pillar of cloud, pillar of fire

Exod 13:17-15:21: Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire © 2004 by R W Glenn

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Redeemer Bible Church Unreserved Accountability to Christ. Undeserved Acceptance from Christ.

Pillar of Cloud, Pillar of Fire Exodus 13:17-15:21

Introduction Have you ever heard someone say that they’re getting closer to God? When they say this I am half-tempted to ask them what they’re saying. I mean, I think I know what they’re getting at. They’re saying something like their relationship with the Lord is deeper than it once was. They’re enjoying greater intimacy with him, or something like that. In other words, they’re speaking about their relationship to God, their language of closeness is intended to be relational.

But when I hear someone say that they’re getting closer to God, I can’t help but hear what they’re saying not in relational terms alone, but in spatial terms as well. And then I think: “How could you be getting closer to a God who is invisible and omnipresent? You couldn’t possibly be any closer to that God than you already are. Wherever you are, there he is.” The psalmist’s questions reflect this theology precisely:

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8

If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10

Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night," 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You (Ps 139:7-12).

So although there is a sense in which you can get closer to God (“Draw near to God and he will draw near to you” [Jas 4:8]), there is also a sense in which you can’t get any closer to God than you already are (“Where can I flee from your presence?”). Relationally drawing nearer and spatially always near—that’s where we are with respect to the God who at once is intensely personal and radically relational as well as infinitely spiritual and utterly ubiquitous.

Now then, take a moment to absorb the notion of a personal being without spatial dimensions—a personal being without spatial dimensions.

Well, if you are like me, here’s what you came up with in your brief time of reflection this morning: absolutely nothing…nothing! The fact of the matter is that you and I cannot even begin to conceive what a God like this is really like. How can you wrap your brain around someone that isn’t a something? He is God and not man. He cannot be comprehended by his creatures. “He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of


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kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1 Tim 6:15-16)—this is our God!

How does this make you feel? How does it make you feel that our God is as the hymn-writer has said, “incomprehensible”? Does it evoke feelings of love, of warmth, of “closeness”? I think not. When I really consider it, the most it gets out of me is a “wow.” It’s interesting; it’s incredible, but it’s not something that draws me into deeper communion with him. I can’t commune, I mean really commune—share myself—with someone who is beyond my comprehension. So when I reflect on the omnipresence and invisibility of God, I find myself coming up short of the closeness that I long to experience.

How is it, then, that we can, as James says, “Draw near to God”? How can we draw near to the one who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see?

To me this is a vital question. The Bible commands us to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength. And yet, I don’t know how to love someone that for all practical purposes isn’t there. Now don’t misunderstand here. Don’t take me to be saying something heretical. God is there. He is always there. But what I am saying is that for all practical purposes, for a corporeal being like myself, it is as if he isn’t there. I can’t see him. In the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, God is the one whom no man has seen or can see. And if I can’t see him, for all practical purposes he isn’t there.

I know, I know, air is invisible, yet even for practical purposes it is there; otherwise, I’d be “practically” dead. But there is a major difference between those invisible things, like air and atomic particles and such; first, they are only invisible in the sense that we can’t see them with the naked eye. With certain mechanical aids, however, the invisible particle becomes a visible one. Second, even if you could think of something that is absolutely essential and truly invisible, those things would still be things—they wouldn’t be persons.There are no persons aside from God who are invisible, whom no man has seen or can see.

So then, how is it that I can catch a glimpse of the God who can’t be glimpsed? Well, biblically speaking, there is only one way: he needs to reveal himself to me in such a way that I can perceive him. What this means, then, is that we don’t actually see him, but we see something concrete and tangible through which he has condescended to make himself known to humble creatures like us.

With that in mind, let us return from our hiatus to our study of the book of Exodus so that we might see one of those concrete and tangible acts of condescension. Turn with me to Exod 13:17-15:21.

A Bit of Review Now then, before we begin to explore the portion of this text that begins in 13:17 and ends in 15:21, allow me to remind you briefly of where we’ve been. Israel has been in Egyptian slavery for some four hundred years.


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Israel’s God, however, would have none of this. God has heard his people’s cry in the midst of their bondage and would take action. He would call Moses—a Hebrew well versed in the ways of the Egyptians, having been raised as one of them through a series of clearly providential acts—he would call this man to lead his people out of slavery into the land the Lord had promised his forefathers.

Then, after what appears to be a failed attempt on the part of Moses and his brother Aaron to persuade the king of Egypt to let the people go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness to worship the Lord, God brings upon Egypt ten plagues of cosmic proportions: plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, and darkness. And yet with each plague, Pharaoh becomes more and more recalcitrant. He refuses again and again, even contrary to the advice of his courtiers, to let the people go.

And yet, all of this is according to the plan of God. The Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that Pharaoh would not immediately release the people. And he did this in order to show Pharaoh that he, and not Pharaoh, was the king of the universe. He did it in order to show Pharaoh his power and in order to proclaim his name through all the earth. Pharaoh would continue to be stubborn until the last plague, the plague of the death of the firstborn sons. As an act of divine retribution for the genocidal practices of Egypt’s Pharaohs, God would kill the firstborn sons of the Egyptians. Then, and only then, would this Pharaoh let the people go.

And this is precisely what happened. Turn in your Bibles with me to Exod 12:29-33,37, 40-41:

Now it came about at midnight that the LORD struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. 31 Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, "Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the LORD, as you have said. 32

"Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also."33 The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, "We will all be dead.”…Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children….Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. 41 And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, to the very day, all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt.

The Parting of the Sea of Reeds and the Destruction of the Egyptians We pick things up now in 13:17, to a section which, as we said, begins here and ends in 15:21. Let’s read beginning in v 17 stopping briefly along the way for comment.

Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near; for God said, "The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt." 18 Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel


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went up in martial array from the land of Egypt. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you." 20 Thenthey set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness. 21 TheLORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. 1 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. 3 "For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.' 4 "Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." And they did so. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" 6 So he made his chariot ready and took his people with him; 7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. 9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.10 As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. 11 Then they said to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? 12 "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians '? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness." 13 ButMoses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the LORD which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. 14 "The LORD will fight for you while you keep silent." 15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. 16 "As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. 17 "As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 "Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen." 19 The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. 20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. 22 The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 Then the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. 24 At the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians


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into confusion. 25 He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians." 26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen." 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. 29

But the sons of Israel walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great power which the LORD had used against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses.

Now then, as we come to Chapter 15, you will see in your Bibles a very obvious difference between this chapter and what we’ve looked at so far: we have now a song set out in verse for us in most of our English Bibles. It is a beautiful tribute of praise to the Lord for his victory at the Red Sea.

So then, in terms of the narrative we have Israel’s departure from Egypt and the climactic destruction of the Egyptians at the Sea of Reeds. Not much in the way of action.But as regards theology, this section of Exodus is rife with new perspectives on who God is: his might, his holiness, his faithfulness; on the nature of his deliverance; as well as the nature of Israel’s grumbling beginning to take shape. We will explore these themes and more in the coming weeks.

This morning I’d like us to double back through the narrative, with particular focus on what we read in order to spend some time unpacking one of the first theological themes the narrative introduces.

The Presence of God As you’ll remember, we began this morning’s message with a word about God’s invisibility and omnipresence and with remarks to the effect that the only way we can relate to a God like this is for him to reveal himself to us in such a way that we can perceive that he’s there. And as I’m sure you’ve seen, this text provides us with an example of just such a revelation. Notice again 13:21-22: The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

The passage says that the Lord was going before his people, leading them out of bondage in a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. Of course, our God, being who he is, was not in the pillar of cloud and fire in the sense that he was there and nowhere else. Such a condition is contrary to his nature. But what it does mean is that God was manifesting for


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his people his presence in a tangible and concrete way—in a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire.

Now this kind of manifestation of God is what theologians call a theophany, a God appearance. And it is precisely what we’ve been talking about: an evidence of divine condescension so that human beings can have some idea of what God is like. He is incomprehensible, he dwells in unapproachable light, no one has ever seen him and no one can. So in order to understand him we need something we can grasp.

Now then, we might ask what it is about the nature of God that the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire communicate to us. What do they give us a glimpse of? In order to do begin to answer this question, turn back to Exod 3:2-8:

The angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, "I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up." 4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then He said, "Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 He said also, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. 7 TheLORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. 8 "So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.

His Presence to Bless The reason I return to Exodus 3 should be obvious. This is the first theophany of the book and like our pillar of cloud and pillar of fire the Lord appears to Moses in a bush that burns without consuming. Not only that, from the midst of the bush the Lord speaks saying in v 8 that he has come down to deliver his people from Egyptian oppression. Now then, this gives us our first clue into what the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire are showing us about the Lord. Through theophanies, God enters our world. He “comes down” to our level, if you will. He meets us where we’re at.

Keep that in mind as we turn ahead to Numbers 14.

You will remember that here in the middle of journey toward occupying the Promised Land, the people of Israel rebel against the Lord by grumbling against their leaders, Moses and Aaron. Their complaint is nothing new, as it is something that is first recorded before they pass through the Sea of Reeds and that persisted during their journey through the wilderness. We read of it just a moment ago in Exod 14:11-12 and we see it resurface here in Num 14:2-3: All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt!


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Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” The result of this is that they determine to appoint new leadership that they might return to Egypt (v 4).

And even though Moses & Aaron, and Joshua & Caleb plead with the people not to rebel against the Lord in this way, the congregation is less than compliant. Read the first part of v 10: But all the congregation said to stone them with stones.

To this the Lord responds by telling Moses that the Lord will dispossess the people of Israel, smiting them with a severe pestilence in favor of Moses, that (according to v 12) he might be a nation greater and mightier than they. But Moses, jealous for the Lord’s fame, importunes the Lord not to go through with his act of judgment because of what Egypt would conclude. Notice vv 13-16: But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, for You, O LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, ‘Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’”

Now then, look specifically at v 14. Moses says that the Lord is in the midst of this people. Notice that his being in their midst is explained in terms of the Lord’s descent in cloud to speak face to face with Moses and in terms of the Lord’s presence with his people in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. All this is to say that the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire are meant to show Israel that the Lord is with them, that he is in their midst.

Moreover, there was not a time throughout Israel’s journey that they had to question whether or not the Lord was with them as long as the cloud and fire remained before them.The cloud never left. Turn back to Exodus now and look again at v 22: He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.The cloud was before the people 24/7! It was always there, which meant that God was always there with them, leading them and guiding them.

He had already showed them that he was with them through the mighty deeds that he performed in anticipation of their dramatic departure. Turn back to 8:22-23: “But on that day I will set apart the land of Goshen, where My people are living, so that no swarms of insects will be there, in order that you may know that I, the LORD, am in the midst of the land. I will put a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign will occur.”

Notice that God’s presence and Israel’s protection are connected very closely in these two verses. In fact, their protection is the effect of his presence in their midst. So then, whenever we see Israel being protected from the severe acts of judgment meted out against


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the Egyptians throughout the plague narrative (as we’ve called it), we can know that it is owing to this fundamental truth.1 Yahweh dwells with Israel.

And since God’s presence with his people means the protection of Israel, we would expect the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire to represent the same thing, which is exactly what we see. Look again at 14:19-20: The angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one did not come near the other all night.

Notice that the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, like Israel’s shielding from the plagues, makes a distinction, makes a division between Egypt and Israel. Here it works to keep Egypt and Israel separated through the night.

So then, the Lord has chosen to reveal himself to the Israelites in a perpetual pillar of cloud and pillar of fire in order that he might manifest his bias toward them as his beloved people. There is no mistaking that Yahweh is in their midst when such a tangible and visible revelation is ever before them. And in their midst is exactly where Israel wants their God to be. For when he is, Israel has nothing to fear. Zephaniah 3:15-17 puts it beautifully,

The LORD has taken away His judgments against you, He has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You will fear disaster no more. In that day it will be said to Jerusalem: “Do not be afraid, O Zion; Do not let your hands fall limp. The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”

Although the Lord is everywhere present, is especially present with his people for blessing, for protection, for deliverance, and for salvation. So then, when we come to the God’s self-revelation in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire, we are reintroduced to the theme of God’s presence with Israel. The Lord is in their midst, which they can know not only because of what they have experienced in their immediate past, but also because of what is presently and continually before them.

His Presence to Curse On the other hand, God’s presence does not always mean blessing. When his

presence is felt by his enemies, there is no blessing, no protection, no deliverance, no salvation—only disaster, destruction, devastation, and damnation. Ezekiel 28:22 says, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, And I will be glorified in your midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD when I execute judgments in her, And I will manifest My holiness in her.’”

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Sam 5:1-12.

1 See also 9:6, 26; 10:23; 11:7.


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Read v 1 with me: Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Now the reason why the Philistines had taken possession of the Ark of the Covenant is because it was booty from their battle against the Israelites. Keep in mind, too, that like the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire, the Ark of the Covenant also represents God’s presence with Israel; for when the ark was placed in the holy of holies in the tabernacle/temple, a glory-cloud descended from heaven upon it.

Therefore when the Philistines took Israel’s ark, they were taking more than an interesting artifact. Indeed, in their minds, taking the Ark of the Covenant meant deposing Israel’s god, apparently impotent at the hands of their own. Yet, if I may use common vernacular: they had absolutely no idea who they were messing with! Read on.

Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. 3 When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. 4 But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. 5 Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day. 6 Now the hand of the LORD was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and smote them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territories. 7 Whenthe men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, "The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god." 8 So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" And they said, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath." And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. 9

After they had brought it around, the hand of the LORD was against the city with very great confusion; and He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. 10 So they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people."

Their conclusion was simple: get rid of it! Notice vv 11-12:

They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, so that it will not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly confusion throughout the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. And the men who did not die were smitten with tumors and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

Now then, it should be clear to you that the presence of God in the midst of his enemies can not even remotely be construed as a blessing. It is a curse. This is something that the Egyptians failed to learn throughout the plagues and what’s more, 1 Sam 6:6 tells us that the Philistines’ priests and diviners learned from Egypt’s mistakes: “Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not allow the people to go, and they departed?” In other


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words, “Don’t be like Egypt. If this God is not already yours, you do not want him in your midst!”

Now then, as we turn back to Exodus 14, I want you to go to vv 24-25 and to make note of what happens. Read 14:24-25 with me: At the morning watch, the LORD looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty; so the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, for the LORD is fighting for them against the Egyptians.”

The very same pillar of fire and cloud that means protection and salvation for the Israelites is that which means defenselessness and destruction for the Egyptians. Thus God’s presence is not always “to cheer and to guide” as the hymn writer has said. Sometimes it is to dismay and to decimate.

So then, what we need to see is that the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire represent God’s presence. For those who are his, they represent his presence for blessings, for those who are not, they represent his presence for cursing.

His Presence to Bless the Undeserving I hasten to add that the Lord’s presence with Israel for blessing, even in this passage is never based upon their inherent goodness; rather, his presence with them for salvation is ever and only based on his good pleasure, on the kind intention of his will, on his faithfulness to his covenant promise. An allusion to that promise is made in what might at first glance appear to be a kind of throw-away remark, a detail that adds verisimilitude to the supernatural events of the narrative. Look back to 13:19: Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.”

This statement is nearly identical to the language of Gen 50:24-25 in which Joseph says to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will surely take care of you and bring you up from this land to the land which He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.” Now then, why is it that God will take care of the offspring of Jacob? Because he promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to bring them up from Egypt to Canaan. God is faithful to Israel because he is the God who cannot lie; he is the God who has sworn by himself that he would bless Abraham and his seed.

So the reason why God takes care of his people, the reason why he is present with Israel for good and not for harm is solely because of his faithfulness to himself, not because of their faithfulness to him. Notice again 14:10-12: As Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel looked, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD. Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this


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not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

This complaint hardly represents trust in the living Lord. They have seen all that the Lord had done in the land of Egypt, decimating the Egyptians, allowing Israel to plunder their oppressors, and delivering them from slavery. And as they have briefly journeyed in the wilderness, they have seen a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to guide them on the way to their inheritance. But now that they are hemmed in by the sea and desert, in spite of all they’ve seen, they have lost hope.

Clearly, the Lord is not faithful to be in Israel’s midst because of their deep and abiding faith in him. On the contrary, it is in spite of their unwillingness to believe even what has happened a short time ago and in spite of their unwillingness to respond to the tangible sign of God’s presence that is always before them that he is in their midst. The Lord promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their posterity would be preserved alive and granted a land of their own in which to flourish beyond their wildest imagination. So God would deliver this people in spite of their foolishness.

In Nehemiah 9, the leaders of Israel recommit the nation to the covenant. Their commitment is expressed in a song in which Israel’s history is recounted. You need to turn there with me to see it for yourself; for their song could not express it any more beautifully.

Listen to Neh 9:19: “You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness; The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, To guide them on their way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.” God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness (or covenant love) did not forsake his people. The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night. The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire testify to this truth: he will never, ever leave his chosen people. What remarkable faithfulness!

So then, here is what we have learned about the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire. Such a revelation of God in this tangible way has worked in two equal and opposing theological directions. First, his presence with his enemies means their doom. Anyone who would oppose the people of Yahweh would think twice should they ever encounter Israel following their “cloud.” And second, his presence with his people means their deliverance— deliverance brought about not because of any inherent merit, but in fact contrary to their demerit.

The pillar means divine presence. And it is the divine presence that represents Israel’s only hope. Without Yahweh’s intervention, Israel is left miles in the wilderness ill-equipped to handle Egypt’s best and brightest, caught between them and what amounts for them to an ocean of water. Israel needs God’s presence. And according to his mercy and compassion, he represents that presence through a vivid theophany: a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.


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What a tremendous privilege to have been in the company of God’s chosen people, to have been, as the Apostle Paul has said, “under the cloud”!2 What must it have been like to experience the invisible God in such a concrete and visible way? It must have been awesome! Don’t you think?!

The Limitations of Awe Well, I don’t want you to respond too quickly. I want you to think for a moment. I

say that it would have been awesome; and no doubt it would have been. But I’m wondering if a feeling of awe in the sense in which it is used not of our response to a Krispy Kreme donut, but in the sense of our response to something terrible and overwhelming, like a hurricane or tornado or a blazing fire—I’m wondering if awe in this latter sense is what draws us into close personal relationship with this living God. Yes, the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire mean that I can catch a glimpse of the invisible God, but what of that glimpse? Does it draw me closer to the Lord? Does it evoke warm feelings from me? Does it make him seem accessible? I don’t think so.

Think about a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire. Do they seem approachable to you? Here is a comment from a Jewish scholar that I think will help you to gain an appreciation for what I am saying:

[T]he God of the Hebrew Bible is a Being who transcends the limits of time and space, and thus surpasses human imagining. Hence, God’s indwelling Presence in the world is symbolized, however inadequately, by the mysterious, intangible, incorporeal elements of fire and cloud—actually a diaphanous, luminescent mist visible both by day and by night.3

Though the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire are concrete revelations of God, what they communicate about him by their very nature is that our God is not concrete. Can you draw near to the mysterious, the intangible, the incorporeal? Does a personal relationship with a diaphanous, luminescent mist sound appealing? Does it even sound possible? Of course, not.

So then, what are we to do? What do we do with this awesome being who transcends the limits of time and space, and thus surpasses human imagining? What does it even mean to transcend the limits time and space? How can I express timelessness without reference to time? How can I express “spacelessness” without reference to space? What are we to do?

Well, as I said earlier, since the Lord is the way he is, we are absolutely dependent upon him to reveal himself to us. We can not arrive at such a revelation by any human craft, no matter how ingenious. Unless he takes action to move toward us personally and relationally, all we’re left with is a diaphanous, luminescent mist; we are left with fire and cloud.

2 See 1 Cor 10:1-2. 3 Nahum M Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society,

1991), 70.


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Jesus Himself Is the Pillar of Cloud and Pillar of Fire Dear brothers and sisters, men and women, boys and girls, I have something

extraordinary to declare to you today. God has moved toward us personally and relationally! He has moved toward us personally and relationally, truly tangibly and concretely in the person of Jesus Christ! Oh, I know you knew that he was the answer! But it is such a joy to tell you what you already know!

The word became flesh and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of lovingkindness and truth. No one has seen God at any time; but the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.Jesus of Nazareth has given complete explanation, full exposition, of who the Father is. He literally took on flesh and pitched his tent with us. He came to his own things, to his own creatures, to his own people in the form of a man, as real-live flesh and blood. In the fulfillment of the Father’s purposes for revealing himself to us, the virgin was with child and gave birth to a son whose name is Emmanual, which translated means, “God with us.” God with us! God with us!

Do you see how personally and relationally lacking is every Old Testament theophany, every Old Testament God appearance? All they were able to do was give us something close to what God was like, we never saw God himself in them. So nothing could come close to the fullness of deity taking on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. How intensely personal? How radically relational? You can’t lean your head back on the chest of a cloud. You can’t kiss or hug a cloud. You can’t sit on a cloud’s lap. You cant touch the hands and feet of a cloud. You can’t wash a cloud’s feet with your tears and wipe them with your hair. You can’t anoint a cloud with costly perfume of pure nard. You can’t share breakfast with a cloud.

And a cloud cannot empathize with “solids” like us. A cloud cannot be tempted in all ways as we are. A cloud cannot be our mediator and Melchizedekian priest. A cloud cannot die for the sins of his people. And a cloud cannot rise from the dead for his people’s justification.

Brethren, there are only so many things a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire can do! Amen? Amen.

But wait, there’s more. Don’t leave this passage in Exodus without seeing how its theology specifically finds its fulfillment in Jesus. Remember the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire represent God’s presence first with his people for their good and contrary to their badness, and second with his enemies and in retribution for their badness. How about Jesus?

Christ enters our world for our good, and not for our good alone, but also for the good of his enemies. This is the amazing thing about Jesus’ first advent and the time between his comings. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” And 1 John 2:2 says that


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“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

And I must add here that what is so astonishing about John’s conception of the world is not that it is so big, but that it is so bad! You would expect that the presence of God would mean the destruction of his enemies, but the God-man Jesus enters our world not to judge, but to save his enemies, but to save those on the outside, to save the very ones who sent him to the cross.

So then, God’s presence in the world in the person of Christ means two things; first, it means an advance on every other revelation of God prior to his coming. If I may borrow from the writer to the Hebrews, “Jesus is better.” It is Jesus who will never ever leave us nor forsake us. And because of this, we can know that we can always engage our transcendent God so personally, so truly, so tenderly, so relationally.

On this point, I don’t need to remind you that we—unlike our first century brethren—we are not those whom John describes as having heard, and seen and looked at and touched with their hands. We see Jesus only through the eyes of faith. We have come into a relationship with Jesus through the testimony of those who have heard and seen and touched. Nevertheless, that testimony has been preserved for us throughout our Bibles, especially and explicitly in the four gospels.

Drink of them deeply. Revel in the person you meet. Watch him act and react and respond and love and fellowship and cry and get angry and feel everything we feel. Long to meet him in person. Beg for his return. Take advantage of the God-breathed testimony preserved for us in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And enjoy Jesus’ company.

Second, God’s presence in the world through the person of Christ means that God is delivering even his enemies. Romans 5:10 says, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Remember that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but so that the world should be saved through him. Take advantage of Jesus’ presence in the world and the Spirit he has left the church.

I say this especially if you do not yet know him. For this personal God-man is coming back a second time, and when he does he will judge the world in righteousness.When he does even when you see the waters of the sea coming down on you from both sides, it will be too late. You will know the presence of this intensely personal and radically relational God only in terms of his vindictive judgment. Respond to the one who completes, who fills to overflowing what the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire are all about.

Redeemer Bible Church 16205 Highway 7

Minnetonka, MN 55345


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Office: 952.935.2425 Fax: 952.938.8299

[email protected] www.redeemerbiblechurch.com

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