Pillars of Cloud & Fire
Pillars of Cloud & Fire
"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud … and by night in a pillar of fire …" Exodus 13:21
When the Lord called his people Israel out of Egypt, He called them with the intent to guard them and to deliver them completely from the hand of Pharaoh. God's call was not something that was to happen just once on the night of the Passover; instead, it was a call that would continue from that day on. It was a call that would continue through forty years in the desert, through the defeat of the enemies of Israel, through the crossing of the Jordan, and through the settling in the Promised Land. The call was an eternal call.
When someone has an initial salvation experience, God's call to that new believer is an eternal call. God already has an eternal project, and every believer has a place in that project. It is by the Blood of Jesus that we enter this project, and it is by the continual pleading of the Blood of Jesus that we remain in this project. God has provided us a Helper, His Holy Spirit, to lead us in this project.
None of the Israelites, not even Moses, knew the path that would deliver them from the hand of Pharaoh. They did not know how long they would travel or how they would survive. In fact, the only thing they knew was that God was leading them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night toward the Promised Land.
In our lives, we travel toward the Promised Land – Eternity – with God as our leader. We do not know how long we will be traveling, because we do not know the day or the hour when He will rapture his faithful church. We do not know the things that God will speak tomorrow. The only thing we do know is that the living God is leading us, and that he is guiding us with his Holy Spirit day and night as we continually plead for the Blood of Jesus.
The operation of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the faithful is similar to the pillars of cloud and of fire that went before Israel.
During the day, the Lord went as a pillar of cloud before the Israelites. The day symbolizes trials in this world, where the sun beats down and scorches the earth. Jesus warned of this affliction and persecution that believers face in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:6). The pillar of cloud is like a shade to the faithful. When we pursue the Lord in our daily walks, when we plead for the Blood of Jesus every day, the Lord is as a cloud to us to shield us from the scorching affliction in this world. As the pillar of cloud, the Lord also conceals his faithful and protects our testimony. Speaking through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, He shields us from unpleasant interrogations or persecutions from those whose hearts are hardened toward God. He grants us discernment and wisdom so that we will not "throw pearls to pigs" (Matthew 7:6), and he conceals us so that we may seek him in secret (Matthew 6:18).
During the night, the Lord went as a pillar of fire before the Israelites. The night symbolizes the darkness of the world in which we live. The darkness is the sin and the evil in this world. Israel, though, was not in darkness – not during the Passover and not during the journey in the desert. God's faithful always have light, and this light is Jesus, the Light of the World (John 8:12). When we walk with the Lord, He is faithful to grant us this light, even though everything around us is darkness. This light is the light of the revelation. In God's project, there is revelation – gifts of the Holy Spirit and the revealed Word. God's faithful are illumined by the Light of the revelation, and the faithful believer never takes a step in darkness! As a pillar of fire, the Lord also does a work in each believer's heart. The pillar of fire is the refining fire that burns away iniquity from the believer's heart and sanctifies the believer.
God operates when his faithful plead for the Blood of Jesus. Only when we lead a life of pleading do we follow behind the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. God has provided this blessing – this secret of His Work – for us so that we may experience the shade and concealment of the cloud and the Light and sanctification of the fire. He desires for us to live everyday pleading and following the pillars of cloud and fire, because they lead the faithful on a path to the Promised Land – eternity with God.
