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Day 42 or February the 11th. A cross in the wilderness.

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Our thoughts today are rooted in Numbers chapter

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2 verses 1 and 2. The Lord said to Moses and

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Aaron, the Israelites are to camp around the

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tent of meeting some distance from it, each of

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them under their standard and holding the banners

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of their family. The big picture surrounding

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these verses. When you look at the book of Numbers,

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it is very appropriately named because it seems

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to be full of numbers and nothing else. However,

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when you look further and get past the census

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reports, there is much more. A beautiful prophetic

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image is created in the first few chapters of

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this book. When each tribe was counted, they

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were allocated a specific place to camp. There

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were three tribes to the east, three to the south,

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three to the west, and three to the north. This

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created the unmistakable symbol of a cross. At

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the centre was the tabernacle, containing the

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Ark of the Covenant and representing God himself.

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God was at the centre of life. and the nation

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too. And now our action step for today. The cross

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was not a last -minute solution to an unexpected

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problem. God knew he would need it, so he made

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provision right from the start. The tribes in

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the book of Numbers give us the sign of the cross

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many centuries before Jesus came to die on a

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cross. They were specifically placed to show

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a cross and give us a peep into the future as

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we look at the tribes, one of which, Judah, would

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be the earthly ancestors of Christ. There is

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added symbolic significance when we note that

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Judah is placed to the east where it would be

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the very first to see the life -giving rays of

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sunshine, and in time they would supply the one

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who would bring life -giving salvation to the

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whole world. However, the cross remained at the

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centre. In these days, when wearing a cross in

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public can be contentious, it's good to be reminded

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That it's not the location where we place our

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cross that's important, it's who's on the cross

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and where we place him in our lives that matters.