This week, I want to focus on Exodus again, specifically Chapter 13. After the plagues, when Pharaoh releases the Israelites and allows them to go, the Lord shows up to direct their path. Not only does He provide deliverance, but He provides direction as well. They are not left to figure out the way on their own.
First, let’s look at Exodus 13: 17-18:
17 And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt:
18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt.
I watched a documentary once about the parting of the Red sea. The documentary was attempting to provide a worldly explanation for this occurrence, pointing out how the Red sea would have been way out of the Israelites way, and it was most likely a smaller body of water they encountered. However, here we see the Lord has accounted for this. “God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near… But God led the people about, through the wilderness of the Red sea…”
The Lord does not always lead us in the easiest direction. Just because it is not easy, does not mean it is not right is a lesson the Lord has revealed to me over and over throughout the past few months, and what a beautiful depiction we find here in Exodus 13. I also find peace here, knowing He will always lead us in not only the right direction, but the best one- the one that maximizes His glory and goodness and touches the most souls.
Next, let’s look at Exodus 13: 21-22:
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:
22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.
By day, God directed them with a cloud, and by night, with fire. God never stopped leading them, though His direction looked different at different times. I believe it is too easy for us to put God in a box, expecting Him to continue directing and speaking to us in the same ways He has in the past, completely forgetting this same truth applies to our lives. God will not stop leading His people in the way they should go, but we have to stop fixating on past revelations to become open and aware of the infinite ways the Lord reveals Himself and speaks to us.
Have a great week!