Bible Stories › When God Keeps His Promises
Bible story · Exodus 13:17–22
Cloud by Day, Fire by Night
Read it yourself in the King James Bible: Exodus 13:17–22 ↗
“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:”
Exodus 13:21 (KJV)The Story
Israel was finally free. But now a whole nation of former slaves stood at the edge of the wilderness with no map.
There was a short road to the Promised Land, along the coast through Philistine country. God didn’t lead them that way. He knew that if they faced war right away, they might lose heart and go back to Egypt. So He led them the long way around, through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.
And He didn’t leave them to figure out the route on their own. The Lord Himself went ahead of them. By day, a tall pillar of cloud showed them the way. By night, a pillar of fire gave them light.
Whenever the cloud moved, they moved. When it stopped, they camped.
And the Bible makes a point of saying this: God never took away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from in front of the people. Not once, in forty years.
Reflection
God chose the long road for Israel on purpose. He knew what they could handle and what they couldn’t. The shortcut would have been faster, but it would have broken them.
More Bible stories from Exodus. More about: Hearing God’s Voice
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Day 8 of Book 6
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