Leading and following

DEVOTION

EXODUS

LEADING AND FOLLOWING

Ex 13:17-22

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He had said, "God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place."   20 After leaving Succoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 21 By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

NIV

If we ever had any doubt that God leads us where he desires us to be, this should put that doubt to rest. He knew the best route for them to travel in order to take them to the place he had promised them and it was not the shortest route. His thinking was that they were capable of waging such a war, but if they had come up against such resistance so soon after leaving they might think about going back into slavery under Pharaoh. We will soon find this to be true as the Israelites said as much as that when they were hemmed in between the pursing Pharaoh with his army and the Red Sea. So God lead them where he knew was the best way in order for, one their safety, and two, where he would get all the glory. He was always before them, leading them both by day and by night. It is evidence again of when he said,

Deut 31:5-6

 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

NIV

We also have this quoted to us in the New Testament by the writer of the letter to the Hebrews. However it does not include the portion about not being afraid or terrified. Instead it is associated with two conditions.

Heb 13:4-5

4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  

NIV

Staying true to our spouse and staying free of the love of money are two things we should be strong and have courage about because God will never forsake us. Now it could also be read in the sense that we are the bride of Christ. That we should keep ourselves pure for him, that we should not commit adultery with the world, that if we have an affair with the world, we are being sexually immoral. Yet the fact also speaks about our earthly marriages. He will always go before us leading us in the way we should go. He will always be our guide in life, taking us on the path to the Promised Land, eternity life in the new city of Jerusalem. He might not take us on the shortest path, but we can be assured he will take us on the best path. The point is we need to follow the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night. We should not be traveling the road of our own choice. As we know the Israelites did get put into a very tenuous situation between Pharaoh with his army with nothing but the Red Sea behind them, yet God provided for them. Although this is another lesson we should leave for that moment, it still goes along with this lesson. He will lead us, we need to follow where he leads. He will always be before us, he will not leave us to flail around in life all by ourselves. However it does require us to follow. All too often we might think we know better, or want what we want and want it now. But God has a better plan, the best path for us to walk, one for our own safety, in case the attack of Satan would discourage us, and two so that he will get all the glory. We have to always be giving him the glory for all that he does in us, for us and through us. We should not be taking any of the credit for our success at anything we do. We are merely following the path God has us on. We are simply doing what he has prepared us to do. Certainly the children of Israel were not able to take any of the credit for their escape from the army of Pharaoh. We cannot take any of the credit for our escape from the domain of Satan, it was all God’s doing. They did need to follow, to take the escape route, as we need to follow, taking hold of our escape route, Jesus. But the point again is he will always lead us to where he wants us to be, in both the physical and the spiritual. So we say, as he leads, we will follow.