Reading 1 – Exo 1; 2

“Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son” (Exo 2:1,2).

“Exo 1 had portrayed in graphic detail the suffering which Pharaoh had inflicted upon the Israelites. What would God do about it? Would He have mercy on the Hebrews and deliver them from their shame? And if so, how?

“Exo 2 begins to answer these questions, but apparently in a tangential manner. For God’s solution consists not in some phenomenal miracle or in the promotion of a mighty israelite leader who was already alive (either of which we might have expected, had we not already known the story). God’s solution consists instead in the birth of a son.

“This provides both a pattern for the future and a salutary lesson. One day God would again send a son — this time HIS OWN — to deliver a people from slavery. Again He would prepare the child from birth, bringing it safely from the womb and nourishing and developing it for the immense task that lay ahead. How does one begin to create a people, as God begins to do in the book of Exodus? One does it, so Exo informs us, by means of a son. How remarkably history repeats itself!” (Mark Vincent, Testimony 71:108,109).

*****

So now… almost 80 years later….

“During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them” (Exo 2:23-25).

“It is because the cry of the Israelites is so intense that the story continues to unfold in the way it does… they cry, and consequently (and immediately) God responds. It is a pattern which is repeated time after time in the Scriptures. The cry of Israel initiates history; God is galvanized into action. His people cry; God is mobilized into activity on their behalf. Not that He has not been working quietly in the background all along — far from it, for the instant they cry Moses is ready to be sent, yet this was a process that was set in motion many years before! But whereas God had been preparing behind the scenes so that everything would be ready once His people cried to Him, now that pivot point has been reached God springs into action. For He is a responsive God; what He does is determined to some extent by the actions of His people. If they cry to Him then He will listen, and potentially intervene on their behalf” (Mark Vincent, Testimony 71:239).

Reading 2 – Psa 55:22

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall” (Psa 55:22).

Jesus himself did this: John 17:11; Psa 22:10; 37:5. 1Pe 5:7 quotes the LXX, as a sequel to “Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand.” Read with the emphasis: And he shall sustain YOU, as well as your burden.

CARES: “Burden” (AV). Notice that “burden” here (yahab) is “gift” in the margin: The “gift” of God to us is a life of cares and burdens, so that we might learn to trust in Him alone (v 23)! “Come unto me, all ye who (are)… heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mat 11:28,29).

“Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into His place to do for Him that which He has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy He will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if He were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to His plain precept, this unbelief in His Word, this presumption in intruding upon His province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God’s hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the ‘broken cistern’ instead of to the ‘fountain;’ a sin which was laid against Israel of old (Jer 2:32). Anxiety makes us doubt God’s lovingkindness, and thus our love to Him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from Him; but if through simple faith in His promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon Him, and are ‘careful for nothing’ because He undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to Him, and strengthen us against much temptation. ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee’ ” (GVG).

Reading 3 – Rom 8:29

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Rom 8:29).

We probably all have a pretty good idea what “predestination” is NOT. It is NOT “eternal security”; it is NOT “once saved, always saved”. But… the question here is: What DOES it mean? Consider the following:

FOREKNEW: From Greek “proginosko” = to know in advance. Cp 1Pe 1:18-20: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen (the same word: proginosko) before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” Note the Passover connection.

PREDESTINED: From Greek “proorizo” = to mark out, or set a limit (ie, horizon, where the sky stops) in advance. This is the blood of the Passover lamb, which marked out, or put a limit upon, the work of the Destroying Angel. Those who had faith sprinkled the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. In doing so they were marked out ahead of time (Exo 12), and were saved out of Egypt, while all around them others — the other “firstborns” (see this very verse for a “firstborn” connection!) perished (including the firstborn of Pharaoh: Rom 9:17)! There are other Passover connections with the immediate context here: Rom 8:32 (Gen 22: ram, offering), Rom 8:36 (Psa 44:22: sheep to be slaughtered).

The same word (proorizo) occurs in Eph 1:5,11 — where the righteous are “sealed” (separated for special use, marked out) in Eph 1:13. Also, the same word occurs in Acts 4:28 and 1Co 2:7.

Of course, the “proorizo” is the really interesting Greek word here. “Pro” = before, ahead of time. And “horizo” (like the English “horizon”) marks the point, or line, beyond which the sun cannot go, that is, the line of demarcation between earth and sky.

So, in Old Testament times, how did God “mark out”, ahead of time, an absolute line of differentiation between one group of people and another? One answer (maybe the best answer?) is at the first Passover in Egypt, when the blood of the Passover lamb — painted on the door posts and lintels of the houses of (some) Jews in Egypt — saved them from death when God sent His destroying angels out to kill all the firstborns.

Was this “predestination” done by God solely? Of course not. The Jews had to CHOOSE whether they would put the blood on their houses, AND whether they would remain in the house during the night. They had to act in faith upon the principles, and promises, which God had given them. If they did, then they were “predestined” (marked out beforehand) to be spared, to be saved, while all around them were perishing.

And, of course, they had to continue to remember God and His promises, and continue to keep the Passover, as a reminder of what God had done for them, and — presumably — as an act of faith in the greater “Passover lamb” to come, who would truly take away the sin of the world.

But it was still God’s “predestination” in the first place. ‘I have marked out a place where you will be safe from the death that will be visited upon the world. That place is one of absolute security. But… you need to go there, do what I say, and — above all — remain there! Otherwise, you will not be “marked out” for My Glory!’

Reading 1 – Exo 4:2-4

“Then the LORD said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied” (Exo 4:2).

God can use even the most ordinary items to further His purpose.

“The LORD said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the LORD said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand” (Exo 4:3,4).

“Moses looked down. He had forgotten his sheep and had been fingering nervously or gripping tightly the shepherd’s rod in his hand. He cast it to the ground and ran from the serpent to which it was transformed, until at God’s behest he took it by the tail and it lay still in his hand with its familiar feel. Yes, God can change the ordinary things, the things we use every day, to purposes beyond our imagination: if we trust Him. Have we learned the lesson? It is oft repeated. ‘How many loaves have ye?’ Even man himself can be changed. The leprous hand which Moses drew from his bosom depicted not only his own inner weakness and need of healing, but the power that lies around us and within if we trust the Lord. We may have but a rod, the everyday token of our normal life, but the Lord can work wonders with it. Nothing is ordinary when the Lord is around, neither the thorn bush in the wilderness, nor the shepherd’s staff, nor the shepherd’s hand” (Harry Tennant, “Moses My Servant” 31).

Reading 2 – Psa 56:8

“Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll [Or ‘put my tears in your wineskin’] — are they not in your record?” (Psa 56:8).

RECORD MY LAMENT: “Thou tellest my wanderings” (AV). “Wanderings” (Hebrew “nodh”: Gen 4:16) and “bottle” (Hebrew “n’odh”) are a play on words. Likewise, “record” or “tellest” (“saphar”) and “record” or “book” (“sepher”). When the complete list of David’s wanderings is compiled from 1Sa 21-30 it makes an impressive catalogue.

Thinking of Christ, this verse suggests his almost ceaseless 3 1/2 years of preaching, whilst going from place to place, up and down the land of Israel, with nowhere to lay his head (Mat 8:20; Luk 9:58).

MY TEARS: As for Jesus, consider Joh 11:35; Luk 19:41; Heb 5:7. Other Psalms references to tears: Psa 6:6; 39:12; 42:3; 69:10; 116:8. All of David’s (and Christ’s) travels, even if relatively insignificant, are assuredly noted and remembered by God. For the same general idea, see Mat 10:29,30.

LIST MY TEARS ON YOUR SCROLL: “Put thou my tears into thy bottle” (AV). According to some authorities, “lachrymatories” (or tear bottles) are still found in large numbers in ancient tombs. They were apparently used to collect the tears of the mourners at the graveside, and then stored away with the body. Others, however, suggest that the allusion here is to the custom of putting into bags, or small leather flasks, articles of value for safekeeping (cp Luk 12:33). Thus, ‘O Lord, treasure up my tears as something of great value’.

Tears and bottle come together again, quite interestingly, in the account of Mary Magdalene’s anointing of the feet of Jesus (Luk 7:37,38). From the bottle came precious ointment, but from the repentant sinner came even more precious tears. And so it is with us: the greatest gifts we can bring to our Savior are our faith, our repentance, our devotion, our love, and even our tears.

“Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven. The moment Saul began to pray the Lord heard him. Here is comfort for the distressed but praying soul. Oftentimes a poor broken-hearted one bends his knee, but can only utter his wailing in the language of sighs and tears; yet that groan has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music; that tear has been caught by God and treasured in the lachrymatory of heaven. ‘Thou puttest my tears into thy bottle,’ implies that they are caught as they flow. The suppliant, whose tears prevent his words, will be well understood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but ‘prayer is the falling of a tear.’ Tears are the diamonds of heaven; sighs are a part of the music of Yahweh’s court, and are numbered with ‘the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high.’

“Think not that your prayer, however weak or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob’s ladder is lofty, but our prayers shall lean upon the Angel of the covenant and so climb its starry rounds. Our God not only hears prayer but also loves to hear it. ‘He forgetteth not the cry of the humble.’ True, He regards not high looks and lofty words; He cares not for the pomp and pageantry of kings; He listens not to the swell of martial music; He regards not the triumph and pride of man; but wherever there is a heart big with sorrow, or a lip quivering with agony, or a deep groan, or a penitential sigh, the heart of Yahweh is open; He marks it down in the registry of His memory; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the pages of His book of remembrance, and when the volume is opened at last, there shall be a precious fragrance springing up therefrom” (CHS).

ARE THEY NOT IN YOUR RECORD?: God’s “book of remembrance”, or “book of life”: Psa 69:28: 87:6; 139:16; Mal 3:16; Exo 32:32; Dan 12:1; Isa 4:3; Eze 13:9; Phi 4:3; Luk 10:20; Heb 12:23; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 21:27; 22:19. The figure of this divine recording is related to the practice of earthly monarchs. In the court of the Hebrew kings was a “recorder”, and “the chronicles of the kings” was the daily record of the events of each king’s reign. Those who served the king in a special capacity or in an extraordinary manner would receive an adequate reward. But they were not necessarily rewarded at once; sometimes they seem to have waited years before their special service was finally compensated (Est 6:1-3).

Reading 3 – Rom 9:11

“…in order that God’s purpose in election might stand” (Rom 9:11).

Being humans, our “logic” will always have trouble with these concepts because we cannot work on two levels at once. We are conditioned — by all our lives and all our experiences — to see and understand and make choices in a universe where our freewill is King. We see, we process in our minds, and we choose, and then we act. Free, sovereign creatures… making free choices.

But God lives in another dimension as well… maybe, we should say: several different “dimensions” where we cannot really go! We can barely understand what those dimensions mean. Maybe we DON’T understand, and the brain starts hurting trying to reconcile His absolute omniscience (or foreknowledge) and our freewill. How can we be choosing, really choosing, when God must already know how we will choose?

But the Bible, it seems to me, says we CAN! So I have to think that — even if a part of my mind rebels at the juxtaposition of two ideas which seem practically exclusive of one another — then the fault (shortcoming, weakness?) is with my own mind.

Put another way, I’d say we should be grateful that God has given us minds that can even ASK such a question, about time and eternity and the essential character and power of our Creator, while we — when all is said and done — are nothing but a fragile combination of mud and blood and brain synapses, sometimes firing and sometimes misfiring.

God has created us out of the dust, or clay, and given us a mind which can dimly comprehend the Great Other, beyond ourselves and our eyes and ears and smell and touch. In the words of Ecclesiastes, He has put “eternity” into our hearts (Ecc 3:11). But like the clam on the seashore, our little “hearts” and minds can’t really fathom the depths of the sea, although it lays there, right next to us. But what we know of the love of God tells us that what we can only vaguely grasp now will surely be explained to us more fully later, WHEN we are capable of receiving it.

At least, that’s how I “make sense” of predestination, foreknowledge, freewill, God, and man.

Reading 1 – Exo 6:3

“I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty [Hebrew El-Shaddai], but by my name the LORD [Yahweh] I did not make myself known to them” (Exo 6:3).

The name “Yahweh” (sometimes imperfectly written or pronounced as “Jehovah”) HAD been known before: it had in fact occurred 162 times in Genesis, many times used by the writer in the narrative itself, but 34 times actually spoken there. Significantly, (1) men “began to call on [or call themselves by: AV margin] the name of the LORD [Yahweh]” as early as Gen 4:26; (2) the place, where he almost sacrificed Isaac, Abraham named “The LORD [Yahweh] will provide” (Gen 22:14).

So this verse here MAY mean that the purpose embedded in the Name had previously been uncertain (Gen 15:7). Now, especially as Yahweh, God was going to redeem the people of Israel (v 6), adopt them as his people (v 7), and bring them into the promised Land (v 8) — thus making quite plain what His Name meant.

Or perhaps this verse should be read — like the NIV margin puts it — as a question: ‘But did I not make myself known to them by my name Yahweh?’ — a rhetorical question anticipating a positive answer. That is, ‘Of course I was called Yahweh, but they did not truly and completely understand what that Name would mean! And how I would work out My purpose in generations to come!’

We know the name of God, and we know (more or less) what it means. “Yahweh” is the Great Self-Existent and Eternal God (the One who was, and is, and will be). He is the “Becoming One”: the God who reveals Himself to mankind, the God of Israel, and the One who WILL BE finally manifested in a multitude of holy ones, who will become His family.

But — like Moses — we may spend a lifetime learning what that Name REALLY means, in feeling the hand of Yahweh in the practical outworking of our lives.

Reading 2 – Psa 58

“Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?” (Psa 58:1, KJV).

“Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge uprightly among men?” (NIV).

The Hebrew “elem” has been translated as “congregation” (KJV); “ye mighty ones” (RV mg); “gods” (RSV); and “rulers” (NEB, NIV). Whether v 1 should be “congregation” or “mighty ones”, this whole psalm is highly appropriate to the Sanhedrin, which successively condemned Jesus and the apostles and Stephen and Paul. And the psalm as a whole bears out this interpretation.

“The imagery that the Psalmist uses [to describe the wicked rulers] is apt and highly descriptive. It is taken from nature mainly, from widely diverse creatures which we fear and dislike such as snakes, lions, and snails, and from the calamities of mankind such as the miscarrying womb, water in uncontrollable spate, and the savage vortex of the whirlwind” (NPH).

Reading 3 – Rom 11:36

“To him be the glory forever” (Rom 11:36).

“This should be the single desire of the Christian. All other wishes must be subservient and tributary to this one. The Christian may wish for prosperity in his business, but only so far as it may help him to promote this: ‘To Him be glory for ever.’ He may desire to attain more gifts and more graces, but it should only be that: ‘To Him may be glory for ever.’ You are not acting as you ought to do when you are moved by any other motive than a single eye to your Lord’s glory.

“As a Christian, you are ‘of God, and through God’; then live ‘to God.’ Let nothing ever set your heart beating so mightily as love to Him. Let this ambition fire your soul; be this the foundation of every enterprise upon which you enter, and this your sustaining motive whenever your zeal would grow chill; make God your only object. Depend upon it, where self begins sorrow begins; but if God be my supreme delight and only object, ‘To me ’tis equal whether love ordain my life or death — appoint me ease or pain.’

“Let your desire for God’s glory be a growing desire. You blessed Him in your youth, do not be content with such praises as you gave Him then. Has God prospered you in business? Give Him more as He has given you more. Has God given you experience? Praise Him by stronger faith than you exercised at first. Does your knowledge grow? Then sing more sweetly. Do you enjoy happier times than you once had? Have you been restored from sickness, and has your sorrow been turned into peace and joy? Then give Him more music; put more coals and more sweet frankincense into the censer of your praise. Practically in your life give Him honour, putting the ‘Amen’ to this doxology to your great and gracious Lord, by your own individual service and increasing holiness” (CHS).

Reading 1 – Exo 7; 8

“The purpose of these plagues was manifold.

First, they gave a public manifestation of the mighty power of the Lord God. This, the very magicians were made to acknowledge: ‘then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God’ (Exo 9:16). They were a Divine visitation of wrath, a punishment of Pharaoh and the Egyptians for their cruel treatment of the Hebrews. This the haughty monarch was compelled to admit — ‘Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron in haste; and he said, I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you’ (Exo 10:16). They were a judgment from God upon the gods (demons) of Egypt. This is taught in Num 33:4: ‘For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn which the Lord had smitten among them; upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments.’ They demonstrated that Yahweh was high above all gods. This was confessed later by Jethro: ‘Blessed be the Lord who hath delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of Pharaoh, who hath delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods; for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly He was above them.’ They furnished a complete testing of human responsibility. They were a solemn warning to other nations, that God would curse those who curse the Israelites (Gen 12:3). This was felt by the Philistines: ‘Woe unto us! who shall deliver us out of the hand of this mighty God? this is the God that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues’ (1Sa 4:8). Finally, these miraculous plagues were evidently designed as a series of testings for Israel. This is taught in Deu 4:33,34, where Moses asked Israel, ‘Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? or hath God assayed to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by stretched out arms, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?’ (Exo 15:11)!” (AW Pink).

Reading 2 – Psa 60:4

“But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled” (Psa 60:4).

The Hebrew “nes” signifies an ensign or standard, as in Isa 11:10,12 — where the “root of Jesse” shall stand for an ensign (nes) of the people. This is reminiscent of Exo 17, when Israel was attacked at Rephidim by the powerful Amalekites. To celebrate the great victory which God gave them then, Moses built an altar and called it Jehovah-nissi — “the Lord our banner”. So Psa 60 portrays, prophetically, the complete victory of Christ over all the forces of evil in the world, social and religious and political — a victory made possible by the sacrifice of the One Perfect Man, who was “lifted up” (as an ensign or standard!) on a cross (Num 21:8,9; Joh 3:14; 12:32).

Reading 3 – Rom 12:2

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:2).

“It has a bad look when a courtier is too intimate with his king’s enemies. Even small inconsistencies are dangerous. Little thorns make great blisters, little moths destroy fine garments, and little frivolities and little rogueries will rob religion of a thousand joys. O believer, too little separated from sinners, you know not what you lose by your conformity to the world. It cuts the tendons of your strength, and makes you creep where you ought to run. Then, for your own comfort’s sake, and for the sake of your growth in grace, if you be a Christian, BE A CHRISTIAN, and be a marked and distinct one” (CHS).

“We must be able to feel, when we go to bed each night, that we have that day done our most and best: that all we have done was necessary and useful, and the most important thing to be done at the time, and that we have done it with all our heart, unto the Lord. We must not be satisfied with what we have done, but we must be reasonably satisfied that we have tried our best, and that we have noted, and learned something by, our slips and failures. We must be able to feel we are slowly overcoming, growing, deepening, becoming more naturally spiritual — that is less as duty and effort, more as pleasure and desire. We must be able to see ourselves passing some tangible milestones of progress: a steady transformation of the mind Godwards — less and less interest in passing, worldly, animal things of any kind” (GVG).

Reading 1 – Exo 9:16

“But I (God) have raised you (Pharaoh) up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exo 9:16).

This is quoted by Paul: “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth’ ” (Rom 9:17).

“The most careful attention should here be directed to what is not said by Paul in this appeal… God did not say to Pharaoh that he had raised him up in order to destroy him, or to drown his army in the Red Sea, but that God had raised him up for the purpose of showing his power in Pharaoh and of having God’s name published throughout the earth. Just HOW God’s purpose would be fulfilled in Pharaoh, at the time God spoke, still remained within the circumference of Pharaoh’s free will to choose, whether by his own submission to God commands or by his rebellion against them, would be realized God’s purpose. If Pharaoh had submitted to God’s will, God’s name would have been magnified all over the world and his power would have been demonstrated in Pharaoh just as gloriously in that manner as it was in the manner of its actual occurrence. Pharaoh had the free choice of obeying or not obeying God; but God had purposed, either way, to use him as a demonstration of God’s power and a means of publishing the divine name all over the world; but the choice of HOW this would come about remained with Pharaoh until he was HARDENED.

“What happened to the king of Nineveh, following the preaching of Jonah, should be remembered in the connection here. Both Pharaoh and the ruler of Nineveh heard the word of God, the one by Moses, the other by Jonah. Nineveh received mercy; Egypt did not. God had a perfect right to spare one and punish the other; but it is a falsehood to allege that God’s doing so was capricious and unrelated to what was in the two monarchs or to their response to God’s word” (Coffman).

Reading 2 – Psa 62:9

“Lowborn men are but a breath, the highborn are but a lie; if weighed on a balance, they are nothing; together they are only a breath” (Psa 62:9).

LOWBORN MEN ARE BUT A BREATH: “Vanity” (AV) (Hebrew “hebel”: nothingness, a wind, a “breath”: RV mg) is the key word in Ecclesiastes: “Vanity of vanities… all in vanity!” The life of a man is like a breath of air, just as insubstantial; breathe it out on a cool morning, and watch it disappear! So is man! Literally, here, the Hebrew words suggest this sentence: “men of Adam are Abel”! Contrast a “breath” with THE “rock” (vv 2,6,7).

IF WEIGHED ON A BALANCE, THEY ARE NOTHING: “In the balances they will go up” (RV). Men of low degree are nothing, but men of high degree are a “delusion” — because they are less than nothing! They are not only “weighed in the balances, and found wanting” (Dan 5:27), but when put in the “scales”, with absolutely nothing on the other side, they still go up!

“Man’s worthlessness, taken by himself, is so marked as to defy the force of gravity. Compared with things of substance he is so unsubstantial as to be almost anti-substantial… We need something like this to make us aware of what insuperable obstacles lie in the way of success if we battle alone” (AD Norris).

Similar estimates of the worth of natural man are to be found in Psa 39:5,6; 49:20; 103:15,16; Isa 40:6-8, 15,17; 41:24; 1Pe 1:24,25.

Reading 3 – Rom 14:10

“You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat” (Rom 14:10).

“There is no need for us to associate despondency and despair with the thought of appearing before the Judgment Seat of Christ. True, our sins and our failings are constant reminders of the possibility of our failure there. But Paul’s message to us is not intended to paralyze us with fear or to crush us under hopeless remorse; it is rather intended to influence our lives for good, to spur us to greater activity in Christ’s service; to mould our characters nearer to the pattern he has left us, that we may win success when Christ appears. Paul desires us to remember the one certainty in our lives, and remembering it, to order our lives accordingly. There is no occasion for despondency and alarm, provided we are in earnest about our standing in the day of Christ. It is true that we fail and we sin; but God ‘knows our frame, and remembers that we are dust’, and has made merciful provision for our weakness. There is no limit to God’s forgiveness if it is sought in accordance with His conditions… Are we such egotists as to imagine that our cases are so unique as to be beyond the saving grace of God?” (FW Turner, “Meditations” 22,23).

Reading 1 – Exo 10:16

“Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, ‘I have sinned against the LORD your God and against you’ ” (Exo 10:16).

There is a radical distinction between natural regret and God-given repentance. The flesh can feel remorse, acknowledge its evil deeds, and be ashamed of itself. However, this sort of disgust with past actions can be quickly shrugged off, and the individual can soon go back to his old wicked ways. None of the marks of true repentance described in 2Co 7:11 are found in his behavior:

“See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.”

Repentance of the “mouth”, without repentance of the heart, and the life, and the actions, is meaningless. Don’t just be sorry. What are you going to DO about it?

Out of a list of 11 men in the Bible who said, “I have sinned,” possibly only five actually and truly repented. They were David (2Sa 12:13; 24:10; 1Ch 21:8; Psa 41:4), Nehemiah (Neh 1:6), Job (Job 42:5,6), Micah (Mic 7:9), and the prodigal son (Luk 15:18).

The other (most likely less sincere) instances? Pharaoh in Exo 9:27; 10:16; Balaam in Num 22:34; Achan in Jos 7:20; Saul in 1Sa 15:24,30; 26:21; Shimei in 2Sa 19:20; Judas in Mat 27:4.

Reading 2 – Psa 65:7

“…who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations” (Psa 65:7).

Here is prophesied, as it were, Christ’s stilling of the storm (Mar 4:37-41), the saving of the demoniac Legion (Mar 5:1-16), and the fear imparted to the Gentiles round about (Mar 5:17). The linking together of these miracles — as seen in Mark 4 and 5 — reflects the power of God described in this passage.

He who could quieten the uproar of one man’s tortured mind, and calm the raging of a hurricane on the sea, can quell the turbulence of the world’s nations too — and he will!

“He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth” (Zec 9:10).

Reading 3 – Rom 15:27

“They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings” (Rom 15:27).

“Such men sometimes think that they give all that is required of them in giving money. This has been one of the great errors of Christendom, the attempt to buy that which is “without money and without price”. It is true that the apostle Paul says something regarding spiritual and carnal things which seems to suggest reciprocity in these matters. We must not put his teaching upside down, however. He says that Gentiles who are partakers of Israel’s spiritual riches have a duty to minister in carnal matters. He certainly does not suggest that carnal wealth can buy the spiritual treasures. The two kinds of riches are on a different plane. The currency is different and there is no known rate of exchange. The wealthy man who goes to his chapel with a feeling that he can purchase anything and a readiness to give of his abundance if the service pleases him, is not likely to receive any real spiritual food. He is not in the right condition to appreciate it. Possibly husks please him best. If so he can buy what he requires” (IC, Principles and Proverbs).

Reading 1 – Exo 12:13

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt” (Exo 12:13).

As to the word for “passover”, compare the “remission”/passing over of sins: Rom 3:25. Literally, the Hebrew “pesach” means to “hover over”, to protect: the same word occurs in Isa 31:5; and the general idea comes in Psa 34:7; Heb 1:14.

“The term ‘pesach’ denotes the Passover offering and more generally the feast centering on that sacrifice, which was eaten at night… The word has been connected with a Hebrew verb meaning ‘protect’ (Isa 31:5) or ‘limp’ or ‘skip’ (2Sa 4:4; 1Ki 18:21,26)” (Anchor Bible Dictionary).

The Hebrew verb is a rare and tricky word, and “authorities” come up with several different possibilities… but the idea of “hovering over, or protecting” is supported by Isa 31:5, where the same verb occurs, and where the context explains its meaning: “As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over (same verb!) he will preserve it.” (This is Jerusalem being defended from Sennacherib’s army.)

The “birds flying” connects with the Passover angel (or angels)… but the LORD is not “passing by” Jerusalem — He is “defending” and “delivering” and “preserving” it. It may be, in fact, that there were two very different “Angels of the LORD” at work on Passover night in Egypt — or better yet, two “legions” of Angels! One Angel (and his “merry band”!) was the “Destroying Angel”. The other Angel (and his company) was the “Passover or Hovering-Over Angel”, if you will. While Angel No. 1’s company went about killing all the firstborn, Angel No. 2’s company stood guard at the homes sprinkled with the blood of the Passover lambs, and said, “No, not here! we don’t want your business. Keep on going!”

It’s a little like the Persian laws in Esther: that is, the first law decrees death for all Jews, which cannot be undone… but the second decree gives them a way out! Here, in Exodus, the decree is: “Kill the firstborn… everywhere”… but God’s second law gives the way out: “… except those who are sprinkled with the blood”.

In the broader sense, this is really what mortality is all about: “Death passes upon all men”, BUT “… those who trust in the blood of Christ are delivered from the otherwise-universal death!” The Passover picture suggests the cherubim wings of God, as the One (through His angels?) who hovers over His children… like a mother bird flutters over and protects and nurtures her young.

The Psalms have some great passages along these lines: “under the shadow of God’s wings” — a half dozen or so — all employing the same figure of speech (Psa 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 61:4; 63:7; 91:1). And Jesus employs the same figure of speech also when he says to Jerusalem: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” (Mat 23:37). Words spoken by our Savior on the very eve of Passover, and in the shadow of the cross!

Reading 2 – Psa 66:12

“We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance” (Psa 66:12).

“Fire” is the pillar of fire in the wilderness, or the “burning bush” (Exo 3:2) — typifying Israel’s experience of trials. “Water” is the Red Sea and the Jordan River (v 6), the national “baptism” to which Israel was submitted (1Co 10:1,2). Through these testings and trials, God brings His people out of bondage and into a place of “abundance”, or possibly “freedom.” This pictures the release of the Jews from bondage from Egypt. The KJV translates “a wealthy place” — perhaps with reference to the plunder of Egypt, received as gifts by the Israelites, and the richness of the Land of Canaan — which God had prepared for them.

Reading 3 – Mark 1:1

“The Gospel of Mark opens with the words: ‘The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.’ We do not notice the concentrated wonder of the last three words, for we have heard them too often. Why does it not strike us as astounding that God should have a Son? It did those who first heard it. For the disciples of Jesus, it was the supreme confession of faith — ‘Thou art the Son of God, Thou are the King of Israel’, as another Gospel records from an early disciple; for His enemies, it was the culminating blasphemy, ‘and they all condemned him to be worthy of death.’

“The whole Book vibrates with high excitement, supreme hope, crashing despair, and sudden restoration. There is deep-rooted loyalty, black treachery, stirring devotion, and revolting murder. We must recapture the ability to respond to these movements if we would read the Bible as it is. We cannot close our hearts. We must try to live in the events through which we move” (Alfred Norris, “On Reading the Bible” 21,22).

Reading 1 – Exo 13:18,19

“The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him” (Exo 13:18,19).

“We do not follow a coffin: we know of an empty tomb, which speaks eloquently of resurrection. We follow not a dead man’s bones: we follow the living Lord Jesus Christ, who, by his death, has brought us out. One day he will return, and by his grace, he will bring us into the rest that remains for the people of God. Until that day we must endeavour to follow the example of Paul in Phi 3:13,14; ‘Forgetting those things which are behind (Egypt), and reaching forth unto those things that are before (the Kingdom), I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of god in Christ Jesus.’ Can we possibly do less?” (A Harvey, Christadelphian 138:256).

Reading 2 – Psa 68:10

“From your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor” (Psa 68:10).

“All God’s gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for wants foreseen. He anticipates our needs; and out of the fulness which He has treasured up in Christ Jesus, He provides of His goodness for the poor. You may trust Him for all the necessities that can occur, for He has infallibly foreknown every one of them. He can say of us in all conditions, ‘I knew that thou wouldst be this and that.’ A man goes a journey across the desert, and when he has made a day’s advance, and pitched his tent, he discovers that he wants many comforts and necessaries which he has not brought in his baggage. ‘Ah!’ says he, ‘I did not foresee this: if I had this journey to go again, I should bring these things with me, so necessary to my comfort.’ But God has marked with prescient eye all the requirements of His poor wandering children, and when those needs occur, supplies are ready. It is goodness which He has prepared for the poor in heart, goodness and goodness only. ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’ [2Co 12:9] ‘As thy days, so shall thy strength be’ [Deu 33:25]” (CHS).

Reading 3 – Mark 2:17

“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’ ” (Mar 2:17).

“God’s love in Christ, in its full measure, is offered not to those merely who are believing enough, penitent enough, reformed enough; it is offered to all those who will cast themselves on God, be it only with faith ‘as a grain of mustard seed.’ And to anticipate a common objection — far from inducing laxity or presumption, provided that we have some understanding of the meaning of the cross, the effect of this kind of thinking is exactly opposite. Surely there is less presumption in receiving our forgiveness whole and entire at the hand of God at the outset and ever after as a purely loving gift, than in coming to Him afterwards at intervals with the sense that I am now a better man and therefore fitter to be forgiven. Paradoxical it may be, but it is undeniable Scripture truth that it is not the worthy, but the unworthy, whom a pardoning God receives” (Derek Brook, “The Christadelphian” 112:436).

Reading 1 – Exo 15

“Such is the song of Moses [Exo 15], admirable for the boldness of its imagery, the sublimity of its sentiments, and the dignity of its style, which was sung by the Hebrew people standing upon the shore of Edom’s sea. They were now a people saved by Yahweh — a national salvation, coeval with [at the same time as] the signal overthrow of their enemies, and the destruction of their power. They had just put on Moses, having been all baptized into him in the cloud and in the sea (1Co 10:2). They now constituted the One Body of Moses, and the Firstborn Son of Yahweh (Exo 4:22; Zec 3:2; Jud 1:9): and when they arrived at Sinai, fifty days after the institution of the Passover, they became the kingdom of the Deity (Exo 19:5,6,8)… At that stage of their history the Israelites could only sing the song of Moses [ie, and not the ‘Song of the Lamb’: Rev 15:3]. They could sing it commemoratively and prophetically — commemoratively, of their deliverance, and the destruction of the Egyptian army; and prophetically, of that still future and greater deliverance awaiting them in the time of Jacob’s trouble; and of that grander and more marvelous overthrow of Babylon and the Beast, by the Lamb and those who accompany him whithersoever he goes. The song celebrative of these victories over the system of nations ‘spiritually called Sodom and Egypt’ — ‘the song of the Lamb’ — they could not [yet] sing” (John Thomas, “Eureka” 3:452,453).

Reading 2 – Psa 69:9

“Zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me” (Psa 69:9).

The words of v 9 (quoted in John 2:17) point to a burnt-offering, the fire of God consuming (and destroying) the sacrifice utterly. Not, of course, these animal sacrifices, but this one all-sufficient offering — the Lord Jesus himself — was consumed with zeal (Psa 69:31). So the sacrificial animals were driven out of the temple by a Jesus ablaze with a mighty indignation against hypocrites who had turned holy worship into cold formality and base gain.

The leaders of the nation could never forgive Jesus for this first public act of his ministry. From that day on, his own violent death was inevitable. The Passover lamb was to be “roasted with fire, his head with his legs” (Exo 12:9). At this first Passover of his ministry, this Passover lamb, consumed with burning indignation on his Father’s behalf, prepared the way for the last Passover, three years later.

“Stick with it! Whatever it is that you want to do, stick with it! Don’t just drift, and flutter, and complain. Discipline yourself to keep your mind and effort on the job in hand. That’s the only way that anything has ever been accomplished. For this, you must have incentive: powerful driving incentive. The slave’s incentive is the task master’s lash. It keeps him very attentive to what he is doing. Natural incentives range from terror of that which is bad to strong desire for that which is pleasant and desirable. Our incentive must rise higher than this. Our driving incentive, like a fire in our bones, must be intense love of and zeal for God, developed by long study and meditation upon His glorious Word and works” (GVG).

Reading 3 – Mark 3:13,14

“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve — designating them apostles — that they might be with him” (Mar 3:13,14).

First Christ prays — before any decision.

“Before Jesus made his deliberate choice of twelve men he spent the night with his Father. All the great events in his life find him or leave him in prayer. It is the natural expression of the dedication of one whose meat and drink was to do the will of Him who sent him, whose words and actions belonged to his Father, who of himself could do nothing. There is here a personal lesson for every disciple, a lesson too clearly portrayed for any to miss, too vital to the sincere heart to need any further stress.

“Later disciples — without the privilege of walking with him through the crowded streets and over the verdant hills of Galilee — find much of their inspiration in a prayerful contemplation of his words, the demands they make, and the light they throw upon the holy and devoted mind that uttered them” (M Purkis, “A Life of Jesus” 125).

*****

“The call of Christ’s servants comes from above. Jesus stands on the mountain, evermore above the world in holiness, earnestness, love and power. Those whom he calls must go up the mountain to him, they must seek to rise to his level by living in constant communion with him. They may not be able to mount to classic honours, or attain scholastic eminence, but they must like Moses go up into the mount of God and have familiar intercourse with the unseen God, or they will never be fitted to proclaim the gospel of peace. Jesus went apart to hold high fellowship with the Father, and we must enter into the same divine companionship if we would bless our fellowmen. No wonder that the apostles were clothed with power when they came down fresh from the mountain where Jesus was” (CH Spurgeon).

Reading 1 – Exo 16

“Israel gathered a double portion [of the Manna] on Friday; so that when they went out on Saturday to look for it, ‘they did not find it in the field,’ as Moses said…

“So when they gathered the bread of heaven, and laid him in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, those who might go out to look [on Saturday], could find the Son of Man no longer sowing the words of eternal life in the field.

“But some of the manna was incorruptible for a longer period than the sixth and seventh days. It was made to last for generations. Moses was commanded to put an omer, or tenth part of an ephah, of manna into a pot, and to lay it up before the Testimony, to be kept [vv 33-36]. Every day this was preserved, and it was kept for centuries, and it evidenced the presence of the Spirit in the Most Holy; for ordinarily it would not keep. It was deposited in the chest, called the Ark of the Testimony, which was overlaid with gold; whose lid was termed the… Mercy Seat; and upon which the Cherubim were based. This Ark of the Covenant contained the Tables of the Law, the pot of Manna, and Aaron’s Rod which budded; things all representative of the Logos [the Word] in his incarnate manifestation.

“Now as Aaron laid up an omer full in a pot, and concealed it from view within the Ark of the Testimony, there to remain for centuries; so the Eternal Spirit concealed in Jesus, the antitypical Ark of his Testimony, that deposit of Manna, from which it shall be given to those who overcome to eat. We feed upon this manna from day to day in feeding upon the truth. But what we eat to-day will not suffice for the morrow. We must keep it in memory. But though we thus feed, and rejoice in ‘the right to life, yet it is life-manna concealed; for ‘we are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory’: Col 3:3,4” (John Thomas, “Eureka” 1:313).

Reading 2 – Psa 71:9,18

“Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone” (Psa 71:9).

It needed considerable faith, when all his affairs seemed to be in ruin, to believe that God was yet on his side. See Psa 37:25. The same man, David, who was once — only a few short years before — “with a fine appearance and handsome features” (1Sa 16:12) has now grown old and gray (v 18), yet still his God is with him. From each reader of the Psalms this must evoke real praise of God, and more so with each passing year!

DO NOT CAST ME AWAY WHEN I AM OLD: Employers do this to employees who have lost some of their usefulness; husbands to wives who are no longer young; friends to other friends when they can no longer be of help to them. But God never casts off those who trust in Him.

These words are not inappropriate to Christ’s physical condition at the end of his ministry — when the hard years and dangerous situations and cares of others and lack of rest had taken their toll, and he appeared to be a man nearer 50 than 30 (John 8:57).

*****

“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come” (v 18).

“The demeanor of the ‘old and grayheaded’ may be expected to reflect to some degree the accumulated results of years of spiritual growth and thereby to witness to the working of God and His Truth in their lives. No greater witness to the preciousness and eternal value of the Truth can be made than that of older brethren and sisters who in physical weakness, and sometimes great infirmity, manifest, even without expressing them, a mature love for the Truth and a cheerfulness engendered by an ever-increasing faith and trust in God. The Psalmist’s prayer for his old age reminds us of the considerable responsibility resting on us as we grow old and grayheaded and, incidentally, it also points out to the younger among us what the truth should be doing for them. ‘They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus’ ” (BS Snelling).

Reading 3 – Mark 4:37-41

“A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ ” (Mar 4:37-40).

“Jesus of Nazareth invested the tiny band that he called apart to testify to him and all he stood for with a staggering responsibility. Into all the world they were to go. Not with the hope of converting the world, but with the aim of creating and forming a redemptive society that would be as the savour of salt in a world of corruption. In parable, metaphor and allegory, the Gospels illuminate the Master’s teaching as embodying the one element of performance and true selfhood in a world of doubt, changeableness and transience. To build on it was to build on a rock; by it one entered the light and joy of the bridal festivities while outside was the darkness; to bear witness to it was to be bearing lamps which shone with divine illumination; it was enduring bread and living water. In the wild darkness of the stormy night human guidance was in vain, and all their rowing brought no aid to a boat sinking with water. They were unable to discern any ethical landmarks; in all their doubts and fears they were in jeopardy. It was the voice of the Lord which stilled their storm” (Alan Eyre, “The Protestors” 192).

*****

“He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ ” (v 41).

A seagoing captain commanded a passenger ship that was sailing from Liverpool, England, to New York. His family was on board with him. One night when everyone was asleep, a squall unexpectedly swept over the waters and tossed the ship violently, awakening the passengers. They were all terribly afraid because of the storm. The captain’s little 8-year-old girl was also awakened. “What’s the matter?” cried the frightened child. Her mother told her that a sudden storm had struck the ship. “Is Father on deck?” she asked. “Yes, Father’s on deck,” came the encouraging answer. Hearing this, the little girl snuggled back into her bed and in a few moments was sound asleep. The winds still blew and the waves still rolled, but her fears were calmed because her father was at the helm.