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Scripture: Nehemiah
9:12
12 “And
with a pillar of cloud You led them by day,
And
with a pillar of fire by night
To
light for them the way
In
which they were to go.
A. The Pillar of CLOUD vs. 12
This was a powerful
demonstration of God’s presence in their midst.
It was in answer to Moses request; see: Exodus 33:15a,16;
“If Your presence does
not go with us, do not lead us up from
here. 16“For how then can it be
known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people? Is it not
by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished
from all the other people who are upon the
face of the earth?” Moses
was reluctant to lead the people out of Egypt. It seemed an impossible
task and
Moses needed God’s assurance. The
visible evidence of God’s presence was a great comfort in their
wilderness journey. See
Numbers 10:11-13; 11Now in the second year, in
the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from
over the tabernacle of the testimony; 12and the sons of Israel set
out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai. Then the cloud settled
down in the wilderness of Paran. 13So they moved out for the
first time according to the commandment of the LORD through Moses.
B. The Pillar of FIRE
1. God is Light by Nature
In 1st John 1:5, John
writes, “This is the message we
have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him
there is no darkness at all.” One of
the great needs in our culture is to reaffirm the biblical truth of who
God is. Infinite Light is
paramount to infinite holiness. Literally, “God is light, and
darkness, (evil), in Him is not at all;”
YLT
2. God
Gives Light to All Men
John
1:9,10; 9There was the true Light which,
coming into the world, enlightens every man. 10He was in the world, and
the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.
3. Man
Loves Darkness Rather Than Light
In John
3:19,20 Jesus
said; 19“This is the judgment,
that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather
than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil
hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds
will be exposed.” We see this in the
current example of Israel.
32“But for all this, you
did not trust the LORD your God, 33who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place
for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way
in which you should go. Deuteronomy
1:32
4. God Gives the
Light of Life to His Own
John 1:11-13;
11He came to His own,
and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in
His name, 13who were born, not of
blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
C. The
Pillar of Life
& That man by his own nature and will rejects God.
“11He came to His own,
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