The Law and the Testimony.—Eleven months and twenty days the Israelites had sojourned in Sinai. During this period they had celebrated their second Passover, or feast of unleavened bread. Two other annual feasts they were commanded to keep, namely the feast of Pentecost, or the promulgation of the law, and the feast of Tabernacles, or tents, commemorating their sojourn in the wilderness. The laws of Moses were now promulged and codified; the tables of the testimony, having been renewed, were placed, with other sacred relics, in the ark for safe keeping; and the sublime system of heaven-revealed religion was set in motion.
On to Canaan!—The civil and military wings of this nomadic power, springing as if by magic from an unorganized rabble, without laws, institutions, or prescribed method of worship, into a compact and powerful nation, were now in full equipment and discipline. "On to Canaan!" was the national cry. And so, on the twentieth day of their second year, or about May 20, 1490 B. C., the Camp of Israel struck their tents, and guided by the cloud and pillar of God, which had been with them since the memorable night when the fetters of two centuries were stricken off and the power of Egypt submerged, they began their march through the Sinaitic desert toward the wilderness of Paran.
A Nation on the March.—The order of this remarkable procession was as follows: Foremost, rose aloft the standard of Judah, the future kingly power of the tribes, and following them were the tribes and armies of Issachar and Zebulon. Then came the sons of Gershon and Merari (first and third sons of Levi), bearing the components of the Tabernacle, which it was their duty to set up and take down, as the camp rested or resumed its journey. The standard of Reuben was next advanced, and immediately in his rear marched Simeon and Gad. Then the Ark of God appeared, borne in the center of the moving host, on the shoulders of the sons of Kohath. The half tribes of Joseph—Ephraim and Manasseh—went next, the standard of Ephraim being their rallying center, and also for the sons and daughters of Benjamin. Then set forward the standard of Dan; his tribe and the tribes of Asher and Naphtali bringing up the rear.
The Camps of Israel.—This mighty host, comprising an army of over half a million, and a total population of nearly three million souls, was divided into four camps, of three tribes each, exclusive of the Levites; Joseph being twice numbered, in Ephraim and Manasseh, to make up, in the tribal count, for the absence of the sacred class from secular enumeration. When the cloud rested, indicating their stopping place, the tents were set surrounding the Tabernacle of the Congregation; the camp of Judah on the east, that of Reuben on the south, Ephraim on the west, and Dan upon the north. The Levites encompassed the tabernacle immediately about, to prevent the unsanctified from approaching too near and purposely or inadvertently defiling it—an offense punishable by death. When the ark set forward, Moses exclaimed: "Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee!" When it rested, he said: "Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel!"
The Two Leaders.—Thus it was that Moses and Aaron became the leaders of Israel, representing, respectively, the two priesthoods that administer the government of God; the lesser priesthood, "confirmed upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations," and the greater priesthood, "which is after the holiest order of God."
Power of the Greater Priesthood.—"And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God;
"Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest;
"And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
"For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.
"Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God;