The Fire & The Cloud!!!
Deserts are dry, barren places where life is hard…and hard fought. They are places of great isolation. Those that live there, the plants, animals and humans alike must be tough, hardy and able to survive on little to sustain them.
When it comes to desert experiences in our lives, we often feel like we have been left in a place that seeks to destroy us. We have experiences in life that leave us physically, emotionally and spiritually dehydrated, famished and drained of all hope. In those moments we often sit there with tear streaked cheeks, waiting for the vultures and the predators of this world to devour us.
Then there are times when we successfully manage to navigate our way through such desert experiences, breathe a sigh of relief and position ourselves to move into the better future that we now believe we have coming towards us…then…then in a blink of an eye…we’re facing another desert experience, one that seems to be far worse and more far reaching than the previous one.
What are we to do in those times???
Whether you are a believer in Jesus Christ or not, you start by calling out to Him. Luke, writing in Acts 2:21, tells us of Peter repeating what the prophet Joel said “But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Everyone has this promise. Everyone experiencing struggles in their lives can call out to Jesus and ask for his help and intervention in that situation.
Jesus himself even has experience in the desert (aside from where he lived, and aside from the 40 days he spent in the wilderness).
For more on that we need to consider a few scriptures from both the Old and New Testament that will help us understand just how close Jesus gets to us during our most troubling times.
Firstly, Exodus 13:21-22 tells us that, “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”
All throughout the New Testament books and letters, the disciples and apostles spoke of, and referred to Jesus as “Lord”, because they understood that he was God, and part of the Godhead.
So, now we have a context to this scripture in Exodus. It is not only God that is represented by the pillars of fire and cloud - but it is in fact Jesus.
It was Jesus that led the Israelites through the desert wilderness. How can we confirm that?
Well you turn to the New Testament and see what is said there!!!
So, now we turn to Jude 5 says “Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.”
Firstly, this is the same Jude who is the brother (probably half-brother) of Jesus - so he knows some things about the situation right.
But he dives in deep when he states that it was Jesus who saved the Israelites out of Egypt…how?
By being the pillar of fire and of cloud.
Jesus also showed up and talked to Moses and Aaron in the tabernacle…Exodus 33:11 “Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting” - we know this is Jesus because a person cannot stand and look upon the face of God. So the fact that neither Moses or Aaron died the first time they did this, means that this is a pre-incarnate Jesus being present.
Now we have a framework of the presence of Jesus in times of great struggle, turmoil and lack. But how does that apply to us now…in an ear of time when Jesus is not physically present, nor does he appear in specific moments?
We go to Colossians 3:11 provides us with a wonderful promise “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilised, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.”
Christ lives in us, in the form of the Holy Spirit - John 14:26 “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”
So if Jesus lives in us, via the presence of the Holy Spirit - whose job is to guide us, be our advocate with God on our behalf, and to teach us about what we read in the word of God….. ?????
WELL THEN WE DON”T NEED PILLARS OF FIRE OR CLOUD!!!
Jesus is already here with us during our desert ordeal. He’ll get us through - each and every time. And if you have to go through more than one desert experience then God is preparing you for something mighty and you will fight your way into your promised land that Jesus leads you to.
All you need to do is focus on Jesus, and take each step as it comes…He’ll get you through it all.