Hobab: The Man Who Turned Down Canaan

Hobab: The Man Who Turned Down Canaan. Num. 10:29-30 Departure from Sinai: The cloud moves, so they move. On the 20th day of the second month of the second year since Egypt, the cloud began to move, so Israel broke camp and departed from Sinai. Israel's march was as organized as its camp. Whenever the cloud moved likely in the morning, indicating Israel should break camp, the Ark set out and Moses claimed God's promises with a prayer and when the Ark rested likely in the evening, Moses prayed. This is an image of reaching out to family members to seek the promised land of God, the promise of heaven. Moses had married Reuel's or Jethro's daughter. No doubt, Moses did just what any of us would do: used his personal relationship to appeal to Hobab. But notice the other appeal he used: the promised land of God itself. Moses promised his brother-in-law an inheritance in the land and the blessings of God if he would join them in the march to the promised land Num.10:29. Hobab rejected the appeal Num.10:30. His old life appealed to him too much and leaving the pleasures, provisions, joy, and bright lights of the world he had known. He would need to undergo a radical change of life. He would need to leave behind his old family and become a part of a new family. He would have to turn away from his religion and follow the Lord God Almighty who claimed to be the only living and true God Jehovah, Yahweh. To his mind, this was just too much to give up. Moses made a second appeal, to reach Hobab. We, too, must make concentrated, focused efforts to reach our family for Christ. Moses won Hobab on the second appeal in the upcoming scriptures but sometimes we never get a second chance.