Num 9:18-23
‘At the command of the LORD the children of Israel would journey, and at the command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud stayed above the tabernacle they remained encamped. Even when the cloud continued long, many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not journey. So it was, when the cloud was above the tabernacle a few days: according to the command of the LORD they would remain encamped, and according to the command of the LORD they would journey. So it was, when the cloud remained only from evening until morning: when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey; whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud was taken up, they would journey. Whether it was two days, a month, or a year that the cloud remained above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would remain encamped and not journey; but when it was taken up, they would journey. At the command of the LORD they remained encamped, and at the command of the LORD they journeyed; they kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by the hand of Moses.’
We often hear about how children need stability in order to grow into well balanced adults. The second generation of Israelites spent forty years wandering in the desert at the most irregular and unpredictable pace imaginable. If stability was something to be desired, it was definitely something they never even understood.Yet it was this same generation that went in and conquered the land of promise, Canaan land!
What is the real stability our children need?
A permanent address?
Or the permanent presence of YHWH leading them through the days and nights of their lives?
How lovely is Your tabernacle,
O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, even faints
For the courts of the LORD;
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
Where she may lay her young
—Even Your altars,
O LORD of hosts, My King and my God.....
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness...
(Psa 84:1-3,10)
Thank You Father, for Your presence in our lives and homes; for it more than makes up for allthat we may lack in our natural lives. Thank You also for the assurance, that just by Your presence alone our children can enter in and possess all Your promises for a full and blessed life in the service of Your kingdom. In Jesus’ name, amen.
