"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared . . ."
Old Testament or New, God provides direction. In the Old Testament, He began with Moses and signs and wonders. Then in the desert, He made the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. After the wandering period, God provided judges and prophets who became the voice of the Lord to the people. And when the time of the judges and prophets ended, God sent Jesus who physically left us and provided His Holy Spirit to be our spiritual leader until the final return of Jesus Christ the Lord. God has never, ever failed to give direction to those who sought His face and He never will.
"To guard" means to keep safe from danger; to protect against. In no way does Jesus want to see us come to any kind of harm, be it physical, mental and emotional, or spiritual. He made provision for the Israelites in the desert and He has made provision for us today to be fully covered and protected. The problem with Israel, and with us, is that we choose to be independent of God and go in a different direction. If you would read all 13 verses in this section, you will see the marvelous provision God made for Israel IF, and only IF, they were obedient to His direction. And the same holds true for us today. Blessiings come in abundance when we seek the face of the Lord and follow His commands.
The Heart of God desires to guard us, to put a hedge of protection around us, to keep us safe and secure in the spirit. He wants us to become deeply rooted in Him; He wants to become our shield and rampart. He wants to protect our spirits from the onslaught of hell, from horrendous spiritual attack that can mortally wound unless we are hidden in Christ. In the spirit, The Lord of Hosts commands His warriors to do battle in the heavenly realm for us; to go ahead of us fighting the spiritual war so that when spiritual attacks come at us they will end up as speed bumps instead of brick walls.
God wants to bless us, but we miss the blessings because we are disobedient. It's nobody's fault but our own. We can't be like Adam, pointing the finger at someone else saying "they MADE ME do it!" It doesn't work that way with God. We must take responsibiltiy for our own actions and our Divine Heavenly Father is more then willing, He's eager, to give us everything we need to stay centered in His will. The choice is ours. We have to decided which leader we're going to follow, and then either reap the rewards or bear the consequences. The choice is ours.
Who is your leader?
"Lord Jesus, thank you for leading me by Your sweet Holy Spirit. Thank you for my spiritual eyes and ears that are tuned to Your face and voice. I ask You, Master, to always help me keep my eyes on You, my ears ever ready to hear Your voice and my spirit eager and willing to be insantly obedient to Your every command. I place myself totally in Your protection. Amen.
FOR FURTHER STUDY:
Exodus 23:20-32
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Ephesians 6:11-13
Psalm 34:7
91:11
103:20
Matthew 18:10
Hebrews 1:14
13:2
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