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Numbers 10 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Then Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out to the place of which the LORD said, ‘I will give it to you’; come with us and we will do you good, for the LORD has promised good concerning Israel.”
Numbers 10:29 NASB
Reuel was not an Israelite but a Midianite. He was also Moses’ father-in-law. Back in Exodus 2, he befriended Moses and gave his daughter Zipporah to him as his wife. Here, Moses invites Reuel’s son Hobab to journey with Israel to the promised land. At first, Hobab declined. However, it’s possible that he eventually agreed and functioned as the “eyes” for the camp. We don’t know this for sure, but Judges 1:16 lists his name as one who journeyed. We do know for sure that his descendants stayed with Moses and the Israelites.
This is an interesting point to consider because I found myself asking, “Why do they need Hobab’s eyes if they have the cloud of the Lord?” We can learn a lot from Moses’ leadership here. He used a combination of divine guidance and human experience to lead the people. Of course, he would follow wherever the cloud would go. It was the source of the direction and the most important compass for the people. However, Hobab’s knowledge of the wilderness would prove to be beneficial for navigation. Moses trusted God fully but also relied on his trusted human companions to work out the details.
Balance has proven to be elusive in our current world of extreme responses and opinions, but Moses understood that God’s help often comes through people and their gifts. It required humility and trust for him to appoint Hobab into this position. It also required courage. So often in Christian leadership, we find those who only want to listen to God or those who only want to listen to men. What we find in Scripture is a combination of divinely inspired human leadership and direct counsel from God.
We don’t know for sure if Hobab agreed to come along for the journey. But even if he didn’t, it doesn’t take away from the fact that Moses used his human resources alongside the divine guidance from God in order to lead the people. The same is true for us today. We must always prioritize God as our main navigator in life, but there are times when other believers, filled with the Holy Spirit, speak into our lives and help us along the way.