Exodus 4
Sign of Moses’ shepherd’s staffverses 1-5
And Moses answered and said
BUT – behold they will not believe me
nor hearken unto my voice
FOR they will say
The LORD hath not appeared to you
And the LORD said to him
What is that in your hand?
And he said
A rod
And HE said
Cast it on the ground
and he cast it on the ground
and it became a serpent
and Moses fled from before it
And the LORD said to Moses
Put forth your hand and take it by the tail
And he put forth his hand – and caught it
and it became a rod in his hand
that they may believe that the
LORD God of their fathers
the God of Abraham – the God of Isaac
the God of Jacob
has appeared unto you
Sign of Leprosyverses 6-7
And the LORD said furthermore to him
Put now your hand into your bosom
And he put his hand into his bosom
and when he took it out
BEHOLD – his hand was LEPROUS as SNOW
And HE said
Put your hand into thy bosom again
And he put his hand into his bosom again
and plucked it out of his bosom – and BEHOLD
it was TURNED AGAIN as his other flesh
Sign of water turning to bloodverses 8-9
And it shall come to pass – IF they will not believe you
neither hearken to your voice of the FIRST SIGN
that they will believe the voice of the LATTER SIGN
And it shall come to pass – IF they will not believe also these
TWO SIGNS – neither hearken to your voice
that you shall take of the water of the river
and pour it upon the dry land
and the water which you take out of the
river shall become BLOOD
on the dry land
Moses excuse of poor speechverses 10-12
And Moses said to the LORD
O my Lord – I am not ELOQUENT – neither heretofore
nor since you have spoken to your servant
BUT I am slow of speech
and of a slow tongue
And the LORD said to him
WHO has made man’s mouth?
or WHO makes the dumb
or deaf or seeing or the blind?
have not I the LORD?
Now therefore go – and I will be with your mouth
and TEACH you what you shall say
Moses asks LORD to send someone elseverse 13
And he said
O my Lord – send – I pray you
by the hand of him whom you will send
LORD suggests Aaron’s helpverses 14-17
And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses
and HE said
Is not Aaron the Levite your brother?
I know that he can speak well
And also – BEHOLD – he comes forth to meet you
and when he see you – he will be glad in his heart
And you shall speak to him and put words in his mouth
and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth
and will TEACH you what you shall do
And he shall be your spokesman to the people
and he shall be – even he shall be to you
instead of a mouth
and you shall be to him instead of God
And you shall take this rod in your hand
wherewith you shall do SIGNS
Moses leaves Midian for Egyptverses 18-20
And Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law
and said to him – Let me go – I pray you
and return to my brethren which are in Egypt
and see whether they be yet alive
And Jethro said to Moses
Go in peace
And the LORD said to Moses in Midian
Go – return into Egypt
FOR all the men are dead which sought your life
And Moses took his wife and his sons – and set them on an ass
and he returned to the land of Egypt
and Moses took the ROD of God in his hand
LORD speaks to Moses regarding Pharaohverses 21-23
And the LORD said to Moses
When you go to return into Egypt
see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh
which I have put in your hand
BUT I will HARDEN his HEART
that he shall not let the people go
And you shall say unto Pharaoh
This says the LORD
Israel is MY son – even MY FIRSTBORN
and I say to you – Let MY son go
that he may serve ME
and IF you refuse to let him go
BEHOLD – I will slay your son
even your FIRSTBORN
LORD confronts Moses concerning circumcisionverses 24-26
And it came to pass by the way in the INN
that the LORD met him and sought to KILL him
THEN Zipporah took a sharp stone
and cut off the foreskin of her son – and cast it at his feet
and said – Surely a bloody husband are you to me
So HE let him go – THEN she said
A bloody husband you are – BECAUSE of the circumcision
LORD sends Aaron to Mosesverses 27-28
And the LORD said to Aaron
Go into the wilderness to meet Moses
And he went and met him in the mount of God
and kissed him
And Moses told Aaron all the WORDS of the LORD WHO
had sent him and all the SIGNS which
HE had commanded him
Moses and Aaron meet with elders of Israelverses 29-31
And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the
ELDERS of the children of Israel
and Aaron spoke all the words which the LORD
had spoken unto Moses
and did SIGNS in the sight of the people
And the people BELIEVED
and when they heard that the LORD had visited
the children of Israel and that HE had looked
upon their AFFLICTION
THEN they bowed their heads and WORSHIPED
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, And the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto you. (539 “believe” [aman] means assurance, faithful, trust, verified, to be certain, stand firm, confirm, support, or lean upon)
DEVOTION: The LORD is having a conversation with Moses about going back to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh about releasing the children of Israel.
Moses is now eighty years old and doesn’t want to get involved with the freedom of the children of Israel. He informs the LORD that if he goes back, they will not believe that he as seen the LORD.
The LORD knows that this is just an excuse. HE presents Moses with a plan so show the people that he has been with HIM. HE tells him to look in his hand to see what is there. He has a rod.
The LORD commands him to throw it down on the ground. It becomes a snake that causes Moses to run away. Moses is told to pick up the snake by the tail and it will become a rod again. Later on in the chapter it is called the rod of God.
How many of us give excuses when we are asked to serve the LORD? The fact might be that it includes all of us at one time or another. Here is a man who is eighty years old asked to do a hard assignment. He just wants to stay in the wilderness and mind his own business. Sound like some of us.
God had other plans for him. HE didn’t accept HIS excuses. HE doesn’t accept our excuses either. HE wants us to service HIM with the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us once we became believers.
There is no retirement age with the LORD. We are to serve HIM to the best of our ability until we die. HE has given us a gift to help the local church be the witness it should be to the community. It takes every member to help in this effort. No one should be giving excuses.
CHALLENGE: When asked to serve by the local church be willing to ask the LORD if that is in the area of your giftedness and then serve no matter what your age.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and HE said, Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he comes forth to meet you: and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. (8055 “glad” [samach] means to rejoice, be merry, to gladden, to feel happiness, bring joy, proud, joyful and cheerful countenance, or leaping for joy)
DEVOTION: This passage informs us that we can just say NO to God for so long and after that his longsuffering is over. The LORD has showed Moses three signs that he could perform to the elders of the children of Israel when he returned to Egypt.
These signs were to answer Moses first excuse of why the people might not believe that he had truly heard from the LORD and was HIS representative to lead them to the Promised Land.
The signs were not enough because Moses came with a second excuse. He told the LORD that he couldn’t speak very well in public. It is thought that he had a stutter or a speech impediment.
The LORD replied with questions regarding HIS ability to correct the speech impediment. However, Moses finally said that he wanted someone else to do the job.
Along comes Aaron his older brother. God says that HE will give Moses the words to say and he was to tell Aaron what to say and the two of them would confront Pharaoh and the elders of the children of Israel.
God is not happy with our excuses when he wants us to do something for HIM. Our parents are not happy if we are their children and just give excuses why we don’t do our chores. Our spouses are not happy when we don’t fulfill our responsibilities around the home. Our employers are not happy if we give excuses why we are not doing our job. Pastors are not happy when we don’t use the gift the Holy Spirit has given us to work in the local church.
Excuses should not be a part of the Christian life when it comes to honoring the LORD.
CHALLENGE: We should be asking the LORD for strength to fulfill our responsibilities to HIM in each of our responsibilities.
: 21 And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go to return into Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in your hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go” (2388 “harden” [chazaq] means to fasten upon, to seize, restrain, conquer, prevail, or withstand)
DEVOTION: Have you ever been afraid to do what the LORD tells you to do in HIS Word? Here is Moses confronted by the LORD for service to HIM. The LORD shows him signs that he is to show to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh. Moses still came up with excuses why he didn’t want to serve the LORD.
The LORD finally gave him his brother as a helper. Aaron was going to be his mouthpiece to Pharaoh. Moses was willing to go back to Egypt with Aaron’s help with Pharaoh.
God met him on the way with a problem. Moses had not circumcised his son. His wife circumcised their son. The satisfied the LORD. Obedience is necessary for service.
Now we face another problem. What does God do to Pharaoh’s heart? The Bible teaches that God has omniscience. God knows all things. God is not in time and space like we are at present. With this knowledge God knows the past, present and future. HE knows what is going to happen in everyone’s life. HE knows the choices we are going to make in the future. God does not cause us to sin.
God does not send anyone to hell without a choice. God does not prevail over a heart but allows each heart to make a choice. HE does know what choice will be made. Pharaoh and all rulers are in God’s hands. God knows what is going to happen in the future. Pharaoh has made his choice and that is to go against God’s people.
As part of that choice he will not let the children of Israel go to the land of promise. Romans one tells us how people act toward God. They want nothing to do with HIM. HE says OK and the Bible says “God gave them over.” HE gave Pharaoh over to his own wishes. Pharaoh thinks that he is winning, when really God is winning. HE always does.
We need to remember that God is in control. What sometimes looks like HE is not in control is not really the case. Believe HIM!!! When the children of Israel finally leave Egypt we will see what happens because of Pharaoh’s choice to reject the LORD’S request.
In our generation we have many people who willingly chose to NOT follow the LORD. In fact, they go against HIM with all their might. There are many books printed that deny God. That is why we have the passage in Romans one.
CHALLENGE: When the LORD gives us an assignment, do it. HE knows the outcome. HE just wants WILLING servants.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
:28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which he had commanded him. (226 “signs” [ʾowth] means 1 sign, signal. 1a a distinguishing mark. 1b banner. 1c remembrance. 1d miraculous sign. 1e omen. 1f warning. 2 token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof. [Strong, J. (1995). Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon. Woodside Bible Fellowship])
DEVOTION: God had given Moses three signs to use to validate Moses as God’s representative to the Israelites and to Pharaoh. These were in response to Moses’ excuses back to God about why he did not want to go back to Egypt. Now Aaron is commissioned to go with Moses back to Pharaoh, and Moses tells him about (and probably shows as well) the three signs that the LORD had given him.
What would Aaron’s response have been at that point? First of all, he was probably filled with fear as he saw Moses throw down his staff (so it would become a serpent) and then later put his hand into his cloak (to see it come out leprous). When these signs were reversed, Aaron might have responded that Moses did not need him to go with him to Pharaoh, as these signs were powerful enough demonstrations of the LORD’s call of Moses.
But we find that Aaron did not. As an older brother who had seen Moses grow up in the Egyptian courtyard, and then see his brother kill the Egyptian and flee, Aaron had a sense about the true character and heart behind Moses. Probably Moses had confided in Aaron how he had attempted to bargain with the LORD. So, Aaron was willing to stick with his brother and do what the LORD had told Moses Aaron should do—be his mouthpiece.
The authenticating signs would become important as marks of prophets to the children of Israel later on, and then they became proof of the deity of Jesus Christ. God also gave miraculous signs to the apostles who helped start the church. All of this was to show who the real God was and who His servants really were.
CHALLENGE: Do you have a brother or sister who really needs your confirmation right now? If so, seek them out and tell them how important they and their work are to you. (MW)
: 31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that HE had looked on their affliction; then they bowed their heads and worshipped. (8085 “heard” [shama] means hearken, obey, publish, understand, obedient, comprehend, to hear of or concerning, to hear with attention or interest, or yield to)
DEVOTION: We enter the chapter with the children of Israel in need of a deliverer. Moses has been sent to be that deliverer from the LORD. After all his excuses he comes with Aaron to the elders to present the words of the LORD.
He informs them of the words of the LORD and shows them the signs the LORD told him to show and they believe that he is really from the LORD. They are excited that the LORD is going to answer their cries for help. They have hope.
Belief gives hope and hope causes the people to worship the LORD. Without hope it is hard to worship but with it all the people are rejoicing in the hope of deliverance.
Jesus Christ gave us hope when HE died on the cross for our sins. Our sins are forgiven once we repent of them and turn to follow the LORD. With these events we can trust the Word of God that we are now in the family of God.
This should cause all those who believe to want to worship the LORD. In the Old Testament they build altars to worship the LORD to this point. In the future they would build a temple to worship HIM in.
Today we are to worship the LORD in a local church each Sunday. We are not to forsake the coming together of believers. Those who forsake the local church will be corrected or chastened of the LORD until they come into HIS presence in worship.
Most people in this country that claim to know the LORD are not in church each Sunday. They have excuses just like Moses. He witnessed the anger of the LORD. We will witness it too if we are not expressing our faith with other believers on a regular basis. That doesn’t mean Christmas and Easter.
CHALLENGE: If we have hope we should be worshiping the LORD to thank HIM for that hope!!!
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Children of Israel bowed their headsverse 31
Children of Israel worshipedverse 31
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Abrahamverse 5
Isaacverse 5
Jacobverse 5
Aaronverse 14
Words of the LORDverses 28, 30
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD (Jehovah)verses 1, 2, 4-6, 10, 11, 13, 14, 19, 21, 24, 27, 30, 31
Rod of Godverses 2, 4, 20
God (Elohim)verses 5, 16, 27
LORD God of their fathersverse 5
God of Abrahamverse 5
God of Isaacverse 5
God of Jacobverse 5
Lord (Adonai)verses 10, 13
Creator: Made man’s mouthverse 11
Mute, dumb, and blindverse 11
I will be your mouthverse 12
Teach Mosesverse 12
Righteous anger of the LORDverse 14
Wonders of Godverse 21
I will harden Pharaoh’s heartverse 21
Israel is HIS sonverse 22
Israel is MY firstbornverse 22
Mount of Godverse 27
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Jethroverse 18
Father-in-law to Moses
Tells Moses to go to Egypt in peace
Egyptverses 18, 19, 21
Midianverse 19
Pharaohverses 21-23
God is going to harden his heart
He is not going to let children of
Israel go
God’s going to kill his firstborn
Zipporah – Moses’ wifeverse 25
Took sharp knife
Cut off foreskin of her son
Calls Moses a bloody husband
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Not believeverse 1
Not listenverse 1
Excusesverses 1, 10
Hard heartverse 21
Killverse 24
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Presence of the LORDverses 1, 5
Believeverses 5, 8, 9, 31
Servantverse 10
Teachverses 12, 15
Serveverse 23
Believedverse 31
Visited by the LORDverse 31
Afflictionverse 31
Worshipverse 31
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Mosesverse 1
Not believe me
Not hearken to me
Lord has not appeared to me
Miracle of rod turned to serpent
Hand to body turned leprous
Water into blood
Sign gifts given to Moses
Not eloquent in speech – an excuse
Knows he is a servant of LORD
God will speak to him message to give to
Aaron
To be instead of God to Aaron
Do signs
At Midian
Men dead that sought his life
Took wife and sons
Took rod of God with him
Do all wonders before Pharaoh
In the inn – God is going to kill him
Zipporah – Moses’ wife
Moses told Aaron what to say to Pharaoh
Aaron the Leviteverses 14-16, 27, 28-31
Brother of Moses
Speaks well
Coming to meet Moses
Glad in his heart
Moses is to put words in his mouth
God tells him to meet Moses
Moses told him what to say to Pharaoh
Did signs before the children of Israel
Israel isverse 22
God’s son
God’s firstborn
Circumcision of Moses firstbornverses 25, 26
Elders of Israel gatheredverse 29
Children of Israelverses 29-31
Signs in the sight of people
People believed
People bowed heads and worshiped
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
4:24–26. The circumcision of Moses’ son (either Gershom or Eliezer) seems strange. In his years in Midian Moses had neglected to obey God’s command (cf. Gen. 17:10) to circumcise one (or both?) of his sons. So God was about to kill Moses, perhaps by causing him to be gravely ill. Zipporah reluctantly circumcised her son with flint and then God healed His prophet. Her touching Moses’ feet with the son’s foreskin was possibly a symbolic act of substitution, in which obedience was seen as replacing disobedience. Zipporah called Moses a bridegroom of blood. The meaning of this phrase is unknown, but some say it was used in a derogatory way to suggest that she did not favor the rite. (Yet she did it to save her husband’s life.) Others propose that she saw in the act a sort of redemption by which the blood of the youngster restored Moses to the Lord and also to her as a new bridegroom. (Hannah, J. D. (1985). Exodus. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 115). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Zipporah’s obedience (vv. 24–26). Moses had neglected to circumcise his second son, Eliezer, and God struck Moses down with an illness that could have taken his life. We get the impression that when Moses had circumcised Gershom, his firstborn, Zipporah had been appalled by the ceremony and therefore had resisted having Eliezer circumcised. Moses let her have her way and this displeased the Lord. After all, Moses couldn’t lead the people of Israel if he was disobedient to one of the fundamental commandments of the Lord (Gen. 17:10–14). Even if the Jews didn’t know it, God knew about his disobedience, and He was greatly displeased.
The servant of the Lord must be careful to “manage his own family well” (1 Tim. 3:4, niv) if he expects to enjoy the blessings of the Lord; for “[i]f anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?” (v. 5, niv) (Wiersbe, W. W. (1998). Be delivered (p. 21). Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor Pub.)
4:24 The encampment might have been a primitive inn on Moses’ route back to Egypt. the Lord met him and sought to kill him: The precise meaning of this passage is unclear. Clearly someone in Moses’ family was not circumcised, despite what God had commanded. Most likely, Moses had kept one of his sons uncircumcised in order to please his Midianite family. (The Midianites practiced circumcision on a groom right before his marriage instead of circumcising male infants.) Moses’ neglect was a crime deserving of death, especially for the future leader of God’s people. For this reason God met or “seized” Moses (for another use of this same Hebrew verb, read v. 27) (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1999). Nelson’s new illustrated Bible commentary (Ex 4:24). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.)
4:24–26 The presence of Zipporah’s name indicates that the personal pronouns refer to Moses. She, judging by her action of suddenly and swiftly circumcising her son, understood that the danger to her husband’s life was intimately connected to the family’s not bearing the sign of the covenant given to Abraham for all his descendants (Ge 17:10–14). Her evaluation, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me,” suggests her own revulsion with this rite of circumcision, which Moses should have performed. The result, however, was God’s foregoing the threat and letting Moses go (v. 26a). The reaction of God at this point dramatically underscored the seriousness of the sign He had prescribed. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ex 4:24–26). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
4:24 Cf. Gen. 17:14. The context (v. 25) interprets v. 24. Moses was forgetful of the very foundation sign of Israel’s covenant relation to Jehovah. On the eve of delivering Israel he was thus reminded that without circumcision an Israelite was cut off from the covenant. See Josh. 5:3–9. (Scofield, C. I. (Ed.). (1917). The Scofield Reference Bible: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (p. 75). New York; London; Toronto; Melbourne; Bombay: Oxford University Press)
Ver. 24. And it came to pass by the way, in the inn, &c.] As Moses and his family were travelling in their way to Egypt, at an inn where they stopped for the refreshment of themselves and cattle, or in order to lodge all night: so it was, that the Lord met him, and sought to kill him; not the uncircumcised son of Moses, as some think, but Moses himself, who had neglected the circumcision of his son; that from the context, and the fact of Zipporah, after related, seems to be the reason of the divine displeasure, and not his bringing his family with him, supposed to be an hinderance of him in his work, nor of his staying too long at the inn, and not hastening his journey, which are the reasons given by some: and Moses’s neglect of circumcision was not owing to the disuse of it among the Midianites, who being the descendants of Abraham, it is highly probable they retained this rite, and that it was used in Jethro’s family, since Zipporah well understood the nature of it, and how to perform it; and it looks as if her eldest son had been circumcised before, seeing only one was now circumcised by her; but the Midianites perhaps followed the same practice as the Ishmaelites did, who were their neighbours, and the descendants of Abraham also, who deferred it till their children were 13 years of age; or if this child was a very young one, it might have been put off, because of the journey they were just about to take, and purposing to do it when come into Egypt; but this was resented by the Lord in Moses, who had such knowledge of the law of God; and this displeasure of Jehovah might be signified either by inflicting some disease upon him, as Aben Ezra and Kimchi think, which threatened him with death, or by appearing in a terrible manner, as the angel of the Lord did to Balaam, with a drawn sword in his hand. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 1, p. 335). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
To some people God’s hardening seems to preclude Pharaoh’s exercise of his own will. But Pharaoh also hardened his own heart (7:13, “became hard”; 14, “unyielding”; 22, “became hard”; 8:15, 19, “was hard”; 32; 9:7, “unyielding”; 34, “hardened”; 35, “was hard”; 13:15, “stubbornly refused,” another Heb. word meaning “hardened”). The first two references to God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart (4:21; 7:3) were actually predictions that He would do it in the future. Then in the next seven references Pharaoh is said to have hardened his own heart (7:13-14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7) before God is said to have hardened it (9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8). God’s first hardening came after the sixth plague. Pharaoh hardened his own heart six times by his refusals. Then later he hardened it again in response to the seventh plague, and God hardened his heart after each of plagues 8-10. God confirmed Pharaoh’s defiant willful obstinance by then judicially hardening his heart (cf. Deut. 2:30; Josh. 11:20). (Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Ex 4:18–23). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Thus, in Exod. 4:9 the meaning is, “if they do not believe in view of the two signs,” rather than, “if they do not believe these two signs.” The focus is on the act of believing, not on the trustworthiness of the signs. When God is the subject or object of the verb, the Septuagint almost always renders this stem of ˒aman with pisteuo (“to believe”) and its composites. The only exception to this is Prov. 26:25. (Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.)
Psalms 100
All men are exhorted to praise the Lord because He made us and we are His.
INSIGHT
Psalm 100 is perhaps the finest example of a praise psalm in the Bible. The righteous heart pours forth a spontaneous stream of undefiled praise. First, he calls upon all men everywhere to praise the Lord. Then he identifies the relationship which God has with His children. We are not our own; He has made us. “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (v. 3). Next he calls for us to praise God again: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise” (v. 4). Give thanks. Bless Him. Then he finishes by listing attributes of God. God is good; He loves forever. Make this psalm your personal psalm of praise. (Quiet Walk)
THE REALM OF EXPERIENCE, PART 2
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
In the same way, great crises in life show us our weakness, helplessness, and lack of power. Paul illustrates that in Romans 8. “We know not what we should pray for as we ought.” In a time of peace and of ease we think that we can pray, that we know how to pray. We are assured and confident, and we feel that we are living the religious life as it should be lived. But when trials come, they reveal to us how weak and helpless we are.
That, in turn, drives us to God, and makes us realize more than ever before our utter dependence upon Him. This is the experience of all Christians. In our folly we imagine that we can live in our own strength and by our own power, and our prayers are often formal. But troubles make us fly to God and cause us to wait upon Him. God says of Israel through Hosea, “In their affliction they will seek me early” (Hosea 5:15). How true that is of all of us. To seek God is always good, and afflictions drive us to do so.
But all this is mainly from our side. Looking at it from the other side, we can say that there is no school in which Christians have learned so much of the loving, tender care of God for His own as the school of affliction. While all is well with us, in our self-satisfaction and self-contentment we shut God out of our lives; we do not allow Him to reveal to us His solicitude for us even in the details of our lives. It is only when we are troubled that we “know not what we should pray for as we ought” and that we begin to realize that “the Spirit…maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
A Thought to Ponder: There is no school in which Christians have learned so much of the loving, tender care of God for His own as the school of affliction.
(From Why Does God Allow War? pp. 124-125, Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Given to Us Eternal Life
“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” (1 John 5:11)
Our text for today contains truths that provide great power and comfort for Christians. Let us reflect on some of them.
The word “record” needs amplification. In noun form, it means “the evidence given,” and in verb form it means “testify,” or “witness.” The apostle John used it nine times in verses 7 through 11. Study of our text and its context shows that the record mentioned is none other than the great truth that Christ Jesus was God’s only Son and that He died as a perfect and fully sufficient sacrifice to provide us life eternal.
In our text, we see that this work of bestowing eternal life is God’s work. It is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us” (Titus 3:5). This eternal life is our present possession, for He “hath given” it to us (i.e., in the past). This gift is to individuals—to “us”—not to a nation or even the church, but to those who have believed. Furthermore, this “eternal life” is eternal! It will last for eternity and cannot be taken away. It is inconceivable for an omnipotent God to give “eternal life” temporarily. We are alive in Him, having been born (again) into His family. This is a permanent situation.
The tense shifts to the present in the last phrase of the text. Our “life is in his Son.” We are “in him….This is the true God, and eternal life” (1 John 5:20). Our life finds its vitality in living union with the Son. His death and resurrection made life possible, and now His present life is ours. His Spirit, resident within us, provides this vitality, and since the Spirit of God is eternal, our life is eternal. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (v. 13).
(JDM, The Institute for Creation Research)
Last week in Germany, vandals desecrated dozens of graves in the oldest Jewish Cemetery in Europe. Some of the stones vandalized date back to the 11th century.
Years ago, one of my colleagues visited Babi Yar, a ravine just outside the city center of Kiev in the Ukraine. There, in late September 1941, Nazi soldiers marched 34-thousand Jewish men, women, and children, before shooting them and burying them in the dirt. On the day my colleague visited, someone had spray-painted a swastika on the memorial at the entrance to the ravine.
Right now, as our nation has a hard but necessary conversation about racism, reckoning especially with the often unjust and hateful treatment of African Americans, the Church must reaffirm that ethnic partiality of any kind is antithetical to the Gospel, which begins by recognizing all humans as made in the image of God. And, if we are to be consistent in upholding human dignity, we must say (unfortunately, again) that anti-Semitism is, still, a very real and growing evil.
Though it often doesn’t receive the attention or the unanimous condemnation that other forms of racism do, the Anti-Defamation League reported 21-hundred incidents of assault, vandalism, violence or harassment against Jewish people in America in 2019. That’s the highest number reported since they started keeping track in 1979.
Less than two years ago, an American neo-Nazi committed the bloodiest attack on Jewish people in our country’s history, when he stormed Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue and opened fire, killing eleven people and wounding six. Less than a year later, another gunman charged a synagogue just north of San Diego on the last day of Passover, killing one woman and wounding three others.
And, since the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis, we’ve seen anti-Semitism hit a strange new cultural stride. Global pandemics, it seems, inspire conspiracy theories, and wherever there are conspiracy theories, there’s anti-Semitism. I can’t begin to explain it, but it’s true.
Earlier this month, Louis Farrakhan, the disgraced leader of a dangerous political group calling itself the Nation of Islam, called Jewish people Satan and accused Bill Gates of plotting world domination through a Coronavirus vaccine.
Though many would dismiss Farrakhan as crazy, he enjoys support by more than a few in the mainstream. Shortly after Farrakhan’s crazy speech, NFL star DeSean Jackson posted a video of it, offering his support of Farrakhan’s delusional claims. National leaders of the Women’s March Movement and other celebrities with sizeable platforms have also openly supported Farrakhan, and they’re not alone.
Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, for example, openly advocate for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, Movement, an international effort to boycott products made by Israeli companies in an open effort to hurt Israel’s economy. The BDS movement is founded on the principle that Israel, as a nation, has no right to exist.
Like any form of racism, I find anti-Semitism baffling. What I mean is that racism is arbitrary and irrational, but a hatred that’s persisted for this long and to this degree has supernatural roots. Biblically, it makes sense the Enemy would despise the Jewish people. God chose the nation of Israel through which Jesus would come and bring redemption to all nations. After targeting the Jews for centuries before Christ, the enemy has even been successful, at times, in turning the hearts of Christians against the Jews.
As long as the Jewish people endure, so will hatred of them. If our surrounding culture is going to turn a blind eye to it, or even openly support it, somehow without fear of cultural cancellation, the Church must lead in condemning it. After all, in this moment of racial reckoning, to pretend anti-Semitism isn’t a pressing and current problem is to lose our moral authority to fight other forms of racism.
In a recent poignant piece condemning anti-Semitic comments made by a few African-American athletes and celebrities, former professional basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabaar put it succinctly: “If we’re going to be outraged by injustice, let’s be outraged by injustice against anyone.” Amen.
Publication date: July 30, 2020 (BreakPoint)
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