Exodus 13:21

_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:_ The Lord went before them - by a visible token of his presence, the Shechinah, in a majestic cloud (Psalms 78:14; Nehemiah 9:12; 1 Corinthians 10:1), called the angel of God (Exodus 14:19; Exodus 23:20; Psalms 99:6;...

21._And the Lord went before them. _Moses here proclaims another of God’s mercies, that, having redeemed His people, He was their constant leader and guide; as the Prophet also in the Psalms distinctly makes reference to both. (Psalms 77:15; and Psalms 78:14.) It was indeed a marvelous act of loving-kindness that, accommodating Himself to their ignorance, he familiarly presented Himself before their eyes. He might, indeed, have protected them in some other way from the heat of the sun, and directed them in the darkness of the night; but, in order that His power might be more manifest, He chose to add also His visible presence, to remove all room for doubt. But, although the words of Moses seem in some measure to include the Lord in the cloud, we must observe the sacramental mode of speaking, wherein God transfers His name t

21,22 The Lord went before them in a pillar, or appearance of the Divine Majesty. Christ was with the church in the wilderness, 1 Corinthians 10:9. Those whom God brings into a wilderness, he will not leave nor lose there, but will take care to lead them through it. It was great satisfaction to Moses and the pious Israelites, to be sure that they were under Divine guidance. Those who make the glory of God their end, and the word of God their rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be sure that the Lord goes before them, though they cannot see it with their eyes: we must now live by faith. When Israel marched, this pillar went before, and pointed out the place of encampment, as Divine Wisdom saw fit. It sheltered by day from the heat, and gave light by night. The Bible is a light to our feet, a lantern to our paths,...

Verse Exodus 13:21. _THE LORD WENT BEFORE THEM_] That by _the_ LORD here is meant the Lord Jesus, we have the authority of St. Paul to believe, 1 Corinthians 10:9: it was he whose Spirit they tempted in the wilderness, for it was he who led them through the desert to the promised rest. _PILLAR OF A CLOUD_] This _pillar_ or _column_, which appeared as a _cloud_ by day, and a _fire_ by night, was the symbol of the Divine presence. This was the _Shechinah_ or Divine dwelling place, and was the continual proof of the presence and protection of GOD. It was necessary that they should have a guide to direct them through the wilderness, even had they taken the most direct road; and how much more so when they took a _circuitous_ route

PILLAR OF CLOUD - The Lord Himself did for the Israelites by preternatural means that which armies were obliged to do for themselves by natural agents. The Persians and Greeks used fire and smoke as signals in their marches, and in a well-known papyrus, the commander of an Egyptian expedition is called “A flame in the darkness at the head of his soldiers.” By this sign then of the pillar of cloud, the Lord showed Himself as their leader and general Exodus 15:3, Exodus 15:6....

EXPOSITION THE PILLAR OF THE CLOUD AND OF FIRE. Having stated, in Exodus 13:17, that "God led the Israelites," and determined their route for them, the writer here proceeds to explain how this leading was accomplished. With extreme simplicity and directness he states, that the conduct was effected by means of an appearance, which in the daytime was like a column or pillar of smoke ascending from earth to heaven, and in the night was like a pillar of fire. He considers the presence of God to have been in the pillar, which moved in front of the host, and showed them the way that they were to go. When it halted, they halted when it advanced, they advanced. Their journeys being made as much in the night-time as in the day, on account of the intens

AND THE LORD WENT BEFORE THEM,.... Who is called the Angel of the Lord, Exodus 14:19, not a created but the uncreated Angel, the Angel of Jehovah's presence, in whom his name, nature, and perfections were, even the Word and Son of God, the Lord Christ, see 1 Corinthians 10:9 who went before the armies of Israel, as their King, Leader, and Commander: BY DAY IN A PILLAR OF A CLOUD, TO LEAD THEM THE WAY; through the Red sea, and the wilderness, at the edge of which they now were, which was untrodden, and trackless, and the way through it very difficult to find; and being a sandy desert, as soon as a path was made, it was immediately covered with sand, and to be seen no more: this cloud was not an ordinary one, but extraordinary, supernatural, and miraculous; in the superior part o

We are going to read once more the familiar story of how the Lord relieved his people from the power of Egypt after he had brought them out of the house of bondage. Exodus 13:21. _And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way: and by night in 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._ This exposition consisted of readings from Exodus 13:21; Exodus 14:1....

6. REDEMPTION BY POWER CHAPTER 13:17-22 From Succoth to Etham _ 1. God's leading (Exodus 13:17)_ 2. Joseph's bones carried away (Exodus 13:19) 3. The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire (Exodus 13:20) Jehovah now begins to lead His redeemed people forward. God chose their way for them, as He chooses the way for us. He was with His people, therefore He led them in His way. If His people are in His way He is with them and all is well. If we are not in His way He cannot be with us in the fullness of His power. What grace and tenderness is revealed in the fact that the Lord did not permit them to go through the land of the Philistines! They had to learn lessons in God's way, which the

EXODUS 13:21 F. J. The Guiding Pillar. Faith in the Divine guidance (_cf._ Exodus 13:17 * E) is by J expressed in symbolic form. On a wilderness journey everyone needs a guide. By night and day the unsleeping keeper of Israel leads them with His pillar of fiery cloud. E, who connects guidance with the angel of God (Exodus 14:19_ a_), also tells of a pillar of cloud (Exodus 33:9 f., etc.) which descends to the door of the sacred tent, as the sacramental sign and pledge of Yahweh's approach to speak with Moses. In P the fiery cloud that had shrouded Sinai, the mount of vision ...