An overview for Sunday School teacher and Bible study leaders, of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of Numbers 9:15-23, with the title, “The Journey,” for Sunday, September 7th, 2025. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRO:

In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Seville, Spain on what would become a three-year trip around the world — the very first to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan and all his crew knew the dangers that were involved — especially in those days before cell phones, GPS, and sophisticated weather reporting! In fact, Laurence Bergreen relates in his book, Over the Edge of the World, that Magellan left behind a will, to be carried out in the event of his death on the journey — which in fact did take place. Although the expedition circled the globe, Magellan himself would not survive. 

This is somewhat similar to the story of Moses and the people of Israel traveling to the Promised Land, isn’t it? Although Israel finally made it to the Promised Land at the end of the journey, Moses himself, like Magellan, died along the way. 

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???

Can you share about a journey you took that you felt tested your faith/courage? (Maybe it involved a scary plane ride, a mission trip to an unfamiliar country, or some other kind of journey that tested you in some way?)

Today we come to the Book of Numbers, which tells the story of Israel’s journey from the wilderness to the Promised Land. (It very much tested their faith and obedience, and they often failed — just like we do! — which points out our need of a Savior).

CONTEXT

This Fall quarter, we will move from the Psalms to study two Old Testament books, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The larger context of both of these books is that they are part of the Law, the Torah, the first 5 books of the Old Testament — its 4th and 5th books. 

Numbers gets its name from the census of the number of Israelite fighting men that begins and ends the book. Numbers basically relates the story of Israel’s 40-year journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land. 

In Chapter 1, God commands for all the men age 20 and over to be counted and listed by tribe. They counted 603,550 men who were able to go to war, excluding the priestly tribe of Levi. (Interestingly, 38 years later, on the verge of the Promised Land, they took another census, and it totaled 601,730 — a slight decline. Of course, Israel had been so disobedient and so disgruntled along the way, it was surprising there were any of them left!) 

Chapter 2 then describes how the tribes were to encamp around the tabernacle, three on the north side, three on the south, and three each on the east and the west — as well as how the eastern tribes, Judah, Issachar and Zebulon, were to lead the way when the Israelites traveled. 

In the next several chapters, God gives instructions to the priests on how to do their work, which brings us to Chapter 9, our passage for this week. 

The first 14 verses of Chapter 9 describe how God commanded Israel to keep the Passover — and then we come to our Focus Passage for this week, 9:15-23, which describes the unique way that God would lead Israel through the wilderness through the rest of their 40-year journey.  

OUTLINE

I. The Presence of the LORD (:15-16)

II. The Leadership of the LORD (:17-23)

TEXT: Numbers 9:15-23 

I. The Presence of the LORD

15 “Now on the day that the tabernacle was erected the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony, and in the evening it was like the appearance of fire over the tabernacle, until morning. 16 So it was continuously; the cloud would cover it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.”

Our focus passage for today opens by relating how “the cloud” covered the tabernacle when it was set up. You remember how in Exodus God commanded Moses & Aaron to build the Tabernacle, basically a gloriously constructed tent with its holy place and holy of holies, where Aaron would enter once a year to make atonement. 

When the tabernacle was set up, in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, :15 says “the cloud” covered the tabernacle. 

Notice: it is not “a” cloud, but “THE” cloud. (The article “the” IS indeed present in the Hebrew text.) So this is not just “any” cloud; it is “THE” cloud — the cloud of God’s glorious presence, that indicated that He was with Israel as they journeyed. 

— Exodus 40:34-35 says when they finished constructing the tabernacle: “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.”

— When Pharaoh let Israel go, God went before them in this “cloud”: Exodus 13:21 “The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might [a]travel by day and by night.”

So this “cloud” was the visible manifestation of the glory of God’s presence, that showed itself as a “cloud” by day, and as a pillar of fire by night. It was the visible sign of His presence with them.

This is important: God was demonstrating to Moses and His people here, that He was WITH THEM. As we have talked about before, nothing is more important than knowing that God is with us.

— We saw in Psalm 23 that the very central words of that Psalm are “You are with me.” 

— In Exodus 33:14-16 we find this exchange between Moses and YHWH:  “And He said, ‘My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.’ 15 Then he said to Him, ‘If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. 16 For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the face of the earth?’”

Moses told the LORD, don’t send us out of here without Your presence. It’s YOUR PRESENCE that makes the difference for us, and sets us apart from all the other people on earth. And God DID promise to go with them (:17). And the sign of His presence among them, was that pillar of cloud by day, and fire by night. 

This is the significance of the pillar of cloud and fire; it indicated the presence of the Lord among them. God’s presence is what every human being craves and desires. It is the longing in our hearts, that is only filled by Him. Here in Exodus, God begins to dwell with His people in a limited way — and He would begin to prepare His people for His presence to come into their life permanently, through the coming Messiah, whom we know today as our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. Through Him, we too can experience the presence of God with us.

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???

“Can anyone share a time when you specifically sensed that the Lord was with you?”

(For example, after Cheryl had her stroke, the first days in the hospital were very dark and difficult. The Tuesday after her stroke, I was just at the bottom; we didn’t know what we were going to do, on so many fronts. I had asked the church for prayer. And all of the sudden, that Tuesday morning, things just started coming together. And I just had the sense: “God is with us!” He’s answering prayers. He’s doing things. He is with us!”

You/your group can share your own similar stories of God’s presence with you)

Today, we don’t have a visible “cloud” and “fire” like they did in Israel’s Exodus. That was a very real, but very temporary thing He did for that journey. (Once they came to the Promised Land, there is no indication in the Book of Joshua of the cloud leading them any longer. They were there!)

Today, the presence of God is with every Christian through His Holy Spirit. When Jesus came, Matthew 1:23 says they would call His name Immanuel, which means “God with us.” Jesus was God among us here on earth. And He fulfilled His mission by dying for us on the cross, paying for our sins, and He rose from the dead, proving who He was and what He’d done. Now, whenever a person repents of their sin and trusts Jesus as their Lord & Savior, He sends His Holy Spirit into their heart (Eph. 1:13) so now the Holy Spirit is God’s presence in the very life and heart of every believer.  

We need to understand: this is not something “less” than the miracle of the pillar of cloud and fire; it is something MORE! He is with us; right inside each and every one of us. It is an incredible and amazing privilege and benefit — but we do each need to make sure that He is in US personally.  In II Corinthians 13:5 the Apostle Paul challenges the Corinthians: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” He says test yourselves to see if you are really Christians (“in the faith”). And what is the test? If “Jesus Christ is in you.” that’s the test. Make sure that His presence is really in you, because you have truly repented of your sins and trusted Him as your Lord & Savior. If you have, He is really in you, just as real as the cloud and the pillar that Israel experience, as the Presence of the Lord.  

II. The Leadership of the LORD (:17-23)

17 “Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. 18 At the [a]command of the LORD the sons of Israel would set out, and at the [b]command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped. 19 Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the sons of Israel would keep the Lord’s charge and not set out. 20 If [d]sometimes the cloud remained a few days over the tabernacle, according to the [e]command of the Lord they remained camped. Then according to the command of the Lord they set out. 21 If sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning, when the cloud was lifted in the morning, they would move out; or if it remained in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted, they would set out. 22 Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud lingered over the tabernacle, staying above it, the sons of Israel remained camped and did not set out; but when it was lifted, they did set out. 23 At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out; they kept the Lord’s charge, according to the command of the Lord through Moses.”

NOTICE all of the words and phrases that indicate when Israel might move:

(You might copy :17-23 and pass it out for your group to mark them, and you can all share)

— :17 “whenever the cloud was lifted …”

— :18 “at the command of the LORD”

— :18b “as long as the cloud settled …”

— :19 “even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days”

— :20 “sometimes the cloud remained a few days …”

— :21 “sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning …”

— :21b “in the daytime and at night, whenever the cloud was lifted …”

— :22 “whether it was two days or a month or a year …”!!

This is VERY descriptive language, isn’t it? It makes it SO clear:

they moved when the cloud of God’s presence moved, and they stayed until it did. They did not move except at God’s leadership.

In fact the wording that begins and ends this section is very expressive and emphatic:

— Near the beginning of the section :18 says: “At the command of the LORD the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of the LORD they would camp”

— Then near the end of the section, :23 reiterates it: “At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out”

This just “double-emphasizes” what it’s been saying repeatedly the whole time: they only moved when God said move! They did not move unless He commanded it.

The Hebrew language here is also very expressive: “the command of the LORD” is literally “al-piy-YHWH,” “at the mouth of Yahweh.” Verse 18 says: “At the mouth of YHWH,” they would move out, and “at the mouth of YHWH,” they would camp. And vice versa, in :23 “At the mouth of YHWH they camped,” and “at the mouth of YHWH they set out.” It’s all “at the mouth of YHWH.”  

Isn’t this an interesting and unusual arrangement? When do we today usually go places and stop? When we feel like it, right? Or “when we think it’s time to,” or “when everybody says it’s time” — or a thousand other considerations. We might get up in the morning, and say “This looks like a good day to head out!” or “I don’t see any obstacles, let’s go!” But that’s not what Israel was to do. They were to wait until God said go — and only THEN were they to move. They were only to move at the word of the Lord!

??? DISCUSSION/APPLICATION QUESTION???
“What do you think God was trying to teach His people through this arrangement?”

He obvious had a purpose in it. What do you think His purpose was?
(There are several good applications that you/your group can make on this point. You might include the following:)

—A. BE DIFFERENT: This procedure showed that Israel was not to just do things like everyone else did: heading out when the weather or outlook seemed good to them. They were to go when GOD told them to. All this emphasized the Lordship of God in their lives. Every day their movements and activities were to be directed by God. 

This applies to us, too, doesn’t it? God isn’t just some “heavenly figure” we’re to sing and pray to once a week. He is our LORD! That means He is to direct our every day activities! Every day we are to get up and pray (among other things) “Thy will be done” today. And then we are to follow His directions for the day. He is the Lord of our every day activities, and He is to direct our every day movements. This may be a radical mindset for some — but this what the Bible calls for! We are to order our lives differently than everyone else does. They follow their own whims and preferences. But we follow Jesus, who commanded us: “Follow Me!” 

—B. TAKE THE NEXT STEP: Another application is that a lot of times, we want to have everything all planned out before we’ll take a step forward, but God’s telling us, you just step out, take a step of faith, and when you have, I’ll show you what’s next. For some of us that’s harder than others — especially if you’re a “control freak,” who wants to know all the details and have everything worked out in advance. But just as Israel had to wait on God’s directions, one day at a time, so He wants us to follow Him, just one day at a time — without always knowing where we are going.

— To Peter & Andrew, James & John, and Matthew, Jesus just said “Follow Me” — and they left. They didn’t ask “What about next week?” — they just took off, to walk with Him one day at a time.

— Psalm 119:105 says “Your word is a lamp unto my feet.” It’s been pointed out that the word “lamp” there means a small candle lamp, with just enough light for the next step. That’s a good word that applies here: we often want to see the whole path, but God says: just take the next step I show you, and follow Me, just like Israel did here through the wilderness. Some of our group members this week may need to be challenged to take the next step that God is calling them to take — whether or not they can see everything the road ahead involves. 

—C. WAIT ON THE LORD: This episode in Numbers 9 also teaches us the very important lesson on our need to WAIT on the Lord. We often want to just get going and “do something.” But so often God says, “WAIT!” Wait on “My mouth,” like He commanded Israel to do here. 

SO many times, the Scripture commands us to wait on the Lord:

— Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”

— Psalm 25:3 “Indeed, none of those who wait for You will be ashamed”

— Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him”

— Proverbs 20:22 “Do not say, “I will repay evil”; Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.”

— Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength, they will mount up with wings like eagles …”

— Zephaniah 3:8 “‘Therefore wait for Me,’ declares the Lord.”

— I Cor. 4:5 “Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes …”

— James 5:4 “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains.”

Over and over the Lord gives us this important lesson, that we need to WAIT ON HIM! That lesson is so hard for us; we don’t want to wait! But it’s one of the most important lessons of the Christian life. 

I’ll just say personally that for the past year, since her stroke, Cheryl & I have felt like we have done nothing but wait: wait for the doctor, wait for an MRI or other test, wait for rehab, wait to go home, wait to move, wait to find our house, wait to sell our house — which God had clearly told us that He would do: Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and He will do it,” Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will accomplish what concerns me.” Yet it seemed like it was taking Him SO long! But He showed me from Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.” He very clearly told me: you need to wait. I am building endurance in you! It’s not “fun,” but learning to wait is one of the most important lessons the Lord has to teach us.

A couple of weeks ago we took three of our grandsons fishing in the little lake in our housing addition. It was the first time they’d been fishing, so we had to teach them everything. The hardest thing for them, was after they’d cast the line, they wanted to just reel it right back in. Their dad and I told them: You need to wait. Wait for that bobber to get pulled under. They didn’t want to wait. At one point I told them: “Guys, you’re going to be waiting on things all your life; one of the most important things you can ever learn, is to wait!” 

I don’t know if that lesson got through to them or not. But it’s something God is teaching all of us. And this episode in Numbers 9 is one place where He teaches that: DON’T just “forge ahead; WAIT on the Lord. How many times do we as individuals — and we corporately as churches — make foolish mistakes by “just going ahead and doing something” instead of really waiting on God’s leadership? God was teaching Israel here to wait on Him. And through this scripture, He is teaching us the same thing as well. We need to wait on the Lord! 

— wait on Him every morning in His word and prayer. Get His leadership and direction for the day.

— wait on His leadership for your decisions and directions. 

— And do not just “go ahead and do something” if you don’t have clear leadership from Him. Wait on the Lord.

??? DISCUSSION QUESTION???

What do you think about this quote:

“Don’t just stand there, do something!”

(It’s a common saying isn’t it — as well as a common practice — among many individuals, and among many churches as well. We don’t want it to seem like we’re just “sitting around” not taking any action, so we just “do something.” 

But isn’t this exactly what God showed King Saul NOT to do? In I Samuel Chapter 10 Samuel told Saul to wait seven days for him to come back and make the sacrifice before they went out to fight the Philistines, and he would tell him what to do next. But the second the seven days were up, some of the people started to walk away, so Saul “forced himself” and made the sacrifice himself. Just then Samuel walked up and rebuked him, and told him he was not a man after God’s own heart. Saul felt like it was late and he just had to “do something” — but “just doing something” was the WRONG thing. 

God shows us here in Numbers 9 that it’s better to do nothing, and wait on Him, than to just “plow ahead” and “do something” when it is the wrong thing.

So it goes against our grain. But it’s an important lesson to learn.

“Don’t just do something. Stand there! Wait on the Lord!”

Now, it can be hard to wait, can’t it, because we don’t always know WHY God has us wait, or move ahead, when He does. But He has His reasons. It shouldn’t be hard for us to imagine what some of His reasons might be.

ILLUSTRATION:

In 2001, Holly Winter had planned a trip to New York City to meet a couple of her friends there. She told her mother that she was coming to town. But her mother told her, no, I am coming to see YOU in Denver instead. She pleaded with her: Mom, we’ve already got this planned; you are retired, you can travel any time. But she would have none of it. Her mom was coming and Holly had to cancel her plan to go to the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001! Why was her mother so stubborn? In the end, Holly Winter was glad she was! (Readers Digest online: 9/11 Survivor Stories, June 5, 2025)

In the same way, how often do we wonder WHY God has us wait, or go, at the specific times that He does. Why do we have to wait, while others seem to move ahead? Why are things moving so slowly for us, when it seems like they should be going more quickly. We don’t know why God does what He does — but part of our commitment to TRUST HIM. He is our God. He can see things that we can’t. 

— When Israel was traveling in the wilderness, God could see enemies, or plagues, or all kinds of things the people of Israel could not see. So He had them wait.

— And likewise today, in our comings and goings, God can see hidden traps of the enemy, temptations, dangers, that we can’t see. So He has us wait. Like Israel, we need to learn to trust God’s timing, and that He has His reasons. It’s all about trusting God — both for Israel, and for us today. 

??? APPLICATION QUESTION???

Is there some area of your life TODAY, where God is telling you: “Do not just ‘plow ahead;’ you need to WAIT ON ME for this”? 

If so, you’d better listen. We may not understand it all right now, but we need to trust that God has His reasons. He taught Israel here that they needed to learn to wait on “His mouth” to move ahead. Many of us and our class members need this very same lesson today!

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— These weekly lessons are based on content from Explore the Bible Adult Resources. The presentation is my own and has not been reviewed by Lifeway.

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