READING FOR JUNE 24,2024: EXODUS 9, EPHESIANS 6, PSALM 57 EXODUS 9 At least from a reader’s perspective, the plagues occur more rapidly. Moses asks Pharaoh for permission to leave by the next day or else God will send a plague on all Egypt’s livestock, sparing only Israel’s. Pharoah just let the deadline pass and the plague came. He sent out observers to verify that Israel did not experience this plague but otherwise took no action. Pharaoh’s heart hardened again.
Next, God told Moses to toss soot from a kiln in the air in front of Pharoah. God said that this signified the plagues would now be directed at the people themselves. Up until now, this had not been the case. Had they been so directed, the people would have perished, but God wanted to show them and the entire world His great power. God sees Himself has the only true God that exists, not just one religious option among many. He wants the whole world to understand this. Although certain postmodern folks today find this view bigoted, Christians should be clear about this truth when engaged in any interfaith dialogue.
This time God told Moses He intended to bring a violent hailstorm to Egypt. He told Moses to get the word out to the people this would happen the next day, so that they could take cover. As always, those who feared God’s word and took action were saved. Those who did not were lost. This is still the case with our response to God’s word. The land of Goshen alone was spared. Pharoah, reacting to the obvious, offered a seeming repentance so that the storm would stop. As soon as the destruction stopped, he sinned again, hardened his heart, and reneged on his promise to Moses once again. By now, this was no surprise to Moses.
EPHESIANS 6 The chapter break occurs in the middle of a listing of how we as believers should be mutually subject to one another. In chapter five Paul said 1) wives should subject themselves to their husbands and 2) husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church. Now he writes children should obey their parents, which he connects to one of the ten commandments. This also implies parents should give direction to children which in turn can be obeyed—not taking a hands-off approach. It is remarkable in this period of ancient history that Paul commands fathers to be sensitive to the child’s feelings. This has a shockingly current sensibility as opposed to how we often view antiquity. Also, very much worth mentioning is that fathers, not mothers, are charged with instructing children in the Lord. Paul uses the word for mother, μητέρα, just two verses earlier. It is used in various forms 83 times in the New Testament, but not here! FATHERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTION OF THE CHILDREN. FATHERS, HOW ARE WE DOING IN THE HOME AND THE CHURCH TEACHING OUR CHILDREN ABOUT THE GOSPEL?
READING FOR JUNE 24, 2024 CONTINUED: EPHESIANS 6, PSALM 57 Most scholars teach Paul’s comments about masters and slaves are applicable today to bosses and employees. This is appropriate, but a few words might be needed about Paul’s treatment of slavery. In 1 Timothy 1:10, Paul forbade a practice essential for the continuance of slavery: slave trading. Note this excerpt from an April 2024 article in Christianity Today:“As British scholar F. F. Bruce put it in his biography of Paul, the Letter of Philemon ‘brings us into an atmosphere in which the institution [of slavery] could only wilt and die.’ It’s hard to imagine a time when bondservice was such a given that not a single writer of the era would directly challenge it. But perhaps more than any ancient writer, Paul salted the soil of slavery. When we ignore the memory of the early church, we ignore that Paul was possibly the least likely person to condone slavery. His parents were slaves. He may have been one as well.”
What does Paul mean when he says we are fighting the following? “Against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). To get at these concepts, consider what each armor piece protects against: 1. Belt of truth protects against falsehood. “I hate and loathe falsehood, but I love Your Law (Psalm 119:163). Falsehood appears to be that which contradicts or distorts God’s word. STUDY THE BIBLE.
2. Breastplate of righteousness against unrighteousness. “The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God ...the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6:9-10). Paul says we don’t fight against people who practice these behaviors but against powers promoting such unrighteousness. We show love to all and pray they come to faith!
3. Sandals of peace against enmity with God. “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” Rom 5:1. Sharing our faith defeats the forces keeping people at war.
4. Shield of faith against unbelief. “Take care... that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another every day” (Heb.3:12).
5. Helmet of salvation against rejecting the Gospel. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor.1:18). Teach the cross. 6. Sword of the Spirit against the Bible being irrelevant. “You have been born again not of seedwhich is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23). This is an area where Satan has made enormous inroads. If the Bible is subject to our own cultural norms, it can never teach us God’s truth. Cultural norms become our real God. THIS IS HAPPENING!
PSALM 57 Many people say the Bible should not be taken literally. That’s true when the genre is poetry or apocalyptic prophecy. It is not true when Jesus tells us to pray for our enemies or to teach others to obey His commands. Consider the genre, but don’t not take the Bible literally just because we really don’t like what it is saying. In this Psalm, David is not literally in the shadow of God’s wings. No one is literally trampling him. No one literally has swords for teeth or has dug a hole for him. Certainly, David does not literally cause the dawn to wake up. Yet all this is powerfully true and expresses more vividly than literal facts the depth of David’s faith in a glorious God who will lovingly protect him (and us) from very real danger.
