Exodus 13:17-19

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you." Exodus 13:17-19 .

God's mercy is continued beyond the mere act of deliverance. God does not sit down outside the gate saying, "You are now free, do all the rest for yourselves." Little acts follow great deeds in the wondrous economy of the Divine providence. There is a preventative ministry in the government of life. Near cuts to the goal are often dangerous cuts; to go across country instead of round by the proper circuit may appear to be very clever and successful, but it is only the cleverness and the success of suicide. Do not consider that we are out of the road because the road seems to be longer than it might have been. Often better to be in the wilderness than to be in the battlefield. God so orders his providence that men have services to render which considerably assist the detection of the path of duty. The services may be of an incidental and indirect kind, and may not always be accredited with their proper bearing and influence in life. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him. The carriage of the bones of Joseph had much to do with the progress of Israel in the wilderness. The solemnity of a vow was upon Israel. A dying man had given a direct charge to the children of Israel and had received an oath, and that oath was amongst the people as an inspiration, an encouragement and a discipline. God thus often charges our lives with sacred ministries which have an incidental bearing upon the steadiness of our course. We have made promises, or entered into engagements, or signed covenants, or done something which comes up again and again in the life and says, "You are bound to go forward; you cannot retreat without falsehood and cowardice."