Exodus 19:16-21:21
Ex. 19:16-25
So here we go through a lot of Law and little action.
This shows something about the Lord, the way he chose/needed to represent Himself to the people. This might seem extreme, but keep in mind that up until now, they had seen many, many miracles and demonstrations of God’s care, but have chosen at every turn to distrust God and gripe. God has already shown them love and grace in humbling the Egyptians. Now it is time for them to be humbled. God wants them to fear Him.
In so much of what you see with Israel’s reactions to God and His dealing with Israel, there are overwhelming lessons for them and for us as disciples. First, this is how any person under the power of sin reacts to God. It is safe to assume that any of us, without Christ and the Holy Spirit, would have reacted the same way. What is convicting, if you look closely, is that even knowing the love and grace of Christ, and being indwelt by the Spirit, we often act the same.
Second, much of what God is going to reveal is His holiness. Their hope is to honor Him.
Third, they will learn respect for sin as it affects them individually and how each person’s sin affects them corporately. Sin, even personal sin, will be seen to hurt the entire congregation. By the end of the book of Joshua, they definitely have learned this lesson.
Ex. 20:1-17
The 10 commandments!
Some people have an allergic reaction to them because they are in the negative. Someone else has pointed out that often the negative conveys greater clarity in a few words. Imagine trying to reframe all of these in the positive. Also, imagine trying to convey directions and warnings to your kids by only using positive wording, like “don’t run out in the street,” or “don’t put your hand on a hot burner on the stove.”
The commandments have two parts. Do you see the difference? Also, all but one of these is repeated by Jesus in the NT, the keeping of the Sabbath. Why do you think it is not endorsed and promoted for the church by Jesus?
Ex. 20:18-26
If this order is chronological, the 10 Commandments were given to Moses on this short excursion on the mountain. Then he a came down to pass on the Commandments and to let the people know that God wanted to make a covenant with them, the commandments being representative of their obedience to the covenant.
The sight must have been fear inspiring. Earlier is said that the smoke rising off the mountain was like from a furnace, violent and forceful. Add to this the lightening, thunder, and trumpets, you can understand why the people were petrified.
V. 20 gives the purpose for this show of power.
This section fits with the Commandments, in that vs. 22-26 restate one of the commandments and adds God’s stipulations on how He should be approached in worship and sacrifice. The main lesson for them here, is to approach God in fear and respect and without representing Him in ways that He does not choose. The images and symbols of the worship of Yahweh will come from Yahweh, not from their imaginations.
For us as disciples, we should also follow this “advice.” If you look at what Jesus says we should do, and how “worship” is referred to in the NT, I wonder sometimes if our “worship” isn’t more a product of our imaginations and needs. I’m not saying it’s all wrong, but if the things that God desires are missing, if there is no worship in serving Him in the harvest, and it’s all to give us a nice feeling, does that really give glory to God? John 15:8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.
Ex. 21:1-21
Now, there are lots of places in the Bible, like the proverbs, where the order and connection between verses or themes defies logic or imagination. Since I enjoy the exercise, I’ll suggest some logical connections at times. And if you see something that seems to fit together, go for it. If you can’t see the connection I make, it might be that I’m having one of those TV warning effects of my medication (bleeding gums, excessive hair growth on toes and fingers, seeing things in the OT that are not there, etc….).
The last block of verses seemed to address the first 4 commandments, repeating one of them and generally talking about approaching God. These verses seem to address the last 6 commandments, repeat the commandment regarding parents, and generally talk about issues in living with one another.
Some notes of interest.
It’s interesting that the first law after the 10, had to do with slavery. They just came out of a century or more of slavery. The brothers sold Joseph as a slave. God doesn’t forbid it, but He regulates it. As offensive as slavery is in our culture or generation, it was common in all cultures back then. One of the reasons God may “regulate” it rather than banish it, is to show how it would be done humanely in the nation of God. Israel was to be a light to the gentile nations, drawing them, by showing them what blessing looked like in a nation worshiping God.
V. 1 hints at the cycle of release that God will institute later. The image of the slave wishing to give up his freedom and to stay enslaved to remain with his wife and children has been used as a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice, allowing Himself to be “pierced through” for love of his bride. It makes a good image of a disciple.
V.7-11 I don’t get this totally, but there are a couple of things to think about.
First, there were “types” of “slavery” that we cannot really get a true understanding of. Some slaves were like “contracted” help. Some slaves were real slaves and had no rights at all.
Second, notice that what is given here is humane and is probably a corrective to something bad that had been going on in the culture.
Vs. 12-14, this is the 6th commandment with the addition of what to do with someone who accidentally kills someone. It was apparently expected that if one man killed another, even by accident, someone had the right to kill the killer. God puts the brakes on this. Thou shall not kill, means, you shall not murder.
Vs. 15-17, this has to do with the 5th commandment with verse 16 sitting in. I would suggest that the connection with verse 16 is that “honoring your parents” also meant, caring for them, financially and physically, in their old age or need. To take a son from his parents by force so that he could not care for them, was worthy of death. Think about what Jesus said about “Corbin.” That was similar to this.
Vs. 18-19, this is two men willingly fighting each other, not one attacking another.
Vs. 20-21, this was a new, better law. It meant death to the slave owner if the slave died. But if the slave survived for a couple of days, it was, I think, to be looked on as God’s intervention, that God could have saved him but didn’t, and there was to be no punitive justice.
From here out, it will only get more random, at times, and you’ll be happy for the NT portion.
Matthew 23:13-39
Jesus is only days before His sacrifice for our sin, and here he is pronouncing His official condemnation of the Jewish leadership. After 3 years of being hounded by them, showing them mercy and grace, it is time to strongly “speak the truth in love” to these leaders.
So, how many woes are there? This is like Bible Study 101. Take every woe and figure out what Jesus is stating about the Pharisees and leaders. What is the key thing they were doing wrong? What should we be doing better as follows of Christ in the harvest?
I’ll mention some things that stand out to me.
Notice that the first woe has to do with keeping people from finding God. This was the whole point of Israel’s mission, and the leaders were keeping people out. Although God is doing this now, though the church, do not think that Israel will not fulfill this purpose. There will come a time when the church is removed and Israel will come to Christ and evangelize the world as all hell is breaking loose upon them. Redeeming a lost world was and is Israel’s mission. It is Christ’s mission and it is His disciple’s mission.
The last woe puts the entire OT history on the shoulders of the leaders. Just as the Law and Prophets continued to John, the guilt of hardhearted rebellion against God and killing His messengers, continued to these men who were about to kill the ultimate messenger, the Christ, the Son of Man, the Son of God.
Jesus pronounces judgment on this group of people, this particular generation. The eminence of this coming judgment often gets confused with the second coming of Christ. Paul, in particular, had this judgment in view, and you see this reflected in the distress that Paul talks about in 1 Cor. 7. The Judgment with this generation would hit in AD 72 when Jerusalem and the temple would be destroyed.
Vs. 37-39, is a second lament of Jesus over Jerusalem. The part of this that hits me, is the ending. The nation will not see Jesus again until they are so desperate that, like Israel as slaves in Egypt, the collective cry of the nation is so intense that they cry out for help and are willing to welcome Him, who they as a nation, have already rejected.
Psalm 28
I wonder if the crying out of Israel in the tribulation, will sound like this Psalm?
Proverbs 7:1-5
Notice again the figurative reference to binding the word to your body to control your actions. This is how important and close the word should be to us. We assent to this, but Solomon/the Spirit is saying we should so passionately understand our need and the danger around us that we intimately connect ourselves to the Word.
Notice too, that sensual pleasure is the great danger, again, and attraction to the Word/Wisdom is contrasted to the passion and attraction to the passion that will ruin us as disciples.
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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