Movement
Numbers 10 gives us
the first moments of movement. I do find
it very comforting to know that the movement of the Hebrew people – as well as
the declaration of High Festivals and other gathering times – was proclaimed by
trumpets.
Why is this so
comforting? It shows us that significant
movements of the Lord are announced.
Specifically, Jesus tells us that when He returns to this earth He will
do so at the shout of a loud trumpet.
There are several other places that speak of trumpets when the Messiah
comes. Additionally, we know that much
of God’s judgment as set forth in the book of Revelation is by trumpet. The point is clear – when God moves suddenly,
He declares it.
Put this in contrast
with our present experience of the movement of God. We do know that God moves, of course. He moves within us. He moves within others. But typically we think of that as slow
movement. It is a long process.
That kind of movement
doesn’t need to be announced with a trumpet because it is slow enough for us to
recognize before God gets too far away. On
the other hand, the cloud moving away in Numbers, Christ’s return in the New
Testament, and the points of judgment in Revelation are all quick movements of
the Lord. Those are things we want to
have our attention brought to or else we might just miss what is going on!
Hobab
Having spoken about
the trumpets, I’d now like to turn a little bit here to this dialogue between
Moses and his brother-in-law Hobab. Remember
that Jethro – sometimes called Raguel in the scriptures – was Moses’ father. Moses wants Hobab to come along and show them
the good places to stay. At first, this
sounds really like the right thing to do.
After all, if you are heading into the wilderness who wouldn’t want a
scout who knows all the good places to lead them?
But think about what
that inherently says. Moses is asking
Hobab to be their guide when he has the cloud to lead them! And what is the cloud? The cloud is the very presence of God! Quite subtly and perhaps without even knowing
that he is doing it, Moses is denying his reliance upon God. He is subtly stating that he would rather
rely on a scout made of flesh and blood than God. When stated like this, it seems so
wrong. That’s why I personally hope
Moses doesn’t even realize what he is doing here.
I can certainly
forgive Moses – especially if the intent I hint at here is unintentional and
subconscious as I believe it to be. I am
prone to doing this very same thing. I
know that I should lean on God as my guide through this life. I know He should be my religious and
spiritual leader. I know His plans and
His ways are the ways that I should follow.
But so often I seem to want some human being to come and show me the
way. No, the Lord is my shepherd, not
some human being. The Lord is my Rock,
my Strength, my Shield – not some human being.
Mentoring
But before this gets
taken the wrong way, let’s not forget that sometimes God intends for us to
follow people who are following Him. For
example, God intentionally sent Moses to the Hebrew people so they could follow
Moses. Of course, Moses is following
God. When God sends us someone in our
life to follow, then we should follow them.
Woe upon us if we do not follow someone that God sends into our life! But unless a person is sent by God to be our
guide, we should focus on following God directly.
In fact, as one of
those people who often gets labeled as “someone to follow spiritually”– since I
am a pastor – I would advocate that when we choose to follow someone because
God sent them that we still must hold them accountable. Everyone is prone to straying from the path,
God’s messengers are no different. It is hard to solely depend upon God – even
for the ultra-close to God like Moses!
Moses in this story is subtly beginning to stray from depending upon
God. So, please make sure that we hold
our leaders accountable. Let there be no
blind faith among us – unless that blind faith rests purely upon God. And even then, let our faith not be blind but
informed by His ever-present Word.
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