“Moses said to Hobab, descendant of Reuel the Midianite and Moses’s relative by marriage, “We’re setting out for the place the Lord promised, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.” But he replied to him, “I don’t want to go. Instead, I will go to my own land and my relatives.” “Please don’t leave us,” Moses said, “since you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you can serve as our eyes.” Numbers 10:29-31 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/num.10.31.CSB

It is amazing to hear Moses plead for this foreigner, yet relative by marriage, to stay with Israel to help guide them in following God, Whose cloud and fire were leading them. Moses is the man whom God spoke to, as a man speaks to his friend. Moses heard from God everything we read in these first five books, the detail of God’s command being quite specific. Indeed, the cloud and fire, along with the love of God proven by the voice of God, should have been enough comfort for Moses to know that Israel would be properly following God and properly taken care of by God. Yet Moses wanted help from a man who knew how to read the terrain well to help them pick the best spots for camping and the best way to travel. Why? Quite possibly, our understanding of the cloud and fire is less obvious than we think. Our relationship with God does not keep God from using our eyes, ears, and logic to do His will. God invites us into His plan and makes us participate by implementing the abilities and skills he has given us. God does not make things so clear most of the time but instead forces us to trust Him and have faith in Him by keeping things a bit cloudy as we make decisions in our following Him that we are not positive, which is precisely what God wills. Yet it just may be that this is exactly what God wills, that He frames the context of our lives while we choose the colors that specifically draw the picture. God made us in His image, so He believes greatly in us while simultaneously requiring us to deny ourselves and follow Him. It is a mystery and adventure for sure, but what a joy to walk with God, though it is often uncertain in specificity, which is why He provides His Spirit and His church.