Assassins Among Us #20: The Cloud by Day
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Yesterday we asked: Are you living in what the blood purchased, or are you settling for something less?
The blood purchased access. The blood purchased intimacy. The blood purchased the manifest presence of God dwelling IN you.
But how does that presence actually work? What does it look like? For Israel, it looked like a cloud.
THE SEQUENCE MATTERS
“On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony.” — Numbers 9:15 (ESV)
Notice the order. First, the tabernacle was prepared—all 13 elements complete. Then, and only then, the cloud and fire appeared. The presence came after the preparation was complete.
The cloud didn’t show up during construction. It didn’t arrive while things were half-finished. God’s manifest presence descended when everything was in place.
This is the pattern for salvation too.
Before you ever came to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit was already at work—convicting you of sin, drawing you to the Father (John 6:44), opening your eyes to see your need, preparing your heart to receive the gospel.
At the moment you believed, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in you.
“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance.” — Ephesians 1:13-14 (ESV)
The tabernacle had to be prepared before the presence could dwell. Your heart had to be prepared by the Spirit before salvation could occur.
For Israel: Preparation → Passover Blood → Cloud and Fire descended For Us: Spirit’s Conviction → Christ’s Blood → Holy Spirit indwells
The difference? For Israel, the presence came ON the tabernacle (external). For us, the presence comes IN the temple (internal). But the pattern is the same: Preparation, then Blood, then Presence.
NOT JUST COVERING—COMPANIONSHIP
“On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony.” — Numbers 9:15a (ESV)
The cloud wasn’t just weather. It wasn’t just shade from the desert sun. It was God’s manifest presence dwelling with His people.
Not just covering—His intimate companionship. Not just direction—His personal attention.
When you read “the cloud covered the tabernacle,” don’t picture a fog bank. Picture the Creator of the universe choosing to dwell in the midst of a camp of former slaves. Picture the God who spoke galaxies into existence hovering over a tent made of animal skins.
That’s what the cloud represented. Not just protection. Presence.
THEN AND NOW
THEN: Cloud WITH them (external, visible, covering) NOW: Holy Spirit IN us (internal, invisible to others, indwelling)
Israel could look up and see the cloud. They could point to it. They could show their children. The presence was visible, tangible, undeniable.
We can’t point to a cloud hovering over our heads. But we have something greater.
They had God WITH them. We have God IN us.
“Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” — 1 Corinthians 3:16 (ESV)
The cloud covered the tabernacle. The Spirit indwells the believer. Same God. Same presence. Different location—and the new location is more intimate than the old.
TOMORROW: THE FIRE BY NIGHT
The cloud provided shade by day. But what happened when darkness fell?
Most ministries stay in the safe middle. We bring marginalized truth back to the center.
THE PROPHET’S MARGIN Truth From the Narrow Place
ONE TRUE LIGHT MINISTRIES Damascus Road Journey: STOP. LOOK. LISTEN. LIVE. www.onetrulight.org