Numbers: Preparing A People To Conquer (X)

Leaving Sinai (10:1-36)

Neal Pollard

Israel camped at Sinai for a total of 11 months and 20 days. This can be calculated by seeing the dates mentioned in Exodus 12:2, 19:1; Numbers 1:1, 9:5, and 10:11. So, their freedom from Egyptian slavery had been almost a year. Before that, they had been in bondage over four centuries. It is easy to see how they could give in to a fearful mindset, but to this point they had faithfully trudged toward the promise land.

The trumpets (1-10) were a key part of the mobilization process. The priests blew them to assemble the congregation at the door of the tabernacle (3), assemble the tribal heads to Moses (4), mobilize the camp (5-6), sound an alarm if attacked (9), and as a reminder of God’s presence at the feasts (10). This was the task for the “sons of Aaron, the priests” (8).

With the review of these procedures, the first incidence of the cloud moving occurs in verses 11-36. We are not told the mood of the people, but they had to be buzzing with excitement. They had been in a holding pattern for nearly a year, and now they were going north out of the Sinai Peninsula toward Canaan. In the peninsula is the Wilderness of Shur, the Wilderness of Paran, and the Wilderness of Zin. 

(Via Rose Maps)

The chapter details Israel’s setting out by company in these verses. The ark of the covenant leads the way (33). The standards (flags) fly as the tribes set out in the order God prescribed–Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Reuben, Simeon, Gad, Ephraim, Manasseh, Benjamin, Dan, Asher, and Naphtali (11-28). This is followed by Moses’ pleading with Hobab, his brother-in-law, to remain with Israel. His expertise in location and logistics in camping are skills Moses tells him he needs. He prevails upon his brother-in-law, who remains with them. 

There is pomp and ceremony whenever Israel mobilized or came to rest. “Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you. And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel” (35-36). 

This procedure was a tangible reminder of God’s sovereignty and leadership. They relied on His directions, and their responsibility to go where He commanded and do as He instructed. This was their finest year of freedom, that first year. As we will see, trust is going to wane and fear is going to rise.