December 8, 2024
Reading: Exodus 13:16-14:4
Focus: Exodus 13:22 – Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Father God, Thank You for always going before us. Help us to keep our eyes on You as You lead us through out lives. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Most Exodus movies and stories show that Pharaoh chased after the Israelites immediately. However, the Bible does not show this. God had Moses lead the Israelites along the Way of the Wilderness, rather than the Way of the Philistines. The latter would have been a shorter route, but God knew that the people were not really ready to fight anyone at that point, even though they prepared themselves for battle (Exodus 13:18b). The Way of the Wilderness led across the Sinai Peninsula toward the Gulf of Aqaba.
There is a theory that has the Israelites crossing a “sea” on the west side of the Sinai and being out of Egypt is patently false. This proposed sea on the west side of the Sinai Peninsula is called the Reed Sea. So, if they did cross the Reed Sea instead of the Red Sea, we still have a miracle. The Reed Sea is basically a marsh and is about six to ten inches deep. And the miracle? The entire Egyptian army drowned in 10 inches of water.
But it needs to be said that the Israelites were not out of Egypt as long as they were on the Sinai Peninsula. The Sinai Peninsula was under the control of Egypt then and today is still a part of Egypt. They had to get off that peninsula to actually be out of Egypt. So, they crossed the Sinai and approached the east finger of the Red Sea.
Now, God does not always lead us by a direct route. Sometimes He needs us to learn something along the way. God was not done teaching His people and ultimately, the Egyptians, that He was in control and that the Israelites were His people. There was still another spectacular deliverance to be experienced. If the path God has given you seems to be wandering, don’t resist or complain. Follow Him willingly and trust Him to lead you to the place He wants you to be. Trust that He has your best interest at heart. He knows where you are going, even if you can’t see it. You never know what blessing He has in store.
The Israelites crossed the Sinai and camped in Etham on the other side of the desert. The Bible tells us that God went with them. There was a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire during the day. This was physical evidence that God was actually with them. All the people could simply look up and see this pillar. If they could see it, they were going in the right direction. Now this wasn’t just a wisp of smoke during the day or a tendril of fire in the night. The pillar was big enough to be seen from the front to the back of the column of people as they travelled. Remember, they were about 2 million strong. This pillar never left them. We are not told how long it took them to cross the Sinai, but there they were in Etham. I believe they had time to rest for the next part of the journey.
Then God told Moses to lead them to Pi-Hahiroth to camp. Pi-Hahiroth is south of Etham and not far from the Red Sea. God said that this traveling would make Pharaoh think that Moses did not know where he was going and that they were just wandering around in the desert, lost and confused. God said that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart again so that he would chase after them. But even in this God would show the Egyptians that He was the Lord and His Glory would be shown to all. Pharaoh was in for another lesson, as if ten plagues hadn’t been enough to convince him.
Let’s take a look at the mileage that the Israelites traveled. From Sukkoth to Etham on the other side of the peninsula, it’s about 200 miles. A normal person can walk about twenty-five to thirty miles in a day. So, we have about two million people traveling two hundred miles and they probably only covered about fifteen miles or so, a day. Sounds reasonable, right? I’ve looked at a number of different opinions of how long it took the Israelites to reach the Red Sea at Pi-Hahiroth. The most reasonable seems to be eighteen days. The Bible does not specifically tell us how long, but I do believe that God expects us to be smart enough to understand that they did not travel two hundred miles overnight. They traveled across the peninsula and camped at Etham. Then, they traveled another fifty miles, over several more days, south to Pi-Hahiroth and camped there.
Now we know that the Israelites had the pillar of cloud and fire to guide them. What do we have? We have the Bible. All of it. The people did not have that yet. Not only do we have the Bible but because of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. We can look the Word of God for guidance and assurance just as surely as the Israelites had the pillar to look to for guidance and assurance. The Israelites had God in a physical form, who went before them, guided and protected them. He lighted their way, protected them from their enemies and guided them from slavery to the Promised Land.
Sometimes God even comes to us in the form of another person to point out our way. There is a man in my church who has had a very difficult life but even so, God found him and pointed out the way for him to go. Joey has experienced the drug world, as both a user and a dealer. At crisis points in his life, God placed people in Joey’s life to point him towards Jesus. To make a long story short, Joey had given his life to God several times but had gone back into the drugs until this past summer. Joey had been watching our church for several weekends. He told our church this morning that, every week, God was pointing him to our church. Joey said he was drawn to us.
Joey came to our church, physically and spiritually hungry. He met with our Compassionate Ministries leader who fed him and whose husband was able to help him find work. Joey committed his life to Christ that day and has never looked back. He sits in front of me on Sunday mornings and I am awed at the way he worships. He is a humble man and fully filled with the Holy Spirit. God met him where he was and guided him back to Himself.
Remember that God will meet us where we are and will always be there to guide us. Either with His Spirit, with His Word or with people placed in our lives for just that purpose. All we need to do is focus our eyes on Him.
Are you following?
Father God, Thank You for being our guide. Thank You that You love us enough to find us where we are. Help us to keep our eyes on You for guidance. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food for Thought
- Do you believe that the Exodus movies are totally accurate? Why or why not?
- Why do you think it was important that the Israelites did not travel the easy way to the Promised Land?
- Do you believe that there was actually a pillar of cloud and fire that led the Israelites? Why or why not?
- Has God ever led you from or to a place in your live? Think about it. How did He do that?
- How often and how do you look to God for guidance?
