Monday, 1 June 2020 Exodus 13:1-22
“The LORD was going before them…” - Exodus 13:21[NASB]
In this remarkable Chapter, which is in between the great deliverance of Chapter 12 and the great victory of Chapter 14, God reminds His people of something very significant – He is instructing them to remember how they were delivered and then remaining with them constantly.
God’s presence with His people was made dramatically apparent in a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. God stayed with His people throughout the Exodus experience. By these and other wonderful signs, He made Himself unforgettable! He made His presence seen and felt among His people. If the people focused on the fact of His presence, they would not need to fear. (NKJV Study Bible). It is truly an awesome experience to imagine a column of fire moving in the night sky through the vast expanse of wilderness. At a time when electricity or modern-day technologies were not known, God had a plan to lead His people through the darkness. It also reminds us of the faithfulness of God – after leading His people out of slavery, He was not going to leave them alone; He was not leading them astray. The key verse tells us that God was going before them!!
God will not take you to a place where His presence cannot go!! God leads you out from a place to take you to the next level. And He promises His presence. When we carefully study the pattern in which God has been leading His people through the journey until they reached Canaan, God was faithful in keeping His promise. When they faced wilderness, He was there as their close companion. Deut.4:7 says: “For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him?” When they faced darkness, He was there as light through fire and as a cloud to protect them from the heat of wilderness affecting them. When enemies came against them, God was their defence; when they faced insurmountable walls and fortresses, He was their planner to devise a way to conquer it. When they faced the floods of Jordan He led them through; the fiery serpents and the wild animals through their sojourn could not scare them!
For their food - He provided; for their drink –He provided. Their clothing – oh! It never became old or torn!! Their bodies were nourished with divine food. He gave them the skills to build the most beautiful and intricately designed worship place – that itself was a marvel as it was a moving tabernacle! Deuteronomy 32:10-12 says how God took care of His people: “He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye. As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings, so the Lord alone led him….” But the pre-requisite for all these – they were delivered to be God’s possession. We too when we maintain our status quo as the delivered ones to be a possession of God, what He promises is His abiding presence!!!
From Ephesians 2: 1-7 we see that:
We were dead (in the spirit) – Jesus gave us life!
We were under captivity (of the devil) – Jesus freed us!
We were without an identity – God placed us along with Jesus and gave us a new identity!
We were without any hope – He gave us the hope through Christ!
He is a God with you! He is very near to you. He is very present help. He protects you He cares for you, He will lead to until the end!
Promise & Praise: “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude1:24,25)
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