As the Lord guided the children of Israel, He did not lead them to take the short way. Instead, He led them to take a roundabout way, a way that may have seemed like a detour. We would expect the children of Israel to go straight through the land of the Philistines to the good land. However, 13:17 says, “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.” Because of the possibility of war with the Philistines, God did not lead the children of Israel along that way. As 13:20 indicates, “they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.”
According to the human mentality, the Lord’s leading of His people was strange and even foolish. If we had been God, we certainly would have led the people by another way, in order to avoid the possibility of pursuit by Pharaoh. God, however, led His people by the long way. As we shall see in a forthcoming message, this tempted Pharaoh to pursue them. God seemed to be mistaken in the way He led His people. Actually, the Lord’s leading is never mistaken. Whatever way God leads is right. He is never wrong.
Exodus 13:18 says, “But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea.” The Hebrew language here indicates that God turned the people around. By the pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud He led them in a roundabout way.
A number of times in my Christian life, God has led me in ways that I thought were mistaken. But I have come to worship the Lord for His leading. His leading is always right. From our human point of view, we may think that He should lead us a certain way. But if He had taken us that way, there would have been no lessons for us to learn. On the contrary, we may be in danger of returning to Egypt. Therefore, God leads us to take an indirect way, even a long detour. Because the children of Israel were led this way, eventually they had to wander in the wilderness for thirty-eight years. Much of this time they went around and around in circles. This is also the experience of many Christians today. They go around in circles, with no apparent progress. However, through this kind of traveling we learn important lessons, as the books of Numbers and Deuteronomy make clear. We may expect to be led in a straight way, but God instead leads us to take a roundabout way, a detour. He even causes us to cross the Red Sea and then to travel through a great and terrible wilderness.
In the past I read a book entitled Straight Paths for the Children of God. However, often there are no straight paths for God’s people. When we most expect God to take a straight way, He causes us to take a detour. Within the course of several years we may have a number of detours. However, by these detours we are helped, equipped, educated, trained, and disciplined. This is the reason God does not lead us along straight paths.
When I was young, I appreciated that book on straight paths for the children of God. But I no longer value it because, in my Christian experience, I have learned that the Lord often leads us through detours. Consider the journeying of the children of Israel in the wilderness. Did they take a straight path? No, their way was full of detours. However, they themselves did not choose to make these detours. They were led by the Lord’s presence in the cloud and in the fire.
Exodus 13:21 and 22 say, “And Jehovah 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: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people” (Heb.). The two pillars actually are one. When night comes, the cloud becomes the fire. But when day dawns, the fire becomes the cloud. Nevertheless, the fire and the cloud are one.
In typology, the cloud signifies the Spirit. As He reaches us, the Spirit of God is like a cloud. The fire here signifies the Word of God, which is a light to us. Hence, the instant, living guidance that God gives us comes either through the Spirit or the Word. When the sky is clear, He is the cloud. But when the sky is dark, He is the fire. When the Lord leads as a pillar of fire by night, the light from this pillar causes the night to become day. In this way the children of Israel could journey day and night.
In the Christian life there should be no difference between day and night. Actually, we Christians should not have any night in our life with the Lord. Instead, our night should turn into day. If we have a night that does not turn into day, we are defeated. Whenever we are in darkness and are sleeping, we experience a night in our life as Christians. But when we call on the name of the Lord, we are enlightened, and our night becomes day.
Both the cloud and the fire are symbols of God, for He is both the Spirit and the Word. Furthermore, the Word is also the Spirit (John 6:63; Eph. 6:17). The Lord, the Spirit, and the Word are one to lead us and guide us continually. When we are clear, God guides us through the Spirit. But when we are not clear, He guides us through the Word. As the Word is made clear to us, it becomes the Spirit in our experience.
Whether as the cloud or the fire, God’s guidance is always a pillar. In the Bible a pillar denotes strength. Hence, God’s guidance is strong; it stands upright and supports weight. By means of such definite guidance God led the children of Israel.
We need to thank the Lord for all the details presented in Exodus 13. Here we see substitution for sanctification, the day of memorial, and the beginning of a new life without sin. Here we also see the resurrection life in which we enjoy the Lord’s presence for guidance as the pillar of cloud and as the pillar of fire. Let us worship the Lord for His leading, even when He leads us, not in a straight way, but in a roundabout way. Praise Him for all the detours!