Exodus 9; Luke 12
Daily Catechism
QUESTION 33: HOW ARE WE MADE PARTAKERS OF THE REDEMPTION PURCHASED BY CHRIST?
Answer: We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effective application of it to us, by his Holy Spirit.
Scripture: John 3:5, 6; Titus 3:5, 6.
Exodus 9
Ready:
The previous chapter spoke to hard hearts and gave warning about not letting the truth impact my thinking and my actions.
Seeing what’s there:
This chapter presents the 5th through 7th plagues in Egypt. Here the plagues seem evident as judgement upon Egypt and no longer merely a sign of the power and authority that Moses carries on behalf of the Lord. Still Pharaoh is hard hearted and in this chapter Moses makes clear that Pharaoh is to blame for this sin of hardening his heart, even though we already saw that there is a real sense in which God is hardening his heart by removing his restraining mercy. Pharaoh either has a true acknowledgement of his sin that vaporizes once relief is found or he has a false confession simply to try to manipulate God into making his life comfortable. Either way is a lesson in how the hard heart functions. The person who loves God’s blessings over God will likely also fear God’s judgment over God. We need to get down to the personal level with God and know him, not just interact with his actions. There is also a big statement made about Pharaoh and how and why he is who he is and where he is.
Key Verses:
Exodus 9:2-3, 6-7, 10-12, 15-17, 24-26, 27-28, 34-35
Theme:
The hard heart manipulates and abuses the grace of God and seeks only the comfort that God can give without a true desire to honor him, particularly because this could come at great cost to temporal personal comfort or an injury to the ego.
Thinking about the message:
v1-7. The language that God instructs Moses to use here is different than in the preceding plagues. This time he is to tell Pharaoh that the “hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague” and it has a much more judgmental tone. I take there to be somewhat oaf a shift from signs for Egypt to judgements of Egypt. This 5th plague does not come with any statement about it’s purpose being in a sign but it seems to come as judgement. There is no response given to Moses at all.
v8-12. The 6th plague follows Pharaoh again hardening his heart and giving no response to Moses. This too seems to be straight up judgement. The magicians could not even remain present because their were so affected by the boils. But Pharaoh remained stubborn and refused to budge.
v13-26. Here Moses meets with Pharaoh and gives another declaration that the Lord will bring a 7th plague in order that he may know something about God…”that there is none like me in all the earth”. In verse 16 God says through Moses something huge. He declares that Pharaoh is in the position he is in for the very purpose of receiving these plagues and for resisting and for letting the exodus of Israel be a spectacle and a wonder for all the generations to follow…for all the earth to proclaim the name of God. So God is to performing these wonders simply to convince Pharaoh of something, but like Moses records in Exodus 10:2, God is doing this to show Israel that he is the covenant keeping God who has a strong arm and can keep any and every promise he could make.
v27-35. Here Pharaoh calls to Moses and Aaron and wants relief from the hail. He confesses his sin against the Lord and asks Moses to pled with the Lord to stop the hail with a promise to release Israel. But again, once the affliction is lifted, Pharaoh sins again and hardens his heart to the truth. He reneges on the deal once more. All is of course shaping up just as the Lord told Moses it would…
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
This chapter is showing acts of judgement and I believe that the believer will face only loving discipline (Heb 12:6; Rev 3:19; 1 Cor 11:32), not wrathful judgement (Rom 2:5; Rom 1:18), but the lesson is nearly identical. I hear a message that the hard heart reacts wrongly to affliction as well as blessing. Pharaoh reacts to affliction with a shallow repentance or even with arrogant obstinence toward the judgement of God. When he does relent and humble himself it seems to immediately vanish in a return of pride as soon as the affliction lifts. What he was seeking was relief, not God. The implication is that God holds people accountable for their reactions to his warnings and his lessons. If one hardens his heart against the truth and he resists submission to the Lord then judgment (or discipline in the case of the wayward believer) is sure to follow. The significance for my life is that I too am responsible for the reactions of my heart as God brings discipline or hardship to teach me and to guide me. If I love and fear God, instead of his actions, then I will be able to rightly react to his blessings and discipline in my life. In the end God put this man in the position of Pharaoh so that this exact thing would go down similar to how God put Judas Iscariot in the 12. Sin does not thwart God’s plan because he has no problem planning for its use from the beginning.
Valuing the message:
This message is valuable because it trains me in knowing that I should focus on the giver of the gift or the discipline and not on the thing itself. It helps me to see the impact of letting my heart be hardened.
Reflecting on the message:
I need to observe the way I tend to react to affliction or to it’s removal.
Questions to ask:
- Do I require some “sign” from God before I will listen to his Word, or even read his Word? If so, maybe I have a hard heart.
- Do I make promises to God when I am under affliction that I renege on them once it lifts? If so, maybe I have a hard heart.
- Do I sometimes stop listening entirely to God when I am in pain and I know it is due to my sin but I do not want to humble myself and repent? If so, maybe I have a hard heart.
- Do I want the blessings of God or do I want God, even if he comes with some hardship? If I choose comfort or blessing over God (honoring him and enjoying him), then maybe I have a hard heart.
Luke 12
Ready:The previous chapter was about seeking the influence of the Holy Spirit in my life and not relying on human effort to change myself. The inside of my dirty house can only be flushed out by the power of God and this requires that I understand the fear of the Lord.
Seeing what’s there:
Luke had spent chapters 10 & 11 establishing mankind’s need for repentance and a need to rely upon Jesus. A filling of the Holy Spirit is needed to accomplish this repentance by the power of God and not by human means. Now in this chapter Luke documents Jesus’ warning not to try to fool God regarding our heart level obedience of faith. He warns that God knows all we say and do in private and public and it is our words and deeds that will confess or deny Christ. The parable of the rich fool and the teaching on seeking the kingdom of God over the things of this world and the parable of the servants waiting for the master illustrate that a failure to seek the kingdom purposes of God in this life is itself a denial of Christ. The chapter closes with Jesus admonishing the hearer to pay attention and to be prepared and to settle with God before we are called to give payment on our insurmountable debt to our creator whom we have rebelled against.
Key verses:
Luke 12:2, 4-5, 8-9, 21, 31-32, 34
Theme:
Seeking God as the priority of my life is how I ask, seek, and knock and how I live richly toward God. Human effort at dressing up my life is a denial of Christ and God is well aware of my heart.
Thinking about the message:
v1-3. A little hypocrisy goes a long way! I am warned here to not allow any. I am an open book to God and to think that I can have some portion of my thoughts or actions or attitudes or anything that is kept private is foolishness. God is all-knowing and all-present. There is no hiding or denying my sin. Having sin is not in itself hypocrisy, but denying it and covering it and failing to confess and seek repentance in Jesus is hypocrisy when I represent myself as a child of God.
v4-7. Worrying about my appearance before men and the impression I leave upon them is one thing, but much more should I be afraid of the message I am sending the creator of my soul who will one day place me in heaven or hell based upon my obedience of faith or lack thereof. He knows all there is to know and cares much about the smallest creatures so surely he knows everything about me and cares deeply about what I am up to.
v8-12. The Holy Spirit is here presented as one who teaches and leads by internal witness as in the case of when we may be held to give an account before man. As with Peter, a temporary denial of the person of Christ when he is externally evident is one thing, but denying the internal witness of the Holy Spirit convicting us of the truth is another thing altogether…this hardening of our heart to the truth is unforgivable because it is by the Holy Spirit alone that I am born again unto new life. I will surely be given opportunities to confess or deny Christ by my words and actions in this life. Will I fear man or God? Man looks at the porch and the garden and can take my life…God looks inside the house and in the closet and can damn my soul.
v13-21. The rich fool here is focused on worldly riches and investments toward himself. Jesus teaches that this is a denial of God and that we are to be rich toward God by seeking him over and above the riches of this life (Matt 13:44). God is to be our provision (Psalm 73:25-26).
v22-34. Jesus presents the picture of our life here in that we are to rely on God for our needs (Luke 11:3-4) and we are to focus out attention on seeking God and his kingdom purposes as the priority of our life. Our desires and motives are in what we value so if I value God this will show, but it will also be evident if what I value most is something other than God. My desires follow after what I value…I must ask God to tune my heart and mind to value him!
v35-40. Seeking God now and always is indeed how we keep ready with oil in the lamps. Here Jesus teaches that we cannot know when the master returns and we deny him if we are not prepared day by day.
v41-48. Jesus makes clear that those who have the law of God, or any other understanding of truth, have an increased responsibility to act upon the truth. There will clearly be a higher level of judgment or critical evaluation of reward based on what we do with the knowledge we receive. Knowledge brings responsibility and Jesus holds those with knowledge responsible for misleading others through their twisting of the truth (Luke 11:52).
v49-53. Here Jesus seems to describe that he did not come to make everyone comfortable but to destroy the lies that bind us and to demolish the strongholds. Jesus speaks of a baptism to be baptized into and this phraseology reminds me of Paul in Roman 6:3-4 where he speaks of being baptized into death. Christ intends to die and he will die as a baptism that cleanses us. He was baptized by John in a baptism of repentance eve though he did not need to repent (Lk 3:3). He is taking on our sin and he is accomplishing our death to sin and to the law through his own body (Rom 7:4-6). Jesus is a stumbling block and a rock of offense (Is 8:14; Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 2:8) so peace between people on earth is not the goal…peace between his people and God is the goal (Rom 5:1). Therefore he calls on us to live peaceably with all when it is in our power (Rom 12:18) but Jesus is offensive to falsehood and he is sure to bring discord between us and many non-believers (Luke 12:51-53).
v54-59. Here he speaks about the importance of not just looking ahead to likely occurrences in the physical realm of daily life but on the spiritual realm also. He urges us to think ahead and to be ready for his impending return. He makes the point that we have a debt to settle with God and it must be settled before we face judgement or we will spend eternity trying without success to pay off the debt. But in Christ, the debt is cancelled (Col 2:14)! He mentions the debt being paid to the last penny and this is the case with my sin. It is completely paid in the cause of justice and the glory of God,but not by me…it is paid by Jesus on my behalf by the grace of God. This is good news!
Meaning, Implications, and Significance
There is no fooling God, though we can sometimes fool ourselves and others. God is after my heart and my devotion and my desires. He wants me to live for him (Gal 2:19-20; Rom 6:11) and not for comfort or anything else (Luke 14:33). He calls me to die to self provision (Matt 16:24) and to live dependent upon Jesus (Phil 3:9). The implication is that mankind is unable to live this out when they are focused on this world and we must be focused on Christ. The significance of my life is that I need to evaluate what I am seeking (Psalm 9:10; Prov 18:1; Luke 17:33; John 5:30; John 7:18; Rom 10:3) and where my value is (Matt 13:44) and where I may be denying Christ with my actions (Titus 1:16).
Valuing the message:
This message is valuable because sin is deceptive and I can be in hypocrisy quite easily if I am not reflecting upon my own motives and my attitudes and thoughts.
Reflecting on the message:
I need to consider if I am living rich toward God or rich toward myself and this world.
Questions to ask:
Are my motives, thoughts, words, and actions denying or confessing Christ?
Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions. Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.
Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.
Soli Deo Gloria!
