Israel had seen the Lord defeat the gods and armies of Egypt. She had crossed the Red Sea on dry land. Now she stood at the foot of Sinai, but the journey was not over. God had greater plans for His people than wilderness! There was the Promised Land to enter. But Canaan was not vacant; there would be new wars to wage, new enemies to defeat. So, as He prepared His people to enter, the Lord revealed that they would not be alone, left to rely on their own strength. “My Angel will go before you” was His promise. Israel would need fear no enemy; the Angel of the Lord would go before them, and thus the result was guaranteed: “to bring you in to the land.” Only unbelief could rob Israel of peace and hope, for this Angel could not fail.
Fast-forward thirty-eight years. Israel is camped on the east bank of Jordan, awaiting the morning when she is to enter the Land. The Angel appears to Joshua to remind him of the promise to Moses—that He would be going before, demanding Israel’s obedience and guaranteeing her victory (Josh. 5:13f). And the Angel did go before Israel, and the walls of Jericho fell.
Such reminders were graciously repeated in the years to come: to hesitant Barak when told to fight Sisera (Jdg. 4:14); to David before meeting the Philistines in the vale of Rephaim. In each case, believing that the Lord had gone before would be all that was needed to allow God’s people to rest in the knowledge of guaranteed victory. “Ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rear guard” (Isa. 52:12).
What of today? Sisera is gone and we have no Philistines to fight. But the children of God still face battles; trials that seem insurmountable—until we remember that our Lord Jesus has gone before. When we face grief that no one seems to understand, He has gone before, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). When we meet trials that seem unbearable, He has gone before: “looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb. 12:2). When we confront opposition that seems relentless, He has gone before: “consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds” (Heb. 12:3). When we face tasks that seem overwhelming, He has gone before, “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
And what of tomorrow? Should we meet death before He returns, we can do so with certain hope, for He has gone before: “that through death He might…deliver those who through fear of death were…subject to slavery” (Heb. 2:14f). And looking a little further, whether we live or die, each Christian longs for the day of rapture and resurrection, a day guaranteed to us because He has gone before: “Christ the firstfruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:23). When we lift our eyes further yet, there on the horizon we can see the end of the road—heaven, our home. We will take that step, like every step before, only because He has gone before: “I go to prepare a place for you. And…will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Jn. 14:2f). Then let us walk the road home with peace and joy and hope, knowing that He has gone before to guard us along the way, and to bring us at last into the place which He has prepared.