One of the most difficult things that people find to do is to trust. To trust is something that we find very difficult because through our life all of us have been disappointed or betrayed by people that we have trusted. Due to this our heart has hardened in a certain way, which causes us to stop trusting or does not allow us to trust God. These disappointments or betrayals cause us to doubt God’s power, which in turn leads us to stray from the path that He would like us to follow, or to stop growing spiritually. In other words, we allow the things of this world to blind us to the reality that we live in God’s kingdom, under His coverage and power. This is why today I want us to examine a small portion of history about this theme, that will help discover God’s power in our life. Let us now turn to the Word of God.
Exodus 13:17-22 - Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. 19And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had placed the children of Israel under solemn oath, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” 20So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. 21And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
Like I always say, in order to have a better understanding of the message that God has for us today, it will be necessary to conduct a brief history review. As we all know, Abraham’s descendants came to live in Egypt after Joseph was appointed governor, as we find in Genesis 41:40-43 when we read “You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.” 41And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” 42Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the land of Egypt.” This authority allowed Joseph to establish his family in the land of Egypt; this is something that is clearly stated in Genesis 47:11 when we read “And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.”
During this time God’s people grew to a large number as we find in Exodus 1:7 when we read “But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.” Now, although God’s people were initially welcomed into Egypt, after the death of the pharaoh and Joseph, the Egyptians began fearing them because of their growth and strength, and this fear led the new pharaoh to enslave theses people. Look at how this is something that is clearly stated in Exodus 1:12-14 when we read “But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13So the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor. 14And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.” At first glance all of this could appear as if God had forgotten His people, but in reality, this is not the case. Look at how this is something that is very well reflected in Exodus 3:7-8 when we read “And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.” Although these people did suffer at the Egyptians hands, God never abandoned them. Tell the person sitting next to you, God does not abandon us.
Because God never abandoned them, God would not allow His people to leave Egypt’s land without first receiving a reward for what they had worked. Look at how this is something that is clearly stated in Exodus 3:21-22 when we read “And I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be, when you go, that you shall not go empty-handed. 22But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, namely, of her who dwells near her house, articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing; and you shall put them on your sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.” They departed from Egypt, not only blessed by God’s presence; they were blessed with material things as well. Look at how this is something clearly stated in Exodus 12:35-36 when we read “Now the children of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, and they had asked from the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing. 36And the LORD had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians.” Why is it so important that we know these things? It is important to know these things for two reasons. Number one; it establishes the base upon which we will be building today. That base being that when we learn to trust and wait on God, He will listen to our prayers, and most important of all He will answer us. Number two; these brief facts of history reveal to us that although we are God’s chosen people, this does not mean that we will be free from having to endure difficult times. Therefore, with this in mind let us now continue with our study today.
Here we read “Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.” 18So God led the people around by way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children of Israel went up in orderly ranks out of the land of Egypt. The first thing that I want us to note here is that although a shorter route existed, God did not lead them in that direction. God led them to a longer route, causing them to traverse the desert towards the Red Sea. This is something that the majority of us do not understand, and it is something that still occurs today but that many of us cannot accept. In other words, we do not accept the way God does things. This happens because we cannot understand, or simply chose not to understand, that on occasions God will lead us into difficult paths.
However, the reality of it all is that during these difficult times, God glorifies himself; during those times when all appears to be lost, when in our mind we can not find a solution, God reminds us that He has not forgotten us and His power is manifested in our life. This is exactly what happened with the people back then. Look at how this is something clearly reflected in Exodus 14:21-22 when we read “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. 22So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.” The people were extremely worried, everything appeared to be lost. They were trapped and could not escape the pursuing Egyptian army that was fast approaching to kill them all. However, the in reality, God had not liberated this people for them to die. God liberated this people to give them the Promised Land. However, before they could take possession of His promise, they would have to learn to trust and to let themselves be guided by Him. This is something that God wants from all of us; he wants us to have absolute confidence in His power. God wants us to be willing to place everything in His hands, willing to trust that he will lead us to the place were we should remain. On occasion, the path could become difficult, we may perhaps become tired, perhaps there will be a wilderness that we will have to traverse. However, we must never forget that regardless of the situation, God is always with us. This is something clearly stated in John 14:16-17 when we read “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
Continuing with our study we read “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.” To have a better understanding of the meaning and symbolic significance of these two verses, we must make a brief pause and analyze the characteristics of a desert.
The desert is a desolate place, typically sandy or rocky and because of the lack of rain, it has very little vegetation if any. The conditions are extreme; during the daylight hours the temperature rises to almost unbearable conditions, and during the night, the temperature falls and in some instances the cold is so severe that it penetrates to the bone. With this in mind, let us examine now the description of how God manifested Himself to His people in this instance and its meaning.
Here we read “by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way”, what does this description symbolize? This description symbolizes that God was protecting them in their walk. As I said, during the daylight hours temperatures in the desert reach almost intolerable conditions; however, the shade of a cloud does reduce the intense heat of the sun. The Word also tells us “by night in a pillar of fire to give them light”, what symbolism is present in this description? As I said, during the hours of darkness, the temperature does drop considerably and it can be quite cold, but a nice fire will produce not only light, but also the warmth that a person may need. What does all of this mean? This means that even at those times when all appears lost, those moments of intense heat or of extreme darkness, God always has us under His coverage. However, I also want us to pay close attention to another detail here; the Word tells us “so as to go by day and night”. God was protecting them at all times, but He was doing it with a purpose. God did not want these people to stop. God wanted this people to move constantly toward His promise. God wants this same thing from us. As the chosen people of God that we are, we are called to always advance. We are called to conquer, we are called to win. Our enemy wants us to think something quite different. Our enemy wants us to think that we cannot be victorious in our battles; our enemy wants the battles to look more difficult than what they really are, but we have God’s promise as we find in John 16:33 when we read “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Tell the person sitting next to you be of good cheer. When we remain under the coverage of the most high, then we have the victory that Christ has given us. God wants His people to keep advancing at all times; God wants us to advance trusting that He is present, that He is in control, that He will give us the victory.
The people of God back then witnessed some wonderful signs; however, the generation that God liberated, never changed. Why couldn’t they change? The main reason why they couldn’t change was fear. I say this because when we take the time to analyze the history of this people, it is not difficult to discover that the majority of their complaints were center on fear. They feared dying of hunger; Look at what we find in Exodus 16:2-3 when we read “Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” They feared dying of thirst; look at what we find in Exodus 17:3 when we read “And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” In addition, they even feared entering the land that God promised them; look at what we find in Numbers 13:31 when we read “But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” What caused all of this fear?
This was all caused because they did not completely trust God. Brethren when we do not completely trust God, our enemy will plant the seed of fear in our mind. Fear is a very powerful weapon that our enemy uses which will completely stop us from moving toward God’s promise. Fear is a weapon that will efficiently cut our spirit, and stop our growth. The people that God liberated from the pharaohs hands never entered the Promised Land due to their rebellious attitude and disobedience, but both of these things were caused by fear. Fear will stop us from speaking to someone about the Word of God; it will tell us that we do not know enough. Fear will stop us from tithing and offering; it will tell us that we do not have enough. Fear will stop us from leading a victorious life; we will stop trying to advance for fear of failure. Fear will stop us from changing; it will tell us that we will be disliked. Fear is a mighty weapon of the enemy; let us rebuke it today. Tell the person sitting next to you what we find in 2 Timothy 1:7 when we read “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
In conclusion. The Word tells us “He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.” The people back then, the same as all of us here today, were under His coverage.
God never abandoned them and God will never abandon us, but we have to be willing to trust Him at all times. We cannot allow our bad experiences to separate us from his coverage. We have to trust that He is watching and that He will fight the battles that we cannot; this is a promise of God as we find in Deuteronomy 3:22 when we read, “You must not fear them, for the LORD your God Himself fights for you.” We have to allow Him to glorify himself in all of those situations that we think are lost. As the people of God that we are, we need to move constantly toward His presence. God was always in front leading them; let us always trust that He is in front leading us.
