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Following the Cloud

When the Israelites lived in tents and did not have a land to call their own, the Lord commanded them to build him a special tent called the “Tabernacle”. This was to be God’s dwelling place among his people. When the tabernacle was complete, a cloud filled it as a sign that the Lord’s Spirit was with them.

With that background, read this passage and see if you get the point.

“On the day the tabernacle, the tent of testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it… and at night it looked like fire. Whenever the cloud lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. At the Lord's command, the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord's command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the Lord's command they encamped, and at the Lord's command they set out. They obeyed the Lord's order” (Numbers 9:15-23).

The point: “God’s people follow God!”

Now that may seem sort of obvious, but it is not. Many who call themselves “followers of God” actually do whatever they want or whatever they think is best. God is not so much their leader, but a consultant that they go to when they need help.

This passage reminds us that really following God requires that we listen to him, have patience and trust that he knows where we are going.

That is not always easy, but, in the end, it is always best.

Are you being led by God?

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