In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the importance of keeping the commandments of God. He emphasizes the significance of the Passover celebration and how it serves as a reminder of God's deliverance. Pastor Chuck also highlights the responsibility of men to lead their families in a godly manner, as their actions can have a lasting impact on future generations. He laments the removal of God from national life and calls for a recognition of God's importance in society.

Oh, let the Son of God enfold you With His Spirit and His love Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul Oh, let Him have the things that mold you And His Spirit, like a dove Will descend upon your life and make you whole And so the Lord gave their commandment, keep it in the second month on the fourteenth day. You missed the first month, so you have to observe it in the second month. Now, it is interesting, verse twelve. They're not to leave any of the lamb until the morning, nor are they to break one of its bones. Not a bone of the lamb was to be broken. The Passover lamb. You remember when Jesus was hanging upon the cross because the day of preparation for Passover was at hand. The Sabbath, they were preparing. They had to prepare before sundown to get things ready for the Sabbath, the day of preparation. They came to Pilate, and they said, we don't want these bodies hanging there on the crosses on the Sabbath day. Let us go ahead and break their bones to hasten their deaths. And so they were given permission to break the bones of the fellows hanging there on the crosses. And they went to the two thieves, and they took these sledges and broke their leg bones to hasten their death. But when they came to Jesus, they found that he was already dead. So they did not break his bones. In order that the scripture might be fulfilled, not a bone of him shall be broken. That's because he was God's Passover lamb for us. And the requirement of the Passover lamb, not a bone could be broken. And so Jesus, dying on our behalf, not a bone of him was broken, in order that it might be again in perfect harmony with Jesus, the perfect type. Now, if a man just doesn't observe the Passover because he doesn't want to, he's not away on a journey, he's not ceremonially unclean, he just, why should I do it? Then that person is to be cut off from the people. You're not a part of God's people. And so he was to be cut off as a part of God's people if he just arbitrarily, just didn't observe it because he didn't want to. If the sojourner is in your land and he wants to observe the Passover, he's got to go by the rules, one rule for everyone. Now, in verse 15, we find God beginning now to guide them with this cloud and the instructions concerning the cloud. Now, on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, when they put the whole thing together, they raised it up, it's now all set here, the curtains and everything are all set, the tabernacle was raised up. On the day that it was raised up, the cloud of God's presence covered the tabernacle, the tent of testimony. And from the evening until morning, it was in the appearance of fire. This cloud of God's presence at nighttime looked like just a fire glowing above the tabernacle. And in the day, it had just the appearance of a cloud resting upon the tabernacle. Now, remember the children of Israel were camped all the way around the tabernacle. Their tents facing the tabernacle. So at night, if you got up in the night and you came out of your tent door, you'd look towards the center of the camp and you'd see this glow like a fire over the tabernacle and you'd be reminded that God's presence is in the midst of His people. God is dwelling in the midst of His people. During the day, you come out of your tent, you see the cloud that is there and again reminded of the presence of God in the midst of His people. Sometimes I wish that we had more reminders of God's presence. I dwell in the presence of God. I forget that. And because I forget that, I sometimes do things that when I realize, I become embarrassed. You know, when Moses wiped out that Egyptian, it says he looked this way and he looked that way and he didn't see anybody. But he didn't look up. And he thought he had gotten by with his act. He thought nobody saw him. He didn't realize God saw him. And I think that's so often true in us. We look this way, we look that way. Right, you know. But God sees us. God dwells in the midst of His people. We need to be reminded of that. That I do nothing in secret but what God knows. And so this cloud. Now, whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, then the children of Israel would journey, verse 17, and in the place where the cloud settled, there they would pitch their tents. So they were guided by this cloud. The cloud would get up and move in the middle of the night and they all had to wake up and get the kids up and load things up and start moving, follow that cloud. And then the cloud would settle down again and they would pitch the tent right where the cloud had settled. And even when the cloud continued for many days above the tabernacle, the children of Israel just stayed there. They camped there. There were several days they just camped in the one spot. And so it was when the cloud was above the tabernacle for a few days, then they would remain and camped. And when the cloud remained only from evening until morning, when the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they would journey, whether by day or night, whether the cloud was taken up, they would journey. Whenever it would move, they would move, whether it was day or night. Now, and that could have been, you know, when you're traveling every day and the cloud stops every night, you have to set up the tabernacle. Morning, the thing starts moving again, break the thing down, start going again. It could be a rather tedious trip, you know. So whether it was two days, a month, a year, whenever the cloud remained over the tabernacle, they'd stay parked. Whenever it moved, they would move. Now, in chapter 10, the Lord said, Make two silver trumpets for yourself. Make them of hammered work. Use them for the calling of the assembly and for directing the movement of the camps. So two things, to call an assembly and to direct the movement of the camps. When they both of them blow, all of the assembly shall gather before you at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So you're in your tent and you're eating with your family and all of a sudden these two trumpets blast. Drop everything, we've got to get to the tent, you know. It was the call for the people to come and to stand before the Lord at the tabernacle of meeting. If they blow only one of them, then just the leaders of the people would gather. That was to assemble the leaders. Blow both trumpets, everybody gathers. Blow one trumpet, the leaders gather together. And then they had a special blast for advance. Time to move camp. So when they sounded the trumpets to advance, the tribes Judah and the tribes that were out to the east in front of it, they would pack up their tents, start moving along. When they sounded the second time, then those that were on the south side moved out. It's like troops moving out. The armies in front moved out, then the second sound of advance, the troops on the south side would start moving out. And when the congregation is to be gathered together, you shall blow but not the sound of the advance. And so the sons of Aaron and the priests shall blow the trumpets and these shall be to you as an ordinance forever throughout your generations. When you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets and you will be remembered before the Lord your God and you will be saved from your enemies. And also in the day of your gladness, your appointed feast, the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, over the sacrifices, over the peace offerings. So on the special days, these blasts of the trumpets, the holidays, the holy days. The other day when my wife and I were in Jerusalem, as the Sabbath began, we heard this blast. It sounded like an air raid warning. It was announcing to all of Jerusalem. And boy, you could hear it all over Jerusalem. It sounded like the thing was just outside of our window of our hotel. But you could hear it all over Jerusalem. The call to the people, the Sabbath is beginning. Seize your labor. And now the Sabbath begins. And I thought, oh, that's beautiful. No separation of church and state. You know, they recognize that God is a very important part of our national life. Oh, would to God that we had that recognition of the importance of God in our national life. What fools to try to remove God from the national life. It's a tragedy. Really, it's a tragedy that a few fools can bring such a disregard of God within our national life. You say, oh, separation of church and state. And that's nowhere in the Constitution. That's something that has been made up. There was no intention of separation of church and state. There was the intention that there should not be any church mandated by the state. And I agree with that 100%. But what we sought to establish was not freedom from religion, but freedom of religion. And the tragic misinterpretation by the Supreme Court is that they have interpreted the Constitution as a freedom from religion. Never intended by the early fathers, founding fathers of this nation. You go back and read the early documents. Read of the prayer meetings and all. And you'll realize that it's never intended to be freedom from God or freedom from worship. But the freedom to worship after the dictates of a person's own heart with no state mandated church or religion. These people were aware that God was a very part of their national existence. And as a result were strong. Now it came to pass, verse 11, the 20th day of the second month in the second year. So in the second year, the second month, the 20th day, after the fellows who weren't able to observe the Passover the first time got it in the second time around. The cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle of testimony. They've been dwelling now in Mount Sinai all this time. And the children of Israel set out from the wilderness of Sinai on their journeys and the cloud settled down in the wilderness of Paran. So they started out for the first time according to the command of the Lord. And so I imagine a lot of confusion this time. First time they're breaking the thing down. First time getting the thing loaded in the carts. It's a good practice run, you know. Let's go through it now. And so they're going to be moving quite a bit from now on. This is the beginning of their journeys. And so it's the beginning of this routine. So they started out for the first time. And the standard of the camp of the children of Judah set out first. The trumpet blew. Judah moved out with his troops. Ishkar and Zebulun, the three tribes that were on the east side. And then when they moved out, the tabernacle was taken down. Verse 17. And the sons of Gershon, the family of Levites, and the sons of Merorai set out carrying the tabernacle. And the standard of the camp of Reuben set out according to their armies. So first of all, Judah, those to the east. Then the tabernacle was dismantled. And then the camps on the south, Reuben and his troops moved out, Simeon and Gad. And then the Kohathites, the porters of the Levites, the carriers, set out carrying the holy things. The tabernacle would be prepared for their arrival. They went in, Aaron and his sons, and broke down everything. And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim came in them behind these holy things, along with Manasseh and Benjamin. And then finally the rear guard was formed by the camps of, or the tribes of Dan and Asher and Naphtali. And so you see this procession. The three tribes in the front, the Gershonites and the Merorites carrying, you know, that portion of the tabernacle, the curtains and the stakes and the boards and so forth. And then the next tribe of Simeon and Gad. And then the Kohathites, the priests with these posts, carrying the Ark of the Covenant and the tables and so forth. And then the last of the six tribes coming up behind. And so they're on the move. Three and a half million people. What a sight that must have been. What a sight. Striking off into the wilderness. Three and a half million of them. Now Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel, the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Now come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel. So he's talking to his brother-in-law. And as they start to go, they're leaving the area of Sinai where his brother-in-law lived. Moses, when he was working for his father-in-law, was in this area of Sinai. Familiar to Moses, but now he's striking out through the desert. Hobab grew up in the desert. He was a desert man. He knew where the water was. He knew how to find the water. He was desert wise. And so Moses is asking him to go along with us and be blessed with those blessings that God has promised. We'll treat you well. But he said to Moses, I will not go, but I will depart back to my own land and to my own family. And Moses said, please do not leave inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness. You know all about the desert. You know desert life. You know how to camp in the wilderness. You can help us. And you can be our eyes spotting those oases and spotting the areas where there's water. I mean, it's interesting to be around a person who is desert wise. I spent some time with a prospector out in the desert. Greatest time. This guy was really a good desert savvy. He knew how to find water. He knew how to get the water out of the cactus if we needed it. He just had the desert savvy and it was just great to be with him and to learn how to survive in that hostile environment, really. And those who have that desert savvy. And so he said, come on, you know how to camp and you will be our eyes. It will be, Moses said, if you will go with us. Indeed, it shall be that whatever good the Lord does to us, we'll share with you. And so they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey for three days. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for three days journey to search out a resting place for them. Now in the first chapter of Deuteronomy verse 33, I find a verse that to me is very interesting and just says an awful lot. Deuteronomy 133. Verse 32 gives you the sort of a shot into it. Yet for all of that you did not believe Jehovah your God who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go in the fire by night and in the cloud by day. He is saying here that God went before them to pick out the place for them to pitch their tents. I am thrilled that God goes before me. And I never arrive at a place but what God has not preceded me there and prepared that place for me. God goes before you. You never come to an experience in your life but what God hasn't preceded and prepared you a place to pitch your tent. As the children of Israel started to settle down in the evening and say oh this looks like a great place to pitch our tents. Yes God said I prepared that place for you. I went ahead of you. But I've also found that God also prepares me for every place I come. He not only prepares a place for me but he prepares me for the place. And so that work of God in my life as he is preparing me for those experiences that are yet in the future. He's preparing me now for that which he is wanting for me. Wanting to do for me. Wanting to do through me. And God is preparing you for his purposes and his plans and that which he has for you in the future. And by the time you get there you'll find that God's already prepared the place for you and he's already prepared you for the place. So whenever the ark set out Moses said rise up O Jehovah. Let your enemies be scattered and let those who hate you flee before you. And when the ark rested he said return O Lord to the many thousands of Israel. I like that. Ready to move? Rise up O Jehovah lift let your enemies be scattered and let those that hate you flee before you. When it settled return O Lord to the many thousands of Israel. And so they moved and they began now their movement through the wilderness. We start getting into really interesting and exciting experiences now as they begin to move. We've got everything all set. It's all in order. We know how to move and we've got the thing all organized. Now we start moving and as they start moving their experiences are valuable lessons to us as we move with them through this wilderness. So may the Lord bless us as we take this spiritual journey with them as we head towards the promised land. We'll return next time with some valuable lessons that we can learn from the children of Israel's wilderness journey and we do hope you'll make plans to join us. But right now I'd like to remind you that if you missed any part of today's message or perhaps you'd like to order a copy for that special friend or loved one you can do so by simply contacting one of our customer service representatives and they'd be more than happy to assist you with the ordering details. 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That's right here on the next edition of The Word for Today. And now once again here's Pastor Chuck Smith. God bless you. Give you a beautiful week. Fill you with His love. Cause your life to overflow with His goodness. And cause us to realize that we're not our own. We've been bought with a price. We belong to Him. May He fill you with the power of His Holy Spirit. You will love as He loved. Give as He gave. Work as He worked. That others might come to see Him and know Him through your life that is lived for His glory. In Jesus name. We'd like to invite all men to pay attention to this year's men's retreat entitled Switched On Living in the Current on DVD with bonus MP3. Join Pastor John Corson. Dad, you touch the stuff you should touch and you do the things that you should do. And it's not just going to cause you pain. Your whole family is going to be aching. Your whole family is going to pay the price. Your sons and daughters and grandkids. You will see what you do impact and effect them positively or negatively. Watch and listen to Calvary Chapel pastors as they teach men the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, gospel communication and the responsibilities of a godly man. For more information please call The Word for Today at 1-800-272-WORD or visit us online at thewordfortoday.org. This program has been sponsored by The Word for Today in Costa Mesa, California.