Numbers 9:15-23 - Divine Guidance

I. THAT THE THEOPHANY , OR DIVINE APPEARANCE UPON THE TABERNACLE , WAS AS A CLOUD BY DAY AND AS FIRE BY NIGHT . Even so is the Lord unto his people both shelter and illumination,—shade that they faint not, light that they wander not astray ( Psalms 27:1 ; Psalms 36:9 ; Psalms 121:5 ; Isaiah 25:4 ; Matthew 11:29 ; John 8:12 ).

II. THAT THE CLOUD WAS UPON THE TABERNACLE OF WITNESS , WITHOUT , AND - YET IN A MANNER CONNECTED WITH THE " TESTIMONY " ENGRAVEN UPON THE TABLES OF STONE . Even so the comfort and illumination of the faithful, albeit not of themselves but of God, are yet vitally connected with the law of holiness which is enshrined in their hearts ( John 14:15 , John 14:23 ; Hebrews 12:14 ).

III. THAT THIS THEOPHANY WAS THE INFALLIBLE GUIDE TO THEIR MOVEMENTS , WHETHER TO REST OR TO ADVANCE . Even so the Lord himself, even God made manifest in Christ, is our only guide along the way to heaven ( Psalms 48:14 ; Luke 1:79 ; John 21:22 ; 1 Thessalonians 3:11 ).

IV. THAT THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE CLOUD WAS APPARENTLY ARBITRARY , SOMETIMES LINGERING LONG AS THOUGH IT HAD FORGOTTEN HOW TO MOVE , SOMETIMES HASTENING ON WITHOUT REST . Even so the Divine guidance, whether of the Church or of the individual, is often unintelligible and sometimes apparently perverse: how unequal are the advances of the Church, or of the soul, towards perfection ( John 13:7 ): what need of

V. THAT THE PEOPLE WERE STRICTLY OBEDIENT IN THIS , THAT THEY JOURNEYED NOT EXCEPT BY THE DIRECTION OF THE CLOUD , BECAUSE THEY FEARED TO BE WITHOUT IT . Even so the faithful will follow him that leadeth them as obediently as they can, because away from him and his guidance they would neither be able to endure, nor to progress ( John 6:68 ; John 10:4 ; John 13:37 ; John 14:6 ).

VI. THAT WHEN ONCE , AND ONLY ONCE , THEY PRESUMED TO GO ON WHEN THE CLOUD BID THEM NOT , THEY MET DISASTROUS DEFEAT ( Numbers 14:44 , Numbers 14:45 ). Even so if any will presume to go beyond the command and permission of his Lord (even in zeal) he will be overthrown of Satan (cf. Luke 22:55 b, sq.; 1 Corinthians 7:5 b).