“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared” (Ex. 23:20).
Three gracious promises are given to Israel to spur them on in their duty. First, God promises that they will be guided and kept in their way through the wilderness by the oversight of an angel. Some say this was a created angel, a minister of God’s providence, employed in conducting and protecting the camp of Israel. Others suppose it to be the Son of God, the Angel of the covenant, for the Israelites in the wilderness are said to tempt Christ. We may rightfully suppose Him to be God’s messenger and the church’s Redeemer before His incarnation as the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
We may assume He was pleased to undertake the deliverance and guidance of Israel because they were typical of His great undertaking. It is promised that this blessed Angel should keep them in the way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterwards through their enemies’ country. Likewise, God’s spiritual Israel will be kept through the wilderness of this earth and from the threat of hell’s gates. It is also promised that He will bring them into the place that God had not only designed but prepared for them. Christ has prepared a place for His followers and will preserve them for it, for He is faithful to His Father who appointed Him.
The precept joined with this promise is that they be observant of, and obedient to, God’s Angel. They were to obey in everything and not to provoke Him. If they did, He would “visit their iniquity.” Christ is the author of salvation to those who obey Him, not on account of their obedience but as the result of His work. Our necessary dependence on the Lord should compel us to obedience. We should never provoke our Benefactor because, if our defense departs from us and the streams of His goodness be cut off, we are undone.
The second promise is that they would have comfortable settlement in Canaan, but they were not to worship other gods. The same is true for us. Those who persevere in the faith, worshiping God only, will enter His promised land.
The final promise was that they would conquer their enemies. We, too, have this promise. As God’s people, we will triumph over sin, over Satan, and finally over death itself, for Christ has put all His enemies under His feet.
Read through this passage, applying it to yourself. What comfort do you receive from such promises? What duties are you encouraged to engage in faithfully and consistently? Thank God today for the promises you have in Christ.
