February 26 - Numbers 2:3,10, 18, 25, 17

"The divisions of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun

are to camp toward the sunrise on the east side

of the Tabernacle, beneath their family banners ...

 

"The divisions of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad

are to camp on the south side of the Tabernacle,

beneath their family banners ...

 

"The divisions of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin

are to camp on the west side of the Tabernacle,

beneath their family banners ...

 

"The divisions of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali

are to camp on the north side of the Tabernacle,

beneath their family banners ...

 

"Then the Levites will set out from the middle

of the camp with the Tabernacle.

 

Numbers 2:3,10,18,25,17

 

Exodus began a long journey toward the Promised Land ... until they halted at Mt. Sinai.

 

Leviticus was a detailed list of instructions for living in that Promised Land.

 

Numbers resumes the journey.

 

And today's lesson tells them how.

 

Think about this: 3 tribes on the north, 3 on east, 3 on the west, and 3 to the south. What shape does that make? A cross!

 

We could talk about the logic and efficiency of clustering the tribes into smaller units for communication, administration and disciple ... but ... I think it's much more interesting to think that fifteen hundred years before Christ's crucifixion, God's people were moving about the desert in the sign of a cross!

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who loves God's subtle winks