Justin Houtz

Exodus 6-8; Luke 23

DateVersionReading Plan
January 23, 2026ESV (2016)ESV Life Journal Plan – 2026

Exodus 6-8

Observation & Interpretation

Exod. 6:3 – The LORD told Moses that by His name He did not make Himself known to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

  • This appears to indicate that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not know the name yhwh (Yahweh), the name revealed to Moses at Sinai (Exod 3:14-16). (FSB)

Exod. 6:20 – Amram took his father’s sister to be his wife and she bore him Aaron and Moses. Aaron and Moses’ mother was also their great aunt by relation.

  • Aaron and Moses were born of a marriage that would later be prohibited under Mosaic law (marriage to a paternal aunt; see Lev 18:12; 20:19). This suggests that the tradition about Moses and Aaron predates the Mosaic period. (FSB)

Exod. 7:10-13 – Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded and Aaron casted down his staff and it became a serpent. Pharaoh’s magicians did the same and their staffs also became serpents by their secret arts, but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Although the magicians were able to match Aaron in turning their staffs into serpents, the swallowing of their staffs by Aaron’s proved the LORD power as supreme.

Exod. 7:24 – In order to try to obtain potable water, the Egyptians dug along the Nile to drink.

  • [This] Explains how the Egyptians survived seven days of this plague (v. 25). (FSB)

Exod. 8:18 – The magicians were not able to reproduce the third plague of the gnats. This is the first plague that the magicians were not able to match.

  • Pharaoh’s magicians could not duplicate a miracle that involved creating animate life from inanimate dust. Only God can do that (Gn 2:7). (CSB Notes)

Exod. 8:21-22 – The LORD told Moses to tell Pharaoh that if he did not let the LORD’s people, the LORD would send swarms of flies on him, his people and into his peoples’ houses such that the houses of the Egyptians would be filled with swarms of flies. However, the land of Goshen would be set apart and not effected by the plague in order that Pharaoh would know that the LORD is the LORD in the midst of the earth.

Luke 23

Observation & Interpretation

Luke 23:2-4 – The people told Pilate that Jesus had misled their nation, forbade them from giving tribute to Caesar and said that He was Christ, a king, but after questioning Jesus, pilate told the company that he found no guilt in Him. It seems forbidding the payment of tribute to Caesar—despite being an outright lie (see Luke 20:20-26)—would have raised a red flag for Pilate, but he instead brushed it off.

  • Jesus was the Messiah, but he carefully avoided giving the impression that he meant to topple Rome or ascend the throne as king of Israel. Pilate had undoubtedly heard about Jesus, and he saw right through the Sanhedrin’s rush to judgment. (CSB Notes)

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