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January 31

Reading 1 - Exodus 3 & 4

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3 v. 5 - Here is the first time that we are shown the stuff that Moses is made of - he has no confidence in human terms - borne out by the rest of the chapter - and yet here was one who was to get closer to God than anyone before him (see note on Rom. 9 below), who was possibly only exceeded in this closeness by Jesus himself after him. His atoning work for the people by his repeated trips to the mountain demonstrates this closeness, to save the people Exo.19:12,21. Even Aaron could not - Lev.10:3. The exhortation for us in the context of Exo. 3:5 comes in Eccles. 5:1. This surely means 'develop the mind of Jesus'.
Peter Cresswell
4 v.4 - Further bravery here from Moses. Would you pick up a snake by its tail? In this I admit to absolute cowardice and substantial fear. I'd like to think I would do it if God told me to do it - but it would take a massive amount of faith. Where I live, there are no snakes, so I have no experience, but some of you who read this will live in parts of the world where there are snakes. My guess is that you will feel even more strongly than I do that this act of Moses was one of extreme faith in God's protective power, and it is glanced over in the record as if picking up a snake by its tail was something Moses did every day!
Peter Cresswell
3:17 I will bring you out Genesis 15:14
3:17 affliction Genesis 15:13

So in proclaiming the Yahweh name to Moses, who clearly was knowledgeable about what had been said to the fathers, God is showing Moses that deliverance from Egypt was but a manifestation of the work of God. The full manifestation, as we know, was in Jesus who bore the Father's name.

4:24-26 seems to be completely irrelevant to the theme of deliverance being developed in Exodus. However the issue of circumcision and Genesis 17 is intimately connected with the theme. We will now see additional links to Genesis 17 and the covenant of circumcision.

:26 circumcision Genesis 17:11
:31 Affliction Genesis 15:13
Peter Forbes

There are a number of verbal links between Moses at the burning bush and Gideon.

Exodus
Language
Judges
burned with fire
6:21
see this great sight
6:17
Hid his face … afraid
6:22
heard their cry
6:7
mayest bring forth my people
6:14
I will send thee
6:14
Who am I
6:15
I will be with thee
6:16

4:22 This is the first time that Israel are presented as God's 'firstborn' as such this language and the idea that Israel is God's son passes into Biblical use. So whenever we read of Israel as God's son we should think of the deliverance from Egypt. A typical use which makes this point very clearly is Hosea 11:1
Peter Forbes

The Lord answers Moses' question this way: "I am who I am". French it translates: "I am the one who is". Both languages use the present tense of the infinite of the verb 'to be'. Hebew translates: "I will be who I will be". Hebrew language uses the future tense of the infinite of verb 'to be'. The infinite of verb 'to be' is: Yahveh, the Jews say it without the vowels 'a' and 'e': YHVH (prounced short and sharp). There is no present tense in this verb, only past and future, and it is meant to stress the Lord is limitless.
Usually, when 'thou' is used in the AV Bible, the Hebrew version will translate it as 'Yahweh'. Modern versions translate 'thou' as 'you', so we miss this valuable lesson. 'Thou' is an old English word, and during that time, 'thou' was used only when talking to a member of the family, because it implied 'dear' or 'darling'. Some languages like: German, French, Holland etc. Still keep this personal form of address to use within their families. They also have a polite form of address, for use with non-family members, eg: German personal 'du', polite 'zie'; French personal 'tu', polite 'vous'. If you check a German Bible for example, you will see the Lord uses the subject pronoun 'du', when He talks to Israel; sometimes God is angry with Israel, yet He will still uses the pronoun 'du', the implication is, no matter what the Israelites did, God still considered them a part of His family. It is helpful to keep in mind, that we are God's children, and blessed to be so, even though sometimes, we let our feelings get the better of us.
Beryl Butler
Exodus 3:1 - "The backside" - i. e. "to the west of the district." Among the Hebrews the East is before a man, the west behind him, the south and north on the right and left hand.

Exodus 3:2 - "out of the midst of a bush" - The wild acacia or thorn, with which that desert abounds, and which is generally dry and brittle, so much so, that at certain seasons, a spark might kindle a district far and wide into a blaze. A fire, therefore, being in the midst of such a desert bush was a "great sight." It is generally supposed to be a symbol of the Israelites' condition in Egypt - oppressed by a grinding servitude and a bloody persecution, and yet, in spite of the cruel policy that was bent on annihilating them, they continued as numerous and thriving as ever. The reason was "God was in the midst of them." The symbol seems also to represent the present state of the Jews, as well as of the Ecclesia generally in the world. Or perhaps the thorny, prickly bush represents Moses himself, despised and rejected of men, but one through whom God was going to speak, yet Moses would not be consumed.


Exodus 3:13 - "What is his name" - "What is his reputation". Every deity in Egypt had a reputation, and a certain aspect of life that they were supposed to look after. The scene is being set for a battle of Deities - Egypt’s many gods vs Yahweh God of Israel
Cliff York

ch.3 - The memorial name of God appears to be a parallelism even though it doesn't come across terribly well in the English AV - the Hebrew definitely suggests the following rendering:
'This is my name for ever,
This is my memorial for ever'

which can obviously be paraphrased as:
'This is my memorial name for ever and ever'

I just thought it was interesting since this added emphasis on 'for ever' implies what I believe, that God's name will always be the same and will never change.
Ibrahim David

Reading 2 - Psalms 56 & 57

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56 v. 3,4 - It seems amazing that in the multitude of adversaries David had that he could state his faith so clearly, and it is not only here. Ps.34:4, 1Sam.30:6. What would we do? Well, one way to clarify our minds is to turn to 2Cor.1:9,10 and then be comforted by the fact revealed in 1Cor.10:13, which of course is borne out by many events in David's life.
Peter Cresswell
57v.3 - The word truth is predominantly in the Psalms and the writings of John. Where, as here, we read of mercy and truth together we have a vivid picture of the Salvation to be wrought by Jesus. In Psa.85:10-11 we see the significance. Mercy represents God but truth (John 14:6) represents Jesus who sprang out of the earth, in his birth, as we do, growing with out nature that he might overcome sin in the flesh. If you substitute the concept of salvation through Jesus for the word truth wherever you read it, it gives beneficial insight into the meaning of the passage.
Peter Cresswell
56:1 This Psalm probably relates to the same time as Psalm 34. In that Psalm David shows that fear of God is to be preferred above fear of the Philistines. In this Psalm David recognises that his deliverance is through the mercy of God.

Psalm 57 - This Psalm relates to the time recorded in 1 Samuel 22. So as well as instructing his 400 men as we saw from Psalm 34 he still sees that he has need which only God can meet :1 'be merciful …':1, 10
Peter Forbes

56:6 Those who 'mark' David's steps are not the Philistines - rather David is speaking about Saul and those who are seeking his life. The reason why he fled to Achish in Gath.

57:3 The one who would 'swallow me up' is Saul.
Peter Forbes

Psalm 56 - "To the chief Musician upon Jonath-elem-rechokim" - properly belongs as the subscription to Psalm 55. The superscription to this Psalm begins "Michtam of David, when the Philistines took him in Gath" - 1 Samuel 21:10-15.

Psalm 57 - The superscription to this Psalm begins "Altaschith, Michtam of David, when he fled from Saul in the cave" - Al-taschith means "do not destroy."

Psalm 57:1 - "shadow of thy wings" - It is obvious that Almighty God does not have wings or feathers, though both these aspects are used from time to time throughout scripture to describe God’s providential care for His children, as a mother hen or even as an eagle. The wings here refer to the wings of the Mercy seat, where, though the ordinary Israelite could not see it, his heart dwelt in faith, knowing that the Mercy Seat, and all that it signified to the mind of faith, was his only hope of life eternal
Cliff York

Reading 3 - Romans 9

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v.14-16 - Refers to the time when Moses came close to God (Ex.33,34 esp. 33:19, 34:6,7). It is important that we realise the 'goodness and severity of God'. Rom.11:22 as demonstrated so clearly in these events. Isa.27:11, Mic.7:18. This all hinges round our calling. Compare v.16 of Rom.9 with John 1:12,13 and Eph.2:4-10.
Peter Cresswell

v.25-29 The quotations from the Old Testament - use your marginal references - highlight that the call of the gentiles was part of God's plan even before Jesus' birth.
Peter Forbes

:32 So we see again that the pre requisite is 'faith' - So we are back considering the 'father of the faithful - Abraham who Paul considered in Romans 4.
Peter Forbes
v.29 - The phrase 'Lord of sabaoth', we are more used to as 'LORD of hosts' (cp. 1Sa 1:11, 17:25). 'Sabaoth here is simply a Greek transliteration (4519) of the Heb. word for 'hosts' (06635) carried through untranslated from the LXX (Septuagint) version commonly used by New Testament writers. God is, Lord of the hosts of heaven (the sun, moon, and stars), of the angels (the multitude of the heavenly host, that do His pleasure, fight under Him, and for Him Ps 103), and of the hosts of nations all of whom are under His government.
Derek Palmer
Romans 9 - "How then does Jewish nationalism fit into the plan of God?" could well be the overall title of this chapter.


Romans 9:18 - "hardeneth" - Three words are used in the Hebrew to describe the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. The one that occurs most frequently, properly means to be strong, and therefore represents the hardness as foolhardiness, infatuated insensibility to danger. The word is used in its positive sense, "hardens", not merely "permits to become hard."

Romans 9:21 - "Hath not the potter power over the clay; of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another to dishonour" - The objection is founded on ignorance or misapprehension of the relation between God and we, His sinful creatures here on earth. Men generally suppose that He is under obligation to extend His grace to all, whereas He is under obligation to none. All are sinners, and have forfeited every claim to His mercy; it is therefore perfectly just for God to spare one and not another, to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor. So for a time Israel received the blessings of God, and now Paul says, the turn of the Gentiles has come. Make the most of it, be thankful for it, and do not boast in your own strength or achievements - but remember Israel and be mindful that as He cast them off for willful disobedience, so He can also cast us away. The Jews have not been cast off forever as we know, but their treatment from God must remain a salutary lesson for all of us.

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The Golden Thread - David reminded us in Psalm 57 that we find refuge under the overshadowing wings of the Mercy Seat in the Ark of the Tabernacle [as it were]. Israel as a nation, and Moses as an individual in Exodus, were safe under God's overshadowing wings, even though Pharaoh was bent on destroying them all. Though Israel has been "cast off" by God "until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled," the nation of Israel still benefits today from God's overshadowing care and providence, just as we as God's children also do, as Paul shows in Romans
Cliff York