Setting Out from Sinai

Numbers 9-10

            At long last, the people of Israel are ready to set out from Sinai and head to their promised land. It has been about a year since they arrived at Sinai. They wrap up their time by celebrating the second Passover, a nice reminder of where they had come from, and there’s a reminder and an accommodation so that every Israelite is under obligation to celebrate the Passover. Even a foreigner living among them is to observe it. They are to ever have before them that Lord was the one who brought them out of Egypt, that He is their savior.

            The Lord’s presence figures prominently in our reading, because the cloud is mentioned several times (14 times, by my count!). He will go with them, lead them, and protect them on the way. Considering the Lord’s threats after the incident with the golden calf, they ought not take His going with them for granted (Exodus 33:1-17)!

            Finally, they set out in ordered companies, just as the Lord had said, an army under orders, moving on the signals from the commander. This last bit strikes me as important if for no other reason than tomorrow’s reading. To be continued…