The ragtag "marching army" of Jacob's enslaved descendants abandoned the beaten travel route from Egypt to the Fertile Crescent, heading from Etham into uncharted wilderness. That's when the pillar of cloud by day and fire by night appeared. Forty years later, as they crossed the Jordan River into Canaan, it disappeared. While we don't require such visible direction, the pillar provides important clues about how God guides His children today.

1. Was the circuitous route the Israelites took to the Promised Land a chance development or was it deliberately directed?



2. What reason for this divinely directed detour is given in verse 17?



3. What other reason is described at length in the next chapter (14:1-4, 19-28)?



4. Why would taking Joseph's coffin with them (v. 19) reassure the Israelites that they would eventually reach their destination?



5. How did God give the Israelites a tangible sense of His presence (v. 21)?



6. How did the cloud column reveal God's direction, timing, and protection (see also Numbers 9:15-23; 10:34)?

Ask God to make you content to accept the direction in which He points you and the timing of the pauses and moves He determines for you.

¹⁷When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them on the road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest way from Egypt to the Promised Land. God said, "If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." ¹⁸So God led them along a route through the wilderness toward the Red Sea, and the Israelites left Egypt like a marching army. ¹⁹Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph had made the sons of Israel swear that they would take his bones with them when God led them out of Egypt—as he was sure God would.

²⁰Leaving Succoth, they camped at Etham on the edge of the wilderness. ²¹The LORD guided them by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. That way they could travel whether it was day or night. ²²And the LORD did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from their sight.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, decrease my preoccupation with my destination and increase my concern for the process You are using to shape my character.

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