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The Pillar of Cloud and Fire Debbie Hurn 430 The Testimony, December 2002 The pillar of cloud and fire Debbie Hurn led the Israelites for three thirsty days to Marah. This article considers the question of who or Straight away the people found fault with Mo- what was leading the people of Israel through ses. This was the first of many incidents in which the wilderness: Moses or the pillar of cloud they laid the blame for their discomfort on him, and fire. There are passages that can be pro- probably because they perceived that he was duced to support either, and an attempt is deeply involved in the decision-making process. made to reconcile them all and draw an ex- When there was only bitter water at the first hortation from them. station, Moses’ anguish at the burden of respon- sibility was acute, and he “cried to the LORD HE ISRAELITES were assisted in their [Yahweh]” (v. 25). wanderings in the Sinai and Negev wil- Tdernesses by a cloudy pillar in the day The cloud continues that glowed with fire at night. The miraculous The cloud and its role is next mentioned a month cloud may have accompanied them from later in the Wilderness of Sin, when the people Rameses but is first mentioned at Succoth: “And complained about the lack of food. By now they the LORD [Yahweh] went before them by day in had doubts as to the Divine nature of their jour- a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and ney, for they said to Moses and Aaron, “you by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that have brought us out into this wilderness to kill they might travel by day and by night; the pillar this whole assembly with hunger” (16:3). of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did Moses and Aaron understood the implication not depart from before the people” (Ex. 13:21,22*). of this challenge. In their response they directly How amazed the people would have been to addressed the question of Divine leadership, not realise that a cloud was leading them! the issue of hunger, which was a secondary con- From Succoth the cloud led the exodus in an cern: “So Moses and Aaron said to all the people unexpected direction: “God [elohim] did not lead of Israel, ‘At evening you shall know that it was them by way of the land of the Philistines . But the LORD [Yahweh] Who brought you out of the God [elohim] led the people round by the way of land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the wilderness toward the Red Sea” (vv. 17,18). the glory of the LORD [Yahweh], because He has Between Etham and the Red Sea Moses received heard your murmurings against the LORD [Yah- special instructions, for this was to be a crucial weh]. For what are we, that you murmur against day, and it was necessary for him to understand us?’” (vv. 6,7). At that moment the people saw Yahweh’s strategy (14:1-4). The pillar of cloud the glory of the LORD appear in the cloud, which (with the angel, v. 19) would move and go be- was till now a unique event. (The other time that hind the people to shield them from the pursu- this occurred was after the rebellion of Korah, ing Egyptians. when the people again challenged the authority After they had passed through the Red Sea, of Moses—Num. 16:41,42). “Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and The people had no excuse for their doubts. they went into the wilderness of Shur; they went The miracles they had witnessed in Egypt should three days in the wilderness and found no water have strengthened their faith for a lifetime, but . And the people murmured against Moses” their memory of these events had lasted about a (15:22,24). From this change in emphasis it ap- month. Nevertheless, we might wonder why they pears that, when deliverance from Egypt was chose to think that Yahweh was no longer with complete, the reins of leadership passed into them. Is it possible that the pillar of cloud ap- Moses’ hands, and he was empowered to make peared to be travelling with them rather than decisions. leading the march? They may have seen Moses Possibly disoriented after the unexpected de- and Aaron conferring daily about the direction tour through the Red Sea, and unprepared for the initially dry stretch along the Sinai coast, he * All Bible quotations are from the RSV. The Testimony, December 2002 431 of travel, and walking at the head of the column the angel of His presence, would surely have looking for the next water-source. determined every camping ground on their way. The people were set in their insecurity, for What need was there to search for a suitable when manna was sent they tried to keep some site? When they arrived in Kadesh, the people for the next day, despite Moses’ clear instruc- asked Moses to send spies to “explore the land tions (Ex. 16:19,20). By the time they left the for us, and bring us word again of the way by Wilderness of Sin and again experienced thirst, which we must go up and the cities into which at Rephidim, they had forgotten the glory in the we shall come” (Deut. 1:22). cloud. They again accused Moses of irresponsi- This proposal “seemed good” to Moses (v. ble leadership: “Why did you bring us up out of 23), and was endorsed by Yahweh (Num. 13:1), Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle raising the question as to what the role of the with thirst?” (17:3). Moses cried to Yahweh again, pillar of cloud was, if not to serve the very pur- believing that the people were ready to stone pose for which they were now appointing spies. him (v. 4). He felt accused of making arbitrary On another occasion, at the end of the forty years, decisions, for he renamed the place “Meribah Moses applied to the king of Edom for passage . because they put the LORD [Yahweh] to the through Mount Seir, and was refused (20:14-21). proof by saying, ‘Is the LORD [Yahweh] among Why would Moses do this if Yahweh had or- us or not?’” (v. 7). How could they dispute God’s dained the route by which they would enter presence while a cloud hovered miraculously Canaan and planned to reveal it to them by means above their every step? The miraculous nature of the pillar of cloud? of the pillar of cloud and fire no longer impressed Within the narrative itself there are two pas- them, and there was doubt in their mind as to sages detailing the connection between the move- whether the cloud was guiding them at all. ment of the cloud and the marches of the nation. Indications that Moses was responsible for The last verses of the book of Exodus explain daily decisions in regard to direction and dis- that they only went onward when the cloud was tance raise questions about the precise function “taken up” from over the tabernacle (40:36-38). of the cloud. When the people were about to set The word translated “taken up” is alah, ‘to as- out from Mount Sinai at the end of the year in cend or rise’. A passage in Numbers adds the which they had received the Law, Moses pleaded detail that, when the cloud “settled down” over with Hobab the Kenite, his father-in-law Jethro the tabernacle, there the people camped (9:17). (Judg. 4:11; Ex. 18:12), to accompany them and Here the word is shakhan, also translated ‘to help them find their way: “And he said, ‘Do not abide’, ‘to rest’ or ‘to dwell’. Thus, before they leave us, I pray you, for you know how we are to did anything else in the morning, the people encamp in the wilderness, and you will serve as looked out of their tent doors to see if the pillar eyes for us . .’” (Num. 10:31). of cloud was still low over the tabernacle. If so, It seems that Moses, anticipating the burden they knew they were staying at the present camp of again leading the daily march, longed for for another day, and could take their flocks and someone to assist with the uncertain calculations herds out to pasture. If, however, the cloud had that were inevitable over unfamiliar terrain. Jeth- risen into the air, it was time to pack up their ro declined the invitation, but in his place he tents, gather their livestock and wait for the call sent members of his tribe, the Kenites, who were to set out (9:18-23; 10:5,6). local experts and experienced desert dwellers These verses do not state that the cloud led off (Judg. 1:16; cf. 4:11). Judges 1:16 shows that Mo- the march, but that it rose up or came down at ses did not attach the Kenites, who were his either end of the day’s journey. However, later relatives by marriage, to his own tribe of Levi, passages confirm that one of the functions of the but rather he attached them to the tribe of Judah, cloudy pillar was to lead the people: “By a pillar who led the march (Num. 10:14), presumably to of cloud Thou didst lead them in the day” (Neh. help in that task. 9:12,19); “Who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents” (Deut.
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