May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we consider his word. Let's
turn to the book of Nehemiah, the ninth chapter, and we'll
read the twelfth verse. The book of Nehemiah, chapter
nine, and reading verse twelve. Moreover, thou lettest them in
the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a pillar of fire,
to give them light in the way wherein they should go. It is wonderful really to be
able to read in the Word of God the faithfulness of God, his
mercy toward his people, not dealing with them as their sins
deserve. And as we read statements like
this we should be encouraged ourselves, especially as perhaps
we look into our own hearts and our own lives and find that we
haven't perhaps walked as we should have done in our life.
Perhaps we've said those things which we should not have done
and thought those things which we should not have thought and
yet God hasn't forsaken us. Israel, as I'm sure we know and
as the Word of God tells us, disobeyed God again and again,
were rebellious against God again and again. And yet God's mercy
continued. God is, was and is a faithful
God. It's very good for us sometimes
to just consider how faithful God is and how he doesn't deal
with us as our sins deserve. And it's really wonderful to
be able to read such a chapter as this ninth chapter of Nehemiah,
which gives us a pricey of some of the things that God did to
ancient Israel. And when you think of the span
that it covers, because he mentions Abraham. He says, Thou art the
Lord, the God, who didst choose Abraham and broughtest him forth
out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham. Well, from then until the time
when this account was written was hundreds of years. It wasn't
just a short period. And God's promises to Abraham
and to Isaac and Jacob were fulfilled. And Israel, it was fulfilled. It was wonderful to think that
there they were, delivered from that time of famine. You remember,
there was that famine when Joseph was in charge of dishing out
all the food. And his brothers came, and then
he brought his father and Benjamin, and they all came. And they lived
in Egypt for many years, about 400 years. God was with them. But he had promised there would
be a deliverance. And so that deliverance came
to pass. And again, it's good to realize
how it came to pass. It came to pass through God's
servant Moses. And again, to trace God's hand
in that event is really very wonderful to think. There was
Moses, born and forbidden really to live by the laws of the land.
He should have been killed, but he wasn't. He was spared and
he was hid by his mother and most amazingly Pharaoh's daughter
came and found him in a little cradle in the rushes and took
him and said she would look after him and he would be brought up
as her son. And that was a remarkable deliverance
but it was all part of God's amazing plan because Moses was
then brought up in Pharaoh's household, and therefore he understood
how the royal house operated. He knew precisely what he could
do and what he couldn't do. And then, of course, Moses thought
the time would come when he would deliver Israel, but it wasn't
God's time. And he had to go and spend 40
years in the backside of the desert. He'd spent 40 years in
Pharaoh's palace. A long time, wasn't it? And so
there was 80 years of his life. He was relatively quite an old
man before God ordained that the time would come when he would
be the deliverer of the Israelites. And so it came to pass. And then of course, he led them
for 40 years in the wilderness. The life of Moses is really very
remarkable. And we see God's hand very clearly
upon him and very wonderfully upon him. And we should be very,
very thankful for that. Well, we have here then, many
years after that had occurred, when Israel had come into the
Promised Land, They had inherited that which God said they would,
and they conquered the surrounding lands, and of course they had
departed from God. They'd been carried away, captive,
into Babylon. The game which God had said they
would be, and they'd spent 70 years in Babylon. That wasn't
a very enjoyable and a very happy experience, but it was a place
that God had ordained. And so there they were then in
Babylon. But the time came when they would
be delivered. And God graciously fulfilled,
therefore, His promise. And again, we don't read it in
this chapter, but it's quite amazing how God in his wonderful
providence ordained that the king of Babylon instructed the
Israelites to return to their own land, to Jerusalem. And he
also agreed to provide all the materials necessary to rebuild
the temple. And it's good to read these accounts. Because what it proves to us
is this. God is in charge. And God appeared so wonderfully
for Israel throughout their history. And it's wonderful really to
follow it. We can still follow God's dealings
with his ancient people, Israel, today. Well, coming back then
to this 12th verse in this 9th chapter. We're told, moreover,
Thou ledst them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night
by a pillar of fire, to give them light in a way wherein they
should go. Now just think, they came out
of Egypt, they came across the Red Sea, and God gave them this
cloudy pillar during the day, and the pillar of fire by night.
and that was with them and directed them for the 40 years that they
travelled in the wilderness. until they came safely into Canaan. And of course, there was no need
for that to continue. God indeed was amazingly faithful. And if we just pause for a moment
and think how wonderful it was. First of all, the pillar of cloud. Well, that was very clear to
see, wasn't it, in the daytime. But it wasn't just there to see,
it was there to see, but also it gave the Israelites shelter.
from the heat of the sun. The heat of the sun, of course,
in the desert, where they were, was very strong. So it was a
great benefit to them. And then the pillar of fire,
which gave them light by night. So if God instructed them to
travel by day or by night, we're not told precisely when and how
that was, but they did travel principally by day, but sometimes,
no doubt, by night. And we're told, further on in
this chapter, in the 19th verse, Although they rebelled against
God, He didn't forsake them. And that should be a wonderful
comfort to you and me today because if
we're honest we do forsake God sometimes we do turn our back
upon God we don't do those things which we are commanded to do
and yet he tells us yet thou in thy manifold mercies just
ponder that for a moment manifold mercies that means many many
mercies which each one of us have received many mercies Yet
they are thy manifold mercies, forsookest them not in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud departed
not from them by day to lead them in the way, neither the
pillar of fire by night to show them light and the way wherein
they should go. And as they travelled those forty
years, sometimes it was a very short time Perhaps a couple of
days, sometimes it was months, sometimes it was years. They
didn't know when the cloud was going to move. But what occurred
when the cloud did move, they moved. They moved. And they followed that way which
God directed them. In the wilderness, of course,
there weren't any roads, there weren't any paths, They knew
they were going to Canaan. They didn't know how the journey
would go. But Almighty God, he led them. He led them. And they were brought,
as we all know, safely to Canaan at last. You and I should therefore
be encouraged that in our little lives today, God still leads
his people. He still leads us. He still directs
us in the way that we should go. God provided for Israel in
a remarkable way. He provided manna for their food. He provided water out of the
rock. Amazing deliverances. My friends,
God still today provides for his people. He still provides
us with food. He still provides us with drink. And it's because of his goodness
and his mercy. So as God led his ancient people,
which we know occurred very clearly, so God still leads his people
today. And we should be thankful to
know and to realize that we come before and worship the same almighty
God who tells us very clearly, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. What a mercy it is then that
we have such a God. So day by day, the children of
Israel were led. They left Egypt and God didn't
leave them until they came safely into Canaan. Forty years he was
patient with them. Forty years he led them. Forty years he provided for all
their needs. Wonderful, isn't it, to think
of that. And again, if you trace out,
you can trace it out in Exodus and Numbers, how they disobeyed
God on so many occasions and yet God didn't cast them off. He could have cast them all off.
They did suffer sometimes. They did have plagues come upon
them sometimes. because of their wickedness and
deceit and unbelief, but nevertheless God was kind and gracious and
mindful of them. Now then, the great blessing
is this. Just before they left Egypt,
you will remember that God very wonderfully instituted what we
refer to as the Passover. We refer to it as the Passover
because on that night when Israel were freed from Egypt, the angel
of God passed over the Israelites who were in their homes and gone
through the doorway and over the doorway was blood. Blood had been taken from a lamb
that was slain, and a lamb that was roast, and the lamb that
was partaken of by the Israelites. And the angel of God passed over
those houses. So every year the Israelites
were to remember God's amazing deliverance. And of course, it
was a figure. The Bible gives us many figures,
and that was a wonderful figure which directs us to the glorious
deliverance through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In that Passover, There was the
lamb taken, had to be as perfect as possible. It was killed and
the blood was taken from that animal and put on the doorposts
and the lintels. And that was the place of safety
if they passed under the blood. Well, Israel then were commanded
to keep this every year as a remembrance. of God's deliverance. The great
truth is there was no safety other than under the blood. Now, you may say, why were Israel
instructed to keep that year by year? Well, it was to remind
them of their natural deliverance, but also there was a wonderful
deeper significance. They were to be directed to their
spiritual deliverance. And of course, the Passover didn't
finish when they come into Canaan. You can trace it through the
Old Testament, right until the time of the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ, when on that night when he was betrayed, he partook
of the Passover for the last time. And he introduced what we refer
to today as the Lord's Supper. And the Lord's Supper replaces
the Passover. But both signify the shedding
of blood. and both signify death. So it's wonderful to think that
right down through all those many years Israel were able to
remember their natural deliverance and bless God if they were given
faith to see how their spiritual deliverance was dependent upon
the Saviour, the Messiah, coming to die for them. They didn't
know how it was to be. It was prophesied in the Old
Testament. But most of them were blind and
didn't realize what was happening. But it came to pass, God was
indeed faithful. So as we have here, God's faithfulness,
surely it leads us on. We have his faithfulness that
he was with them in that cloudy pillar, day after day, day after
day. And my friends, right through
time until now, We have the glorious figure set before us of the death
of the Saviour, the shed blood which takes away, washes away
all our sin. Without shedding of blood there
was no escape. without shedding a blood today,
there is no forgiveness. So what a wonderful blessing
it is when you and I think, and I hope sometimes we do, of the
history of Israel and realize that there in Egypt, the Passover
was instituted, Through the wilderness, they continued to keep it. God
was with them, directing them. He never left them, although
they deserved to be left. When they disobeyed God, he still
brought them safely at last into that land of Canaan. Of course, it typifies the journey
of a Christian passing through life and at last coming home
safe to heaven into glory. So it's a grand and glorious
picture that we have. It's wonderful today to consider
what the Lord gives to us in symbols and to realise how Glorious
it is that we have such a saviour who has not dealt with us as
our sins deserve because if he did we wouldn't be here today. But what a blessing it is if
God leads us and we see him leading us. Remember, of course, David,
when he wrote the 107th Psalm, he speaks very wonderfully about
this. And he tells us how God led them. He led them forth by the right
way that they might go to a city of habitation relevant to the
Israel of old, relevant to the Church of God today. And how
good it is if we have the evidence that God is leading us. God hasn't
left us just to roam on through this world in an aimless way. But he's led us in the right
way that does bring us to this city of habitation. And of course
the instruction was in this 107th Psalm, O that men would praise the Lord for his
goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men.
So it's good for us today to praise God for his goodness and
for his wonderful works to the children of men as we see God's
purposes being fulfilled around us but also very wonderfully
we see God's purposes being fulfilled in our own lives and realise
that God is leading us. He led Israel. They didn't deserve
to be led. He leads his people today. We
don't deserve to be led. And yet how kind and gracious
is God. How very merciful and faithful
is God. God is faithful. How we fail
so often, but how good it is to remember What we read in this
ninth chapter, how be it thou art just in all that is brought
upon us. All that God brings upon us,
like he brought on the Israelites, God does. For a divine purpose. To teach us. To instruct us. We don't just wander on. Sometimes
we may think God has forgotten us. God hasn't forgotten us. And don't forget, he led his
people and he still leads his people in the right way. We may sometimes think God may
have forgotten us. Perhaps Israel may have thought
that because we know they stayed sometimes for quite a long time
in one place. They didn't just wander around.
They stayed quite a long time in one place. But God was faithful
to them. God was merciful to them. And
how wonderful it is to realize that God still today is faithful
to us. He doesn't cast us off. And if you and I are honest,
it's sometimes worthwhile just sitting down and pondering our
life. If you and I ponder our life,
we'll find that we weren't such a grand and glorious and good
person We'll find that we've disobeyed God, that we've turned
our back upon God, that we've sinned against God. The result? God hasn't dealt with us, has
he? As our sins deserve. There are those occasions in
the Bible where people were cut off. Their life was taken because
they disobeyed God. My friends, God is just. in these
things, howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us.
For thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly." How does
that fit in with your life and my life? Do we have to confess
that we've done wickedly? If we're honest, we would have
to confess that we've done wickedly. And yet, God has still led us. God has still directed us. He's
still given us, as it were, a cloudy pillar in the day and a fiery
pillar at night. Whatever the situation that we
come into, there is still the direction of Almighty God. His mercies on you every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Do we echo that in our heart? Do we truly say that to our gracious God? The Bible
is full of his mercy. It's full of his compassion. And it's good, therefore, to
realize this. Israel didn't lack anything,
and we're told, Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them,
and withheldest not thy manner from their mouth, and gavest
them water for their thirst. Well, to think that God hasn't
taken his good spirit from us, because His mercy endures forever. We won't be able to stand and
say, well, I'm a very great person, and I've obeyed God, and I've
done everything right. It would be the contrary. We'd
have to say, we haven't done everything right. And yet God
is merciful to us. And let's just come back to that
picture that we have of the Passover. There was safety under the blood.
And my friends, there is still safety today under the blood. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all sin. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that
wonderful? To think that God, the Son of
God, the second person in the Godhead, shed his blood, gave
his life to take away our sin. Well it's very humbling and I
hope it's humbling to each one of us. We don't deserve it. We deserve to be cast off and
yet God was gracious to ancient Israel and he's still gracious
today to the true Israel of God. Do we not have to come and say,
what a God we have, how gracious, how merciful, how compassionate. He remembers that we are dust. Yes, God doesn't cast us off. What a mercy then to have that
realization that we have a God who is compassionate, And you
know we have the Passo which of course is beautifully set
before us in the Word of God and many times set before us
right until the Lord Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. But there
were many more pictures for Israel of old. Day and night as they
travelled through the wilderness they had been instructed with
regard to erecting the tabernacle And again, that's worthwhile
reading. The detail is given to us very clearly on a couple
of occasions in the Word of God. And to read it, how every detail
was laid down, and every detail was significant. And you may
say, why was it significant? Because every detail directed
the believer to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we can imagine,
can't we, going back to Israel of old, there in the wilderness.
And after that, there they had the tabernacle. And then of course
that was superseded eventually by the temple that Solomon built. But there was the same significance
in the items which it contained. And yet today, we are blessed
with a revelation of what those things mean. And it's revealed
to us In the New Testament, especially in the Hebrews, we have the explanation
of many of those signs which were there for Israel of old
to see. And what does it do? It directs
us to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Really, from Genesis
to Revelation, The Scriptures direct us to the Lord Jesus Christ. They direct us to his amazing
mercy. They direct us to his wonderful
love. They direct us to his great compassion. They direct us to the great truth
that he's gone to prepare a place in glory for his people. See what a great God we have
who's given us his word to direct us and to encourage us as we
journey on through life. And to think that it's true for
us today, as it was in these days when Nehemiah wrote, and
as he refers to Israel in the wilderness, thou, moreover thou
ledst them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a
pillar of fire. We may not see quite the same,
quite the same vivid picture that they had, But nonetheless,
God does still lead us and he still does direct us. And it's important for us to
recognize that and to search the Scriptures and to pray to
God that he will show us, and he will, the right way. My friends,
we live in a world, a difficult world, It's described, it was
described to Jacob of old, a waste howling wilderness. But we're
told with Jacob, he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him
as the apple of his eye. And that's a wonderful truth.
My friends, it's true to every believer to think if you and
I are a believer, God is leading us. He's directing us and he's
keeping us as the apple of His eye, we're precious to the Saviour. Why are we precious? Because
He died upon the cross at Calvary. He gave His life. He shed His
most precious blood in order to redeem our soul, to pay the
price for all our sins, not just one, for every sin. Oh, the cost, my friends, of
our salvation was so great You and I can never pay. We can never
pay. That was required. But the Lord
Jesus Christ did. Well, here we have then the evidence
of God going before them every day. They were reminded that
God was with them. So clear. Perhaps we don't have
the same clear picture today. but nonetheless it's true God
is still with his people he is still leading us he is still
directing us and that should be so humbling to think as we
as unworthy sinners have this great God who has never failed
to be with his people Never felt we might think, oh, everything's
against us. It's just how Jacob thought,
didn't he, in his life when his sons returned and said that they
got to take Benjamin with them next time if they went down to
Egypt to get some food. And Jacob said, all these things
are against me. But they weren't. All those things. We're working
together for Jacob's good and for his family's good. My friends,
we should realize that sometimes we're likely to complain. We're
likely to think, all these things are against me. Perhaps Israel
of old, day after day, wandering in the wilderness, are apt to
say, all these things are against us. But God was with him and
God is with his people today. And God was with Jacob, my friends,
in a most remarkable way. What a mercy to realize that
we have a God who is the same today. I am the Lord, I change
not. He is the same yesterday and
today and forever. And therefore, sometimes we may
feel cast down. We may feel alone. We may feel solitary. The 107th Psalm tells us, He
led them in a solitary way that they might go to a city of habitation. But the great blessing is that
even in a solitary way, to know that God is with us, day by day. as he was with Israel, day by
day, with a cloudy pillar and a pillar of fire by night. And
he's still with his people today. We don't always see it in the
same way, but he is with us. And what a mercy and what a blessing. So today I hope we can rejoice
in God's faithfulness, in God's grand and glorious truth. and to realise that God has a
perfect plan for you and me. And you and I are just little
insignificant people on this earth. And God does with us precisely
what he desires, what he sees fit. And sometimes we may think,
well, I don't understand the path that I'm being led in. Well,
we may not. But may we be able to say, by
faith, and he led them forth by the right way. What a mercy
then to have such a kind and such a gracious God. Well, let's
remember then this ninth chapter in Nehemiah. And sometimes it's
good just to strengthen our faith and to read such an account to
realize God's faithfulness to his ancient people over all those
many years. and his faithfulness has not
diminished. He is the same yesterday, today
and forever. And may we bless God for it.
And here is his word. Moreover, may it be so in your
life and my life. Moreover, thou, almighty God,
ledst them in the day by a cloudy pillar, and in the night by a
pillar of fire, to give them light in the way. And God does
give us light in the way. He shines upon our path, led
them forth by the right way, wherein they should go. Amen.