And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
All the fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and by that shared passage through both they were baptized unto Moses. That baptism joined them to Moses as their acknowledged visible God-appointed leader in allegiance and identification with the redeemed people, while Christ Himself enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and fire was their true invisible Leader guiding when to move and when to camp. The cloud was God's protecting presence giving direction by day and light and assurance by night, and the sea was the Red Sea where a dry passage was made for Israel while the Egyptians attempting the same way were drowned. All shared the same spiritual privileges, all eating the same spiritual meat and drinking the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, which was Christ, yet with many God was not well pleased and they were overthrown in the wilderness through unbelief, murmuring and lust. These things happened for examples and are written for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, warning present believers not to lust after evil things, commit idolatry and fornication, tempt Christ, or murmur, lest he that thinketh he standeth fall.
Exodus Event and Meaning
All were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and by that shared passage all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual meat and all drank the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. Their shared experience marked their commitment to Moses as their leader, but it did not protect them from the consequences of unbelief and disobedience. With many of them God was not well pleased and they were overthrown in the wilderness, and these things were examples to the intent that Christians should not lust after evil things as they lusted, nor be idolaters, nor commit fornication, nor tempt Christ, nor murmur. All these things happened for ensamples and are written for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, so that he that thinketh he standeth must take heed lest he fall.
That baptism through the sea and under the cloud was a baptism into allegiance to Moses as leader. It placed the children of Israel under Moses' guidance as the acknowledged, visible leader of God's chosen people, the signs God gave to Moses establishing his leadership. The people were joined to Moses as their God-appointed leader while God delivered and guided them. Moses was their visible leader, while Christ led and guided them in the cloud and fire. This baptism identified them with the people God had redeemed from Egypt and brought to Himself, marking their identification with and allegiance to him as their leader.
They were all enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by the power of the invisible Presence, which was God's protection. The cloud that covered them on their journey signified the presence of the only-begotten Son of God, with Christ enshrouded in it, who guarded and helped them despite murmuring and rebellion. By day the cloud directed their journeyings and spread as a canopy above the host, protecting from burning heat and giving coolness, moisture and grateful refreshment in the parched, thirsty desert. By night it became a pillar of fire illuminating their encampment and constantly assuring them of the divine presence.
The sea was the Red Sea, through which Christ made a dry passage. God miraculously led the Hebrews out of Egypt under the protection of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and safely conducted them through the Red Sea while the Egyptians trying to cross in the same way were all drowned. Not one who entered the Red Sea was saved, for God in awful grandeur delivered Israel from the pursuing Egyptian host. By these acts God acknowledged Israel as His church, in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to deliver Israel from slavery after desolating the fertile land of Egypt.
The deliverance through the Red Sea and the cloud began their wilderness journey under God's guidance, from bondage toward Canaan, from Succoth to Etham and onward. After four hundred years as bondmen under the discipline of force, being set free from slavery and joined to Moses meant being chosen by the Lord for Himself. God sent His people into Egypt and kept them there until His appointed time for bringing them out, then delivered them with a wonderful display of power. They came out as a vast multitude of more than a million people under His direct rule and guidance as His family, with Moses and Aaron only the visible leaders acting under Christ, their unseen leader and teacher and living Redeemer who showed His power over nature and over those who oppressed them.
Christ Present as Leader
The angel appointed to conduct Israel through the wilderness to Canaan was Christ Himself, the Son of God, who was with Moses and Joshua and gave Moses His special directions to give to Israel. That wilderness journey was guided by Christ as the angel who went before the people and led them on their way. Satan boasted that Christ would not be able to resist his power and carry out God's purpose to bring His favored chosen people into Canaan. Through gratification of appetite and indulgence of lustful appetite and corrupt passions Satan overthrew the Israelites, so that nearly all who left Egypt died in the wilderness.
Christ, one with the Father and Commander of the heavenly hosts, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and of fire, was the true, invisible, infinite Leader through all the wanderings for forty years. The cloud guided the people when to camp and when to move, while He kept them separate from idolatrous nations and taught them His law. Moses and Aaron were only the visible leaders acting under Him, for Moses could not have guided the people of himself but was strengthened by knowing that God was their Leader and that he was acting under Him, with evidence given that Moses indeed talked with God. The encampment He led numbered more than a million people under His direct rule as His family, and Christ pledged Himself to lead them safely to the promised land if they would follow His guidance. Had Israel obeyed the directions given through Moses and kept that evidence in mind, not one who started from Egypt would have fallen prey to disease or death in the wilderness, for they were under a safe guide and the Lord preserved them from all harm. To them He gave special direction that every youth should learn a trade and gain a knowledge of practical life, that he might be self-supporting.
From within the cloudy pillar Christ spoke to Israel for their good and communicated God's will and purpose through Moses. He gave them instruction through Moses to separate them from everything that would interfere with His purposes for them, giving commands, statutes, laws and judgments and requiring obedience so they might be His denominated people. He constantly set the requirements of God before them, commanding them to learn and keep and do His statutes and judgments, including to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord and sanctify it by resting from all work. Israel received God's heavenly laws and instruction, and the people were to learn and teach God's purposes, yet they did not heed His voice and their unbelief and refusal to receive the message with faith and put it into practice brought guilt upon them.
It was through Christ alone that the Hebrews were favored with the continual special blessings they received notwithstanding their sinful murmurings and rebellion. The cloud that covered them on their journey signified the presence of the only-begotten Son of God, who guarded and helped them despite their murmuring and rebellion. Being baptized unto Moses in the cloud means Israel was led through all their wanderings by Christ Himself in the pillar of cloud and of fire, where the cloud held a present Saviour, not only types pointing to a Saviour to come, who gave commands to Moses for the people and was set before them as the only channel of blessing. As their leader and teacher He miraculously provided water from the rock and manna when they were thirsty and hungry, bestowing the bounties of heaven upon the church in the wilderness. All ate the same spiritual meat and all drank the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ, whom Christ afterward declared Himself to be, with Himself as that Rock and that living water.
Moses was only the administrator of the law of God while Christ Jesus Himself, enshrouded in the pillowy cloud, was the true Leader of Israel in the cloud and in the sea and the originator and foundation of all the Jewish ceremonies. Therefore the Old and New Testament Scriptures do not contradict each other, for true religion under the former dispensation was just as essential and thorough and full in its requirements as under the gospel dispensation when Christ became the minister of the better covenant, with type meeting antitype in the death of Jesus Christ. Christ led and taught the people for forty years through the pillar of cloud, giving them the same truths He later taught in human form, yet the people did not recognize Him when He came to the world as their heaven-sent Teacher. He was the way by which patriarchs and prophets were saved, and to pour contempt upon that old way is to pour contempt upon Christ Himself. There was plenty of light in that old way to lead every soul to the abodes of bliss, proving the patriarchal and prophetic age was not Christless, and its record is kept to make us wise unto salvation by showing the virtues of holy men to imitate and the errors and mistakes of good men to avoid. He was interested in every one of them, and Moses was strengthened by knowing God was their Leader.
Privilege Without Faithfulness
All shared the same spiritual privileges in that baptism, for all ate the same spiritual meat and all drank the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. That provision came through Christ alone, notwithstanding their sinful murmurings and rebellion, and He afterward declared Himself to be that Rock and that living water. Their common passage under the cloud and through the sea belonged together with that eating and drinking as one united experience of favor under the leading of the angel appointed to conduct them to Canaan, who was Christ Himself giving Moses His special directions for Israel.
That shared commitment to Moses as leader and that baptism into allegiance to him did not protect them from the consequences of unbelief and disobedience. With many of them God was not well pleased, and they were overthrown in the wilderness. Through gratification of appetite Satan overthrew them, so that nearly all who left Egypt died there. Their history of shared spiritual provision ending in overthrow stands as a warning to God's people in the last days against unbelief and rebellion and against repeating their failures.
They fell through unbelief and disobedience, growing rebellious and murmuring against Moses and Aaron for bringing them out of Egypt. Satan overthrew them through gratification of appetite, through indulgence of lustful appetite and corrupt passions. Instead of thankfulness for the wonderful ways the Lord wrought to deliver them from Egyptian bondage and lead them to the promised land, they sought to exalt themselves and did not appreciate the work of their divine Leader in their behalf. By rejecting God's word and their unseen Leader, who delivered them and gave Moses the instruction to be repeated to them while Moses and Aaron were only the visible leaders, they brought ruin on themselves and Jerusalem.
Disobedience brings sure retributive punishment, while those who were obedient were sustained and strengthened by God. Those whom Christ led through the wilderness later rebelled by refusing to enter the promised land, then going to battle against the Lord's direction, and they were defeated. As a nation the Jews in the test refused to receive Christ, rejecting their only Hope and only Salvation, and God rejected them. The mighty miracles wrought in their favor together with their murmurings, rebellious discontent, idolatry, ingratitude and punishment are recorded for the benefit of God's people as a warning to avoid unbelief and escape wrath, to avoid the evils recorded and imitate only righteousness.
Had Israel obeyed the directions given through Moses, not one who started from Egypt would have fallen prey to disease or death in the wilderness, for they were under a safe guide and the Lord preserved them from all harm. If they had remained loyal to His words spoken by Christ from within the pillar of cloud where He was enshrouded, He would have made them victorious over their enemies. Faith in those words would have led to a very different history and a very different record, but their lack of faith gave them a checkered, troubled history. If those teachings and commandments given from the cloud had been obeyed, the Jewish nation would have stood forth to glorify God above every nation and people on earth, and Jerusalem need not have been destroyed, but they disregarded the commandments while professing to regard them.
Warning for Last Days
These things happened as examples and are written as admonition for those upon whom the ends of the world are come, and all the past history of God's people is to be studied today so that present believers may benefit from the experiences recorded. That history is Christian evidence found in the Bible, bringing testimony from age to age to the unchangeableness of the truth, with no ancient defense of the Word worn out by time and no part of the Bible dead from old age. It is to be reviewed with humble heart and teachable spirit, especially with Psalm 105 and Psalm 106 read often, because the lessons of warning are what the people of God in these last days especially need. The record of God's dealings with the wanderers in their marchings, their exposure to hunger, thirst and weariness, and His striking manifestations of power for their relief was chronicled for the benefit of the Israel of God till the close of time. Faithful narration of both virtues and iniquities was required by justice for the instruction of all who read, for if the iniquities had been omitted the history would fail to teach the lesson God intended.
The intent of the warning is that believers should not lust after evil things as they lusted, nor be idolaters as when they sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play, nor commit fornication, nor tempt Christ, nor murmur. The favor shown in leading Israel out under the cloud and through the sea is joined to the judgments that followed transgression, to enjoin heed to the lesson and to leave no excuse for turning away from the counsels of the Spirit while knowing the warnings and God's past dealings. Even those who become boastful and self-confident and neglect to watch and pray are warned lest they fall into grievous sin and wrath, while trusting that God is faithful to make a way of escape from temptation. Genuine conversion, humbling of heart and correction of ways are required to retain acceptable service to Christ, for even he that thinks he stands must take heed lest he fall.
Satan's snares laid for the children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan are laid just as truly now, and that history is being repeated. The repetition appears in lightness, vanity, love of ease and pleasure, selfishness, impurity, lack of holiness and power, and self-exaltation and efforts for self-exaltation among ministers. The time calls for men firm and fearless in declaring the whole counsel of God, who will not sleep as do others but watch and be sober, seeing themselves as weak and inefficient and unlike their Master. The forty years of travel in the wilderness is a history repeated by God's people when they backslide from the principles of reform. Following one's own course in eating and drinking as one pleases repeats Israel's wilderness experience, and continuing in that course leads to growing carelessness about the instruction given on other phases of present truth, with the sure result of reaping as sown.
The varied experiences of the Hebrews were a school of preparation for their promised home in earthly Canaan, and review of those trials instructs God's people now in their preparation for the heavenly Canaan as they journey heavenward. Their example is given as a warning to avoid unbelief and escape wrath, to avoid the evils recorded and imitate only righteousness, and to know that disobedience brings sure retributive punishment. Seeing where favored men were overcome by temptation and fell, and how through God's grace they could gain fresh vigor to rise above their evil nature and conquer, encourages desponding hearts to renew the conflict and press on. That same instruction given to Israel through Moses, with Christ as Leader and Commander, was recorded not for Israel alone but for future generations, especially those living in the last days, who are to study, discern, acknowledge, appreciate and obey it.
Guidance for Today
Freedom from slavery and joining to Moses meant being chosen by the Lord to learn the philosophy of heaven, the laws of His kingdom and His rules of government, after four hundred years as bondmen under the discipline of force. Israel was placed under the instruction of Christ, the One pledged to redeem the world, to become an educating power through whom God would make known His government to the world. God was teaching, leading and guiding ancient Israel so they could teach, lead and guide others, and the same work continues with the remnant of the last days.
God's people today are to gather up, cherish and sacredly obey the truths He gave through Moses, with Christ as leader now as He was leader then from the pillar of cloud toward the promised land. Those who obey His commands are under divine guidance in perfect safety and receive distinguished marks of His favor. Following God's direction brings safety and favor, while refusing His plans and substituting human plans always leads to failure and defeat. He gave instruction through Moses to separate Israel from everything that would interfere with His purposes for them.
The instruction Christ gave in the wilderness is the higher education, and no purer and stronger intelligence can be gathered than what He gave as invisible Leader and Teacher of that vast congregation of more than a million whom His own right hand delivered from Egyptian bondage. Through forty years of wandering He was their instructor, teacher and guide, giving young and old varied exercises demanding brain, bone and muscle, and every lesson was preserved in writing to be given by Moses to the people in their travels. He taught them to educate and train their children to be practical in all service to God and to be pure, clean and holy in obeying all His commandments. His plans embraced method, organization, discipline, order, unity and assigned work for all with no idlers, including the special direction that every youth should learn a trade and gain knowledge of practical life so as to be self-supporting, and these plans are the model for developing schools more and more perfectly.
God designed that there should be men to reprove sin and wrong, or His people would become careless and corrupt their ways before Him. Reproof must exist in the church, with men awake and not stupid or asleep regarding errors and sins among them, always having those who stand in defense of the right to oppose wrong and repress sin and corruption. Among the remnant God has a church on earth to which He has delegated power, and those who wish to move independently, unwilling to submit to the teachings of the Spirit of God or to listen to advice, counsel and reproof, follow their own independent and unsanctified human judgment and will surely depart from the faith with disaster and ruin of souls following. Those who rally to support and build up the truth stand united in heart, mind and voice in its defense, while those who do not labor in harmony of purpose and action range themselves on the side of Satan as their leader, joining his constant efforts to tear down what God builds, yet none of these discordant elements will finally thwart God's purposes in preparing a people to stand in the great day and in completing the plan of salvation.
Israel's deliverance through the cloud and the sea as a baptism into Moses illustrates God's purpose to make His people a means of blessing revealing His character to the nations. God sent His people into Egypt and kept them until His appointed time, then delivered them with a wonderful display of power and led them through the wilderness toward the promised land, where those who murmured and refused conversion perished but the obedient were sustained and strengthened as light-bearers to the nations through whose land they passed. In all ages God's faithful people are to be aggressive missionaries consecrating all their resources to His honor. Enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, Christ as leader gave statutes and laws requiring obedience that they might be His denominated people, and bestowed heaven's bounties such as manna to supply the necessities of the church in the wilderness, teaching care for soul and body by bestowing temporal food through unselfish benevolence on those lacking bare necessities so they will more willingly receive spiritual food. Christ expected Israel to share blessings with the less favored, and so He deals with His chosen people today, for God does not estimate persons by wealth and Christ, who as Lord of glory came to fallen needy humanity as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief and as a child subject to poverty knowing want, privation and self-denial, expects those entrusted with means to bind about their own supposed wants and be liberal in relieving others.
The same Jesus who led the armies of the Lord's host out of Egyptian bondage is guide and counsellor to youth who pray individually and unitedly for understanding. He gives understanding how to conduct themselves without any idolatrous practice in spirit, word or action and to be true to the only true God in a heathen place.
All the fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and by that shared passage through both they were baptized unto Moses.
That baptism joined them to Moses as their acknowledged visible God-appointed leader in allegiance and identification with the redeemed people, while Christ Himself enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and fire was their true invisible Leader guiding when to move and when to camp.
The cloud was God's protecting presence giving direction by day and light and assurance by night, and the sea was the Red Sea where a dry passage was made for Israel while the Egyptians attempting the same way were drowned.
All shared the same spiritual privileges, all eating the same spiritual meat and drinking the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, which was Christ, yet with many God was not well pleased and they were overthrown in the wilderness through unbelief, murmuring and lust.
These things happened for examples and are written for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, warning present believers not to lust after evil things, commit idolatry and fornication, tempt Christ, or murmur, lest he that thinketh he standeth fall.
Exodus Event and Meaning
All were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and by that shared passage all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual meat and all drank the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. Their shared experience marked their commitment to Moses as their leader, but it did not protect them from the consequences of unbelief and disobedience. With many of them God was not well pleased and they were overthrown in the wilderness, and these things were examples to the intent that Christians should not lust after evil things as they lusted, nor be idolaters, nor commit fornication, nor tempt Christ, nor murmur. All these things happened for ensamples and are written for admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come, so that he that thinketh he standeth must take heed lest he fall.
That baptism through the sea and under the cloud was a baptism into allegiance to Moses as leader. It placed the children of Israel under Moses' guidance as the acknowledged, visible leader of God's chosen people, the signs God gave to Moses establishing his leadership. The people were joined to Moses as their God-appointed leader while God delivered and guided them. Moses was their visible leader, while Christ led and guided them in the cloud and fire. This baptism identified them with the people God had redeemed from Egypt and brought to Himself, marking their identification with and allegiance to him as their leader.
They were all enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by the power of the invisible Presence, which was God's protection. The cloud that covered them on their journey signified the presence of the only-begotten Son of God, with Christ enshrouded in it, who guarded and helped them despite murmuring and rebellion. By day the cloud directed their journeyings and spread as a canopy above the host, protecting from burning heat and giving coolness, moisture and grateful refreshment in the parched, thirsty desert. By night it became a pillar of fire illuminating their encampment and constantly assuring them of the divine presence.
The sea was the Red Sea, through which Christ made a dry passage. God miraculously led the Hebrews out of Egypt under the protection of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night and safely conducted them through the Red Sea while the Egyptians trying to cross in the same way were all drowned. Not one who entered the Red Sea was saved, for God in awful grandeur delivered Israel from the pursuing Egyptian host. By these acts God acknowledged Israel as His church, in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to deliver Israel from slavery after desolating the fertile land of Egypt.
The deliverance through the Red Sea and the cloud began their wilderness journey under God's guidance, from bondage toward Canaan, from Succoth to Etham and onward. After four hundred years as bondmen under the discipline of force, being set free from slavery and joined to Moses meant being chosen by the Lord for Himself. God sent His people into Egypt and kept them there until His appointed time for bringing them out, then delivered them with a wonderful display of power. They came out as a vast multitude of more than a million people under His direct rule and guidance as His family, with Moses and Aaron only the visible leaders acting under Christ, their unseen leader and teacher and living Redeemer who showed His power over nature and over those who oppressed them.
Christ Present as Leader
The angel appointed to conduct Israel through the wilderness to Canaan was Christ Himself, the Son of God, who was with Moses and Joshua and gave Moses His special directions to give to Israel. That wilderness journey was guided by Christ as the angel who went before the people and led them on their way. Satan boasted that Christ would not be able to resist his power and carry out God's purpose to bring His favored chosen people into Canaan. Through gratification of appetite and indulgence of lustful appetite and corrupt passions Satan overthrew the Israelites, so that nearly all who left Egypt died in the wilderness.
Christ, one with the Father and Commander of the heavenly hosts, enshrouded in the pillar of cloud and of fire, was the true, invisible, infinite Leader through all the wanderings for forty years. The cloud guided the people when to camp and when to move, while He kept them separate from idolatrous nations and taught them His law. Moses and Aaron were only the visible leaders acting under Him, for Moses could not have guided the people of himself but was strengthened by knowing that God was their Leader and that he was acting under Him, with evidence given that Moses indeed talked with God. The encampment He led numbered more than a million people under His direct rule as His family, and Christ pledged Himself to lead them safely to the promised land if they would follow His guidance. Had Israel obeyed the directions given through Moses and kept that evidence in mind, not one who started from Egypt would have fallen prey to disease or death in the wilderness, for they were under a safe guide and the Lord preserved them from all harm. To them He gave special direction that every youth should learn a trade and gain a knowledge of practical life, that he might be self-supporting.
From within the cloudy pillar Christ spoke to Israel for their good and communicated God's will and purpose through Moses. He gave them instruction through Moses to separate them from everything that would interfere with His purposes for them, giving commands, statutes, laws and judgments and requiring obedience so they might be His denominated people. He constantly set the requirements of God before them, commanding them to learn and keep and do His statutes and judgments, including to keep the seventh day as the Sabbath of the Lord and sanctify it by resting from all work. Israel received God's heavenly laws and instruction, and the people were to learn and teach God's purposes, yet they did not heed His voice and their unbelief and refusal to receive the message with faith and put it into practice brought guilt upon them.
It was through Christ alone that the Hebrews were favored with the continual special blessings they received notwithstanding their sinful murmurings and rebellion. The cloud that covered them on their journey signified the presence of the only-begotten Son of God, who guarded and helped them despite their murmuring and rebellion. Being baptized unto Moses in the cloud means Israel was led through all their wanderings by Christ Himself in the pillar of cloud and of fire, where the cloud held a present Saviour, not only types pointing to a Saviour to come, who gave commands to Moses for the people and was set before them as the only channel of blessing. As their leader and teacher He miraculously provided water from the rock and manna when they were thirsty and hungry, bestowing the bounties of heaven upon the church in the wilderness. All ate the same spiritual meat and all drank the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ, whom Christ afterward declared Himself to be, with Himself as that Rock and that living water.
Moses was only the administrator of the law of God while Christ Jesus Himself, enshrouded in the pillowy cloud, was the true Leader of Israel in the cloud and in the sea and the originator and foundation of all the Jewish ceremonies. Therefore the Old and New Testament Scriptures do not contradict each other, for true religion under the former dispensation was just as essential and thorough and full in its requirements as under the gospel dispensation when Christ became the minister of the better covenant, with type meeting antitype in the death of Jesus Christ. Christ led and taught the people for forty years through the pillar of cloud, giving them the same truths He later taught in human form, yet the people did not recognize Him when He came to the world as their heaven-sent Teacher. He was the way by which patriarchs and prophets were saved, and to pour contempt upon that old way is to pour contempt upon Christ Himself. There was plenty of light in that old way to lead every soul to the abodes of bliss, proving the patriarchal and prophetic age was not Christless, and its record is kept to make us wise unto salvation by showing the virtues of holy men to imitate and the errors and mistakes of good men to avoid. He was interested in every one of them, and Moses was strengthened by knowing God was their Leader.
Privilege Without Faithfulness
All shared the same spiritual privileges in that baptism, for all ate the same spiritual meat and all drank the same spiritual drink from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. That provision came through Christ alone, notwithstanding their sinful murmurings and rebellion, and He afterward declared Himself to be that Rock and that living water. Their common passage under the cloud and through the sea belonged together with that eating and drinking as one united experience of favor under the leading of the angel appointed to conduct them to Canaan, who was Christ Himself giving Moses His special directions for Israel.
That shared commitment to Moses as leader and that baptism into allegiance to him did not protect them from the consequences of unbelief and disobedience. With many of them God was not well pleased, and they were overthrown in the wilderness. Through gratification of appetite Satan overthrew them, so that nearly all who left Egypt died there. Their history of shared spiritual provision ending in overthrow stands as a warning to God's people in the last days against unbelief and rebellion and against repeating their failures.
They fell through unbelief and disobedience, growing rebellious and murmuring against Moses and Aaron for bringing them out of Egypt. Satan overthrew them through gratification of appetite, through indulgence of lustful appetite and corrupt passions. Instead of thankfulness for the wonderful ways the Lord wrought to deliver them from Egyptian bondage and lead them to the promised land, they sought to exalt themselves and did not appreciate the work of their divine Leader in their behalf. By rejecting God's word and their unseen Leader, who delivered them and gave Moses the instruction to be repeated to them while Moses and Aaron were only the visible leaders, they brought ruin on themselves and Jerusalem.
Disobedience brings sure retributive punishment, while those who were obedient were sustained and strengthened by God. Those whom Christ led through the wilderness later rebelled by refusing to enter the promised land, then going to battle against the Lord's direction, and they were defeated. As a nation the Jews in the test refused to receive Christ, rejecting their only Hope and only Salvation, and God rejected them. The mighty miracles wrought in their favor together with their murmurings, rebellious discontent, idolatry, ingratitude and punishment are recorded for the benefit of God's people as a warning to avoid unbelief and escape wrath, to avoid the evils recorded and imitate only righteousness.
Had Israel obeyed the directions given through Moses, not one who started from Egypt would have fallen prey to disease or death in the wilderness, for they were under a safe guide and the Lord preserved them from all harm. If they had remained loyal to His words spoken by Christ from within the pillar of cloud where He was enshrouded, He would have made them victorious over their enemies. Faith in those words would have led to a very different history and a very different record, but their lack of faith gave them a checkered, troubled history. If those teachings and commandments given from the cloud had been obeyed, the Jewish nation would have stood forth to glorify God above every nation and people on earth, and Jerusalem need not have been destroyed, but they disregarded the commandments while professing to regard them.
Warning for Last Days
These things happened as examples and are written as admonition for those upon whom the ends of the world are come, and all the past history of God's people is to be studied today so that present believers may benefit from the experiences recorded. That history is Christian evidence found in the Bible, bringing testimony from age to age to the unchangeableness of the truth, with no ancient defense of the Word worn out by time and no part of the Bible dead from old age. It is to be reviewed with humble heart and teachable spirit, especially with Psalm 105 and Psalm 106 read often, because the lessons of warning are what the people of God in these last days especially need. The record of God's dealings with the wanderers in their marchings, their exposure to hunger, thirst and weariness, and His striking manifestations of power for their relief was chronicled for the benefit of the Israel of God till the close of time. Faithful narration of both virtues and iniquities was required by justice for the instruction of all who read, for if the iniquities had been omitted the history would fail to teach the lesson God intended.
The intent of the warning is that believers should not lust after evil things as they lusted, nor be idolaters as when they sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play, nor commit fornication, nor tempt Christ, nor murmur. The favor shown in leading Israel out under the cloud and through the sea is joined to the judgments that followed transgression, to enjoin heed to the lesson and to leave no excuse for turning away from the counsels of the Spirit while knowing the warnings and God's past dealings. Even those who become boastful and self-confident and neglect to watch and pray are warned lest they fall into grievous sin and wrath, while trusting that God is faithful to make a way of escape from temptation. Genuine conversion, humbling of heart and correction of ways are required to retain acceptable service to Christ, for even he that thinks he stands must take heed lest he fall.
Satan's snares laid for the children of Israel just prior to their entrance into the land of Canaan are laid just as truly now, and that history is being repeated. The repetition appears in lightness, vanity, love of ease and pleasure, selfishness, impurity, lack of holiness and power, and self-exaltation and efforts for self-exaltation among ministers. The time calls for men firm and fearless in declaring the whole counsel of God, who will not sleep as do others but watch and be sober, seeing themselves as weak and inefficient and unlike their Master. The forty years of travel in the wilderness is a history repeated by God's people when they backslide from the principles of reform. Following one's own course in eating and drinking as one pleases repeats Israel's wilderness experience, and continuing in that course leads to growing carelessness about the instruction given on other phases of present truth, with the sure result of reaping as sown.
The varied experiences of the Hebrews were a school of preparation for their promised home in earthly Canaan, and review of those trials instructs God's people now in their preparation for the heavenly Canaan as they journey heavenward. Their example is given as a warning to avoid unbelief and escape wrath, to avoid the evils recorded and imitate only righteousness, and to know that disobedience brings sure retributive punishment. Seeing where favored men were overcome by temptation and fell, and how through God's grace they could gain fresh vigor to rise above their evil nature and conquer, encourages desponding hearts to renew the conflict and press on. That same instruction given to Israel through Moses, with Christ as Leader and Commander, was recorded not for Israel alone but for future generations, especially those living in the last days, who are to study, discern, acknowledge, appreciate and obey it.
Guidance for Today
Freedom from slavery and joining to Moses meant being chosen by the Lord to learn the philosophy of heaven, the laws of His kingdom and His rules of government, after four hundred years as bondmen under the discipline of force. Israel was placed under the instruction of Christ, the One pledged to redeem the world, to become an educating power through whom God would make known His government to the world. God was teaching, leading and guiding ancient Israel so they could teach, lead and guide others, and the same work continues with the remnant of the last days.
God's people today are to gather up, cherish and sacredly obey the truths He gave through Moses, with Christ as leader now as He was leader then from the pillar of cloud toward the promised land. Those who obey His commands are under divine guidance in perfect safety and receive distinguished marks of His favor. Following God's direction brings safety and favor, while refusing His plans and substituting human plans always leads to failure and defeat. He gave instruction through Moses to separate Israel from everything that would interfere with His purposes for them.
The instruction Christ gave in the wilderness is the higher education, and no purer and stronger intelligence can be gathered than what He gave as invisible Leader and Teacher of that vast congregation of more than a million whom His own right hand delivered from Egyptian bondage. Through forty years of wandering He was their instructor, teacher and guide, giving young and old varied exercises demanding brain, bone and muscle, and every lesson was preserved in writing to be given by Moses to the people in their travels. He taught them to educate and train their children to be practical in all service to God and to be pure, clean and holy in obeying all His commandments. His plans embraced method, organization, discipline, order, unity and assigned work for all with no idlers, including the special direction that every youth should learn a trade and gain knowledge of practical life so as to be self-supporting, and these plans are the model for developing schools more and more perfectly.
God designed that there should be men to reprove sin and wrong, or His people would become careless and corrupt their ways before Him. Reproof must exist in the church, with men awake and not stupid or asleep regarding errors and sins among them, always having those who stand in defense of the right to oppose wrong and repress sin and corruption. Among the remnant God has a church on earth to which He has delegated power, and those who wish to move independently, unwilling to submit to the teachings of the Spirit of God or to listen to advice, counsel and reproof, follow their own independent and unsanctified human judgment and will surely depart from the faith with disaster and ruin of souls following. Those who rally to support and build up the truth stand united in heart, mind and voice in its defense, while those who do not labor in harmony of purpose and action range themselves on the side of Satan as their leader, joining his constant efforts to tear down what God builds, yet none of these discordant elements will finally thwart God's purposes in preparing a people to stand in the great day and in completing the plan of salvation.
Israel's deliverance through the cloud and the sea as a baptism into Moses illustrates God's purpose to make His people a means of blessing revealing His character to the nations. God sent His people into Egypt and kept them until His appointed time, then delivered them with a wonderful display of power and led them through the wilderness toward the promised land, where those who murmured and refused conversion perished but the obedient were sustained and strengthened as light-bearers to the nations through whose land they passed. In all ages God's faithful people are to be aggressive missionaries consecrating all their resources to His honor. Enshrouded in the pillar of cloud, Christ as leader gave statutes and laws requiring obedience that they might be His denominated people, and bestowed heaven's bounties such as manna to supply the necessities of the church in the wilderness, teaching care for soul and body by bestowing temporal food through unselfish benevolence on those lacking bare necessities so they will more willingly receive spiritual food. Christ expected Israel to share blessings with the less favored, and so He deals with His chosen people today, for God does not estimate persons by wealth and Christ, who as Lord of glory came to fallen needy humanity as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief and as a child subject to poverty knowing want, privation and self-denial, expects those entrusted with means to bind about their own supposed wants and be liberal in relieving others.
The same Jesus who led the armies of the Lord's host out of Egyptian bondage is guide and counsellor to youth who pray individually and unitedly for understanding. He gives understanding how to conduct themselves without any idolatrous practice in spirit, word or action and to be true to the only true God in a heathen place.