Psalm 105:39

Psalm 105:39

He spread out a cloud

“By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” Exodus 13:21-22.

I love the picture painted here of the pillars that were provided by God to give light and guidance on the journey that the Israelites took through the wilderness. However, that is not all, the verse we are looking at today, and others, suggests that the Lord provided a cloud as a covering over the people, especially during the day, to protect them from the heat of the sun. In Psalm 121:5-6 we read, “The Lord watches over you – the Lord is Your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.” 

And clouds come into play when the Lord provided a shield of darkness at the beginning of their journey, as the Israelites were fleeing from their Egyptian pursuers. Exodus 14:19-20. Another cloud feature appeared at Sinai, and on the occasions when the Lord God appeared in fire and His glory and it was necessary to cover Himself before the people. The cloud covering here in this verse of Psalm 105 is likened to God’s wings in other places, for instance in Psalm 17:8 where God’s protective wings are His refuge for those who are fleeing from their enemies. 

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 Paul picks up on this and refers to the Israelites as being “baptized into Moses in the cloud and the sea!” What does that mean? I think the baptism of Moses provided the escape from the slavery of Egypt. Moses is a picture of Jesus who provides escape from the slavery of sin, we are baptized into Him and become part of Him, by faith, at the point of conversion. The escape through the Red Sea is parallel to the resurrection, which is the escape from sin and death through Jesus and we participate in this when we are immersed in the water of baptism. From that time on we are covered by the wings of the Lord, we are under His cloud as He protects us from the harm of the enemy’s heat. Hallelujah!

 

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