Numbers 10:1-36


After a year of preparation and organization the children of Israel are ready to embark on the next stage of their journey towards the Promised Land.  A year is a very long time to be staying in one place on a temporary basis.  “Camping out” with two million people for a year would not have been possible without the supernatural provision and protection of God.  The risk that they faced now was that they could simply “get comfortable” with where they were and not be that interested in moving forward.  Too often we are easily satisfied with much less than what God wants for us.  We get comfortable and then we fear change and just start putting down roots and we do not move forward to do what God wants us to do and go where God wants us to go.

THE TIME FOR TRUMPETS: God had Moses make trumpets that were to be used for communicating orders to the children of Israel.  They were to be used to call all the people or just the leaders for meetings.  They were also used as an order to pack up and move forward and for going to war.  The trumpets were used to keep the people united and moving at the right time together.  One of the most important aspects of leadership is effective communication.  If followers do not know what they are supposed to do and when they are supposed to do it they will simply be confused and ineffective in their work.  There are times when the trumpet would call the people to explain what was going on and why but there were other times where the trumpet simply communicated that it was time to move or time to go to war.  Leaders must be effective communicators and followers must be obedient listeners even if there is not time for their leader does not have time to explain everything.

THE TEST OF TRAVELS: It was finally time to move out.  There was a specific order that they were to follow as they moved forward.  Up until this time the father-in-law of Moses has been living with the people.  He desires to go home to his land but Moses wants him to stay on as a counselor.  It is good for family to respect one another in this way.  Moving is never easy but moving with two million people at the same time must have been a monumental task of organization.  It would be a long slow process involving hard work and patience but it was all necessary work that needed to be done in order to accomplish the goal.  Our Christian life is much like this.  We all must work together in an effort to fulfill the will of God, accomplish the work of God and obey the Word of God.  We do not grow fast and we do not grow alone.  We must be patient as we move forward together to become more and more like Christ.  Moving is not easy nor is it usually very enjoyable but it is necessary if we are going to be God followers.

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