(Num. 9:15-2315And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. 16So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. 17And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. 18At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. 19And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. 20And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. 21And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. 22Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed. 23At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. (Numbers 9:15‑23).)
“And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony, and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it was two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed. At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses.”
A more lovely picture of absolute dependence upon, and subjection to, divine guidance it were impossible to conceive than that presented in the foregoing paragraph. There was not a footprint nor a landmark throughout that “great and terrible wilderness.” It was therefore useless to look for any guidance from those who had gone before. They were wholly cast upon God for every step of the way. They were in a position of constant waiting upon Him. This, to an un-subdued mind, an unbroken will, would be intolerable; but to a soul knowing, loving, confiding, and delighting in God, nothing could be more deeply blessed.
Here lies the real gist of the whole matter. Is God known, loved, and trusted? If He be, the heart will delight in the most absolute dependence upon Him. If not, such dependence would be perfectly insufferable. The un-renewed man loves to think himself independent — loves to fancy himself free — loves to believe that he may do what he likes, go where he likes, say what he likes. Alas! it is the merest delusion. Man is not free. He is the slave of Satan. It is now well-nigh six thousand years since he sold himself into the hands of that great spiritual slaveholder, who has held him ever since, and who holds him still. Yes, Satan holds the natural man — the unconverted, unrepentant man in terrible bondage. He has him bound hand and foot with chains and fetters, which are not seen in their true character, because of the gilding wherewith he has so artfully covered them. Satan rules man by means of his lusts, his passions, and his pleasures. He forms lusts in the heart, and then gratifies them with the things that arc in the world, and man vainly imagines himself free because he can gratify his desires. But it is a melancholy delusion; and, sooner or later, it will be found to be such. There is no freedom save that with which Christ makes his people free. He it is who says, u Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And again, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8.
Here is true liberty. It is the liberty which the new nature finds in walking in the Spirit, and doing those things that are pleasing in the sight of God. “The service of the Lord is perfect freedom.” But this service, in all its departments, involves the most simple dependence upon the living God. Thus it was with the only true and perfect Servant that ever trod this earth. He was ever dependent. Every movement, every act, every word — all He did, all He left undone, was the fruit of the most absolute dependence upon, and subjection to, God. He moved when God would have Him move, and stood still when God would have Him stand. He spake when God would have Him speak, and was silent when God would have Him silent.
Such was Jesus when He lived in this world; and we, as partakers of His nature, His life, and having His Spirit dwelling in us, are called to walk in His steps, and live a life of simple dependence upon God from day to day. Of this life of dependence, in one special phase of it, we have a graphic and beautiful type at the close of our chapter. The Israel of God — the camp in the desert — that pilgrim host followed the movement of the cloud. They had to look up for guidance. This is man’s proper work. He was made to turn his countenance upwards, in contrast with the brute, who is formed to look downward. Israel could form no plans. They could never say, “Tomorrow we shall go to such a place.” They were entirely dependent upon the movement of the cloud.
Thus it was with Israel, and thus it should be with us. We are passing through a trackless desert, a moral wilderness. There is absolutely no way. We should not know how to walk, or where to go, were it not for that one most precious, most deep, most comprehensive sentence which fell from the lips of our blessed Lord — “I am the way.” Here is divine, infallible guidance. We are to follow Him. “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8) This is living guidance. It is not acting according to the letter of certain rules and regulations: it is following a living Christ; walking as He walked; doing as He did; imitating His example in all things. This is christian movement, christian action. It is keeping the eye fixed upon Jesus, and having the features, traits, and lineaments of His character imprinted on our new nature, and reflected hack or reproduced in our daily life and ways.
Now, this will, assuredly, involve the surrender of our own will, our own plans, our own management altogether. We must follow the cloud; we must wait ever, wait only upon God. We cannot say, “We shall go here or there; do this or that, tomorrow, or next week.” All our movements must be placed under the regulating power of that one commanding sentence — often, alas! lightly penned and uttered by us — “If the Lord will”
Oh, that we better understood all this! Would that we knew more perfectly the meaning of divine guidance. How often do we vainly imagine, and confidently assert, that the cloud is moving in that very direction which suits the bent of our own inclination. We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain movement, and we seek to persuade ourselves that our will is the will of God. Thus, instead of being divinely guided, we are self-deceived. Our will is unbroken, and hence we cannot be guided aright; for the real secret of being rightly guided—guided of God— is to have our own wall thoroughly subdued. “The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way.” And again, “I will guide thee by mine eye.”
But let us ponder the admonition — “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.” (Psalm 32) If the countenance be turned upwards to catch the movement of the divine “eye,” we shall not need the “bit and bridle.” But here is precisely the point in which we so sadly fail. We do not live sufficiently near to God to discern the movement of His eye —the will is at work. We want to have our own way, and hence we are left to reap the bitter fruits thereof. Thus it was with Jonah. He was told to go to Nineveh; but he wanted to go to Tarshish, and circumstances seemed to favor, Providence seemed to point in the direction of his will. But, ah! he had to find his place in the belly of the whale, yea, in “the belly of hell” itself, where “the weeds were wrapped about his head.” It was there he learned the bitterness of following his own will. He had to be taught, in the depths of the ocean, the true meaning of the “bit and bridle,” because he would not follow the gentler guidance of the eye.
But our God is so gracious, so tender, so patient! He will teach and He will guide His poor, feeble, erring children. He spares no pains with us. He occupies Himself continually about us, in order that we may be kept from our own ways, which are full of thorns and briars, and walk in His ways which are pleasantness and peace.
There is nothing in all this world more deeply blessed than to live a life of habitual dependence upon God; to hang upon Him moment by moment; to wait on Him and cling to Him for everything; to have all our springs in Him. It is the true secret of peace, and of holy independence of the creature. The soul that can really say, “All my springs are in thee,” is lifted above all creature confidences, human hopes, and earthly expectations. It is not that God does not use the creature, in a thousand ways, to minister to us. We do not at all mean this. He does use the creature; but if we lean upon the creature, instead of leaning upon Him, we shall very speedily get leanness and barrenness into our own souls. There is a vast difference between God’s using the creature to bless us, and our leaning on the creature to the exclusion of Him. In the one case, we are blessed and He is glorified; in the other, we are disappointed and He is dishonored.
It is well that the soul should deeply and seriously ponder this distinction. We believe it is constantly overlooked. We imagine, ofttimes, that we are leaning upon and looking to God, when, in reality, if we would only look honestly at the roots of things, and judge ourselves in the immediate presence of God, we should find an appalling amount of the leaven of creature confidence. How often do we speak of living by faith, and of trusting only in God, when at the same time, if we would only look down into the depths of our hearts, we should find there a large measure of dependence upon circumstances, and reference to second causes, and the like.
Christian reader, let us look well to this. Let us see to it that our eye is fixed upon the living God alone, and not upon man, whose breath is in his nostrils. Let us wait on Him— wait patiently—wait constantly. If we are at a loss for anything, let our direct and simple reference be to Him. Are we at a loss to know our way, to know whither we should turn, what step we should take? let us remember that He has said, “I am the way;” let us follow Him. He will make all clear, bright, and certain. There can be no darkness, no perplexity, no uncertainty, if we are following Him: for He has said, and we are bound to believe, “He that followeth me, shall not walk in darkness.” Hence, therefore, if we are in darkness, it is certain we are not following Him. No darkness can ever settle down on that blessed path along which God leads those who, with a single eye, seek to follow Jesus.
But someone whose eye scans these lines may say, or, at least, may feel disposed to say, “Well, after all, I am in perplexity as to my path. I really do not know which way to turn, or what step to take.” If this be the language of the reader, we would simply ask him this one question, “Art thou following Jesus? If so, thou canst not be in perplexity. Art, thou following the cloud? If so, the way is as plain as God can make it.” Here lies the root of the whole matter. Perplexity or uncertainty is very often the fruit of the working of the will. We are bent upon doing something which God does not want us to do at all upon going somewhere that God does not want us to go. We pray about it, and get no answer. We pray again and again, and get no answer. How is this? Why, the simple fact is that God wants us to be quiet—to stand still—to remain just where we are. Wherefore, instead of racking our brain and harassing our souls about what we ought to do, let us do nothing, but simply wait on God.
This is the secret of peace and calm elevation. If an Israelite, in the desert, had taken it into his head to make some movement independent of Jehovah; if he had taken it upon him to move when the cloud was at rest, or to halt while the cloud was moving, we can easily see what the result would have been. And so it will ever be with us. If we move when we ought to rest, or rest when we ought to move, we shall not have the divine presence with us. “ At the commandment of the Lord they rested in their tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.” They were kept in constant waiting upon God—the most blessed position that any one can occupy; but it must be occupied ere its blessedness can be tasted. It is a reality to be known, not a mere theory to be talked of, May it be ours to prove it all our journey through!