THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S
Part 8
Exo. 14:19-31
Morning Meditation 11/10/16
Verses 19-21 say, “And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them: And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.”
The normal place for the “angel of God” was before the camp of Israel. The word “angel” translates “mal'ak” and means, “messenger, representative.” Strong, in his definition, also defines it as, “the theophanic angel.” God used angels to carry out His commands and give messages to His people. The term “theophanic” means “the appearance of God.” Here it would mean the appearance of God in angelic form. God identified with His people.
It is unbelievable to the unbeliever that the God who created the universe would actually come down and identify with His people. But it is true. Exodus 13:21 says, “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.” It is also true that the Lord identifies with His people in the New Testament. Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” The Holy Spirit, Who is God, lives, not before us in a cloud, but, in us as a Witness, Guide, and Comforter. Praise His holy Name! God identifies with His people. Our bodies are His temple.
Our text says, “And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them .. . .” The normal place for God is BEFORE His people. We need to behold and worship the Lord. David said in Psalm 27:8, “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.” God asked David to seek His face. David’s response is recorded here. God was before Israel so that they would constantly behold Him. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night was beautiful because it manifested the shekinah glory of God. Exodus 16:10 says, “And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.” Jesus is the glory of God manifested. Hebrews 1:2-3 says, “Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Then we have Hebrews 12:2 which says, “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith . . .” We, like Israel, need to see the manifest presence of the Lord with us. The normal place for God to place Himself is before His people.
Our text says He moved when the occasion required it. “And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them . . .” God protects His people. This is a lesson that is hard for some people to learn. God takes care of the enemy behind. Whether Satan, of whom Pharaoh is a type, or sin, which haunts the believer, if he has not discovered that we are to forget what God has forgotten. IT IS GOD WHO TAKES CARE OF WHAT IS BEHIND.
Then an amazing thing is said in verse 20: “And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these . . .” The cloud that is light for Israel was darkness to the Egyptians. The world is in darkness and the world will always remain there because it rejects the light of the world (John 8:12). The world operates by the five senses. God’s way is by faith. Faith is a non-meritorious sense of perception that God has given the human race to know Him (Rom. 12:3). The world will not change and it is impossible to please God without faith (Heb. 11:6). The reason they do not change is that they love darkness: John 3:19 says, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Pharaoh and the Egyptians loved their lifestyle and they had every intention as revealed in this passage to take Israel back as slaves to continue to enhance their ungodly idolatrous lifestyle. God had put Israel under the blood of the Passover lamb, led them into a trap, and used them as bait to attract Pharaoh. Pharaoh did exactly what God knew he would do. He was not made to do this by the LORD. All the LORD had to do was bait the trap. God knows what we will do by nature every time. God did not make our sinful nature. That is what was left after God moved out of Adam’s life at the point (the very day) Adam sinned. Total depravity is the total absence of God. If God is not in the life, man is helplessly enslaved. The sphere of his bondage is called in the Bible “the world, the flesh and the devil.” That is what depravity is. Pharaoh is without God in his life, and has chosen to be a god unto himself in total rejection of the true God, who has proven Himself to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians in miracles wrought and messages given. Pharaoh refuses to repent. And the man who refuses to repent is doomed along with the whole world system. There is no hope apart from grace and grace is not available to the unrepentant. Jesus said, “ . . . for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matt. 9:13). Repentance is acknowledging the righteous judgment of God against us, and also acknowledging faith in Christ as God’s way to save us as an act of mercy and grace. The repentant sinner does not ask for justice but for mercy.
But what was darkness to the Egyptians was light to the people of God. We have learned that the five senses cannot be trusted. There is another SENSE that controls the believer.. It is faith. This is not new. Genesis 15:6 says, “And he (Abraham) believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” God spoke and Abraham believed. It is as simple as that. But what is light to us, is darkness to the Adamic man. Paul says, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man” (1 Cor. 2:14-15). This verse describes precisely what the cloud that is standing between Egypt and Israel is teaching. It is impossible for either to cross this line without inviting the judgment of God. It is as wrong for the believer to go on the world’s system of understanding as it is impossible for the world to attempt to understand the things of God by their senses of perception. Pharaoh feared the LORD enough to keep his distance. Israel feared the LORD enough the keep its distance. However, there was no desire for Israel to cross the line between Egypt and themselves. They were very relieved that they could not even see Pharaoh! And they were right at least on this occasion.
Do you know what this means? I am about to tell you something that will offend carnal Christians and the world.. The most unlettered Christian who is walking by faith knows more than the most educated man in the world, OR, the Christian who is walking after the flesh (Rom. 8). Psalm 119:99 says, “I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.” This is a verse for the young Christian going into a grade school science class. He is taught there that the earth is billions of years old. He says to his teacher, “The Bible says that God created the heaven and the earth in Genesis 1:1. And the evidence shows that the earth is much younger than you say.” His science teacher gives him that frustrated look and says, “We do not allow religion to enter our class room.” (This is a classic cop out to avoid further confrontation of her non-science). She turns and walks away feeling embarrassed and a little sorry that this kid who has a Christian for a parent, that he must spend his life in ignorance of the true origin of the universe as she is teaching it. How can you keep religion out of the class room when God is the Creator? If they think the Christian is stupid for rejecting their so-called science, why should they feel bad about us for thinking they are stupid for rejection the Bible. You see there is a CLOUD BETWEEN US. It is dark on one side and light on the other. I am on the LIGHT side. How about you?
May God bless these world to our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
