Justin Houtz

Exodus 9-11; Luke 24

DateVersionReading Plan
January 24, 2026ESV (2016)ESV Life Journal Plan – 2026

Exodus 9-11

Observation & Interpretation

Exod. 9:1-4 – The LORD told Moses to tell Pharaoh that Pharaoh was to let God’s people go or a very severe plague would fall on their livestock. In meting out this plague, the LORD would make a distinction between the livestock of Egypt and that of Israel. This favor and preservation of God’s people is similar to the plague of flies in the previous chapter (Exod. 8:22-23).

  • As with Exod 8:22, this plague will not touch the Israelites living in Goshen, only the Egyptians. See v. 26. (FSB)

Exod. 9:11 – Not only were the magicians unable to match the LORD in the plague of boils but succumb to the plague themselves. This is the first time we read of the magicians affected by a plague and the last time they are mentioned in the Book of Exodus.

Exod. 9:20-21 – Those who feared the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and livestock into houses for protection from the plague of hail, but those who did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left their slaves and livestock in the field. It was not only the Israelites who would be spared from the hail but some servants of Pharaoh as well.

  • A person who fears the Lord and his word takes them seriously—giving attention and credence—leading to appropriate action (cp. 1:17, 21). (CSB Notes)

Exod. 9:27 – Pharaoh admitted that he had sinned, that the LORD was in the right and he and his people were in the wrong.

  • Although Pharaoh acknowledges that he has offended a deity, Moses sees that his arrogance has not yet been subdued (see v. 30). (FSB)

Exod. 10:16 – Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned again the LORD your God, and against you.”

  • Pharaoh’s hurry to call Moses and Aaron back, his longer confession, and his request for relief from the plague show its impact on him. (CSB Notes)

Exod. 10:21 – The LORD told Moses to stretch out his hand toward heaven that there may be a darkness to be felt over the land of Egypt. This was no ordinary darkness, but one that would be felt.

  • An unusually severe sandstorm could have been the plague that the LORD used to impose darkness on Egypt. (CSB Notes)

Luke 24

Observation & Interpretation

Luke 24:32 – The two disciples who Jesus walked with on the road to Emmaus said to each other through rhetorical question that their hearts burned within them while Jesus spoke to them.

  • Were not our hearts burning Reflects their excitement and renewed hope as Jesus explained the Scriptures to them. (FSB)

Luke 24:35 – The two Emmaus road disciples told the eleven what had happened on the road and how Jesus was known to them in the breaking of the bread. It was when they broke bread with Jesus that their eyes were opened to who He was (Luke 24:30-31).

Luke 24:52 – Following Jesus’ ascension, the disciples worshiped Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God.

  • Although at least some disciples were continually in the temple praising God during that time and later (Ac 2:46; 3:1), it should not be assumed that all of them were always there. Acts 1:13-14 also speaks of the apostles, some of the women disciples, and Jesus’s brothers (the sons of Joseph and Mary) being “continually united in prayer” in an upper room in Jerusalem. Such devotion to prayer was a fitting prelude and precondition to the wonderful things God would do through Christ’s earliest messengers. Christ’s church was set to explode onto the scene and become a beacon of light and hope in a spiritually dark world. (CSB Notes)

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