So we're in Exodus chapter 13
and we're going to read from verse 17 down to the end of the
chapter. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh
had let the people go, that God led them not through the way
of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God
said, lest peradventure the people repent when they see war and
they return to Egypt. But God led the people about
through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. And the children
of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses
took the bones of Joseph with him. For he had straightly sworn
the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you, and
ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. And they took
their journey from Succoth and encamped at Etham. in the edge
of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them
by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them by the way and by night
in a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of
the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night from before
the people. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this reading from his word. This chapter speaks to us about
several things that we didn't actually read at the beginning
of the chapter. And we find there that the Lord,
as the children of Israel move out of Egypt and into the wilderness,
the Lord speaks to Moses about sanctifying or setting apart
or dedicating the firstborn males of men and animals to God. And the Lord laid that claim
to the firstborn because of the people's experience in Egypt
when the firstborn of the Egyptians had been slain. And that was,
of course, man and beast. And now in commemoration, in
memory of that and to continue to recognise what had happened
there, the Lord says that all first born males and animals
were to be his and the animals were to be sacrificed. So the
first animal that was born from the animal, the new mother if
you like, was to be sacrificed and all first born male children
were to be redeemed with money. Larger, unclean animals like
asses could be redeemed with a lamb and the Lord gave instruction
for a feast to be commemorated once every year for seven days
and that was called the Feast of Unleavened Bread and that
should be consumed for a week and there should be no leaven
in the houses or encampments of the people. And both of those
rituals which are spoken about in the earlier part of the chapter
were to be continued when the children of Israel came into
their promised land and they would remind the people of their
deliverance by God from captivity and slavery. And indeed, these
rituals, these rules would be in force until the time of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And it would mean that as well
as looking back to the deliverance from Egypt that had been so major,
so important in the experience of the people, it would also
be a call to look forward. Because as we have seen, there
are many pictures, there are many types of the coming Messiah
that the eye of faith can discern in the deliverance out of Egypt. Whether we're thinking about
God liberating the people from servitude, and we see parallels
between freedom from sin, or whether we think about the lamb
by which the male children were preserved in the house of the
Israelites by the shedding of its blood and its consuming or
being consumed, its consumption, then we're seeing the Lord Jesus
Christ in that picture. So there were pictures that they
Jewish people understood in looking backwards, but the people of
faith also discerned the Lord Jesus Christ looking forwards. And Jesus would come as the deliverer,
the Messiah, God's appointed deliverer. And he would rescue
and free his people from sin and from the curse of the law.
And he would redeem them from their slavery to their evil nature
and to Satan. So these are some of the things
that are prefigured in these ceremonies that are established
now amongst the children of Israel. And you may remember that Abraham
and Isaac and Jacob had been given promises by God of a country
that they would have for their own. They would possess it, and
this was to be their land. And so when God gave them promises
about a land that their descendants would enter into and possess,
that became known to them as the promised land. And God had
told Moses that he was going to come down, it's in Exodus
chapter 3 and verse 8, I am come down to deliver the children
of Israel out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them
up out of that land unto a good land and a large unto a land
flowing with milk and honey. So this was God's promise of
the land that he would give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and
to their descendants. Remember, Jacob's name was changed
to Israel. So these now are the children
of Israel and Jacob's descendants, Israel's descendants, the children
of Israel would possess this land. And God reinforced this
to Moses. And it's called a land that flows
with milk and honey. When I was a lot younger, I used
to think that that was a strange phrase to talk about a country.
And I always thought that it must be a little bit sticky in
a place like that. I think what it really means
is that it's a very fertile country and a very desirable country
and a country that would be blessed by God. And now, was the beginning
of this journey. So the Lord has brought the children
of Israel out from Egypt, he has brought them into the wilderness
and he is about to lead them to this land, this land which
was promised to them, this land that would be their own, this
land that flowed with milk and honey. and he would guide them. This would be the way that they
would travel. God would lead his people and
he would guide them by means of a cloud by day and a fiery
pillar by night. The cloud and the pillar would
be in the sky. And we see from this that all
that was happening to the children of Israel at this time was a
work of God. So it was God who had delivered
them, and it was God who was now going to lead them to their
promised land, their place of rest. And when the cloud moved,
the people moved. And when the cloud stood still,
the people made camp and waited. And we're also told that Moses
took the bones of Joseph with him after Joseph had made the
people promise to carry his bones up with them out of Egypt to
the promised land. There's a couple of interesting
things, little applications that I just want to draw your attention
to here. And the first one is the reference
that is made in verse 17 to the way that they didn't go. It might seem strange when we're
thinking about this journey that lies ahead to think about the
way that they didn't go. But verse 17 tells us that the
Lord did not lead the children of Israel by the way of the Philistines. And this is quite interesting
because if they had gone by the way of the Philistines. It was
a very short and easy journey. It probably would only have taken
a little bit over a week or two, a few weeks perhaps, to make
that journey along the coast into the land of Canaan. but that wasn't to be the way
that the Lord led them. Part of the reason for that was
that the country was filled with the people called the Philistines. They had five cities, they were
a warrior people, they were a fierce people and The Lord felt that
the children of Israel may be tempted by encountering these
people, they weren't prepared for battle, they weren't prepared
for war in any way, and that these Philistines would terrify
the children of Israel and they might think about returning back
to Egypt. So God, for the sake of the well-being
of the people and for their peace of mind, he led them by another
way. And he led them by a longer way,
which took them through a desert, a wilderness area. And this was
the beginning of their wilderness journey. It would take a lot
longer than, for various reasons, a lot longer than it needs to,
but we'll come to that another day. There were other reasons,
too, why the Lord took them by this wilderness direction. There were lessons that the Lord
was going to teach the people. He was going to bring them into
the wilderness in order that he would teach them about himself,
that he would teach them about themselves, He would show them
very many wonderful miracles. He would give them gifts and
evidences of His goodness. and he would destroy their enemies
and provide them with tools and weapons for their journey. So
there were lots of things that the Lord intended for his people
to learn in this wilderness experience. And sometimes we wonder why God
doesn't just take the church to heaven, why he doesn't just
take us home, especially when we're in trouble or especially
when we're tried. And we think, we have got a promised
land. Heaven lies before us, the city
of God. And heaven is a place of many
wonderful blessings, where those who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ
will live with their Saviour forever. And sometimes we think,
especially when we're in trouble, Why doesn't the Lord just take
us there? Why doesn't the Lord just finish
this world, all its hardship, all its sin, all its trouble,
and take us straight to the place that he has promised? Well, the
answer to that is similar to the answer with the children
of Israel. because the Lord is intent on teaching us about himself,
and teaching us about ourselves, and teaching us what it is to
have faith, what it is to trust in him, and what it is to find
him faithful and dependable through these trials of life, so that
these trials are actually for a purpose, And the Lord will
show us and give us blessings of himself during these experiences. So even although they feel hard,
and even although we wish that they were at an end, and even
although we were wishing that we were in the promised land,
the Lord says, no, I'm not going to lead you through the land
of the Philistines. We're going into the wilderness,
and there you will find me faithful. And another thing that we learn
is that the Lord led the people by a cloud. And this wasn't an
ordinary cloud, but it was a covering for the glory and the presence
of God himself. The Lord Jesus Christ traveled
with his people in the wilderness, and he was surrounded or covered,
his glory was covered by this cloud. It was a pillar, but as
we will see in the coming weeks, it was also a hiding place for
the people to protect them from their enemies. And that cloud
became an emblem of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ with
his people. The people would be able to look
at that cloud during the day or the fiery pillar by night
and they would be able to say, the Lord is with us because the
cloud is there and the fiery pillar is there and the glory
of God, the person of Christ is with us. And the children
of Israel were not able to look upon the glory of God directly. but they constantly believed
that God was with them by the presence of the cloud, leading
and guiding and protecting them when they saw the cloud and the
fiery pillar. And I think that that would be
very reassuring to them. Now, we don't see the Lord in
physical ways today, but we too believe by faith that the Lord
is with us. The Lord will lead us and guide
us and direct our paths and bring us to know and to love and to
trust him more day by day. And so just as the children of
Israel were reassured by the presence of the cloud and the
pillar of fire, so we find by faith the presence of the Lord
Jesus Christ with us, the promise of the presence of Christ with
us, assuring day by day. Can you imagine, though, what
the nations around about would have thought when the children
of Israel said that they were following a cloud? They might
have said, well, where are you going? And the children of Israel
would have said, well, we're not exactly sure we're following
that cloud. And they might have been mocked
by the people. And the people of this world,
they might think that we are a bit silly, a bit foolish for
following the Lord Jesus Christ. And they might say, well, we
can't see him. Where's the evidence? But then they have never been
liberated. by the Lord Jesus Christ. They
have never been delivered, they have never been preserved by
him. They don't know him so they can
never trust him. But we who have come to know
the Lord in his life, in his death and in his resurrection,
we have learned to trust the Lord Jesus Christ day by day. We learn to trust that he is
looking after us and he is keeping us safe. And we prove that to
be the case. We have a relationship with him,
we pray to him, we ask for his help and we find that help granted. And he is with us in our wilderness
experiences. We trust him to bring us to his
Father's house in heaven. and the pillar of cloud and fire
stayed with the people and the Lord dwelt with them. And that's
what we believe he does with us as well. When he moved, they
moved. When he stood still, they stood
still. So that is a fine example of
the trust that they placed in their Deliverer. And it's a good
picture for us to have and to see too. The Old Testament prophets
used to say, This is the way, walk ye in it. Ask for the old
paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall
find rest for your souls. The prophets, when they wrote
that, were pointing forward to the Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
I am the way. They were speaking about the
old paths because this gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ has
given us has always been the way of life for men and women
and boys and girls. If we have faith, it is faith
in this gospel, in this good news, in this person, Jesus Christ. And because Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today and forever, the old paths of faith are also
a new and living way for every generation. And here's quickly
just a third little application as well. Joseph's bones don't
remain in Egypt, but they are carried to Canaan by Moses. Joseph had ordered, you remember
Joseph, he was the one that had the dreams and was able to save
and preserve the land of Egypt in the years of fatness and leanness. Joseph had ordered that his bones
be taken up with the people when they left. And that was to remind
the people that their time in Egypt would come to an end. His
words to the people were these, God will surely visit you. The children of Israel waited
for many years and they suffered many hardships. but God's word
was true. God did visit his people with
mercy and grace and liberty and that's a promise to all the elect
of God and it's the basis of our trust and hope and confidence
in the Lord. A little prophecy at the end
of the Bible called Zephaniah and in chapter 2 verse 7 it says
The Lord their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity. He's not talking about Israel
in Egypt. He's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ coming as the Messiah. And that is what the Lord Jesus
Christ did when he came into the world. Luke chapter 1 verse
78 says, Through the tender mercy of our God, whereby the day spring
from on high hath visited us. He came to visit His people.
He came to turn away our captivity. He came to deliver us from sin. And this He did by standing in
our place, taking our sin, taking our guilt and punishment upon
Himself. And in time, God the Holy Spirit
speaks to all for whom Christ died by visiting us personally
by the hearing of the gospel and speaking that word to our
hearts. May the Lord give us ears to
hear the gospel. May he give us faith to trust
in what we hear and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And may
he give us patience to wait upon him. for the Lord their God shall
visit them. Amen.