We Will Move...When the Cloud Moves: Part Four
Friday, May 25, 2012
Part Four: Remember the Cloud
Paul was all about reminding his people, too. In his first letter to Corinthians he dealt
with many, many issues in that church
ranging from a guy sleeping with his step-mother, to church members suing each
other in the courts of law, to false doctrine, to prejudice and rivalry, to
dishonoring the Lord’s Supper, to abuse of spiritual gifts. It’s quite an amazing letter. And running beneath all of these issues was a
strong undercurrent of doubt in his apostolic authority in the first
place. So not only did they have all
sorts of problems that stemmed from not listening to apostolic authority, they
also doubted Paul’s authority and thereby shot themselves in the foot,
precluding them from getting the very help they needed!
This is pretty much what the Jews in the wilderness were doing,
though. God brought them out of slavery
in Egypt by the most tangible, objective, verifiable, incredible, amazing
miracle in all of the Old Testament.
When God stood between them and the Egyptian army at night in a cloud of
fire, and when God opened the Red Sea and led them through at night with that
cloud of fire, and when God closed up the Red Sea early the next morning,
killing all of Pharaoh’s army, there could have been and should have been zero
doubt that God loved them and intended to protect them and provide for
them. Yet within three days’ time they already
doubted. Why? Because they were thirsty. I have looked at that story many times and
mocked their lack of faith. Then God has
turned around and taught me many a time that I much the same way so many times.
God led Israel through the wilderness for forty years with what looked
like a pillar of cloud in the day time, which turned something like a pillar of
fire at night. Every single day for
about three months or so, they had a tangible, objective presence of God’s love
and leadership out of slavery. Their
lives consisted of waiting, though. As
the cloud moved, they moved. When the
cloud stopped, they stopped. They
stopped and set up camp. They pitched
their tents, unpacked their stuff, and settled down. Then, when the cloud moved, they took down
their tents, packed up their stuff, and followed the cloud. Each waiting period was difficult, usually
filled with complaining about the basics: food and water. God would provide for them, always through
miracle. Yet the people continued to
doubt and complain during the waiting periods.
On one particular occasion, when the wait was a little longer than
usual, the children of Israel really sinned big time, in a way that was far worse than complaining about food
and water. As Moses was up on the
mountain for forty days receiving the law of God, Israel got tired of
waiting. They assumed way too much, like most of us do, when
we are waiting. Just like Abraham and
Sarah were tired of waiting for their promised heir through whom God would
fulfill His promise of making Abraham a “father of many nations,” the people of
Israel got tired of waiting for Moses to lead them to the promised land. Abraham and Sarah hatched a plan which
involved birthing an idol (Gen. 16). It
would later prove to haunt them and their descendants even to this very
day. Moses’ brother and the children of
Israel hatched a plan which involved building an idol, out of their jewelry,
and fashioned into the shape of a calf (Exod. 32). That moved also proved to haunt not just
them, but most followers of God to this very day.
Paul wanted to be ultra-clear about that point with the saints in the
Corinthian church. So he wrote to them
in chapter 10.
I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our
ancestors in the wilderness long ago.
All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of
them walked through the sea on dry ground.
In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of
Moses. All of them ate the same
spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that
traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.
Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were
scattered in the wilderness.
These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave
evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated
with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry”…causing 23,000
of them to die in one day.
Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and died from
snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of
them did, and then they were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for
us. They were written down to warn us
who live at the end of the age. (10:1-11)
Paul begins his rebuke, reproof, warning and teaching to them in
chapter 10 with the cloud in the wilderness.
I believe he does so for one reason:
the presence of the cloud was the very presence of God, and doubting God
when His very presence is clearly and tangibly perceived should make us very
fearful…even as Christians. Doubting God
always brings the building or birthing of idols. When we don’t believe God is near and that He
is faithful, we begin hatching our own plans to “help God out,” or to help
ourselves out, more likely. And in so
doing we also hatch what will often become a lifetime of miserable
consequences, all allowed, if not orchestrated by God, in order to become a
living reminder that we must not doubt Him ever again.
The Bible is filled with stories that show this pattern. Most of the stories center on people whom God
loved, which in turn provides us with hope that despite our doubt and
consequences, God loves us, too. I think
of Abraham and Sarah, as mentioned earlier.
Twice they colluded on a lie about her being his sister, because they
didn’t believe God would keep them safe.
They colluded together on a plan involving Abraham and his maidservant
having a child together. And to this day
their child, Ishmael, and his descendants have been a living reminder that we
must not doubt God again.
I recall the story of Jacob and Esau.
A prophecy was given at birth that the older would serve the
younger. And instead of waiting on God
Jacob’s own mother hatched a plan to secure the fulfillment of her favorite
son’s destiny. So she dressed Jacob up
like his big brother, cooked her husband’s favorite dinner, and sent him in as
a poser and he got the first-born blessing instead of Esau. The consequences included a painful lesson
about lying, which earned him an unattractive first wife who caused relentless
strife in his marriage to a second wife.
I think of Moses who doubted God’s ability to help him speak clearly
and be the leader for Israel’s rescue from slavery. So God gave him his brother Aaron, who later
became the very man who led the children of Israel into idolatry while Moses
was on the mountain receiving the law.
The consequences they had to live with for the rest of their lives must
have been unbelievably painful.
I also think of Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s right-hand man. Instead of being content with trusting God to
provide for him every day, Gehazi decided to lie to Naaman to get a boat-load
of gold and wealth. As a consequence he
also ended up receiving the leprosy Naaman was just healed from earlier that
day. The consequences Gehazi had to live
with for the rest of his life were also unbelievably painful.
I am reminded of Peter who was tired of waiting on Jesus to defend
Himself. So in a single moment of
desperation took a sword and tried to be a one-man army for Jesus. Aiming for a soldier’s head, the soldier
obviously ducked sideways and lost his ear instead. Though Jesus healed the soldier’s ear, and
though Peter later became a rock for the early church, the consequences of his
action that night are still told to this day, no doubt to Peter’s embarrassment
were he still among us today.
Also waiting on Jesus to make His move and bring the promised kingdom
of God by force was Judas Iscariot.
Tired of waiting, and probably hoping to push Jesus into making a bold
move to establish His kingdom, Judas hatched a plan to betray Jesus, putting Him
right in the middle of a decision to act, and making a little money on the
side. Judas’ consequences are felt by
him to this very day, and will be for all eternity.
There are obviously many more similar stories. But two things are clear from just these few
examples. Waiting on God to do what He
said He would do can, if allowed, create a fog of confusion in our hearts and
minds which leads us to either lie (like Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Gehazi, and
Judas) or make foolish decisions out desperation (like Abraham, Sarah, Moses,
Peter, and Judas). Either way, we should
not be surprised by difficult, if not painful, consequences which follow us the
rest of our lives, serving as a loving reminder from our Heavenly Father that
He never fails and He will always love us, protect us, and provide for us. That’s why Paul wrote to the believers in
Corinth to essentially, “Remember the cloud.”
Read the entire series here in one document.
About the Author: Rob is a entrepreneur in Statesboro, GA, where he envisions and pursues missional-shaped business for the kingdom. He and his wife Sherri have been married for 18 years and together have three sons and a daughter. Rob believes the mission of the gospel is summed up in four simple phrases: know God, obey Jesus, make disciples, and plant churches. This is the pursuit of his life, as well as the point of his blog.
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