Walk by the Light

When the children of Israel were leaving the shackles of Egyptian bondage the scripture says, "And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light" (Exodus 13:21). The pillars lead God's children through their wilderness wanderings.

During the time our Lord was on the earth in the flesh, the wilderness wandering was remembered yearly by the feast of tabernacles (Leviticus 23:43). It was observed that during this feast, God's children lit large lamps with the Court of the Women in the Temple. The light was a memorial of the pillar of fire which they followed in the wilderness.

In John 8:12, near the end of the feast of tabernacles Jesus announces to those in darkness, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." He is proclaiming that He is the one that guided them from the wilderness.

From this statement of our Lord, we learn that mankind at some point is in darkness. That Jesus is the light for mankind. For one to get out of darkness he must follow Jesus. Similar to the pillar of fire it must be a daily walk. It is only by following God's lights that the reward of eternal life will be given. Paul tells us the Christians have been transferred from the "kingdom of darkness" (Colossians 1:3) and are now "children of light" (Ephesians 5:8). John says, 'if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). The wilderness wandering in which God's children walked daily being lead and forgiven by God by the light, is the way God's children should walk today.

-asa