They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days’ journey. The ark of Yahweh’s covenant went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. The cloud of Yahweh was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp. When the ark went forward, Moses said, “Rise up, Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!” When it rested, he said, “Return, Yahweh, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.”
Parallel Translations
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They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days’ journey. The ark of Yahweh’s covenant went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them.
The cloud of Yahweh was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp.
When the ark went forward, Moses said, “Rise up, Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!”
When it rested, he said, “Return, Yahweh, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.”
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And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.
And the cloud of the LORD was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp.
And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee.
And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the many thousands of Israel.
Show all 3 translations
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And they set forward from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a resting-place for them.
And the cloud of the LORD was over them by day, when they set forward from the camp.
And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said: 'Rise up, O LORD, and let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.'
And when it rested, he said: 'Return, O LORD, unto the ten thousands of the families of Israel.'
Cross-references (38)
- Psalms 68:1-2 (v35) Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As…
- Deuteronomy 1:10 (v36) Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude.
- Deuteronomy 1:33 (v33) who went before you on the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way you should…
- Nehemiah 9:12 (v34) Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go.
- Nehemiah 9:19 (v34) yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead…
Show all 38 cross-references
- Psalms 105:39 (v34) He spread a cloud for a covering, fire to give light in the night.
- Exodus 3:1 (v33) Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and…
- Exodus 13:21-22 (v34) Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that…
- Genesis 24:60 (v36) They blessed Rebekah, and said to her, “Our sister, may you be the mother of thousands of ten thousands, and let your offspring possess the…
- Exodus 19:3 (v33) Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him out of the mountain, saying, “This is what you shall tell the house of Jacob, and tell the…
- Exodus 24:17-18 (v33) The appearance of Yahweh’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. Moses entered…
- Exodus 33:14-15 (v33) He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moses said to him, “If your presence doesn’t go with me, don’t carry us…
- Numbers 9:15-23 (v34) On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony. At evening it was over the…
- Numbers 10:12 (v33) The children of Israel went forward on their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud stayed in the wilderness of Paran.
- Deuteronomy 7:10 (v35) and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates him. He will repay him to his face.
- Deuteronomy 9:9 (v33) When I had gone up onto the mountain to receive the stone tablets, even the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I…
- Deuteronomy 31:26 (v33) “Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, that it may be there for a witness against you.
- Deuteronomy 32:41 (v35) if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.
- Joshua 3:2-6 (v33) After three days, the officers went through the middle of the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of Yahweh…
- Joshua 3:11-17 (v33) Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men out of…
- Joshua 4:7 (v33) then you shall tell them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of Yahweh’s covenant. When it crossed over the…
- Judges 20:27 (v33) The children of Israel asked Yahweh (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
- 1 Samuel 4:3 (v33) When the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has Yahweh defeated us today before the Philistines? Let’s get the…
- Psalms 90:13-17 (v36) Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be…
- Psalms 95:11 (v33) Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”
- Psalms 132:8 (v35) Arise, Yahweh, into your resting place, you, and the ark of your strength.
- Isaiah 17:12-14 (v35) Ah, the uproar of many peoples, who roar like the roaring of the seas; and the rushing of nations, that rush like the rushing of mighty…
- Isaiah 28:12 (v33) to whom he said, “This is the resting place. Give rest to weary,” and “This is the refreshing;” yet they would not hear.
- Isaiah 51:9 (v35) Awake, awake, put on strength, arm of Yahweh! Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient times. Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in…
- Isaiah 63:17 (v36) O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your…
- Isaiah 66:1 (v33) Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
- Jeremiah 3:16 (v33) It will come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days,” says Yahweh, “they will no longer say, ‘the ark of…
- Jeremiah 6:16 (v33) Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for…
- Ezekiel 20:6 (v33) in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and…
- Matthew 11:28-30 (v33) “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am…
- Hebrews 4:3-11 (v33) For we who have believed do enter into that rest, even as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, they will not enter into my rest;” although…
- Hebrews 13:20 (v33) Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord…
- Jeremiah 31:8-9 (v33) Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, along with the blind and the lame,…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv33, 35, 36 Mount Sinai, or Horeb.
Mount Sinai, or Horeb.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv33, 35 Num 10:33 And they departed from the mount of…
Num 10:33 And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days’ journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.
Ver. 33. Three days’ journey.] Three days together without resting: this made them murmur. {Num 11:1}
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Went before them.] And, as the Jews conceive, for the facilitating of their march the cloud levelled mountains, raised valleys, and laid all of a flat; that is, burnt up bushes, smoothed rocks, and made all plain, &c. {a}
{a} Non quia dura sed quia molles patimur. - Sen.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 36 Three days’ journey, with continued journeys, only it seems…
Three days’ journey, with continued journeys, only it seems most probable that the cloud made little pauses, that they might have time for sleep and necessary refreshments, which their natures required. And thus all writers, when they relate the continued journeys of persons for many days together, are to be understood with this exception.
Before them; not so much in place, say some, for so it went in the midst, or at least after the first camp, as may seem from Num 10:21, as in office and authority, as a general who is said to go before or lead his army, though he do not go in the very first place. But others more probably think that the ark, which indeed is not mentioned Num 10:21, albeit in their stations it was in the middle, where also the cloud was, yet in their marches it went before them, as also the cloud did, and so the cloud was constantly over the ark, whether it stood or went; and therefore the ark is said to go before and direct them, not as if the ark could be seen of all the camps, which being carried only upon men’s shoulders was impossible, but because the cloud, which always attended upon the ark, and did together with the ark constitute in a manner one sign of God’s presence, did lead and direct them.
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To search out a resting-place, where they might safely and commodiously rest. But this is a metaphorical expression for discovering to them; for otherwise the ark could not. search, and God, who knew all places and things, heeded not to search.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 36 Three days - With continued journeys; only it seems…
Three days - With continued journeys; only it seems probable, that the cloud made little pauses that they might have time for sleep and necessary refreshments. The ark went before them - Altho' in their stations it was in the middle, yet in their marches it went before them; and the cloud was constantly over the ark whether it stood or went; therefore the ark is said to go before and direct them, not as if the ark could be seen of all the camps, which being carried only upon mens shoulders was impossible; but because the cloud, which always attended upon the ark, and did, together with the ark, constitute, in a manner, one sign of God's presence, did lead and direct them. To search out - A metaphorical expression, for discovering to them; for the ark could not search, and God, who knew all places and things, needed not to search.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv33, 35, 36 Verse 33. The ark - went before them] We…
Verse 33. The ark - went before them] We find from Nu 10:21 that the ark was carried by the Kohathites in the center of the army; but as the army never moved till the cloud was taken up, it is said to go before them, i. e., to be the first to move, as without this motion the Israelites continued in their encampments.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv33, 34, 36 Num 10:33. Three days — With continued journeys; only…
Num 10:33. Three days — With continued journeys; only it seems probable that the cloud made little pauses, that they might have time for sleep and necessary refreshments. The ark went before them — Although in their stations it was in the middle, yet in their marches it went before them; and the cloud was constantly over the ark, whether it stood or went; therefore the ark is said to go before and direct them, not as if the ark could be seen of all the camps, which, as it was carried only upon men’s shoulders, was impossible, but because the cloud, which always attended upon the ark, and did, together with the ark, constitute, in a manner, one sign of God’s presence, did lead and direct them. To search out — A metaphorical expression, for discovering to them; for the ark could not search; and God, who knew all places and things, needed not to search.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv33, 35 Three days’ journey - Probably a technical expression for…
Three days’ journey - Probably a technical expression for such a distance as could not be traversed in a single day, and therefore not without intervals of encampment and due provision: compare Gen 30:36; Exo 3:18; Exo 5:3; Exo 8:27; Exo 15:22. The technical use of the phrase “Sabbath-day’s journey” for another average distance, Act 1:12, is similar.
The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them - From Num 10:21; Num 2:17 it would appear that the usual place of the ark during the march was in the midst of the host. It was evidently an exceptional case when, in Jos 3:3, Jos 3:6, the ark preceded the people into the bed of the Jordan. Hence, the words “went before them” do not here imply local precedence. The phrase, or its equivalent, is used of a leader going out in command of his troops, Num 27:17; Deu 31:3; 1Sa 18:16; 2Ch 1:10; and similarly the ark may well be said to have gone at the head of the Israelites, when it was borne solemnly in the midst of them as the outward embodiment of the presence whose sovereign word was their law.
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A resting place - literally, “rest.” It is commonly understood of each successive encampment; or, in particular, of the first encampment. Yet the term would hardly be here employed, did it not carry with it a higher meaning, pointing to the promised rest of Canaan, for which the Israelites were now in full march, and from the speedy enjoyment of which no sentence of exclusion as yet debarred them. Compare the marginal references.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv33, 36 Journey. During this time, we know not where they…
Journey. During this time, we know not where they encamped. The first place that is specified is Tabera, or "the burning," (chap. xi. 3.; Calmet) which St. Jerome believes is the same place which was also called the sepulchres of concupiscence, (ver. 34,) the 13th station, (Haydock) which is described above as the desert of Pharan. (Menochius) --- Before them. See ver. 17. (Haydock) --- The Rabbins assert that there were two arks; one containing the writings of Moses going before, with the lawgiver, at the head of the army; and the other, carried by the Levites, in the centre. (Drusius) --- Calmet would rather translate "went in their presence;" that is, in the midst. The kings of Persia always marched in the centre, for greater safety, and that they might communicate their orders with more expedition, as well as to keep all in order, and observe what was doing. (Xenophon.; Cyrop. iv. and viii.; Arian ii. and iii.) (Calmet) --- But the ark of God would probably go before the people, with the cloud, which hung over it.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv33, 35 they departed . . . three days' journey--the first…
they departed . . . three days' journey--the first day's progress being very small, about eighteen or twenty miles.
ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them--It was carried in the center, and hence some eminent commentators think the passage should be rendered, "the ark went in their presence," the cloud above upon it being conspicuous in their eyes. But it is probable that the cloudy pillar, which, while stationary, rested upon the ark, preceded them in the march--as, when in motion at one time (Exo 14:19) it is expressly said to have shifted its place.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv33–35 THE THREE DAYS’ MARCH, Num_10:33-34.
THE THREE DAYS’ MARCH, Num_10:33-34.
By this we are not to understand an unbroken march of the entire people during seventy-two hours with no halt, but that the ark was borne steadily onward during this period before it came to a permanent stopping-place. The people must have paused to eat and sleep while the pillar of cloud or of fire moved ever slowly onward.
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33. Ark of the covenant — It is so called according to its design and signification for Israel. The covenant is thus associated with the most sacred thing on the earth, on whose golden lid was the Shekinah, the visible Presence, and over which sublimely towered the cloudy, fiery pillar. This cannot be quoted to prove, as Prof. W. Robertson Smith attempts to do, that the sanctuary was then outside of the camp, for no mention is made of that sacred structure. The record simply says that the ark went before them as their guide.
Went before them — The ark was carried separately from the rest of the sacred furniture, in advance of the column, wrapped in its peculiar purple blue covering, (Num_4:6, note,) at once an object of veneration and a symbol of Jehovah’s presence and of his separateness from sinners. “It is true, that in the order observed in the camp and on the march no mention is made of the ark going in front of the whole army; but this omission is no more proof of any discrepancy between this verse and Num_2:17, or of a different authorship, than the separation of the different divisions of the Levites upon the march, which is not mentioned in Num_2:17.” — Keil.
A resting place — This was not Taberah, the first place mentioned, (Num_11:3,) but Kibroth-hattaavah. Comp. Num_11:34-35; Num_33:16. Although the pillar of cloud was the real guide of Israel in all their journeying, yet the local knowledge of Hobab would manifestly prove of the greatest use in indicating springs and places of pasturage, since divine guidance, in any age, is never a substitute for the best means which human skill or knowledge can suggest.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv33–35 33. three days’ journey] A characteristic expression of J…
33. three days’ journey] A characteristic expression of J ; cf. Gen_30:36, Exo_3:18; Exo_5:3; Exo_8:27.
33b. the ark of the covenant of Jehovah] This description of the ark, as containing the tablets of the covenant (i.e. the decalogue), is Deuteronomic; cf. Num_14:44, Deu_10:8; Deu_31:9; Deu_31:25, Jos_4:7; Jos_4:18; Jos_6:8 &c.
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went before them three days’ journey] It is very doubtful if the text can be right. The ark would be useless as a guide if it were three days’ journey in advance. In Jos_3:4 (P ) it went 2000 cubits (c. 1000 yards) in front. The words ‘three days’ journey’ may have been accidentally repeated from the former half of the verse, and should perhaps be omitted.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv33, 35 (33) Three days’ journey.—The place at which the first…
(33) Three days’ journey.—The place at which the first protracted halt was made appears to have been either at Taberah, which means burning, or at Kibroth-hattaavah, the graves of lust. (Comp. Num_11:3; Num_33:16; see also Note on Num_11:34.)
And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them.—It has been inferred from the fact that the Kohathites had the charge of the ark (Num_3:31), and that they were to set forward, “bearing the sanctuary,” after the second or southern camp, i.e., in the midst of the host, that the position of the ark during the journeys was in that place, and not in front. The obvious objection to this supposition arising out of the fact that the cloud which directed the march rested upon, or over, the ark may be overcome by the consideration that the cloud appears to have extended over the whole of the host during the journeys, and to have served as a protection from the scorching heat (see Num_10:34; also Exo_13:21; Neh_9:12; Psa_105:39). On the other hand, the natural interpretation of this verse is that the ark was borne in front of the host, and did not merely serve to direct its line of march as a general, whose station might be in any part of an army. This interpretation is confirmed by Exo_13:21, Deu_1:33, and also by the position which the ark occupied at the passage of the Jordan. In the latter case the people were expressly directed to go after the ark (Jos_3:3); and in Num_10:11 the same word is used which occurs in this verse, “the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.” It will not follow, however, as a necessary inference, that the ark uniformly occupied the same position in all the journeys, and it cannot be denied that Num_10:21 presents a difficulty, partly arising from the ambiguity of meaning which is to be attached to the word mikdash, sanctuary, and partly from the omission of any word in the Hebrew corresponding to the words in italics, the other. Ibn Ezra thinks that this three days’ journey was different from all the other journeys in respect of the position of the ark.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv33–36 THE ACTUAL DEPARTURE FROM SINAI (verses 12. It was…
THE ACTUAL DEPARTURE FROM SINAI (verses 12. It was one of the supreme moments in the life of Israel one of those beginnings or "departures" which lead to untold gain or loss; it was, in fact, although they knew it not, the commencement of a march which for almost all of them should know no end except within a hasty grave. No doubt, during the months spent at Sinai, every preparation had been made for the onward journey; but none the less it was a stupendous enterprise to march that vast host, so largely composed of women and children, so little inured to such fatigue, and so impatient of such discipline, for three consecutive days into a wilderness. Three days" journey. This expression is apparently a general one, and not to be strictly pressed. (cf. Gen_30:36 Exo_3:18 Exo_15:22) At the same time it implies
(1) that the host twice halted for the night during the journey, and
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(2) that the whole journey was regarded as one and in some sense as complete in itself.
The terminus ad quem of this three days" journey is given us in verse 12; it was to take them across the intervening belt of sand, and to land them fairly within the "wilderness of Paran." During this journey no doubt the march would be pushed on as steadily as possible, but it is not likely that it would cover so much as thirty miles. A modern army, unencumbered with non-combatants, does not make more than ten miles a day over difficult country, nor can cattle be driven faster than that. Even to accomplish that rate, and to keep the whole multitude together, as the narrative implies, required supernatural aid and strength. For the direction of the march see notes on chapter 13. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them. It is obvious that what is apparently affirmed here is apparently at variance with Num_2:17 and verse 21 of this chapter, which speak of the holy things of which the ark was the most holy as carried by the Kohathites in the very midst of the long line of march. Three opinions have been held on the subject.
1. That the ark was really carried with the other "holy things," and only "went before" metaphorically, as a general may be said to lead his troops, although he may not be actually in front of them; to which it is obvious to reply that if the ark did not actually precede the host, there was no possible way in which it could direct their movements; the cloud alone would be the visible expression of the Divine guidance.
2. That the "holy things" generally were ordered to be carried in the midst of the host by the Kohathites, but that God reserved the place of the ark itself to his own immediate disposition. A general does not include himself in his own marching orders, however minute; and the ark was the outward symbol of God"s own personal presence and guidance. It is, therefore, not at all surprising that the first intimation of the position of the ark on the march should be given at the moment when the march actually commenced.
3. That the usual place for the ark was no doubt with the sanctuary, as implied in the orders, but that o a this special occasion the ark went to the front in consequence of some Divine intimation, just as it did at the crossing of Jordan and at the taking of Jericho. Certainly there is much reason in this view, considering how momentous and formidable was their first assay at marching from their temporary home towards that unknown land beyond the northern horizon. If the deep waters of Jordan might fright them, or the walls of Jericho defy them, well might they shrink from plunging into the broken, stony, and intractable country into which the ark and the cloud now led them. We shall probably think that either habitually or at least occasionally the ark did go before, and that the feet of them that bare it were supernaturally directed, either by the movements of the cloud, or by some more secret intimation, towards the destined place of rest. It is allowed by all that the cloud preceded and directed the march, and it would be strange indeed if these twin symbols of the Divine presence had been so far separated from one another; for the accustomed place of the cloud was above the tabernacle, i.e., above the ark, yet outside of the tabernacle, so as to be visible to all.
Vers. 33-36. The heavenward march.
Spiritually, we have here the journey of the Church of God, or of the faithful soul, towards heaven under the guidance of the Saviour. For the ark, whereon rested the Shechinah, and in which was carried the law, is the type of Jesus, in whom dwelt the whole fullness of the Godhead bodily, (cf. 2Co_3:18 2Co_4:6 Col_2:9) and in whom as manifested to us is found the new law of love and liberty. (Psa_40:8 Mar_12:30, 31 Rom_7:6 Jam_1:25 1Pe_2:21) Therefore we have here Jesus going before his own,
(1) to guide them in the daily path,
(2) to lead them to their rest when the journey is over. (cf. Joh_10:4 Joh_14:2)
In the cloud, again, we have (it may be) the refreshment of the Holy Spirit ("another Comforter"), when we face the burden and heat of life. Lastly, we have the devout prayers of the faithful for the help of God in their spiritual warfare, for the presence of God with their souls. Consider, therefore, on verses 33, 34
I THAT THE HOUR OF DEPARTURE FROM HOREB, SO LONG DELAYED, AND THE PLUNGE INTO THE STONY DESERT, SO OFTEN ANTICIPATED, CAME AT LAST. Many may have thought it would never really arrive, but it did; and in a few hours the mount, which had been the scene of such wondrous events, was hidden for ever from their eyes. Even so we cannot abide on the heights of contemplation (with Moses), or in the plains of instruction (with the people). There is a time to receive marching orders; there is a much longer and more trying time to march accordingly amidst hard trials and difficult undertakings and this time will surely come to each and all. (Mat_10:38 Act_14:22 2Ti_2:12 2Ti_3:12)
II THAT THE ISRAELITES WERE NOT REQUIRED TO FIND THEIR OWN WAY, OR TRUST TO HUMAN GUIDANCE: THE ARK WENT BEFORE THEM. They only had to follow as best they might. Even so Jesus goes before his own; once for all, by his death, resurrection, and ascension; daily, by his example and encouragement. As he has gone before us all into heaven to prepare a "rest" for the people of God, so he goes before each weary soul in life and death to find out resting-places and places of refreshment for it. (Psa_23:4 Joh_8:12 Joh 12:26 Joh_14:2, Joh_14:6)
III THAT THE ISRAELITES WERE IN PART SHIELDED FROM THE FIERCE AND FATAL HEATS OF THE DESERT MARCH BY THE CLOUD WHICH OVERSHADOWED THEM FROM ABOVE THE ARK. For that luminous cloud which rested permanently over the ark was spread over the following host when on the march. St. Paul says that the Jews were "baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea", (1Co_10:2) whence it appears that as the passage of the sea represented in a figure the baptism of water which separates outwardly unto Christ (the Moses of the better covenant), so did the overhanging cloud with its moist coolness represent the baptism of the Spirit, which is all abiding refreshment to tire faithful while (but only while) they follow Christ. And thus the old hymn, Veni Sanctus Spiritus Thou of Comforters the best; Thou the soul"s most welcome guest; Sweet refreshment here below; In our labour rest most sweet; Grateful coolness in the heat, Solace in the midst of woe.
Even so, therefore, the overshadowing presence (cf. Luk_1:35) of the Holy Ghost is the blessed solace, comfort, and refreshment of the faithful in fiery trials, fierce temptations, and weary disappointments; and this overshadowing Presence reaches us only from and through the glorified humanity of Jesus (our Ark), and only while we walk in faith and patience. (cf. Joh_7:39 Joh_16:7 Rom_8:14 1Jn_2:20 1Pe_4:14) Note, that the unrecorded sufferings and vexations of such a host on such a march must have been beyond description; but this much appears, that the nearer they kept to the ark the more they were sheltered by the cloud: if any staid in camp, he had no shade. The more closely we follow Jesus, the more comfort of the Spirit shall we have amidst the unavoidable sorrows and sufferings of life. And note, that there are in the Old Testament very few symbols of the Holy Spirit, whereas there are an endless number of types of Christ and this, no doubt, in accordance with the deep saying of Joh_7:39. (oupw ga ). When therefore, we find one which is recognized in the New Testament, It is the more precious. Consider, again, on verses 35, 36
I THAT EVERY DAY OF THE MARCH HAD FOR MOSES ITS TWO SUPREME MOMENTS, OF SETTING OUT AND OF SETTLING DOWN, AND EACH HAD ITS OWN DANGERS AND ANXIETIES. Even so every day in a Christian"s life has its morning and evening, its opening and closing; its going forth to work, to business, to converse with the outer world, to manifold encounter with the strange, the unexpected, the difficult, perhaps the terrible; its coming in to rest, to ease, to unguarded relaxation, to the little circle where self is paramount, where the individual is all important. These two points are the critical points in the Christian"s daily life.
II THAT MOSES MADE HIS MORNING PRAYER FOR DIVINE DEFENCE AND AID AGAINST THE FOE. He knew that many enemies were hovering round (like the Amalekites) who might attack them at any time, even when least expected, and might find them, humanly speaking, an easy prey. He prayed that God would undertake their cause, and put to flight their foes. Even so the faithful soul, looking forward to the active hours of the day, knows from sad experience that spiritual foes will dog its path to assail it by temptation and overthrow it by sin when least prepared. Therefore, before it ventures forth, it beseeches God to be its succour and defense against all the craft and subtlety of its foes.
III THAT MOSES MADE HIS EVENING PRAYER FOR THE CONTINUANCE OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE IN THEIR MIDST. He knew that the people were helpless, and moreover stiff-necked and hardhearted, and that mischief would breed in the camp as readily as it might meet them on the march, and that they must perish miserably if left to themselves. He prayed that God would stay with them, and be their worship, and remain the center of their life ab intra, as well as their defense ab extra. Even so the Christian"s evening prayer is, "Abide with us." The faithful soul, when it ceases from outward cares and is most thrown upon itself, feels most how lost would be its state without the abiding Presence and grace of God; and then it beseeches him whom it has more or less offended to return to it, because without him it were empty, desolate, and destroyed. Note, that if we read with some, "Restore the many thousands of Israel," i.e., to their promised land, then it is the voice of the faithful, recognizing at each pause in life that we are still strangers and wanderers here, and beseeching God to bring us to our true and only rest. (cf. 2Co_5:4 Php_3:11 Rev_6:10, Rev_6:11) And cf. the ancient prayer, "Beseeching thee shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom, that we with all those that are departed in the true faith of thy holy name, may have our perfect consummation and joy in thy eternal and everlasting glory." Or, if we read with the Septuagint, "convert the many thousands of Israel," then it is the voice of the faithful in the intervals of labour supplicating God for all who in any wise belong to the Israel of God, that the grace of a true and entire conversion which is the one thing needful may be granted unto them. (cf. Luk_22:32 2Co_13:9 1Th_3:10)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v35 When the ark set forward . . . and…
Num_10:35-36
When the ark set forward . . . and when it rested.
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The march:--
I. This has been the watchword of the church of God in all ages. The people of God in the wilderness were the picture of Gods Church upon earth. We are strangers and foreigners upon the earth. Albeit that they had no habitation except their tents, yet it is true of Israel in the wilderness that they always had an habitation. Do you not remember the song of Moses:--Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations. Wherever they were, God was their dwelling-place. This, too, is true of the entire Church; always wandering, yet never far from home; unhoused, yet always in palaces; sometimes destitute, afflicted, tormented, and yet always clothed, always rich, always feasting to the full; deserted, yet not alone; forsaken, yet multiplied; left, yet still abiding with Him that filleth all in all We might carry the parallel out still further, but it is enough to remark that, in another point, the people of God in the wilderness were the picture of the Church of Christ. Wherever they marched, when God went before them, they marched to victory. Even so hath it been with the Church of God in all ages; her march has been that of one who is fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners. Let but her silvery trumpet sound, and the echo shakes the vaults of hell. Let but her warriors unsheath their sword, and their enemies fly before them like the thin clouds before a Biscay gale. Her path is the pathway of a conqueror: her march has been a procession of triumph. Wherever she hath put her foot, the Lord hath given her that land to be her heritage for ever. Now, let me show how this war-cry has really been heard of God and has been fulfilled to all His people. Turn ye to this book, this book of the wars of the Lord. Wherever His Church has gone and He has risen up, have not His enemies been scattered? Methinks, in a spiritual sense, when Luther first bowed his knee, the Church began to chant, Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered. When Knox in Scotland upheld the glory of Jesus name, was it not once again, O God arise, let them that hate Thee flee before Thee? When Whitefield and Wesley, seraphic evangelists of Jesus Christ, went through this land, was not this the very song of Israel, O God, arise, and let Thine enemies be scattered? And shall it not be ours to-day? Let but God go forth with our arms; let Him but speak through our ministers; let Him but dwell in our elders; let Him but make the bodies of our Church-members His temples, and His enemies must be scattered, and they must consume away. I can well conceive that such a prayer as this well befits the tongue of a minister who lands as the first herald of the Cross in some barbarian land. Those brave men who risk all for Christ, not counting their lives dear unto them that they might finish their course with joy--methinks when they as pioneers for Christ bear the ark in the midst of the wilderness, they could not breathe a better prayer for themselves, and you and I cannot do better than put it up for them now, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered; let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.
II. Now take the text in its reference to Christ. Ah! methinks the sorrowing Church, when they beheld their Lord dragged by cruel men to judgment, when they heard Him accused and slandered, when they saw Him mocked and spit upon, must have considered the battle to be a defeat. The tears must have stood in their eyes when they saw that He who was to be the Deliverer of Israel could not deliver Himself. Was it not the day of bells triumph, the hour of earths despair, the moment of heavens defeat? No; it was the reverse of all this. That moment when Christ died, He gave the death-blow to all His enemies. Even when the Master was laid in the tomb, and had to sleep there His three days as Jonah in the whales belly, if the Church had had faith, they might have come early on the dawn of the first day in the week, and standing outside the tomb, they might have begun to sing, Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.
III. What message has this text for us, and how may we use it? Rise up, Lord! O God the Father, rise up! Let Thy purposes be accomplished! O God the Son, rise up; show Thy wounds, and plead before Thy Fathers face, and let Thy blood-bought ones be saved! Rise up, O God the Holy Ghost, with solemn awe, we do invoke Thee! Let those that have resisted Thee give way I Come, Thou, melt Thou the ice; dissolve the granite; let the adamantine heart give way; cut Thou the iron sinew and bow Thou the stiff neck! Rise up, Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit, we can do nothing without Thee; but if Thou wilt arise, Thine enemies shall be scattered, and they that hate Thee shall flee before Thee. Will you and I go home and pray this prayer by ourselves, fervently laying hold upon the horns of Gods altar? I charge you do not neglect this private duty. Pray for your children, your neighbours, your families, and your friends, and let your prayer be--Rise up, Lord; rise up, Lord. Pray for this neighbourhood; pray for the dense darkness of Southwark, and Walworth, and Lambeth. And oh! if you cannot pray for others because your own needs come so strongly before your mind, remember, sinner, all thou needest is by faith to look to Christ, and then thou mayest say, Rise up, Lord; scatter my doubts; kill my unbelief; drown my sins in Thy blood; let these Thine enemies be scattered; let them that hate Thee flee before Thee. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Church in motion and at rest
I. The church in motion, the Church militant.
1. This camp composed of Israel, is distinguished from the enemies around it. Though we are in the world, we are not to be of the world; though we are surrounded with Anakims and Canaanites, we are still to maintain the purity of the visible Israel of God, our being upon the march is a circumstance calculated to hinder the ungodly from joining us to a great degree.
2. It is marching through a wilderness of woe to a land of promise. Is their way long? Is their journey weary? Are their trials great? Are their enemies numerous? Do they often halt, and think they are upon the verge of Canaan, and that the next mandate of their Sovereign will be to enter in; and are they disappointed by finding that there are many other halting places, and many a weary journey lying between them and the Canaan of their rest? Yet are they moving toward it--at last the command will be heard by this individual, and the other tribe, to cease their wanderings, and to enter into glorious and eternal rest.
3. It is under the guidance of the Mediator. It is certainly not worse off now than it was then. Christ is our Guide.
4. When His Church moves forward, God rises up on its behalf. Every progressive movement of the Church of Christ, as well as of the individuals who compose it, is, in fact, directed and dictated by the Spirit of God.
5. The movement of the Church ought to be always, and upon the whole, progressive.
6. This progress will and must be attended with the defeat of the Churchs enemies. We can win no ground except we win it from the foe; we cannot advance a single footstep in our onward journey except as we beat our enemies back.
7. The Churchs triumphant march shall end in the complete destruction of all the enemies of God.
II. The church at rest. We have seen it moving forward to that rest, and we have noticed that it sometimes enjoys temporary seasons of refreshment by the way, in different halting-places as it passes through the wilderness; and experiences the Divine protection and direction. But this rest is only tasted here below, and the foretaste of it is but designed to quicken the appetite of the people of God for their rest in glory.
1. As one feature of that rest, we observe, that there the true Israel shall be recognised, and the words shall be heard circulating through the happy host, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel. There, notwithstanding their multitudes, not one intruder shall be found to have entered in; there nothing shall enter that will destroy or that will even disturb in all Gods holy mountain. However the mixed multitude may accompany us by the way, there must be a separation at the Jordan of death.
2. At that glorious period the Israel of God shall consist of thousands and thousands.
3. They shall then have triumphed gloriously. Enemies no more shall trouble them; the sound of war shall be a sound unheard; there shall be no more conflict with temptation, no more struggles with indwelling sin. Oh, to think of Canaans rest only in this point of view! Believer, what a happy, what a heavenly rest it will be! (W. H. Cooper.)
Moses prayer
Moses, the mouth of the congregation, lifts up a prayer, both at the removing and at the resting of the ark. Thus their going out and coming in were sanctified by prayer; and it is an example to us to begin and end every days journey, and every days work with prayer.
1. Here is his prayer when the ark set forward: Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered (Num_10:35). They were now in a desolate country, but they were marching towards an enemys country; and their dependence was upon God for success and victory in their wars, as well as for directions and supply in the wilderness. David used this prayer long after (Psa_68:1); for he also fought the Lords battles. Note--
(1) There are those in the world that are enemies to God, and haters of Him. Secret and open enemies; enemies to His truths, His laws, His ordinances, His people.
(2) The scattering and defeating of Gods enemies is a thing to be earnestly desired and believingly expected by all the Lords people. This prayer is a prophecy. Those that persist in rebellion against God are hastening towards their own ruin.
(3) For the scattering and defeating of Gods enemies, there needs no more but Gods arising. When God arose to judgment, the work was soon done (Psa_76:8-9). Rise, Lord, as the sun riseth to scatter the shadows of the night. Christ rising from the dead scattereth His enemies (Psa_68:18).
2. His prayer when the ark rested (Num_10:36).
(1) That God would cause His people to rest. So some read it, Return, O Lord, the many thousands of Israel; return them to their rest again after this fatigue. Thus it is said, The Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest (Isa_63:14). Thus he prays that God would give Israel success and victory abroad, and peace and tranquility at home.
(2) That God Himself would take up His rest among them. So we read it, Return to the thousands of Israel; the ten thousand thousand, so the word is. Note--
1. The Church of God is a great body; there are many thousands belonging to Gods Israel.
2. We ought in our prayers to concern ourselves for this body.
3. The welfare and happiness of the Israel of God consists in the remaining presence of God among them. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Protection and peace
There are here two prayers for different occasions: one for active life, the other for quiet rest. In both cases they are suitable and blessed.
I. We have God fighting our battles. His enemies are ours, and He will identify our struggles with His:
1. So far as we are going in the way of His commands.
2. So far as our actions are identified with His will. If we are fighting for our own will, our own ambition, our own ideas, we cannot say, Scatter Thy enemies.
II. We have God protecting our periods of rest.
1. He slumbereth not nor sleepeth, and to Him the darkness is as the day.
2. He never wearies nor is tired; hence there is nothing to hinder or prevent His constant care. (Homilist.)
The Church and its enemies
I. The church of God has had enemies in every age. This is accounted for by--
1. The favours they received. God has set His heart upon His people. This creates envy, which soon grows into opposition and mischief.
2. The principles they professed.
3. The expectations they cherished.
II. The enemies of the church are considered the enemies of God.
III. When God rises up to judgment, the destruction of his enemies is easy, terrible, and complete.
IV. The constant abode of God with his church is an object of their supreme desire,
1. Let us learn from this passage the condescension and grace of God, in that He will dwell with us.
2. Let each of us inquire whether we are amongst the many thousands of Israel.
3. What comfort should this give to the Church amidst her many trials.
4. This subject affords to the enemies of the Church a motive for seeking reconciliation with God. (G. Clayton, M. A.)
The true soldiers convoy
I. God himself hath many enemies.
II. As God hath enemies, so sometimes he sleepeth to all their enmity.
III. Though God sleepeth and they work, yet there is a time when they shall be scattered; and when God ariseth they are scattered.
IV. Our prayers awaken God.
V. When the people of the land go forth to war, Gods people should go forth to prayer. (W. Budge, M. A.)
The rising and the resting prayer
I. The rising prayer. Here is confession, that Israels onward path was thronged with foes. It is so still, and so will always be. There is no hour when sword and shield may hang unused. Next Moses feels that his own might is nought; vain are his counsels, powerless is his arm. Therefore to God he flees. Rise up, Lord. So now, if Gods right hand be not our help the tide of foes must bear us down. But God is moved by importunities of faith. Rise up, Lord, is a cry which brings all heaven to aid. It puts sure victory on the wing. Observe here how the prayer of faith yearns for Gods glory. Let Thine enemies be scattered. These enemies hate God. They would impede the progress of His truth. They would extinguish His Words light. They would cast down His righteous rule. Can faith sit still and see Him thus dethroned? Oh, no! It agonises with desire that He would vindicate His holy cause uphold His honour, and add trophies to His name. Rise up, Lord, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.
II. The resting prayer. The going forts would have been ruin except the Lord moved in the front. The rest will be no rest unless the Lord return Prayer called Him to precede their steps. Prayer calls Him to abide around their resting teats. Vast was the multitude. But what are numbers without God? His presence is their power, their peace, their joy, their glory, their strength, their fortress, their shield, and their repose. They know it, and they cry, Return, O Lord. (Dean Law.)
Israels hymn of rest
I. As we meditate upon these words we are reminded generally of the exercises of evening devotion. We connect this sentence with every individual who formed a part of that mighty host: we fancy that we hear these words whispering from the lips of every one as he enters his tent, and as he folds himself for rest. And then we connect it with the families, the tribes of the people, the groups of kindred, remote and intimate, in that singularly constituted nation, which, you know, consisted of one race--all were brothers by blood. And we connect it, further, with the congregation at large--the sum total of that great multitude that was numbered in the registration, Israels Book of Life, as it was called. And so the sentence leads us to think of evening worship in three ways--in the closet, in the family, in the church.
II. We are led to penetrate into that which forms the meaning, and essence, and spirit of the exercises of praise and prayer, at eventide, and at all times. We are brought immediately by prayer into the presence of God; we come into immediate contact and communion with His gracious Spirit! Rise up, O Lord; let Thine enemies be scattered. There is significancy in that expression, Rise up, O Lord! And so there is in this other expression, equally figurative--Return, O Lord. Rise up, O Lord! Return, O Lord. Now, such expressions are properly explained as indicating, not an absolute fact in Gods dealings, but in the perception and apprehension of God by man: not a Divine dispensation, but a human consciousness. God did not leave Israel in the days march, no, not for an instant. We speak sometimes of the returning sunrise, and we speak sometimes of the returning sunset: but the fact is, that we return to them, and not they to us. The fact is, that it is the earth that is turning, and it is the sun that remains the same. And as it is with the sun, so it is with regard to God. Absolute change in us produces relative change in Him. As we cease to think of Him, apparently He leaves us; as we return to Him in thought, desire, and purpose, He seems to return to us in actual presence. The process is ever taking place in the history of spiritual consciousness. God and man meet when man prays to God as the day is over. God and His people hold communion as the shades of evening close in upon us at our evening devotions.
III. The text suggests to us the thought of the peacefulness, and the security, and the joy of those to whom god thus returns.
IV. We turn to this evening hymn again, and we observe that it is very large-hearted--it is thoroughly Catholic. Here Moses takes up into that great heart of his the interests of all Israel--the many thousands of Israel. Earnestly should we pray for ourselves, and with equal earnestness should we identify ourselves with the interests of others, and pray for them. An individual consciousness of moral individuality will be as a growing tree; it will be rooted in the heart, but up will it grow, and out will the branches shoot in this direction, and in that. The heart will be as a fountain, and there will come ever forth the bubbling waters, but they will flow, flow, flow, on and on, in irrigating streams, that will reach a thousand hearts. So let us throw thorough catholicity into our devotion.
V. Last of all, we think of this hymn as what may be called the evening hymn of life. The last night will come, and we shall lie down to sleep in the grave! and oh! how beautiful then to be able, by faith, to lift up our hearts to heaven and say, Return, O Lord, return unto me! I will return unto Thee! At the end of my life-long journey, my weary spirit would find rest in Thee! Receive me to Thyself. And while this prayer is offered by us on our own behalf, we are to take heed of the whole Israel of God, and pray, as we are passing out of time into eternity, that the love and care which we have so richly enjoyed, may be vouchsafed to those who follow us. (J. Stoughton.)
Return, O Lord, &c.
I. The subjects of this prayer. Israel. What the thousands of Israel are not doing for themselves let us do for them. Let us make increasing prayers at the throne of Divine grace, that the veil may be taken away from their hearts, that, under the covenant of the blessed gospel, they may realise the promise of the Spirit unto the Churches(Rev_2:17). The thousands of Israel, tracing back their history, who were they? Looking at their present condition, what are they? And making castings into the future, what shall they be?
1. Who were they? They were the nation chosen from all the families of the earth, set apart (like the one day in seven) for the peculiar manifestation of the Divine attributes and glories.
2. Looking at their present condition, what are they? After struggling through persecutions, the fiercest and most appalling, after being the one common curse and hissing of nations, divided amongst themselves by deadly antipathies, after their long and many trackings of tears and of blood, through all countries and lands, what are they now? Still shorn of their glories; still a by-word and a mockery; still the dispersed, the wandering, and the outcast.
3. But in our castings into the future, what shall they be?
II. The nature of this prayer. Moses beheld the awful state of the people, as described in the first verse of the next chapter; and therefore he prayed to the Lord. And now the cloud of the Lord is before the Israelites; and now in the midst of them is the ark of the new covenant: and yet, as described in that verse, they are filled with sinful complaining, and the fire of the Lord is burning amongst them and consuming them; the just judgments of God are upon their heads because of their unbelief, and pride, and obduracy; and they are sinking beneath the fierceness of His anger. In this their condition it is the great business of Christs Church to pray over them, that the Lord return to the many thousands of Israel--that by the manifestation of His Holy Spirit He show them the darkness of their natural minds--that by the strength of His Spirit He bring down their arrogancy to the dust--that by the penetrating influence of His Spirit He open a way into their hearts, that they may receive Christ as the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation. (T. J. Judkin.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v35 Num 10:35 - Num 10:36.
Numbers
THE HALLOWING OF WORK AND OF REST
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Num 10:35 - Num 10:36.
The picture suggested by this text is a very striking and vivid one. We see the bustle of the morning’s breaking up of the encampment of Israel. The pillar of cloud, which had lain diffused and motionless over the Tabernacle, gathers itself together into an upright shaft, and moves, a dark blot against the glittering blue sky, the sunshine masking its central fire, to the front of the encampment. Then the priests take up the ark, the symbol of the divine Presence, and fall into place behind the guiding pillar. Then come the stir of the ordering of the ranks, and a moment’s pause, during which the leader lifts his voice-’Rise, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate Thee flee before Thee.’ Then, with braced resolve and confident hearts, the tribes set forward on the day’s march.
Long after those desert days a psalmist laid hold of the old prayer and offered it, as not antiquated yet by the thousand years that had intervened. ‘Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered,’ prayed one of the later psalmists; ‘let them that hate Him flee before Him.’ We, too, in circumstances so different, may take up the immortal though ancient words, on which no dimming rust of antiquity has encrusted itself, and may, at the beginnings and the endings of all our efforts and of each of our days, and at the beginning and ending of life itself, offer this old prayer-the prayer which asked for a divine presence in the incipiency of our efforts, and the prayer which asked for a divine presence in the completion of our work and in the rest that remaineth.
I. So, then, if we put these two petitions together, I think we shall see in them first, a pattern of that realisation of, and aspiration after, the divine Presence, which ought to fill all our lives.
‘Rise, Lord, let Thine enemies be scattered.’
But was not that moving pillar the token that God had risen? And was not the psalmist who reiterated Moses’ prayer asking for what had been done before he asked it? Was not the ark the symbol of the divine Presence, and was not its movement after the pillar a pledge to the whole host of Israel that the petition which they were offering, through their leader’s lips, was granted ere it was offered? Yes. And yet the present God would not manifest His Presence except in response to the desire of His servants; and just because the ark was the symbol, and that moving column was the guarantee of God’s being with the host as their defence, therefore there rose up with confidence this prayer, ‘Rise, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered.’
That twofold attitude, the realisation of, and therefore the aspiration after, the divine gifts, which are given before they are desired, but are not appropriated and brought into operation in our lives unless they are desired, is precisely the paradox of the Christian life. Having, we long for, and longing, we have, and because we possess God we pray, ‘Oh! that we might possess Thee.’ The more we long, the more we receive. But unless He gave Himself in anticipation of our longing, there would be neither longing nor reception. Only on condition of our desiring to have Him does He flow into our lives, victorious and strength-giving, and the more we experience that omnipotent might and calming, guiding nearness, the more assuredly we shall long for it.
Let us then, dear brethren, blend these two things together, for indeed they are inseparable one from the other, and there can be no real experience in any depth of the one of them without the other. Blessed be God! there need be no long interval of waiting between sowing the seed of supplication and reaping the harvest of fruition. That process of growth and reaping goes on with instantaneous rapidity. ‘Before they call I will answer,’ for pillar and ark were there ere Moses opened his lips; and ‘while they are yet speaking I will hear,’ for, in response to the cry, the host moved triumphantly, guarded through the wilderness. So it may be, and ought to be, with each of us.
In like manner, coupling these two petitions together, and taking them as unitedly covering the whole field of life in their great antitheses of work and rest, effort and accomplishment, beginning and ending, morning and evening, we may say that here is an example, to be appropriated in our own lives, of that continuous longing and realisation which will encircle all life as with a golden ring, and make every part of it uniform and blessed. To begin, continue, and end with God is the secret of joyful beginning, of patient continuance, and of triumphant ending. There is no reason in heaven, though there are hosts of excuses on earth, why there should not be, in the case of each of us, an absolutely continuous and uninterrupted sense of being with God. O brethren! that is a stage of Christian experience high above the one on which most of us stand. But that is our fault, and not the necessity of our condition. Let us lay this to heart, that it is possible to have the pillar always guiding our march, and possible to have it stretching, calm and motionless, over all our hours of rest.
II. Now, if, turning from the lessons to be drawn from these two petitions, taken in conjunction, we look at them separately, we may say that we have here an example of the spirit in which we should set ourselves, day by day, and at each new epoch and beginning, be it greater or smaller, to every task.
There are truths that underlie that first prayer, ‘Rise up, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered,’ which are of perennial validity, and apply to us as truly as to these warriors of God in the wilderness long centuries ago. The first of them is that the divine Presence is the source of all energy, and of successful endeavour after, and accomplishment of, any duty. The second of them is that that presence is, as I have been saying, granted, in its operative power, only on condition of its being sought. And the third of them is that I have a right to identify my enemies with God’s only on condition that I have made His cause mine. When Moses prayed, ‘Let Thine enemies be scattered,’ he meant by these the hostile nomad tribes that might ring Israel round, and come down like a sandstorm upon them at any moment. What right had he to suppose that the people whose lances and swords threatened the motley host that he was leading through the wilderness were God’s enemies? Only this right, that his host had consented to be God’s soldiers, and that they having thus made His enemies theirs, He, on His part, was sure to make their enemies His. We are often tempted to identify our foes with God’s, without having taken the preliminary step of having so yielded ourselves to be His servants and instruments for carrying forward His will, as that our own wills have become a vanishing quantity, or rather have been ennobled and greatened in proportion as they have been moulded in submission to His. We must take God’s cause for ours, in all the various aspects of that phrase. And that means, first of all, that we make our own perfecting into the likeness of Jesus Christ the main aim of our own lives and efforts. It means, further, the putting ourselves bravely and manfully on the side of right and truth and justice, in all their forms. Above all, it means that we give ourselves to be God’s instruments in carrying on His great purposes for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ. If we do these things, whatever obstacles may arise in our paths, we may be sure that these are God’s antagonists, because they are antagonists to God’s work in and by us.
Only in so far as they are such, can you pray, ‘Let them flee before Thee!’ Many of the things that we call our enemies come to us disguised, and are mistaken by our superficial sight, and we do not know that they are friends. ‘All things work together for good to them that love God.’ And, when we desire His Presence, the hindrances to doing His will-which are the only real enemies that we have to fight-will melt away before His power, ‘as wax melteth’ before the ardours of the fire; and, for the rest, the distresses, the difficulties, the sorrows, and all the other things that we so often think are our foes, we shall find out to have been our friends. Make God’s cause yours, and He will make your cause His.
That applies to the great things of life, and to the little things. I begin my day’s work some morning, perhaps wearied, perhaps annoyed with a multiplicity of trifles which seem too small to bring great principles to bear upon them. But do you not think there would be a strange change wrought in the petty annoyances of every day, and in the small trifles of which all our lives, of whatever texture they are, must largely be composed, if we began each day and each task with that old prayer, ‘Rise, Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered’? Do you not think there would come a quiet into our hearts, and a victorious peace to which we are too much strangers? If we carried the assurance that there is One that fights for us, into the trifles as well as into the sore struggles of our lives, we should have peace and victory. Most of us will not have many large occasions of trial and conflict in our career; and, if God’s fighting for us is not available in regard to the small annoyances of home and daily life, I know not for what it is available. ‘Many littles make a mickle,’ and there are more deaths in skirmishes than in the field of a pitched battle. More Christian people lose their hold of God, their sense of His presence, and are beaten accordingly, by reason of the little enemies that come down on them, like a cloud of gnats in a summer evening, than are defeated by the shock of a great assault or a great temptation, which calls out their strength, and sends them to their knees to ask for help from God.
So we may learn from this prayer the spirit of expectance of victory which is not presumption, and of consecration, which alone will enable us to pass through life victorious. ‘Be of good cheer,’ said the Master, as if in answer to this prayer in its Christian form-’I have overcome the world.’ We turn to the helmed and sworded Figure that stands mysteriously beside us whilst we are all unaware of His coming, and the swift question that Joshua put rises to our lips, ‘Art Thou for us or for our adversaries?’ The reply comes, ‘Nay! but as Captain of the Lord’s host am I come up.’ That is Christ’s answer to the prayer, ‘Rise, Lord, let Thine enemies be scattered.’
III. Lastly, we have here a pattern of the temper for hours of repose.
‘When the ark rested, he said, "Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel."‘ As I said at the beginning of these remarks, the pillar of cloud seems to have taken two forms, braced together upright when it moved, diffused and stretched as a shelter and a covering over the host of Israel when it and they were at rest. In like manner, that divine Presence is Protean in its forms, and takes all shapes, according to the moment’s necessities of the Christian trusting heart. When we are to brace ourselves for the march it condenses itself into an upright and moving guide. When we lay ourselves down with relaxed muscles for repose, it softly expands itself and ‘covers our head’ in the hours of rest, ‘as in the day of battle.’
Ah! brother, we have more need of God in times of repose than in times of effort. It is harder to realise His Presence in the brief hours of relaxation than even in the many hours of strenuous toil. Every one who goes for a holiday knows that. You have only to look at the sort of amusements that most people fly to when they have not anything to do, to see that there is quite as much, if not more, peril to communion of soul with God in times when the whole nature is somewhat relaxed, and the strings are loosened, like those of a violin screwed down a turn or two of the peg, than there is in times of work.
So let us take special care of our hours of repose, and be quite sure that they are so spent as that we can ask when the day’s work is done, and we have come to slippered ease, in preparation for nightly rest, ‘Return, O Lord, unto Thy waiting servant.’ Work without God unfits for rest with Him. Rest without God unfits for work for Him.
We may take these two petitions as tests of the allowableness of any occupation, or of any relaxation. Dare I ask Him to come with me into that field of work? If I dare not, it is no place for me. Dare I ask Him to come with me into this other chamber of rest? If I dare not, I had better never cross its threshold. Take these two prayers, and where you cannot pray them, do not risk yourself.
But the highest form of the contrast between the two waits still to be realised. For life as a whole is a fight, and beyond it there is the ‘rest that remaineth,’ where there will be not merely God’s ‘return unto the thousands of Israel,’ but the realisation of His fuller presence, and of deeper rest, which shall be wondrously associated with more intense work, though in that work there will be no conflict. The two petitions will flow together then, for whilst we labour we shall rest; and whilst we rest we shall labour, according to the great sayings, ‘they rest from their labours,’ and yet ‘they rest not day nor night.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv33, 35 They journeyed
They journeyed
"They" refers to the people of Israel.
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the mountain of Yahweh
This refers to Mount Sinai. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "Mount Sinai, the mountain of Yahweh" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
The ark of the covenant of Yahweh went before them
The group of Levites carrying the ark of the covenant went before the people of Israel as the traveled. AT: "Men carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh before them as they traveled" (See: Personification)
by daylight
"every day" or "during the day"
translationWords
ark of the covenant
rest
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv33, 35, 36 10:33 The mountain of the Lord refers here to…
10:33 The mountain of the Lord refers here to Mount Sinai; elsewhere the expression refers to Mount Moriah or Zion in Jerusalem (Gen 22:14; Ps 24:3; Isa 2:3; Zech 8:3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.