Week 7 Numbers 9
One of the Bible Reader’s Rules I’ve learned is: You Will Have Questions.
Questions can be managed by a) just forgetting about them and moving on or b) trying to make a best-guess.
So anyway I was wondering about the miraculous cloud hovering over the Tabernacle. It was a pretty obvious material signal that the Lord was right there in the camp. It also served the double-purpose of being a guidance-system for the tribes…signaling when to pack up and then pointing out where to go.
There might have been an Officially Designated Watcher assigned to keep-an-eye on the cloud. But I guess there would have also been any number of regular people who woke up asking: “do I have to get ready to leave today?” If I had lived in the camp I’d go out every morning and look over at the Tabernacle to see if the cloud was showing any signs of movement and so tipping me off about how to plan my day. Maybe hoping today was a travelling day. But maybe not.
The writer said that: if the cloud remained over the Tabernacle for a long time, the Israelites stayed for a long time but on the other hand sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and moved on the next morning.
But in spite of that day-to-day uncertainty the camp seemed to show some flexibility and willingness to do whatever the Lord told them.
Note: quotes from Numbers 9: 19 21 23 (NLT)