
Numbers 9:1-23
š In the Wilderness
- the Lord spoke
- the people worshiped
The Lord is in the wilderness with His people. The enemy will attempt to make you feel alone but your God is right there. And he is speaking.
š Certain men came to Moses with concerns regarding permission to participate in Passover.
They were unclean but desired to take part in worship. This may seem like not a big deal. Mosesā could have said, āIām sure itās fine.ā Or, perhaps, āNope, unclean is unclean. Away with you.ā
But Moses knew that how a person approached God was a huge deal. So his response was:
āWait.ā
āI need to hear what the Lord says about this.ā
This spoke volumes to me. Here are some things that the Lord revealed to me through Mosesā response.
- Moses did not know the answer to their question. We are not going to have all the answers to the hard questions.
- Moses – though he spoke face to face with God daily – did not presume to speak for the Lord.
- Moses was not impulsive in his response. We donāt need to be flippant with peopleās concerns.
- Itās okay to not have an āinstant answer.ā
- Moses paused and prayed before he answered.
- Moses didnāt give his own response, what he thought, or what he would do in their place. He wanted to know what God commanded regarding the issue.
š Godās Answer
- the unclean and the out of town could observe Passover the next month – like picture make up day at school š
- BUT (I love that he included this even though no one asked – itās like he knew it would be an issue) – anyone who is present at camp and able to worship but chooses not toā¦cut off and left to bear their sin. Thatās bad.
š When to Move – When to Stay
The people only moved when God moved. They only stayed put when God stayed put.
āWhether it was two days, or a month, or a longer timeā¦ā
It can feel like time stops when weāre in the wilderness. We want to just get out – not set up camp there. But the people learned to keep an eye on the Lord. They had to be focused on him to know when he moved and when he didnāt.
If youāre in the wilderness – keep watching. Keep waiting. Keep worshiping. Donāt waste the wilderness.