Exodus 17:8-19:15
Ex. 17:8-16
This story has launched a thousand sermons. The question is, “Why did Moses have to raise his hands?” God is obviously teaching Moses, and them, and us, a lesson. It might be that it fits well with the following story.
Note that Joshua is mentioned here for the first time and he is honored with the victory. That the memorial is recited to Joshua might be a prophetic hint.
The Amalekites will be a pain in the neck for Israel for a long time, in fact, led by Joshua, they will fight them again in 40 years. They were present when Abraham moved to Canaan (Gen. 14:7).
Ex. 18:1-27
Notice that Jethro was a priest of Midian, and that he had some knowledge of God. I don’t think the knowledge of God was as lost back then as it is today. We’ve already met Melchizedek, and soon we’ll meet Balaam, both of whom not only knew God, but served Him. In Jethro’s case, it is safe to say that he didn’t consider Yahweh to be the only God. Just like Pharaoh and his magicians, they knew there were other “entities” out there, and there was power they could draw on. In 1 Cor. 10, Paul says that there are no other gods, but what pagans sacrifice, they offer to demons. Satan is not stupid. If you can’t dissuade people from believing in God, just convince them that He is just one of many. It accomplishes the same purpose. These people were very religious and thinking that Yahweh was only one of many gods was successful in leading them in the wrong direction.
Vs. 10-12 What God had done in Egypt had done something in Jethro’s heart and understanding. Actually, the entire known world was moved by what happened to Egypt. We’ll get a taste of this when Joshua reaches Jericho. It would be the same today if something happened to a major nation or superpower. News back then didn’t travel as fast, but via trade and travel, word got around. Remember, too, that one of the wonders of the world was in Egypt. Anyway, it’s hard for me to say that Jethro became a believer because he mentions other gods. Compare this to the testimony of Naaman the Syrian in 2 Kings 5:15. I’m confident we’ll see Naaman at the table, but I don’t know about Jethro, or Nebuchadnezzar for that matter.
13-27 This portion of Scripture has not only launched a thousand sermons, but also a thousand leadership books and illustrations.
Ok, this is a great principle, no doubt. Do you see any common thread between this story and the one above?
What is God teaching Moses and the disciple of Jesus, working in the harvest, making disciples?
Ex. 19:1-15
A few things to note here:
Time is mentioned…3rd new moon, so about 3 months have passed since the Exodus.
What is coming is a major covenant with Israel as a nation. God already has a responsibility to them by virtue of the covenant He made with Abraham. That covenant was without condition since Abraham was entranced, watching God walk alone through the animals that had been sacrificed. This “old” covenant with the nation was a conditional covenant, that is, they had to pledge to do their part or the agreement would be void. We already know the story. They won’t and it will be. Whatever God is doing with Israel is for them but will show the truth of the heart of mankind, the power of sin, and the inability for man to become righteous before God by doing good, religious stuff. Although they failed, God will still honor the promise He made to Abraham to guide Israel as a nation. And, as we’re reading in Matthew, God will make a new covenant, not just with Israel, but with all men through the blood of His Son.
Notice what God was going to make them….a kingdom of priests, that is, representing Him before a lost world, bringing them to God.
God is going to begin giving the people lessons in being set apart and holy. The dramatics of staying away from the mountain are part of this.
Why couldn’t the men “touch a woman?” Consecration and seriousness before this great event, I would suppose. On the other hand, every boy growing up in Milwaukee knew that girls had cooties and just the mere touch could transfer gazillions of these scary little….well, oh, forget it. Better to go with the first suggestion.
Matthew 22:34-23:12
Matt. 22:34-26
So now the Pharisees go after Jesus and Jesus gives them a perfect answer and they have no response.
So, as the Germans would say, Jesus “rotates the spear” and points it at them. The question about the Son of David did two things. First, it exposed their superficial understanding of Scripture. Second, it showed that the Son of David was actually revered by David as Lord. Obviously, they should have been revering Jesus. In Jesus showing the shallowness of the teachers, Jesus goes on to warn the people.
Matt. 23:1-12
This warning is to the disciples and people, and it has a couple of aspects.
First, Jesus warns them not to be hypocrites like the Pharisees. Jesus is not saying the “burdens” were wrong, but the Pharisees didn’t do what they were telling the people to do. This is a good warning for disciples. It is very easy to tell people what they need to do, but the disciple has to be doing it himself. Reach the lost? Then the pastor and elders have to lead the charge. Make disciples who make disciples? They need to be engaged every week in groups. Otherwise, they will be laying something on people, which they themselves do not do.
Second, Jesus steers them away from “revering” any person too much: God? yes. Man? no. I remember reading for the first time, “Call no man Father.” I was a Catholic, and we called all the priests “Father.” And what Jesus said here made a lot of sense, because some of them were very frail, faulted men, but we had been led to think they were right up there with God.
In the church, the same holds true. By nature, we are attracted to the latest big name. God says not to give people titles that project a kind of super authority. That’s not good for them or us.
Third, for emphasis, the disciple is to be a humble, servant of all. A disciple of Jesus in the harvest is to be known by his/her love for Christ and their working together with other disciples to show that love reaching out and making disciples. A true disciple doesn’t need a title to be fruitful, but it is hard for a fruitful disciple to be hidden, and their humility and servant’s heart will help them make disciples who will make disciples with that same heart.
Psalm 27:7-14
Somehow I identify a lot with this psalm.
Do you see what connects verses 6 and 7?
How desperately do you need to “see God’s face?” Third Day has a song that says this, “Show Me Your Glory.”
Verse 14 is a precious and important truth. To understand how important “waiting” is in praying, do a word search on “waiting” and “wait” in the Psalms and Isaiah. It might transform your prayer life.
Proverbs 6:27-35
I can understand why the Spirit emphasizes this truth, but I wonder what personal experience urged Solomon on to share this with his son. I wonder, again, if it wasn’t because of the way David damaged himself and his family. How did David imagine he’d get away with it? It was utterly irrational. David knew Bathsheba, in fact, he probably knew where to look from his roof. David knew Uriah, knew her father, knew her grandfather. They probably all sat at his table every night. What did David think would happen? And he knew God.
The point here is that if you stray too close to lust, you’ll get burned. To think you can do this without effect is only to fool yourself.
Seasoned servants of God have built protective measures around themselves to keep from flirting with danger, to keep themselves accountable, to make sure they don’t linger around the fire. As disciples, we are no better and need to heed the warning the Spirit is giving us here.
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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