SOAP Journal – 26 January 2017 (Exodus 40:36-38)

Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

Exodus 40:36-38

The pillar of cloud/fire was a fixture in the camp of the Israelites until they reached the Promised Land. This was God’s guidepost for the Israelites. When the pillar lifted up, they struck camp; when it moved, they followed; when it stopped, they stopped and made camp until it lifted up again. Sometimes, the pillar would settle for a day. Sometimes the pillar would settle for weeks or months. All the while, the Israelites just marched along behind it. This pillar was a visual bit of guidance from God to a few million people.

Verse 34 tells me that the glory of the LORD came along with the cloud when it settled on the tabernacle. God was in this cloud/fire. This was not just a tool that God was using, it was a place where God Himself led the people around.

I find this personally meaningful because I am in a place where the pillar has been taken up in my own life. God has allowed circumstances such that my family and I must leave the place we have been for a while. It is now a question of where we will go. The Israelites did not know where the pillar was going, only that it had lifted up from the tabernacle and they needed to get ready to follow until it stopped again. My wife and I are trying to see where God leads. It is difficult. We have no literal pillar settling over the next place in which we should live. This we do have: Christ living in us. The glory only entered the tabernacle when the cloud settled. God promises to reside within believers. There is no pillar because God Himself is in me to guide. So we move and trust that when we find the place He wants us to settle — for however long He wants us to settle there — we will know.

Father, thank You for Your guidance. You have led us to green pastures; greener than we could ever have found ourselves. Thank You that You give us a better, if less visible, guidance by leading us from within. Please make sure that our eyes are open to see what You want us to and our ears open to hear Your voice so we can go where You want us to go and stop where You want us to stop.

(Isaiah 9:18)

For wickedness burns like a fire;

It consumes briars and thorns;

It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame

And they roll upward in a column of smoke.

Isaiah 9:18

Today, Christians marks what we call Good Friday. We term it thus for many reasons, but I will content myself with the one that is foremost in my mind, that what took place on this day all those years ago was done for he joy set before Jesus. The event remembered today was not a tragedy, but the pivotal event in Heaven’s eternal plan to redeem such as would be saved.

What has that to do with today’s verse? The cross and all of the events leading up to it — interrogation, torture, beatings, shame, abandonment — are the price of my sin; my wickedness. Isaiah writes that wickedness burns like a fire, consuming even briars and thorns. Wickedness is so thorough in its consumption of a life that it will even destroy the immaterial things; the unimportant things; the ancillary details. Not only will wickedness potentially destroy lives and relationships and jobs and trust and so many other important things, but it can take away good looks and poison hobbies and ruin things that are not nearly so important. Wickedness consumes like a fire and the smoke billows. If we would only look, we would see.

Today, this Good Friday, let me remember that wickedness is thorough; that it consumes the important along with the unimportant; that it was atoned for and washed away by the cross of Christ. That washing away makes today good. Let me remember that the cross of Christ was endured for the joy set before Him and that makes today good. It is Good Friday, for the flames of wickedness can be snuffed by the living water of God if only we douse ourselves in that flow.

The Will of God (Numbers 9:17-18)

Whenever the cloud was lifted from over the tent, afterward the sons of Israel would then set out; and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the sons of Israel would camp. At the command of the LORD the sons of Israel would set out, and at the command of the LORD they would camp; as long as the cloud settled over the tabernacle, they remained camped.

Numbers 9:17-18

The ninth chapter of Numbers goes on in this same fashion for a while, detailing just how attentive Israel was to whether or not the pillar of fire/cloud stayed put or moved. The pillar’s movement was regarded, rightly, as the command of the LORD.

Since it is unlikely that any pillars of fire or of cloud will be descending on anything in my life, the application rests in what the pillar’s movements symbolized: the command of God. Throughout The Bible, God gives commands to His children. Some of them are specifically to Israel while others are broadly applicable to all believers.The commands that are applicable to all believers fall into the category of “Am I being obedient to this?”. Jesus told His disciples that we would do as He commands if we love Him. Interesting that He didn’t cite fear as a motivator for obedience, but love. I’ll consider that at greater length some other time.

Great. God gives me commands in scripture. Woo! How does that parallel with the whole staying put until the pillar moves deal? There are two applications for that particular item this morning. The first applies to the general will of God while the second applies to the specific. The distinction between the general will of God and the specific is as simple as “The general applies to all believers everywhere ever while the specific applies to me and my life right here right now and potentially to no one else anywhere ever.”

With regard to the general will of God, I’ve noticed that God will sometimes bring me to a realization of what some part of His general will is — loving my neighbor, for example — and He will stay on that particular command for a long while. Sometimes, God brings me to a new understanding of what a command means and He has moved on the very next day. Sometimes He has moved on before lunch. Sometimes we —God and I — are camped on that principle for months. This is how the pillar applies to me with regard to the general will of God. He is going to conform me to Himself and some parts of that process will take more time than others. Some lessons will be more difficult to get through my thick skull. In the end, His goal is to make me like Christ in every way except His Godhood.

As far as the specific will of God goes, there are times when God brings me to a place in my life — my current dwelling, for example — and keeps me there for a period of time. Sometimes I’m aware of how long the visit is going to last — like a temporary teaching contract I entered into some four years ago. Other times I’ve no idea how long I’ll be staying put — back to the apartment example. These are specific aspects of His will for me and how long I will stay in each of these varies based on how long God wants me there. There are specific components — who I married, for example — that are a combination of God’s will (He gave pretty specific criteria for who believers should and should not marry) and my own will (I have a choice, after all), but these often come with a predefined period of time I’ll be spending there (the rest of my natural life, in the case of marriage). Other components — where I live, where I work, which church I fellowship in, and so on — of God’s specific will are not so definite in their time frame. I may work for my current employer until retirement or God may move me along to somewhere else. My family may fellowship at our current church until my daughter goes to college or God may move us along to some other place. The nature of God’s specific will is that it is specific. If I remain in place after the pillar has moved then I lack the guidance I need to keep moving along in God’s will. It’s challenging and I’ve missed the pillar’s movements (or lack thereof) more than once.

So, with regard to His general will, God will sometimes keep me learning a single lesson for a long while and sometimes He will move us along tout suite. With regard to God’s specific will, He will keep me in a specific place or circumstance until He is ready to move me along. Keeping me on a particular point of His general will is about bringing me into conformity with Christ. Keeping me in a particular aspect of His specific will is about fruitfulness. There are probably other reasons for each, but those are the reasons I’m able to get my mind around this morning.

The Pillar of Guidance and Presence

He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

Exodus 13:22

As I read this verse this morning, two things occurred to me.

First, the verse says that God did not withdraw His guidance or presence. So many times in walking with God, I find myself thinking that He is distant or that He isn’t giving me direction when in truth the proof of His presence and guidance is immediately evident if I would just look. He did not take away the pillar by day or by night, so Israel had proof of His presence and proof of His guidance. Even with obvious evidence that this was God’s handiwork, Israel still managed to complain about Moses bringing them out into the wilderness. Even with a very visible and present proof of God hanging with them, Israel still managed to be afraid when Pharaoh and his army showed up. For all those times when I somehow manage to think God is not providing guidance and all those times when I think the army is more frightening than the pillar of fire, I have a lot of company. In case it seems I’m reaching in thinking that God would extend the same sort of courtesy to me, a Christian, that He did to the nation of Israel I need only refer to Jesus’ promise that He will never leave me nor forsake me. The God who kept the pillar in front of Israel is the same God Who promises not to leave or forsake me.

Second, this verse does not say that Israel focused on the pillar. If they had focused on the pillar of cloud and fire then it is possible that they would not have panicked at Pharaoh’s appearance. If they had kept their eyes on the pillar’s presence and what that meant then they might not have blamed Moses and gotten all gripe-y and complain-y while traveling through the wilderness. If they had kept their eyes and minds on Who that pillar represented then they might have realized that God Himself was chilling with them and the whole “Golden Calf Incident” might not have happened. The same things are true for me. If I keep myself focused on Who is present with me then I am less likely to be intimidated by what’s stacked up against me. If I follow the guidance that is huge and kind of general in direction then God can fine tune my movements along the way.

That’s it for this morning. I need to keep my eyes on the evidences that God had given me of His presence and His guidance and He will not withdraw them.

 

Father, please forgive those times (numerous as they are) that I’ve taken my eyes off of You and the evidence that You’re with me and the guidance that You’ve provided and gotten intimidated by circumstance or overwhelmed by the expansiveness of the place You’re leading me through. Please strengthen me to keep my eyes where they ought to be: on You. Thank You for the promise that You will not withdraw guidance or the evidence of Your presence.