Exodus 13

Exodus 13:1-22

ISRAEL’S BONDAGE. MOSES AND THE EXODUSExo_1:1 to Exodus 15:21.DR. J. M. Gray’s five rules for Bible reading: “Read the Book”, “Read the Book Continuously”, “Read the Book Repeatedly”, “Read the Book Independently”, “Read the Book Prayerfully”, are all excellent; but the one upon which I would lay emphasis in this study of Exodus is the second of those rules, or, “Read the Book Continuously”. It is doubtful if there is any Book in the Bible which comes so nearly containing an outline, at least, of all revelation, as does the Book of Exodus.

There is scarcely a doctrine in the New Testament, or a truth in the Old, which may not be traced in fair delineation in these forty chapters.God speaks in this Book out of the burning bush. Sin, with its baneful effects, has a prominent place in its pages; and Salvation, for all them that trust in Him, with judgment for their opposers, is a conspicuous doctrine in this Old Testament document.

God, Sin, Salvation, and Judgment—these are great words! The Book that reveals each of them in fair outline is a great Book indeed, and its study will well repay the man of serious mind.Exodus is a Book of bold outlines also! Its author, like a certain school of modern painters, draws his picture quickly and with but few strokes, and yet the product of his work approaches perfection. How much of time and history is put into these three verses:“And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the Children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them” (Exodus 1:5-7).These three verses contain 215 years of time, and all the events that crowded into that period would, if they were recorded, fill volumes without end.

And, while there are instances of delineation in detail in the Book of Exodus, the greater part of the volume is given to the bolder outlines which sweep much history into single sentences.In looking into these fifteen chapters, I have been engaged with the question of such arrangement as would best meet the demands of memory, and thereby make the lesson of this hour a permanent article in our mental furniture. Possibly, to do that, we must seize upon a few of the greater subjects that characterize these chapters, and so phrase them as to provide mental promontories from which to survey the field of our present study.

Surely, The Bondage of Israel, The Rise of Moses, and the Exodus from Egypt, are such fundamentals.THE BONDAGE OF ISRAEL.The bondage of Israel, like her growth, requires but a few sentences for its expression.“Now, there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the Children of Israel are more and mightier than we; Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pit horn and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the Children of Israel.

And the Egyptians made the Children of Israel to serve with rigour: And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour” (Exodus 1:8-22).There are several features in Egypt’s conduct in effecting the bondage of Israel which characterize the conduct of all imperial nations.The bondage began with injustice. Israel was in Egypt by invitation.

When they came, Pharaoh welcomed them, and set apart for their use the fat of the land. The record is,“Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Raamses, as Pharaoh had commanded” (Genesis 47:11).There they flourished until a king arose which knew not Joseph. Then a tax was laid upon them; eventually taskmasters were set over them, and those who came in response to Pharaoh’s invitation, “Come unto me and I will give you the good of the, land of Egypt, and ye shall eat of the fat of the land”, were compelled by his successors to take the place of slaves. It seems as difficult for a nation as it is for an individual to refrain from the abuse of power. A writer says, “Revolution is caused by seeking to substitute expediency for justice,” and that is exactly what the King of Egypt and his confederates attempted in the instance of these Israelites. It would seem that the result of that endeavor ought to be a lesson to the times in which we live, and to the nations entrusted with power.

Injustice toward a supposedly weaker people is one of those offences against God which do not go unpunished, and its very practice always provokes a rebellion which converts a profitable people into powerful enemies.It ought never to be forgotten either that injustice easily leads to oppression. We may suppose the tax at first imposed upon this people was comparatively slight, and honorable Egyptians found for it a satisfactory excuse, hardly expecting that the time would ever come when the Israelites should be regarded “chattel-slaves”.

But “he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much”. It is doubtful if there is any wrong in man’s moral relations which blinds him so quickly and so effectually as the exercise of power against weakness.Joseph Parker, in speaking of the combat between Moses and the Egyptian, says, “Every honorable-minded man is a trustee of social justice and common fair play. We have nothing to do with the petty quarrels that fret society, but we certainly have to do with every controversy—social, imperial, or international—which violates human right and impairs the claims of Divine honor. We must all fight for the right. We feel safer by so much if we know there are amongst us men who will not be silent in the presence of wrong, and will lift up a testimony in the name of righteousness, though there be none to cheer them with one word of encouragement.”It is only a step from enslaving to slaughter. That step was speedily taken, for “Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river” (Exodus 1:22).

Unquestionably there is a two-fold thought in this fact. Primarily this, whom the tyrant cannot control to his profit, he will slay to his pleasure; and then, in its deeper and more spiritual significance, it is Satan’s effort to bring an end to the people of God.

The same serpent that effected the downfall of Adam and Eve whispered into Cain’s ear, “Murder Abel”; and into the ears of the Patriarchs, “Put Joseph out of the way”; and to Herod, “Throttle all the male children of the land”; and to the Pharisee and Roman soldier, “Crucify Jesus of Nazareth”. It remains for us of more modern times to learn that the slaughter of the weak may be accomplished in other ways than by the knife, the Nile, or the Cross. It was no worse to send a sword against a feeble people, than, for the sake of filthy lucre, to plant among them the accursed saloon. Benjamin Harrison, in a notable address before the Ecumenical Missionary Conference held in the City of New York years ago, said, “The men who, like Paul, have gone to heathen lands with the message, ‘We seek not yours but you,’ have been hindered by those who, coming after, have reversed the message. Rum and other corrupting agencies come in with our boasted civilization, and the feeble races wither before the breath of the white man’s vices.”Egypt sought to take away from Israel the physical life which Egypt feared; but God has forewarned us against a greater enemy when He said, “Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. * * Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him”. If in this hour of almost universal disturbance the sword cannot be sheathed, let us praise God that our Congress and Senate have removed the saloon—a slaughter-house from the midst of our soldiers, and our amended Constitution has swept it from the land.THE RISE OF MOSES.I do not know whether you have ever been impressed in studying this Book of Exodus with what is so evidently a Divine ordering of events.

It is when the slaughter is on that we expect the Saviour to come. And that God who sits beside the dying sparrow never overlooks the affliction of His people.

When an edict goes forth against them, then it is that He brings their deliverer to the birth; hence we read, “And there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of the house of Levi, and the woman conceived and bare a son” (Exodus 2:1-2),That is Moses; that is God’s man! It is no chance element that brings him to the kingdom at such a time as this. It is no mere happening that he is bred in Pharaoh’s house, and instructed by Jochebed. It is no accident that he is taught in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. It is all in perfect consequence of the fact that God is looking upon the Children of Israel, and is having respect unto them.Against Pharaoh’s injustice He sets Moses’ keen sense of right. When Moses sees an Egyptian slay an oppressed Israelite, he cannot withhold his hand.

And, when after forty years in the wilderness he comes back to behold afresh the affliction of his people, he “chooses to suffer with them rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” God never does a better thing for a nation than when He raises up in it such a man. We have heard a great deal of Socrates’ wisdom, but it is not in the science of philosophy alone that that ancient shines; for when Athens was governed by thirty tyrants, who one day summoned him to the Senate House, and ordered him to go with others named to seize Leon, a man of rank and fortune, whose life was to be sacrificed that these rulers might enjoy his estate, the great philosopher flatly refused, saying, “I will not willingly assist in an unjust act.” Thereupon Chericles sharply asked, “Dost thou think, Socrates, to talk in this high tone and not to suffer?” “Far from it,” replied the philosopher, “I expect to suffer a thousand ills, but none so great as to do unjustly.” That day Socrates was a statesman of the very sort that would have saved Athens had his ideas of righteousness obtained.Against Pharaoh’s oppression He sets Moses’ Divine appointment.

There were many times when Moses was tempted to falter, but God’s commission constrained his service. When Moses said, “Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh?” God answered, “Surely I will be with thee”. When Moses feared his own people who would not believe in his commission, God answered, “Thus shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel, I AM hath sent you”. When Moses feared that the Israelites would doubt his Divine appointment, God turned the rod in his hand into a worker of wonders. And, when Moses excused himself on the ground of “no eloquence”, God replied, “Go, and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say”. With any man, a conviction of Divine appointment is a power, but for him who would be a saviour of his fellows, it is an absolute essential.Pastor Stalker, speaking to the subject of a Divine call to the service of soul-winning, said, “Enthusiasm for humanity is a noble passion and sheds a beautiful glow over the first efforts of an unselfish life, but it is hardly stern enough for the uses of the world.

There come hours of despair when men seem hardly worth our devotion. * * Worse still is the sickening consciousness that we have but little to give; perhaps we have mistaken our vocation; it is a world out of joint, but were we born to put it right? This is where a sterner motive is needed than love for men.

Our retreating zeal requires to be rallied by the command of God. It is His work; these souls are His; He has committed them to our care, and at the judgment-seat He will demand an account of them. All Prophets and Apostles who have dealt with men for God have been driven on by this impulse which has recovered them in hours of weakness and enabled them to face the opposition of the world. * * This command came to Moses in the wilderness and drove him into public life in spite of strong resistance; and it bore him through the unparalleled trials of his subsequent career.” How many times he would have surrendered the battle and left his fellows to suffer under Pharaoh’s heels, but for the sound of that voice which Joan of Arc heard, saying to him as it said to her, “Go on! Go on!”Against Pharaoh’s slaughter God set up Moses as a Saviour. History has recorded the salvation of his people to many a man, who, either by his counsels in the time of peace or his valor in the time of war, has brought abiding victory. But where in annals, secular or sacred, can you find a philosopher who had such grave difficulties to deal with as Moses met in lifting his people from chattel slaves to a ruling nation?

And where so many enemies to be fought as Moses faced in his journey from the place of the Pyramids to Pisgah’s Heights?Titus Flaminius freed the Grecians from the bondage with which they had long been oppressed. When the herald proclaimed the Articles of Peace, and the Greeks understood perfectly what Flaminius had accomplished for them, they cried out for joy, “A Saviour! a Saviour!” till the Heavens rang with their acclamations.But Moses was worthy of greater honor because his was a more difficult deed.

I don’t know, but I suppose one reason why Moses’ name is coupled with that of the Lamb in the Oratorio of the Heavens, is because he saved Israel out of a bondage which was a mighty symbol of Satan’s power, and led them by a journey, which is the best type of the pilgrim’s wanderings in this world, and brought them at last to the borders of Canaan, which has always been regarded as representative of “the rest that remaineth for the people of God”.THE EXODUS FROM EGYPTinvolves some items of the deepest interest.The ten plagues prepare for it. The river is turned into blood; frogs literally cover the land; the dust is changed to lice; flies swarm until all the houses are filled; the beasts are smitten with murrain; boils and blains, hail, locusts and darkness do their worst, and the death of the first-born furnishes the climax of Egyptian affliction, and compels the haughty Pharaoh to bow in humility and grief before the will of the Most High God (chaps. 7-12).There is one feature of these plagues that ought never to be forgotten. Without exception, they spake in thunder tones against Egyptian idolatry. The Nile River had long been an object of their adoration. In a long poem dedicated to the Nile, these lines are found: “Oh, Nile, hymns are sung to thee on the harp,Offerings are made to thee: oxen are slain to thee;Great festivals are kept for thee;Fowls are sacrificed to thee.”But when the waters of that river were turned to blood, the Egyptians supposed Typhon, the God of Evil, with whom blood had always been associated, had conquered over their bountiful and beautiful Osiris—the name under which the Nile was worshiped.The second plague was no less a stroke at their hope of a resurrection, for a frog had long symbolized to them the subject of life coming out of death. The soil also they had worshiped, and now to see the dust of it turned suddenly into living pests, was to suffer under the very power from which they had hoped to receive greatest success. The flies that came in clouds were not all of one kind, but their countless myriads, according to the Hebrew word used, included winged pests of every sort, even the scarabaeus, or sacred beetle. Heretofore, it had been to them the emblem of the creative principle; but now God makes it the instrument of destruction instead. When the murrain came upon the beasts, the sacred cow and the sacred ox-Apis were humbled. And ~when the ashes from the furnace smote the skin of the Egyptians, they could not forget that they had often sprinkled ashes toward Heaven, believing that thus to throw the ashes of their sacrifices into the wind would be to avert evil from every part of the land whither they were blown.

Geikie says that the seventh plague brought these devout worshipers of false gods to see “that the waters, the earth and the air, the growth of the fields, the cattle, and even their own persons, all under the care of a host of divinities, were yet in succession smitten by a power against which these protectors were impotent. When the clouds of locusts had devoured the land, there remained another stroke to their idolatry more severe still, and that was to see the Sun, the supreme god of Egypt, veil his face and leave his worshipers in total darkness.

It is no wonder that Pharaoh then called to Moses and said, “Go ye, serve the Lord”; but it is an amazing thing that even yet his greed of gain goads him on to claim their flocks and their herds as an indemnity against the exodus of the people. There remained nothing, therefore, for God to do but lift His hand again, and lo, death succeeded darkness, and Pharaoh himself became the subject of suffering, and the greatest idol of the nation was humbled to the dust, for the king was the supreme object of worship.He is a foolish man who sets himself up to oppose the Almighty God. And that is a foolish people who think to afflict God’s faithful ones without feeling the mighty hand of that Father who never forgets His own.One day I was talking with a woman whose husband formerly followed the habit of gambling. By this means he had amassed considerable wealth, and when she was converted and desired to unite with the church, he employed every power to prevent it, and even denied her the privilege of church attendance. One morning he awoke to find that he was a defeated man; his money had fled in the night, and in the humiliation of his losses, he begged his wife’s pardon for ever having opposed her spirit of devotion. Since that time, though living in comparative poverty, she has been privileged to serve God as she pleased; and, as she said to me, finds in that service a daily joy such as she at one time feared she would never feel again.

God’s plagues are always preparing the way for an exodus on the part of God’s oppressed.The Passover interpreted this exodus. That greatest of all Jewish feasts stands as a memorial of Israel’s flight from Egypt as a symbol of God’s salvation for His own, and as an illustration of the saving power of the Blood of the Lamb.The opponents of the exodus perished.

Our study concludes with Israel’s Song of Deliverance, beginning, “The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation”, and concluding in the words of Miriam, “Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea”. See Exodus 15:1-21. Such will ever be the end of those who oppress God’s people and oppose the Divine will.When one studies the symbolism in all of this, and sees how Israel typifies God’s present-day people, and Moses, their deliverer, Jesus our Saviour, and defeated Pharaoh, the enemy of our souls, destined to be overthrown, he feels like joining in the same song of deliverance, changing the words only so far as to ascribe the greater praise to Him who gave His life a deliverance for all men; and with James Montgomery sing: “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed Great David’s greater SonWho, in the time appointed, His reign on earth begun.He comes to break oppression, To set the captive free,To take away transgression, And rule in equity.“He comes, with succor speedy, To those who suffer wrong;To help the poor and needy, And bid the weak be strong;To give them songs for sighing, Their darkness turn to light,Whose souls, condemned and dying. Were precious in His sight.”

Exodus 13:20-22

THE PILLAR OF CLOUD AND FIREExo_13:20-22.SECOND in interest to that study which sees in prophecy the “mold of history” is the consideration of the Old Testament types,—symbols of New Testament truths. That such types and symbols existed cannot be called into question without denying alike the teachings of Christ and of His Apostles, who not only saw these types and symbols, but set the seal of their approval upon them by their repeated employment to illustrate the Christ-thought. Paul speaks of the Law as “having a shadow of the good things to come”. He also says again that the tabernacle and its service was “a parable for the time then present”. Jesus also declared, “Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me”. The entire Epistle to the Hebrews is an argument for Christianity based upon the rites and ceremonies of the Book of Leviticus.I have often spoken of “the Gospel in Genesis”— it is there. “The Gospel according to Leviticus” is a phrase now commonly employed by the best students of the Book.

But the Gospel is in Exodus also —as surely as it is in John. To deny that there is a definite and Divinely appointed relation between these Old Testament types and symbols and the New Testament truths is to destroy the unity of the ages, and divorce today from yesterday.

There are people who object to our going back to these ancient types, for the well-sounding reason that the symbol is passed away, and the substance is now ours “in Christ Jesus.” “Why then stop to spend our time upon the outline when we have the finished product; before the imperfect representation—belonging to a past time—when we have a picture up-to-date, one more perfect and pleasing; before the blue-print when the building itself is ours? Such a question is not difficult to answer. A simple illustration will suffice: Once I found my small boys ransacking a dresser drawer in search of old pictures of their father. Some of these were tin-types and presented a youth whose appearance in no respect increased his pride, but they were of deep interest to them because they illustrated the growth of him with whose life their own is so intimately linked. Is not that the reason why every picture of God—the Father; and the Holy Spirit—our Instructor; of Jesus—our Saviour, is of interest to Christians—children of the King? And furthermore, it is a delight to the modern believer to see that God, in His infinite wisdom and great mercy, did not leave the Ancients without a revelation of Himself, a revelation of His Spirit and a revelation of His Son!

The symbols by which the Trinity is expressed are not only striking illustrations of the Divine character; but also gracious expressions of Divine love and care!I have chosen to present these symbols in the order of their appearance in the text, rather than the logical order of Father, Son and Spirit—typified.We deal first of all, therefore, with the symbol of the Spirit.The pillar of cloud and fire was for ancient Israel what the Holy Spirit is for the modern believer. The points of analogy are too many for the limits of a single discourse, but our time may suffice to make mention of five of these.

We choose to put them into the form of assertions concerning the operations of the Spirit—which assertions are illustrated by the pillar of cloud and fire.I. HE LEADS US TO LEAVE THE OLD LIFE.Did you ever think of the fact that the pillar of cloud and fire appeared at “the edge of the Wilderness”, and before the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea? Egypt is commonly accepted as the type of the soul in bondage to Satan—the Adversary; as a symbol of the unregenerate state. Are we to understand, therefore, that the Holy Spirit begins His work with men before they become Christians? Certainly ! Otherwise they would never become Christians at all.

There is a broadcast impression to the effect that sinners, of themselves, decide upon a better life, and seek the assistance of the Lord in their endeavor to lead the same. But such a thought is without the warrant of the Lord.

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot see the Kingdom of God”. As Israel could not have made her way out of Egypt without the guidance of the pillar of cloud and fire, so Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Wherefore I give you to understand * * that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 12:3).I heard John McNeil say something to this effect, “Ah, my friends, when I preach to you I am not alone, I have an efficient co-laborer, namely, the Holy Ghost. If my word only reaches your dull ears, His work quickens your dead hearts, and makes you alive to the truth as it is in Jesus, and leads us to His acceptance.” These words of John McNeil increase my confidence in preaching the Gospel; for, truly, the man who voices the great doctrines of the Scripture is a co-laborer with the Holy Spirit; and He never fails to do His work, and to do it well. Of Him Jesus said, “When He is come He will convince the world of sin. * * Of sin, because they believe not on Me”, And wherever one declares the Gospel of the Son of God, the Spirit is there to make the message effective.Nothing has ever come into my ministry that has brought me such a blessing as this thought that I am working with One who, though unseen, is yet so potent. One summer, in the mountains of Oregon, I went deer hunting. The man who took me carried me to the place of the game, put me down on “the run,” and he himself went into the mountains, hunted up the game, starting them from their beds of ease, and on the very way where I waited for the opportune moment to take it.

When the deer was brought in, my companions said that I had taken it. But that was only a poor and partial truth.

He did the greater part, though in the mountains, unseen of us, he quickened the game and chased it to the point of its shooting. When you hold a meeting and men are converted, in answer to the preaching, people say, “That minister has taken so many for Christ.” But, beloved, if that minister had to work alone he might watch for souls all his life long, and would be compelled to lie down in death, at last, without having taken a one. Think of how the incident in the eighth chapter of Acts illustrates this truth. One reading that Scripture would be tempted to praise Philip and say, “What an effective worker !” But you must not forget that Philip’s part in the Ethiopian’s salvation was slight. Already the Spirit of God had come upon that Ethiopian. Already the Spirit of God had led him to a study of the Scriptures.

Already the Spirit of God had quickened him into a sense of need; aye, had even started him right down the “run way” where Philip was stationed, watching for whatever souls might be sent him; and the Spirit was so careful in His work that He called Philip’s attention to this Ethiopian and said, “Go near and join thyself to this chariot”. Truly He is the One that leads men to leave the old life.

And if, while I am preaching, you do not find another voice than mine, one speaking to your heart, even the voice of the Holy Spirit, I shall not expect you to be saved.II. HE CHOOSES THE PATH FOR OUR FEET.How abundantly the pillar of cloud and fire illustrates this fact, “And the Lord went with them by day in the pillar of cloud to lead them, and by night in the pillar of fire to give them light; to go by day and night”. You will remember that later, it is written, “When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle the Children of Israel went onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up”.In the Book of Numbers we read, “When the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the Children of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud abode, there the Children of Israel pitched their tents” (Numbers 9:17). The Psalmist, referring to this very piece of history, writes, “Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters to stand as an heap.

In the daytime also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire” (Psalms 78:12-14). “The Lord alone did lead them”. What other leadership does one need?

What is your purpose, beloved? Would you like to know the truths of God’s Word? Then let the Spirit lead you into them. Jesus Himself said of the Spirit, “When He is come He will guide you into all truth”.We sometimes speak of the great Bible teachers of this country—men famed in this good work; but we forget the greatest of all Bible teachers, namely, the Holy Ghost. He alone has the power to “take of the things of Christ and show them unto us”. George Mueller in early life was a godless fellow. But eventually he yielded himself up fully to the Lord and sought the guidance of the Holy Ghost. Before that surrender was made he had three hundred books in his library; but no Bible.

But under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, he not only had a Bible, but studied it. He himself says of it, “Between July, 1829, and January, 1830, I had seen the leading truths connected with the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus; I had apprehended the all-sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures as our rule, and the Holy Spirit as our teacher; I had seen clearly the precious doctrines of the grace of God, about which I had been uninstructed for nearly four years after my conversion; and I had learned the heavenly calling of the Church of Christ, and the consequent position of the believer in this world.” Better one hour with the Holy Ghost for learning the Word than a hundred at the feet of the most famed of human teachers.And He who leads us into truth is also able to lead us into life, by divinely appointed paths. Such is according to the promises: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go” (Psalms 32:8), “In all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:6). “The Lord shall guide thee continually” (Isaiah 58:11). F. B. Meyer, quoting these passages of Scripture, says, “The references here seem to be to the wilderness wanderings; and the Master’s promises, to be to all faithful souls in their pilgrimage to the land of God, what the cloudy pillar was to the Children of Israel on their march to the land of promise. And these are but specimens; the vault of Scripture is inlaid with thousands such, that glisten in their measure, as the stars which guide the wanderer across the deep.”We sometimes sing the words of the poet Wells: “Holy Spirit, faithful Guide,Ever near the Christian’s side,Gently lead us by the hand,Pilgrims in a desert land;Weary souls for e’er rejoice,While they hear that sweetest voice,Whisp’ring softly, wanderer, come!Follow Me, I’ll guide thee home.“Ever present, truest Friend,Ever near Thine aid to lend,Leave us not to doubt and fear,Groping on in darkness drear.When the storms are raging sore,Hearts grow faint, and hopes give o’er—Whisper softly, wanderer, cornel Follow Me, I’ll guide thee home.“When our days of toil shall cease,Waiting still for sweet release,Nothing left but Heaven and prayer,Wondering if our names are there;Wading deep the dismal flood,Pleading naught but Jesus’ Blood,Whisper softly, wanderer, come!Follow Me, I’ll guide thee home.”This Old Testament pillar of cloud and fire was more than God’s provision for Israel; it was God’s pledge of leadership to all the faithful; and it is God’s proffer to any man who will shake off the chains of Egypt and repudiate the supremacy of Pharaoh, and walk in that way which the Holy Spirit illuminates by His own guiding presence. He will find it “the path of the just which shineth more and more unto the perfect day”.III. HE AND OUR ENEMIES.I like to look into this Book of Exodus and see how that same pillar of cloud and fire that appeared in the “edge of the wilderness” to lead them out of Egypt, also fought for them when occasion arose. It was at the Red Sea, when this people of God were enclosed by mountains on the one side, and the flood on the other, with the hosts of the Egyptians closing in for their slaughter, that we read “The angel of God which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these; so that the one came not near the other all the night”.At a later time, when these people forgot the goodness of God, and murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and gathered themselves against them, this same cloud, which had fought for Israel, appeared in behalf of Moses and Aaron, for the people “looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation; and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation”, and the Lord spake to Moses, and the Lord smote the rebels. “If God be for us who can be against us”?

Our victories, if such we win, are not to be by might nor by power, but by His Spirit.When Joan of Arc had practically finished her marvelous, her almost supernatural career; when she had given to France a king; and to her king, France, she confessed it was not by her might or power that this was done, but by the Spirit of the Lord. Kneeling before her anointed Sovereign, she said, of the battles fought, and the victories won, “Gracious King, now is fulfilled the pleasure of God.” The secret of Joan’s success was that she believed in this power of the Spirit as she went into battle.Ah, if more of us appreciated that power, fewer of us would be filled with cowardly fears, as we think upon the conflicts of the Christian life, or come face to face with its most dreaded foes.

The story is told that Frederick Douglas once made a mournful speech, in which he said, “The white man is against us! The government is against us! The spirit of the times is against us! I see no hope for the colored race. I am full of sadness.” Just then a colored woman sprang to her feet in the audience and said, “Frederick, is God dead?” That is my question to men who, for Christ’s sake, face enemies within and without; who have their own passions to battle with; who have a host of evil companions to meet; who have the insidious work of the devil himself to face: “Is God dead?” Is there no substance answering to this symbol of the cloud and fire? Is there no Holy Ghost who can accomplish as much for us as He wrought for Israel?

Is there not success in spite of Satan, for those who are Spirit-led? There is an old frontispiece in Wickliff’s first Bible which represents the Holy Scriptures by a bright flame.

Before this flame, and all about it, are assembled the enemies of the truth, with the devil at their head. They are attempting to blow it out. There are the bishop, the priests, the cardinals, and the Pope himself, all in line with the evil one, blowing and blowing until it seems as if they would burst. But the more they blow the brighter that fire blazes, until by and by they are scattered by its very consuming breath. Beloved, that is not only an illustration of truth in the abstract, but equally one of truth in the concrete, truth in character. The man who follows the leadings of the Spirit of God will find that no matter how great a multitude his enemies make, that over-shadowing presence is more than a match for them, and is able not only to part the waters that they may walk across the seas, dry-shod; but when they are passed by, it swings back and acts as a rearguard.IV.

HE BOTH AND US.The pillar of cloud and fire overshadowed the tents of Israel, and on occasion dwelt in the midst of them.“Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.“And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.“And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the Children of Israel went onward in all their journeys.“But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up.“For the cloud of the Lord was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the House of Israel, throughout all their journeys”.It was a shade against the burning sun; a grateful cover by day; at evening time its light broke forth so that if they journeyed, they walked in a plain path, by day and by night. When they rested it settled down over the tabernacle and dwelt in the midst of them.

Beautiful symbol, the shadowing presence of God—the Holy Spirit, and the fact that He indwells us. “Know ye not that ye are the temple of the Living God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you”? “I will put My spirit in you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments and do them”. “I will dwell in you and walk in you, and ye shall be My people”. Beloved, if God—the Father is upon His throne, remember that God—the Holy Ghost, is here, indwelling the tabernacle of His chosen—namely, the devoted hearts and lives. Therein is the secret of our strength. Therein is the hope of our success. Think of what this indwelling meant for Peter! Simon, the uncertain character;Simon, the cowardly disciple; Simon, the Apostle who turned early to profanity; who, in the face of an insignificant foe, denied his Lord, in less than sixty days is worthy his new name—the rock man.

In less than sixty days he faces the very crucifiers of Christ and charges them with having killed the Lord of life; and becomes fearless in the presence of councils; defies bonds, even death itself. What accomplished it?

How account for this change? Go into the report of Pentecost in the second chapter of Acts and you will see what wrought it. “It was not growth,” as some one has suggested; it was receiving the Holy Ghost—he came and indwelt this man, dominated his life, and lo, instantly, cowardice gives place to courage, profanity to marvelous preaching, denial of Christ to readiness to die for Him.I believe, beloved, that most of us are living on a low plane, and God has appointed for us larger things. If I were asked what is the greatest need of the Church now, I should answer, that she tarry in Jerusalem until she be endued with the promise of the Spirit. Surely Christ must have understood what would make for Christian character; surely Christ must have understood what would bring conquest; and when He was ready to ascend, and was speaking His last words, surely He would say then the all essential thing. What did He say? “And ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).Oh, silent Christians, afraid to testify for the Son of God, what is it that your life lacks but the indwelling Presence, of which this pillar of cloud and fire was a holy symbol?V. HE WILL LEAD UNTIL THE LORD HAS COME.By referring to Nehemiah 9:19 you will see that the pillar of cloud and fire “forsook them not in the wilderness”.

So long as they remained in the wilderness they were guided by it. This wilderness is a symbol of that life men lead in going from the bondage of sin to the land of fullness.

It represents the experience lying between. When at last these people came to the Jordan and crossed over, there the pillar of cloud and fire left them, and Joshua became their leader. Now, Joshua is only another name for Jesus. The dispensation of the Spirit lasts “until He come”. Hence the words of Ezekiel, the Prophet, “I will overturn, overturn, overturn, until He come whose right it is, and I will give it to Him”.Beloved, when you are discouraged; when your heart “is failing for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth”, don’t forget those things that are coming from Heaven, the Kingdom of God—and the Christ of God, “for in such an hour as ye think not, ye shall see the Son of Man, coming in a cloud, with power, and with great glory” (Luke 21:27). If it was the office of the pillar of cloud and fire to lead until Joshua was raised up to be the chief captain of the hosts—guiding to conquest of all Canaan; so it is the office of the Spirit to lead until Jesus descends again into the earth, to set up His throne there, to conquer every heart, to subdue all nations, and undertake that reign which shall be “from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth”.I shall not attempt, now, any picture of His beauty, when He shall stand on the earth a second time “without sin, unto salvation”.

Words would fail me if I thought to present the happiness that must characterize that age, when the world shall be ruled in righteousness! Who would fathom all the meaning of the Master’s language when He promises to true believers a part in that glorious hour?

The joys incident to Jesus’ reign will be the earnest of those of the eventual Heaven; and the beauties of the world, in that hour when “the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose”, will give us a hint, at least, of the splendors of the Celestial City—our eternal home. “Who would not go”With buoyant steps, to gain that blessed portal,Which opens to the land we long to know?Where shall be satisfied the souls immortal,Where we shall drop the wearying and the woe In resting so?“Ah, who would fear?”Since, sometimes through the distant pearly portal, Unclosing to some happy soul a near,We catch a gleam of glorious light immortal And strains of heavenly music faintly hear,Breathing good cheer!“Who would endure”To walk in doubt and darkness with misgiving,When He whose tender promises are sure—The Crucified, the Lord, the Ever-living—Keeps us those “mansions” evermore secure By waters pure?Oh, wondrous land!Fairer than all our spirit’s fairest dreaming:“Eye hath not seen”—no heart can understand The things prepared, the cloudless radiance streaming,How longingly we wait our Lord’s command—His opening hand!Oh, dear ones there!Whose voices, hushed, have left our pathway lonely,We come, ere long, your blessed home to share;We take the guiding Hand, we trust it only—Seeing, by faith, beyond this clouded air,That land so fair!When one, in bondage, contrasts his sad estate with that blessed one which “God hath prepared for them that love Him”, he feels keenly the imprisonment of the Adversary, and longs for his liberty. During the Indian mutiny, when the English were besieged in the city of Lucknow, and were well nigh dead at the hands of the human fiends surrounding them, a little Scotch lassie—worn and sick—was lying on the ground, and suddenly she started up, her face all aglow, and shouted, “Dinna ye hear them comin’? Dinna ye hear them cornin’?” The people could not understand, but she shouted again, “Dinna ye hear them cornin’?” A regiment of her Scotch countrymen were marching to the relief; and her quick ear caught the note of the bagpipe before another heard it, and her shouts of joy were the expression of the thought, “Now we will be made free!” Bondage in Egypt ought to come to an end, and will, where one accepts Christ, “whom the Lord hath anointed to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound”.