Your Own Pillar Of Fire

It was 1987, I was pastoring in Truro, and co-chairing a young adult’s event just outside of Washington, DC. I had been in DC for the weekend, looking at hotels and meeting space, and I was making my way back to Allentown, Pennsylvania, with my co-chair, Dwight Addington. Dwight pastored Bethany Wesleyan church in Cherryville, Pennsylvania. From Allentown, I would fly home.

For whatever reason, it was decided that I would drive instead of Dwight, which made no sense at all, but it is what it is.

1987, of course, was in the dark ages before smart phones or GPS and we had to rely on paper maps.

If you are familiar with DC, interstate Highway 495 is a 100 km stretch of highway that loops around the city, and it is often referred to as the Beltway. I took the exit that I was pretty sure would lead us back to Allentown; while leaving time to stop at an all you could eat buffet called the Bending Board. We had our priorities right.

After we had been driving for a while, Dwight questioned my sense of direction, but I assured him I knew where I was going.

After we had been on the road for an hour or so, Dwight insisted that I pull over and ask for directions. We pulled into a service station and Dwight went inside with our map. After a few minutes, he came out and told me it would be best if I went in as well. There was a lady behind the counter with our map spread out in front of her, and Dwight said, “Excuse me, ma’am, could you tell me again where we are in relationship to Allentown, Pennsylvania?”

To which the lady replied, “In relation to Allentown, Pennsylvania, you are 15 miles from Baltimore, Maryland.”

Wish I had a pillar of fire leading me that day. Needless to say, we missed the buffet.

This is week four of our series “Fireside Tales” and we are looking at various stories that revolve around fire in the bible. Over the past few weeks, we’ve looked at the story of Elijah and the prophets of Bael, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and their encounter with the fire in the furnace, as well as Jesus’ and Peter’s encounter around a charcoal fire on a beach.

This week we are going back to the Exodus, when Moses led the people of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt.

Let’s pick up the story in Exodus 13:20–22 The Israelites left Succoth and camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. The LORD went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day or by night. And the LORD did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.

According to Wikipedia The pillar of fire and pillar of cloud are a dual theophany (manifestation of God) described in various places in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The pillars are said to have guided the Israelites through the desert during the Exodus from Egypt. The pillar of cloud provided a visible guide for the Israelites during the day, while the pillar of fire lit their way by night.

Now, something I didn’t realize until I started this message is through the years there has been some debate over whether this was one pillar or two pillars. Some insist that there was only one pillar, and those in that camp take a couple of different views. There are some who would tell you that the pillar changed from a daytime pillar of cloud to a nighttime pillar of fire each day.

There are others who would argue that the pillar of fire was inside the pillar of cloud, so during the day you only saw the cloud, but in the dark it appeared as a pillar of fire.

There are others who would say that they were two separate pillars. During the day there was a pillar of cloud that would disappear at night to be replaced with the pillar of fire.

Now to be truthful, I had never, even thought of that, let alone formed an opinion. But really, does it matter? One pillar or two?

The reality is that God used these pillars, or this pillar, to guide his people during the time they wandered in the wilderness after escaping the slavery of Egypt.

Have you ever wished that God would provide you with clear direction in your life. Something akin to a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night?

The question that is often asked is, how do I know God’s will for my life?