Knowable Word

Helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible

Copyright © 2012–2024 DiscipleMakers, except guest articles (copyright author). Used by permission.

You are here: Home / Archives for Deliverance

Exodus 15:22-18:27: You Need God’s Law

By

Step Back

When our Bible study focuses intently on each passage, one after another, we may find it difficult to step back and see how they fit together. But we must remember the Bible is a work of literature. It was not written to be scrutinized in bites; it was written to be devoured in gobbles. We should remember to read the Bible as we’d read any other book: moving through it at a reasonable pace and recognizing ongoing themes, climax, resolution, and character development. When we hit milestones in the text, we should take the opportunity to survey where we’ve been and how it fits together.

So, now that we’ve hit the end of Exodus’s short second act with the appearance and blessing of Jethro, priest of Midian, it’s a good time to catch our breath. From this point in Exodus, we’ll see God building his own house to dwell with his people in paradise. But where have we been so far?

Review

Let me list the main points I’ve proposed for each passage in this section:

  • Exodus 15:22-17:7: Yahweh must give his law to expose how completely distrustful, disobedient—and thereby undeserving—his people are of his fatherly care.
  • Exodus 17:8-16: Your highest and most public loyalty must be to Yahweh your God.
  • Exodus 18:1-27: Being God’s people means we constantly remember our deliverance and look to his instruction for our new life.

In addition, my overview of the whole book led me to this overall main point:

Who is Yahweh, and why should you obey him? He is the God who 1) demolishes the house of slavery (Ex 1-15), 2) prepares to rebuild (Ex 16-18), and 3) builds his house in the midst of his people (Ex 19-40).

And the main idea of Act I (Ex 1:1-15:21) was that Yahweh demolishes the house of slavery. He does this in two parts:

  1. He trains up a qualified mediator to deliver (Ex 1:1-7:7).
  2. He delivers his people from their enemies into a frightful joy (Ex 7:8-15:21).

Pull It Together

Now what do these things show us about the flow of thought in chapters 16-18? We are in between the mighty deliverance and the making of the covenant. How does God prepare to rebuild his people into his house?

  • Act I describes God’s deliverance of his people. Act II shows how God prepares them for a covenant relationship with him.
  • Exodus 15:22-17:7 exposes their rebellious hearts with clear instruction.
  • Exodus 17:8-16 highlights and memorializes in writing their greatest need: to trust Yahweh above all gods.
  • Exodus 18:1-27 draws together the twin themes of deliverance and instruction. We never stop looking back to the former, even while we heed, hope for, and honor the latter.

These chapters all center on how much these fallen, rebellious people need God’s instruction to survive, and yet they can’t obey it. But that won’t hinder them as long as they maintain their highest allegiance to Yahweh. These chapters foreshadow the tension and confusion God’s people have felt toward God’s law through the ages. If he gave us laws, he must expect us to obey them. But if we can’t obey them, and they expose our failure and condemn us to death, are they bad for us? Yet if they truly reveal God’s will, we have reason to love them, and strive to obey them, and forever guard their place in our community.

If we take each episode out of context, on its own, we’ll miss the clear thread of God’s law. And we’ll forever feel the tension and confusion, not seeing how God prepares his people for it even before he hands them the stone tablets. But reading these chapters as a unit, we get a foundation for God’s law:

  • You need God’s law/instruction to have life.
  • You can’t and won’t obey it.
  • So your only remaining hope of life is to fall upon the mercy of your God and maintain to him your highest allegiance.

When we get these three points, we can’t help but love God’s law. It shows us our need, it reveals God’s mercy, and it drives us to hope not in ourselves but him.

Paige (2008), Creative Commons

We can flesh out our outline of the book a little further:

Act I: Yahweh demolishes the house of slavery (Ex 1-15).

Introduction: Nobody can prevent Yahweh from keeping his promises, but we’re not sure how he’ll do it (Ex 1).

Part 1: Yahweh appoints a mediator and ensures he is fully qualified and trained for the task of deliverance (Ex 2:1-7:7).

Part 2: Yahweh delivers a deserved destruction to his enemies and a frightful joy to his people (Ex 7:8-15:21).

Act II: Yahweh prepares to rebuild (Ex 16-18)—by exposing how deeply his people need his law to know him.

Act III: Yahweh builds his house in the midst of his people (Ex 19-40).

Gaze Upon Jesus

Jesus is “the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Rom 10:4). Those who rely on the law are under a curse, for, without perfect obedience, it cannot give life (Gal 3:10). So all it does to sinners is hold them captive to their sin (Gal 3:23). Yet such captivity leads us like a guardian to Christ so we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:24). By showing us our need for God’s law, Exodus 16-18 ends up showing us our need for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Apply

Head: Do you love God’s law (Ps 119:97) or resent it (Prov 13:13)?

Heart: The new covenant in Christ is by no means a lawless religion (Rom 8:12-14). While the law cannot empower your obedience to God, the Spirit of Christ within you can.

Hands: Walk by the Spirit, and don’t gratify the desires of your flesh. Let the law show you how to keep in step with the Spirit, not being conceited, neither envying nor provoking (Gal 5:16-26). And keeping in step with the Spirit means most of all that your allegiance is to none but Christ (1 John 5:11-12).

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

Exodus 18: How to Be the People of God

By

Yahweh has tested the people whom he delivered, to see what they’re made of, and the results were pretty ugly. Yet Moses has shown them that persevering allegiance—and not impossibly perfect obedience—is what will carry the day. How will he shepherd these disobedient people toward greater allegiance?

Observation of Exodus 18

Most repeated words: Moses (20 times), people (17x), all (14), father-in-law (13), God (12), Jethro (7), out (7), said (7), Israel (6), Lord (6), delivered (5).

  • The narrator shows deep concern for Moses and the people. How will this man lead this nation toward the Lord God?
  • Deliverance is most prominent in the first half of the chapter. All five occurrences of the word sit within Ex 18:4-10.

“Jethro” shows up only in this chapter, and right before (Ex 3:1) and after the burning bush (Ex 4:18)—which makes sense, since both events take place on the mountain of God, near Jethro’s home (Ex 3:1, 18:5).

  • When Moses flees Egypt (Ex 2:16, 18), and when Moses departs Sinai (Num 10:29), the same man is named Reuel.
  • When we first hear of him (Ex 2:16), and when he suddenly re-enters the narrative (Ex 18:1), he is labeled “priest of Midian.”
    • This character plays a significant role in the narrative’s organization. He shows up; then God calls Moses from Sinai to deliver the people. He shows up again; then God gives Moses the law on Sinai. His final mention comes when Moses departs Mount Sinai for good. This guy is closely associated with this mountain and with God’s glorious revelation that takes place there.

When Moses and Jethro meet up, Jethro takes the lead in the narrative. He is the subject of most of the actions.

  • Jethro hears, takes, comes, and sends (Ex 18:1-6).
  • Moses goes out to meet him, bows down, and kisses. They ask each other of their welfare and go into the tent. Moses tells (Ex 18:7-8).
  • Then Jethro rejoices, speaks, and brings lunch. Aaron and the elders join (Ex 18:9-12).

The rest of the chapter consists mostly of dialogue between Moses and Jethro, with Jethro’s closing speech being the longest by far (Ex 18:17-23).

  • The resolution: Moses does everything his father-in-law said (Ex 18:24), and his father-in-law goes back home (Ex 18:27).

This chapter has two clear sections:

  1. Jethro reunites with Moses – Ex 18:1-12
  2. Jethro advises Moses – Ex 18:13-27

Interpretation of Exodus 18

Some possible questions:

  1. Why do we get so much detail just to describe the reunion between Moses and his father-in-law?
  2. Why does this chapter focus on Jethro as the chief actor?
  3. What is the point of Jethro’s advice?

My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):

  1. With Jethro’s character, the narrator invites us to pause once more and reflect on what’s taken place so far. This slow-mo montage signals the end of Act II. We reflect on Moses’ life experience through the names of his sons (Ex 18:3-4). As we meet Moses’ wife and sons again (Ex 18:5-6), we’re reminded of Moses’ personal Passover (Ex 4:24-26). As Moses recounts the Lord’s deliverance from the hand of Egypt (Ex 18:8), we relive the amazing stories and rejoice with Jethro (Ex 18:9-10) that Yahweh is greater than all gods (Ex 18:11). We, too, would love to sit together to share a meal before God (Ex 18:12). The details all drive us to remember the Lord’s deliverance and to sing unto him, for he has triumphed gloriously.
  2. Jethro is a priest (Ex 18:1), one who bridges the gap between men and God. He does this by directing their attention to Yahweh, causing them to rejoice in Yahweh, exposing their own insufficiency, and making them hungry for Yahweh’s laws. Perhaps the narrator wishes to move us to action through the figure of Jethro.
  3. If we focus on the need for delegation—an important point—we may actually miss the main point. Moses: “I decide…and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws” (Ex 18:16). Jethro: “You shall warn them about the statutes and the laws…Moreover, look for able men…and let them judge the people at all times” (Ex 18:20-22). In other words: “You, Moses, can teach. But you need others to decide.” (Yes, I understand this is all about delegation. But to what end?) “You are not enough for this people. You need God’s laws to be codified and written down so that others can continue the work you have begun.” The point: These people need able leaders, acquainted with God’s laws and able to apply them to everyday situations. Moses is a great leader. There must also be thousands of able leaders among the people, since they all hop right in place very quickly (Ex 18:25-26). Jethro’s advice exposes what is truly the missing ingredient: a codified body of instruction. The Law.

Train of thought:

  • Remember where you came from; Yahweh has delivered you.
  • Realize you are not enough; you need God’s words to direct your people from here.

Main point: Being God’s people means we constantly remember our deliverance and look to his instruction for our new life.

Connection to Christ: Jesus is our exodus, our deliverance (Gal 1:3-5, Luke 9:30-31, “departure”=”exodus”). Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe (Rom 10:4). Jesus is our life (Col 3:4).

My Application of Exodus 18

I have been struggling with treating the good news of Christ’s kingdom in a rote way, and this passage refreshes my joy in the Lord. I must not merely recite; I must remember and rejoice in his mighty deliverance.

And as I disciple and train others, I must resist the temptation to be the focus of their hope and trust. I will never be enough. My decisions, counsel, and insight will never be enough. They need Jesus, the Word made flesh, to guide them. They need to understand the Scriptures so they can apply its truths to their own lives and lead others.

One simple way I’d like to grow in this last point: Don’t answer questions for my advice. Instead, ask people what the Scripture says, and what they think the Lord would have them do. Then, if they still need help, I can direct them to some more passages or truths to consider.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

Exodus 15:1-21: I Will Sing to the Lord

By

At the Red Sea, the all-powerful God employed his power to separate and rescue his people so they might fear and believe him. But what now? What response must an act like this elicit?

Observation of Exodus 15:1-21

Most repeated words: Lord (14 times), sea (9x), hand (6), people (6), like (5), glorious (4), sing/sang (4) 

  • While the previous chapter drew attention through repetition to Egypt, this chapter returns our attention back to the Lord, Yahweh (14 times).
  • Miriam took a tambourine in her hand (Ex 15:20), but what God did with his hand gets more press (Ex 15:6, 9, 12, 17).
  • We’re clearly dealing with a song, and the singers want others to join the song as well. Notice the shift from Moses’ first-person “I will sing” (Ex 15:1) to Miriam’s imperative “Sing” (Ex 15:21).

One observation is incredibly obvious and therefore easy to ignore. The genre has shifted to poetry.

  • Of course, poetry is the most fitting form for a song.
  • Poetry also stands out, as this chapter is the only instance of poetry in the book of Exodus.

Officine Della Cultura (2013), Creative Commons

This song’s structure1 reveals much about the composer’s intentions:

  • Stanza #1: I will sing to Yahweh my God, whose glorious triumph warrants praise (Ex 15:1-3).
    • Stanza #2: Yahweh’s powerful hand threw Pharaoh’s chariots down, deep down, into the sea (Ex 15:4-10).
      • Stanza #3: No god is like Yahweh, the majestic, holy, awesome, and glorious wonder-worker (Ex 15:11-12).
    • Stanza #4: Yahweh’s great strength terrifies the nations, until he raises his people up to his own mountain (Ex 15:13-18).
  • Narrative recap of Yahweh’s triumph (Ex 15:19) and Miriam’s response: Sing to Yahweh for his glorious triumph (Ex 15:20-21)!

Interpretation of Exodus 15:1-21

Some possible questions:

  1. Why do we get this song/poem before resuming the action in Ex 15:22?
  2. Why is the narrative restated and summarized in Ex 15:19 before Miriam’s song?
  3. Why is the poem’s center focused on comparing Yahweh to other gods? Why not compare him to Pharaoh, the nations, or the rest of creation?

My answers (numbers correspond to the questions):

  1. If we step back and examine the five books of Moses as a whole, we see long poems cropping up at key points:
    • Genesis 49: where Jacob commissions his 12 sons as a new nation and predicts their tribal fates.
    • Exodus 15: where Moses, Miriam, and the Israelites celebrate God’s victory and their new-found national freedom at the Red Sea.
    • Numbers 23-24: where, by predicting a powerful Israelite king, Balaam’s prophecies thwart the Moabite king’s plans to curse this fledgling nation.
    • Deuteronomy 32-33: where Moses commissions the 12 tribes to enter their land, and he predicts their fate as a nation.
      • These long poems interrupt the narratives when the people of God reach a milestone in their nationhood. By means of these poems, the narrator takes a break from the action and invites us to reflect with him on the significance of what just happened and what will result from it.
  2. I’m not sure, other than perhaps to highlight just how important this event is. Ex 15:19 is basically a second retelling of the same story to make sure we understand what happened. The repetition also invites us to see Miriam’s song in the same light as Moses’ song: the overflowing praise of God’s people in response to God’s glorious triumph.
  3. It connects to Ex 12:12, which considers the Passover night as Yahweh’s warfare or justice on all the gods of Egypt. Those gods (demons) contributed true supernatural power to the Egyptian nobles (Ex 7:11, 22; 8:7), but those gods couldn’t come close to the power and majesty of Yahweh (Ex 8:18-19, 9:11). Also, Joshua 24:14 tells us that the Israelites served the gods of Egypt before their exodus. So the exodus from Egypt is not only about getting the people out of Egypt, but also about getting Egypt (and its gods) out of the people. If this poem is an opportunity for us to reflect on this milestone (see my answer to question #1), let us reflect on this: Who is like Yahweh among the gods? There is no other god, no other source of power, not even another supernatural being in the cosmos, who is able to do what Yahweh has just done. No-one and nothing can deliver people so completely, and torment and judge their enemies so utterly, as this God of gods and Lord of lords. Why would we consider offering our allegiance to anyone or anything but Yahweh?

Train of thought:

  • Yahweh (the LORD) is worthy of our songs of praise and delight.
  • He casts his enemies down and raises his people up.
  • There is no other god like him.

Main point: We must sing to Yahweh, for there is no other god who can cast down his enemies and raise up his people.

Connection to Christ: The cross of Jesus Christ, and not the Red Sea, is the place where God has truly cast down his enemies and raised up his people (John 12:31-32). Jesus even sings the praise of God on our behalf (Heb 2:11-12) so we can join him in the song of Moses (Rev 15:2-4). Jesus is himself this same Yahweh who does the mightiest of deeds; every person will one day confess Jesus is LORD (Phil 2:10-11).

My Application of Exodus 15:1-21

I don’t always feel like singing praise to God, so I must remember that, just as the Holy Spirit intercedes for me with groanings too deep for words (Rom 8:26), so also Jesus Christ sings on my behalf and offers acceptable praise to God (Heb 2:11-12).

When I find myself in incredibly stressful, impossible situations (as the Israelites were caught between Egypt’s chariots and the sea), my allegiance to the LORD Jesus must not waver. There is no other god who can deliver me. Not an extra bowl of ice cream. Not my anger or force of personality. Not my greed for financial security or a good reputation. Deliverance is rarely painless, but I can count on Jesus Christ to make it happen, in his way and at his time. Always.

Corporately, we make a practice of praising the Lord Jesus together in song. But the song is not an end in itself; it should be a response to his saving deeds. Our worship music should recount the gospel narrative. Our worship services should remind us of what Christ has done, and then call us to join the song. “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously…”

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

1I’m grateful to my colleague Gene Williams for his insight into the structure of this poem.

Exodus 3:1-4:17: The Making of a Mediator

By

Exodus begins with God’s people, the nation of Israel, becoming enslaved to a devilish king of Egypt. The narrator makes it clear that God sees, hears, and knows everything that is happening to his people, and that God has not forgotten his promises to make them a great nation. But in the opening narratives, God takes a back seat. He doesn’t do much as a character in the story…

Until you get to chapter 3.

Observation of Exodus 3:1-4:17

First, let me address why I’m tackling more than a single chapter. By portraying a single conversation, the passage compels us to ignore the (somewhat artificial) chapter division and to read Ex 3:1-4:17 as a single unit:

  • Moses meets the God of his father in a flame of fire – 3:1-6
  • The LORD reveals his plan to rescue his people through the hand of Moses – 3:7-10
  • Moses objects to this plan, and God responds to each objection – 3:11-4:17
    • Objection #1: Who am I? – 3:11-12
    • Objection #2: Who shall I say sent me? – 3:13-22
    • Objection #3: They won’t believe me – 4:1-9
    • Objection #4: I am not eloquent – 4:10-12
    • Objection #5: Please send someone else – 4:13-17

Repeated words in ESV: you/your (58 times), I (31x), God (28x), said (22x), Lord (18), Moses (15), out (14), hand (13), not (12)

  • Since the passage is a long Q&A between Moses and God, we shouldn’t be surprised to see words like “you” and “I” so often. But they also highlight the nature of the conversation: This discussion isn’t about merely “what” will happen, but about what “you” and “I” will do about it.
  • The repetition of “hand” is also striking. Whose hand will be mighty enough to care for these people (Ex 3:19)? Pharaoh’s (Ex 3:8)? God’s (Ex 3:20)? Or God’s hand as represented by Moses’ hand (Ex 4:2, 6, 17, etc.)?

Names and Titles:

  • God’s name—the LORD, or Yahweh—takes center stage. He is I AM (Ex 3:14), the God of their fathers (Ex 3:15), who has seen (Ex 3:16) and promises to do something (Ex 3:17).
  • Twice, the LORD repeats the list of 6 nations who must be dispossessed from the new land of promise (Ex 3:8, 17).
  • Four times, God calls himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Ex 3:6, 15, 16; 4:5).
  • Eight times, the people to be rescued are labeled the people/children of Israel (Ex 3:9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18)—connecting them to their forefather Jacob. And once—when Moses is to speak with the king of Egypt—they are labeled as Hebrews (Ex 3:18). This latter term likely connects their identity to their ancestor Eber, in whose days the nations were divided (Gen 10:24-25). Pharaoh wanted to build another Babel (Ex 1:10-11, 14; Gen 11:3-4); he’ll get it unexpectedly, when God splits nations apart once again.
Garry Wilmore (2006), Creative Commons

Garry Wilmore (2006), Creative Commons

Interpretation of Exodus 3:1-4:17

A few possible questions:

  1. Why does God appear in a burning bush?
  2. Why won’t God just save the people himself? Why is he so committed to doing it through Moses (Ex 3:10)?
  3. Why does Moses have so many objections?
  4. Why is it so important for Moses to have God’s name to give the people?

Answers (numbers correspond to the preceding questions):

  1. Twice, the text tells us the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. First, the narrator states it (Ex 3:2). Second, Moses mentions it out loud as the reason he turns aside from his shepherding (Ex 3:3). This visual image clearly matters, as it pictures the nature of God: He who burns but does not consume. He is dangerous, but not destructive. You should come close, but not too close. Later, the book will unpack this image—on this very mountain—as the consuming fire dwells in the cloud (Ex 19:18, 24:17-18). And God will more fully reveal his name to Moses as grace and truth (Ex 34:6-7). The image in chapter 3 gives us a beautiful word picture: the bush burns (truth), but is not consumed (grace). This is the nature of God’s glory. Not grace OR truth, but both grace AND truth.
  2. This is how God has chosen to do it. God says both “I have come down to deliver them” (Ex 3:8) and “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people out of Egypt” (Ex 3:10). Moses clearly represents God to Pharaoh (Ex 3:10) and the people (Ex 4:16). And, by having this experience with this God on this mountain (an experience the people will share later in the book – see Ex 3:12), Moses is representing the people before God. In other words, God will save his people, but the only way to do it is through a mediator.
  3. Well, how would you feel if you had already tried to deliver these people once before? And they had utterly rejected your deliverance? And you had to flee Egypt as a result? And you’ve had 40 years to stew on all this (Acts 7:30)? And you’re very happy with your new life and your new family? And you’ve made peace with being a sojourner in a foreign land (Ex 2:22)? Notice, however, that God is very patient in answering all Moses’ objections…until Moses renders a flat refusal (Ex 4:13). Only then does God’s anger burn against Moses (Ex 4:14). These people are as good as dead to Moses; but this God is not God of the dead but of the living (Mark 12:24-27).
  4. Vast theological treatises explore the philosophical ramifications of God’s self-revelation in Ex 3:14-15. Those are all well and good, but we must not overlook the purpose of this revelation in the story’s context: Moses needs some way to verify his testimony. If he goes back to Egypt, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to these people who have already rejected him, and he speaks of a meeting with the God of their fathers on a remote mountaintop—they’ll want to verify he’s speaking about the right God. How will they know this is the same God who made those promises to their fathers? And God’s name, his self-existence, his eternality, etc.—all provide the required verification.

Train of thought:

  • At the beginning, Moses is cheerfully keeping his father-in-laws flocks (Ex 3:1).
  • At the end, he will request leave from these duties (Ex 4:18).
  • This conversation on the mountain of God transforms Moses from being indifferent to the people’s plight to being committed to rescue them. He gets there as God lays out the plan and addresses each objection.

Main Point: God must deliver his people through the hand of a mediator, however hesitant he may be.

Connection to Christ: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). And though this true mediator wished for some other way, unlike Moses he never refused his calling (Mark 15:35-36).

My Application of Exodus 3:1-4:17

Now that I am in Christ, I, too, have a mediatorial role (James 5:19-20, Jude 23). Am I willing to embrace it? “I’m not eloquent” or “Evangelism isn’t my gift” simply won’t cut it. Unless I’m willing to risk the Lord’s burning anger at my refusal.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

Exodus 2: Do You Want Deliverance Or Not?

By

Exodus 1 showed us a new devil attempting to take God’s place in the life of God’s people, and the chapter left us wondering what would come of his decree to drown the sons. The Lord will reveal something about himself in this chapter that none of us would ever have expected.

Observation of Exodus 2

As usual, though my list must be highly selective, I hope it still proves representative of the narrator’s intentions.

Most repeated words in ESV: Moses, said (each 10 times), child, daughter, when (each 8x), Pharaoh (7x), God, water (each 6x).

  • Because “said” repeats so many times, dialogue will become much more important in this chapter.
  • Pharaoh sought to stamp out the sons, but God will respond through the “child” of the “daughter.” Very sneaky.
  • At first, I’m inclined to overlook “when” as being significant. But upon further investigation, the repetition clues me in on an important motif: When x, then y. In other words, the event sequence matters. There is an order to things here, and God is facilitating events to happen just so.

Names/Titles:

  • It’s noteworthy that the narrator will later tell us the names of Moses’ parents (Ex 6:20) and sister (Ex 15:20). But for now, we’re meant to think of them only in terms of their literary roles: man, woman, mother, sister, and daughter.

Grammar/structure:

  • Paragraph 1 (Ex 2:1-10): A Hebrew woman delivers a fine child through the river and into the hands of Pharaoh’s daughter.
  • Paragraph 2 (Ex 2:11-15): A Hebrew man rejects the deliverance Moses attempts, and Pharaoh’s vengeance squeezes Moses out of Egypt and into Midian.
  • Paragraph 3 (Ex 2:16-22): Moses (thought to be “an Egyptian” – Ex 2:19) delivers seven Midianite daughters through well water. they cheerfully receive his deliverance by extending hospitality, a family, and a new identity as sojourner.
  • Paragraph 4 (Ex 2:23-25): The king of Egypt dies, and the God of the living knows his people and remembers his duty to them.
Steve Perin (2007), Creative Commons

Steve Perin (2007), Creative Commons

Interpretation of Exodus 2

A few possible questions:

  1. What does it mean for baby Moses to be “fine”, and why does this fact motivate his mother to hide him and save his life?
  2. Why are we given no names except Moses, Reuel (priest of Midian), Zipporah (Moses’ Midianite wife), and Gershom (Moses’ son)?
  3. Why is deliverance such a repeated theme?
  4. Why is water such a repeated theme?
  5. So what must we conclude about Moses’ behavior in murdering the Egyptian?

Answers (numbers correspond to the preceding questions):

  1. A short jaunt into a Hebrew tool reveals that the word for “fine” is the same word in Genesis 1 translated “good.” The phrase is very similar to “And God saw that it was good”—”She saw that he was good.” So, as with Exodus 1, we see more connections back to Genesis. In addition, the word used for baby Moses’ “basket” is the same word used for Noah’s “ark,” and this word occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. With the birth of Moses, God is making a new creation, a new beginning for his people, and Moses is the firstborn of this new creation. This new beginning includes a new deliverance from water through water, just like Noah. This causes us to expect something earth-shattering will soon take place.
  2. The point is not so much who these people are, but what role they play. Pharaoh targeted the sons, so the daughters (including his own) work to undermine him. And with a “man” and a “woman” conceiving and bearing a son, we can’t help but think of the first man and woman at the first creation. This leads us to see the “new creation” idea even more clearly in Moses. And interestingly, Reuel may mean “friend of God”—the priest of Midian, who invites Moses into his home and family, stands in stark contrast to both the Egyptian and Hebrew people.
  3. God foreshadows his intentions. He will, no he must, deliver his people—because of his promises to their ancestors. Moses’ role in the story of Israel will be to deliver in God’s name. He experiences deliverance himself and takes a first stab at it.
  4. Water contributes to the “new creation” theme (see answer to question #1).
  5. Many (most?) modern readers and commentators are quick to condemn Moses’ actions here as being rash and sinful. That might be true, but the text never draws attention to the rashness or sinfulness of these actions. In fact, the chief point of tension occurs not when Moses kills the Egyptian, but when the Hebrew rejects Moses as a prince or judge over him. It is that rejection, and not the murder itself, which causes Moses to flee from Egypt to Midian. What might have happened if Israel had trusted that “God was giving them salvation by his hand”? We should note that the first martyr Stephen interprets this episode in just this way (Acts 7:23-29). We would do well to follow Stephen’s lead on how to read this story.

Train of thought:

  • Pharaoh’s decree to drown the sons has an unintended effect: the creation of a deliverer (aided and abetted by his own household!).
  • But the people who need deliverance reject the potential deliverer.
  • The deliverer must flee and take his deliverance to a different people-group, who, while outside the covenants of promise, are yet eager to receive God’s deliverance.
  • But God is not yet done with his covenant people. The people who reject and thus don’t deserve deliverance will find that their God is a God who ever hears their groaning, remembers his covenant, and knows what to do.

Main Point: God will deliver his people through the hand of his appointed deliverer…just not yet.

Connection to Christ: He came to his own, and even his own did not receive him (John 1:11). And even those who have received him, who have become children of God (John 1:12), still must wait eagerly for him to appear a second time to truly, finally save them (Hebrews 9:28).

Application of Exodus 2

Application should be as varied as the people who put it into practice. Here is mine for today.

Inward:

  • Head: Do I believe that I am delivered from sin’s penalty, but must wait eagerly to be delivered from sin’s presence once and for all?
  • Heart: Do I trust God’s appointed deliverer to be a prince and judge over me?
  • Hands: Choose eagerness instead of disillusionment when I bump into rejection and the pain of life.

Outward:

  • Head: Teach my children to trust in Jesus through the pain they face today.
  • Heart: Inspire my children to long to become agents of deliverance to the world around them, in the image of the firstborn Son of God.
  • Hands: Talk with my children about how they can present Christ to some of their friends.

Click here to see what I’m doing with this sample Bible study and why I’m doing it.

Wisdom Delivers for the Long Haul

By

We’ve seen how wisdom delivers from evil and adulterous people in Proverbs 2:12-19.  Now we see what it delivers us for.

So you will walk in the way of the good
And keep to the paths of the righteous.
For the upright will inhabit the land,
And those with integrity will remain in it,
But the wicked will be cut off from the land,
And the treacherous will be rooted out of it (Prov 2:20-22, ESV).

Deliverance FOR endurance on the right path (20-22).  When you become wise and keep seeking wisdom, you will persevere on the paths of the righteous (Prov 2:20).  The Lord promises to preserve you to the last day, when he will judge the wicked and treacherous (Prov 2:22) but stabilize the upright in his kingdom forever (Prov 2:21).

"Holy Land - Pool of Bethesda, Jerulsalem" by Jenny King Mellon (2009), shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License

“Holy Land – Pool of Bethesda, Jerulsalem” by Jenny King Mellon (2009), shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License

Solomon here describes those who “inhabit the land,” referring to God’s treaty with Abraham and his offspring to give them a good land (Gen 12:1, 7; 13:15-17, etc.).  They wearied of living in tents and wanted to establish roots in a land of their own.  About 500 years later, Joshua pioneered this promised frontier on behalf of Abraham’s descendants.  Yet after another wait of more than 1000 years, Jesus the True Joshua (“Jesus” and “Joshua” are the same name in Greek and Hebrew respectively; like “Peter” and “Pedro” in English and Spanish) led those who would believe in him to find ultimate and lasting rest (Gal 3:16).  We who trust in Jesus now find stability “in the land,” resting from our works as God did from his (Heb 4:8-11).  In other words, we don’t need to do anything to make God happy; by living the life we ought to have lived and dying the death we deserved to die, Jesus already did it all for us.

This last point is critical, for our hope in becoming wise must not be in getting everything “just right.”  We’re all guilty of failing to listen, doing crooked things, and entertaining ungodly sexuality.  Our own brokenness condemns us, and the consequences of our choices gnaw at us.  But it’s never too late to turn around.  We’re never beyond the reach of God’s rich mercy in Christ.  The only way to qualify is to realize that we’re not qualified.  This weakness will strengthen us in wisdom.  We’ll quit depending on ourselves, and instead turn to the Lord of wisdom.  As we trust in him, we’ll draw closer to him and become more like him.  In short, that’s how to become wise.

The process for becoming wise is really quite straightforward.  Get in the habit of listening to advice and seeking out help.  Trust in the Lord and become more and more like him.  Then you’ll become a different person who loves what God loves; you’ll make choices that take you away from evil and immorality and toward righteousness and stability.

Do you think it’s worth it to become wise?

Wisdom Delivers from Adulterous People

By

Yesterday we saw that wisdom delivers from evil people.  Proverbs 2 moves on to yet another deliverance that occurs when we make different choices.

So you will be delivered from the forbidden woman,
From the adulteress with her smooth words,
Who forsakes the companion of her youth
And forgets the covenant of her God;
For her house sinks down to death,
And her paths to the departed;
None who go to her come back,
Nor do they regain the paths of life (Prov 2:16-19, ESV).

Deliverance FROM adulterous people.  An understanding person will choose not to engage in sexual activity with anyone but a spouse.  This lifestyle means avoiding even flirtatious speech (Prov 2:16) and emotional intimacy or companionship (Prov 2:17).  God designed erotic activity to build oneness in marriage.  Pursuing a sexual relationship outside of marriage results in a type of death (Prov 2:18) that leaves a lasting stain in one’s history and memory (Prov 2:19).  A failure to repent of such a lifestyle will ultimately lead to everlasting death in hell.

We must understand that Solomon’s warning is not limited to sexual intercourse with a married person (one overly-literal way to interpret “going to” an “adulteress”).  All sexual activity is, well, sexual.  Thus, all sexual activity and flirtatious speech with someone other than a spouse is included in Solomon’s warning.  The discerning person will stay far from that path, delighting in God’s generous plan for marriage.  Solomon gives much more detail on this theme in Proverbs 5 and 7.

Note that, as with the first category, the most dangerous and deceitful relationships can be with those who attend church or who claim to follow the Lord.  Some people who would never consider something clearly immoral, like spending the night with a prostitute, will give themselves to various forms of sexual activity with another person who has a smattering of religious commitment.  In his perceptive satire Evangellyfish (Moscow, ID: Canon, 2012), Douglas Wilson illustrates such a scene through the eyes of a fictional youth pastor:

Every month or so the stress of youth ministry—dealing with the kids and all their issues—would get to Johnny, and so he would head on over to Brandy’s apartment to have her give him a neck rub, followed by her specialty back rub. But somehow her giving him a back rub always turned into him giving her a front rub, and then they would fall again.

…Brandy gave him a few back rubs back [when she was a student in his youth group] that brought them perilously close to the edge, but honestly, there was no front rubbing until after she graduated… That meant that when they finally followed the manner of all the earth, they were not violating the professional standards of youth ministry, but rather simply the seventh item on an ancient list which was from the Old Testament anyway.

Here in Proverbs 2:16-19, the adulterous woman “forgets the covenant of her God” (Prov 2:17).  In chapter 7, she’s someone who offers sacrifices at God’s temple (Prov 7:14), so we can see that in some sense she was indeed a member of the community of God’s people.  Such people can be chief among those who offer temptations.  We must constantly guard our hearts and set up boundaries for healthy relationships.  The wise – whether male or female – will exercise discernment and turn from “the forbidden woman.”

Wisdom Delivers from Evil People

By

Wisdom delivers by enabling us to make different choices.

Delivering you from the way of evil,
From men of perverted speech,
Who forsake the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness,
Who rejoice in doing evil
And delight in the perverseness of evil,
Men whose paths are crooked,
And who are devious in their ways (Prov 2:12-15, ESV).

"Deception Pass" by gemteck1 (2008), shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License

“Deception Pass” by gemteck1 (2008), shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License

Deliverance FROM evil people.  A discerning, godly person will choose not to join evildoers in their evildoing.  This lifestyle means rejecting hurtful speech (Prov 2:12), deceitful cover-ups (Prov 2:13), godless delights (Prov 2:14), and devious behavior (Prov 2:15).  The wise person knows that the most dangerous of all potential influencers are those who claim to follow God, but who by their actions have forsaken his way (Prov 2:13).

I’ll give an example.  We once hired a contractor to upgrade one of the mechanical systems in our house.  About a week after the work was completed, we discovered that we should have gotten a permit from the local code office for this work.  So I called the contractor to ask if he had gotten one and had just forgotten to communicate with us about it.  Now he claimed to believe in God, but his response was something like: “Is the code office after you?  Just tell them you had only a little bit of work done, and they’ll leave you alone.”

This course of action was unacceptable to me; I knew that a deceitful cover-up would dishonor God and come back to haunt me someday.  I should have researched the local ordinances more carefully, and I had to deal with the consequences.  So I contacted the code office and told them of my situation, offering to do whatever I needed to do to make it right.  The assistant at the office told me to fill out an application and include a note saying that I wasn’t aware of the permit requirement before the work completion date.  Once I did, the permit was issued, and I don’t think they even charged a penatly.

The point is: I had to make a different choice.  Part of that choice involved not being influenced by an outwardly godly but inwardly deceptive approach to the situation.  Those who have heard and received God’s wisdom are equipped to label “the way of evil” correctly so they can avoid it and its consequences.

Wisdom Delivers

By

"Imperial Bodyguard" by Jay Adan (2010), shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License

“Imperial Bodyguard” by Jay Adan (2010), shared under a Creative Commons Attribution License

When we become wise, we receive heavy-duty protection and deliverance, but it’s important to realize how this protection works.

Discretion will watch over you,
Understanding will guard you (Prov 2:11, ESV)

It is not as though we may continue in our foolish ways and then hope for a sudden miraculous rescue from their consequences: “Lord, I cheated on my taxes and now the IRS is after me.  Deliver me from their persecution!”  Wisdom’s threat in Prov 1:28 should have rid us of any such misconception.

In Prov 2:11 it’s clear that the promised deliverance is more mundane than it is miraculous.  It goes like this.  When we listen to wisdom, God gives us discretion.  He changes our hearts so that we desire what he desires.  Then, when we act according to God’s desires – employing our God-given discretion to the daily decisions we face – we make different choices that result in different consequences.  Instead of racing headfirst toward suffering and pain, we act in a more life-giving way.  We will choose not to do evil, harmful things and to do good, stable things.

Over the next few days, we’ll see what such discretion delivers us from.  Then next week, we’ll see what such discretion delivers us for.  If you can’t wait, just read the rest of Prov 2:11-22 to see for yourself.