tables of stone, and enshrined within the ark, the moral law which lay at the heart of Judaism. The tent of the testimony was the holy of holies in which the ark dwelt (see on Num 10:11; Num 18:2). The exact meaning of the words is disputed, or the rather significance of the with which the phrase “tent of the testimony” is appended to the word “tabernacle” (dwelling). Some take it as equivalent in construction to the genitive, “the dwelling of the tent of the testimony;” in which case it would simply mean that the cloud covered the whole tabernacle, the mishcan which enveloped and enclosed the ohel, which again enshrined the ark and the testimony. Others take here in the sense of “at” or “towards,” and read, “covered the dwelling, towards the tent of the testimony,” i.e; over that part of it in which the testimony was kept. Apart from the strict grammatical question, the comparison of other passages cited (especially Exo 40:34) seems in favour of the first interpretation, and so apparently the Septuagint and the Targums.
Num 9:16
So it was alway. This supernatural phenomenon was not transitory, like the glory-cloud within the tabernacle (Exo 40:35; cf. 1Ki 8:10), but permanent, as long at least as the Israelites were in the wilderness.
Num 9:17
When the cloud was taken up. This verse and the following to the end of the chapter are an amplification of Exo 40:36-38 (cf. Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22; Neh 9:12; Psa 78:14). It would appear from Exo 13:21 that there was nothing new in the fact of the cloudy fiery pillar directing the movements of the host, but only in the fact of its resting on the tabernacle when in repose. In the place where the cloud abode, or “came down.” . As the tabernacle was taken all to pieces, and its portions widely separated on the march, the cloud could not rest upon it as a signal for halting. We must probably picture to ourselves the cloud rising to some considerable height when it was “taken up,” so as to be visible for a great distance, and as settling down again over the spot where the tabernacle was to be set up. In this way the signals given by the cloud would be immediately perceived by a vast multitude.
Num 9:19
Tarried long. Hebrew, , “to prolong,” i.e; the resting. The Septuagint has .
Num 9:20
And so it was. Rather, “did it happen that.” hypothetical clause introducing several other cases which actually occurred, and by which their perfect obedience was proved.
Num 9:21
From even unto the morning. Allowing but a single night’s rest.
Num 9:22
Or a year. Rather, “days” (yamin): an undefined period (Gen 4:3; Gen 40:4), often equivalent to a year (Le 25:29). It is not known whether or on what occasion the Israelites actually remained in camp for a year. But it is evident that this passage must have been written after the wanderings were over, because it is a kind of retrospect of the whole period as regards one important feature of it. It may of course have been added here by the hand of Moses on the eve of entry upon the promised land: or it may have been added by a later hand, perhaps that of Ezra when he revised these books (see the Introduction).
HOMILETICS
Num 9:15-23
DIVINE GUIDANCE
In this section we have, spiritually, the Divine guidance of the faithful through the wilderness of this life. Consider, therefore
I. THAT THE THEOPHANY, OR DIVINE APPEARANCE UPON THE TABERNACLE, WAS AS A CLOUD BY DAY AND AS FIRE BY NIGHT. Even so is the Lord unto his people both shelter and illumination,shade that they faint not, light that they wander not astray (Psa 27:1; Psa 36:9; Psa 121:5; Isa 25:4; Mat 11:29; Joh 8:12).
II. THAT THE CLOUD WAS UPON THE TABERNACLE OF WITNESS, WITHOUT, AND–YET IN A MANNER CONNECTED WITH THE “TESTIMONY” ENGRAVEN UPON THE TABLES OF STONE. Even so the comfort and illumination of the faithful, albeit not of themselves but of God, are yet vitally connected with the law of holiness which is enshrined in their hearts (Joh 14:15, Joh 14:23; Heb 12:14).
III. THAT THIS THEOPHANY WAS THE INFALLIBLE GUIDE TO THEIR MOVEMENTS, WHETHER TO REST OR TO ADVANCE. Even so the Lord himself, even God made manifest in Christ, is our only guide along the way to heaven (Psa 48:14; Luk 1:79; Joh 21:22; 1Th 3:11).
IV. THAT THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE CLOUD WAS APPARENTLY ARBITRARY, SOMETIMES LINGERING LONG AS THOUGH IT HAD FORGOTTEN HOW TO MOVE, SOMETIMES HASTENING ON WITHOUT REST. Even so the Divine guidance, whether of the Church or of the individual, is often unintelligible and sometimes apparently perverse: how unequal are the advances of the Church, or of the soul, towards perfection (Joh 13:7): what need of
(1) patience, and
(2) preparedness (Luk 9:59, sq.; Luk 12:36; Luk 21:19; Eph 6:15; Rev 13:10).
V. THAT THE PEOPLE WERE STRICTLY OBEDIENT IN THIS, THAT THEY JOURNEYED NOT EXCEPT BY THE DIRECTION OF THE CLOUD, BECAUSE THEY FEARED TO BE WITHOUT IT. Even so the faithful will follow him that leadeth them as obediently as they can, because away from him and his guidance they would neither be able to endure, nor to progress (Joh 6:68; Joh 10:4; Joh 13:37; Joh 14:6).
VI. THAT WHEN ONCE, AND ONLY ONCE, THEY PRESUMED TO GO ON WHEN THE CLOUD BID THEM NOT, THEY MET DISASTROUS DEFEAT (Num 14:44, Num 14:45). Even so if any will presume to go beyond the command and permission of his Lord (even in zeal) he will be overthrown of Satan (cf. Luk 22:55 b, sq.; 1Co 7:5 b).
HOMILIES BY W. BINNIE
Num 9:15-23
THE GUIDING PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FLAME
This pillar served more purposes than one; but without doubt the purpose noted here by Moses himself was that principally intended. It was the signal by which the Lord guided the march of the tribes (Neh 9:12, Neh 9:19; Psa 78:14). Some such signal was absolutely necessary. To direct the march of a nation through the wilderness was no easy matter. When Alexander the Great led his army across the wide levels of Babylonia he caused a grating filled with a blazing fire to be borne aloft on a long pole, that its smoke might guide the march by day, and its fire by night. A similar device is constantly made use of by the caravans which make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The march of the tribes from Egypt had the Lord himself for its Guide, and the cloud of his presence showed the way. No feature of the long march has more deeply impressed itself on the imagination of the Church than this guiding pillar. It has been instinctively accepted as a sign in which we too may claim an interest. For are not we also, as truly as the Church in the wilderness, making the journey from the land of bondage to the promised rest? Is not our life a wilderness journey; a march along a path we never trod before? The forty years’ wanderings being thus a parable of our life on earth, may we not warrantably see in the pillar of the cloud a token of certain happy conditions of the journey which it is the business of faith to apprehend?
I. Observe that the children of Israel had THEIR ROUTE DETERMINED FOR THEM. It was the hand of God which chalked out the strangely circuitous line of their march; which measured the several stages; which fixed upon the halting-places; and determined the length of the stay at each. “At the commandment of the Lord they rested, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.” No doubt there still remained large scope for the exercise of judgment on the part of leaders so familiar with the desert as Moses and Hobab. There were a thousand details to care for. But the general fact remains, and is noted with extreme care in the history, thatso far as regards the line of march and the successive stagesthe ordering of the journey from first to last was by the Lord. It would not be difficult to prove that our route also is determined for us. God has determined our appointed times, and the bounds of our habitation (Act 17:26). The mapping out of our lives is his doing. This, I say, is capable of proof. Yet I should imagine that, to such as have been reasonably careful to observe their own course, no formal array of evidence will be needed. They know how often their own plans and those of friends have been upset, and the whole circumstances of their lives arranged quite otherwise than they ever contemplated, and yet with a most wise and considerate regard for their good. What then?
(1) Do not forget to give God the glory. Acknowledge his overruling hand (Psa 107:43). Many forget to do this; and accordingly they learn nothing of his mind, even when his providence speaks most plainly. A thing dishonouring to God and entailing great less to them.
(2) Thankfully commit your way to him for the time to come.
II. The Lord not only determined the route of the tribes but gave them A VISIBLE SIGN of his guidance. Here, it may be supposed, the parallel fails, and we must resign ourselves to a more uncertain and precarious guidance than the tribes enjoyed. But it is not so. For the guiding pillar in the wilderness was meant for the comfort of the Church in all times. Remember the principle laid down by the apostle in 1Co 10:11. The moving cloud was an “ensample” or type which did not cease to speak when it disappeared from view as the tribes entered the land. To faith it continues still to attest the Lord’s presence and guiding wisdom. The Divine guidance was not more patent in the desert to the sight of the tribes than it is this day to the faith of the Church. “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Patent to faith! That saying lays bare the difficulty of which we complain. A visible guideevery one can appreciate that. An invisible guide, discerned only by the mind, or rather by faith alonethat is too shadowy, intangible, precarious. So men are apt to judge. But without reason. Arduous our faith certainly is. But precarious, barren, impotent to sustain and comfort, it certainly is not. God’s presence visible to the eye availed to guide and cheer the tribes in the wilderness; but God’s presence seen by faith has availed much more to guide and cheer the Church of Christ these nineteen centuries. To walk by faith is the achievement of the Church’s maturity. To walk by sight belonged to the Church’s childhood. And we can trace all through the Scripture a gradual weaning of the Church from the one, and a gradual training of it to the other. In the wilderness the Church’s weakness was comforted with the pillar of cloud and fire towering high in the sight of the whole camp: during the time of the first temple the cloud was seen only within the holy place: during the period of the second temple it was quite withdrawn. Yet Ezra and his company made the journey as safely as Moses and the tribes; and the glory of the latter house was greater than of the former. “He hath said, I will never leave thee; so that we may boldly say, I will not fear.”B.
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT
Num 9:23
GOD’S CEASELESS PROVIDENCE A MOTIVE TO PROMPT OBEDIENCE
God’s presence with Israel was perpetual (Exo 3:12; Exo 13:17-18). The sign of it in the cloud was given as soon, and was continued as long, as it was needed (Exo 13:21, Exo 13:22; Exo 40:38). God’s active, providential presence was
I. A SOURCE OF SAFETY;
II. A GROUND OF FAITH; and therefore,
III. A MOTIVE TO OBEDIENCE.
I. The cloud
(1) led them the safest way (Exo 13:17).
(2) Ensured protection from foes when near at hand (Exo 14:19, Exo 14:20, Exo 14:24).
(3) Gave light on the camp in moonless nights (Neh 9:19).
(4) Was a pledge of safety to sinners, as it rested on the mercy-seat (Le Num 16:2). This visible cloud a symbol of protection by an invisible God (Isa 4:5). Illustrations, bird and young (Rth 2:12; Psa 17:8; Psa 91:4). Father carrying his child by day (Deu 1:31), and watching by him at night (Psa 121:1-8). There is safety for sinners not away from God but in God (Psa 143:2, Psa 143:9).
II. God showed himself in the cloud for the very purpose of guiding. He took the responsibility out of the hands of the people and Moses that they might have the privilege of trusting (Exo 33:9-17; Deu 1:33). Such a guiding presence we may enjoy by the aid of God’s written counsels, providential acts, and inward monitions (Psa 25:4, Psa 25:5, Psa 25:9, Psa 25:14). See how these three are combined in the narrative (Act 8:26-35).
III. Num 9:23 is very emphatic. They obeyed even if at times the journey was very arduous (Num 21:4), or the halt very tedious (Num 9:22), or the start was sudden, as when a midnight alarm of the trumpets was a sign that the cloud had begun to move (Num 9:21). Hence we learn
(1) not to take for granted that any place is our rest (Job 29:18; Mic 2:10).
(2) To be willing to go to the wilderness with God, rather than to stay in the choicest paradise without God.
(3) To be willing to endure, at God’s bidding, protracted toil or enforced inactivity.
(4) To be ready at any time to strike our tent and go home. Thus waiting on God and waiting for God, we arc safely led, and have the rest of trustful obedience (Psa 5:11, Psa 5:12; Psa 48:14; Psa 84:11, Psa 84:12).P.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Num 9:15-23
THE CLOUD UPON THE TABERNACLE
There is a fuller account of the rearing of the tabernacle and the descent of the cloud upon it in Exo 40:1-38. Note
I. THE CONNECTION OF THIS CLOUD WITH PAST EXPERIENCES. It is spoken of as “the cloud”something, therefore, already known. It was known as associated with the glorious doings of Jehovah in the midst of the people. A remembrancer of the perilous march, with the Red Sea before and the Egyptians behind, when he who made his presence known by the pillar of cloud so gloriously delivered his people and overwhelmed their enemies (Exo 14:19). A remembrancer of the provided manna, when, after God had promised it, the people looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud (Exo 16:10). A remembrancer, again, of the solemn waiting upon Jehovah’s will at Sinai (Exo 19:9; Exo 24:15-18). Compare with these experiences under the law the great and abiding experience under the gospel. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth” (Joh 1:14). He who afterwards tabernacled in the flesh, made his glory to rest on the tabernacle in the wilderness. When Jesus came, God showed his favour resting not only on the Israelites, but on all mankind.
II. THE CONNECTION OF THIS CLOUD WITH OBEYED COMMANDMENTS. The cloud that had hitherto rested on Sinai now came down on the tabernacle. This showed Jehovah’s approval of the tabernacle. All had been fashioned according to the pattern in the mount. The tabernacle and the holy place, themselves made of perishable materials, were nevertheless typically perfect. They were not inspired by the invention of men, but by the revelation of God. God will give indubitable signs of approval when we are doing things according to his will. This tabernacle and its contents were the types of the truths, duties, and privileges of the gospel, and only as we receive the truths, practice the duties, and employ the privileges, shall we have the glory of God resting upon us. Until that time we come short of the glory of God. We may talk as we like about the glorious achievements of human thought, making our little clouds and fires about the earth, and calling them immortal and imperishable, but God will approve no man until his life is ordered in all things by the requirements of the gospel.
III. THE CLOUD SO APPEARING WAS A PROOF OF GOD‘S FAVOUR, VISIBLE TO ALL AND APPRECIABLE BY THEM. All Israel could see the tabernacle and the cloud. God had told his people they were not to make any graven image, or likeness of any created thing, but they found the first and second commandments very hard to obey. They hankered after something they could see. The idolatries of Egypt had infected them, and even within sight of Sinai they made a golden calf, for which gross transgression the Lord terribly plagued them. Nevertheless, though there is no material or shape on earth fit to indicate Jehovah, he will minister to human weakness, remembering that we are dust, and he gives the glory-cloud for all to see. What a help to faith! What a warning to unbelief! What mercy amid severity! So God, whom no man hath seen or can see, becomes God manifest in the flesh. He who has seen the Son has seen the Father.
IV. THE CLOUD SO APPEARING, VARIED IN ITS APPEARANCE, ACCORDING TO HUMAN NECESSITY. There was a cloud by day, and the appearance of fire by night. We need not suppose any change in the cloud itself as day slipped into night, and night back again into day. As darkness fell upon the scene the fiery element in the cloud became more noticeable and valuable. So there is encouragement for wandering and bewildered souls. The darker life becomes, and the more perplexing our path, the more manifest becomes the presence of God. During the days of a man’s content with natural possessions and resources, when the sunshine of nature is falling on his life, then the cloud of God’s providence appears, but let the night of spiritual distress, the great difficulties of sin, and death, and eternity darken the soul, then the bright, conspicuous fires of grace at once appear.
V. THE CLOUD BY ITS MOVEMENTS BECAME AN INFALLIBLE GUIDE. Thus Jehovah showed that he, the invisible one, was the leader of the people. The resting and the moving cloud meant the resting and the moving people. It was ever with them to point the way. God’s goodness does not pass away as the morning cloud and the early dew. The cloud said plainly, “Follow me.” So Jesus says, “Follow me,” reiterating, emphasizing, and illustrating the command. If we are ever to reach the rest that remaineth for the people of God, it must be by acting towards Jesus as the Israelites did towards the cloud in the wilderness (Deu 32:10-12; 2Ch 5:13; Psa 43:3; Isa 4:5; Isa 49:10).Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Num 9:15. And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up Being now come to the decampment of the Israelites from mount Sinai, it was natural for Moses to mention by what direction these decampments were made; and we find it repeated no less than three times in the compass of these few verses, that it was at the commandment of the Lord, signified by the cloud of glory, that they moved or rested. Maimonides says, that the reason for Moses being so particular in repeating so often this circumstance of their marching and resting at the command of God, was to confute the opinion of the Arabians and others, who imagined that the reason of the Israelites staying so long in the wilderness was because they had lost their way: which, he observes, was a very idle conceit; since the way from mount Horeb to Kadesh Barnea, on the borders of Canaan, was a known, beaten road, and not above eleven days journey; so that it was hardly possible for them to miss it, far less to wander in a bewildered condition for forty years. Le Clerc, however, assigns, for the repetition, only the simplicity of the ancient manner of writing. By the hand of Moses, Num 9:23 signifies, by the ministry of Moses, their lawgiver and director under God; who, at every march and encampment, accompanied the divine signal with a solemn prayer; saying, when the ark set forward, Rise up, Lord! let thine enemies be scattered, &c. when it rested, Return, O Lord! unto the many thousands of Israel; see ch. Num 10:35-36. They marched sometimes by night, which is the chief time for travelling through these desarts, on account of the heat; see Observations, p. 223. Thus, how tedious and irksome soever their particular travels or stations might be, and however impatiently desirous they were of arriving at the promised land; yet they resigned themselves to the constant direction of this heavenly guide; and never dared to stir, but by the special appointment of God, under the ministry of his servant Moses. It was a glorious advantage to the Jews to be led by the cloud in the wilderness, which was to them a constant symbol of the Divine Presence; but let Christians remember, that in Jesus Christ they have a much more expressive pledge of God’s presence and favour; and are much more happy in being guided by the light of the Gospel; which shews them the way wherein they are to walk during their stay in this world, in order to their arrival at the joys of heaven.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Beside the historical sense of this passage, let the reader not overlook the spiritual. If he consults the Prophet, he will discover that the LORD himself, is both the pillar of fire and the cloud. Isa 27:3Isa 27:3 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
tabernacle = habitation. Heb mishkan. App-40.
was = came to be: i.e. remained.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Cloud upon the Tabernacle
Num 9:15-23
We cannot decide on the shape of this cloud; whether it was a great cumulus, or spread out over the camp like an umbrella, so as to shelter the people from the sun glare. As the night fell, the shekinah-fire, that burned at its heart, became apparent. But whether it sheltered by day or illumined by night, it was always the symbol of the divine presence. All this prefigured the guidance and shelter that are afforded to His people by our Lord. Compare Joh 8:12.
Friends may urge you to change your sphere. The scarcity of your resources and the pressure of your foes may appear to force a move. A nameless fear may suggest that you will never hold your ground. But so long as the cloud doesnt move, you must tarry where you are. Where the cloud broods, the manna falls. My soul, wait thou only upon God! Never go in front of God, nor lag behind, nor hesitate to strike your tent, if He leads on.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
on the day: Exo 40:2, Exo 40:18
the cloud: Num 14:14, Exo 14:19, Exo 14:20, Exo 14:24, Exo 33:9, Exo 33:10, Exo 40:34, Neh 9:12, Neh 9:19, Psa 78:14, Psa 105:39, Isa 4:5, Eze 10:3, Eze 10:4, 1Co 10:1
at even: Exo 13:21, Exo 40:38
Reciprocal: Exo 26:36 – the tent Exo 38:21 – tabernacle of testimony Deu 1:33 – in fire 1Ki 8:9 – when Act 7:36 – and in the wilderness Act 7:44 – the tabernacle
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The Cloud by Day and the Fire by Night
Num 9:15-23
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
Our study opens with a very brief statement which reads: “On the day that the Tabernacle was reared up.” The Tabernacle was the place where God dwelt. It was there that He met His people, and there that He manifested Himself unto them.
Stephen, in speaking on the memorable day of his martyrdom said: “Our fathers had the Tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.” After that Solomon built Him an house. Stephen continued, “Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”
The present tabernacle in which God deigns to dwell is the bodies of believers, even as it is written,-“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” This is also seen in the statements of Christ, where He said that He would abide in us and that His Father would come and take up His abode in us.
When we think of the Tabernacle of old, however, we stand in amazement at every detail that marked its construction. The Tabernacle proclaimed Christ and many things relative to Christ. The whole thing was typical of things to come. It was for this cause that God spoke unto Moses that he should make it according to the pattern showed him in the mount. It was because Moses realized the typical meaning of the Tabernacle, that we read seven times, in the last chapter of Exodus, these striking words: “As the Lord commanded Moses,” so did he. Moses obeyed to the letter every instruction until he had finished the work.
Not alone was the Tabernacle itself typical, but also everything that was placed within it, was typical. In the outer courts, before one entered the Tabernacle proper there was first of all the brazen altar. Upon this altar sacrifices were made. No one could even approach unto the Tabernacle, itself, nor have a right even to entrance into the Tabernacle enclosure without the offering of blood. So it is today, there is no approach to God apart from the Calvary Sacrifice.
Next to the brazen altar came the laver. This was made of brass and it was filled with looking glasses around it. The idea of the laver was personal cleansing. The looking glasses made sin manifest. The laver was “the washing of water by the Word.” It stood for the sanctified life. It suggested that the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son keeps cleansing us from every sin.
In the first inside court of the Tabernacle proper, there were three significant constructions. First, there was the table of shewbread. This spoke of Christ as the Bread of Life, the sustainer of His people. This symbolism follows throughout the Scriptures. The Lord Jesus, Himself, said that He was the Bread which came down from Heaven. He added, “I am the Bread of Life.” He asserted that he who ate of this Divine Bread should never hunger.
There was also the altar of incense. This altar stood for the prayers of God’s people. Prayers acceptable. It showed that we can get through to God, and that our prayers are a sweet smelling savour, made acceptable unto the Father, because of the Son.
Thirdly, there were the golden candlesticks. These proclaimed Jesus Christ the Light of the World, the light of life. The Gospel of John speaks very definitely of Christ the Light. John’s Epistle is just as emphatic.
In the Holy of Holies was the Ark with its mercy seat covered by the cherubims. The faces of the cherubs looked down upon a broken Law, which lay inside the Ark and under the mercy seat. They looked down, however, by way of the mercy seat of gold, upon which the high priest placed the blood every year.
I. SOME SUGGESTIONS RELATIVE TO THE TABERNACLE (Num 9:15)
1. The Tabernacle brings to mind a backward look. When we think of the erection of the Tabernacle we think of God in the midst of His people. It was so in the beginning. Israel had direct fellowship with God. God’s presence with Israel was surpassed only by His presence with the first man, in the Garden of Eden. Israel did not need to think of God as far distant in the skies. God dwelt with her, walked with her, talked to her. He described Himself as an eagle bearing His people on His wings. He said: “So the Lord alone did lead him.”
He said: “When Israel was a child, then I loved him.” He added: “I drew them (that is Israel and Ephraim) with cords of a man, with bands of love.” How great was God’s love for His people. He surrounded Israel as a fire. He led her with His eye.
2. The Tabernacle brings to mind a present look. God was with His people in the Tabernacle. He is now with us. We love the little expression, so frequently found in the Scriptures-“In the midst.”
The Lord said: “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.” In the Book of Revelation, where we have the story of the seven Churches, we find a marvelous description of Jesus Christ accompanied with this remarkable statement concerning the Churches, And in the midst of them, “One like unto the Son of Man.”
It is only when you come to Laodicea that you find Jesus Christ excluded by a world-centered and world-pleasing Church. There, He stands outside the door knocking.
The last command of our Lord was that we should go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. With the command came the promise, “Lo, I am with you alway.”
3. The Tabernacle brings to mind a future look. In Zephaniah we read of the Millennial Kingdom under these words: “The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save.”
II. THE GLORY CLOUD (Num 9:15)
In the early part of our verse is the statement, “The cloud covered the Tabernacle.” This cloud has a remarkable story throughout both the Old and the New Testament Scriptures,
1. The Cloud and the Tabernacle. In Exodus is the expression: “So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.”
It must have been a wonderful hour when God thus manifested His glory.
2. The Cloud in the Temple. We read in I Kings, “So was ended all the work that King Solomon made for the House of the Lord.” Then followed the dedication of the Temple, and Solomon’s marvelous prayer. It was, however, when the Ark of the Covenant was brought up to the Temple and when the trumpeters and singers were as one, “to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, * * that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the House of the Lord.”
3. The Cloud leaving Israel. In the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 8, we read the sad story of the cloud departing from the Temple of God. It is in chapter 10, that we find this statement, “Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.” A little later we read: “Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the Mountain which is on the east side of the city.” That cloud will never return to Israel until Christ returns to Israel in the cloud of His glory, and every eye shall see Him.
III. THE TENT OF TESTIMONY (Num 9:15)
This is a marvelous verse, and we cannot pass it over too quickly. Another statement in the verse is this: “The cloud covered the Tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony.” This is a most significant expression, and we immediately ask: In what sense was the Tabernacle a tent of testimony? Was it because Moses placed the testimony of God into the Ark? The Ark was certainly an Ark of testimony, and the Tabernacle took its name therefrom and was called the Tabernacle of Testimony.
We have three suggestions to make:
1. The Ark was a testimony to the nations around, of God’s presence with His people. If anyone came against Israel, or sought to molest Israel, they realized that God dwelt in the midst of His people. What is our security today? Is it not the fact that God is with us?
2. The Ark was a testimony to the nations of God’s provision for His people. We are not talking of temporal provisions, but of spiritual. God provided every spiritual blessing to Israel, and the Ark, in its every typical meaning, testified to those provisions. There was not one thing in the Ark, nor about it, that did not bear testimony to what God was to His people, and what God was doing for His people.
3. The Ark was a testimony to God’s preservation of His people. Have we not read, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” The Ark seemed to say, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” The Ark seemed to say, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” As long as God dwelt with His people they were safe. Christ said, “Because I live, ye shall live also.”
IV. THE FIRE BY NIGHT (Num 9:16)
1. This is an age of darkness. How dark it. was in Egypt when God spoke judgment unto the Egyptians. Unto Israel, however, it was light. How dark it was among the nations, in Moses’ day, when the Tabernacle was reared. However, with Israel it was light.
How dark it is today! The Bible never speaks of the present age excepting tinder the typology of darkness and of night. However, saints are called the children of the light; the children of the day, and not of the darkness, nor of the night. Our path is a path “that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” It grows brighter and brighter because there shines above us the pillar of fire by night.
2. The light shone in the darkness. Jesus Christ is the Light of life. Some men do not care for the light, because their deeds are evil. Have you not read the statement in Matthew? “The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nepthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” Thus it is that the pillar of fire makes us think of Christ who is the Light.
3. The light by fire is the suggestion of warmth in the midst of chill. Whenever the sun goes down, the atmosphere is cooled. We speak of the chill of the night. When the sun, however, rises its heat begins to drive away the cold. Let us, therefore, as we think of the pillar of light remember that it was also a pillar of fire. Fire gives light, but it likewise gives heat Is there anything that warms the heart of the believer like the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire?
At Pentecost “cloven tongues like as of fire, * * sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” It was then that their hearts were filled with joy and they “did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart” It was then that the Christians were together in hallowed comradeship “and had all things common.”
V. JOURNEYING WITH THE CLOUD (Num 9:17)
How striking are the words: “And when the cloud was taken up from the Tabernacle, then after that the Children of Israel journeyed.”
1. A God-planned life. When we think that every movement of the Children of Israel, during the years of their wilderness journey was under direct command from God, we cannot help but ask the question, Does God also have a plan for our lives?
Let us remember how it is written that we are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” It is also written, “To every man his work.”
Surely “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.” Mark you, it is not merely the life as a whole, but the steps-that means each detail of the life.
2. May we know God’s plan? Israel had no difficulty in knowing. Whenever the cloud was lifted, they immediately began preparation to follow it in the way that it led. May we know, is there a cloud that will lift for us? God has given very plain instructions on this line. He says: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice.” This is the first step in knowing God’s will.
Again, He says: “Be not conformed to this world,” that is, do not walk as men, do not follow the movements of earthly clouds. This is the second step in knowing God’s plan.
He says: “By the renewing of your mind,” that is, put the Living God back of your thinking and your choices. Let Him take charge of the spirit of the mind. This is the third step.
Immediately we are told that we will know what is God’s good and acceptable and perfect will.
3. The vital responsibility of life. Had Israel not journeyed when God gave command; had they not followed the cloud, what indescribable havoc would have come to them. So it is that anyone who walks outside of the will of God will meet disaster.
VI. THE TIME TO GO, AND THE TIME TO STAY. (Num 9:18)
Our verse says: “At the commandment of the Lord the Children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the Tabernacle they rested in their tents.”
1. The life of action. We realize that there is a time to serve. The same God who said, “Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy,” also said: “Six days shalt thou * * work.”
The life of uncommanded rest is just as fatal as the life of uncommanded activity. The soldier does not march until he hears the command to go forward. To rush into the fray uncommissioned is to rush to defeat. It is also defeat to be idle, when it is time to serve.
The thing that grieves us is that the commands, “Go ye into all the world,” “Go out into the highways and hedges,” “Return to thine own house,” are being so ruthlessly set aside.
One of the chief sins is the hiding of the talent, or of the pound in the napkin. Jesus told us we were to occupy. He said: “Till I come.” To one man the Lord said, “Go work today in My vineyard,” but he would not. God forgive the millions of Christians who never move when the cloud moves.
2. The life of rest. When the cloud tarried, they tarried. There is a time for us to steal apart a little while and rest. The rest life, however, does not mean a life of inactivity. It is the time for prayer and for communion. We stop the while, in order that we may take on fuel for another journey. We tarry, that we may become stronger for another fight Remember as you think of the rest side of life, that in the beginning there were six days of labor to one of rest. Let us rightly proportion our lives to this rule.
VII. ABJECT OBEDIENCE. (Num 9:1-23 : selections from verses 19-23)
In the verses before us there are several statements to which we will call your attention.
1. In Num 9:19, “The Children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord.”
2. In Num 9:20, “According to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents.”
3. In Num 9:21, “They journeyed: whether it was by day or by night.”
4. In Num 9:22, “Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, * * and journeyed not: * * they journeyed.”
5. In Num 9:23, “They kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”
If ever there was a picture anywhere of absolute and abject obedience, it is here.
1. They obeyed under all conditions. They journeyed whether by day or night. If the cloud moved by night, they moved. They did not wait for the dawning of another day. We are not only to obey the Lord, but we are to obey Him immediately. When God said to Philip, “Go * * unto the way that * * is desert,” Philip arose and went.
2. They obeyed at all times. That is, whether it were a day, or a month, or a year. Once God said to Israel, “Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount,” then they journeyed.
Beloved, let us stay put till the cloud moves. Let us neither run ahead of God, nor lag behind Him.
3. Keeping tryst. It is thus that we like to sum up these verses. It is thus that we hope to sum up our lives. It was the mother of Christ who said to the servants, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” It takes just as much fidelity to Christ to be a shut-in, in His will, as it does to be out in the front of the battle. We are just as faithful staying with the stuff, as we are standing at the front, providing this is God’s command. The eighteen years at Nazareth were just as vitally a part in the life of Christ, as were the three and a half years of ministry.
AN ILLUSTRATION
Cloudless lives are not the most beautiful. A life with clouds of struggle and sorrow, all lighted up with the rays from the Sun of Righteousness, far excels in beauty any sunset ever seen. The spray thrown up by the rushing torrent of Niagara greatly adds to the beauty of the Falls, because the sun paints rainbows upon it. And so lives with Niagara torrents of struggle are the more beautiful for the clouds raised by such struggle, if they are flooded with light from Heaven. There is one place where clouds are never seen; and that is the desert of Sahara. Desolation and death are twin monarchs there, The lives which have been richest in good works have been like the life of the Man of Sorrows, full of clouds, and a bow of promise on every cloud.-Dr. A. C Dixon.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
SINAI TO PARAN
The people had been at Sinai for about a year (compare Exo 19:1). They were refreshed after their Egyptian servitude. The law had been given, the tabernacle erected, and the means and method of approach to God had been revealed. Thus had they entered on a course of moral and religious training which inspired them with a conviction of their high destiny, and prepared them to begin their journey to the promised land.
The events of this lesson revolve around the initial step of this journey, and include the following:
1. directions about the guiding cloud (Num 9:15-23) 2. directions about the trumpets (Num 10:1-10) 3. record of the first three days (Num 10:11-28) 4. Moses request to Hobab (Num 10:29-32) 5. Moses prayer (Num 10:33-36).
THE CLOUD
We have sufficiently considered the subject of the cloud (Exodus 13). Of what was it the signal (Num 10:17)? To what was its action equivalent (Num 10:18)? What indicates their strict obedience to this signal (Num 10:22-23)?
THE TRUMPETS
The Egyptian trumpets which called their votaries to the temples were short and curved like rams horns, but these of Moses, to judge by those represented on the arch of Titus, were long and straight, much like our own. Of what, and how were they to be made (Num 10:2)? What was their purpose (Num 10:2-3)? How many different calls were described (Num 10:4-7)? Who could use the trumpets (Num 10:8)? Observe verse 9, and compare Num 31:6 and 2Ch 13:12. Sounding the trumpets on the eve of battle was a solemn and religious act, animating the hearts of those engaged in a righteous cause. It was a promise that God would be aroused to aid with his presence in the battle.
HOBAB, THE BROTHER-IN-LAW
Probably this relative of Moses remained during a part of their encampment at Sinai, but it was natural that as they started north, he should like to remain in his own neighborhood and with his own people.
But why Moses should have importuned him to remain with them as a guide when they had the cloud for that purpose is a question. The answer seems to be that the cloud showed the general route, but did not point out minutely where pasture, shade and water were to be obtained, and which were often hid in obscure spots by the shifting sand. Then too, detachments of the Israelites may have been sent off from the main body. Hobab meant more to them than a single individual, for he was doubtless, prince of a clan, and hence could render considerable service.
Notice the motive Moses places before him (Num 10:29), and the reward he promises him (Num 10:32), and yet, it does not influence him favorably, if we may so interpret Jdg 1:16 and 1Sa 15:6.
Preachers will find a text for a gospel sermon in these words of Moses. They are:
A confession: We are journeying; An invitation: Come thou with us; A promise: We will do thee good; A testimony: The Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.
QUESTIONS
1. About how long had Israel remained at Sinai?
2. What five events are included in this lesson?
3. How would you interpret the trumpets on the eve of battle?
4. How explain Moses request of Hobab?
5. Can you give a homiletic outline of Num 10:29?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Num 9:15-23. The Movement of the Camp Determined by the Fiery Cloud.Since according to P the Tabernacle was in the centre of the camp when it was stationary, and in the midst of the column when it was on the march (Num 2:17, Num 10:21), the setting or rising of the cloud above it only gave the signal for encamping or for breaking up the camp: the direction of the march was conveyed from Yahweh through Moses (Num 10:13). The view of the writer of Num 10:33-36* is quite different. The conception of the cloud as fiery (Num 9:15) maintains the idea of fire as the symbol of Yahwehs presence, which occurs in Gen 15:17, Exo 3:2-4. Fire was also associated with the presence of heathen deities: for instance, it was believed to play around a temple of Aphrodite at Aphaca, and around a sacred olive-troe near Tyre (Exo 13:21 f.*).
Num 9:16. covered it: add (with LXX) by day.
Num 9:22. a year: literally, days, i.e. an indefinite period.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
9:15 And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, [namely], the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the {g} appearance of fire, until the morning.
(g) Like a pillar, read Exo 13:21-22.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The covering cloud 9:15-23
The time had come for the Israelites to resume their journey when the people had celebrated the Passover. All that remained for the Israelites to know was how God would lead them. Moses recorded God’s revelation of that in this section.
The cloudy pillar stood over the tabernacle (Num 9:15-16). It does not appear to have covered the entire camp of Israel.
"Like the Tabernacle, Canaan would be a focal point of Yahweh’s residence among men, the place where His sovereignty would find historical expression through His specially chosen people." [Note: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," p. 60.]
The comparatively lengthy description of God’s direction of Israel with the cloud (Num 9:17-23) indicates God’s sovereign and purposeful leadership of His people. The Israelites remained where they were just as long as God wanted them to remain there. Their experiences along the way were not accidental but providential. This description also expressed the "excitement of the occasion." [Note: G. Wenham, pp. 100-101.]
The way the Israelites discovered how God was leading them was to look at the revelation of Himself that He provided in the cloud. He did not explain His movements, but their duty was to follow in faith.
"The writer is intent on showing that at this point in their walk with the Lord, Israel was obedient and followed the Lord’s guidance. The writer’s concern to make this point can be seen in that seven times in this brief narrative, it is said that they ’obeyed the commandment of the Lord’ and thus traveled when the cloud lifted from the tabernacle and moved (Num 9:18; Num 9:20; Num 9:23; cf. Exo 17:1)." [Note: Sailhamer, p. 381.]
The chapter closes with another reference to the Israelites’ careful and exact obedience to Yahweh’s instructions, an important theme in this book.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
THE CLOUD AND THE MARCH
1. THE GUIDING CLOUD
Num 9:15-23
THE pillar of cloud, the ensign of Jehovahs royalty among the Hebrews, and for us one of the most ancient symbols of His grace, is first mentioned in the account of the departure from Egypt. “Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light.” At the passage of the Red Sea this murky cloud removed and came between the host of Israel and their pursuers. In the morning watch “Jehovah looked unto the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host of the Egyptians.” On that occasion it followed or represented “the angel of God.” There is nowhere any attempt to give a complete account of the symbol. We read of its glory filling the inner shrine and even the holy place. At other times it only hovers above the western end of the tabernacle, marking the situation of the ark. Now and again it moves from that position, and covers the door of the tent of meeting into which Moses has entered. The targums use the term Shechinah to indicate what it was conceived to be-a luminous cloud, the visible manifestation of the Divine presence; and Philo speaks of the fiery appearance of the Deity shining forth from a cloud. But these are glosses on the original descriptions and cannot be altogether harmonised. In one passage only {Isa 4:5} do we find a reference which appears to throw any light on the real nature of the symbol. Evidently recalling it, the prophet says, “Jehovah will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.” To him the cloud is one of smoke rising from a fire which at night sends up tongues of flame; and the reflection of the bright fire on the overhanging cloud resembles a canopy of glory.
Ewalds view is that the smoke of the altar which went up in a thick column, visible at a great distance by day, ruddy with flame by night, was the origin of the conception. There are various objections to this theory, which the author of it himself finds difficult to reconcile with many of the statements. At the same time the pillar of cloud does not need to be thought of as in any respect a more Divine symbol than others which were associated with the tabernacle. Certainly the ark of the covenant which Bezaleel made according to the instructions of Moses was, far beyond anything else, the sacred centre around which the whole of the worship gathered, the mysterious emblem of Jehovahs character, the guarantee of His presence with Israel. It was from the space above the mercy-seat, as we have seen, that the Voice proceeded, not from the pillar of cloud. The sanctity of the ark was so great that it was never exposed to the view of the people, nor even of the Levites who were set apart to carry it. The cloud, on the other hand, was seen by all, and had its principal function in showing where the ark was in the camp or on the march.
Now assuming, in harmony with the reference in Isaiah, that the cloud was one of smoke, some may be disposed to think that, like the ark of the covenant, the holiest symbol of all, this was produced by human intervention, yet in a way not incompatible with its sacredness, its mystery, and value as a sign of Jehovahs presence. Where Moses was as leader, law-giver, prophet, mediator, there God was for this people: what Moses did in the spirit of Divine zeal and wisdom was done for Israel by God. Through his inspiration the ritual and its elaborate symbolism had their origin. And is it not possible that after the manner of the emblem of Jehovah which appeared in the desert of Horeb the fire and cloud were now realised? While some may adopt this explanation, others again will steadily believe that the appearance and movements of the cloud were quite apart from human device or agency.
Scarcely any difficulty greater than that connected with the pillar of cloud presents itself to thoughtful modern readers of the Pentateuch. The traditional view, apparently involved in the narrative, is that in this cloud and in this alone Jehovah revealed Himself in the interval between His appearance to Jacob and, long afterwards, to Joshua in angelic form. Many will maintain that unless the cloud was of supernatural origin the whole relation of the Israelites to their Divine King must fall into shadow. Was not this one of the miracles which made Hebrew history different in kind from that of every other nation? Is it not one of the revelations of the Unseen God on which we must build if we are to have sure faith in the Old Testament economy, and indeed in Christianity itself, as of superhuman revelation? If we are not to interpret literally what is said in Exodus-“The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light”-shall we not practically abandon the whole Divine element in the history of Israels deliverance and education? Thus the difficulty stands.
Yet, it may be argued, since we have now the revelation of God in the human life of Christ and the gospel of salvation through the ministry of men, what need is there to doubt that, for the guidance of a people from place to place in the wilderness, the wisdom, foresight, and faithfulness of an inspired man were the appointed means? It is admitted that in many things Moses acted for Jehovah, that his mind received in idea, and his intellectual skill expressed in verbal form, the laws and statutes which were to maintain Israels relation to God as a covenant people. We follow our Lord Himself in saying that Moses gave Israel the law. But the legislation of the Decalogue was far more of the nature of a disclosure of God, and had far higher aims and issues than could be involved in the guidance through the desert. The law was for the spiritual nature of the Hebrews. It brought them into relation with God as just, pure, true, the sole source of moral life and progress. As the nucleus of the covenant it was symbolic in a sense that fire could never be. It may be asked, then, What need is there to doubt that Moses had his part in this symbol which has so long appeared, more than the other, important as a nexus between heaven and earth? To interpret the words “whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent,” as meaning that it was self-moved, would imply that Moses, though he is called the leader, did not lead but was led like the rest. And this would reduce his office to a point to which no prophets work is reduced throughout the entire Old Testament. Was he unable to direct the march from Moseroth to Bene-jaakan? An inspired man, on whom, according to the will of God, lay the whole responsibility for Israels national development, was he unable to determine when the pastures in one region were exhausted and others had to be sought? Then indeed the mediation of his genius would be so minimised that our whole idea of him must be changed. Especially would we have to set aside that prediction applied to Christ: “A prophet shall the Lord raise up unto you, from your brethren, like unto me.”
And further, it may be said, the pillar of cloud and fire retains the whole of its value as a symbol when the intervention of Moses is admitted; and this may be proved by the analogy of other emblems. Almost parallel to the cloud, for instance, is the serpent of brass, which became a sign of Jehovahs healing power, and conveyed new life to those who looked towards it in faith. The fact that this rude image of a serpent was made by human hands did not in the least impair its value as an instrument of deliverance, and the efficacy of that particular symbol was selected by Christ as an illustration of His own redeeming energy which was to be gained through the cross: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” For certain occasions and needs of a people one symbol avails; in other circumstances there must be other signs. The smoke-cloud was not enough when the serpents terrified the host. Elijah in this same desert saw a flashing fire; but Jehovah was not in the fire. Natural symbols, however impressive, do not avail by themselves; and when God by His prophet says, “This cloud, this fire, symbolise My presence,” and the people believe, is it not sufficient? The Divine Friend is assuredly there. The symbol is not God; it represents a fact, impresses a fact which altogether apart from the symbol would still hold good. In the course of the passage {Num 9:17-23} the manner of the guidance given by means of the cloud is carefully detailed. Sometimes the tribes remained encamped for many days, sometimes only from evening to morning. “Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried on the tabernacle, abiding thereon, the children of Israel remained encamped, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.” Here is emphasised the authority which lay in “the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.” (Num 4:23). For Israel, as for every nation that is not lost in the desert of the centuries, and every society that is not on the way to confusion, there must be wise guidance and cordial submission thereto. We are not, however, saved now, as the Israelites were, by a great movement of society, or even of the Church. Individually we must see the signal of the Divine will, and march where it points the way. And in a sense there are no rests of many days. Each morning the cloud moves forward; each morning we must strike our tents. Our march is in the way of thought, of moral and spiritual progress; and if we live in any real sense, we shall press on along that way. The indication of duty, the guidance in thought which we are to follow, impose a Divine obligation none the less that they are communicated through the instrumentality of men. For every group of travellers, associated in worship, duty, and aim, there is some spiritual authority pointing the direction to be followed. As individuals we have our separate calling, our responsibility to Christ, with which nothing is to interfere. But the unity of Christians in the faith and work of the kingdom of God must be kept; and for this one like Moses is needed, or at least a consensus of judgment, a clear expression of the corporate wisdom. The standard must be carried forward, and where it moves on to quiet pasturage or grim conflict the faithful are to advance.
“Ye armies of the living God,
His sacramental host,
Where hallowed footsteps never trod
Take your appointed post.”
“Follow the cross; the ark of peace
Accompany your path.”
Thus, we may say, the general direction runs; and in the changing circumstances of the Church submission is given by its members to those who hold command at once from the Lord Himself and from His people. But in the details of duty each must follow the guidance of a cloud that marks his own path to his own eye.