The Pillar Of Fire & Cloud

Exodus 13
21 The Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Consider the daily dominating and thought consuming nature of that pillar. All day, every day the people maintained a vision of the power, authority and provision of God! Each day they walked with a conscious, tangible evidence of the presence of God, their Almighty Deliverer and Redeemer! They looked to Him, He saw to them.
With every ‘insignificant step’ they saw Him. His presence was undeniable as they walked, as they spoke to one another, as they cleaned, washed, prepared, worked… In every menial task they were conscious of His presence!
Consider also how it would have been to witness this from a distance. What an incredible spectacle it would have been. They were the people following the pillar. They were a people marked by the presence of God. What a powerful, awe inspiring, fear inducing sight it must have been to behold. God’s people walking with the undeniable evidence of His presence and power.

1 John 1
7 But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another…

What the Born Again believer has in Jesus Christ is immeasurably greater than the pillar! In every way! We have Christ within us! We have the indwelling of The Holy Spirit, God Himself living in communion and fellowship with His people, through His people.
Should it not follow then that we walk with far greater consciousness of His presence? There ought to be far greater awareness of His power and leading in our lives than the children of Israel experienced. Culture and comfort have entered the church and are dulling our faith and “spiritual senses”. If we truly reverence Jesus Christ; if we truly believe that He is all that He says He is; if we truly believe that the sovereign, creator God dwells within us… Then we would live and walk with far greater evidence of His leading and glory.
⁠I write this to in order to lift our eyes and increase our faith. Let us contemplate who/what we are following. Do we live with a consciousness of Almighty God’s watchful eye? Do we live from moment to moment in His presence? Do we see The Lord in every circumstance? Every day they saw that Pillar, they followed it… Let us learn to cultivate an intimate, reverential walk with The Lord. We are so prone to distraction, this is always the daily fight in the flesh, to see Jesus with a Spiritual perspective and not this world with earthly eyes.

Oil For The Lamp

Exodus 27:20-21
“And you shall command the children of Israel, that they bring you pure crushed/beaten olive oil for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always”

The olives must be beaten/crushed. The oil would come forth from the crushing of the olives. It was in the Mount of Olives where Christ’s will was crushed and He prayed “Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.” It is this symbolic crushing death to the self-will that will bring forth oil to fuel the light of the testimony.

Be careful not to focus on the crushing. Do not consume yourself with the death but rather rejoice in the precious oil and the light that comes from such a testimony! Some can become sepulchral, losing all joy, seeing only their unworthiness and lack… But rejoice evermore and pray without ceasing, giving thanks that the Light of The Lord’s testimony may shine on another day.

“In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony”

The oil was brought from the individual homes to the place of congregational worship. It is only as our self-life is crushed that we can learn to love, serve and prefer others above ourselves. As we are crushed and see how much we’ve been forgiven we can learn to love much and we can learn to worship The Lord in unity. That is where The Lord places His testimony. Not in the individual homes but upon a people united unto Him.

“it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.”

From generation to generation the statute, the marker of The Lord’s presence/blessing/testimony would be the light in the tabernacle of the congregation. It is the offering of crushing of The Lord’s people that keeps it shining.

Oh may we with joy bring our oil to the place of united fellowship and congregational worship. May we bring fuel for the light of our Saviour’s glory and testimony.

Questioning God

Exodus 17:7
“And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?”

• It is staggering to consider what their eyes have seen and witnessed; to consider all that the children of Israel have been brought through; to consider the intimacy and tenderness that The Lord God has shown them… and their hearts still yet question The Lord!!

• May we never be so blind as to question the presence, goodness and love of God! We can be so quick to judge the Israelites as foolish but let us be careful for we too can be just as guilty and just as selfish, foolish and ungrateful.

Psalm 139:7 Where shall I go from your spirit? or where shall I flee from your presence? – Consider the whole psalm.

Hebrews 13:5 “for he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

• How tenderly and compassionately The Lord watches over His people. What a precious comfort is the watchful eye of our Good Shepherd! Our all sufficient one! Our Wonderful Counsellor! Our Saviour! Our Father! It is a great sin indeed to question His love and attention to His children. It is a clear sign of an unbelieving heart to ask such a thing. Such a question must so grieve The Lord!