The Pilgrim's Guide
“And on the day that
the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent
of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the
appearance of fire, until the morning. So it was alway: the cloud covered it by
day, and the appearance of fire by night. And when the cloud was taken up from
the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the
place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.
At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the
commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the
tabernacle they rested in their tents. And when the cloud tarried long upon the
tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD,
and journeyed not. And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the
tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents,
and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.” (Numbers 9:15-20)
Today’s Morsel: In the years before and during the U.S. Civil War of
the 1860s, escaped slaves fled northward, hiding by day, and moving furtively
at night. Often their only guide was Polaris, the North Star, which they
found by tracing the handle of the Big Dipper constellation. With help from white Quakers and free blacks, the
fugitives escaped and sought
safe houses along what came to be called the Underground Railroad. When
the children of Israel were making their way to the Promised Land, they, too,
needed a guide to lead them. And scripture states that God went before
them as a cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. Writing to the
church at Corinth, the Apostle Paul states, “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that
all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were
all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same
spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that
spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4) As born-again believers, we are strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. Like Abraham and the patriarchs of old, we are
looking for a city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God.
So keep your eyes on the ark, the cloud, and the fire, for you have not passed
this way before. You cannot get there without Jesus!
Sing: He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by
His own hand He leadeth me. His faithful follower I will be, for by His
hand He leadeth me.
Thought For Today: You can’t get there
without Jesus! (Parker)
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