The Story Week 5: Pillars of Fire and House Rules

This week we continue to travel along with Moses as he and the Israelite’s travel through the desert toward the promise land.    The Upper Story in the midst of this Lower Story saga is that God desires to be in relationship with the people that he created and made a covenant promise too.  God is the original Promise Keeper and while his first attempt ao commune with us in the Garden of Eden did not turn out as planned, sin entered the world.  Now his people are slaves in Egypt,  God hears their cries and frees the Israelites from slavery, he redeems them and God promises that he will be their God and make them his own.   He gives them proof of those promises by leading them through the dessert with a pillar of fire by night and cloud by day.  These serve as signs they are not just wandering aimlessly but are walking with God.  

God’s deepest desire is to be in relationship with us has not changed since the beginning of the Story.  Like the Israelites we find ourselves grumbling about life and taking our eyes off the pillars of fire and the clouds tha t serve as reminders of God’s promise.

 Question to ponder:  Are there signs you look for in your life that help you know when you are walking with God and when you are following  too much the devices and desires of your own heart?     What are they?

When Moses comes down from the mountain for the first time and gives the people the law they rejoice saying, “everything the Lord has said, we will do.”  Yet when Moses returns up the mountain and stays longer than they expect they quickly become afraid. They turn from  worshipping God to worshipping an idol they forge out of their melted down jewelry. 

Have there been seasons in your life you felt God had left you or found it hard to wait on God? 

What sustained you in those times? 

What parallels do you see between how God reaches out again and again to the people of Israel even as they repeatedly pull away from Him and how God acts in your own life in your moments of doubt or fear?