The pressure of constant danger intensified the sense of dependence
upon a power outside and above themselves. It led them to look
constantly to Jehovah as their sole guide and deliverer. A
continued attitude crystallized into a habit. Hence, throughout
their troubled career the Hebrews have been conscious of the
presence of God and have found in him their defender and personal
friend as has no other people in human history.
As later generations meditated on the perils of the wilderness
through which their ancestors passed, they naturally felt that only
under the immediate guidance of a divine power could they have
escaped. They were familiar with the way in which the caravans
travel through the desert: in front of the leader is borne aloft a
brazier filled with coals. From this smouldering fire there arises
by day a column of smoke that, in the clear air of the desert, can
be easily seen afar by any who may straggle behind. At night these
glowing coals seem like a pillar of fire, telling of the presence
of their leader and protector. With the same vivid imagery,
according to some interpreters, the later Hebrews pictured the
march of their ancestors through the wilderness, and thereby
symbolized the belief that Jehovah was then present and that
through his prophet Moses he was personally guiding his people.
How far have these Old Testament narratives been thus interpreted
by modern western readers? Does it change their spiritual
significance to seek to learn their origin and real literary
character? Are there still to be found, often in humble walks of
life, earnest Christians who have similar deep spiritual
experiences and describe them with the same vivid imagery and
concreteness? Is the value of our conception of God's presence and
activity in human history deepened and strengthened or lessened by
the thought that in the past, even as to-day, he accomplished his
ends by natural rather than contra-natural methods? Are the faith
and institutions of nations and individuals developed most through
special revelations or through ordinary, constant, daily training
and experience? Is it not true that to us all there come at times
experiences akin to those that underlie these wonderful narratives?