Exodus 11:1–12:20, Luke 14, Job 29, 1 Corinthians 15

Date	Version	Reading Plan
@February 28, 2024	ESV (2016)	M’Cheyne Plan 2024

Exodus 11:1–12:20

Exodus 12:1–2 (ESV) 12 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, 2 “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you.

The month containing the Passover (the month of Abib) and the subsequent exodus of the Israelites from Egypt was of such profound importance that it completely changed their calendar. All of the other months were reoriented accordingly. This seems significant unto itself but even more so when you remember that their culture was largely agrarian. It was a complete shifting of the months in which crop planting, cultivation and harvest as well as livestock birthing and shepherding occurred.

Luke 14

Luke 14:12–14 (ESV) 12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”

This is a direct address of the heart and its motivations. As Christians, if we conduct ourselves with the intention of reciprocation, we are not reflecting the role of the servant to which we have been called. It is an act of compassionate altruism to bless the poor, crippled, lame and blind because they have nothing to give in return. However, v. 14b does make clear that there will be repayment, albeit at the resurrection of the just. We are to proceed from the desire to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven rather than on earth.

Job 29

Job 29:15–16 (ESV) 15 I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame. 16 I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.

In response to Eliphaz, Job describes his righteous and just deeds. This is not self-boasting or arrogance but a defense against Eliphaz’s accusations. Job was right in God’s eyes, making this a recounting of the expressions of his pure heart. This is also a wonderful connection to the previous chapter in today’s reading from Luke 14 on the posture of the faithful. Not only are we to help the blind, we are to be their eyes; not only to help the lame but to be their feet.

1 Corinthians 15

1 Corinthians 15:9–10 (ESV) 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

This is a powerful display of Paul’s humility and the unsurpassed treasure of the gospel. Because of where he came from and the atrocities he presided over, Paul acknowledged and appreciated the grace of God above most. He attributes his work ethic and the fruits of his labors to be not from himself but from the grace of God that is with him. What an amazing model Paul is for us to ascribe to God all that He is doing within us and through us.

Carson on Exodus 11:1–12:20

[The powerful hand of God] is the element that is often overlooked by sociologists and others who treat all of culture like a closed system. They forget that God may intervene, and turn the hearts and minds of the people. Massive revival that transforms the value systems of the West is now virtually inconceivable to those enamored with closed systems. But if God graciously intervenes and makes the people “favorably disposed” to the preaching of the gospel . . . .

An insightful observation by Carson on secular sociology and cultural anthropology failing to account for divine influences. The LORD had given the Israelites favor in the sight of the Egyptians (Exod. 11:3; Exod. 12:36). This favor was not simply a result of behavioral and cultural dynamics but the workings of a divine and sovereign will. Understanding this grants us a wider perspective of God’s continued work within the cultures of our own day.

Justin Houtz