We are in Numbers chapter nine with our word for today. עָנָן cloud, cloud-mass, clouds. It is used 87 times in the Old Testament, 11 times in our chapter. We have already looked at this word previously but because it is used so many times in our chapter it is worth another look. We find our word used in the sense of mist, a thin fog that reduces visibility and is dissipated by the sun; often near the ground. Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out your transgressions כָעָב֙ [this is a different word] like a cloud and your sins וְכֶעָנָ֖ן like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you. Our word is used in the sense of a cloud of smoke, a collection of smoke, dust or gases that is visible. Leviticus 16:13 Put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that עֲנַ֣ן the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. Deuteronomy 4:11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, עָנָ֥ן cloud, and gloom. Deuteronomy 5:22 These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, הֶֽעָנָ֣ן the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice. Ezekiel 8:11 Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke עֲנַֽן of the cloud of incense went up. Most of the uses of our word are in the sense cloud, a visible mass of water or ice particles suspended at a considerable altitude. Genesis 9:13 I have set my bow בֶּֽעָנָ֑ן in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Exodus 24:15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and הֶעָנָ֖ן the cloud covered the mountain. This is how our word is used 11 times in our chapter. Numbers 9:15-22 On the day that the tabernacle was set up, הֶֽעָנָן֙ the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. So it was always: הֶעָנָ֖ן the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever הֶֽעָנָן֙ the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where הֶֽעָנָ֔ן the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped. As long as הֶעָנָ֛ן the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. Even when הֶֽעָנָ֛ן the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the LORD and did not set out. Sometimes הֶֽעָנָ֛ן the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the LORD they remained in camp; then according to the command of the LORD they set out. And sometimes הֶֽעָנָן֙ the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when הֶֽעָנָ֛ן the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when הֶעָנָ֖ן the cloud lifted they set out. Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that הֶעָנָ֤ן the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. The Israelites were a pilgrim people, marching through the wilderness like an army, and they constantly needed the guidance of God. Their goal was the Promised Land, and the God who delivered them from Egypt promised to bring them into their inheritance if they would trust Him and obey His will. To guide Israel in their journey, God gave them the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night; and to announce the will of God to the people, He ordered the priests to blow two silver trumpets. Knowing the will of God and doing it is vitally important to a fulfilled and fruitful Christian life. To assist us today in determining and doing God’s will, we have the Holy Spirit within us, the Word of God before us, and the interceding Savior above us who providentially works on our behalf. I’ll close with these great passages that remind us why it is vitally important to know and follow God’s will instead of trusting in our own. Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. James 4:13–17 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
