Title: God's Lamp
Contents
"God's Lamp"
Deuteronomy 32:10-12
In the Bible, Israel is the representative of the saints. The way God deals with Israel shows the way God deals with us.
What was life like for the Israelites in the wilderness after they came out of slavery in Egypt? I had to leave Egypt at dawn as if I was driven out, I had to go back to the wilderness after leaving a short road, I was often thirsty because there was no water, and there was nothing to eat, so I lived a life of complaining. They wouldn't even settle there, and they had to wait until the clouds came up, not knowing when to leave. It was also a terrifying situation where thousands of people were dying from idolatry and all kinds of diseases. The races around them threatened or had to go step by step while fighting them. I had to live like that for 40 years. However, according to today’s text, it is said that it was “the lamp of God.” Was this life situation God's back?
According to Jeremiah 31:33, God has decreed that “I will make my people my people, and they shall live together forever.” And he promised that you would make it happen. All of the things that happened in the wilderness were deliberately put into that situation with the people on their backs in order to do what God had promised to do. According to verse 12 of today’s text, ‘the Lord alone led him’. All the things that happened in the wilderness were done by God, not by any other god. After 40 years, God eventually brought Israel into Canaan. According to Numbers 1, there were 600,000 Israelites out of Egypt. In Numbers 26, the number of Israelis entering Canaan after completing their wilderness life is also 600,000. In other words, God carried Israel on His back and went through the wilderness, slaughtered all the old Israel, and made them to be reborn as a completely new Israel and enter the Promised Land.
Until that completion, the house of Israel had committed repeated murmuring, repeated idolatry, repeated disobedience, and repeated fornication. Who they are has been thoroughly exposed. Therefore, God does not depend on any actions of human beings, and God created them anew only with ‘grace’.
In fact, the entire Bible reveals this God. It shows that God has to perfect His people. It shows how the naked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden are being made into the people of God, clothed in white linen, in the new heaven and new earth.
Looking at the situation in our lives now, I doubt whether this is really God's lamp. But just like the people of Israel, any difficulties we face come from God's love and consideration. I'm not saying you have to overcome the difficulties alone. God Himself carries us and crosses it. In the meantime, God gives us all the revelations of our failures, incompetence, and shame that we experience. Seeing that reality, you become a separate person who depends only on God. Even though I am still so evil and weak, it is the life of a saint that realizes and shows that God is leading me to my destination until the end. With a grateful heart, let's be content with the current situation and overcome it. This is Heavenly Father's back.