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Day 42, or February the 11th. A Cross in the Wilderness. Our thoughts today are rooted

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in Numbers chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, The Israelites

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are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their

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standard and holding the banners of their family.

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The big picture surrounding these verses. When you look at the Book of Numbers, it is

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very appropriately named, because it seems to be full of numbers and nothing else. However,

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when you look further and get past the census reports, there is much more.

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A beautiful prophetic image is created in the first few chapters of this book. When

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each tribe was counted, they were allocated a specific place to camp. There were three

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tribes to the east, three to the south, three to the west, and three to the north. This

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created the unmistakable symbol of a cross. At the centre was the tabernacle, containing

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the Ark of the Covenant, and representing God himself. God was at the centre of life,

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and the nation too.

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And now our action step for today. The cross was not a last-minute solution to an unexpected

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problem. God knew he would need it, so he made provision right from the start. The tribes

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in the Book of Numbers give us the sign of the cross many centuries before Jesus came

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to die on a cross. They were specifically placed to show a cross and give us a peep

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into the future as we look at the tribes, one of which, Judah, would be the earthly

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ancestors of Christ. There is added symbolic significance when we note that Judah is placed

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to the east where it would be the very first to see the life-giving rays of sunshine, and

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in time they would supply the one who would bring life-giving salvation to the whole world.

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However, the cross remained at the centre. In these days, when wearing a cross in public

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can be contentious, it's good to be reminded that it's not the location where we place

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our cross that's important, it's who's on the cross and where we place him in our

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lives that matters.