Exodus 14:19-20

“Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.”

This takes place when the Israelites are fleeing from the Egyptians and crossing the Red Sea. As the people were crying out, the Lord spoke to Moses and told him to go part the waters and as they cross He will destroy the army of the Egyptians. The angel that God sent before His people went behind, as did the cloud that the Lord provided for them to show them the way. The Lord had His protective hand over them as the Egyptians were catching up to them, and the two groups did not meet that night as the Lord guided His people. As I came to this section, I was reminded of how much the Lord has protected me and continues to do so. Not only does God go before me, but He is also my rearguard and my protection in all places and areas of my life. In Isaiah 58:7 it says, “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.” This chapter in Isaiah is about walking in the Spirit and being a servant and giving all of yourself for the glory of the Lord and He will be your rear guard. 

Moses was faithfully following what the Lord had commanded him to do and the Lord was blessing the people by being their protection and rear guard as He guided them forth on the journey He had set before them, even when He knew the sin that was to come from the people next. God didn’t see them for what was to come because He is just and sees us as a finished work, not a half-done sculpture. The Lord has been redirecting my mind back to this thought of Him being our rear guard and how much He has been in all things that have come my way even if I choose not to see His goodness in it. When the Lord puts something in front of me, I can choose to do it for His glory and be faithful in it or to give only half of what I have and be focused on myself in it. As I may look towards the Egyptians coming towards me and focus on that, the Lord wants me to see Him moving to guard me and be my protection. I have trouble seeing the protection of the Lord when I really don’t understand why I am where I’m at. The Lord is asking me to stop looking at the temporal and to focus my eyes back on Him. As a stubborn person, I get so set on doing it my own way and figuring it out on my own and not surrendering the thong or situation to the Lord, and letting Him be my rear guard and protection.

I don’t quite understand what this means in my life and fully what the Lord is teaching me through it, but I know that He is asking me to give up and realize the state of my flesh and give it all to Him. My application is to pray throughout the day as things come up that I would surrender it up to God and walk in His ability and not my own.