Day 42, or February the 11th. A Cross in the Wilderness. Our thoughts today are rooted
in Numbers chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, The Israelites
are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their
standard and holding the banners of their family.
The big picture surrounding these verses. When you look at the Book of Numbers, it is
very appropriately named, because it seems to be full of numbers and nothing else. However,
when you look further and get past the census reports, there is much more.
A beautiful prophetic image is created in the first few chapters of this book. When
each tribe was counted, they were allocated a specific place to camp. There were three
tribes to the east, three to the south, three to the west, and three to the north. This
created the unmistakable symbol of a cross. At the centre was the tabernacle, containing
the Ark of the Covenant, and representing God himself. God was at the centre of life,
and the nation too.
And now our action step for today. The cross was not a last-minute solution to an unexpected
problem. God knew he would need it, so he made provision right from the start. The tribes
in the Book of Numbers give us the sign of the cross many centuries before Jesus came
to die on a cross. They were specifically placed to show a cross and give us a peep
into the future as we look at the tribes, one of which, Judah, would be the earthly
ancestors of Christ. There is added symbolic significance when we note that Judah is placed
to the east where it would be the very first to see the life-giving rays of sunshine, and
in time they would supply the one who would bring life-giving salvation to the whole world.
However, the cross remained at the centre. In these days, when wearing a cross in public
can be contentious, it's good to be reminded that it's not the location where we place
our cross that's important, it's who's on the cross and where we place him in our
lives that matters.