The Four forms of God in Exodus

When reading through Exodus there were four forms which God took on that struck out to me. In all the forms He took on, He was always taking them on to protect and help bring about justice for the Israelites.

The first one is obviously when He appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush to tell Moses He is called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. This is a pretty interesting and unique way God has chosen to reveal Himself and report to Moses his calling, but later on we again see God in the form of fire.

 The second one was when Moses summons the elders and tells them about the Passover. In chapter twelve and verse twenty-three Moses says "the destroyer" is going to be kept from entering their houses if He sees the blood on the lintel and the two doorposts.  I'm assuming God in this verse is "the destroyer" since later on in verse twenty-nine it says "the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt".  So in this form of God we see Him being a "destroyer" and bringing death and destruction to the land of Egypt and only sparing the Israelites.

The third and fourth forms that God takes on is when He is leading the Israelites out of Egypt. During the day He goes ahead "in a pillar of a cloud" and during the night He goes ahead "in a pillar of fire." Seeing God as a cloud is new, but now God has returned to the form of fire to lead His people out of Egypt which is the same form He was in when He first told Moses he would lead the Israelites out of Egypt. 

It is so amazing to see the great lengths that God will go to to protect His followers.  From going to a reporting flame in a bush, to a "destroyer", to a guiding cloud, and finally to a leading pillar of fire, God always makes sure He is bringing glory to His name and letting his sovereignty shine.  I now will never doubt Exodus chapter fourteen verse fourteen when Moses says "The Lord will fight for you;" because just seeing the variety of forms God takes on in one book of the bible confirms this verse.


P.S. commented on TinsleyG's A darkness that may be felt