Numbers 8-10

note: by the beginning of chapter 9 the children of Israel have been out of Egypt for about a year. They are about to celebrate the Passover feast. The book of Numbers is good for showing God is precise about timing and numbers but, it isn’t written in chronological order. Thus chapter one discusses events in the second month of the second year and then chapter 9 discusses events in the first month of the same year.

God’s message to me: Following God’s command and worshiping as He commands is not dependent on location or even “cleanness”. Just as the Israelites would celebrate Passover wherever they were and regardless of being ceremonially unclean, we can attend church, worship God, and keep the Sabbath even on vacation or when traveling for business. God doesn’t demand we come with a clean and sinless heart. He wants to show us what needs cleaned so we will confess our sin to Him and be forgiven. It is when we are home and ready and still do not worship and fellowship as we are commanded, that God takes offense.

Promises: We don’t have to be home to worship and we don’t have to wait until we are perfect before coming to God.

Commands: God called the Israelites to celebrate the Passover. Failing to do so was sin. God has called us to worship and to keep the fellowship of the saints. Failing to do so is sin.

Timeless principles: Executive action requires organization. Chapter 9 gives a new rule regarding religious celebrations for travelers and the ritually unclean. It also establishes that the Israelites made camp and kept camp as long as the pillar of smoke and fire in which God traveled was over the tabernacle. Chapters 1-4 established organization. It numbered the people and established where each group was to camp. It set rules for how they would move and the specific jobs of certain groups. Combined with the trumpet calls of chapter 10 this organization allowed the children of Israel to move quickly and efficiently and to know what was expected of them when with a lot of running around and passing messages.

How can I apply what I’ve learned: As a truck driver I used to look for truck stops with a truckers chapel or transport to a local church on Saturday nights so that I could attend services on Sunday morning. When I delivered in the Atlanta area I attended church with a friend who lived in the area. On vacation, my wife and I look for a church we can attend for regular services.

On my honeymoon, my wife and I discovered a nice little church near the beach in Ocean City. We learned from members that the church had moved to a larger facility farther inland a couple of years before but kept the seaside building open and continued having services there so that vacationers would be easily able to find a church to attend.

There are other ways to maintain your worship, and to help others do so, including television evangelists. I have mentioned the ones I use in my own life as suggestions.

more to learn for in-depth study: Levites served from 25 years old to 50 years old in the work. This included setting up, taking down and carrying the temple and the items in it. After 50 they could minister but they were no longer allowed to “work”. In other words the physical labor parts of the job were left to those best suited to it physically and the Lord did not allow those too young or too old to be put into that service.

The bugle calls were once the mainstay of commanding an army in the field. Before radio communications became common and allowed detailed command to small units and individuals on the battlefield, soldiers learned bugle calls, short musical pieces, which told them what to do and when. Each call equated to a different command, wake up, rest, make camp, break camp, charge, march, and so on. Special calls could be established to initiate tactical movements so that the enemy wouldn’t recognize the calls. This system is established for Israel in chapter 10 with senior priests being given the job of delivering trumpet calls to command the nation of Israel.

Whenever the camp of Israel was on the move the Tabernacle was taken down and the Ark of the Covenant moved out. When the Ark was moved Moses would say:
“Rise up, O Lord!
Let Your enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate You flee before you.”

When ever it rested as they made camp he would say:
“Return, O Lord,
To the many thousands of Israel.”

tomorrow: Numbers 11-13