Num 10:11 In the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, the cloud lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony, and the people of Israel set out by stages from the wilderness of Sinai. And the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. They set out for the first time at the command of the LORD by Moses.
As the cloud began to move, one might imagine the huge sense of excitement that flowed through the people. This marked the start of their departure from Mount Sinai and their journey to Canaan, the land promised to their forefathers and to them. This was the first time Israel marched as an organized, prepared nation. They were not the same group that escaped Egypt as a mob.
i. They had been fully prepared to walk as Promised Land people and it was all focused towards this exact point: bringing them into the Promised Land:
· They had become ordered and organized (Numbers 1-4).
· They had become cleansed and purified (Numbers 5).
· They had become set apart and blessed (Numbers 6).
· They learned how to give and how to function as priests (Numbers 3 and Numbers 7-8).
· They were made to remember judgment spared and deliverance brought (Numbers 9).
· They had God’s presence as a guide and the tools needed to lead the people (Numbers-10).
One would be tempted to think that after such extensive preparation – a virtual transformation from slave people to Promised Land people – the actual entering into the Promised Land would be easy. This was not the case. The preparation was exactly that – preparation. Ahead of them were the greatest challenges, challenges that could only be met by faith. To use an example, a soldier might think basic training finishes something – but it doesn’t. It only prepares for a greater challenge, the actual battle itself. (Guzik)
After the Israelites had continued nearly a year at mount Sinai, and all was settled respecting their future worship, they began their march to Canaan. True religion begins with the knowledge of the holy law of God, and humiliation for sin, but we must go on towards perfection, in acquaintance with Christ and his gospel, and those effectual encouragements, motives, and assistances to holiness, which it proposes. (Henry)
