The Cloud and the Cross

Numbers 14:1 Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night.
2All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, "Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness!
3"Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"
4 So they said to one another, "Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt."
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.
6Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes;
7and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land.
8 "If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us-- a land which flows with milk and honey.
9"Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."
10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.
11 The LORD said to Moses, "How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?

They had finally arrived. It was theirs for the taking. God's promises were all before them. Yet at the most important moment that God had been leading them to all except two turn against His plan. In the same moment two men choose to believe what they had seen all along..... that God's plan was for their welfare and not for evil. Why?

I believe it was in this moment of decision everyone saw the shadow of the cross. It spoke in a prophetic way of a day when a man would make the same kind of choice that Caleb and Joshua did. Jesus chose to believe that God's plan, even though it meant his death, was the right plan...... "nevertheless, not my will be done but thy will be done", he said. This is the essence of faith.

Joshua and Caleb had seen the pattern. The Cloud always led to a place of death if God did not intervene. It led the to the Reed sea where Egypt had them cornered. It led them to the Waters of Meribah where the water was undrinkable and they were dying of thirst. It led them to the Wilderness where there was no food. It led them to the edge of the promised land where the men that would oppose their entrance were giants and lived in strongly fortified cities that had walls up to heaven. Each place the Cloud led them was a place of death unless God kept His promise. We often think of the word Moses and later Jesus spoke that in the wilderness, "He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. (Deuteronomy 8:3)" as being an admonition to study the Bible. It is that for sure but it is even more an invitation to believe what we read with such a conviction that we know even when food cannot keep us alive God's promises can.

They saw the mighty miracles day after day. Every day they went out to see God had once again provided their nutrition for that day. But still their hearts were hardened. "Why has God led us out here into this wilderness? Because there were not enough graves in Egypt." No he leads us out to save us from the grave. The only salvation from the grave was the cross. Where ever the Cloud went they saw the cross. All the world could do to convince us to turn from God was placed before them with the promise that they would be able to walk through it with God.

This is faith. It is not a formula for avoiding death. It is the way we walk through death. The cloud led them to the place of death only to show them death had no power over them. Listen to Joshua and Caleb:

Numbers 14:6Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, "The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 "If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us-- a land which flows with milk and honey. 9"Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them."

They had seen the pattern. The Cloud led them to the place of death and they would overcome it by God's promise and power. They knew that God would keep his word no matter what circumstances they faced. They believed in God. They say the cross and the death it meant on a human level. Yet they saw beyond the cross to the resurrection. And they believed. They alone of all the people who came out of Egypt that were twenty years and older went into the land of promise. They alone of a whole generation saw the truth that the Cloud would never lead them to the place of death without the purpose of demonstrating to them and the nations that the worst that life could do was not enough to overcome God's care.

Today the message is the same. Do not look at the threat the world sets before us. Look at our God who has given us His promises. The Cloud still leads us to the place of death, not to kill us but to teach us that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. Jesus faced death in the most horrible way possible. The torment that he faced after death was worse. Yet God walked with him every step of the way. "Not my will but thine be done" led to the cross. "Into thy hands I commit my spirit" was the faith that let him die victoriously and God did the rest.

Will the Cloud lead us to the Cross? Most assuredly. In fact it will always lead us there. But those who believe will not find darkness like the Egyptians did but light. They will not find death but new life. That is what the cross has done. That is what the cross will always do.