Exodus 4, Luke 7, Job 21, 1 Corinthians 8

Date	Version	Reading Plan
@February 21, 2024	ESV (2016)	M’Cheyne Plan 2024

Exodus 4

Exodus 4:15–16 (ESV) 15 You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do. 16 He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.

God commissioned Moses to speak to the people, but multiple times Moses rebutted that they would not believe him or that he lacked eloquence. With anger kindled, God then appointed Aaron, Moses’ older brother, to speak for Moses to the people. It seems either God would speak to Moses to speak Aaron to speak to the people, or, Aaron would abide in and be a spokesman for the commands of God. However it was, the relationship between the three is certainly unique.

Luke 7

Luke 7:41–43 (ESV) 41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

Reflecting on this passage and the things that I have done, the hurt I have caused, the sorrow I have brought my Lord, I am gripped with gratitude for the debt that has been paid by the blood of Jesus. Praise Him for the seasons in which we are given a glimpse into the depth of our sin and of the forgiveness offered in Christ.

Job 21

Job 21:12–13 (ESV) 12 They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. 13 They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.

The celebration of sinful prosperity and resulting peaceful decent into Sheol is haunting. I am reminded of the famous C. S. Lewis quote from “The Screwtape Letters” which reads, “Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one-the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” It is a grace to be suddenly jarred and plucked from the path of darkness.

1 Corinthians 8

1 Corinthians 8:12 (ESV) 12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

Paul is speaking here specifically on eating food offered to idols, but there is an overarching principle to be drawn. When we sin against our Christian brethren, we are wounding consciences and sinning against our Lord. The weight of this should manifest in the great care we take in our dealings with others, ever to bless, uplift and stir up one another to love and good works.

Carson on Exodus 4

…Pharaoh is already a wicked person. In particular, he has enslaved the covenant people of God. God has not hardened a morally neutral man; he has pronounced judgment on a wicked man. Hell itself is a place where repentance is no longer possible. God’s hardening has the effect of imposing that sentence a little earlier than usual.

This first of three observations offered by Carson on the Pharaoh of Egypt is enlightening. The fact that Pharaoh was already evil reconciles the difficulty of whether he hardened his own heart or it was hardened by God. The sentencing of sinful humanity is wholly just, making the clemency granted by God’s mercy in Christ a wonder to behold.

Justin Houtz