Wisdom 18:1-16: a reflection

1But for your holy ones there was great light. Their enemies, hearing their voice but not seeing their form, counted it a happy thing that they too had suffered, 2yet for that they do not hurt them, though wronged by them before, they are thankful; and because they had been at variance with them, they begged for pardon. 3Therefore you provided a burning pillar of fire, to be a guide for your people’s unknown journey, and a harmless sun for their glorious exile. 4For the Egyptians well deserved to be deprived of light and imprisoned by darkness, they who had imprisoned your children, through whom the incorruptible light of the law was to be given to the race of men. 5After they had taken counsel to kill the babes of the holy ones, and when a single child had been abandoned and saved to convict them of their sin, you took away from them their multitude of children, and destroyed all their army together in a mighty flood. 6Our fathers were made aware of that night beforehand, that, having sure knowledge, they might be cheered by the oaths which they had trusted. 7Salvation of the righteous and destruction of the enemies was expected by your people. 8For as you took vengeance on the adversaries, by the same means, calling us to yourself, you glorified us. 9For holy children of good men offered sacrifice in secret, and with one consent they agreed to the covenant of the divine law, that they would partake alike in the same good things and the same perils, the fathers already leading the sacred songs of praise. 10But the discordant cry of the enemies echoed back, and a pitiful voice of lamentation for children was spread abroad. 11Both servant and master were punished with the same just doom, and the commoner suffering the same as king; 12Yes, they all together, under one form of death, had corpses without number. For the living were not sufficient even to bury them, Since at a single stroke, their most cherished offspring was consumed. 13For while they were disbelieving all things by reason of the enchantments, upon the destruction of the firstborn they confessed the people to be God’s children. 14For while peaceful silence wrapped all things, and night in her own swiftness was half spent, 15your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal throne, a stern warrior, into the midst of the doomed land, 16bearing as a sharp sword your authentic commandment, and standing, it filled all things with death, and while it touched the sky it stood upon the earth.

This passage looks back to the night of the exodus, when judgment fell on Egypt but God's people were kept safe. For your holy ones, it says, there was great light, even while darkness lay over their enemies. God gave his people a pillar of fire to be a guide for their unknown journey, a light in the darkness to lead them forward. While the night was thick around them and the way ahead uncertain, God's people had light, and guidance, and a way through.

Notice the contrast: darkness for the enemies, but light for God's people, and a guiding fire for their journey into the unknown. God's people were setting out on a way they did not know, through the darkness of night and the uncertainty of the wilderness ahead; but they were not left to grope in the dark. God gave them light to see by and a fire to follow, leading them on a path they could not have found themselves.

That is a picture of how God leads his people still. We often face our own unknown journeys, dark and uncertain, not knowing the way ahead; and we can be tempted to fear the darkness and the uncertainty. But God gives his people light and guidance for the journey, leading them through the dark on a way they could not find alone. When your path is dark and the way ahead unknown, do not fear as though you were left to grope in the darkness alone. God gives light for the journey and goes before to guide; trust him to lead you through the dark and the uncertain, as he led his people by the pillar of fire, on a way you could not find by yourself. The God who gave light in the darkness will light and guide your unknown journey too.

Lord, on the night of the exodus, while darkness lay over Egypt, your people had great light, and you gave them a pillar of fire to guide their unknown journey through the dark. Thank you that you still lead your people that way. I often face my own unknown journeys, dark and uncertain, not knowing the way ahead, and I can be tempted to fear the darkness. But you give your people light and guidance for the journey, leading them through the dark on a way they could not find alone. When my path is dark and the way ahead unknown, keep me from fearing as though I were left to grope in the darkness by myself. You give light for the journey and go before to guide; help me trust you to lead me through the dark and the uncertain, as you led your people by the fire. The God who gave light in the darkness will light and guide my unknown journey too; help me follow you through it.