Obedience

Recently I have been reading through the Old Testament.  I started in Exodus and am now in the book of Numbers.  It is a little bit hard to get through at times, but there is so much good stuff in there.  And a lot of it makes stuff in the New Testament make more sense to me.  A lot of I still don't understand, but I think it's good to at least have the knowledge and begin pondering it in the back of my head.


This past week sometime, I came across this passage:

On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they remained in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they set out. And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out.Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out. They kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses. (Numbers 9:15-23)

I started thinking about obedience.  These Israelites have been travelling through the wilderness for quite some time on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land.  They have done a lot of things wrong and have told God and Moses several time that they have rather stayed in Egypt as slaves because this journey sucks so much.  But they did a few things right, too.  There's this cloud and when it is lifted, they start walking.  When the cloud comes back down, they stop walking and setup their camp.  They may be in that place for a night, a week, or a month.  They have no idea.  They could be doing anything and when the cloud is lifted, they pack up their things and start walking.  I'm not much of a planner, but this would even drive me crazy. Not knowing when you are going to leave.  If you knew you were going to be in the same place for a month, maybe you would setup a more established fire pit or setup the things in your house.  But if you don't know how long you are going to be there, you don't know how much to setup and settle.  They have to FULLY trust in God that he knows what is going on and will provide for them.  They are super obedient.  When God says walk, the walk.  When he says stop, they stop.  Could you imagine if people were that obedient?  (Assuming of course that the person they are being obedient to has their best interest in mind.)  Our society would be so different.  Not just obedience to God, but obedience to laws and rulers and parents.  Ok, well maybe that's not the best picture of what I'm trying to say because laws and rulers and parents can be REALLY messed up in this world.  But do you know what I mean?  Our society does not really value obedience.  We are all about independence and doing things our way.  But what if we took a step back from ourselves and we just obedient?