Nov. 16 Clouds & Fire

November 16 - God Revealed in Cloud & Fire Pillars

"By day the Lord went ahead of them in 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." (Exodus 13:21-22)

Before the Israelites even got the to the Red Sea, God had established that He would travel with them and guide them!

Look at the next chapter - Exodus 14:19. The Egyptians have come upon them and the Israelites are terrified. God moves from in front of the people to the back coming between them and the armies of Egypt. Then, Moses stretched out his hand and the sea was split so the Israelites could pass through.

Not only was God guiding them, but He stood in protection for them.

This is the presence of God standing in the midst of His people! Once the Tabernacle was designed and constructed, we see that the people looked for the cloud to show up at the Tent of Meeting to speak with Moses. When God did this, the people would stand in the entrances of their tents and worship. (Exodus 33:10)

Just as an aside, read Exodus 33:11, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend." Those words just touched my heart ... what an amazing relationship. Anyway ...

The people of Israel counted on God to travel with them through their journey. "In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out - until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels." (Exodus 40:36-38)

We see a little more detail in Numbers 9:15-23. The Israelites moved or remained in place based on the Lord's command. They obeyed Him.

In Numbers 12, we find Miriam and Aaron talking against Moses. They didn't like his Cushite wife. Whaddya know?! God didn't like this at all and called those two along with Moses to the Tent of Meeting. He summoned Aaron and Miriam to the entrance and spoke to them. Again, I love these words He spoke about His relationship with Moses.

"When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" (Exodus 12:6-8)

He was furious with them ... for their punishment, read on in the chapter.

The next time we see God show up in the cloud is in Numbers 16. The people had just seen the destruction of Korah's men and all their possessions because of their audacity in believing they coul be priests like Aaron's lineage. The Israelites decided to grumble about this and gathered to oppose Moses and Aaron. About that time, the Lord showed up in the cloud at the tent of meeting and told Moses and Aaron He was going to destroy the lot of them. Moses sent Aaron immediately to make atonement for the people, but the plague had already started. It stopped once Aaron offered incense and made atonement, but scripture says 14,700 people died.

In Deuteronomy 31:14-29 we are at the end of Moses' life. The Lord comes once again in a pillar of cloud. "And the Lord said to Moses: 'You are going to rest with your fathers ... '" (Deuteronomy 31:16)

He gave Moses the song that is written in Deuteronomy 32, warns Moses of Israel's rebellion, tells Joshua to be strong and courageous and promises that Joshua will bring the people into the Promised Land.

Isaiah promises that the Lord will show up in smoke and fire at the last day in Isaiah 4:5.

Watch for Him. He will return. Clouds will surround Him as He comes back. God is revealed in clouds and fire!