ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 32 - Exodus 39-40 (The Cloud and Fire of the Spirit)
“Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.” (Exodus 40:34-38)
Although God certainly had no obligation to do it, He decided to validate and show His presence to the Israelites in the form of the Cloud that rested above the tabernacle by day and fire by night. For sure, God did so for their own benefit knowing that the people needed to see with their own eyes that God indeed would dwell with them as He promised.
The Cloud and Fire above the tabernacle represented the Spirit of God to the Israelites in the Old Testament. In the book of Acts in the New Testament, we read, “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4) God, at the start of the Church, decided to once again manifest His Spirit by fire, this time resting not on a building made by man, but on man himself who is made by God.
We read in Acts 2 that the Holy Spirit of God filled every believer just as He filled the tabernacle during its consecration at the wilderness. The tabernacle made by Moses was simply a foreshadow of the true tabernacle that God intended to dwell in and fill which is our bodies as Paul wrote, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)
In Moses’ time, whenever the cloud above the tabernacle moved, the people moved with it. They were literally led by the Spirit of God through the Cloud by day and the Fire by night that rested above the tent. Christians who are filled with the Holy Spirit are constantly and completely led by Him. They are sensitive to God’s leading because they have learned to fully obey and trust Him in everything. This is the will of God as He commanded in Scriptures: “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit…” (Ephesians 5:18)
Do you desire to be filled with the Spirit of God? First, make sure you have confessed all your sins to Him and received Christ as your Savior. Christ promised to dwell inside every person who repents and asks Him for salvation through the Holy Spiirt. But not everyone who has the Holy Spirit is filled and led by the Spirit. You need to be fully obedient and surrendered to God and to depend on Him for every area of your life. Then, as you learn how to do that, you will be filled and led by the Spirit accordingly. And just as a person is saved by believing that Christ has saved him, a person is filled by the Spirit by believing that he is. Faith is the key.
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