But back up for a moment to the end of Exodus 13. The Israelites have just begun their exodus from Egypt, and God has provided them a means of guidance in their journey. In verses 21 and 22 it says:
By day the Lord went ahead of them by a pillar of cloud to guide them on
their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they
could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the
pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Great. But then they notice that the Egyptian armies are coming after them. Since they are trapped at the edge of the Red Sea, they panic and start accusing Moses of bringing them out into the wilderness to die. They think its all over. But that's when God instructs Moses to raise his staff over the sea and says he will part the sea for them to cross over. Then something interesting happens that I've not noticed before.
In verse 19-20, it says:
Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army,
withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in
front and stood behind them. . . .
Put yourself in the Israelites' position at this point, especially those at the front of the crowd where the cloud had been. The Egyptians are closing in quickly, there's nothing but sea in front of you, and now your promised means of guidance has left, right when you needed it most. Many of them must have felt at first that God had abandoned them. Can you imagine their despair? (Judging from their initial response when they first saw the Egyptians, I'm not sure they were moving in a whole lot of faith that God would come through for them.)
As usual, however, God had method in His apparent madness. Verse 20 explains. It tells us that He moved to the rear in order to place Himself (in the cloud) between the armies of Egypt and Israel, and that throughout that night, the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side so that neither came near each other all night long. In reality, what they probably saw as God's abandonment was actually His sure defense. He placed Himself as a buffer between them and their deadly enemies, simultaneously making the way dark for those enemies, but giving light to His people in the midst of their ordeal.
How many times in our own lives, in those dark nights of the soul or simply in perplexing circumstances, has it seemed that God was nowhere in sight and strangly silent? And how tempting it is during those times to listen to the whisper of the enemy telling us that we have been abandoned in our need.
Oh, no. It is during those times that God is our greatest champion. It is at those times that He stands between us and our enemies, protecting us from all harm and giving us light while confounding them in darkness, and preparing us for a great victory.
All that night, the Lord sent a strong wind that pushed the sea back, making a dry highway for the Israelites to cross over. Throughout that very dark night, God was preparing their path of escape and ultimate victory. That same path proved the way of utter destruction to their enemies. Darkness to the one, light to the other.
Thank God for these wonderful illustrations of his ways. The pillar of cloud moved from where the Israelites thought it was suppposed to be. But in so doing, it provided protection from their enemies until God completely delivered them--and completely destroyed that enemy forever. We can trust Him in the dark times when we can't see or feel him to do the same for us.
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