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Scripture Reading: Exo. 13:17-18, 21-22; 15:22-25, 27; 16:4, 14-15, 21, 31; 17:3, 5-16; 1 Cor. 10:1-4
In the previous chapters we saw God’s redemption and salvation of the children of Israel, and in this chapter we will see His leading. In Exodus 12 through 15, after God saved the children of Israel out of Egypt, He led them to journey in the wilderness. This shows that salvation is not the end but the beginning. After a person is saved, he still has a long way to go. When the children of Israel were journeying in the wilderness, they had all kinds of needs and hardships that required God’s help. Hence, they experienced both God’s leading and His supply.
In Exodus 12:11 God commanded the children of Israel to eat the passover lamb in haste with their loins girded, their sandals on their feet, and their staff in their hand. This was because God wanted to lead them to begin their journey once they finished eating the passover lamb. The first lesson that God wanted them to learn was to not take the short way, to not take a shortcut. According to geography, the journey from Egypt to the land of Canaan should have taken only a few days, but instead of leading the children of Israel to take a short way, God led them around by the way of the wilderness (13:18). Eventually, they went in circles for forty years (Num. 14:33; Deut. 8:2), walking through almost every part of the wilderness of Arabia.
God does everything purposefully. If He had led the children of Israel to take a short way, their condition would not have been manifested. Only by taking a longer way was their situation exposed completely. There is a Chinese saying: “Distance tests a horse’s strength, and time reveals a person’s heart.” If the children of Israel had reached the land of Canaan after journeying for only a few days, they might have thought that they were quite good. They would not have had enough time and circumstances to expose their true nature. God led them through the wilderness so that the longer they journeyed, the more circuitous ways they encountered and the more confused they became. If He had not done this, they would not have known of their deceitfulness and wickedness. Often God will not lead us to take a short way, because He wants us to know ourselves and be saved by Him.
According to Deuteronomy 8:2, God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt and kept them journeying in the wilderness for forty years because He wanted to humble them and test them so that they would know what was in their heart. During those forty years all their rebelliousness, greediness, wickedness, and uncleanness were tested and exposed. This is a basic principle: God did not lead the children of Israel to take a short way, because He wanted them to know themselves. If God had led them to take a short way and had allowed them to get out of Egypt quickly, they would have gone back to Egypt just as quickly. However, not only did God lead the children of Israel in circles in the wilderness, He also led them across the Red Sea. Once the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, they were truly out of Egypt. If they wanted to go back, they could only gaze at the sea in despair.
We can apply the matter of not taking the short way to our daily life. For example, we should thank the Lord before every meal, but when we are having lunch with colleagues, we may be embarrassed to pray in front of them. Therefore, we think of a simpler way to pray. We decide to pray as we walk to the dining hall so that we can avoid praying in front of our colleagues. This is to take the convenient way, the short way. If we pray by taking this shortcut, we may return to Egypt within a week. Another shortcut in our prayer in front of others is to close and open our eyes quickly, almost as if we were just blinking. If we pray in this way, we may return to Egypt within a month or two. If, however, we pray in front of our colleagues by taking the circular way, praying as we would normally pray, we will not go back to Egypt, because we have already crossed the Red Sea. After we pray once by taking the circular way, we will surely be able to pray in front of our colleagues at any time.
Many Christians know that they need to rise up early to pray to God, but they may say that it is too cold in the morning. Instead, they decide to pray under their blanket because it is warmer and comfortable. This is to take the convenient way. Having morning watch in such a way will not last. Spontaneously, these ones will go back to Egypt. God does not want us to take a short way. When we rise up early for morning watch, we should wash and dress ourselves neatly and then properly kneel down before the Lord. Some may say, “Why does morning watch have to be so troublesome? God is omniscient. He can hear me even when I am praying under my blanket.” No, God does not want us to take a short way.
One time a rooster ran into a woman’s house, and she killed, cooked, and ate it. When her neighbor came to her house looking for the rooster, the woman pretended that she did not know anything about it and even pretended to help her neighbor look for it. Later, the woman believed in the Lord, and whenever she prayed, the rooster would always come to her mind. Generally, the more a Christian prays, the more joyful he is supposed to be, but this sister was not able to pray because as soon as she started to pray, she would think of the rooster. She wanted to deal with this matter, but she felt so embarrassed. Thus, she wanted to take a short way by buying a rooster and slipping it into her neighbor’s house. She thought that this would bring peace to her conscience, but the Lord did not allow her to do this in such a perfunctory way. Instead, He led her to take the rooster that she had bought to her neighbor and apologize, saying, “I have felt so ashamed for these past few months because I killed and ate your rooster. Moreover, I lied to you. I am truly a sinner. I have believed in the Lord Jesus, but when I pray, I do not have peace in my heart. I am here to make restitution.”
Do you think that this sister was happy when she went home after such a dealing? She was very happy. Furthermore, whenever she saw another person’s rooster, she had no thought of killing it and eating it. If this sister had taken the short way of buying a rooster and slipping it into her neighbor’s house, she would not have been happy afterward. Regardless of whether something is a small matter or a great matter, God never leads us to take the short way. Rather, He wants us to be somewhat troubled and to take the longer way so that we can learn the lessons of His life.
Thirty years ago, near Foochow, there were two brothers who had a field located halfway up a hill, and they worked very hard to draw water to fill the field. While they were sleeping, their neighbor, whose field was further down the hill from theirs, dug a hole in the irrigation channel around the brothers’ field and let all their water flow into his field. The two brothers said nothing when they saw what the neighbor had done, but they filled the hole and labored to draw water to fill their field again. When they went to their field the next day, they saw that the neighbor had dug another hole and stolen their water again. The neighbor did this for a few days. The two brothers said to themselves, “We have believed in the Lord Jesus, and it is not good for us to argue with him concerning this matter, but if we do not argue, the water we draw to fill our field will flow into his field every night. This is not good either.” Later, a brother suggested that they fill their neighbor’s field with water before they filled their own. This is to not take a short way. When the water-stealing neighbor saw that he did not need to steal water, because his field was being watered every day, he was so touched that he apologized to the two brothers. Not long after, he believed in the Lord and was saved. This is an example of not taking a short way but of taking a circular way.
God does not lead us to take the short way, because taking the short way causes us to miss the opportunity to learn the lessons of His life. God leads us to take the ways that teach us lessons. When we administrate the church, we should not take the short way, and when we do the Lord’s work, we should also not take the short way. The price we pay determines the reward we receive. As long as we take the circular way, we will learn more lessons.
To take the circular way, we need the leading of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire (Exo. 13:21-22). The pillar of cloud is the indwelling Spirit, who gives us an inner sense. Many Christians have the experience of the Spirit within as the pillar of cloud giving them a sense. This occurs in the “day.” At “night” we cannot see the pillar of cloud clearly. At such a time we have the pillar of fire. Sometimes, our inward condition is like the day, and the feeling of the Spirit is very clear, but at other times we are dark inwardly and need the light, the pillar of fire. This light is the holy Word, which is the Lord’s word. The Lord’s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psa. 119:105). God gives us two things to guide us: the pillar of cloud, typifying the Holy Spirit, and the pillar of fire, typifying the holy Word. On the one hand, we have the Spirit within as our guidance. On the other hand, we have the Word without as our leading. When our inward condition is as bright as noon and our feeling is clear and accurate, we have the feeling of the Spirit to guide us. When our inward condition is dark and cloudy and we feel unclear about something, we need the Word to be our light. In fact, the pillar of cloud is the pillar of fire, and the pillar of fire is the pillar of cloud; these two are one. We have the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
Both the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire are God Himself. Apparently, the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire were leading the children of Israel. Actually, God Himself was leading them. The Spirit and the Word are indeed God Himself. God is in His Spirit as well as in His Word. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 14 says, “The Word became flesh...and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father.” This means that the Lord Jesus is the Word of God. To know God, we must come to the Word. On the one hand, God hides Himself in the Word. On the other hand, His words are Spirit and life (6:63). The Spirit and the Word are one and inseparable. If we do not touch the Spirit through reading the Word, the Word is dead to us, and we do not have light or guidance. Whenever we touch the Spirit through reading the Word, the Word shines upon us. God’s guidance is the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Both are God Himself.
Someone once asked, “If I am seeking the leading of the Spirit, should I pray with my hand on the Bible, ask the Lord to direct me through the Bible, and follow the verse that I encounter when I open the Bible as the Lord’s word to me?” I said, “Someone did this before. When he opened the Bible, he saw Matthew 27:5, which says that Judas ‘went away and hanged himself.’ If you were he, would you go out and hang yourself?” We should never treat the Bible as a tool for divination. This is dangerous. We must read the Bible in a thorough way each day and allow the illustrations, teachings, principles, and light to be inscribed into us little by little. Then whenever we have a need and look to God, the principles, light, and revelations in the Bible will be a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire to us.
I will testify about a very unusual experience of being led by God’s Word. In July 1937 the Sino-Japanese war broke out. At that time I was with some co-workers in Hankow, and I received a telegram from the brothers in Chefoo. The telegram said that the Japanese army would be landing in Chefoo and that the brothers and sisters in Chefoo were getting ready to evacuate. The brothers told me to come back to Chefoo, get my family, and escape. During that time, traveling from Hankow to Chefoo required changing trains five times, and the trip was very complicated. Before I left, a brother gave me a verse from Psalm 121: “Jehovah will keep your going out and your coming in / From now and to eternity” (v. 8). On the Long-Hai Railway from Chengchow to Hsuchow, the alarm sounded often to warn passengers of incoming Japanese bombs. Whenever the alarm sounded, passengers had to get off the train and hide in the field. Everyone was in turmoil during those times. They wished that the sun would stay hidden in the day and that the moon would not come out at night so that the Japanese bombers could not identify targets. One morning before dawn, I was keeping my morning watch on the train, and the Lord reminded me, saying, “Did not someone give you a verse when you were in Hankow?” I opened the Bible to Psalm 121, and read verse 6, which says, “The sun will not strike you by day, / Nor the moon by night.” At that moment I was clear inwardly, and I said to the Lord, “O Lord, the passengers on this train are afraid of the sun, but I have You; therefore, I do not fear.” When daylight broke, the passengers were nervous and fearful. I comforted them, saying, “Be at peace. I prayed to God today, and He told me through the Bible, ‘The sun will not strike you by day, / Nor the moon by night.’ We will arrive at our destination peacefully.” When they heard this, some wavered between doubt and belief, and others even laughed at me. Throughout the remainder of the trip, however, the alarm did not sound—either in the day or at night. Everyone arrived at Hsuchow safely.
With a revering heart, we should remember Bible verses when we draw near to the Lord, have fellowship with Him, and look to Him. Then, when we have a need, the Spirit will shine on us. The Lord’s word is living and full of light, and it gives us guidance. Thank the Lord that He gives us two treasures—the Word without and the Spirit within. Wherever we are, we should not abandon these two treasures, because the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire lead us continuously.
In God’s leading of His people sometimes there are happy situations, and at other times there are bitter situations. The children of Israel had the passover and crossed the Red Sea, and they were rejoicing with dancing and praising to the Lord (Exo. 15:1-21). However, not long after their praising, the pillar of cloud led them to Marah, where the waters were bitter and not drinkable. Since the children of Israel had had nothing to drink for three days, they murmured (vv. 22-24). We have the same experience after we are saved. In the beginning God leads us to walk on His way, and we feel that it is quite sweet; but when we go further, we experience bitter waters.
Drinking is more important than eating. Thus, when the children of Israel did not have water to drink, they were miserable. They murmured against Moses, and when Moses cried out to Jehovah, He showed him a tree. Moses cast the tree into the waters, and the waters became sweet (v. 25). The tree healing the bitter waters signifies the cross of Christ. This is confirmed by 1 Peter 2:24, which says that Christ “Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree” and that by His bruise we were healed.
Moses’ casting the tree into the waters signifies our applying the cross to our bitter situations. Whenever we are in a bitter situation, we need to receive the Lord’s cross. When we cast the cross into our bitter situation, the cross immediately causes it to become sweet. When we see that the Lord died on our behalf and died with us, our bitterness becomes sweet. If we see our termination on the cross, the pain that we are going through will seem small compared to the pain that the Lord Jesus experienced on the cross. When we receive the cross, we will instantly feel sweet.
The cross heals our bitter situations. When we are in a situation of suffering, God is not necessarily eager to rescue us from suffering. Instead, He leaves us there. God wants us to cast the cross into the bitter situation so that the bitterness is changed to sweetness, even though the situation remains the same. Once we receive the cross of Christ, we immediately feel happy inwardly. The more suffering that we have in the outward environment, the more sweetness we have inwardly. When we suffer in a bitter situation, the Lord will not necessarily remove us from the situation. Rather, He wants to change our bitterness into sweetness through the cross.
After the children of Israel experienced the bitter waters at Marah, they experienced the springs of water at Elim. God led them to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees (Exo. 15:27). The number twelve signifies eternal fullness and completeness. The number seven signifies fullness and completeness in time, and the number ten also signifies fullness. Therefore, the number seventy, seven times ten, signifies fullness and completeness in time. When our bitterness ceases, sweetness follows. Most Christians have the sweet experience of passing through a trial. We endure affliction by the power of the cross, but after a while the springs of water come in, and we taste their cool and sweet flavor. At this time we do not taste anything dry but rather something cool and watering. We can apply the principle of experiencing bitter waters and then experiencing sweet springs in our circumstances, both physically and spiritually. Our experience should have not only bitter waters but also sweet springs. Moreover, at Elim there were seventy palm trees, which signify the divine life that grows vigorously.
After the children of Israel had eaten all the food they had brought from Egypt, God performed a great miracle. For forty years He rained down manna as food for the children of Israel (16:35). The sending of manna was not merely something figurative. It was absolutely real. The Bible records that manna was sent and fell on the ground, that it was round flakes and as fine as the frost, and that its taste was like wafers made with honey (vv. 14, 31). The children of Israel were able to journey in the wilderness for forty years because they ate the manna. Manna typifies Christ as the heavenly food for God’s children to supply them to take His way (John 6:31-35, 48-51, 57-58).
Three things typify Christ: the flesh of the lamb, the unleavened bread, and manna. The flesh of the lamb typifies Christ slain to be our life. The unleavened bread typifies Christ as the sinless life for us to live a sanctified life. Manna typifies Christ descending from heaven to be our daily food and our inward strength of life as we journey in the wilderness.
The manna was sent daily, and the children of Israel had to gather it every morning because the manna melted when the sun became hot (Exo. 16:13-16, 21). This indicates that we need to rise up every morning to receive Christ. According to Old Testament typology, God’s people should rise up early to receive manna. Some might ask, “Can we not receive Christ at other times?” I dare not say no, but when we rise up early to contact the Lord, the flavor of the Lord is very particular and cannot be tasted in this way at any other time.
Manna is the Bible as God’s Word to be our spiritual food. The word in the Bible and Christ cannot be separated. Christ is living, and the Bible, as the written word, God’s word, also is living. When we come to the Bible, we receive not only the Christ in our spirit but also the Christ in the Word. On the one hand, we read the Bible. On the other hand, in our time with the Lord, we draw near to Him and touch Him with our spirit. Thus for twenty to thirty minutes we receive Christ inwardly. This means that we have gathered manna, and we are automatically satisfied and full in our spirit.
If we do not read the Bible, do not gather manna, and do not receive Christ in the morning, then throughout the day we will be hungry and empty, and we will lack satisfaction and strength in our spirit. Then, when a heavy burden comes, we will not be able to bear it, and when temptation comes, we will not be able to overcome it. However, if we rise up early to read the Lord’s Word, fellowship with Him, and receive Him as our manna, we will be strong throughout the day. If we are willing to practice this, our entire Christian life will change. Not only will we have satisfaction inwardly, but we will also grow in life. I hope that we would not take this word as mere doctrine but would receive this light and rise up early to gather manna.
After the children of Israel experienced manna, God led them to experience living water flowing out of a smitten rock. When the children of Israel arrived at Rephidim, there was no water for them to drink; therefore, they murmured against Moses. However, God did not instruct Moses to dig a well. Instead, He told him to strike the rock with his staff and that water would come out of it for the people to drink (17:1-6).
Moses represents the law, his staff represents the authority of the law, and the rock refers to Christ. Moses’ striking of the rock with his staff represents Christ being struck by the authority of the law. As sinners, we deserve the judgment of God’s law, but God struck Christ as our Substitute on the cross. When the Lord Jesus was dying on the cross, His side was pierced and water flowed out (John 19:34). Thus, the Lord Jesus is typified by the cleft rock. The living water flowing out of the rock typifies the Spirit (7:37-39). The living water that the Lord gives us is His life. When the Lord was dying on the cross, His body, typified by the rock, was split so that the life within Him, typified by the living water, would flow out.
In John 7, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus cried out to a thirsty crowd, saying, “He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (v. 38). The living water here refers to the Lord’s Spirit and to the Lord’s life. The Lord’s life is in the Holy Spirit; therefore, the Lord’s life and His Spirit are inseparable. First Corinthians 15:45 says that the Lord is the life-giving Spirit. While we are journeying in the wilderness, we need manna as well as living water. Every morning we need to gather manna in order to receive Christ, and we also need to drink the living water in order to be filled with the Spirit of life. The Holy Spirit flows from the “split” Christ, the crucified Christ, to fill us. Hence, when we receive the cross, the living water flows forth from within.
God further led the children of Israel to fight against Amalek (Exo. 17:8-16). Esau and Jacob were twin brothers (Gen. 25:25-26), and Amalek was a descendent of Esau (36:12, 16). Esau typifies a man in Adam, that is, man’s flesh, whereas Jacob typifies a man in Christ, that is, man’s spirit. The fact that Esau and Jacob were twins means that our flesh and our spirit are close to each other. In Exodus 17 the fighting between the children of Israel and Amalek signifies the fighting between the flesh and the Spirit in Galatians 5:17. The children of Israel had received God’s supply so that they could journey on, but Amalek came to fight with them (Exo. 17:8). Therefore, God wanted the Israelites to fight against Amalek. This signifies that after we cross the Red Sea, eat manna, drink the living water, and are satisfied and filled with the Holy Spirit, we should continue our journey. However, our neighbor, the flesh, signified by Amalek, will come to bother us. Hence, we must fight against the flesh.
Apparently, it was the children of Israel who fought against Amalek. Actually, the children of Israel did not fight by their own strength but by the power of two persons: Moses with his interceding and Joshua with his fighting. Moses and Joshua were two people, but actually they were one person—Christ. Moses typifies Christ, whereas Joshua typifies the Holy Spirit. However, Christ and the Holy Spirit are one. When Moses stopped interceding, the children of Israel were defeated, and when Moses interceded, they prevailed (vv. 9-13). This indicates that in order to deal with the flesh, we depend on Christ interceding for us in the heavenlies. According to Christ’s interceding, the Holy Spirit is with us to help us fight, just as Joshua was with the children of Israel to help them fight.
None of us can overcome and deal with our flesh in ourselves. If we want to deal with our flesh, we must believe that our Lord is praying for us in heaven and that His Spirit is with us to help us in dealing with our flesh. God commanded Moses to utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven (v. 14), indicating that the flesh must not be tolerated or allowed to remain. We should fight against the flesh all our life.
First Samuel 15 shows that Saul, the king of Israel, lost his throne because he did not utterly destroy Amalek (vv. 7-28). In Esther 3 Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman because Haman was an Amalekite (vv. 1-2). Exodus 17:16 says, “Jehovah will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.” This clearly reveals that the flesh is the enemy of the saints as well as of God. We must learn to depend on Christ’s intercession and the Spirit’s power to daily deal with our flesh.
These three things—eating manna, drinking the spiritual drink, and fighting the spiritual warfare—are related. In order to fight against Amalek, we must have manna as our food and the living water as our supply. We should be satisfied and filled with the Holy Spirit inwardly so that we may be able to deal with our flesh. This chapter shows that all the things described in Exodus 13 and 15 through 17 are Christ. The lamb, the unleavened bread, the pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire, the tree cast into the bitter waters, the smitten rock, and even Moses and Joshua, all typify Christ. All the things that God’s people enjoyed on their journey were Christ and the Spirit. Thus, for our whole life we should rely only on Christ and the Spirit for our walk, living, and fighting. May the Lord grace us so that we may have a clear view regarding these matters.
