April 3, 2013

• In the Dark of Night

  I don’t know if you’re counting the Omer with me or not, but we’ve made it a week!  We’re one seventh of the way thru our trip from… out here, to a closer relationship with Ha’Shem, if we’re doing this whole Passover thing correctly.  Because the trip from Egypt across the sea to Sinai wasn’t just a nice little walk.  It was a time of transition – the people coming out had been fully immersed in the world’s ways, and by the time they reach Sinai, the Bible says they were holy as the angels… they had a HUGE transition going on during those weeks.  And if you consider the reality of duality, the spiritual application of this is that we (people stuck in this damned world) come before Yehovah and remember His salvation at Pesach (both from Egypt – OT – and thru Messiah – NT), and then use the time from Pesach thru the weeks of counting the Omer drawing closer to Him. 

  

  I change the cover photo on my FB a LOT, trying to illustrate where we are in the whole thing.  There’s not enough good graphics out there for me, I should add.  But my current picture is of the parting of the Red Sea as seen from the other side.  In other words – the cloud that went before them by day, and the ocean beyond the last of them closing back in on itself, over the Egyptians.  There are no Jews in my picture, just Yehovah-the-pillar-cloud, and the forces of nature in His power.  It’s… an incredible picture… I really love it.  But it kind of sparked something in me.  Because I have never ‘followed along the Omer with scripture’.  ((Is that how you’d say it?))  I never read what THEY did at the same time as I’ve counted the days.  And doesn’t that seem like something we should do?

  So I turned to Exodus, where my Bible says ‘Leaving Egypt’.  And it says that from the moment they left Egypt, Ha’Shem went before them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and led them the ‘Way of the Wilderness’, instead. That took them from Sukkoth (Dwell with the Lord) to Etham (meaning, the desert)… this was like when Messiah was baptised and and the Spirit came on Him in the form of a dove (place called Sukkoth) and then He went immediately into the wilderness to be tempted.  Remember?  Another reality of duality.  We come out of our Passover meal, and… life happens.  My mother shows up with doughnuts, and tries to get me over for Easter supper.  Tempting.  I actually wrote a post about ALL the places they went – it’s on the sidebar, called ‘My Marah’, in case you were interested.

  From there (still in that 7-day period of unleavening), they would up between Pi Hahiroth and Baal Zephon.  (Pi Harorth means both ‘mount of caves’ and ‘place of liberty’, and Baal Zephon means “God’s Judgment”.  So between judgment and ‘liberty’ on the other side.  Between a “rock and a hard place.  Ever hear of that before?  Now you know where it comes from.)  They were between two hard places, with Egyptians coming behind them, and nothing in front of them but the sea.

  What happens, next?  Exodus 14:19 does… and it’s AWESOME.  It say the Angel of God that was leading them (that pillar of cloud?) came between the Egyptians and the Israeli camp, and protected them.  It says that cloud was dark and ominous and a heavy barrier to Egypt, but it was light and reassurance to the Jews.  Now how about that?!?

  Then the Lord had Moses stretch out his hand toward the sea, and all night long  the waters pulled back – did you know that?  It was a sunset-to-sunrise thing.  The night of deliverance… their joy must’ve been great.  Seeing that?  Watching it happen?  Wow!!

  It says that the Divine presence was still a cloud when Egypt was separated from Israel, not a pillar of fire, yet… and it says the water split back at sunset.  Which means deliverance came just as the seventh day began – just as the leavening/life came back into the people.  They did NOT go to bed that night – they were ready to go… and contrary to all those pictures in christian books, the Bible clearly says that the Red Sea parting happened in the dark hours, only.  Israel crossed at night.  It wasn’t until dawn that the waters were allowed to fold in on themselves (Ex 14:27), did you know that?  I don’t know how I missed this for so many years – I have read this passage so many times, you’d think I’d have seen that!  It says that Egypt didn’t know what was happening until morning (vs. 24) and so they were quite a long way behind… that’s why they were driving so hard (vs. 25).  But it did them no good.

  My header picture at FB is of that morning.  As the sun hit the horizon, the waters folded back in on themselves.  It was over – no daytime crossing, everyone safe on the other side.  What a night that must’ve been!

  I think I’m going to like looking into this journey, further…

  • 10:14 am
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