I have felt much interest
in tracking out the history of that wonderful token of His presence which God
gave to His people of old-the strange, majestic Pillar of Fire and of Cloud. And
I think its study, undertaken reverently and prayerfully, can fail in neither interest
nor profit to us. Let us try to pictures ourselves the position of the people
of Israel on that memorable occasion when, set free from the bondage of
slavery, they stand on the borders of the great wilderness; a strange assembly,
truly-men, women and children, totally unaccustomed to the exercise of freedom
of action; freed, indeed, in body, but enslaved still by all that mental
bondage which physical slavery but too surely engenders. How shall they, these
grown-up children, find their untaught way, amid all the perils of a long
journey, how know the way through the mighty desert?
We might have
thought that the surest and best way would have been to give Moses, day by day,
the directions for the daily journey; but God’s thoughts are not as our
thoughts. Perhaps He foresaw that if the people saw no visible sigh of His
presence in their midst, they would, after a while, regard only human leader
and forget or ignore the Divine; or He may have felt that they would grow weary
and frightened during their long pilgrimage, and so sought to inspire them with
a sure confidence in the reality of the paradise they sought by giving them
supernatural, awe-inspiring guide.
Be this as it
may, we read in Ex. xiii:21, that when they set forth from Succoth the question
which had perhaps been secretly mooted among the more thoughtful of the people
over their camp-fires that eventful night, “Who will guide us through this
wilderness?” was suddenly and wonderfully answered, as (coming from whence?)
that wonder of the ages, the mighty cloudy pillar, reared itself before their
astonished eyes. Can we not picture to ourselves something of the effect which
its presence must have exercised over that frightened crowd, trembling yet
alike with the remembrance of the persecutor’s lash and the strange freedom of
the present? A God who could work such a marvel was surely a God they might
venture to trust; and as, during that first twilight, with the shades of
evening falling silently around them, wrapping all nature in its gloom, that
wondrous messenger slowly but surely sent forth rays of light, higher and yet
higher, till the whole heavens seemed one mass of glory, what a shout of
mingled joy, wonder and thanksgiving must have burst from the hearts and lips
of the redeemed people!
And now they
stand on the shores of the Red Sea; behind them the host of Pharaoh, on either
side the hills; who shall deliver them from certain destruction? See! With slow,
majestic motion, the cloudy pillar moves, and, barring no longer their passage
to the sea, takes its place like a guardian angel between them and their
deadlier foe.
Watch it through
that eventful night, as it sends forth to the terror stricken multitude in
front the bright, cheery rays of hope, lighting up what would be under ordinary
circumstance the valley of death, and on the rear bewildering with its dense
darkness the eagerly-pursuing army, which, terrified at length beyond all
bounds by what they fell instinctively to be a supernatural cloud, turn to flee
from the face of the God of Israel. Vainly! What wonder that the people shouted
with glad exultation, “Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods!”
It is not only
too sad a commentary on the fickleness of all human feelings that the next
mention we have of the Pillar of Fire should be in connection with the
murmuring of the chosen people (Ex. xvi: 10).
And now, the
tabernacle completed, its priests ready to commence their holy service, we once
more get a glimpse of the Pillar, the visible proof of God’s acceptance of
their work, as it takes its place over the ark of the covenant and fills the house
of God with its glory. Ex. xl:34-38.)
What a marvelous
journey it was that, for over forty years, that guide took through the desert! Can
we not picture to ourselves the figure of Moses, the man of God, standing
reverently before the tabernacle when the cloud began to move, and saying, “Rise
up, Lord.” – (Num x.:35.)
Picture the long
train of priests and people traveling on and no, till at length, be the time
long or short, once more that mighty leader paused upon its way, and beneath
its shadow once again rested the ark of the covenant while Moses, in the name
of and for the people of Israel, welcome it anew to its resting-place in their
Midst, by saying, “Return, Oh Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel.”
We read in Josh. Xviii:
I, that the long journey at last ended, the ark of God found its resting-place
in Shiloh, but to the overshadowing cloud we read nothing. Had it, its office
as guide bearing no longer necessary, returned, when they crossed the Jordan, to
the heavens from whence it came; or did it linger on amongst the rebellious and
sinful people until the consummated their folly by removing the ark finally
from its tabernacle, and then lost it amid the hosts of the Philistines?
Whichever of these views may be the correct one, we cannot help feeling a
lively sympathy with the joy of the people when, their gorgeous temple
completed, and their young king (type of a truer, nobler King of Peace)
standing in that temple “made with hands, which is a figure of the true,” as
the priests brought in the and the shout of praise and triumph at its presence,
together with music and the anthem, “For He is good, for His mercy endureth
forever,” went up accepted before the throne of God. The answer came once more
from a forgiving, loving God, and the pillar of cloud and glory, once again
descending, filled the house as of old in the far-off desert days it had filled
the tabernacle at Sinai. What wonder that Solomon, filled to overflowing with
joy, wonder, love and gratitude, as the glorious fact burst fully upon his mind
that the God of Israel had not only permitted him to build Him an house, but
had deigned so wonderfully and graciously to take possession of it, burst forth
into the triumphant exclamation, “The Lord hath said that He would dwell in the
thick darkness, but I have built an house of habitation for Thee, and a place
for Thy dwelling-peace forever,” and then turning toward the people and with
out-stretched hands prayed that wonderful prayer which has come down to us in the
sacred pages through these long centuries, an inspiration to all the praying
people of God. – (2 Chron. ci.)
We would fain
close here the history of this wondrous presence, fain leave it hovering over
the ark in the “kingdom of peace,” but, alas! We cannot. Only too soon the
clouds earth gather around that heavenly visitant and drive it form the earth.
Four hundred years roll by with their burden of sin and shame, and that once
gorgeous, beautiful temple lies, a ruin, trodden under foot by the enemies of
god, a sacrifice to the sin of its people. – (2 Chron. xxxvi: 18, 19.)
And what of the Pillar
of Cloud? Are we once more left in uncertainty to conjure its movements? Not
so. On this, its final (up to the present time) departure, we are permitted,
through the eyes of the inspired prophet, to behold it in its upward journey. Ezekiel,
grieving by the River Cheber over the sin and punishment of his people, beholds
once more in vision the cloud of Glory. – (Eze. i:4.)
A twelvemonth
passes, and, carried by the Spirit, he is ‘brought in the visions of God’ to
Jerusalem; he beholds the glory of God of Israel; there, also, he is shown the
exceeding iniquity of the people of Israel; and the reasons why the
manifestation of the presence of God must be withdrawn. – (Eze. viii.) Then he
beholds the glory in the inner court, as in the happy days it had been wont to
abide, and then slowly and lingeringly, as if loth to leave the house of God,
it passes out over the threshold of that temple forever. Forth from the
no forsaken, desolate city goes the cloud, pausing awhile (as if from there,
like tis Divine Master, long after, it would lament for the city) on the Mount
of Olives (Eze. xi:23), it finally rises, with majestic grandeur, and “mounted
up from the earth in my sight.” And if that were all, we should have to close
this brief sketch of the history of the Fiery Pillar in darkness and sadness;
but, thank God! This is not all-not forever has its glory departed,
though long centuries have elapsed since its departure and there is yet no sign
of its return, yet return it will, for in Ezekiel xliii:2, we learn that the
prophet, whilst beholding, wonderingly, that the temple which is set to be
built on the sacred hill of Zion, saw, coming back from the east, whither, so
long before, it had vanished, the Pillar of Glory again; once again in vision
the glory filled the house. And when that version shall become a blissful
reality, when the true Solomon sits on is throne, and God tabernacles with men,
then the song of triumph, endless and sublime, shall ring forth from the walls
of Zion, “Arise! Shine! For thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee.”
Apparently, the
Israelites, in their journey through the wilderness, saw no form within the
cloud; but from Ezekiel’s account of the form of the cherub (Ch. i:4), I cannot
help thinking it more than probable that the cloud was only the outer wrapper
(if I may so express myself) of that wonderful form, for we read that “The
Lord went before them to lead them” (Eze. xiii:21), “And the angel
of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed” (Ch. xiv:19); and again,
in verse 24, “The Lord looked into the host of the Egyptians through the
Pillar of Fire and Cloud.” It seems most likely, also, from Psalm
lxxviii:60,61, that it was when the ark was taken by the Philistines, on
account of the continued sin of the people, that the cherub of glory forsook
the tabernacle over which it had so long kept with; and Psalm lxxx:1, 2, 3,
also seems to bear reference to this same mighty leader. May we not rejoice in
the knowledge that, although now withdrawn form the midst of his ancient
people, whilst they are scattered and unknown, yet that once more in the days
to come, as of yore, “the angle of His presence” shall lead them; and may we
not gather, also, lessons of faith and courage for our own journey toward a
faith Canna, from the wondrous presence, so long continued, so unwillingly
withdrawn, of that mighty, supernatural guide, and believe, with glad and
reverent faith, that, though to our eyes appears no visible token of Jehovah’s
presence and guidance, yet that none the less truly for ourselves now, than the
people of old, may we take up the glad song of the inspired writer, “He led
them forth by a right way, that they might to into a city of habitation.”
Exeter, Eng.
***
David praised
God:
1st. For temporal
blessings.
2d. For spiritual
blessings.
3d. It was a growing
praise.
4th. It became a
continual praise.
David began by
praising God every morning; next, morning and evening; then three times a day,
and at length it became “All the day long with I praise Thee.”
