The book of Exodus records God’s extraordinary intervention in the lives of the Israelite people. It tells of the Israelites’ dramatic departure from Egypt, the land where they grew up; the miraculous yet frightening crossing of the Red Sea; and the eventful month and a half trek through the desert. Through all this God was doing much more than releasing them from slavery – He was bringing them to Himself (Exodus 19:4). And He did this at a mountain in the desert called Sinai.
Then as they reached Mt Sinai, God terrified them by coming down onto the top of the mountain with thunder, lightning, an earthquake and a deafening trumpet blast (Exodus 19:16-19). Yet God’s purpose was not to terrify them, but to re-focus their attention on Himself. He had called them to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6). And a key aspect of this was the incredible revelation Moses received for a tabernacle where God’s presence would dwell in the midst of His called-out people. The book of Exodus ends with the glory of the Lord filling the finished tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35). It’s amazing!
At the foot of Mt Sinai
As the tabernacle was being made with all it’s intricate curtains and furniture, the people lived in tents at the foot of Mt Sinai. Making the various pieces for the tabernacle took just over a year. So I guess the people would have got used to their new living arrangements at the base of the mountain, and life would have gone back to some semblance of “normal.”
Then came the day when everything changed! God called Moses and Aaron to take a census – to count all the people (there were approx. 2 million of them), and register them all according to their tribes.
The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the Desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. He said: “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one… and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month. The people registered their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men twenty years old or more were listed by name, one by one, as the Lord commanded Moses.
Numbers 1:1-2, 18-19
A new era
A new era was about to begin and God was preparing them for what was to come. The census in Numbers chapter 1 ensured they were organised according to their tribes. This was important as their inheritance in the promised land would be allocated according to their tribes. In taking the census, God was calling them to recognise the future inheritance God had for them, and begin to embody it in the now.
With the erection of the tabernacle came the next step – recorded in Numbers chapter 2. This was a complete re-orientation of the whole Israelite camp toward the tabernacle and the presence of God, and it was to be according to their tribes. This reorganisation was a massive undertaking!
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard and holding the banners of their family.” On the east, toward the sunrise, the divisions of the camp of Judah are to encamp under their standard… The tribe of Issachar will camp next to them… The tribe of Zebulun will be next… On the south will be the divisions of the camp of Reuben under their standard…
Numbers 2:1-10
You see, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, essentially they were a disorganised mob. There was little organisation and everyone could put their family tent wherever they chose. They were used to doing their own thing in this regard.
A new order
With a new degree of God’s presence, came a new order. They had to make room inside the camp for God to dwell in a new way. And that meant big changes had to be made in their living arrangements. Every single tent in the whole camp had to be moved. Families could no longer place their tents wherever they wanted. Imagine the chaos as everyone moved their tent to the side of the tabernacle that was assigned to their tribe.
And every tent door was to face the tabernacle. They did not even have a say as to which way their tent was to be oriented! There was a new organisation, a new order, a new pattern, that God Himself was establishing.
Although the Bible doesn’t record it, I can imagine there were many who voiced their opinions at having their living arrangements so disrupted and dictated to like this.
But here’s the thing – God had a larger purpose in mind. He was training them for the promised land; they needed to become an army that would defeat an enemy they knew nothing about as yet.
God’s realignment
Over the last 2 years, the whole world has been through tremendous upheaval. And God has used this upheaval to shake many of us and get our attention. Through the shaking God has opened our eyes to some adjustments and changes that He is wanting to make. And like the Israelites, He wants us to move our “tents” in order to reorient us toward His presence in a new way.
So if you have felt uncomfortable lately, or that some of your foundations have been moved, perhaps God is wanting you to reposition your “tent.”
Remember the Israelites, and take heart. Though they could not see it while they went through the painful process of repositioning their tents at Mt Sinai, the promised land was ahead. A new pattern had to be established for a new era.
As God did it with them, so He is doing it with us today. He is realigning us for what is to come. The census of Numbers 1 shows that sometimes there are things God wants us to recognise and begin to embody now, even before they come about. But Numbers 2 is going to impact our hearts and our attitudes when God tells us move our “tent.”
Yes, repositioning can be painful and costly. We have to be willing to let go of some things from the past and take on new perspectives. But remember, this is something God is doing, and therefore we can trust that He will see us through the process.
