The Fire and the Cloud Exodus 12:31-36, 13:17-22 3-21-2021

When Moses first approached Pharaoh in Exodus 5 with the word of the Lord to let his people go, Pharaohs response was who is the Lord and why should I listen. over what was likely the next year, God answered that with plagues that Pharaoh and all his magicians were unable to do anything about, even at the cost of his own firstborn son.

“During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” (12:31)

After experiencing the curses of God because of his disobedience, the land was in chaos. He had enough and desperately wanted to avoid any more, so Pharaoh now seeks to restore some order by freeing the Hebrews and sought Gods’ blessing in place of his wrath And it wasn’t just him. :32 continues:

The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.” (Exodus 12:31–36, NIV) up to this point in the Exodus story, something very important was missing on the part of the Hebrews, FAITH! Apart from Moses, there is absolutely no indication of the Israelites exercising anything like trust in the Lord. they really hadn’t done anything but everything was done for them whether they believed in the Lord or not.

It didn’t take any faith for them to listen to Moses tell what they already wanted to hear, that God was going to deliver them from Egypt. It didn’t take faith to stand by and let Moses stick his neck out by going to Pharaoh on their behalf with the demand to let Gods people go. It didn’t take much faith to sit back and watch all the plagues strike Egypt. And, when the time came for them to leave, it didn’t take much faith because Pharaoh almost ordered them go and the people of Egypt begged them to leave and even paid them to do so.

God had done all the work. Moses had taken all the risks. And all they had to do was watch and enjoy the benefits benefit when it all came to pass. All that was about to change and they would quickly have to learn what it meant to step out in their own faith and trust God to provide and protect.

Going forward was going to be a different story which is something they often struggled with, just as we do

It isn’t always easy to live by faith

It sometimes means taking risks, doing something we aren’t comfortable with, haven’t done before, or don’t want to do, going places we have never been, stepping out into the unknown.

E.W. Kenyon said, Faith will lead you where you cannot walk. Reason has never been a mountain climber.

For Israel that meant walking through the Red Sea while staring at walls of water on each side of them ready at any moment to come crashing down It meant walking to the foot of Mt. Sinai, believing that the pillar of fire and cloud knew the way. It meant wandering across the wilderness for 40 years, each day having to trust God to provide the manna and water they would need to survive And it meant eventually making it to the shores of the Jordan River with the faith that with Gods help their future home was finally within reach.

They often floundered and their faith frequently faltered, yet even then, God used their failures in the wilderness as a learning laboratory to teach them that as 2 Cor. 5:7 tells us, we live by faith, not by sight

Continuing on in chapter 13 it says,

“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” (Exodus 13:17-19)

There is a certain amount of irony here and gives a pretty good idea of the state of their faith.

They hadn’t done anything to win their freedom yet Verse 18 says the Israelites left Egypt all puffed up and ready for battle. 14:8 says when they left Egypt they marched out boldly, showing off as if in a parade, as if it was all their own doing rather than God’s Yet it was all bluster. If crisis struck there would be nothing to sustain them.

Verse 14 says in spite of their pride they just weren’t ready. their faith wasn’t strong enough and if they faced war they would give up and turn back to Egypt

So as they began their journey to freedom, it was essential that they learn what faith is For that they needed the fire and the cloud to guide and remind them that it wasn’t by might nor by power but by his Spirit that they were saved

After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 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 13:20-22)

I. The Fire and the Cloud

They may have had a vague notion of where they were going but as slaves, they were clueless how to get there or survive in the wilderness only Moses who had spent 40 years in the desert of Midia would have had much of an idea So God placed the pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night to go before and guide them

“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 Israelites during all their travels.” (Exodus 40:36–38, NIV)

That was the benefit of the fire and cloud, it forced them wait on the Lord they couldn’t just get up and go whenever and wherever they felt like it but had to learn what faith meant and how to follow his leading.

I’m sure Israel would have preferred to have their trip all planned out with a map to follow, know where the springs were for water, where they could find shelter. Just as we would prefer to have our lives marked out also, to have everything laid out for us rather than have to trust God day by day.

Just like them, we need to learn to wait and to follow as well, to walk by faith not just by sight And rather than making our plans based on our own desires we need to learn how to wait on the Lord, listen for his leading to guide us, while trusting that he knows the way far better than we do.

Paul makes it clear that it is by grace that while we are saved by grace through faith, faith doesn’t end there, it is just the starting point. Romans 1:17, Galatians 2:20, 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38 all state that, we are not just saved by faith, we must learn to live by it as well

Someone once pointed out that being saved is the end of the Christian life—but it is the front end

Don’t live like it is the back end, that now that you are saved you can live as you please. Seeking Gods direction only in the big stuff or when facing crisis while trying to take care of the day to day stuff on your own Things like how we spend our money and raise our kids and treat our spouse, and our work habits

As slaves, Israel had been told what to do and when to do it. Now as free people they could easily go the opposite direction and start thinking its my life to do with as I please

Faith said they needed to learn to listen and follow God

Colossians 3:17 and 1 Cor 10:31 state that whatever we do, whether it is in word or deed, we are to work at it as serving the Lord not man and we are to do it all for the glory of God

God doesn’t save and set us free in Christ only to leave us on our own to make the best of it or pursue our own desires and interests without thought of what he wants We are called to follow Like ancient Israel we are set free from bondage and we are heading for the promised land, but the only way we can get there is by following his leading in the fire and the cloud

In their book the Hidden price of Greatness, Ray Beeson and Renalda Mack Hunsicker tell the story of Gladys Aylward, who was a missionary in China when the Japanese invaded the Chinese city of Yangchen during WW2. She was forced to flee and along with her assistant, led more than 100 orphans over the mountains toward safety. As they were fleeing, Gladys grappled with despair as never before. The task seemed hopeless. How could two adults possibly hope to lead more than 100 children, some quite young, so many miles across the rugged mountains. Then one night she was in such despair she couldn’t sleep at all. By morning she had completely given up all hope of ever reaching safety and was ready to call it quits. It was at that low point that one of the children, only 13 years old, reminded her of the much loved story of Moses and the Israelites fleeing Egypt and crossing the Red Sea.

Gladys’ immediate response was, “Well, I’m not Moses.”

The girl simply said, “Of course you aren’t. But Yahweh is still God!”

We all need that reminder from time to time, don’t we? That no matter what we may be facing, how hopeless the cause, He is still God and he still leads his people to the place he desires for them. You can trust him, whether it is accomplishing some task that seems beyond you, a ministry you don’t feel qualified for, or some decision you need to make

You can trust him and learning to live by faith, to follow the cloud and the fire is the key rather than trying to figure things out on your own.

It may not take the form of literal flames and white billows of cloud, but still guides if we learn to watch and to listen for that still small voice and the inner urging of His Spirit

How’s your daily quiet time and devotions? How can you hope to follow if you are not taking the time to listen and wait on him to speak?

Are you regularly in Gods word? How can it be a lamp for you feet and light for you path if you aren’t reading it Or be living and active and useful for teaching, correcting, rebuking and training in righteousness if you aren’t studying it with others Or able to keep you from sin if you aren’t hiding it in your heart through memorizing it?

Are you involved in the lives of other believers in the fellowship of the saints, Gods’ church? Contrary to our individualistic lifestyles, it is the church that has always been central to Gods work and guidance of his people.

With our American pride in individualism and personal freedoms, which are strengths in many ways, yet they can also be weaknesses They can make us blind to the fact that we need others, have to think about the effects our actions can have on others, that we were created for fellowship not isolation, to work together not go it alone, to seek and to worship and to serve as a body not just individuals. Dealing with the isolation and separation caused by Covid for the past year, should convince of this.

Perhaps just as important for the development of their faith as the presence of the fire and the cloud, was the wilderness itself

Contrary to popular myth, God often leads us through the wilderness rather than around it because

II. It is the wilderness not the promised land where faith is to be found

Even with the fire and the cloud before them, it seemed Israel was in constant danger of discouragement and giving up. Returning to Egypt often seemed more attractive than the uncertainty of following God

It wasn’t until they had made it through the waters of the Red Sea that it says for the very first time in 14:31, the people feared the Lord and put their faith in him

They learned to walk by faith by stepping out in faith, gradually over time by following the fire and the cloud through the Red Sea and into the wilderness Through their trials and difficulties not sitting at home watching TV or reading about it when everything was easy and going well

We learn faith in the same way, by exercising it Our trust in the lord grows as we see that he is trustworthy in taking us through our trials

That’s why we find those with the strongest faith are most often the ones who have come through the greatest trials, the poor and the persecuted and the outcast, because they had nowhere else to turn and nothing else to fall back upon. Through experience they learn to lean into God rather than trust in themselves and their own abilities to get out of trouble

Faith is actually harder for those with plenty in their accounts to fall back upon, a full refrigerator, access to good medical care to trust instead Faith grows best in the wilderness!

14:1-2 says God had Moses lead Israel towards the Red Sea rather than shorter and safer routes He intentionally led them to what seemed a dead end

Imagine going from Kaneohe to Ala Moana by way of Haleiwa? It would seem silly since there are three much shorter and faster ways available

Yet that is what God did with Israel

There were three different land bridges they could have used to cross the Red Sea but God didn’t choose any of them

Instead :17 says the Lord took them the long way around to avoid the Philistine garrisons posted along the way Contrary to their false pride and bravado marching out of Egypt, they weren’t ready to face opposition They needed time and practice to learn what faith is, that God could be trusted not just to take them out of Egypt but also provide and protect them through the wilderness

As popular writer and speaker Larry Maxwell said, “A faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted.”

And the place they were tested was the wilderness where they had to rely on the fire and the cloud to guide them that meant taking a slower approach to life, learning to wait on the fire and the cloud instead of trying to run off on our own there are no quick fixes to faith, three easy steps to the promised land he often leads us into what seems to be a wilderness so we can grow our faith and learn how to trust

Sometimes the fastest way between two points is not a straight line Sometimes we have to slow down and follow rather then trying to run out ahead

In 1850 it took 166 days to travel from the east coast to the west by covered wagon. Ten years later that same journey by stagecoach took 60 days. By 1870, you could make the trip by train in 11 days. In 1930 the same trip by air took 26 ½ hours. Today you can make it in less than 5 hours by jet, the old concord could make it in 2, and the space shuttle could have made it in 8 minutes So in 150 years we reduced travel time from 166 days to 8 minutes.

When DC comics first started publishing The Flash comics, he could travel 4-5 times the speed of sound. Not too long ago in their more recent comics he could almost travel the speed of light. In one comic he tried to outrace a modem signal from one computer to another one of the writers confessed that it was getting harder and harder to come up with new story lines because things were just moving too fast

in reflecting on this someone has said, in a world of 24-hour news cycles, 30-minute pizza delivery, 10 minute facials, 2 minute warnings, minute rice, and when something happens half a world away in Europe or Asia and we know it instantly. We are becoming so used to things happening quickly, we forget how to wait.

What happens when we try to bring that same thinking and expectation into the realm of faith, expecting instant growth, quick paths to maturity, simple steps to faith and for our lives to be transformed overnight. When that doesn’t happen, we start to feel like something is wrong

Are we looking for a quick fix to faith rather than the slow steady progress of growth?

If we start to ignore the fire and the cloud and try to avoid the wilderness because we think we know better, we will end up getting lost rather than see our faith grow through it.

God is seeking to shape us into the people we were created to be and that cannot be rushed We need the fire and the cloud to guide us, and that may well mean at times even through the wilderness where our faith can grow.