The Cloud and the Fire

“Now on the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the Testimony; from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire.” (Numbers 9:15 NKJV)

Where is God? In the wilderness journey forty years, there was the tabernacle in the center of the camp of Israel. The tabernacle was built according to what Moses saw in the mount Sanai. It was the mobile temple where the people sacrificed animals. In the center of the tabernacle, there was the holy of holies where the glory of Jehovah God came down and dwelled and the high priest could enter with the blood of goat once a year.

Where the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered it, the tent of the Testimony, from evening until morning it was above the tabernacle like the appearance of fire. The cloud and the fire were the symbols of the presence of Jehovah. God who led His people out of Egypt through carrying them on eagles’ wings was in their midst. All the Israelites could always see the cloud and the fire forty years, even in the barren and howling wilderness.

We are living in the concrete jungle and wilderness of the world where people are depressed, hurt, wounded, crushed, raped, murdered, robbed, deceived, and confused under the power of darkness and evil. People are suffering for emptiness, futility, loneliness, meaninglessness, boredom, fear, and guilt and despair. This is the age of darkness and confusion. People find no hope, vision, deliverance anywhere in the world.

Where is God? God is in the hearts of the believers of Christ. All the saints are called and sanctified 

as the light of the world and the salt of the earth. We are the living tabernacles of God where the glory of Jehovah indwells forever.

What is the significance of the cloud and the fire in our midst? Were they not for the Israelites in ancient days? Yes, they were. They were the symbol of security and care and protection. How could they sustain life in the wilderness? God did. Likewise, we can sustain life because God indwells within. God imparts the righteousness, peace, and joy into our lives. God invigorates our lives into excitement, venture, vitality, fulfillment, liveliness. 

Apostle John says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12 NKJV)