Exodus 12:21–51, Luke 15, Job 30, 1 Corinthians 16

Date	Version	Reading Plan
@March 1, 2024	ESV (2016)	M’Cheyne Plan 2024

Exodus 12:21–51

Exodus 12:43–44 (ESV) 43 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, 44 but every slave that is bought for money may eat of it after you have circumcised him.

The statute of the Passover was exclusive to the nation of Israel and any purchased slave that had been circumcised. No foreigner, sojourner or hired servant was to partake of the meal of remembrance because they were outside of the covenant community of Israel. The circumcised slaves were to be included because circumcision is a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham (Gen. 17:9-14).

Luke 15

Luke 15:31–32 (ESV) 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’ ”

The older brother of the prodigal son was angry at his father lavishing his younger son with love and gifts after squandering his inheritance. By lashing out at his father, the older son revealed his heart of disregard for what he had all along. Everything the father had was already his but he lacked awareness and appreciation. For seasoned followers of Christ, it is an important to see here the need to avoid complacency with our citizenship in the kingdom and to celebrate with great joy the lost who turn to Christ in repentance.

Job 30

Job 30:25–26 (ESV) 25 Did not I weep for him whose day was hard? Was not my soul grieved for the needy? 26 But when I hoped for good, evil came, and when I waited for light, darkness came.

Job hoped that the good he showed others would come to him, but was instead met with evil and darkness. Instead of relief, he was brought only further suffering. It is good to see here how our efforts will not always be recognized or profitable. This can be difficult to grasp, particularly if or when we approach situations with an anticipated outcome. When our efforts to love others in the name of Christ fall short of expectation, it can land anywhere between mild disappointment and complete devastation. However, this does not change our indelible command to love others. Rather than reacting with disillusionment, such encounters should prompt us to look upon God’s faithfulness and the perfection of His purpose and design.

1 Corinthians 16

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 (ESV) 13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

Paul wraps up his first letter to the Corinthians with some final instructions. He tells the church that they are to be watchful, firm in the faith, to act like men and be strong, but all should be done in love. Their strength and firmness is to be properly rooted in their devotion to God and directed toward the loving of their brethren. As members of the same body, this exhortation continues to stand for us today. We should be diligent in our prayers, watchful of false teaching, firm in our faith, responsive to confrontation of our own sin and in confronting others with theirs.

Carson on Exodus 12:21-51

A millennium and a half [after the institution of the Passover], Paul would remind believers in Corinth that Christ Jesus, our Passover Lamb, was sacrificed for us, inaugurating a new covenant (1 Cor. 5:7; 11:25). On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus took bread and wine, and instituted a new commemorative rite—and this too took place on the festival of Passover, as if this new rite connects the old with that to which it points: the death of Christ. The calendar changed again; a new and climactic redemption had been achieved. God still passes over those who are secured by the blood.

The Passover was a reminder of a landmark event in Israelite history. However, its importance was eclipsed by an even greater event of deliverance and propitiation through Christ’s death and resurrection. The divine timing of Jesus’ crucifixion taking place over Passover as a means of superseding the importance of its remembrance is astounding.

Justin Houtz