On the twentieth day of the second month of the second year, the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle of the covenant law. Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran. They set out, this first time, at the LORD’s command through Moses. – Numbers 10:11-13

Today’s Scripture Reading (October 26, 2018): Numbers 10

On April 19, 1775, war broke out between Great Britain and the thirteen North American Colonies allied with France. Essentially, the war was over taxation in North America. Initially, the colonies tried to find a diplomatic solution and stop the fighting, but their efforts were rejected by King George, who issued a Proclamation of Rebellion on August 23, 1775. The effect of the proclamation on the North American colonies was to increase their resolve to move toward independence.

The war continued through the first part of 1776, but in July the nature of the war changed. On July 4, 1776, the colonies declared their independence from King George. On that day, the civil war between Great Britain and her colonies ended, and the war between Great Britain and the United States began.

While the United States declared its independence from Great Britain on July 4th, it wasn’t until July 9^th that the independence declaration began to be known among the citizens of the colonies. On July 9^th, General George Washington read the declaration to his troops in New York City. Following hearing the declaration, the people rioted in the city, tearing down all of the signs that made reference to the royal authority of King George, as well as destroying all of the statues of the King in the city, melting down the metal and turning them into bullets for the army of the United States. With the stroke of a pen, an army of rebellion was turned into a national army of defense waging war against invading forces. And that change was significant.

Israel left Egypt as a group of rebellious slaves. They began their time in the desert as a ragged group of people. But now all of that had changed. They arrived at Sinai in fear of what was behind them, and now they were preparing to leave Sinai with excitement about what it was that lay ahead – the Promised Land. For the first time, this group of slaves was preparing to march as a sovereign nation. Their declaration of independence from Egypt had been filed. They had been changed. The mob that had left Egypt was now fully behind them and the proud nation now prepared to march on into, what should have been, its bright future.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Numbers 11