Exo 7:1

“The purpose of these plagues was manifold: * (1) 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). * (2) 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). * (3) 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.’ * (4) 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.’ * (5) They furnished a complete testing of human responsibility [all men had to CHOOSE which way they would go!]. * (6) 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). * (7) 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)!” (Pink).

I HAVE MADE YOU LIKE GOD TO PHARAOH: “Made” is the Heb “nathan” = to give, as a gift. This was an appointment, or commission — an honor bequeathed by a superior to an inferior.

There is no equivalent for the word “like” in the Hebrew (as in the NIV); nor is there an equivalent for the word “a”, or any particular justification for translating the Heb “elohim” as “god” (as in the KJV). Rather: ‘I have appointed you… God… to Pharaoh.’ This is the doctrine of God-manifestation in full view: as far as Pharaoh is concerned, Moses (although a man) IS God!

God’s meaning is clear enough; Moses was God’s appointed representative, the mediator between God and Pharaoh. Moses was also the mediator between God and Israel, and God describes it in similar terms. He says of Aaron, ‘He shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God.’ This in fact sets up two layers of mediatorship: Moses mediated between God and Aaron, and Aaron mediated between Moses and the people. So… ‘Moses said to Pharaoh’ really means: ‘Moses said to Aaron’ AND ‘Aaron said to Pharaoh’. The words came from Moses. Aaron was simply the middleman. So the writer [Moses himself, or a secretary/scribe?] did not bother to write over and over, ‘And Moses said to Aaron, “Say to Pharaoh…”, and Aaron said to Pharaoh…’ Instead, he just wrote, ‘Moses said…’ And the same thing occurs in Exo 3:2,4, etc. It was an angel who happened to speak the words, but the angel was just the middleman. The words were God’s, and the conversation was between God and Moses despite the fact that God used a messenger as a go-between.

“It seems appropriate to draw a parallel with the work of Jesus. In the NT order of things God speaks to Jesus, and he in turn speaks either directly to us in his words in the Gospels, or else through the apostles, and their words recorded in Scripture. Just as Moses has a prophet in the person of Aaron his brother, so too Jesus sent out apostles into the world to communicate the wonder of him and his Father. We too take on that mantle of Jesus’s spokesperson when we speak of God to those people who are in the world. Just as Aaron the prophet was the brother of Moses the mediator, so our Mediator was made like his brethren, and it is our privilege now to speak on his behalf” (MV, Tes 72:289).

Exo 7:3

I WILL HARDEN PHARAOH’S HEART: “Not one of the usual two words for hardening, ‘chazaq’ or ‘kabad’. Here the word is ‘qashah’, ‘severe’, ‘harsh’, ‘hard(-pressed)’, the only occasion on which it is used in Exo 1–15” (MV, Test 72:291).

Exo 7:4

DIVISIONS: Heb “sabaoth” = “hosts” or armies! Thus Yahweh became Yahweh sabaoth — the LORD of hosts.

Exo 7:5

AND THE EGYPTIANS WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD…: “Even those who are destined for destruction are to know and understand the significance and the consequence of the path they have chosen. God’s Name and character are to be proclaimed even by their destruction, and it is one of the objects of His purpose that even they should know” (MV, Tes 72:290).

Exo 7:7

“The biographical detail — of the ages of Moses and Aaron — again serves to demarcate the mission to Pharaoh and the plagues which will follow. All the preliminaries are now in place, and the main narrative may now begin” (MV, Tes 72:291).

Exo 7:9

WHEN PHARAOH SAYS TO YOU, ‘PERFORM A MIRACLE’…: “Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, ‘Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you’ ” (Mat 12:38).

SNAKE: Heb “tannin”, normally a word for a large reptile, and not the usual “nachash”, serpent, which is found in the other rod-snake passage (Exo 4:3). Interestingly, a Pharaoh is addressed by the same word in Eze 29:3 (cp Isa 51:9).

Exo 7:10

AARON THREW HIS STAFF DOWN… AND IT BECAME A SNAKE: There was apparently a particular variety of snake in Egypt which under certain circumstances would become rigid and sticklike, so that when Aaron’s rod becomes a serpent Pharaoh might well be lulled into unconcern. Perhaps he recognized this as a standard part of an Egyptian magician’s repertoire (rather like a bunny pulled out of a hat). And so he calls his magicians to repeat the feat, and they oblige (v 11).

Exo 7:12

Christ (Aaron’s snake-rod) swallowed up other “snakes” of sin. Christ was of our nature, to destroy our nature (Heb 2:14,15). “A mighty passion in the breast, like Aaron’s rod, swallows up the rest” (Alexander Pope).

Exo 7:13

Pharaoh’s heart being hardened: (1) by himself: Exo 7:13,14,22; 8:15,19,32; 9:7,34,35; and (2) by God: Exo 9:12; 10:1,20,27; 11:10; 14:4,8,17. (Although there is one, perhaps, “out of place”, all others follow a pattern: first, Pharaoh hardens his own heart, and then — later — God hardens Pharaoh’s heart.)

Two different words used: (a) “chazaq” (to be strong): Exo 7:13,22; 8:19; 9:12,35; 10:20,27; 11:10; 14:4,8,17; and (b) “kabad” (to be heavy): Exo 7:14; 8:15,32; 9:7,34; 10:1.

Exo 7:14

THEN THE LORD SAID TO MOSES: The ten plagues are all introduced by these words. In like manner, there are 10 sets of creative words, in Gen 1:1–2:3: “And God said…” Both creation and destruction proceed at the word of the LORD! His words are readily translated into actions. What we are witnessing here is the “uncreation” of Egypt, and the “re-creation” of Israel.

Finally, there are also the 10 commandments: the means by which every man “destroys” the old man, and “creates” the new man in himself.

The “uncreation” of Egypt is exemplified by the bringing of darkness (first plague, and the contrast of “Let there be light” in Gen 1), and the death of the firstborn (last plague, and the contrast of the creation of Adam, God’s “firstborn”). In all the other plagues, God uses those things which He created in the beginning to bring destruction upon Egypt… or to “uncreate” Egypt!

Exo 7:15

GO TO PHARAOH IN THE MORNING AS HE GOES OUT TO THE WATER: Pharaoh comes to the river’s edge early in the morning on a regular basis, most probably to officiate in some ceremonial rites. If the time referred to is that of the Nile inundation in Sept/Oct, then it may be that he was going to worship the god of the Nile — Hapi. The flooding of the Nile was also regarded as a manifestation of the god Osiris.

Exo 7:17

BY THIS YOU WILL KNOW: This picks up Pharaoh’s earlier arrogance: “I do not know the Lord” (Exo 5:2). He may not KNOW at this point, but he soon will!

WITH THE STAFF THAT IS IN MY HAND I WILL STRIKE THE WATER OF THE NILE, AND IT WILL BE CHANGED INTO BLOOD: That water, to Pharaoh a symbol of life, can at God’s choice become a river of blood, a river that spells certain death to all in Egypt should it remain in such a state. Pharaoh is standing at the interface between death and life. Ultimately a large portion of his army would be destroyed in the Red Sea — and the waters would be filled with literal blood!

Is this literal blood (plasma, red cells, white cells, etc)? The repetitive language would suggest so (vv 17,19,20,21). Or was this a particular intense and sudden example of what is called “algae bloom” — which could lead to an intense reddening of the whole Nile River? By itself, this could kill the fish, and make the water unpalatable. There are other examples of something “become blood”, which are probably to be interpreted symbolically: ie, Joel 2:31 (moon into blood); John 6:54 (blood = wine). If this were not a literal turning of water into blood, it would still be no less a miracle.

THE STAFF THAT IS IN MY HAND: Notice that these words, though spoken by Moses (or Aaron) to Pharaoh, are the quoted words of God. Therefore the staff in Moses’ hand is in effect a staff in the hand of God Himself.

Exo 7:19

STREAMS: 7 streams of Nile delta. The river Nile was worshiped as a god: “father of life” and “father of gods”. Osiris was the Egyptian god of the inundation. There was also a god of the Nile, by the name of Hapi. But God shows His power to be greater than both of these gods by His control over the waters of the Nile.

STREAMS AND CANALS… PONDS… RESERVOIRS: A number of words for different types of bodies of water are used in this verse to emphasize the universality of the experience Egypt will have to endure.

BLOOD WILL BE EVERYWHERE: The Egyptians abhorred blood.

Exo 7:20

The first 3 plagues were apparently upon Jews as well: ct Exo 8:22; Amos 4:10.

Exo 7:22

THE EGYPTIAN MAGICIANS DID THE SAME THINGS: Nothing new here. They just took credit for the deeds of Moses and Aaron.

Exo 8:2

FROGS: Egyptians worshiped the frog-headed goddess Hica.

“The goddess of midwifery took the rather bizarre form of a frog” (M Vincent, Tes 72:252).

Exo 8:3

THE NILE WILL TEEM WITH FROGS: This borrows language from the Genesis creation account. The waters will “bring forth” (AV) all manner of fish and water creatures, as in Gen 1:3. But this time it is only one species of creation which is to be brought forth, and in ridiculous quantities. God is showing that He is not obliged to keep the wonderful processes of nature in check, with all their diversity and order. Other processes, abhorrent to man, are quite within His power — but by His grace mankind is generally spared such spectacles.

Exo 8:6

AND COVERED THE LAND: Cp description of the flood of Noah’s day (Gen 7:19,20).

Exo 8:9

I LEAVE TO YOU THE HONOR OF SETTING THE TIME: The KJV has “Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee?” — which is difficult. The NIV is much better: ‘…so there will be no thought that the miracle occurred only by chance!’

Exo 8:11

THEY WILL REMAIN ONLY IN THE NILE: The frogs are out of place, but they can be returned to their rightful place (in the river) if Pharaoh behaves in the appropriate way. Israel too is out of place (in Egypt), and Pharaoh must do the right thing by sending them on their way to a place where they do belong!

Exo 8:14

AND THE LAND REEKED OF THEM: As it did from the dead fish of the first plague (Exo 7:18,21).

Exo 8:18

BUT WHEN THE MAGICIANS TRIED… THEY COULD NOT: The magicians attempt to keep up with God by copying this miracle, as (seemingly) they have done before! We sometimes behave like the magicians, thinking we can keep up with God, or match Him or beat Him in some way, and sometimes He may let us deceive ourselves for a time. But in the end that is all we shall be doing — deceiving ourselves.

Exo 8:19

THIS IS THE FINGER OF GOD: Even the magicians admit God’s superiority. They cannot create life. “This is obviously the power of God.”

As if to say, ‘If this is what God can do with His finger, just imagine what He can do with His hand or arm! Just think what the use of the totality of God’s power might portend!’

Exo 8:21

IF YOU DO NOT LET MY PEOPLE GO, I WILL SEND…: There is a play on words here. Both “let” and “send” come from the same Heb rt: “shalach”, to send. ‘Send my people out of Egypt,’ God tells Pharaoh, ‘or I will do some “sending” of My own!’

SWARMS: Heb “arob” = a great mixed multitude (cp “Arab”) of… perhaps flies, but perhaps also beasts of all kinds (see AV mg).

FLIES: Directed against Beelzebub — the lord of flies, dunghill. (Cleanliness vital to Egyptian religion.) See Mat 12:24-27: Beelzebub = prince of demons.

What kind of flies? Different possibilities are suggested: (1) LXX has the “dog fly” or “stable fly” — a vicious blood-sucking insect known to transmit anthrax and other animal diseases; (2) the Egyptian beetle; (3) Stomoxys calcitrans, another disease-bearing fly that preys on animals.

The sw occurs in Psa 78:45; 105:31.

Exo 8:22

I WILL DEAL DIFFERENTLY: “I will sever”. The rt “palah” occurs twice more in the plague narratives: Exo 9:4; 11:7. Its two other occurrences in the OT are also interesting: Exo 33:16 (‘separated’), and Psa 4:3 (‘set apart’). In every instance it is God who does the distinguishing, separating those are His for Himself.

GOSHEN: The territory in Egypt in which Jacob and his family were granted royal permission to settle. It is called either “the land of Goshen” or simply “Goshen,” and is related to “the land of Rameses” (Gen 47:11) and the store cities of Exo 1:11. It was in northern Egypt, east of the Nile River.

Exo 8:23

I WILL MAKE A DISTINCTION…: Heb “peduth”. The Jews had in the first place to suffer along with the Egyptians, for a while, BEFORE God would begin to set them apart. “Distinction” = “deliverance” in NIV mg. Sw Psa 111:9 (where the whole psa describes the Jews’ deliverance out of Egypt).

Exo 8:24

RUINED: Heb “shachath” — sw is used 4 times regarding the judgments of Noah’s flood: Gen 6:11,12,13,17.

Exo 8:25

Pharaoh’s first compromise: 3 days’ journey (Exo 5:3) took them into the land of promise: ie across the Nile River.

Exo 8:26

SACRIFICES THAT ARE DETESTABLE IN THEIR EYES: All the Jews’ sacrificial animals were sacred, untouchable, to the Egyptians.

Exo 8:28

Pharaoh is like “King Sin”: “Go away and serve your other ‘god’, but be sure not to go too far away, and come back to me!”

Exo 8:29

THE FLIES WILL LEAVE: God removed the flies; they were not left to putrefy and contaminate the earth.

Exo 9:3

All these animals were considered sacred — because they contained the souls of gods: reincarnation!

PLAGUE: “Deber”, translated “plague” (Hos 13:14), “pestilence” 48 times. Cp the “sting” of 1Co 15:55, related to death.

Exo 9:4

MAKE A DISTINCTION: See Exo 8:22n.

Exo 9:6

ALL THE LIVESTOCK OF THE EGYPTIANS DIED: That is, all the livestock “in the field” (Exo 9:3). But since all livestock was not “in the field”, all did not die (Exo 14:9).

Exo 9:8

SOOT: Or “ashes” (AV) from the offerings to the god Typhon, the protector from plagues. The Egyptian priests scattered those ashes to the winds. Moses imitates their action (in a challenge), but with a different result.

INTO THE AIR: Or “toward the heaven” — ref Neith, the “queen of heaven”.

Exo 9:9

BOILS: Heb “shechin” = burn, ulcer, botch. Cp Job 2:7; Lev 13 conc leprosy; Deu 28:27,35 conc plagues promised to Jews; 2Ki 20:7/Isa 38:21 conc Hezekiah. From other refs, this covered the entire body. Also see Rev 16:2.

Exo 9:10

MOSES TOSSED IT IN THE AIR, AND FESTERING BOILS BROKE OUT ON MEN AND ANIMALS: The wording seems to exclude a naturalistic explanation — such as anthrax transmitted from the animals to humans. The sprinkling of the dust was to demonstrate in Pharaoh’s presence that this was a totally miraculous occurrence.

How could the magicians say they had performed this miracle?

AND ANIMALS: The cattle had already been afflicted in the earlier plague, but evidently not all had yet died. In fact, animals will be affected again in the next plague.

Exo 9:12

THE LORD HARDENED PHARAOH’S HEART: This is the first time that it is said specifically that God hardens Pharaoh’s heart. “God is the potter, and if He so wishes, he can make a vessel to dishonour. Pharaoh has already been given seven opportunities by this point (see Exo 7:13n), and by his own free will has chosen to harden his heart on every single occasion. Just as God sent an evil spirit upon Saul to hasten His purpose and bring about a particular effect which He desire (Saul having been given ample opportunity to serve God in the right way), and just as God ‘gave over’ His people unto their own hearts’ lust (Acts 7:39-42; Rom 1:24), so now God uses Pharaoh more as an object, as a piece of pottery, to show forth His glory. In fact, Pharaoh has shown himself so unworthy of God’s grace that God can say that the only purpose of his existence is as a vehicle for God to illustrate His awesome power (cp Rom 9:17). Now God sends His plagues, not only on frogs and lice, but on the very heart of Pharaoh himself, leading to further intransigence and stubbornness on Pharaoh’s part.

“Does this mean that free will has gone out of the window and that Pharaoh is merely a puppet whom God props up and supports only that He might knock him down? No, for the very overlap in Exo 9:34,35 (in which it is stated once more that Pharaoh hardens his own heart) shows that Pharaoh is still involved. But the drama has quite clearly reached a new level, in which, Pharaoh having been given ample opportunity, God pushes him, as it were, towards his doom…

“One writer has used a canoeing analogy to help explain the interaction of God and Pharaoh in the hardening process, which some might find helpful. Imagine being in a canoe heading towards the brink of a waterfall. The flow of water is gradually narrowing and the current is getting stronger, but at any point you can turn the canoe away and bring it to shore. However, as you go on and on towards the brink the current gets ever stronger and you have less and less opportunity to turn aside. To do so will command greater and greater effort. As you approach, the possibility of turning away becomes increasingly theoretical, for the current drives you on until ultimately there is nothing you can do but go over the brink. Pharaoh is the canoeist, repeatedly refusing to come to shore. Eventually he is caught in a current so strong that his own free will becomes increasingly irrelevant, and the current of God’s purpose leads him to his destruction. It is not a perfect analogy, but it does make a useful point. The opportunities God gives us to exercise our free will and repent are there to be taken. Otherwise it may just be too late” (MV, Tes 72:254).

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).

THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED IN ALL THE EARTH: Rahab the harlot heard of this in far away Jericho, and remembered its substance 40 years later (Jos 2:9-11).

Exo 9:18

THE WORST HAILSTORM THAT HAS EVER FALLEN: That is, never before in such large proportions. The miracle is in the magnitude of affliction.

Exo 9:19

LIVESTOCK… IN THE FIELD: The cattle were kept in the fields from Jan to April (cp vv 31,32).

Exo 9:20

THOSE… WHO FEARED: Here marks the beginning of division of the Egyptians, and the first stirrings of the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt.

Exo 9:22

ON EVERYTHING GROWING: Directed against Isis and Osiris, the gods of light, health, fertility, arts, agriculture.

Exo 9:23

“He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycomores with frost (great hail)” (Psa 78:47).

Exo 9:27

I HAVE SINNED: 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. Out of a list of 11 men in the Bible who said, “I have sinned,” possibly only five actually 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.

Exo 9:29

THE EARTH IS THE LORD’S: God has complete control over all creation: Psa 24:1.

Exo 9:31

This fixes a date of February.

Exo 9:32

In Egypt, these grow up in March or early April.

Exo 5:1

God does not request His people’s freedom; He demands it!

LET MY PEOPLE GO: This expression occurs 9 times (Exo 5:1; 7:16; 8:1,20,21; 9:1,13; 10:3,4). It might be more literally rendered as “Send (out) My people.”

FESTIVAL: The word refers to a sacrificial feast and is often associated with a pilgrimage to a sanctuary or holy place. In Israel’s case this was, of course, Mt Sinai.

Exo 5:2

WHO IS THE LORD, THAT I SHOULD OBEY HIM?: Egypt and the pride of man will bow to no one.

WHO IS THE LORD…?: The question is also found in Pro 30:9, suggesting that it is the kind of question we are liable to ask when rich and full.

Exo 5:6

“They say that the night is always darkest just before the dawn. It was like that for Israel when Moses arrived back in Egypt ready to deliver them. They had been in slavery for as long as they could remember and at last the time had come when they were about to be made free and taken to the promised land. No doubt spirits were lifted as the news got around and they thought that they were about to walk free.

“But instead of things getting better, they got worse. Pharaoh got angry and they were forced to make the same amount of bricks in the same amount of time but they also had to provide their own straw. Their anticipation turned to bitterness and anger against Moses. But nothing happens without God allowing it to happen. I wonder if it was to make them appreciate their escape even more than if they had just got up and gone from their “normal” slavery. The blacker the night, the brighter the day seems to be.

“It may be that our trials serve the same purpose. When things go from bad to worse we can rejoice in the fact that when our trials are over or when the kingdom comes, the day will be truly bright” (RP).

Exo 5:7

The “world” uses work as a means of drawing believers away from their God.

Exo 5:8

THEY ARE LAZY: As though the only reason to serve any “god” is boredom!

Exo 5:10

Vv 10,11: “Pharaoh, the tyrannical ruler loading ever greater burdens upon his people and making ever increasing demands upon them, is a fitting symbol for sin and the dominion that it exercises over mankind. Sinful life gradually takes its toll upon us, and the effects of sin and corruption are ever more visible as we age and weaken. Sin does not seem too awful or its toll so heavy at first when we are young and active, but in time the limits of our human condition make themselves all too apparent. So also now the Israelite people are ever more crushed by the burdens they must face” (MV, Tes 71:420).

Exo 5:15

THE ISRAELITE FOREMEN WENT AND APPEALED TO PHARAOH: “Pharaoh had begun to turn up the heat for the Israelites, but their immediate reaction is to turn for help, not to God, but to Pharaoh. In their desperation they turn in the very opposite direction to the one from which help might have come. They think they have more of a chance of remedying the situation by turning to Pharaoh than they do by turning to God. Only when Pharaoh refuses to budge, and all available options have been exhausted, do they turn to Moses — and then only in complaint” (MV, Tes 71:448).

YOUR SERVANTS (and twice in the next verse): “It is all a question of how one sees oneself. The Israelite officers saw themselves primarily as Pharaoh’s servants, and perhaps in some vague secondary sense [if at all!] as servants of God. By their threefold identification as Pharaoh’s servants they implicitly state that for them Pharaoh’s lordship takes precedence over God’s.

“But this will not do. We are servants of God before we are anything else, whether it be ‘company men’, members of various organisations or institutions, partakers of particular social functions and roles, or even members of the family into which God has placed us. Obligations and allegiance to Him must be paid and acknowledged before any other duty is discharged. Whatever happens in our lives, He must be our first port of call. He is the One with whom we have to do and to whom we must report” (MV, Tes 71:448).

Exo 5:18

NOW GET TO WORK: The word is lit “serve” once more. The phrase will come back to bite Pharaoh, for he will use the identical words with quite different meaning in Exo 12:31, re “serving/worshiping” the LORD! The death of the firstborns will have caused him to change his perspective completely on what Israel should go and do — yet the Heb language allows him to use the sw to describe it (cp Exo 10:8,11,24).

Exo 5:20

WAITING TO MEET THEM: AV has “stood in the way”. A double entendre: Yes, Moses and Aaron were standing in the path as the officers returned from Pharaoh’s palace. But this is also exactly what they had been doing metaphorically as far as the officers were concerned — getting in the way. If not for Moses and Aaron, their burdens would not have been increased!

Exo 5:21

13 murmurings: Exo 5:21; 14:10; 15:24; 16:2; 17:2; 32:1; Num 11:1,4; 12:2; 14:2; 16:3; 20:2; 21:5. Cp Joh 6:41-43. Those who murmur without cause are soon given cause to murmur.

YOU HAVE MADE US A STENCH TO PHARAOH: Heb idiom, sig that Moses and Aaron had made Pharaoh hate them even more than he did before. But notice the later play on this word: the sw is used to describe the literal stench that filled Egypt as the fish and frogs decayed (Exo 7:21; 8:14). Pharaoh may have found the behavior and complaints of the Israelites to “stink”, but God would soon give him a far greater and more literal stench to cope with!

YOU… HAVE PUT A SWORD IN THEIR HAND TO KILL US: “God had to teach the utter contrast between the appalling slavery in Egypt and the marvelous redemption of the Exodus. Though they may not have appreciated the theology of the point at the time, the officers are brought to recognise this contrast with increasing clarity… Pharaoh had said nothing about a sword, and nothing about slaying them; the men simply had to do more work, and if they did not they would be beaten.

“But the officers well knew where this was heading. The ultimate consequence of Pharaoh’s new legislation would be death, whether through overwork and beating, or because Pharaoh was now set on a course in which legislation would be made stricter and stricter until keeping it became an impossibility and death became inevitable. This new Pharaoh is just like the old one in Exo 1: he is a murderer. He is a man playing at God, wielding in his hand a sword of death to which he has no right” (MV, Tes 71:449,450).

Exo 5:22

MOSES RETURNED TO THE LORD AND SAID, “O LORD, WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT TROUBLE UPON THIS PEOPLE? IS THIS WHY YOU SENT ME?”: There is no other help for us when passing through such discipline. When we see our hopes blasted, our plans miscarry, our efforts do more harm than good, while we are discredited and blamed, pursued with the taunts and hate of those for whom we were willing to lay down our lives, we may preserve an outward calm; but there will be a heartbreak underneath, and the noblest part in us will wither, unless we are able to pour out our whole complaint before God. Thus is the purpose for things going from bad to worse. As CHS puts it, “the Great Shepherd will send out the black dog to bring the sheep closer to the Shepherd.”

It is a lesson for all of us. God must bring us down before He can raise us up. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble (Jam 4:6). Emptying must precede filling. We must get to an end of ourselves before He can begin in us. But what a beginning He makes! “Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land” (Exo 6:1). And as those words of encouragement and promise broke on his ear, he must have forgotten the averted looks and bitter words of the people and risen into a new world of restful expectation. Deliverance was sure, though he had learned that it did not depend on anything that he could do, but on that all-sufficient God.

We must never let the difficulties which confront us indicate that we are not on God’s path and doing His work. Indeed the contrary is generally the case. If we are willing to walk with God, He will test our sincerity. He will cause men to ride over us; He will bring us through fire and water. But out of all He will bring us into a large room and give us the very thing on which we have been taught to set our hearts. Victory on the other side of the Red Sea will wipe away the memory of those bitter disappointments in the discipline of humility. “For whom the Lord loves he chastens” (Heb 12:5-7).

O LORD: The orig “Yahweh” altered to “Adonai” by Sopherim (Com App 32).

Exo 5:23

“With hindsight, something of why God chose to work in this way may be seen. He is drawing out and protracting the clash and rivalry between Himself and Pharaoh to teach a lesson which is central to the OT: that man must wait God’s time and learn to be totally dependent upon Him. ‘If God wants to deliver us,’ they ask, ‘why doesn’t He just get on and do it?’ So human, so natural! But events like this in Israel’s history teach that we must be rather more patient and trusting of God’s faithfulness when things do not work out quite how we might expect or wish. By all means let us go to God with our feelings, communicating with Him openly and honestly when we feel things are wrong; the Scriptures set many a precedent for doing so. But let us also remember the need for faithfulness, and that God has shown Himself to know best and to have the best interests of His people at heart” (MV, Tes 71:449).

Exo 6:1

HE WILL DRIVE THEM OUT: Sw Exo 11:1; 12:39.

Exo 6:3

BUT BY MY NAME THE LORD I DID NOT MAKE MYSELF KNOWN TO THEM: The name “Yahweh” / “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.

Exo 6:4

TO GIVE THEM THE LAND OF CANAAN, WHERE THEY LIVED AS ALIENS: “The land in which the fathers struggled as strangers and learned about faith in God, suffering both hardships and blessings from Him, is the land they will inherit. It is exactly the same for us: a promise has been left us that we may inherit the very earth in which we have struggled, not some other-worldly land of which we have no experience” (MV, Tes 72:16).

Exo 6:6

I AM THE LORD: Note 7 “I will’s” in vv 6-8.

Exo 6:7

THEN YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHO BROUGHT YOU OUT FROM UNDER THE YOKE OF THE EGYPTIANS: “This phrase, so dominant in the prophecy of Ezekiel, is one which characterises God’s purpose throughout the Scriptures. His purpose is to be known and to be acknowledged throughout the earth, first to Israel, and then to the nations at large. God associates Israel’s knowing Him with His bringing them out of the land of Egypt — a most instructive point. We know God most particularly through the act of redemption that He has accomplished, redemption both literal and spiritual. This work defines Him, and separates Him from any other conception of God that we might otherwise have had” (MV, Tes 72:16).

Exo 6:9

BUT THEY DID NOT LISTEN TO HIM BECAUSE OF THEIR DISCOURAGEMENT AND CRUEL BONDAGE: “The people had worked themselves (quite literally) into such a state of panic and preoccupation that they could scarcely hear Moses’ words of reassurance, let alone hearken to them. Who are we to blame them for this in their circumstances? Most disciples have lost concentration on the promises of God at far slighter burden than these. Who has not been overtaken by a particular incident in life to such an extent that he cannot hear God speaking and cannot see another perspective on the issue in hand? But God does not test us beyond our ability to withstand; very shortly all God will require of them is that they sit on the sidelines and look and learn as the plagues unfold and Egypt is brought to nothing” (MV, Tes 72:37).

Exo 6:12

FALTERING LIPS: Heb “uncircumcised lips”. Refs to Moses (v 30). Cp Isa 6:5: “unclean lips”. Humility, meekness.

The two similar statements (vv 12,30) are split by the insertion of a genealogy (vv 14-27), and probably are both part of the same conversation. Indeed, the two narratives (Exo 6:10-13, and Exo 6:28–Exo 7:7) probably refer to the same basic conversation.

“This rather strange idiom is used only here and Exo 6:30, although uncircumcised hearts are referred to in Lev 26:41; Jer 9:26; and Eze 44:7,9, and uncircumcised ears in Jer 6:10” (MV, Tes 72:39).

Moses’ objections: “Who am I?” (Exo 3:11); “What shall I say?” (Exo 3:13); ‘They will not believe me” (Exo 4:1); “I am not eloquent” (Exo 4:10); “Send Aaron” (Exo 4:13); “They have not listened” (Exo 6:12); “I am of unclean (faltering, uncircumcised) lips” (Exo 6:30).

Exo 6:14

Vv 14-27: Not a genealogy of all the families of Israel — in fact, it breaks off after Reuben (1 verse), Simeon (1 verse), and Levi (10 vv). The main point is to chart the ancestry and heritage of Moses and Aaron… as well as mentioning others who will be prominent in the narrative later: ie, Korah (v 21), Nadab and Abihu (v 23), and Phinehas (v 25).

Exo 6:20

AMRAM MARRIED HIS FATHER’S SISTER…: Amram married his aunt. Such a union would be prohibited by later law (Lev 18:12). Is Amram’s action implicitly criticized here, or is it to be justified on the basis that the LM was not yet given?

Exo 6:23

ELISHEBA: Who is of the tribe of Judah: cp Mat 1:4; Rth 4:19,20.

Exo 6:26

DIVISIONS: Heb “sabaoth” = “armies”.

Exo 6:30

Moses’ objections: “Who am I?” (Exo 3:11); “What shall I say?” (Exo 3:13); ‘They will not believe me” (Exo 4:1); “I am not eloquent” (Exo 4:10); “Send Aaron” (Exo 4:13); “They have not listened” (Exo 6:12); “I am of unclean (faltering, uncircumcised) lips” (Exo 6:30).

Exo 4:1

Moses’ objections: “Who am I?” (Exo 3:11); “What shall I say?” (Exo 3:13); ‘They will not believe me” (Exo 4:1); “I am not eloquent” (Exo 4:10); “Send Aaron” (Exo 4:13); “They have not listened” (Exo 6:12); “I am of unclean (faltering, uncircumcised) lips” (Exo 6:30).

Vv 1-9: These two signs, alarming, even grotesque. Signs intended to shock and horrify. These miracles illustrate that that there are no barriers to God’s power: one thing can spontaneously become another, human categories and physical givens can be transcended in an instant. He is supreme; He can make anything of anything He wishes. Any situation or set of givens may be transformed instantly by God into a whole new scenario.

These signs also show God’s control over life and death. Inanimate objects can become alive; living things can become dead!

WHAT IF THEY DO NOT BELIEVE ME OR LISTEN TO ME…?: Moses could be forgiven for thinking that Israel would not believe him because they did not believe that he was the deliverer when he slew the Egyptian 40 years earlier (see Acts 7:25).

Exo 4:2

WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND?: God can use even the most ordinary items to further His purpose.

Having just been commissioned to lead the children of Israel out of bondage, Moses was apprehensive about how the Egyptians, and even his countrymen, would react. But the Lord said to him, “What is that in thine hand?” “A rod,” Moses answered. Then He said to him in v 17, “And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs.” A number of great miracles were associated with that rod when Moses obeyed the Lord. It was insignificant in itself, but it became a powerful instrument when committed to the Lord.

We may imagine the following conversations: “What is that in thine hand?” asked the Lord. “A sling,” said David. “It is enough; go up against the giant”… and the great Goliath fell before the shepherd boy. “What is that in thine hand?” “A sword,” answered Jonathan. “It is enough,” and the brave youth, followed by his armor-bearer, went up against an army, and the Philistines were defeated…

Don’t sell yourself short. If God has called you to a task, He’ll equip you for it. He merely asks, “What is that in thine hand?” Give it to Him, and you’ll see what He can do with little things.

Exo 4:3

SNAKE: Sig Christ, of sin-nature, taken from ground, used as a rod to deliver God’s people (cp Num 21; Joh 3:14).

Exo 4:4

“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” (MMS 31).

Exo 4:6

Moses is in God’s stead. His hand = Christ, afflicted with leprosy, then cleansed. Moses, the appointed messenger of God (cp Christ), was afflicted with leprosy (sym sin-nature: cp Isa 53:2-4,10), but it was removed as a sign (Christ’s resurrection to newness of immortal life).

Exo 4:10

LORD: Orig “Yahweh” altered to “Adonai” by Sopherim.

I AM SLOW OF SPEECH AND TONGUE: Did he grow up speaking another language? That is, was he more uncertain about speaking to Jews (v 16) than to Pharaoh? A direct contradiction to the words of Stephen: “Mighty in words” (Act 7:22).

A more literal translation: ‘I am not a man of words, neither yesterday, neither the day before yesterday, neither since You have been speaking to Your servant — for a man of heavy mouth and heavy tongue am I.’

“Moses may not have been a man of words normally, but he is quite verbose in depicting his lack of verbosity! There is something pathetically touching about his words. Most of us have moments like this!” (MV, Tes 71:343).

Examples of prophetic reluctance: Exo 4:10; Jer 1:6; Eze 3:14; Jon 1:3; 1Ki 19:10; Luk 5:8,10; 9:59; 18:23; Act 13:13; 18:9. Ct Isa 6:8.

Moses’ objections: “Who am I?” (Exo 3:11); “What shall I say?” (Exo 3:13); ‘They will not believe me” (Exo 4:1); “I am not eloquent” (Exo 4:10); “Send Aaron” (Exo 4:13); “They have not listened” (Exo 6:12); “I am of unclean (faltering, uncircumcised) lips” (Exo 6:30).

Exo 4:13

LORD: Orig “Yahweh” altered to “Adonai” by Sopherim.

SOMEONE ELSE: That is, “anyone else but me”!

Moses’ objections: “Who am I?” (Exo 3:11); “What shall I say?” (Exo 3:13); ‘They will not believe me” (Exo 4:1); “I am not eloquent” (Exo 4:10); “Send Aaron” (Exo 4:13); “They have not listened” (Exo 6:12); “I am of unclean (faltering, uncircumcised) lips” (Exo 6:30).

Exo 4:20

SONS: 2 sons: Gershom (Exo 2:22) and Eliezer (Exo 18:3,4).

THE STAFF OF GOD: Previously, it had been Moses’ staff, but now it has become God’s! God has empowered Moses to use the rod in His service to glorify His Name. The things that we once looked upon as our own are likewise no longer such when we take up God’s commission. For we are His, and those things which were once ours are now His too, to be used in his service.

Exo 4:22

ISRAEL IS MY FIRSTBORN SON: Yet Pharaoh holds God’s firstborn son captive as a slave; he is exercising a dominion that is not his to exercise. God thus makes a simple point of exchange. Unless Pharaoh lets God’s son go so that he may serve/worship Him, God will slay (rather than take captive) the firstborn of the Egyptians.

Exo 4:24

THE LORD MET MOSES: Lit, “him”; could be “Moses’ son”, suggesting this whole narrative is about firstborn sons: God’s, Pharaoh’s, and now Moses’.

WAS ABOUT TO KILL HIM: Or, ‘was on the verge of killing him.’ Prob a sudden serious illness — a reminder to Moses of something he needs to do. (How could God even think to kill Moses? Cp idea: Est 4:13,14; Exo 32:10.)

Exo 4:25

A BRIDEGROOM OF BLOOD: Fig name of the son who is “married” to the covenant with God by his own blood. Zip to son: “Surely you were very nearly a bridegroom of blood to me, because you almost caused the death of my husband.” Zip does no evil. Apparently Moses’ family returns to Jethro (Exo 18:2).

Exo 4:31

AND THEY BELIEVED: “But the belief comes too easily for us to be very sure of it. For we have read too many times of how quickly faith is tried — as it will be in Exo 5, and with poor results. Nevertheless, for the time being their response is the right one” (MV, Tes 71: 380).

Exo 2:1

“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!” (MV, Tes 71:108,109).

Exo 2 outlined: “[1] Egypt resisted: Moses is hid in the ark: vv 1-4. Moses is a type of Christ, who was similarly hid by his guardians from the slaughter of Herod). [2] Moses saved and named: vv 5-10. [3] Moses seeks to save his people: vv 11,12. [4] Moses forced to flee: vv 13-15. [5] Moses in banishment marries in Midian: vv 16-22. [6] God recalls His covenant: vv 24,25. This is the story of ‘out of weakness, made Strong.’ Israel’s deliverer was a helpless babe, crying in the arms of Israel’s oppressors. From this developed the nation that will yet conquer Egypt (Isa 19:17-25) Faith triumphed (Heb 11:23), through the compassionate aid of women (Exo 1:19; 2:3,4,6): the midwives, Jochebed, Miriam, and Pharaoh’s daughter” (GEM).

MAN… WOMAN: Amram and Jochebed (Exo 6:20; Num 26:59; 1Ch 23:14). The family lived very near the house of Pharaoh (1Sa 2:27), as servants perhaps?

Exo 2:2

SHE SAW THAT HE WAS A FINE CHILD: “A goodly child” (AV), “fair to God” (AV mg). “By faith Moses was hid” (Heb 11:23; cp also Act 7:20). Impl declared divine purpose, which motivated Jochebed to preserve the baby (Rom 10:17). Josephus suggests a special revelation to Amram (2:9:3).

“What it was precisely that she saw we cannot say. What we can say is that she saw it, and that she had the courage to act upon what she saw, by hiding the child. It is interesting that Pharaoh’s daughter is likewise moved to disobey Pharaoh when she first observes the child.

“The Heb reads lit, ‘she saw that he was good’, which is exactly what is said of God each time He surveys His creative acts in Gen 1. Here is another subtle piece of evidence that God is once again embarking on an act of creation, this time the creation of a people through the creation of a son” (MV, Tes 71:112).

Exo 2:3

She literally obeyed Pharaoh’s edict (Exo 1:22)! The ark in the marshes was a conscious imitation of Noah’s ark.

A PAPYRUS BASKET: “An ark of bulrushes” (AV). Prob made to resemble the small chests used to store household gods by Egyptians (WBS 46).

PAPYRUS: Used only here and Isa 18:2 (re boats). Papyrus had many uses in Egyptian life, one of which was boat-making.

REEDS: A different term than “papyrus” earlier, prob a slightly more general term.

Exo 2:5

Bathing in the Nile was supposed to induce fertility (WBS 46).

Vv 5,6: The verbs (went down, saw, sent, saw, felt sorry for) are each used elsewhere in the narrative of Exo 1-4 of God Himself. God ‘comes down’ to ‘see’ the sufferings of the Israelites. He ‘feels sorry’ for them, and He ‘sends’ Moses to deliver them. The compassion and care that Pharaoh’s daughter showers on Moses prefigures the attitude God Himself will show towards the Hebrews.

Exo 2:6

Prob she saw through the ruse immediately, but did not approve of her father’s policy. And so she kept the child anyway, knowing Miriam to be the sister, and Jochebed the real mother.

THIS IS ONE OF THE HEBREW BABIES: Prob because of the circumcision.

Exo 2:10

SHE NAMED HIM MOSES, SAYING, ‘I DREW HIM OUT OF THE WATER’: “The name chosen by Pharaoh’s daughter is particularly apt, since it can exist both in Egyptian and in Hebrew. It was a common enough name in Egypt, and is often found in compounds, as for example in the name of the Pharaoh Thutmose. Its basic Egyptian stem means ‘to be born’, and the Egyptian word ‘ms’ means ‘child’, ‘son’.

“The interesting point is that Pharaoh’s daughter ascribes to the name a Heb rather than an Egyptian significance. She makes it a pun on the root ‘m-sh-h’, to draw up/out, by explaining that the baby was drawn out of the water. In this way, the significance of Moses’ name is based on sound-play, not strict etymology. This is often the case with Biblical names, and is an equally legitimate naming technique as using the historical derivation of a word…

“But as she makes this pun, it is intriguing that she seems to make a tiny grammatical slip of just the kind that a foreign language learner might make. She explains the name as if the form were ‘mashuy’, one drawn out (a passive participle…). However, the form ‘mosheh’, Moses’ actual name, looks much more like an active participle in form. This would mean ‘he who draws out’! Such a meaning powerfully prefigures the work that Moses would do in drawing God’s people out of bondage of Egypt and bringing them to the land that God had promised. True, Moses was drawn out of water, but he would himself be one who would draw out others. Pharaoh’s daughter inadvertently gives us a name with a prophetic meaning, and her saving of Moses from the Egyptians itself prefigures Moses’ own work!” (MV, Tes 71:110,111).

Exo 2:11

AFTER MOSES HAD GROWN UP: 40 years old (Act 7:23,24).

Exo 2:12

Moses became the avenger of blood (cp Num 35:19-21). See also Act 7:25,26. This was an open act of political revolution. But Moses’ own people were divided as to whether to follow him.

SEEING NO ONE: Not necessarily a furtive act, but rather an inquiry: ‘Is there anyone qualified to step in and do the right thing here?’ and there was no one; so Moses intervened (cp idea, Isa 59:16; 63:5; Jer 5:1; Eze 22:30).

HID: Or ‘buried’.

Moses tried to save his people at the time he thought best and in the only way he knew. But even though Moses had great authority in Egypt, and he had physical strength and the ability to draw together an army, and even though he was motivated to save his people — it was not God’s time or God’s way. When it came to the right time and the right way 40 years later, Moses didn’t feel qualified or ready, but it was right for God.

Sometimes we think we know when and how to do God’s will, but it turns out that it was neither His time nor His way, and then our plans will be fruitless. God will work out His plan but He will do it in His own time and in His own way — not ours.

Exo 2:14

“Jesus replied, ‘Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?’ ” (Luk 12:14).

Moses had shown his hand, and Pharaoh must act. With no support from his own people, Moses could only flee in fear (Act 7:29). But what about Heb 11:27?: “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger.”

“The question of the authority of Moses would arise again at a number of points in his life, for example in the murmuring of Miriam and in the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Such disputes foreshadowed similar questions that would later be asked of Jesus” (MV, Tes 71:113).

Exo 2:15

SAT DOWN: Resided, ie permanently.

Exo 2:17

SOME SHEPHERDS… DROVE THEM AWAY: Those who should be gentle protectors and caregivers can brutally deprive others of needed sustenance.

Exo 2:18

REUEL: “Friend (masc of ‘Ruth’) of El”: a faithful descendant of Abraham, through Keturah.

Exo 2:19

AN EGYPTIAN: Moses has forsaken Egypt, but he retains its imprint on his person in some sense.

Exo 2:23

Vv 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 galvanised into action. His people cry; God is mobilised 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” (MV, Tes 71:239).

THE KING OF EGYPT DIED: “Those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead” (Mat 2:20).

Exo 3:1

THE PRIEST OF MIDIAN: And priest of the Most High God: Exo 18:8,9,12.

HE LED THE FLOCK TO… HOREB, THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD: “Was it just random wandering of Moses and his sheep which brought them to Horeb, or are we perhaps to read more into Moses’ ‘leading’ of his flock to the ‘mountain of God’? Why, indeed, is that particular designation for Horeb adopted? Is it possible that there were already special associations with the worship of the One True God… that the site was a place where Jethro worshipped even?” (MV, Tes 71:268).

THE FAR SIDE: Or “back side” (AV). That is, “to the west of the district.” Among the Hebrews the east is before a man.

Exo 3:2

Blessings given in the path of home duty: shepherds at night (Luk 2:8-20), Moses keeping flock (Exo 3:1,2), David in sheepfolds (Psa 78:70), Gideon threshing (Jdg 6:11,12), Abraham in tent-door (Gen 18:1), and a woman coming to draw water (Joh 4:7,26).

Did the angel (v 2) speak to Moses, or did God (v 4) speak to Moses? God spoke through the angel. Cp Exo 7:1n.

The bush on fire that is not consumed: (1) it is self-maintaining: a power metaphor for the eternity and self-sufficiency of God; (2) sig the purity of God, a threat to sinners (Gen 3:24); the distinction between light for Israel and darkness for the Egyptians; and (3) sym the furnace of Egypt and its persecutions — Israel, afflicted but not consumed.

BUSH: Heb “ceneh”, a bramble, or thorn-bush. Used only here and Deu 33:16. Cp the crown of thorns thrust on the head of Christ (Mat 27:29; Mar 15:17; Joh 19:2,5). “There too the glory of God was seen to be manifested, there too the Name of God was perfectly declared. Though condemned to death by his people, the ‘glory of God’ shone both in the suffering and beyond into the resurrection that would follow. The Lord Jesus was not consumed by death but rather rose again to triumph over it” (MV, Tes 71:270).

Exo 3:5

“Wherever, Lord, thy people meet, There they behold thy mercy seat; Where’re they seek thee, thou art found, And every place is hallowed ground.”

TAKE OFF YOUR SANDALS: Give up your old “walk” (the “old man”: Eph 2:2). Or, the taking off of the shoe to acknowledge the one who shall redeem (cp Deu 25:5-10; Rth 4:8) — in this case, God Himself.

Exo 3:8

A LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY: The Dog River, in Lebanon, is fed by two springs: “Milk” and “Honey” (LB 45,46). “Milk” suggests pasture lands, for milk cows and goats; “honey” suggests woodlands, with trees for bees (cp Exo 3:8,17; 13:5; 33:3; Lev 20:24; Num 13:27; 14:8; Deu 6:3; 11:9; 26:9,15; 27:3; 31:20; Jos 5:6; Jer 11:5; 32:22; Eze 20:6,15).

Here 6 nations are mentioned. A 7th (the Girgashites) is found in Deu 7:1, and in Gen 15:19-21 ten are listed. Israel was to dispossess the nations who had settled there, the consequences of which are still being witnessed in our own era.

Exo 3:9

This v, along with v 7, emphasizes what has already been said in Exo 2:23-25. Phrases are piled together to emphasize the fact that God DOES know, that He HAS seen, and that He DOES care about what happens to His people.

Exo 3:11

Moses’ objections: “Who am I?” (Exo 3:11); “What shall I say?” (Exo 3:13); ‘They will not believe me” (Exo 4:1); “I am not eloquent” (Exo 4:10); “Send Aaron” (Exo 4:13); “They have not listened” (Exo 6:12); “I am of unclean (faltering, uncircumcised) lips” (Exo 6:30).

“Moses’ first response, though one of a list of reasons he will produce as to why God might have chosen the wrong man, is nevertheless absolutely appropriate in this instance… Asked to play a part in the purpose of so great a God, only pure arrogance would hold us back from feeling sheer unworthiness and fumbling inadequacy. If we are to serve in God’s employ then there must be an acknowledgement from our hearts of His greatness, our smallness, and of the abundant grace and honour which has been bestowed. This is the first element in a response to God’s gracious intervention in our lives” (MV, Tes 71:305).

Exo 3:13

Moses’ objections: “Who am I?” (Exo 3:11); “What shall I say?” (Exo 3:13); ‘They will not believe me” (Exo 4:1); “I am not eloquent” (Exo 4:10); “Send Aaron” (Exo 4:13); “They have not listened” (Exo 6:12); “I am of unclean (faltering, uncircumcised) lips” (Exo 6:30).

WHAT IS HIS NAME?: That is, ‘Tell me something of His character and purpose.’ Every deity in Egypt had a reputation, and a certain aspect of life that he or she was supposed to look after. The scene is being set for a battle of deities — Egypt’s many gods versus Yahweh God of Israel.

Exo 3:14

“Ehyeh asher ehyeh”: “I will be that I will be” (Eur 1:98). “Ehyeh” = 1st person. “Yahweh” = 3rd person: “He will be”. See Lesson, Yahweh.

Exo 3:15

THE NAME BY WHICH I AM TO BE REMEMBERED: Or “my memorial” (AV). “This word is indeed associated with ‘memory’, and might be clumsily translated as ‘way in which I shall be remembered and invoked’, or ‘form by which I shall be addressed’. The AV’s ‘memorial’ in fact serves rather well. Some scholars have suggested that a modern-day equivalent of the term might be something like ‘calling card’. The use of this term shows us that it is still highly appropriate to refer to God as the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (MV, Tes 71:310).

Exo 3:18

The Jews went into the wilderness of Sinai to offer “sacrifice”, and never returned! Their national life, as ours, became a continual “living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1,2).

Exo 3:22

ASK: AV has “borrow”, but no hint the items would be returned. Sb “ask” or “demand”. Nothing immoral: reparations for arduous service for 200 years (cp Exo 11:2; 12:35). “He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive” (Psa 106:46).

Gen 50:3

MOURNED FOR HIM SEVENTY DAYS: As though he were a Pharaoh.

Gen 50:4

(1) Even Joseph, second in Egypt, could not enter the presence of Pharaoh while mourning. (2) Or, by this time a new Pharaoh had come into power to whom Joseph was not as close as the previous one (cp Exo 1:8). (3) Or, during the days of mourning Joseph was unshaven and therefore unfit to enter the royal presence (Gen 41:14).

Gen 50:7

Notice the strange ties between Pharaoh and the God of Israel.

Gen 50:13

The last look of Israel’s sons at their inheritance.

MAMRE: A place two miles north of Hebron, today called Ramet el-Khalil. Abraham lived there in a tent (Gen 13:18; 14:13). The spot seems to have taken its name from Mamre the Amorite, the owner at the time (Gen 14:13). Abraham was visited at Mamre by three heavenly messengers who promised him a son (Gen 18:1). East of there he bought a burial place in Machpelah where he buried Sarah (Gen 23:17-19; 49:30; 50:13).

Gen 50:15

Note their recurrent fear: Gen 42:23; 44:16; 45:3.

Gen 50:16

Vv 16-18: It is 17 years since Joseph made himself known to his brethren but now their father is dead they still are concerned that Joseph will treat them roughly. They did not understand what full forgiveness after repentance really means. We run the risk of being like the brothers. Our God is willing to forgive us if we are repentant — however much we still doubt.

Gen 50:17

WHEN THEIR MESSAGE CAME TO HIM, JOSEPH WEPT: “If anyone had a good excuse to bear a grudge and had the opportunity to pay his brothers out for causing his grudges, it was Joseph. He had been thrown into the pit, had his life threatened, been chained, sold as a slave, spent years in prison and been separated from his father and family for half his life.

“So now that Jacob was dead and Joseph was the most powerful man in Egypt, he had every opportunity to get back at his brothers for all the misery they had put him through. Joseph’s brothers thought that way, so they sent an urgent message to Joseph pleading for forgiveness. But bearing a grudge and getting revenge had not even crossed Joseph’s mind and when he received their message he wept. He had already forgiven them. He had realized that all that had happened was for God to accomplish his plan and so Joseph held no grudge at all- – only love.

“Most of us have less reason to bear a grudge or to pay someone back for our grievances than Joseph did. Joseph learnt to forgive, accept and love. We must follow his example. Accept what has happened in the past, forgive any grievances we might have and turn our hatred into love” (RP).

Gen 50:18

THREW THEMSELVES DOWN BEFORE HIM: Bowing, as also in Gen 42:6; 43:26,28; 44:14.

Gen 50:19

AM I IN THE PLACE OF GOD?: “God with us” (Mat 1:23).

Gen 50:20

Psa 105:17: “God sent a man before them, Joseph, who was sold for a slave.” Cp the principle in Act 2:22-24.

Gen 50:22

An entirely Jewish end to the life of Joseph. No mention of his Egyptian honors.

Gen 50:24

“Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself” (Act 15:14). How would Joseph know this? From the promise to Abraham in Gen 15:13,14 that his seed would be afflicted in a strange land for 400 years, and afterward would “come out with great substance’. Prob this promise would have been made known to Joseph. Also, there was the initial fulfillment of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s seed possessing the land in the future (Gen 12:7; 15:18; etc). Some OT passages see this as a partial fulfillment of some of the promises (Neh 9:7-8; Jos 21:43,45; 23:14).

Gen 50:25

“By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and gave instructions about his bones” (Heb 11:22). Israel wishes to be buried in Canaan, due to associations of PAST esp (Gen 47:28; 49:29). But Joseph particularly looks to FUTURE!

Gen 50:26

SO JOSEPH DIED…: “Hidden away from human knowledge, in far-off Shechem, still rest the remains of a great man of God. He lived, as few others have ever lived, a God-centred life. Humbly he acquiesced in many an undeserved hardship. His faith in the ways of God’s providence never faltered. In everything his unfailing philosophy was: ‘God knows best!’ Was there ever a servant of God with a more forgiving nature? You who read of all the good and ill that befell him, and of the noble spirit with which he met every testing situation, spare a minute to ponder his fine example and to thank God for the inspiration he imparts to your own life. Especially learn from him faith in God’s promises concerning the Land — ‘Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel’ [Heb 11:22]. Learn also faith in the eternal purpose in Christ which will one day bring saints of God forth from the grave to the life everlasting — ‘he gave commandment concerning his bones’. Here was the Christian faith long before Christ, exhibited in the Jesus of Genesis, and written for your learning” (WJos 89).

A COFFIN IN EGYPT: “For 40 years those bones [would be] a source of encouragement, and a silent exhortation, to those who would hear — and his faith had been fully vindicated. God had brought them out, and He brought them in.

“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, Xd 138:256).

Genesis outlines man’s fall from grace: It begins with God, and ends with a “coffin in Egypt”. But…

COFFIN: Sw commonly translated “ark”. The “Savior of the world” was at the last put into the “ark” of God!

“Under God’s guiding hand, and with tremendous effort, this spectacular character, Joseph, son of Jacob, had set the stage for the great and long trek out of Egypt. He did not wish for an Egyptian monument, or pyramid, which would have been considered appropriate for a man of his position. So his death state, and the manner of his burial, in its impermanence, reminded the Israelites of their impermanence, and honored his God, to the Egyptians. Although dead, his mute witness to the Israelites stood through the testing times, and gave the Israelites courage, until they took him with them under Moses, all those years later, back to Shechem (Josh 24:32) after the 40 years in the wilderness” (BRus).

“Joshua, who like Joseph, has no sin recorded against his name, and who led the children of Israel into the land of promise, also died at the age of 110 years. Joseph’s faith was such that he knew that his brethren’s sojourn in Egypt would come to an end, at which time, he requested, his body then be interred in the Land of Promise. Joseph perhaps typifies Jesus in his mortality, whilst Joshua typifies Jesus in his triumphal immortality” (CY).

Author: Moses (date of writing: c 1440-1400 BC).

Period: c 1520-1440 BC.

Exodus (which is Greek) literally means ‘a going out’ and this book, the second of the five ascribed to Moses, deals with the ‘going out’ (‘exit’, or ‘departure’) of the children of Israel from Egypt. The Hebrew title is taken from the first two words of the book: “ve’elleh shemoth” (“These are the names of…”). [See Lesson, Pentateuch, Hebrew titles.]

Summary: Exodus records the great numerical growth of the Israelites during their enslavement in Egypt. It introduces Moses and records the plagues God brought upon Egypt to secure His peoples’ release from the bondage of slavery. This was a matter of some concern to the Egyptians, who saw a threat to their own existence. In order to overcome this imbalance, the Egyptians saw three possible solutions:

• The placing of the Israelites into slavery (Exo 1:11). When this was not successful,
• work in slavery was made much harder (Exo 1:14), and
• the killing of every male child (Exo 1:16).

It was against this background that Moses was born (Exo 2:2), educated in the Egyptian court (Exo 2:10), and selected by God to lead the Israelites out of their slavery and towards the land that God promised them (Exo 3:17).

From this point, the people are given the proclamations of the covenant of the Law at Mount Sinai. The book concludes with a description of the order of worship centered around the Tabernacle and the Law of Moses. This is the second book of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.

As the people of God they had certain privileges and responsibilities. The message from Exodus is clear to those under the new covenant. God chooses whom He will. Continued blessing is dependent on obedience and the carrying out of responsibilities. It is through Jesus’ sacrifice that the new covenant has been established and the new Exodus, the “going out” or deliverance from the bondage of sin is possible.

It is in Exodus that God makes Himself known by His memorial name (Exo 3:13-15). Even this revelation indicates His infinite greatness.

OUTLINE

Exo 1:1 – 4:31: Background. The children of Israel become more numerous. Moses is selected to lead deliverance.

Exo 5:1 – 15:21: Leaving Egypt. * Exo 5:1 – 6:30 Harder bondage and promise of deliverance.

* Exo 7:1-25 Signs * Exo 8:1 – 10:29 Plagues * Exo 11:1 – 13:16 The Passover * Exo 13:17 – 14:31 To the Red Sea * Exo 15:1-21 Moses’ Song of Thanks

Exo 15:22 – 19:2: To Sinai

Exo 19:3 – 24: 18: God’s Laws

Exo 25:1 – 31: 18: Plan for the Tabernacle — a place for God to dwell — a place for people to worship.

Exo 32:1 – 34: 35: Disobedience, punishment and God’s covenant.

Exo 35:1 – 40: 38: The construction of the Tabernacle.