Justin Houtz

Exodus 23-24; Psalm 14; Acts 5

DateVersionReading Plan
January 29, 2026ESV (2016)ESV Life Journal Plan – 2026

Exodus 23-24

Observation & Interpretation

Exod. 23:4-5 – Treatment and handling of others’ animals was to be just, even if they were enemies. This reflects the sentiment of Jesus’ instruction in Luke 6:27-31.

  • The people of Israel are to act with integrity toward one another, regardless of personal difference or social standing. Even an enemy’s belongings are to be treated fairly. (FSB)

Exod. 23:9 – Speaking further on the equal treatment of others, the people were not to oppress a sojourner. They were to realize that they were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

  • The people of Israel are to have empathy for those who find themselves in a foreign land, and to refrain from acting like the Egyptians who oppressed them. (FSB)

Exod. 23:14-17 – Feasts were to be kept three times per year, namely, the 1) Feast of Unleavened Bread, 2) Feast of Harvest (Feast of Weeks) and the 3) Feast of Ingathering.

  • Adult males were required to attend these feasts; for others it was voluntary. (BBC)

Exod. 23:20-23 – The LORD sent his angel before them to guard them on their way and they were to pay careful attention to him and obey his voice. If they did so, the LORD would be an enemy to their enemies and an adversary to their adversaries.

  • The Hebrew word mal’akh means “messenger,” but also comes to mean “angel” since angels were messengers from God. This mal’akh will lead the people to the promised land. The people of Israel already witnessed this angel at the confrontation with Pharaoh at the Red Sea (see 14:19). (FSB)

Exod. 23:30 – The LORD told His people that He would drive out their enemies little by little until they possess the land. The LORD knew exactly how to prosper His people in the taking the land and employed His divinely-designed strategy to that end.

  • The Israelites will gain the promised land through a long, progressive series of campaigns and displacements (see Josh 1-13). However, many local, non-Israelite communities will remain in the land through the period of the judges, into the monarchy, and even after exile. (FSB)

Exod. 24:9-11 – Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under their feet was pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness, and they beheld God, ate and drank.

  • …Moses and the others went back up on Mount Sinai, as instructed in verses 1 and 2. There they saw … God in His glory. Ordinarily, to see God would be sufficient to kill a person, but it was not so here. They were not destroyed; they saw God, and they ate and drank. In other words, they saw God and lived to eat peace offerings. (BBC)

Acts 5

Observation & Interpretation

Acts 5:11 – Great fear came upon the church in response to the death of Ananias and Sapphira who were untruthful in holding back some of the proceeds of a land sale.

  • One can imagine the sense of awe that swept over the church, indeed over all who heard the news of these two deaths. (BBC)

Acts 5:33-39 – When the Sanhedrin heard of Peter’s defense of Jesus and the gospel, they were enraged and wanted to kill him, but a Pharisee named Gamaliel stood up and gave orders to the men for a little while. Gamaliel recounted days before in which men rose up and were brought down and thus in this case that the people were to keep away from these men. He spoke further that if the plan of Peter and the apostles was of man it would fail, but it be of God, the council might be found opposing God.

  • This was Gamaliel I, the teacher of Paul the apostle (22:3). It is uncertain whether he was the successor to the great rabbinic teacher Hillel or whether he founded his own school. In either case, he became a major rabbinic teacher. His conciliatory stance toward the apostles is consistent with what is known of his temperate attitude elsewhere. (CSB Notes)

Acts 5:41 – Peter and the apostles left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name. There is nothing more worthy of our suffering than for our beloved Lord and Savior who suffered for us.

  • Some people believe that suffering and hardships are signs that we are not in God’s will. Contrast this with the apostles, who, after being flogged, went out of the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to be treated shamefully on Christ’s behalf. (CSB Notes)

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