Breaking Camp

Num 10:7-20         11/5/2017

The Israelites were directed to break camp and continue their journey on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year of the exodus.

The Israelites spent not quite a year at the foot of the mountain. They learned about God. They prepared the camp to receive God’s presence with them. They learned to live with the enduring power and presence of God. And with all this, they were prepared to go.

They were sent. They broke camp. They began a new journey.

No longer a desperate muddle fleeing Pharaoh: They had order. They had leadership. The God of all creation literally and visibly went before them.

They were chosen.

They knew they were chosen.

It’s a good feeling: The getting going. The consolation of God. The sense of preparedness for a journey. The anticipation of success – perhaps even triumph.

Yet the experience of every boy scout, no matter how much effort has gone into preparedness, is that the journey will bring unanticipated challenges. It will bring failures and heartbreaks and setbacks. You will sometimes feel discouraged, confused, afraid and perhaps even hopeless.

None of that matters at the sending. It’s time to go. You must go.

Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.  Psalm 119:105