“If your Presence does not go with us,” Moses insisted to God, “do not send us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). Moses didn’t just want general divine providence; he wanted God’s special presence with his people. And, of course, God delighted to answer such a request. It is the fulfilment of this same desire for God’s presence that Jesus assures us: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13). The fulfilment of Moses’ request was signified in the great pillar of fire and cloud that rested over the tabernacle and guided the Israelites through the desert (Exodus 40:34-38). “Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped” (Numbers 9:15-23). The same pillar of fire settled upon each gathered believer on the day of Pentecost. They were the new tabernacle, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Paul exhorts us to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). As the Israelites followed the external sign of the presence of God, so we must follow the guiding presence of the Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit illuminates the way; he illumines the truth so that, as the psalmists says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Words alone do not illumine the heart. The written word of God is the wick of infallible truth which the Holy Spirit lights to guide us.
Ask God to teach, lead and guide you according to his Word.
Read Numbers 9:15-23 and 1 John 1:1-7.
