Weekly Pursuit – Week 5 of March
Verses:
Num. 10:33-34 “So they set out from the mountain of Jehovah three days’ journey, with the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah setting out before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them. And the cloud of Jehovah was over them by day when they set out from the camp.”
Excerpts:
[For] forty years the children of Israel traveled in the wilderness. Today our Christian life is a long journey on a rugged, unpaved way. As we are journeying on this rugged way, it is not easy for us to rest. The Lord Jesus, the Forerunner, has cut the way, but He did not pave the way. He passed through the rugged way, and now we are following His footsteps on this way. We have need of a resting place. Here no one, not even the older and more experienced ones, can help us. The unique One in whom we can trust is Christ as the ark. He is the Leader, and He leads us to the proper place of rest. He not only guides us in a general way but leads us in a particular way.
Not only was the ark a living ark, but the rock that followed the Israelites was also living. In the wilderness Christ followed the children of Israel as a rock to supply them with living water. As the ark, He was their Leader, taking the lead to find a resting place for them and to lead them through the hard part of their journey.
This leadership is not according to emotion or affection but according to a covenant. God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants to bring them into the good land. Eventually, God’s covenant was placed in the ark, and thus the ark was called the ark of the covenant. Hence, Christ is the Christ of God’s faithfulness. Christ must lead us into a resting place because He is the Christ of God’s covenant. (Life-study of Numbers, Msg. 17)