According to the commandment of Jehovah the children of Israel journeyed, and according to the commandment of Jehovah they [remained] encamped; all the days that the cloud dwelt upon the tabernacle they encamped.
Israel has camped in a desert with no roads. One thing tells them whether to move or stay: a cloud resting over the tent where God lives among them. This verse says the cloud is more than weather. Its rising and settling carry the Lord's own command, so marching and camping are both obedience.
The cloud was not a signal sent from a distance. It showed God Himself at the head of His people, and its every move had the weight of a command.
In this way the Lord placed Himself at the head of His redeemed people. In His patient grace He led them through the various stages of their wilderness journey. The movement of the cloud was the same as the Lord's word. If it rose from the tabernacle, that was the same as His command; and the same was true when it stayed on the tabernacle. So the Lord took charge of guiding His people through their whole pilgrim path. He made His presence known to them through the cloud, and His will by the movements of the cloud.
The ground itself gave them nothing to go on.
You could not imagine a lovelier picture of complete dependence on God's guidance, and submission to it. There was not a footprint or a landmark anywhere in that "great and terrifying wilderness." So it was useless to look for guidance from those who had gone before. They had nothing but God to lean on for every step of the way. They were in a position of constant waiting on Him. To an unsubdued mind — an unbroken will — that would be unbearable. But to a soul that knows, loves, trusts and delights in God, nothing could be more deeply blessed.
There is no road, and God meant it that way.
God takes this care of us on Himself because we are in the wilderness, where there is no way. He does it so that He Himself might be our way. He will not give us a way that nature can find out. We only find His way in communion with the Lord.
The verse weighs setting out and staying put alike. Standing still can be the harder half.
It might feel hard to stay month after month, and year after year, in the same place. Their progress might look slow. Their own human energy might urge them to press forward. But until God gave His clear approval, "they remained in camp." Man might scoff at their inaction and call it foolishness. Man might criticise their long delays and put them down to weakness. But "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
Darby sees Jesus living by this same rule, delay and all.
So Jesus never went anywhere except where the cloud led Him to go. When they told Him Lazarus was sick, He stayed two days — and yet He loved Lazarus. It is important that we do more than avoid evil. What we do, we should do because it is the Lord's will. There is not a step in my journey that the Lord has not thought about for me.
Living at the command of the Lord cost Israel the ability to plan anything.
They could make no plans of their own. When they camped they did not know how long it would be. When they marched they did not know how long it would last. They had to fix their eyes on the cloud every morning, every night and all day long. They had to look up.
Mackintosh warns that we can use the language of guidance to bless what we already wanted.
How often we imagine, and confidently claim, that the cloud is moving in the very direction that suits our own leaning. We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain move, and we try to persuade ourselves that our will is the will of God. So instead of God guiding us, we deceive ourselves. Our will is unbroken, and so He cannot guide us properly. The real secret of being guided by God is a will that is fully subdued.
The sign has changed. The guidance has not.
The cloud in its movements made known the Lord's will. We have no such outward sign to declare the will of God to us. We have the inward presence of the Holy Spirit. And He guides us through His Word, which we must consult for direction and guidance.
- Presence — The cloud showed God living among a redeemed people. He took His place at the head of their march.
- Word — When it rose or rested, that was His command. Moving and staying were both His will, not their choice.
- Waiting — Staying put was obedience as much as setting out. Long delays looked like weakness, but they were God's timing.
- Will — Guidance needs a subdued will. Without it we mistake our own wishes for the cloud.
- Way — In a desert with no path, God Himself is the way. Today the Spirit, through His Word, does what the cloud once did.
And when the cloud was long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of Jehovah, and journeyed not.
Israel had just kept the Passover, and a cloud had covered God's tent since the day they raised it. That cloud set their whole travel schedule, and this verse holds the hardest case of all: the long halt, when nothing moved for days on end.
One writer explains how a cloud could carry the force of a spoken command:
The cloud's movement carried the same weight as the Lord's word. If it rose from the tabernacle, that was the same as His command. If it stayed on the tabernacle, that was His command too. The Lord took on the guidance of His people through their whole journey. He made His presence known to them by the cloud, and His will by the movements of the cloud.
The same writer shows how little was left for Israel to decide, and how ready they had to be:
If the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, they stayed in their tents and did not travel. If it rose — even the next morning, after they had just pitched their tents — they were to march forward again. When to start travelling again, or where to camp next, was not their concern at all. The One who had redeemed them out of Egypt undertook everything for them.
The verse does not say they waited. It says they kept the charge of the Lord. One commentator carries that over to us:
When the cloud stayed many days (v.19) they were to keep the charge of the Lord. So while we stay here we have only one thing to occupy us — God. And if our eye is healthy, our whole body will be full of light.
That charge centred on the sanctuary — the tent they had built and had to carry:
The business of Israel was now with the sanctuary. We too are sanctuary people — "a spiritual house, a holy priesthood." First they built its parts and vessels. Then they either kept the charge of the Lord when the cloud rested on it (Numbers 9:19), or they carried it as the testimony of God through the wilderness.
No one had crossed that desert ahead of them:
You could not imagine a lovelier picture of complete dependence on divine guidance, and submission to it, than this one. There was not a footprint or a landmark anywhere in that great and terrible wilderness. It was therefore useless to look for guidance from those who had gone before. They had to lean wholly on God for every step of the way. They lived in constant waiting on Him. To an unsubdued mind — an unbroken will — this would be unbearable. But to a soul that knows, loves, trusts and delights in God, nothing could be more blessed.
The same writer applies the halt straight to how we speak about our own plans:
This means giving up our own will, our own plans, our own management altogether. We must follow the cloud; we must wait always — wait only on God. We cannot say, "We shall go here or there, do this or that, tomorrow or next week." Every movement of ours must fall under the ruling power of one commanding sentence, one we often write and speak far too lightly — "If the Lord wills."
Waiting that long drew mockery from onlookers. One writer answers it:
It might be hard to linger month after month, and year after year, in the same place. Their progress might look slow. Their own natural energy might urge them to press forward. But until God gave His express sanction, they remained in their tents. People might mock their inaction and call it foolishness. People might blame their long delays on weakness. But "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
- Stillness speaks. A cloud that stays put speaks as loudly as a cloud that rises. The long halt in this verse is an order, not silence.
- Stillness works. Israel did not just wait out the delay. They kept the charge of the Lord, busy with His sanctuary while the cloud rested on it.
- Stillness depends. The wilderness held no footprints to follow. Every step threw them on God — unbearable to an unbroken will, but sweet to a heart that knows and loves Him.
- Stillness surrenders. Following the cloud leaves no room for our own timetable. Every plan stands under "If the Lord wills."
- Stillness wins. Months in one place can look like weakness. But God's slowness is wiser and stronger than our hurry.
And if it were so that the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle, according to the commandment of Jehovah they encamped, and according to the commandment of Jehovah they journeyed.
Israel had just kept the Passover at Sinai. Now the cloud over the tabernacle set the timetable for the whole camp, and one thing fixed every short stop and every march: the command of the LORD.
The cloud was not just a signal in the sky. Its rising and its resting carried the force of a command.
In this way the Lord placed Himself at the head of His redeemed people. In His patient grace He led them through the various stages of their wilderness journey. The movement of the cloud counted as the Lord's word. If it rose from the tabernacle, that was the same as His command; and so too if it stayed on the tabernacle. So we read: "At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped." He made His presence known to them through the cloud, and His will by the movements of the cloud.
The length of each stop varied. The people had no say in it.
The cloud also acted as a sign that regulated when the people moved and when they stayed. Such matters were not settled by the votes of the people or by the wisdom of Moses, but by the command of the LORD. The cloud might rest for only two days, or it might rest for a month or even a year. While it rested, the people rested. When it moved, the people moved. So the wisdom of God regulated their wilderness journey.
The whole camp lived by watching.
That huge camp depended on the cloud: over 600,000 men of twenty years and older, the 22,000 Levites, and hundreds of thousands of women and children. They could make no plans of their own. They did not know where they would go the next day. When they camped, they did not know how long it would be. When they marched, they did not know how long it would last. They had to keep their eyes on the cloud every morning, every night, and all through the day. They had to look up.
Waiting was not doing nothing. It was doing what God said.
It might seem very trying to linger month after month and year after year in the same place. Their progress might look slow. The energy of the flesh might urge them to press forward. Yet they "remained in camp" until God gave His express sanction. People might scoff at their inaction and call it foolishness. They might criticise their long delays and call them weakness. But "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." The Lord brought them into the land in His own time and in His own way.
Getting the timing wrong in either direction costs the same thing.
Suppose an Israelite in the desert decided to act independently of Jehovah. Suppose he moved when the cloud was at rest, or halted while the cloud was moving. We can easily see what the result would have been. And so it will always be with us. If we move when we ought to rest, or rest when we ought to move, we will not have the divine presence with us.
We can misread the cloud when our own will has already chosen.
How often we wrongly imagine, and boldly claim, that the cloud is moving in the very direction our own inclination leans. We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain move, and we try to persuade ourselves that our will is the will of God. So instead of being divinely guided, we are self-deceived. Our will is unbroken, and so we cannot be guided rightly. The real secret of being guided by God is to have our own will thoroughly subdued.
For us the guide is a Person, not a rulebook.
We are passing through a trackless desert — a moral wilderness. There is absolutely no way. We would not know how to walk, or where to go. But one sentence fell from the lips of our blessed Lord — the most precious, the deepest, the most far-reaching of all: "I am the way." Here is divine, infallible guidance. We are to follow Him... This is living guidance. It is not acting by the letter of certain rules and regulations. It is following a living Christ, walking as He walked, doing as He did.
- Command, not cloud. The cloud was the visible form of a spoken will — its rising and resting each carried the force of God's word.
- Command sets the clock. A few days, a month, a year — God's wisdom fixed the length of every halt, not the people's votes or even Moses' judgement.
- Command in both directions. The verse says "according to the command" twice — once for staying, once for going. Remaining in camp was obedience as real as marching.
- Command needs a bent will broken. We easily tell ourselves the cloud is moving where we already wanted to go. Only a subdued will reads God's guidance truly.
- Command has a face. Christ says, "I am the way" — guidance now is not a rulebook to apply but a living Person to follow.
And if it were so that the cloud was there from the evening until the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; or a day and a night, and the cloud was taken up, they journeyed;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
or two days, or a month, or many days, when the cloud was long upon the tabernacle, dwelling upon it, the children of Israel [remained] encamped, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
Numbers 9 ends with the camp under a cloud. The cloud wrote the nation's diary: two days, a month, a year — it made no difference. The verse raises a hard question: what do you do when God says nothing but "stay"?
God set the length of every halt, not the people camped under the cloud. One writer shows how far this took the decision out of human hands.
The cloud acted as a sign that controlled when the people moved and when they stayed. Such matters were not settled by the votes of the people or by the wisdom of Moses, but by the commandment of the Lord. The cloud might rest for only two days, or for a month, or even a year. While it rested the people rested. When it moved the people moved. So the wisdom of God controlled their whole journey through the wilderness.
Another writer finds freedom from worry in the same arrangement. He names what the people were responsible for, and what it saved them from.
The people's responsibility was two-fold: to keep their eye on the cloud — the sign of the LORD's presence — and to be guided by its movements alone. The Lord's will, expressed this way, was to be their only law, so unquestioning obedience was their only responsibility. When to start travelling again, or where to pitch camp next, was absolutely not their concern. The One who had redeemed them out of Egypt undertook everything for them. Knowing this, they might have rested in His infinite love and wisdom without a single care or anxiety.
Verse 19 says that during the long halts Israel "kept the charge of the LORD." Standing still had its own work.
When the cloud stayed many days (v.19) they were to keep the charge of the Lord. So while we stay here we have but one thing to occupy us — God; and if our eye is healthy, our whole body will be full of light.
Is this sweet or suffocating? It depends on what you think of the One holding you there.
They were wholly cast upon God for every step of the way. They were in a position of constant waiting upon Him. A mind that has never been subdued — a will that has never been broken — would find this unbearable. But to a soul that knows, loves, trusts, and delights in God, nothing could be more blessed.
The life of Jesus is read as the cloud-pattern lived out in a man, both in moving and in staying still.
He was always dependent. Every movement, every act, every word — all He did, and all He left undone — was the fruit of the most complete dependence upon God, and subjection to Him. He moved when God would have Him move, and stood still when God would have Him stand.
One of His delays is picked out to show that a pause is not coldness — it can be the very shape of love.
So Jesus never went anywhere except where the cloud led Him to go. When they told Him that Lazarus was sick, He stayed two days, and yet He loved Lazarus. It is important that we not only avoid evil. What we do should be done because it is the Lord's will. Not a step in my journey, but the Lord has thought about it for me. If the cloud does not move we cannot move, and our complete inability to act is our power against Satan.
The common problem is not a lack of light. We read our own preference as God's direction.
How often do we imagine, and even say, that the cloud is moving in the very direction that suits what we already want. We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain move, and we try to persuade ourselves that our will is the will of God. So instead of God guiding us, we deceive ourselves. An unbroken will cannot be rightly guided. The real secret of being guided by God is to have our own will fully subdued.
The unanswered prayer about which road to take may itself be the answer.
We pray about it, and get no answer. We pray again and again, and get no answer. How is this? The simple fact is that God wants us to be quiet — to stand still — to remain just where we are. So let us stop straining our minds and troubling our souls about what we ought to do. Let us do nothing but wait on God.
- Cloud decides. Two days or a year, the Lord's command fixed the length of the stay — not the people's vote, not even Moses' wisdom.
- Waiting is work. Israel spent the long halts keeping the charge of the Lord — with one occupation, God Himself.
- Trust makes it sweet. Total dependence is unbearable to an unbroken will and deeply blessed to a soul that knows and loves God.
- Christ is the pattern. He moved when God moved Him and stood still when God held Him. Staying two days while Lazarus lay dying was love, not neglect.
- Silence is guidance. Prayer that gets no answer about the next step often means: stay where you are and wait.
At the commandment of Jehovah they encamped, and at the commandment of Jehovah they journeyed they kept the charge of Jehovah according to the commandment of Jehovah through Moses.
Numbers 9:23 closes a passage where one thing set every move of a nation of former slaves: a cloud over the tent of God's presence. It raises the question every believer asks — how does God make His will known, and what do we do while nothing moves?
The verse says twice that Israel moved "at the command of the LORD." What they watched was a cloud.
The cloud's movement was the same as the Lord's word. If it rose from off the tabernacle, that was His command; and so if it stayed on the tabernacle. The Lord took charge of guiding His people through their whole journey. He made His presence known to them through the cloud, and His will by the movements of the cloud.
Half of the verse is about not moving. Sitting still can look like failure.
But "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men."
God commanded both the resting and the journeying. So an Israelite could disobey in either direction.
Suppose an Israelite in the desert had decided to make some move on his own, apart from the Lord. Suppose he moved when the cloud was at rest, or stopped while the cloud was moving. We can see what the result would have been. And so it will always be with us. If we move when we ought to rest, or rest when we ought to move, we shall not have the divine presence with us.
The desert had no paths to follow, and that was deliberate.
If we have no word from God, we can do nothing, because it is by every word that comes out of the mouth of the Lord that man lives... God takes this care of us on Himself, because we are in the wilderness where there is no way. He does it so that He Himself might be our way. He will not give us a way that nature can find out. We find His way only in communion with the Lord. When we say "There is no way," this will throw us on God, who will lead us in His own way.
The same pattern shows up in the life of Jesus.
So Jesus never went anywhere except where the cloud led Him to go; so when they told Him that Lazarus was sick, He waited two days, and yet He loved Lazarus. It matters not only that we avoid evil. Whatever we do, we should do because it is the Lord's will. There is not a step in my journey that the Lord has not thought about for me... If the cloud does not move we cannot move; our utter inability to act is our power against Satan.
No cloud hangs over believers today. Guidance now comes through two things, and never through one alone.
Two things give us confidence — the written word, and the Holy Spirit. For human reason cannot fathom the word; without the Spirit it comes to nothing. The Holy Spirit guides us by the word. Both are necessary: not the word only without the Spirit, nor the Spirit without the word. We need the Holy Spirit to give us the desire to understand the word, and the strength to walk and obey.
The danger is rarely open rebellion. It is mistaking our own preference for His direction.
How often do we fool ourselves and firmly claim that the cloud is moving in the very direction we already want to go. We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain move, and we try to persuade ourselves that our will is the will of God. So instead of God guiding us, we deceive ourselves. Our will is unbroken, so we cannot be guided rightly. The real secret of being guided by God is to have our own will thoroughly subdued.
- Command — The cloud and God's word said the same thing. Israel saw His presence in it and read His will from it.
- Command to stop — Staying in camp for a month or a year was as much obedience as marching. Delay is not failure.
- Command to go — Moving when God rests, or resting when God moves, forfeits His company either way.
- Christ — He waited two days over a friend He loved, because the will of God, not the urgency, set His pace.
- Compass — Now the written word and the Holy Spirit guide together, never one alone. The chief obstacle is a will that has already decided.