Prepare
Opening Prayer
God, thank you for this day and your Word. Help us read, understand, and apply it to our hearts.
Read
Scripture Passage
The Cloud and the Fire
15 Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. 16 So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, after that the children of Israel would journey; and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel would pitch their tents. 18 At the command of the Lord the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the Lord they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped. 19 Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not journey. 20 So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the Lord they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the Lord they would journey. 21 So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. 22 Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. 23 At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Nu 9:15–23.
A — About
What Is This Passage About?
The Lord led Israel by the cloud over the tabernacle—cloud by day and fire by night. Whether it remained for a night or a year, the people camped or journeyed at God's command.
B — Best Verse
Which Verse Best Summarizes the Passage?
Numbers 9:23
At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed.
Bryan says he double-underlined verse 23 because it summarizes Israel's obedience: they stayed or moved according to the Lord's command.
C — Called or Christ
C — Called to Do
Trust that the Lord knows what he is doing and follow his commands even when obedience is difficult or his timing does not make sense to us.
Devotional Study
Transcript of the devotion. Minor transcription errors may remain.
Well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every weekday morning, we get into God's Word and have a bit of tea. And we go in a love... Tea! Yeah, tea! And we go in a love for the Lord together. This year, 2024, we'll make it through the books of Numbers, Deuteronomy, Judges. He was, he was serious. All right. Well, as you can tell, my voice is in my aim.
So Nathan is going to do the bulk of the reading and talking today. So why don't we have some coffee? We'll pray and get into God's Word. Why don't you put your tea up here so it doesn't fall? God, thank you for this day. Thank you for your word. Please help us to read it and understand it. Please apply it to our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen. Numbers chapter 9. Numbers chapter 9. And you can read verse 15 through the end of the chapter. Okay. Verse 15? Yes, the next page. Oh, that's one too many pages. Oh no, you're good. You're good.
Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. From evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like an appearance of fire. So it was always the cloud covered it by day and an appearance of fire by night.
Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the capital Dachau, after the children of Israel were joining, and in the place where the cloud settled, there the children of Israel went. pitch their tents at the command of the Lord. The children of Israel would journey at the command of the Lord.
They would camp as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle. They remained in camp even when the cloud continued long. Many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not journey. So it was when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days, according to the command of the Lord, They would remain encamped and according to the command of the Lord. They would journey, so it was when the cloud remained only from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up in the morning. Then they would journey, whether by day or night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. Whether it was two days, a month, or a year, that cloud remained above the Diamond Miracle. Tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped, and not journey, but when it was taken up they would journey. At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed, they kept They kept the charge of the Lord at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
Okay, so we have three questions to ask ourselves. What is this about? What is the best for us to summarize? And what are we called to do? Okay, so what's this about? There's a cloud grove which has an echo, and it's the Lord telling them whether they should go or whether they should stay. Alright, so who's in charge? God. God's in charge, right? So God's the king, he wants to go?
They go. Now it's interesting, it's a cloud by day, but... Fire by night. So you mean they would march at night too? Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, that's what God wanted them to do, that's what they did. Alright, so what if the cloud stayed for like three weeks? They'd stay for three weeks? What about a year? They'd stay for a year? Really? They would listen to God like that? That's right. So what do you think is the best verse to summarize all this? That'd be hard. I put 18. 18? Okay, yeah, I have part of 18 underlined. I have 23 double underlined. At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at the command of the Lord they journeyed. They kept the charge of the Lord at the command of the Lord by the hand of Moses.
Right, so God says to leave, they? Leave. God says to stay, they? Stay. Stay, good. What about C, calling? What do you think? We'll call to obey God. Even though it might be like, what are you doing? We could be a bank in some good way right now. The Lord knows what He's doing. Yeah, we trust the Lord that He knows what He's doing. And so when He gives a command, we follow. Do we do it out of a slavish fear? Why would we follow the Lord? Because we have faith and we honor Him. We think He knows best. That's right. And He does know best. Good. Is it easy to do all the time? Nope. No, it's really hard. It's really hard.
All right, but that's what faith is, right? Faith is trusting, even when it's hard. All right, can you pray for us? Sure. God, thank you for a good day. Please help us to walk away knowing that we are to follow God and listen to Him and have faith. And please help today and the rest of this week to go well. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, may God bless you. May you walk where He goes. May you follow where He leads. May you know that your good shepherd knows the paths in which to walk. And we'll see you next time. Say bye. Bye. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.