Key Verse: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in Darkness, but will have the light of life."
John 8:12
Again, we have already visited this theme earlier and in those earlier messages we described how Jesus, as the light, reveals God's truth and love and also how we are to reflect that truth and love, in our own lives, to the world around us. Today however, I wish to continue exploring how God demonstrated this concept in the wilderness, as a part of His sketch to Moses and then revealed it fully in Christ.
Here we see God not only as a light to reveal truth and love, but as a physical guide for life itself. The Children of Israel saw before them a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They could physically see that they were never away from His presence. This is what makes their sin even more amazing! They could see God's presence and yet complain about their circumstances. We are often fooled into thinking that if we could just see that God is always with us, our walk with Him would be so much easier. The Children of Israel, however, prove differently.
It's interesting how the light does two things. It is a valuable resource to those who draw near, but where it does not shine, the darkness can also appear even more extreme. The Children of Israel were comforted by the light. The army of Egypt was shrouded in utter darkness. Both reveal spiritual truth. "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him." (1 John 2:9-11) What a fitting description of the army of Egypt who, in anger and hatred, pursued the Hebrews and did not see the danger of the Red Sea, that ended up sweeping them away to their deaths.
By appearing as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, the Lord made it possible for the children of Israel to go when the Lord said, "GO," and rest when the Lord said the same. He made it possible for them to remain obedient no matter what the circumstances were, if they were willing. In the Old Testament the children of Israel were told to follow the pillar of light wherever it went in the wilderness. In the New Testament, Jesus who said “I am the light” also told his disciples, “Follow Me.” Jesus said that that is how we prove that we love Him, through obedience. (John 14:21)
He is the same with us today. We need to stay close to Him for our daily supplies of water and bread to live, but we must also remain close if we are to benefit from His guiding light. The closer we are to the light, the better we are able to see the details of life around us. The closer we are to the light, the more clearly we are able to discern the dangers and snares that could entangle us. Best of all, when we trust in Him, He places that guiding light within us through His Holy Spirit. Paul refers to us as clay pots with the treasure of God's light inside. (2 Cor. 4:7-12) He is our guiding Light around us and within us. We can add yellow to our portrait of Christ. Thanks be to God.
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