Exodus 5:22-7:24
Ex. 5:22-23
One of the challenges we have as disciples, is telling and showing people from God's Word, what they are to do, and then watching them, and listening to them endure hardship for their actions. We encourage them from the Word to tell the truth. So, they don't lie at work and get fired. We tell them to pray, but it seems like things get worse. We tell them to live for Christ, and they get laughed at by their spouses or friends. Learning though patience and hardship is not the exception, it is the rule. This is why many people give up as disciples. Jesus did not say the way was easy, He said being yoked to Him made it easier. He is the Key, and the love thereof.
Moses has over a million people mad at him and the turn of events here is killing him. This was supposed to lead to an easy victory. In his thinking, every play would be a touchdown or at least a first down. He never thought they'd lose yards or get hit at the line of scrimmage.
Moses was learning, as all true disciples must, that when you are following, there has to be absolute, strong, patient, confidence in the Lord. You never assume you know the path He will take. You just follow. You learn that God uses all the malfunctions of men and of happenstance to accomplish His will. You learn that sometimes the blown play or the "sack" is setting you up for the touchdown. As the bumper sticker says, "With Christ, the only way to lose is to quit." And even here, He might let you get to the place of quitting, to lift you up and renew your heart in a way that makes you stronger in Christ than you ever would have been if you hadn't been defeated.
Here, Israel has doubted God and Moses, and Pharaoh has grown arrogant, and Moses has grown humbler than ever. The stage is set.
Ex. 6:1-13
Just for interest, circle in this sections where God speaks and where Moses speaks. God appreciates that Moses is a "D-1" and needs direct commands and coaching.
Just a couple things.
First, God confirms the promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, points to the land promised, and now the redemption of the people out of slavery. This promise would have been the content of their faith in God. The sacrificial system would point them to the reality of sin and their need for forgiveness, but the prime object of Faith is the covenant-keeping God who promises. These people had the account of history, even as Moses is writing it here, that goes back to the promise of redemption at the fall, the saving of Noah and the promise to Abraham. Since they had this history, the person of Faith would understand that the God of the Covenant had a greater plan than just giving a couple million people a homestead.
I say all of this because the unfolding of the plan of redemption was progressive. They didn't know about Jesus, but there was Yahweh who chose them and made promises of redemption. Here and there, there is hint at the future, for example, the dying words Jacob spoke to Judah, but it would take faith to see beyond those vague references to the redemption God was working for all of mankind. What kind of faith? Faith focused on Yahweh, who promises and keeps covenants, and then they would sense the scope of God's work. The heart of flesh would only understand their need as immediate, and the promises, as nationalistic.
Notice in v. 9 that the heart-broken people reject Moses in spite of the encouragement God has just given him. Maybe God gave Moses that strong encouragement to help him withstand the rejection of this bitter people? For a disciple, God's encouragement doesn't always signal success, but perhaps rather, that God is preparing us to endure what's coming. Encouraging thought, huh?
God is now telling the discouraged Moses what to do in command form. Moses' words in v.12 are explained by what happened in v. 9. God charges, commands, orders, Moses and Aaron to "just do it."
Ex. 6:14-27
This partial genealogy begins with Reuben in order to place the tribe of Levi in its proper place in the sons of Jacob. The genealogy of Levi is the only real focus here and therefore doesn't go beyond Levi. The purpose is to show where Moses and Aaron came from. This is like a formal introduction, I suppose.
Interesting that Moses named his son after the first born of Levi.
In this list there is a cast of characters who will have the stage for bad and for good in the next 2 books. The greatest of these is Phinehas, who is referred to as a hero throughout all of Israel's history and is alluded to in the last OT book, Malachi. Cool dude.
By the way, this last thought comes from reading the Bible every year and making little connections year after year until, like doing a puzzle, you slowly see the picture. Very cool.
Ex. 6:28-7:9
The time marker "on the day" indicates, I think, the chapter should have begun here.
Notice the ages given for Moses and Aaron. Most people wouldn't go back and re-read the story of Moses, but with his age in mind, you will begin reading next year and see what he does when he is 40 and you'll read the next sections understanding that Moses was prepared by God for 40 years in the wilderness. This will help you understand Moses and God in a deeper way. And that's another reason why reading your Bible through every year is an "awesome" thing. (Just wanting to see if Jeff is reading.)
I don't want to say much about the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. As you read, make a note in your Bible when Pharaoh hardens his own heart and when is says God hardens Pharaoh's heart. There might be a lesson in that.
Ex. 7:10-13, the battle begins
Note that Pharaoh's boys were good at magic…tapping in to Satan's power. This should blow your mind, but not scare you. For all the power of the unseen spiritual forces, God doesn’t draw our attention to them that often, meaning, God thinks we know enough. If we know they're there and we follow Christ in the Spirit and in the Word, we'll be OK. The effect was that these signs by his magicians hardened Pharaoh's heart, even though the magicians had to go out and get new sticks.
Ex. 7:14-24
Your observations here are better than anything I have to say. Just a couple of notes. The "ministry" of Moses and Aaron here is what the "ministry" of the two witnesses in Rev. 11:3 will look like. When they declare a judgment on earth, a seal is broken in heaven, and all "hell" breaks loose on the hard of heart.
Also, since it is mentioned later that those plagues didn't affect Goshen, where the Israelites lived, I assume that some of the delta area of the Nile was also turned to blood. This wouldn't have been to punish Israel, but to encourage them by showing them what God was doing down yonder at Casa de Pharaoh.
Matthew 18:23-19:12
Matt. 18:23-35
For the disciple, true biblical forgiveness rests in and is empowered by our own forgiveness from God. This forgiveness springs as much from a heart that has received mercy, as it does from a heart that is grounded in a biblical/spiritual perspective of reality. We all are dead, we all are hopeless debtors. This reality of our salvation and the grace given to us on this planet, makes a disciple live an "other worldly" life, that is, a life of full understanding of what is happening on earth and in heaven. That's why Matt. 5:39-48 seems so unreachable to people. It is because we are grasping on to our rights and life on earth as if this is all of reality, and that life on earth should be good.
Now, if we as disciples cannot forgive others, and I'm not saying "trust" or "accept their version of reality" or "kiss twice on each cheek" or "go on vacation with;" I'm saying "placing the right to demand justice or payment in God's hands," then it shows that we have a faulty understanding of our own debt and the forgiveness we have received.
In my experience, any person and even a disciple, who arrogantly withholds forgiveness of this kind and cannot do good for an enemy, will not be released from the penalty and punishment for his own ongoing sins. God takes even his disciples to task in those areas of failure and restoration we walk through on a daily basis, until we learn to forgive from the heart as He forgives us. This kind of situation always has more to do with us and God, than us and some other person. Christ loves His followers too much, than to let us get away with this misunderstanding of His sacrifice and grace.
Matt. 19:1-12
Just some notes here.
Vs. 4-6 are very clear teaching on marriage. It is a union first, and then a sexual “one flesh” union. It is between a male and a female. “Male and Female” is the only way to be "one flesh" in God’s eyes. It is how God created us. It is what God wants. All other variations are wrong. God is not open to discussion, but will forgive the variations if people will agree to His way and repent.
So yes, sex outside of marriage is sin. Adultery is sin. Homosexuality is sin. And it is God who says so and He loves us and will forgive and restore us, if there is agreement with Him and if we repent. He is not going to change this order of creation anymore than He’ll change the direction of the rotation of the earth because we demand it of Him. He is the creator. He knows what is best for us and He will forgive us.
V.6, Jesus is teaching that God never intended people to divorce. God joins together and means it to be forever. That's a pretty heavy thought. It is a spiritual union whether we agree with Him or not.
Vs. 7-9, God allowed divorce and remarriage, because of our unwillingness to listen to Him, just like Pharaoh. He has built the need for completeness so deeply in us, as the essence of us, that it is irresistible to us. We may not understand it and just relegate it to hormones and sexual behavior, but it is a very deep spiritual need and will drive us whether we understand it or not.
In adultery the "covenant" is broken. This is inevitable in divorce and remarriage. Somehow, in all of this dysfunctional humanity, God allows for restoration and forgiveness and order and renewal, but it always has a price. Grace can overcome the effects.
Vs. 10-12, The disciples are shocked because marriages back then always had an escape clause, just like today. To think of marriage being "permanently" was scary to them.
Jesus says that for the kingdom, some people make the decision (and Paul adds, have the gift) to live without marriage for the purpose of serving God. They are figurative, not literal, eunuchs. I have only met a couple people in my life who have this gift. It is the exception, not the rule. It is the grace of God to them, either for a lifetime or for a period of time, totally focused on serving Christ as a disciple in the harvest, that the need for completion is satisfied, or held in check, without marriage and oneness. For most of us, a few hours is all we can stand. That is not the gift. In fact, some of us don’t understand this “gift” as a “gift.” Sorry, Paul.
Notice that it is "he who has ears," so not everyone will "hear" or be able to do this. Of all the things certain groups have enforced on their clergy, abstinence from marriage has been one of the most damaging and the most unbiblical. And they've used these verses to enforce or prove their teaching. In 1 Tim. 4:1-3 Paul says that forbidding marriage comes from lies and the doctrines of demons. Satan knows we need marriage, too, and saying we shouldn’t do it, is a good way to warp us.
Psalm 23
Enjoy!
Proverbs 5:22-23
Beware! A lack of discipline will always catch us, as disciples, in the keester. We are to hear Christ's Word and do it, following Him in the harvest, reaching the lost, making disciples who make disciples. Accept no substitutes, even if they look “holy” or “Christian”. At times we need distractions and down time, but it takes discipline to say "no" to distractions and follow and work and sweat and strain and bring forth fruit with patience in the harvest .
Especially where sin is involved, we need discipline, and we need to allow God to use events and people and responsibilities to help us as He prunes us to make us fulfilled and fruitful in the harvest. Read Hebrews 12:1-13 for some motivation on this point.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those at New Song who are following a One Year Bible and involved in a discipleship cell. We're meeting weekly and discussing the texts, not necessarily my comments. We're growing together, learning to become and make disciples who make disciples. We will all be leading others in this process and training them to do likewise.
The comments I'm writing are in no way exhaustive, but meant to give some leading thoughts on how the text applies to us as disciples and to encourage and stimulate our growth in reading the Bible, with the effect that we will grow as disciples and encourage the growth of others as disciples growing in the word. If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible, in fact, no one in our church reads the version I do, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
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