The Movement of the Cloud (Dependence upon God)
C.H.Mackintosh "The Pentateuch" (available
from Believers Bookshelf, or, on CD, from Stem Publishing) Read from Numbers 9:15-23
"And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, the cloud covered the tabernacle,
namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the
morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then
after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched
their tents. At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched:
as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents.
And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children
of Israel kept the charge of the Lord, and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle;
according to the commandment of the Lord they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the Lord they journeyed.
And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning,
and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed; whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was
taken up, they journeyed. Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle,
remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
At the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment
of the Lord they journeyed: they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses."
(Numbers 9:15-23).
A more lovely picture of absolute dependence upon, and subjection to, divine guidance
it were impossible to conceive than that presented in the foregoing paragraph. There was not a footprint or a landmark
throughout that "great and terrible wilderness." It was therefore useless to look for any guidance from those
who had gone before. They were wholly cast upon God for every step of the way. They were in a position of constant waiting
upon Him. This, to an unsubdued mind -- an unbroken will -- would be intolerable; but to a soul knowing, loving, confiding,
and delighting in God, nothing could be more deeply blessed.
Here lies the real gist of the whole matter. Is God known, loved, and trusted? If
He be, the heart will delight in the most absolute dependence upon Him. If not, such dependence would be perfectly insufferable.
The unrenewed man loves to think Himself independent -- loves to fancy himself free -- loves to believe that he may do what
he likes, go where he likes, say what he likes. Alas! it is the merest delusion. Man is not free. He is the slave of Satan.
It is now well nigh six thousand years since he sold himself into the hands of that great spiritual slaveholder who has held
him ever since, and who holds him still. Yes, Satan holds the natural man -- the unconverted, unrepentant man in terrible
bondage. He has him bound hand and foot with chains and fetters which are not seen in their true character because of the
gilding wherewith he has so artfully covered them. Satan rules man by means of his lusts, his passions, and his pleasures.
He forms lusts in the heart, and then gratifies them with the things that are in the world, and man vainly imagines himself
free because he can gratify his desires. But it is a melancholy delusion; and, sooner or later, it will be found to be
such. There is no freedom save that with which Christ makes His people free. He it is who says, "Ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free." And again, "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed"
(John 8).
Here is true liberty. It is the liberty which the new nature finds in walking in the
Spirit, and doing those things that are pleasing in the sight of God. "The service of the Lord is perfect freedom."
But this service, in all its departments, involves the most simple dependence upon the living God. Thus it was with the only
true and perfect Servant that ever trod this earth. He was ever dependent. Every movement, every act, every word -- all
He did, and all He left undone -- was the fruit of the most absolute dependence upon, and subjection to, God. He moved
when God would have Him move, and stood still when God would have Him stand. He spoke when God would have Him speak, and was
silent when God would have Him silent.
Such was Jesus when He lived in this world; and we, as partakers of His nature -- His
life -- and having His Spirit dwelling in us, are called to walk in His steps, and live a life of simple dependence upon God,
from day to day. Of this life of dependence, in one special phase of it, we have a graphic and beautiful type at the close
of our chapter. The Israel of God -- the camp in the desert -- that pilgrim host followed the movement of the cloud. They
had to look up for guidance. This is man's proper work. He was made to turn his countenance upward, in contrast with the brute,
who is formed to look downward. {The Greek word for man signifies to turn the face upwards.} Israel could form no plans.
They could never say, "Tomorrow we shall go to such a place." They were entirely dependent upon the movement
of the cloud. Thus it was with Israel, and thus it should be with us. We are passing through a trackless desert -- a moral
wilderness. There is absolutely no way. We should not know how to walk, or where to go, were it not for that one most precious,
most deep, most comprehensive sentence which fell from the lips of our blessed Lord, "I am the way."
Here is divine infallible guidance. We are to follow Him. "I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8). This is living guidance. It is not acting according
to the letter of certain rules and regulations; it is following a living Christ -- walking as He walked; doing as He did;
imitating His example in all things. This is Christian movement -- Christian action. It is keeping the eye fixed upon the
Lord Jesus, and having the features, traits, and lineaments of His character imprinted on our new nature, and reflected back
or reproduced in our daily life and ways.
Now this will, assuredly, involve the surrender of our own will, our own plans, our own
management altogether. We must follow the cloud; we must wait, ever wait, only upon God. We cannot say, "We shall
go here or there, do this or that, tomorrow, or next week.'' All our movements must be placed under the regulating
power of that one commanding sentence -- often alas! lightly penned and uttered by us -- "If the Lord will."
Oh! that we better understood all this! Would that we knew more perfectly the meaning
of divine guidance! How often do we vainly imagine, and confidently assert, that the cloud is moving in that very direction
which suits the bent of our inclination. We want to do a certain thing, or make a certain movement, and we seek to persuade
ourselves that our will is the will of God. Thus, instead of being divinely guided, we are self-deceived. Our will is
unbroken, and hence we cannot be guided aright, for the real secret of being rightly guided -- guided of God -- is to have
our own will thoroughly subdued. "The meek will He guide in judgment; and the meek will He teach His way." And
again, "I will guide thee with Mine eye." But let us ponder the admonition, "Be ye not as the horse, or
as the mule, which have no understanding; whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto Thee"
(Psalm 32). If the countenance be turned upwards to catch the movement of the divine "eye," we shall not need
the "bit and bridle." But here is precisely the point in which we so sadly fail. We do not live sufficiently
near to God to discern the movement of His eye. The will is at work. We want to have our own way, and hence we are left
to reap the bitter fruits thereof. Thus it was with Jonah. He was told to go to Nineveh, but he wanted to go to Tarshish;
and circumstances seemed to favour; providence seemed to point in the direction of his will. But alas! he had to find his
place in the belly of the whale, yea, in "the belly of hell" itself, where "the weeds were wrapped about
his head." It was there he learnt the bitterness of following his own will. He had to be taught in the depths of the
ocean the true meaning of the "bit and bridle," because he would not follow the gentler guidance of the eye.
But our God is so gracious, so tender, so patient! He will teach and He will guide His
poor feeble erring children. He spares no pains with us. He occupies Himself continually about us, in order that we may
be kept from our own ways, which are full of thorns and briars; and walk in His ways, which are pleasantness and peace.
There is nothing in all this world more deeply blessed than to lead a life of habitual
dependence upon God; to hang upon Him, moment by moment, to wait on Him and cling to Him for everything. To have all
our springs in Him. It is the true secret of peace, and of holy independence of the creature. The soul that can really say,
"All my springs are in Thee" is lifted above all creature confidences, human hopes, and earthly expectations.
It is not that God does not use the creature, in a thousand ways, to minister to us. We do not at all mean this. He does use
the creature; but if we lean upon the creature instead of leaning upon Him, we shall very speedily get leanness and barrenness
into our souls. There is a vast difference between God's using the creature to bless us, and our leaning on the creature to
the exclusion of Him. In the one case, we are blessed and He is glorified; in the other, we are disappointed and He is dishonored.
It is well that the soul should deeply and seriously consider this distinction. We believe
it is constantly overlooked. We imagine, oft-times, that we are leaning upon, and looking to, God, when, in reality, if we
would only look honestly at the roots of things, and judge ourselves in the immediate presence of God, we should find an appalling
amount of the leaven of creature confidence. How often do we speak of living by faith, and of trusting only in God, when,
at the same time, if we would only look down into the depths of our hearts, we should find there a large measure of dependence
upon circumstances, reference to second causes, and the like.
Christian reader, let us look well to this. Let as see to it that
our eye is fixed upon the living God alone, and not upon man whose breath is in his nostrils. Let us wait on Him -- wait patiently
-- wait constantly. If we are at a loss for anything, let our direct and simple reference be to Him. Are we at a loss to
know our way, to know whither we should turn, what step we should take? Let us remember that He has said, "I am the
way;" let us follow Him. He will make all clear, bright, and certain. There can be no darkness, no perplexity,
no uncertainty, if we are following Him; for He has said, and we are bound to believe, "He that followeth Me shall not
walk in darkness." Hence, therefore, if we are in darkness, it is certain that we are not following Him. No darkness
can ever settle down upon that blessed path along which God leads those who, with a single eye, seek to follow Jesus.
But someone, whose eye scans these lines, may say, or at least may feel disposed to say,
"Well, after all, I am in perplexity as to my path. I really do not know which way to turn or what step to take."
If this be the language of the reader, we would simply ask him this one question, "art thou following the Lord Jesus?
If so, thou canst not be in perplexity. Art thou following the cloud? If so, thy way is as plain as God can make it."
Here lies the root of the whole matter. Perplexity or uncertainty is very often the fruit of the working of the will. We are
bent upon doing something which God does not want us to do at all -- upon going somewhere that God does not want us to go.
We pray about it, and get no answer. We pray again and again, and get no answer. How is this? Why the simple fact is that
God wants us to be quiet -- to stand still -- to remain just where we are. Wherefore, instead of racking our brain and harassing
our souls about what we ought to do, let us do nothing, but simply wait on God.
This is the secret of peace and calm elevation. If an Israelite, in the desert, had taken
it into his head to make some movement, independent of Jehovah; if he took it upon Him to move when the cloud was at rest,
or to halt while the cloud was moving, we can easily see what the result would have been. And so it will ever be with us.
If we move when we ought to rest, or rest when we ought to move, we shall not have the divine presence with us. "At
the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed." They were
kept in constant waiting upon God, the most blessed position that anyone can occupy; but it must be occupied ere its blessedness
can be tasted. It is a reality to be known, not a mere theory to be talked of. May it be ours to prove it all our journey
through!