Numbers 10:29 - Meaning and Application

Here is, I. An account of what passed between Moses and Hobab, now that the camp of Israel was moving toward Canaan. Some think Hobab was the same man as Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, and that the story in Exodus 18 belongs here. But it seems more likely that Hobab was Jethro’s son, also called Reuel or Raguel (Exodus 2:18). When the older man, in his old age, went back to his own land (Exodus 18:27), he may have left Hobab with Moses, much as Barzillai left Chimham with David. The same word can mean either father-in-law or brother-in-law.

Hobab had stayed content with Israel while they camped at Mount Sinai, near his own homeland. But now that they were moving, he wanted to return to his own country, his relatives, and his father’s house. Moses gave him a warm invitation to go on with them to Canaan (Numbers 10:29). He encouraged him with the promise that they would surely be kind to him, and he pointed to God’s promise as their guarantee: The Lord has spoken good concerning Israel. It is as if Moses said, “Come with us, take your place among us, and you will share our lot. God has promised to deal well with us.” Those who are headed for the heavenly Canaan should invite their friends to come along too, for we lose nothing by sharing God’s blessings. One strong reason to join God’s people is this: God has spoken good concerning them. It is good to have fellowship with those who have fellowship with God (1 John 1:3), and to go with those whom God is with (Zechariah 8:23).

Hobab, however, leaned toward going back to his own land, as he said in Numbers 10:30. One might have thought that a man who had seen so much of God’s special presence with Israel, and so many clear signs of God’s favor, would have needed little urging. But his refusal likely came from his love for his native place, which was not overcome, as it should have been, by trust in God’s promise and a true valuing of covenant blessings. He was a descendant of Abraham through Keturah, but not an heir of Abraham’s faith (Hebrews 11:8). If he had been, he would not have answered Moses this way. The things of this world, which we can see, often pull harder on us than the things of the next world, which we cannot see. What is earthly draws most people more strongly than heaven itself.

Moses pressed him very earnestly to change his mind (Numbers 10:31-32). He said Hobab could be useful to them, because they were traveling through the wilderness, a place Hobab knew well. Moses said he could be “instead of eyes,” not by leading them where to camp or what road to take, for the cloud guided them in that, but by helping them judge the land they passed through and camped in. He could show them its strengths and dangers, so they could make the best use of what was good and guard against what was harmful. This shows that trusting God’s providence does not stop us from using the help of friends in things they know how to do. Even those led by miracles should not turn away ordinary means of guidance.

Some think Moses said this partly to give Hobab the dignity of being useful to such a large company, so that ambition might draw him along. Calvin gives another sense that fits the original well, though it is not often noticed: “Do not leave us, I pray you, but come with us and share the promised land, because you have known our camp in the wilderness and have been like eyes to us. We cannot repay your kindness and all you have done for us unless you go with us to Canaan. Surely this is why you set out with us, so that you might go on with us.” Those who begin well should press on, because otherwise they lose the benefit and reward of all they have done and suffered.

Moses also promised that Israel would return kindness to Hobab: Whatever good the Lord does for us, we will do the same for you (Numbers 10:32). We can give only what we receive. We cannot promise more service or kindness to our friends than God allows us the power to give. All we may safely promise is to do good as God enables us. Those who share God’s Israel in hardship will share with them in comfort and honor too. Those who are willing to take their lot with them in the wilderness will also have their lot with them in Canaan. If we suffer with them, we will also reign with them (2 Timothy 2:12; Luke 22:28-29).

We are not told that Hobab answered Moses, and so we hope his silence meant agreement, and that he did not leave them. When he saw that he could be useful, he may have preferred that to following his own wishes. In that, he leaves us a good example. We also find later that his family was not the worse for it (Judges 1:16; 1 Samuel 15:6).

II. Here is also an account of the fellowship between God and Israel as they moved on. They left the mount of the Lord (Numbers 10:33), Mount Sinai, where they had seen his glory, heard his voice, and entered into covenant with him. They must not expect such direct displays of God’s presence to continue all the time. They moved away from that famous mountain, which Scripture hardly mentions again except when recalling these events. Sinai passes from view, but Zion is the mountain of which God says, “This is my resting place forever” (Psalm 132:14), and that is what we must say of it too.

Yet when they left the mount of the Lord, they took with them the ark of the covenant of the Lord, by which their ongoing fellowship with God would be kept up. Through it, God directed their path. The ark of the covenant went before them, some think in this march literally, though others think by its influence, since the cloud that rested over it directed all their movements. The ark, that is, the God of the ark, is said to search out a resting place for them. This does not mean God needed to look around as though he lacked knowledge. It means that every place he led them to was made as fitting for them as if the wisest man among them had gone ahead to choose it. In this way Canaan is said to be a land that God searched out (Ezekiel 20:6).

By carrying the ark, they also acknowledged God in all their ways, because they treated it as the sign of his presence. When it moved, or when it rested, they lifted their eyes to God.

Moses, as the voice of the whole congregation, lifted up prayer both when the ark set out and when it came to rest. In this way, their leaving and their settling were made holy by prayer. This gives us a good example: we should begin and end each day’s travel, and each day’s work, with prayer.

His prayer when the ark moved forward was, “Rise up, Lord, and let your enemies be scattered” (Numbers 10:35). They were in a barren land, but they were heading into enemy territory, so they depended on God for victory in war, just as they depended on him for guidance and provision in the wilderness. David later used this same prayer (Psalm 68:1), because he also fought the Lord’s battles. There are people in the world who are enemies of God, who hate him. Some are open enemies, and some are secret ones. They oppose his truth, his law, his worship, and his people. The scattering and defeat of God’s enemies is something all the Lord’s people should deeply desire and confidently expect. In that sense, this prayer also speaks ahead as a prophecy. Those who keep rebelling against God are hurrying toward their own ruin. And when God rises up, that is enough to defeat his enemies. When he arose to judge, the work was quickly done (Psalm 76:8-9). It is as if we are praying, “Rise, Lord, as the sun rises and drives away the dark.” Christ’s rising from the dead also scattered his enemies (Psalm 68:18).

When the ark came to rest, Moses prayed, “Return, Lord, to the many thousands of Israel” (Numbers 10:36). Some understand this as a prayer that God would give his people rest. In that sense, it means, “Bring back, Lord, the many thousands of Israel, and restore them to rest after this hard journey.” This is like the thought in (Isaiah 63:14), where the Spirit of the Lord gave rest. So Moses is asking God to give Israel success and victory abroad, and peace at home.

Others take the words to mean, “Return to the thousands of Israel,” meaning the many ten thousands of his people. This shows three things. First, the church of God is a large body, with many thousands in Israel. Second, we should care for this whole body in our prayers. Third, the true well-being of God’s people depends on God’s constant presence among them. Their safety does not rest in their numbers, even if they are many thousands. It rests in God’s favor and his gracious return to dwell with them. Those thousands are like zeros, and he is the number that gives them value. For that reason, “Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord!”