HISTORICAL SETTING. Time. At the beginning of the second stage of the journey to Canaan, the start from Sinai on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year after leaving Egypt, probably about the middle of May, B. C. 1490. Starting from the plain of Er-Râhah at the base of Mt. Sinai between the two arms of the Red Sea, the course lay northward into the wilderness of Paran, the great barren region between Sinai and Canaan. Palmer identifies Kibroth-Hattaavah with positiveness, finding there an immense number of ancient graves. Place. THE REFERENCE LIBRARY. Books on Numbers named in the Introduction. Watson in the Expositor's Bible is especially helpful. On the desert of Paran see Trumbull's Kadesh-Barnea (Scribners). Palmer's The Desert of the Exodus (Harpers). Robertson's chapter on Numbers in Book by Book (Isbister). Edersheim's The Exodus and the Wanderings in the Wilderness (Bradley & Woodruff). Chapter on Numbers in Bush's Introduction to the Pentateuch (Religious Tract Soc.). Chapters on the lesson in Taylor's Moses the Law-Giver, Meyer's Moses the Servant of God, and Mrs. Whitney's The Open Mystery. PRONUNCIATIONS. Hō'bab, Răgu ́ěl, Reu ́ěl or Reū ́ěl, Kib’roth-Hǎta'ăvăh, Tih (Tee). 11. And it came to pass in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud 1 was taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony. on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, off over I Num. 9: 17. The lessons thus far taught the Israelites in the wilderness training school might be called stationary lessons, trust, duty, obedience, worship, and temperance. They were now ready to move forward from Sinai upon their toilsome journey, and the appropriate lesson was progress. It was taught in five ways. I. The Object-lesson of the Moving Cloud. — Vs. 11–13. II. In the second year. The Israelites had reached Sinai in the third month after their escape from Egypt (Ex. 19: 1), and they left it in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month. Therefore they had spent nearly a year around Sinai. The Delays of WHY THIS LONG DELAY? (1) To educate the people in liberty. They had left Egypt a nation of slaves. They were now well organized politically in divisions of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands (Ex. 18: 25; Deut. 1: 15), with a general council of seventy elders (Ex. 24: 1; Num. 11: 24-26) which the rabbis believe was the origin of the Sanhedrim. (2) To establish the people in their religion. They had left Egypt tainted with idolatry. Now God had given them laws, ritual, priesthood, tabernacle, all pure and elevating. (3) To strengthen the nation physically. They needed rest from their life of bondage, and the wholesome bodily training of the wilderness. They left Sinai a mighty host, numbering, according to the census in Num. 1 and 2, no less than 603,550 men, twenty years old or more, besides 22,000 Levites. The women and children would make the total about two million. Some commentators greatly reduce this estimate, considering the "thousands " to be only round statements, just as our regiments sometimes contain only a third or a half of their nominal thousand men; but according to any view they numbered at least a million in all. PREPARATION AND PROGRESS. The value of thorough preparation for a task is illustrated by innumerable successful lives. Bessemer's process of steel-making was the result of years of patient experiment. Noah Webster spent thirty-six years on his dictionary. Thalberg, the pianist, said he never ventured on a public performance of a piece till he had played it at least fifteen hundred times in private. Edison worked on his phonograph from eighteen to twenty hours a day for seven months to get it to pronounce the letter "S." For other illustrations see Marden's Architects of Fate, chap. 9 ($1.50, Houghton, Mifflin & Co.), and his Success ($1.25, W. A. Wilde Company). The cloud, the shining cloud which was God's visible presence brooding over the sanctuary, was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony. This name was given the tabernacle, because of the principal object it contained, the ark of the testi took 1 set forward according to THIRD QUARTer. 12. And the children of Is'ra-el 1 their journeys out of the 2 wilderness of Si'nai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Pa'ran. 13. And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Mō'ses. I Ex. 40: 36; Num. 2: 9, 16. 2 Ex. 19: 1; Num. 1: 1; 9: 5. 3 Gen. 21: 21; Num. 12: 16; Deut. 1: 1. mony. The rising of the cloud was the understood signal for their departure, and at once the silver trumpets (Num. 10: 1-10) would announce the move. 12. And the children of Israel took (set forward according to) their journeys. By short stages, rendered necessary by their numbers. Out of the wilderness of Sinai. The mountainous region between the upper arms of the Red Sea. And the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. This was reached only after a three days' journey (Num. 12: 16), which is here considered, in a general way, as a single march. Paran is the modern desert of Tîh, still pointed out by Arabic traditions as the scene of the wanderings. It measures about 150 miles in either direction, extending from the Sinai region to Canaan. Winterbotham describes it thus: "This wilderness of Paran is indeed a great and terrible wilderness' (Deut. 1: 19), lacking for the most part the precipitous grandeur of the granite mountains of Sinai, but lacking also their fertile valleys and numerous streams. A bare limestone or sandstone plateau, crossed by low ranges of hills, seamed with innumerable dry water-courses, and interspersed with large patches of sand and gravel, is what now meets the eye of the traveler in this forsaken land. Perhaps so bad a country has never been attempted by any army in modern days, even by the Russian troops in Central Asia." 13. And they first took their journey. The significance of "first" is doubtful. "Perhaps it means, 'They journeyed in the order of precedence' assigned to them by their marching orders in chap. 2.". Pulpit Commentary. According to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. The manner of march was disclosed to Moses, either by the direct Word of God or by divine illumination of his mind, and he announced it to the leaders of the tribes. God Our THE CLOUDY PILLAR. In this mysterious sign God followed the analogy of a common custom of the East, made necessary by the absence of roads. A grate full of burning and smoking fuel, lifted high on a pole, was carried before caravans and armies to indicate the way. Such a host as the Israelites could not march in a compact body. The very necessity of feeding their flocks would scatter them wherever herbage might be found; and the divine signal, towering high in the air, was a necessary guide and rendezvous. In Num. 9: 15-23 it is told how implicitly the people obeyed it, setting forth when it rose from the tabernacle, though it was by night, and camping when it rested, though it was for a month or a year. THE PILLAR AND PROGRESS. 1. As God in this mysterious symbol went ahead of his people, so he is still ready to guide all that trust him, both men and nations. "Not of the sunlight, Launch your vessel Tennyson. 2. There can be no progress except with this guidance. Only once (Num. 14: 44, 45) did the Israelites venture where the ark did not lead the way, and they were sadly overthrown. 3. This guidance is no longer by a visible sign, like the cloudy pillar, because we have passed beyond the childhood of the race, we have the Bible, we have the experience of past ages, we have the clear revelation of Christianity. This way of getting directions from God is vastly higher than the way vouchsafed to the Israelites. It requires more manliness, and it develops a loftier character. 4. "And the children of Israel set forward" (v. 12). God's guidance is conditioned on our obedience. Cease to rise when the alarm clock sounds, and soon you will sleep through all its din. Every morning, when God's cloud of darkness rises from the world, it Raquel the Mid'i-an-ite, 29. And Mō'ses said unto Hō'băb, the son of Mo'ses' father in law, We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, 'I will give it you: come thou with us, and for the LORD hath spoken good concerning Is'ra-el. 1 Ex. 2: 18. 2 Gen. 12: 7. we will do thee good: moves off in the direction of some duty. If you follow promptly, it will be in sight all day long, and will return in blessing at night. 5. The cloud led from one wilderness to a worse one. So it is often with those that follow God's guidance. He does not promise an easy journey, but he does promise the heavenly Canaan at the end of it. 6. As the cloud always rested upon the tabernacle or rose from it, so God's guidance and all our progress must be connected with his revealed religion. 7. As the Israelites did not know why the cloud tarried now for a long while in one place and now hurried on, so to us the movements of God's guiding providence are often mysterious; yet we obey, because we trust God's wisdom. 8. God's guidance provides resting places as well as marches. The Christian's progress is not like the desperate scrambles for money, pleasure, or preferment which make up the lives of worldlings. Christians often pitch their tents and rest quietly before the Lord, as on the Sabbath, at family prayers, and in hours of meditation and Bible-reading. THE OMITTED PASSAGE, VS. 14-28, describes the orderly process of breaking up camp, the different portions of the tabernacle being assigned to the various families of Levites to carry. The disposition of the tribes in their marches is also set down, Judah occupying the van and Dan the rear, while the ark was borne in the center, protected on all sides by the other tribes. ILLUSTRATIONS. Orderliness is essential for any work. Whitefield could not sleep at night until he knew that his riding outfit was in its place, ready for any emergency. Napoleon, a man of minute and wonderful knowledge, used to say that his information was all deposited in drawers, where he could put his hand on it at once. Cecil compared method to the work of a good packer, who can get in twice as much as a poor one. In religious, as well as secular, work, orderly progress is double progress. LIBRARY. Chapter 12 of Matthew's Getting on in the World. II. The Example of Hobab.-Vs. 29-32. 29. And Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Raguel. This is the same as the Reuel of Ex. 2: 18, who is generally supposed to be the same as Jethro (Ex. 3: 1), Reuel being his name, and Jethro, which means Excellency, his honorary title. The Midianite. Hobab belonged to the Kenites, an Arab tribe of Midian, east of Sinai. They were sometimes called Amalekites. Moses' father in law. The Hebrew word here translated "father in law "" means any relation by marriage, so that Hobab may have been Moses' brother-in-law, being brother to Zipporah, Moses' wife. It will be remembered [that already a lasting friendship had been formed between the Kenites and Israelites, sealed by sacrifice (Ex. 18: 12). We are journeying unto the place of which the Lord said, I will give it you. Moses had in mind God's promises made to Abraham (Gen. 12: 7; 13: 15; 17: 8), Isaac (Gen. 26: 3), Jacob (Gen. 28: 13), and the Israelites of his own day (Ex. 3: 8). TWO REASONS why Hobab should go were urged by Moses. First reason: Come thou with us, and we will do thee good. Hobab would have the manna, the guiding pillar, the tabernacle, the ever-present manifestation of God, the Promised Land, and, especially, the splendid future before the nation, For the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. Inviting Men to Christ. THE GREAT INVITATION. 1. Every Christian should be able to give just such an invitation as this. He knows whither he is going, and what joys are sure at the end of the journey. He knows how foolish is all pursuit of mammon. He should be bold in calling worldlings from their way to his. 2. He should give the invitation by word of mouth, when occasion offers, and he should be giving it all the time by his life. A happy-faced Christian is a standing advertisement of Christianity. If we say, "We, the church, will do 3. It is an invitation to Christ and not to us. thee good," it is only because the church is "the body of Christ.” 4. The only progress of the world lies along the line of this invitation, drawing the Hobabs from their Midians to Canaan. NUMBERS IO: 11-13, 29-36. LESSON VII. THIRD QUARTER. 30. And he said unto him, I will not go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred. 31. And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee; forasmuch as thou knowest how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou mayest be to us 1instead of eyes. 5. The only progress of the church springs from such invitation-giving. As Dr. A. J. Gordon once said, "A church that is not a missionary church will be a missing one. ILLUSTRATIONS. It does not need a Moses to give the invitation. An obscure village in India once sent for a missionary to baptize and receive into the church seventy native converts. Among them was a lad of about fifteen, and when his turn came the missionary urged him to test his faith, since he was so young, by waiting for baptism till the missionary's next visit. At once all the people sprung to the feet, crying, "It is he that taught us all we know about Christ." And so it turned out to be. Do not wait for others to give the invitation. A man was once praying for an unconverted neighbor. "O Lord," he prayed, "touch him with thy finger!" As he uttered these words something said to him, "Thou art the finger of God!" He had known the man for twenty-five years and had never spoken to him of Christ. Do not wait for the unconverted to approach you. A beach-master who has saved many bathers from drowning says that not one of them all cried out as he went down, or made a sign except the involuntary raising of one hand. LIBRARY. Torrey's How to bring Men to Christ, and How to conduct and promote a Revival (Revell). 30. And he said unto him, I will not go. "The true Arab loves his country passionately. The desert is his home, the mountains are his friends. His hard life is a life of liberty. He is strongly attached to his tribe, which has its own traditions, its own glories. The people of the clan are brothers and sisters." — R. A. Watson, D.D. Besides, since Hobab was prospective head of his tribe, he may have been unwilling to subordinate his authority to that of Moses. Yet the desert life had no promise for the future, no progress; while the Israelites had assured hopes of a great nation, based on the covenant of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. MODERN HOBABS. The reason why many will not "follow on to know the Lord " is because they prefer a rambling, irresponsible, self-willed life to the healthful restraints of religion. Like the citizens in Christ's parable, they "will not have this man to reign over them (Luke 19: 14). "Yet the liberty of their Midian," says Watson, "is illusory. It is simply freedom to spend strength in vain, to roam from place to place where all alike are barren, to climb mountains lightning-riven, swept by interminable storms." Another reason why many refuse the Christian life is because it would cause them to break with old associations and familiar scenes. "Mine own land, and my kindred," was Hobab's excuse. But Christ commands us to "hate" fathers, mothers, possessions, if they would draw us away from him. A third reason for the rejection of the Christian invitation is ignorance of its infinite value. An urchin will throw away a ticket to a symphony concert, but work a week for admission to a circus. If a tramp should find a priceless Titian in a rubbish heap, he would sell it for a glass of beer. 31. And he said, Leave us not, I pray thee. Moses' persistence is an example of that perseverance which is the basis of all progress and accomplishment. If it is worth while to pursue a dollar in spite of many failures, surely it is worth while to scorn failures in pursuit of a soul. Often when a man seems most opposed to religion he is on the very point of surrender to God. Second reason urged upon Hobab: Thou mayest be to us instead of eyes. Finding that an exhibit of what the Kenite might gain had no persuasive effect, Moses wisely sets before him a chance of giving. Hobab knew the desert, its resources, its hostile or friendly tribes, and he would be an invaluable guide supplementing the general guidance of the fiery pillar. Moreover, his presence would ally to the Israelites the powerful influence of the strong tribe to which he belonged. A WORD FOR SOUL-WINNERS. Two pleas must be used in inviting souls to Christ: "You need Christ; Christ needs you." Even if it is a child whom you are inviting, show AUGUST 17. good soever JOURNEYING TOWARD CANAAN. NUM. 10: 11–13, 29–36. 2 32. And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that 1what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee, 33. And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them. set forward seek upon 3 34. And the cloud of the LORD was up them by day, when they went out of set forward from was over the camp. 35. And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Mō'ses said, 5 Rise up, o Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 36. of the many And when it rested, he said, Return, O LORD, unto the ten thousands thousands of Is'ra-el. him how he can be useful in the church. doubly likely to go where they are wanted. 5 Psa. 68: 1, 2; 132: 8. People go where they want to go, but they are A third reason was joined with the second: 32. What goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee. Hobab had not shared the Egyptian bondage, but he might share Canaan. Thus early is hinted the truth that Christ teaches fully in the vineyard parable: the eleventh-hour laborer receives the full day's wages. It is not expressly stated that this second urging succeeded, but later references to the Kenites as forming a part of the Hebrew nation make it probable that Hobab, with at least a portion of his tribe, entered Canaan with Joshua. (See Judg. 1: 16; 4: 11; 1 Sam. 15: 6; 2 Kings 10: 15 compared with 1 Chron. 2: 55.) KENITES AND ISRAELITES. Little is known about Hobab's religion, but it is certain that the Kenite faith was much inferior to the Israelite. Should the church, it is often asked, receive aid from those that do not belong to the church? And the answer seems given us in this incident. The Israelites went on their way, and Moses still led the host, and the tabernacle services were still maintained, precisely as if no outsiders had been received into the camp. So the church may accept the tributes of wealth (honestly earned), of science, of art, of music, provided these non-Christian benefactors are not allowed to mold Christian opinion or turn aside a hair's breadth the legitimate labors of the church. III. The Journey Songs of Moses. - Vs. 33-36. 33. Three days' journey. So great a multitude, with all their goods, would be unable to march more than ten miles a day, less than thirty miles in the three days. The ark. went before them. The position of the ark was ordinarily in the center of the host. Perhaps there was some special reason why at the outset this plan was not followed. PRACTICAL. All true progress depends on keeping religion in the front. Send it ahead on all your journeys; let it form your plans, choose your situations, select your friends and co-workers. A Prayer for God's Triumph. 34. And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day. Perhaps, rising from the ark, it spread out over the host, at least the nearer companies, as a grateful protection from the sun, -a protection remembered long afterward, and commemorated in such phrases as "the shadow of the Almighty" (Psa. 91: 1) and "the shadow of a cloud” (Isa. 25: 4, 5). 35. When the ark set forward . . . Moses said, Rise up, O Lord. These words were afterwards made the opening words and the theme of one of the noblest of the psalms, the sixty-eighth, which is full of splendid references to Israel's march. And let thine enemies be scattered. They had need to pray this. "Swiftly, silently, as if springing out of the very sand, the Arab raiders might bear down upon the travelers."-Watson. 36. And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord. "Only Moses, as he looked upon that huge multitude covering the earth far and wide, could rightly feel how unutterably awful their position would be if on any day the cloud were to rise and melt into the evening sky instead of poising itself above the sanctuary of Israel." - Pulpit Commentary. A Prayer for God's Presence. PRAYER AND PROGRESS. 1. Every day is a little journey. It is most certain to be a day's journey toward Canaan if in the morning and evening we can truly pray these prayers |