Category: Saturday Study

Saturday Study

Exodus 25-29 (5-12-18)

Alright, grab your Bibles and open up to Exodus chapter 25, as we dig deeper into what these chapters are unfolding.

How many times have you begun reading Scripture only to run into a long line of names or details that seem really insignificant for you today? The tendency in these moments is to hit fast forward and skip down to the “important parts,” so to speak. I remember as a child trying to read through these chapters and attempting to follow an annual Bible reading plan, but every time I made it to sections of Scripture like this, I couldn’t muster up the perseverance to read on. It wasn’t until there was more God-given growth and understanding of His word that I realized how much I miss when I quickly pass over sections of Scripture like this.

One of my favorite theologians wrote something in regards to this section of Scripture that really helped me begin to see the weight of the topic in these chapters. So, I want to share his quote with you now:

“We have now arrived at the longest, most blessed, but least read and understood section of this precious book of Exodus. From the beginning of chapter 25 to the end of 40—excepting the important parenthesis in 32 to 34—the Holy Spirit has given us a detailed description of the Tabernacle, its structure, furniture, and priesthood. It is a fact worthy of our closest and fullest consideration that more space is devoted to an account of the Tabernacle than to any other single object or subject treated of in Holy Writ. Its courts, its furniture, and its ritual are described with a surprising particularity of detail. Two chapters suffice for a record of God’s work in creating and fitting this earth for human habitation, whereas ten chapters are needed to tell us about the Tabernacle. Truly God’s thoughts and ways are different from ours! How sadly many of God’s own people have dishonored Him and His Word by their studied neglect of these chapters! Too many have seen in the Tabernacle, with its Divinely-appointed arrangements and services, only a ritual of the past—a record of Jewish manners and customs which have long since passed away and which have no meaning for or value to us. But ‘all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable’ (2 Tim. 3:16). The Christian cannot neglect any portion of the Word without suffering loss: ‘whatsoever things were written aforetime [in the Old Testament] were written for our learning’ (Rom. 15:4). Again and again in the New Testament the Holy Spirit makes figurative reference to the Tabernacle and its furniture, and much in the Epistle to the Hebrews cannot be understood without reference to the contents of Exodus and Leviticus. The tabernacle is one of the most important and instructive types. Here is such a variety of truths, here is such a fullness and manifoldness of spiritual teaching that our great difficulty is to combine all the various lessons and aspects which it presents.” – A.W. Pink

This quote was quite convicting and caused me to take a second look at these chapters. The mere fact that there is more time spent giving the details about the ark and the mercy seat than any other single thing, including creation, was a real eye-opener. This made me ask the obvious question of why? Why so many details and so much of Scripture devoted to this particular thing? What is the bigger picture that I’m surely missing?

To answer these questions, let’s look at what the different things were. The Ark of the Covenant was essentially a chest carrying within it the two stone tablets that God had written His laws upon. There were a couple other items, but for the sake of time, I want us to see that the ark is carrying the Ten Commandments. Now, what really caught my attention was that the Mercy Seat was placed on top of this ark. So, the good and right law that God gave, which we in our sin so clearly utterly lack the ability to obey perfectly, is hidden in a chest, and this chest is covered by a seat called the Mercy Seat. If you aren’t already seeing the bigger picture, let me explain this with some more detail. When we don’t obey God’s perfect law, what happens to us? We stand eternally condemned as sinners in offense to our holy, righteous, and perfect Creator! So, it makes a lot of sense that if we are ever to be in the presence of our God, we need great God-given mercy! How beautiful it is that God would show us His covering of mercy above the law He gave and in the very place where He would meet with His people.

In a very symbolic way, the mercy seat covered the people of God from the ever-condemning judgment of the Law. The custom every year on the Day of Atonement was for the High Priest to enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of animals sacrificed for the atonement of the sins of God’s people upon this very seat. See the bigger picture that we miss when we see details like this and just skip ahead?

God has made it clear that the blood of bulls and lambs can in no way atone for the sins of man (Hebrews 10:4). So, we must see this symbolism that God so graciously gave His people come into a fuller view. God is the One who sits on the Mercy Seat. The details and beauty of the Mercy Seat and the Ark it sits upon are so great, because the One who sits upon the seat is so great.

As the bigger picture comes into focus, we see how truly blessed we are to be given the fullness of Scripture and God’s revelation. We have the benefit of being able to look at God’s sovereign hand throughout history–planning, preparing, and assuring that His atonement for His people would most definitely be carried out to completion! This Mercy Seat and Ark of the Covenant foreshadow Christ and all that He would do to carry out God’s mercy upon His people. In God’s great mercy, He would save sinners unto Himself at His great cost. The blood sprinkled onto this seat pointed to the blood of God the Son that would be shed for His people. The seat that covered the Law was covered in the blood of the Lamb who fulfilled the Law for us! This is the true atonement–the true vision and fulfillment of God’s mercy unto His people. Praise God for passages like this drawing our eyes to the importance of seeing and savoring our great and merciful God!

*Special thanks to Steven Obert who helped by authoring this weeks study.

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Exodus 20-24 (5-5-18)

Last week we looked at Genesis 20 and the Ten Commandments. In that study, we looked at the different meanings of the Law and specifically at the fact that the Moral Law of God is for all people for all time and is not put away because of Christ and the New Covenant. In the power of Christ at work in us, may we faithfully aim in all we do to obey the Moral Law of God, and in doing so, honor Him and grow in Christ.

Today, I want to look at the law given in the Old Covenant that is put away because of Christ and the New Covenant, or because it was determined by God to only be for a particular people, a particular purpose, and a particular time. We see examples of this in our reading in Exodus 21 and on. These laws lead us right into our definition of Positive Law.

Positive Law: Law and commands based on the will of God for a particular people, a particular purpose, and a particular time.

Our study today on Positive Law might not seem to be super applicable to your daily life, but I want to plead with you to reconsider, as it will help you rightly study God’s word. Improvements to help us rightly divide the word of God are so needed, as we often are guilty of reading God’s word and misunderstanding or misapplying what it is saying. We cannot afford to do this.

Our study today is also important because if you’ve grown up in the church, you’ve likely been told that we don’t follow all of the commands we see in the Bible because they don’t apply to us in the here and now. And, generally speaking, this is true, but we need to be very careful in this. We need an informed way of making determinations about what applies to us here and now and what does not. There are many ill-informed Christians with wrong understandings about these things, living lives in disobedience to standing law. And on the other hand, there are ill-informed people who are adding non-biblical law to people, doing exactly what the Pharisees did. We must avoid these two serious errors.

As our definition states, Positive Law is law and commands based on the will of God for a particular people, a particular purpose, and a particular time. What this means is there are commands that God has given throughout human history that do not apply to everyone.

So, we have Universal Moral Law standing to all peoples at all times, and then there are these additional, specific commands that God saw fit to give differently in different times.

And this distinction leads us to the very important reality of how law looked in the Old Covenant in comparison to the New Covenant. This is incredibly important. If you’re going to have any chance to understand your Bible correctly when reading it, you need to know this.

In addition to the Universal Moral Law, God sees fit to give other Positive Laws to particular people, for a particular purpose, for a particular time.

Here are a few examples of this:

Adam: God told Adam and Eve to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was a specific law they were required to obey. It was Positive Law God gave to Adam and Eve that was in addition to the Universal Moral Law that was written on their hearts.

Noah and the ark: God issued a direct command to Noah to build the ark. If Noah were to have disobeyed that command, then it would have been sin, so it was a law unto him. But that command was not for every person at all times, or even for every person living at that time. The law Noah was required to follow was Positive Law. It was for him, at that time, in that place.

Abraham: God told Abraham that Abraham and his offspring after him, every male among them in the Old Covenant, was to be circumcised. It was Positive Law God given through Abraham that was in addition to the Universal Moral Law that was written on their hearts. That Positive Law command was not required before then, and as you hopefully know, it is not a requirement in the New Covenant that we are in.

And where the most confusion in these two kinds of law really exists in is regard to certain commands given primarily in Moses’ time in the Old Covenant. There were laws given in the Mosaic Covenant that were specific to only those who were wanting to be under the Old Covenant that God had with people (this was primarily the Israelites in that time).

These Positive Laws are sometimes called ceremonial laws and civil (or judicial) laws. God gave these laws because these people were to live in a theocratic state. God gave these Positive Laws because by obeying them, they would have honored the requirements of the covenant they were under and experienced the best way of living within that covenant.

Let’s look briefly at a few examples of these Positive Laws that existed under that Old Covenant. But before we do, let me encourage you not to scoff at these things. We’ve adapted too much of a mindset of our modern times that looks back on these things and thinks they are ludicrous. While we can and should look back and acknowledge that they were specific and difficult laws and be thankful that they are now abrogated (or abolished) as given, we, at the same time, need to realize that these were good commands for these people, from our perfect God. At that time, it was wise and good for God to issue these Positive Laws, these ceremonial laws and civil laws.

The Positive Law in the Mosaic Covenant also served to display important things about the nature and character of God. For example, they displayed God’s eternal hatred for sin in a unique and powerful way. The other critical thing they displayed is the need for our perfect Messiah. The Positive Laws foretold of the perfect sacrifice to come, namely Jesus. They foretold of the perfect obedience required by God, accomplished only in Jesus. They functioned as a wise and powerful way for God to display the need for Jesus Christ.

So, let’s see just a few of these Positive Laws:

In the Old Covenant, they were commanded specifically not to eat certain things, like pork and certain kinds of sea life:

Leviticus 11:7-8 And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

Leviticus 11:10-11 But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is detestable to you. You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses.

Another example would be in the Old Covenant, they were restricted from wearing certain types of clothes:

Deuteronomy 22:11 You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.

That’s just a few of many, many examples for Old Covenant Positive Law.

What we need to understand is those Positive Laws do not apply any longer because the Old Covenant has been abrogated (or abolished), and Jesus established a New Covenant with its own Positive Laws for us to follow. But as I said, we need to be very careful in determining Universal Moral Law from Positive Law in the Old Testament. Often, these two kinds of laws are mixed together in the same section of Scripture. We don’t make distinctions of what we don’t follow now based on our preferences or feelings. We have to make the distinctions very carefully, using a right understating of Universal Moral Law, using the New Testament, as well as a having a solid understanding of Covenant Theology and proper hermeneutics. We must always remember that the Universal Moral Law applies no matter what. So, laws preventing idolatry, coveting, sexual immorality, etc. still apply to us.

And finally, we have a New Testament example of Positive law. This is baptism. Those living before the New Covenant was formally established were not commanded to be baptized. The baptism command in the New Testament is a New Covenant reality that applies to believers living after the New Covenant was formally established. That means it is Positive Law for us in the here and now. If we claim to be Christians in 2018 for example, then we should obey the command to be baptized.

I hope this helps you see the two main types of law throughout human history: eternal Universal Moral Law and changeable Positive Law.

Let’s look at another important point about “law” in the Bible.

Often in the text, we see the moral law of God intermingled with Positive Law or extra information. When this is the case, this added Positive Law or extra information can be called Supplementary Data.

As we’re seeing in this lesson today, what we need to understand is that the portions of the passages that contain the Universal Moral Law are communicating eternal moral law. But the portions of these passages that are Supplementary Data can and often do change.

And this is very important as to the Ten Commandments and understanding the Old Covenant.

Here is an example of this in the Old Covenant:

Leviticus 20:13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

In that passage it is taught explicitly that homosexuality is prohibited. It was prohibited then in the Old Covenant when this was given, but it was also prohibited before and after that covenant as well. This is the case because the prohibition of same sex relations is an expression of the prohibition of sexual immorality that exists within the Universal Moral Law.

But there is Supplementary Data in this verse as well; let’s look at that. It said, “they shall surely be put to death.”

Now, that command to put them to death was law from God, but it was Positive Law under the Old Covenant. That is not the command on us today in the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, we are commanded to deal with sin in professing Christians not by putting people to death, but by other means of accountability.

Therefore, what we can see in this example is that this verse is still an important and helpful revelation of God’s moral law over mankind about sexual relations. It has a layer of the Universal Moral Law (namely, same-sex relations are prohibited) which is still true today, but the Positive Law (requiring putting these law-breakers to death) is not something we should or can obey today.

That’s one relevant example. I also said this Supplementary Data point is important for the Ten Commandments, so let’s look at that briefly as well.

The Universal Moral Law that is summarized in the Ten Commandments is accompanied by Supplementary Data. The Supplementary Data can help enforce and inform the Universal Moral Law, but is not a part of the Universal Moral Law itself. This is important. Let me show you.

Look at the 10th commandment in Exodus 20:17.

The unchanging Moral Law is “You shall not covet.” That’s it: “You shall not covet.”

Then the Supplementary Data is communicated; it says, “your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey …”

Now, that data helps inform the moral command of, “You shall not covet.”

Stating that coveting an ox is prohibited is true and important, but it’s supplemental. The list of things not to covet is certainly not meant to be all-inclusive. For example, a BMW is not mentioned there, so does that mean we can covet one of those? An angel’s delegated, unique power is not mentioned there; does that mean they could covet that? No, of course not. The Universal Moral Law is, “You shall not covet.” The other information is supplemental and informative in this case.

Let’s now look at an example from the Ten Commandments where the Supplementary Data actually is explicitly changed in the New Covenant. This is interesting. Look at the 5th commandment in Exodus 20:12. It says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

Notice it says “that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” Hopefully by now you’re able to see that the unchanging Moral Law expressed in this command is, “Honor your father and your mother.”

And that the Supplementary Data is “that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”

Let’s look at the New Testament now. In Ephesians, Paul commands children to obey their parents, repeating this commandment expressed in the Old Covenant. But with God inspiring him, Paul changes the Supplementary Data. He says in Ephesians 6:3, “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”

This may seem like the same thing said in Exodus, but it’s not.

Let’s look closely at it to see this. First, we can see the portion that says “that the Lord your God is giving you” is not restated.

And second, in Ephesians, the “land” Paul is talking about is different than the “land” that Exodus was talking about.

In other Bible translations like the NASB, NIV, and KJV, they do a better job perhaps with the translation to show this change. They say more explicitly in Ephesians 6:3 “so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth” (NASB).

This change in Supplementary Data added to this moral command about honoring parents is the case because in the Old Covenant the people under that covenant were promised by God a specific portion of land, and that land is what is spoken of by that mention in Exodus. But in the New Covenant when Christ established His Kingdom, the land the Israelites sought was made common. The borders of this old Promised Land were made insignificant because Christ said His Kingdom is “not of this world.” What that means is Paul is telling us by this revised Supplementary Data that the flourishing promised in this honor your parents command no longer had to do with that specific land location; instead, the flourishing is possible for all who obey this command anywhere throughout the land, namely anywhere throughout the earth.

This is a very helpful example to see the point I’m trying to show you. In the Ten Commandments, the Universal Moral Law is communicated in summary form, and there is changeable Supplementary Data given with it. And as I said before, we cannot carelessly make incorrect or flippant distinctions; rather, we need to be very careful in reading and understanding our Bible.

Our final technical point about “law” is something called General Equity.

General Equity basically means “principle.”

I want to hit on this point because it’s also important as to how we read our Bible and look at Positive Laws that don’t apply to us now the same way.

The idea is that even though certain Positive Laws are not standing today, there is General Equity, or principles, in the laws that still help us today. We see the inspired writers of the Epistles put this on display in their letters, and we can see the godly value of it in our own reading of abrogated Positive Law.

Two quick examples:

The Apostle Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4 when he is teaching in 1 Timothy 5 that it is right and good to pay godly pastors and elders for the work they do for the local church. The Positive Law command in Deuteronomy 25:4 is, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain.” This original command was requiring people to adequately take care of the livestock. It had nothing to do with taking care of humans when it was given in the Old Testament. But when Paul uses that verse, he uses the principle (or General Equity) in it. He’s saying, “The principle from this old command about livestock for the Old Covenant people has real application and value for us today.”

Specifically, authoritatively, the Apostle applies the General Equity to command us to honor godly pastors and elders, saying we must take care of their needs; they deserve to be paid for their ministry efforts. Therefore, the command is not binding in the same way it was given, but the principle in it is of real use to us today; the principle in it is made binding to us today by Paul in a new way. The Apostles had God-given authority and inspiration to take old Positive Laws and make a new Positive Law or use the principle from the law to show us something we are required to obey in a new way. We see this in several places in the New Testament.

Another example of this General Equity hermeneutic would be found here:

Deuteronomy 22:8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet [railing/fence] for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it.”

In that time, the roof of a dwelling was made flat, and people would spend time on the roof. God gave this specific command to display the value of human life. The required railing would help prevent a deathly fall and other consequences from that fall.

Now, since the Old Covenant has been abrogated, laws like this that are not part of the Universal Moral Law are not applicable to us the way they were given in the Old Covenant. Meaning, if you have a flat roof or a balcony, you are not technically in sin if you don’t have the exact railing they were required to have. But for Old Covenant people, without that exact railing, they would have been disobeying a direct command of God.

So, is there still General Equity in the command that helps us today in the New Covenant? Yes, definitely. The principle about valuing human life is very important and relevant. We know we have moral obligation to value and protect human life, and we can see that principle in the roof/railing command in Deuteronomy.

Therefore, all that is to say what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 is true: ^“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

All of Scripture, even the Positive Laws that don’t apply to us the same way, have God-given value for our understanding and life. And we have seen two ways this is the case: The Old Covenant Positive Law displays important revelations about God and principles for us to be aware of. We do not follow or require anyone to follow the abrogated Positive Law as it was given. That is not what I am saying. Instead, we benefit by understanding it correctly in light of God and the New Covenant. This has incredible value. All of our Bible has incredible value for us.

May God use it to grow us, sanctify us, and cause us to worship Him all the more. I know this lesson was long, but I pray the Lord uses these tools to help your Bible study and application. May we honor and obey Him in all we do!

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Exodus 16-20 (4-28-18)

In our reading this week in Exodus, we get to see God’s people free from Egypt and looking to make their way to the Promised Land. In this major transition, God is going to do a very important work by giving His moral law and then many positive laws by which His people are to obey and honor Him. In Exodus 20, we see Moses give the Ten Commandments, which leads us into a needed study about what they mean for us today and a better understanding of the law. With lots to cover, let’s dig in.

First, the word “law” can be a very confusing one in Scripture. It certainly is a complex topic. When looking to understand the word “law” and its synonyms in the Bible, we cannot take a concordance approach to trying to understand it. We cannot take a single use of the word and apply that to all the other occurrences we see in the text, or we would have a grave misunderstanding of God’s use of the law.

The word “law” has several synonyms in Scripture. These include commandments, statutes, rules, precepts, testimonies, etc. For example:

• The word “law” can refer to the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible.
• The word “law” can refer to the law system of the Mosaic Covenant.
• The word “law” can refer specifically to ceremonial laws found in the Old Covenant.
• The word “law” can refer to the moral law of God (which is a main focus of our study today).
• The word “law” can refer to the “penalty” of the law.

I want to expand briefly on this point before we move on, because when this kind of usage is not interpreted correctly, people can get into serious problems. Look at:

Romans 6:14-15 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.  What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

If someone, as some people do, takes this “law” in this passage to mean, “You are no longer called to obey moral law,” or “You no longer need to obey God because of grace,” then it will have serious, negative, unbiblical consequences.

Conversely, Paul is using the word “law” to mean penalty or condemnation.

Look at the two verses with this correct interpretation to see what Paul is saying. “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under condemnation but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the condemnation of the law but under grace? By no means!”

And this is what Romans 6 is all about: The saved are no longer slaves to sin–no longer condemned by sin; rather, we are saved by grace unto a life of repentance from sin and called all the more to obey the moral law of God!

That’s one example of how important it is to understand what the word “law” means in the various appearances in Scripture.

All that to say, this once again shows how handling the word of God rightly is so important.

Today our focus is on “law” as the requirements on man often expressed through commands that God has given.

One of the most important things to understand is that there are two categories of this kind of “law” in Scripture:

• Universal Moral Law (also called Natural Law) and
• Positive Law

Let’s break these down one at a time. First:

Universal Moral Law (Natural Law): Unchanging law and commands based on the right and character of God, to which man is held accountable for all of life. Universal Moral Law is written in the hearts of all people, leaving them without excuse in disobedience.

This moral law is the eternal, foundational law that has and will always exist. The Universal Moral Law exists at all times, over all of mankind. Even where it was not or is not fully communicated verbally, it exists because it’s based on the right and character of God and mankind’s relation to Him. This means this Universal Moral Law existed when Adam was in the garden, even though we don’t see God laying all of it out for him. It existed when Cain sinned by killing Abel, even though we don’t see God having laid a murder prohibition out for them by then. It existed over the Israelites before God gave a summary of the moral law in the Ten Commandments to them through Moses in our chapter of Exodus 20. It existed over the nations and peoples outside of Israel, even though we don’t see God laying all of it out for them the way He did for the Israelites. And in the same way, it exists now over the people in a backwoods tribe who have never been preached to about God and who do not have a Bible to read about the “law.” Likewise, it exists over an infant who can’t even understand words yet.

This is very important: The Universal Moral Law exists at all times, over all of mankind, because it is based on the right and character of God and our relation to Him as created creatures. And in His wisdom, God decreed that this Universal Moral Law would be placed on the conscience of all persons. The Bible tells us that Universal Moral Law is written in the hearts of all people. And this is why it is sometimes called “Natural Law.”

We see this taught in Romans 2:15-16, where Paul tells us that even those who have never heard about God’s moral requirements of man have “the work of the law written on their hearts,” and their consciences bear witness to this fact.

What that means is that all people, whether they acknowledge it or not and whether it impacts their lives significantly or not, all people have this law written in their hearts–on their consciences. That is why there can be found, to some degree, some common moral principles among people groups around the world, throughout time, even in those who haven’t communicated with others or haven’t heard God’s truths taught. This is why even your pagan friend often will still have a guilty conscience when he steals from his boss or lies to his child. The law is in the hearts of even non-believers, convicting them of their sin.

But as we know all too well, because of the deceitfulness of sin in them, this law being in their hearts is not enough to cause your friend or the various pagan people groups throughout creation to obey God fully. Because of their enslavement to sin, the Universal Moral Law written in them is ignored, denied, and disobeyed.

No person will be able to stand before God and say, “I did not know your moral expectations of me, so there is nothing to which you can hold me accountable.” The man, for example, in the backwoods tribe that never was taught God’s truths, will stand before God guilty of breaking God’s law, the very law that is in him and to whatever degree, bore on his conscience.

So, what exactly is this Universal Moral Law?

The moral law is the eternal, foundational law that has and will always exist. The Universal Moral Law exists at all times, over all of mankind. Even where it was not or is not fully communicated verbally it exists because it’s based on the right and character of God and mankind’s relation to Him.

God has chosen different ways to inform us of this law. As we saw a bit ago, one of these ways is that He has written on the heart of every human who has or will exist. From Adam, to us, to the babies in wombs, to any people who will be conceived in the future, we all have the moral law written on our hearts.

While that’s foundational, it’s not the only way God has informed us of this Universal Moral Law.

In the Old Testament, we see Him directly communicate elements of the moral law.

And the pinnacle of this is the Ten Commandments that we read about in Exodus 20.

In the Ten Commandments (sometimes called the “Ten Words” or “the Decalogue”), God was expressing a summary of the moral law. The reformers in Christian church history said, “The moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments, which were delivered by the voice of God upon mount Sinai, and written by him in two tables of stone; and are recorded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus.”

“Summarily comprehended” is the phrase they used to say that the moral law was summarized and expressed by God in the Ten Commandments. This is very important. It is a summary of the Universal Moral Law; it is not the only way to summarize the Universal Moral Law, as we’ll see in a minute, but it is indeed a summary of the eternal moral law. And that’s why we can look back now to the Ten Commandments and see God’s revealed will for us in them in our time.

Briefly, let’s see how they summarize the Universal Moral Law. The Ten Commandments have two main themes:

The first four commandments are primarily vertical, towards God, and the last six commandments focus on the horizontal, towards others.

In the first four of the ten God says:

            “You shall have no other gods before me.

                         You shall not make for yourself an idol.

                         You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.

                         Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”

In the last six of the ten, God says:

“Honor your father and mother.

                         You shall not murder.

                         You shall not commit adultery.

                         You shall not steal.

                         You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

                         You shall not covet.”

Now all commands that God gives are first and foremost to be obeyed to the honor of God, to honor His name and glory. But we can see the function of the Ten Commandments have directional purpose. Each of the first four function to display that God is our highest treasure and our one true, sovereign King; while the last six function to honor God by loving others correctly. So, in this, the moral law as expressed in the Ten Commandments require us to 1) love God first, correctly, and supremely; and 2) love others correctly, out of love for God.

Hopefully you can see that the Ten Commandments are not just good principles to live by. They are an expression of the Universal Moral Law that you, and I, and every other human being are required to obey.

Some have wrongly said that the moral law was fulfilled by Christ and is no longer needed today, but this is not true, as the moral law is for all people for all time. God has communicated the Universal Moral Law in the New Testament as well. In the New Testament, we see Jesus and the Apostles teach the same moral law that man has always been under.

You’re familiar with Christ’s words in Matthew 22; look there with me:

In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus was asked “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus is showing us that the moral law has two main themes: vertical (towards God) and horizontal (towards others). And when He says, “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets,” He is saying all moral law we see in the Old Testament, like the Ten Commandments for example, can also be summarized in these TWO commandments. So, the Ten Commandments summarize the moral law–that’s one way God did it–and the two commandments here spoken by Jesus summarize the moral law–this is another way God communicates a summary of it.

And that’s also what we see the Apostles teach about the moral law.

Look at one example from the Apostle Paul.

In regards to the horizontal theme of the law, man to man, Paul says it like this:

             Romans 13:8-10 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,”    and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

See that? Paul quotes from the horizontal part of the Ten Commandments and then summarizes it in a similar way as Christ did!

Basically, Paul is saying we fulfill the man-ward requirements of the moral law when we correctly love our neighbors.

What you need to understand is that neither Christ nor the Apostles contradicted or replaced the moral law found summarized in the Ten Commandments. They did not contradict or replace Universal Moral Law.

The Ten Commandments are an accurate summary of the Universal Moral Law, Christ’s moral law teaching is an accurate summary of the Universal Moral Law, and the Apostle’s moral teaching is an accurate summary of the Universal Moral Law.

Those are some important elements to know about Universal Moral Law.

What we will see next week in our reading are examples of Positive Law. I will give you that definition here so you can know what is to come as you read next week, and then we will discuss Positive Law more in the following study.

Positive Law: Law and commands based on the will of God for a particular people, a particular purpose, and a particular time.

Next week we will read a few of the many Positive Laws that God prescribes to a particular people, a particular purpose, and a particular time, but today as we read the Ten Commandments, we must realize each of them are to be obeyed still today by us, as we honor God’s moral law and in doing so, honor God and make much of His name to the watching world.

As we close, meditate on the Ten Commandments and why they make for a better society than when we disregard these things and live selfishly. May we fight our sin to serve and honor God in these things. May we hold high the commands of God and His authority over our lives. May we live in the power Christ has given and the conviction of the Holy Spirit to live out the moral law God has given us.

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Exodus 11-15 (4-21-18)

Grab your Bibles, and let’s go deeper into Exodus chapters 11-15.

My hope today is to help us put into view the larger context for the 10^th plague and the Passover. While this was a significant moment of deliverance for God’s people, it held much greater significance for all of mankind and especially for all of God’s chosen people to ever trust in Him for salvation and eternal life with God. To set the table, let’s read a few key passages in Exodus 11 and 12.

Exodus 11:1 The Lord said to Moses, “Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely.”

Exodus 12:1-14 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”

Understand that this event, the Exodus and the provision of God to free Israel from Egypt’s grip, was talked about worldwide for generations and generations. It would be the most cherished gathering of the Jews and would serve to point the hearts of His people to the One who would forever set them free.

From the beginning, God has had a plan to redeem His elect from the separation and eternal wrath due them for their sin. To do this, He planned for a royal Redeemer to come and die in our place so that we could be free from the eternal penalty of sin and reconciled to God to enjoy Him forever.

God the Son, Jesus, is this promised Redeemer. The Passover not only became the most cherished Jewish practice to honor God and remember what He did to set them free, but it would be the table at which Jesus would establish a new covenant between God and His people.

The Passover that began at the Exodus would point generations to the truer and better Passover Lamb: Jesus Christ.

Turn with me now to the Gospel of John chapter 1, and look with me at verse 29:

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Here we read “the forerunner of Christ” (John the Baptist) as he announces Jesus as “the Lamb of God,” not as “the Word of God,” not as “the Christ of God,” but as THE LAMB. This is so critical, because the work of the Lamb of God is the very office in which we stood in deepest need of Him.

Before we get to the official work of Jesus as the Lamb of God, let’s look back on God’s divine plan from the beginning to provide the needed Lamb. God, in His providence, uses a lamb all throughout history to make it clear that a sinful people are desperate for a lamb–a Lamb of God.

1. In Genesis 4, we have the Lamb typified, as Abel sacrifices a lamb unto the Lord.
2. We have the Lamb prophesied in Genesis 22:8, when Abraham said to Isaac, “God will provide himself a lamb.”
3. In Exodus 12, we have the lamb slain on behalf of the people and its blood applied.
4. In Isaiah 53:7, here for the first time we learn that the promised Lamb of God would be a man.
5. In John 1:29, we have the Lamb identified as Jesus.
6. In the last chapter of the Bible, in Revelation 22:1, we have the Lamb glorified, seated upon the eternal throne of God.

As Hebrews 9:22 says, “… without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.” The Bible says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death …”

We must understand that sin earns death. In the Old Covenant system God put in place, the animal died as a substitute in the place of the sinful people at the hands of the high priest.

Now, here’s the problem: The Bible is also clear that “it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4).

So, what is going on in all of the Old Testament sacrifice and the spilling of the blood of spotless lambs and goats is a foreshadow of the ultimate grace of God that would be provided in Christ alone.

God is pointing to the ultimate sacrifice–the one true Sacrifice–the perfect and satisfactory blood of the Lamb of God, who would take away the sin of the world. All throughout the Old Testament, God is making a way for Jesus–the One who would bring grace upon grace. Oh, how it was the grace of God to give His people this system to point to the fact that He would not just condemn, but He would act in amazing grace!

The whole Old Testament system was pointing forward to what would happen someday in a final sacrifice for sin. Those whom God would save of the Old Testament were putting their faith in the coming Messiah–THE LAMB OF GOD–who would pay the complete and final price for their sin and make atonement for their sin in the only way it could be paid for.

Now, turn to John chapter 2.

Here in John 2, we witness the first miracle of God in flesh. He turned water into wine at the wedding celebration. It is filled with symbolism of what Jesus has come to bring His people.

John 2:9-11 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

This miracle demonstrated not only Jesus’ lordship over creation but was also a picture of what the Messiah would do in His ministry, i.e. take up common elements (like water) and transform them into something special and wonderful for the good of others.

As the wedding celebration carries on, Jesus has another cup on his mind. He has a work to do first that will make possible the true enjoyment of wine at the wedding feast, whereby He and His bride (the church) will have fellowship forever.

John 2:3-4 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.”

What is on Jesus’ mind is the cup of wrath. Like God has done from the beginning of time, Jesus is continuing the predetermined rescue mission of His people for the banquet that will outdo all banquets and that will last for eternity!

Before Jesus would drink the wine at the eternal feast with His redeemed, He would have to drink of the cup of wrath on behalf of His people. Yes, as Psalm 104:15 states, God gave “wine to gladden the heart of man.” He gave it as a good gift to be enjoyed and eventually to be a part of His eternal celebration, but Jesus came to do a work that we could not do–a work that must be done.

In this, Jesus had to set aside the ceremonial wine and instead drink of the cup of wrath so that we, His chosen people, don’t have to. All of this is pointing to another wedding feast where Jesus is the eternal Bridegroom and His redeemed people are His beloved bride. Listen to the language used later in Revelation 21:

Revelation 21:9 Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.

Jesus is the true Bridegroom! So, the Lord is using the stage of His first miracle at a wedding in Cana to point to the eternal wedding by which Jesus, the Bridegroom, will be united forever with His bride: the church, the redeemed.

Praise God He finished what He came to do! It’s not without real cost that He did this, too.

Turn with me to Mark 14:32-36:

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Praise God that Jesus was obedient to the Father to the point of death.

“Not my will but yours be done.” Do you see? He drank the cup of wrath on our behalf.

This is the gospel of “our Passover.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin …

He took on our sin for His chosen ones! He paid our price. He atoned our sin.

Now, we must also understand, at that moment, the wrath of God due a particular people was satisfied.

The justice of God was met. The holiness of God was respected.

1 Corinthians 5:7 says “… For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.”

This is God’s amazing plan of redemption for us, His chosen people.

What the Passover meant to the Jews for generations pointed to what the Lord’s Supper means to us today.

It is our opportunity to celebrate the Passover Lamb who drank the cup of wrath on our behalf.

Only in Him do we have new freedom from the wrath of God and are reconciled to Him forever.

This brings us to the new ordinance that Jesus gave to the disciples (and now us, the Church) the night before He was betrayed. At the last Passover meal, God the Son gave His people a new tradition and a new remembrance and a new celebration and testimony to the watching world about how the Lord passed over us and all others who believe in Him for salvation.

May we faithfully practice the new ordinance of the Lord’s Supper as we remember Him and testify of what He has done to pass over His chosen people and bring us new life in God’s eternal kingdom.

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church

Saturday Study

Exodus 5-9 (4-14-18)

Grab your Bibles, and let’s go deeper into Exodus chapters 5-10!

Let’s do a little recap of the bigger picture here. God’s people have been in Egypt for quite some time now, and God has decided the time for their slavery to Egypt has come to an end. So God tells Moses and Aaron to inform Pharaoh that God wants His people to be allowed to travel into the wilderness and worship Him. Now at the very suggestion, Pharaoh immediately adds to the labor of the Israelite slaves and begins punishing them for not carrying out this new burden he requires. We see all of this play out in chapter 5. So how did the Israelites respond? Let’s look at the passage and see:

Exodus 5:15-16 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this? No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”

So the ones representing the Israelites, their “foremen,” come to Pharaoh and ask, “What’s going on? You demand the same work from us, but you’ve made the work ten times harder. How do you expect us to do this? If you are making this change, then why are your men beating our people when we aren’t able to do the required work?” Essentially, the foremen say, “We can’t do the work because of the changes you’ve made, but you are beating us for it. What gives?”

So Pharaoh answers them in verses 17-18:

But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the LORD.’ Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.”

Pharaoh responds by saying the fault falls on the Israelites, because if they have time to go worship their God, then they must not be working hard enough. (This reminded me of a line my old boss used to say: “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.”)

This isn’t really what Pharaoh was trying to communicate to the Israelites. What Pharaoh was really saying was, “I am your god (the one in charge of you), and you will do what I want. I have the power to change your life–not this so-called God that you worship.” Pharaoh wanted the Israelites to see his power and be angry with their God and Moses. If you can divide a people against themselves, it is not hard to conquer them! We see this in their response:

Exodus 5:19-21 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.” They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

See how quickly the people turn against the very one sent to set them free. This was Pharaoh’s aim. It worked so well that even Moses blames God for the trouble.

Exodus 5:22-23 Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

So Moses blames God for doing evil, because instead of delivering them from slavery, He has brought more burden to the people. Now God has an interesting answer for Moses, which we find in Exodus 6:1:

But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”

God lets Moses know that he hasn’t seen anything yet. The Lord spends most of chapter six reminding Moses who He is and what He is going to do. He tells Moses to share this reminder with the people and let them know that God is going to free them and take them as His own. The people still won’t listen because their spirits have been crushed by the burden that Pharaoh has placed on them. I’m sure many of you can relate to a crushed spirit from the burdens of this world.

When we continue in the story, God tells Moses, “Go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go.” Moses says, “But my own people wouldn’t listen to me; how in the world is Pharaoh going to listen?” Then God reminds Moses that Pharaoh won’t listen! Look at Chapter 7:

Exodus 7:1-5 And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”

God responds by telling Moses that this is just the beginning! How defeating it must have felt to Moses to hear God say, “Oh you’re going to do even more than this, and I (God) will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will not listen to you!” Many times in life, we see the commands of God, and they just don’t make sense to us. Moses must have felt discouraged to know that he was right that Pharaoh wasn’t going to listen and that God was going to ensure that Pharaoh wouldn’t listen. Like Moses, I believe many times we can’t see what God is going to do, but also like Moses, that is not our job. We like to be in control, but what is glaringly obvious throughout these chapters is that no matter how much man wants to be in charge or in control of things, God is the only sovereign being.

So Moses goes to Pharaoh and he doesn’t listen. Then God bring plagues through Moses, beginning with turning the Nile to blood. The passages say that the land stunk, the fish died, and the Egyptians had to dig to find water to drink. However, Pharaoh did not let God’s people go. So God bring frogs. I remember thinking when I was younger that frogs don’t seem like that big of a deal. As I grew older, I realized that if frogs were covering the land, it would certainly cause some issues. Can you imagine so many frogs that they cover the ground and you literally are walking on them? When the frogs died, they were piled up and causing the land to stink as well. At this point, any reasonable human would have listened and realized they were not in charge; however, this was not the case for Pharaoh, so God brought gnats. I truly can’t think of something more annoying than being covered in gnats and not having relief. It would have been hard to breathe without sucking these little bugs in. In fact, though this was the smallest animal plague that God brings, it sure causes the Egyptians to respond. We see this in the magicians’ response in chapter eight, after being unable to reproduce this event:

Exodus 8:19a Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.”

So even when the people tell Pharaoh, “This is God; we should listen here,” Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, and he would not listen. This may have surprised you if it’s the first time you’ve read through this story. I remember when I had first read through this asking why was it so hard for Pharaoh to get that he was not going to win this battle. I was surprised because I didn’t see or understand what the rest of the verse had said, though.

Exodus 8:19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

What we must see is that this is not a surprise to God. The passage ends with this phrase “as the LORD had said.” So when did the LORD say this would happen? This clarity was actually given to us back in chapter 4:

Exodus 4:21-23 And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

I have heard this taught so many times with a focus on Pharaoh’s hardening of his own heart, which does happen according to the Scriptures. What we need to see, though, was that this was God’s plan. Even before we hear of Pharaoh hardening his own heart, God declares that He will harden Pharaoh’s heart and do so until He brings Moses to the final plague. That’s what God is mentioning when He says He will kill Pharaoh’s first born. Now we will study this more in next week’s passages, but we really can’t begin to see the bigger picture of what God is doing if we don’t see this clarity now.

When God brings the next plague, we see some more distinctions being made; namely, we see the difference between God’s people and the Egyptians. The land where God’s people lived would no longer be affected by the plagues he was bringing so that Pharaoh would have no doubt that it was God who was doing this work. So God brings flies, then pestilence upon Egypt’s livestock, then boils upon the people of Egypt, and then we see Pharaoh’s people begin to do to Pharaoh what Gods people did to Moses when Pharaoh had increased the burden upon them:

Exodus 10:7 Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?”

Here’s where God turns the tables. In chapter five, Pharaoh had meant to display his power to the Israelites and make them submit to his authority by increasing their burdens and “flexing his muscles,” so to speak. Well God returns the favor through these plagues, and now it’s Pharaoh’s people who are realizing the trouble that’s brewing for them if their leader doesn’t submit to the far greater power of God. Pharaoh’s servants are now saying to him, “Your hard-heartedness is killing your land and your people”. We see this very clearly in the last part of verse 7: “Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” Pharaoh’s own people are pleading for Pharaoh to see with a clear mind what everyone else has already realized. However, Pharaoh would not listen because GOD had hardened Pharaohs heart! God said that was what He was going to do way back in chapter four, and God keeps His word! To be clear, Pharaoh is guilty for his own sin; God has not sinned in any way, and Pharaoh is not innocent. But see that all throughout these chapters, God has declared something, and He will bring it to pass. God could have ended all of this already. He says so quite plainly in chapter nine verse fifteen:

Exodus 9:15 “For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. “

So why didn’t God just wipe them out? Let’s read on:

Exodus 9:16 “But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”

God had a plan for Pharaoh and for his very existence. He raised Pharaoh up for this purpose: to do with Pharaoh what He (God) willed to do. He used Pharaoh to show His power so that His name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

Exodus 10:1-2 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD.”

God used all of this to display His power and to make known to His people that He is LORD! Let me show you this in a way that might be more helpful:

Exodus 10:1-2 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you [Moses] may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you [Moses and his offspring] may know that I am the LORD.”

God has given us plenty of reasons why He is hardening Pharaoh and carrying out all of these plagues. One of those reasons He gives here is so Moses and those who learn these truths from Moses may know that He is indeed LORD!

We see this same cycle continue through the end of chapter 10:

Exodus 10:14 The locusts came up over all the land of Egypt and settled on the whole country of Egypt, such a dense swarm of locusts as had never been before, nor ever will be again.

Exodus 10:20 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go.

Exodus 10:21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.”

Exodus 10:27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.

How many times in your life personally have you wondered what God was doing when things seemed out of control? Rest assured and see through this story that God is never out of control, and in all His working, He has a purpose. You and I may not always understand what that purpose is, but God is never confused. This is why it takes a real faith to trust God, and since God is sovereign over the hearts of man (just look at Pharaoh), it is God who must give you faith to trust Him!

*Special thanks to Steven Obert for his help in writing this week’s study.

Pastor Joshua Kirstine

Disciples Church