Title: Following God's Sign... (Numbers 9:15-23)
Contents
It can be said that the true nature of people appears in extreme situations.
In that respect, the true face of Japanese people seems to be very different from what we have known so far.
Although the whole country is experiencing extreme chaos due to unprecedented earthquakes and tsunamis, they are deeply moving people around the world who are concerned with their calmness, order, and consideration for others. Such work is never easy. If this earthquake and tsunami happened in Korea, would the Korean people be able to act like the Japanese?
It can be said that the Israelites' life in the wilderness was quite extreme.
It is an extreme situation that can become a land of lawlessness for more than two million people to say that the basic human needs for food, clothing, and sleep are not being met for more than 40 years.
Nevertheless, it was because of God's intervention that they were able to make their entire journey to Canaan.
In today's text, we can see that God appears as a cloud during the day and as a fire by night, protecting them and guiding them.
For them, in the middle of the desert, the clouds and fire-shaped pillars are important means of survival that determine life or death. It means that God appeared to them and led their lives by Himself.
In today's text, the phrase “according to the command of the Lord” appears over and over again.
They ‘encamped and marched’ according to the command of God working in the form of a cloud. If the cloud did not rise from the tabernacle, it did not move, and when the cloud moved, they left everything behind and marched. Their circumstances and circumstances were not taken into account here.
It should be the same with our lives of faith. Even though we say we obey God's will, we think of various circumstances and conditions first. And when things went smoothly, he followed the will and obeyed. It is not obedience. Obedience is not taking my circumstances and circumstances into consideration. It just moves when the cloud rises, and when the cloud stops, I also stop.
Today, I hope that you and I will be able to discern God's sign well and move according to that sign.