Exodus 4:13-17 - Please send someone else

4:13,14

Up to this point God has been incredibly patient with Moses, but now things change. “Oh my Lord, please send someone else”. We then read that the anger of the Lord burned against Moses. God created Man to look after the earth, as we read in Genesis. This is fundamental to His purpose. Moses’ reaction was the ultimate affront to the Lord. However, we then read of an absolutely amazing thing. God seems to give in to Moses’ request, or at least to change His plans to accommodate Moses’ desires. Moses will go, but his brother, Aaron, will do the speaking. Why did God let Moses get away with this

4:15-17

So Aaron would be Moses’ spokesman, his mouthpiece. As an aside, I wonder where Aaron came from? He has not been mentioned so far. Anyway, God would be with both Moses and Aaron. Aaron would speak on Moses’ behalf, and so on God’s behalf. God would speak to Moses, and Moses would speak to Aaron. Moses is then reminded to take the staff, for he would use this to do the signs. So we have this deeply flawed character, Moses, going off to do the Lord’s will. However, Moses’ lack of faith, along with his temper, would eventually catch up with him. But that is a long time off.

John 13:17,18 - Blessed are you if you do them

13:17

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them”. We so often think of “blessed” as meaning we will receive good things, especially material blessings. Indeed, my software tried to suggest that the latter part of the sentence should be “you will be blessed if you do them”! God may well bless us in that way, but the core meaning of “blessed” is that we are in God’s purpose, it really means we are in the kingdom. So if we live with the attitudes and actions of Jesus then that is a sure sign that we are in the kingdom, we are walking in step with the Spirit.

13:18

Jesus then makes it explicit that He knows that one of them would betray Him (and He knew which one it was!). For Jesus says He is not speaking to all of them. The words Jesus has been speaking have no relevance to Judas, for he had already determined the course he was going on. “But the Scripture will be fulfilled”, the betrayal was all part of God’s plan, bearing in mind as we have already said, that this does not mean Judas and the devil were not responsible for their parts. Jesus then quotes from Psalm 41:9. It is worth reading Ps 41:10-12 as well (it is, of course, worth reading the whole Psalm!) which speak of God’s vindication and eventual victory.

Exodus 4:11,12 - Who has made man's mouth?

4:11

The Lord then reminds Moses of a basic fact of life, “Who has made man’s mouth?”. If we want to have any chance of understanding life we need to recognise that we are created beings. We did not come about because of evolution. Evolution may have had a role in the process, though I do not see how it can possibly carry the weight put on it by new-Darwinian evolution (i.e. it basically accounts for all development of life). But if it did have any role, then it was only as a tool in the creator’s hands. The West’s abandonment of the idea of a creator is one of the reasons why our societies are in such a state of collapse and losing their minds. It is also, as we see here, an essential aspect of our seeking to follow Christ. Note how often in the Psalms God is praised for being the creator. So here Moses doesn’t think he will be able to speak well, he won’t be able to do God’s will. He was forgetting that God is the creator. God knew exactly what He was doing. He was perfectly capable of enabling Moses to speak well.

4:12

So, in the light of all this, God tells Moses just to go and get on with it! God would enable Moses to speak, and He would teach him what to say. Note that Jesus said the Holy Spirit would teach us all things. “I will be with your mouth”. We often speak of God being with us, see how specific that is made here. Moses was concerned about his ability, or lack of ability, to speak. God addressed this issue directly.

John 13:15,16 - You should do just as I have done

13:15

“For I have given you an example”. So we have an explicit statement from the lips of Jesus that what He has done is an example of how we should live. It is an example that affects both our attitudes and our actions. There are those who see Jesus as just an example, in particular seeing the cross as primarily a demonstration of God’s love for us. Such an approach is wholly inadequate, but accepting that Jesus did also set us an example in many and various ways. So we should “do just as I have done”.

13:16

A servant is not greater than his master, nor a messenger greater than the one who sends him. So if Jesus was ready and willing to wash His disciples feet, we should have the same attitude. Any notions of “I am too important for that” are not kingdom thoughts. At the same time we need to be sensible. When the matter of feeding the Greek widows arose in the early church (Acts 6:1), the apostles made sure that they were not distracted from prayer and preaching the word. We must not adopt a legalistic attitude to all this. The key thing is the condition of our hearts, if this is right then we are far more likely to make right decisions. We need to be (i) humble in heart; and (ii) free from guilt, knowing the cross has set us free.

Exodus 4:8-10 - I am not eloquent

4:8,9

Sometimes people are criticised for not making a firm enough statement of belief that God will answer a certain prayer (I am not talking about wishy washy statements about fundamentals of faith). Here we find God making what sounds like a doubtful statement! I think we should just take it as God speaking to Moses at his level. Some would be convinced by the first sign, others by the second. In case even these two signs don’t do the trick, God gives Moses a third sign. Moses is to take water from the nile and pour it on the ground, where it will turn to blood. It seems that Moses was not given a trial run of this sign.

4:10

Moses should be happy now, but he isn’t. It is worth remembering how much Moses achieved, how much he was foundational to the Jewish religion. All this from a man who had as many doubts and fears as you and I have. God can take hold of men and women who are deeply flawed and make something valuable out of them. This time Moses complains that he is not a good speaker. It may be that he had a stammer, we are not given details, or it may be that he was just not much good at speaking.

John 13:12-14 - You ought also to wash one another's feet

13:12

So far a lot of the discussion has been about the parallel between the foot washing, and the cross. This does not mean that the foot washing was not important in its own right, it most certainly was important and attention now focuses on this aspect. So Jesus continued with His washing of their feet, and when He had finished He put His outer garment back on and resumed His place. He than asked them if they had understood what He had just done?

13:13,14

Now the teaching is explicitly on the practical serving of one another. First, He reminds them that they call Him “Teacher and Lord”, and they were right to do so. The teaching on servanthood does not do away with positions of authority, it does radically alter the way that authority works. And Jesus has just shown them how it works. Although He is Lord of All, He was prepared to do the most menial of tasks. So we should not consider any task to be “beneath us”.

Exodus 4:5-7 - Put your hand inside your cloak

4:5

God gave this sign to Moses, seemingly implying that he should repeat the “trick” in the presence of the Israelites. The purpose was that the Israelites would believe that God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, had indeed appeared to Moses.Note the importance attached to the Israelites believing that Moses was sent by God. In John's gospel there is great emphasis on the importance of believing that Jesus was sent by the Father.

4:6,7

God now gives Moses a second sign. This time he is told to put his hand inside his cloak and take it out. When he pulled his hand out it was leprous (though this term as used in the Bible can refer to a variety of skin diseases). He was then told to put it back inside, and this time when he took it out his hand was completely restored. This personal healing could be seen as a parallel with the healing of the nation.

John 13:9-11 - Not all of you are clean

13:9

Peter, true to form, having made one inappropriate statement, follows it up with another one in the opposite direction. He accepted Jesus’ rebuke, and then went all out in the opposite direction, no doubt trying to demonstrate his commitment. So he volunteers to have his hands and head washed as well!

13:10,11

Jesus corrects Peter’s exuberance. Jesus  says “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.” There is some textual doubt about “except for his feet”, but on balance it does seem as if it is part of the original. Assuming “except for his feet”, then the verse could be taken as saying the blood of Jesus has completely cleansed us of sin, but that, as we all know from experience, we still do sin and need forgiveness for these things on a day to day basis. The key point then is to recognise that the cross has made us clean, acceptable in God’s sight. The “you” in “you are clean” is plural, applying to all of them, except Judas. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him. We should note that there is no “forgiveness by association”! Judas had been with Jesus and the other disciples and had experienced all that they experienced, but he was not “clean”.

Exodus 4:2-4 - What is that in your hand?

4:2-4

The earlier “this mountain” (Gen 3:12) sign having failed to allay Moses’ doubts, God gives him a more tangible sign. Actually, the “sign” of Gen 3:12 is far more assuring than we appreciate. For it means that God knows that His plan, His plan involving Moses, will work. But for the time being we are looking at the more tangible sign. Moses’ staff turns into a snake. Understandably, Moses is scared of the snake. The Lord then tells him to catch it by the tail with his hand. Ordinarily this would be an incredibly stupid thing to do. However, Moses obeys the Lord. This in itself is quite amazing. As he grabs the snake it once again becomes a staff. This in itself is perhaps a parable. Moses’ task was extremely dangerous. He was going to go to Pharaoh, this was an incredibly dangerous thing to do, his life was at risk. Yet Moses would not be harmed. Sometimes God gives us things to do which in human terms are dangerous, yet as is often said, the safest place to be is in the midst of God’s will. By the way, this does not mean that we will never suffer.

John 13:6-8 - You shall never wash my feet!

13:6,7

Jesus comes to Peter and Peter is aghast that Jesus is about to wash his feet. Jesus declares to him that he does not understand what Jesus is doing, but that later He will do, meaning after the crucifixion. It is important to note in this whole incident that there are two interlinked aspects to it. One is that it is an example of how we should act and love one another, being prepared to do whatever is needed. The other is that there is a close connection to what Jesus was going to do for us on the cross.  We will say more of that later. It is a great pity that we so often tend to split the two aspects off. There are those who will focus on the “social gospel” or “community action”, or “social justice”, but will have a very lax attitude towards sin, even positively condoning what the Bible quite clearly prohibits. On the other hand, there are those who will treat sin with the seriousness that it deserves, but can be light on the practical gospel. I have to say that I think the former is by far the greater problem, but I may be biassed.

13:8

‘Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”’ We now come to the link between the task of washing the disciples’ feet and the cross. They knew that feet needed to be washed. In the same way we need to be cleansed of our sin. Yet Peter exhibited pride in refusing to let Jesus wash his feet. Accepting Jesus as our saviour, as the one who rescues us from sin requires humility on our part. We can react against this, thinking that we can sort out our sinfulness ourselves. We need to let Jesus cleanse us from sin, otherwise we “have no share with Him”.

Exodus 4:1 - They will not believe me

4:1

The debate between God and Moses continues. It is quite amazing that God allows Moses to continue with this. A religious view would say that God is God, man is man, and that’s it, therefore there is no room for argument. And, of course, there is a great deal of truth in that, except the “there is no room for argument” part. If we were not sinful beings that would indeed be that, but we are sinners, we are full of doubt. We should not be that way, but we are and God knows that we are So He deals with our rebellion and our unbelief. At this point it seems that Moses has accepted that God is God and has plans to rescue Israel, but then says “they will not believe me”. So he puts the emphasis on himself. Superficially this seems reasonable, for he is indeed just a man, and, like all of us, a deeply flawed man. However, this is as much doubt as it is to doubt God directly. For God’s plans involve His working in and through men. So if we say that a plan of God that involves us cannot work because of what I am like, then we are saying that God’s plans are flawed. God knows what we are like, yet has still chosen to work through us.

John 13:3-5 - Knowing that the Father had given Him all things

13:3,4

“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God ...”. Jesus was about to humble Himself, and in such a way that would shock and offend the disciples. In the world power, status and authority is so often seen as a means of getting our own way, or at least of meaning we are better than others, and above them in some way or other. In the Kingdom things work in exactly the opposite direction. Jesus knew who He was and where He was going. His position was infinitely greater than any position that we have. He was going to have all power and authority. Because of this He was ready to do the most menial of tasks.

13:5

Jesus had prepared Himself to wash the disciples' feet. Now the washing of feet was the most menial of tasks. He was also about to wash the feet of Judas, the one who would betray Him. Feet would get very dirty in the conditions of the time, and the task was reserved for the lowest of the low. Sometimes even Jewish slaves weren’t allowed to do the task, this being reserved for Gentile slaves or women!

Exodus 3:20-22 - I will stretch out my hand

3:20

The Lord then says that when Pharaoh refuses, He will stretch His hand over the land and work many wonders. We will come across the ten plagues in a short while. We know that Pharaoh continued to be stubborn. One might wonder why did God not just jump straight to the tenth plague! But God was just. No one will be able to say they never had a chance to repent.

3:21

“And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians”. Jesus tells us that the world will hate us because of Him(John 15:18). We need to have a balanced picture on these matters. There are times when we will find favour. Joseph found favour in the eyes of the Pharaoh at the time. Then the Israelites suffered oppression. After the plagues they would find favour again, though this was more a matter of “for goodness sake go”. Then the Egyptians came after them again. Sometimes we will find favour with the world, sometimes the world will hate us. Why will we sometimes find favour? Because all people were made in the image of God, so there is a tendency for people to recognise goodness, to recognise the truth. Why will the world hate us? Because all people are in rebellion against God, and, without Christ, this is the side that will eventually dominate. We need to have a balanced view, and ultimately God decides what is going to happen. How should we react? We must live faithful lives in all circumstances.

3:22

So when the time to leave came about the women would ask their neighbours for goods, and they would get them. “So you shall plunder the Egyptians”. We probably don’t like the sound of this, it being the sort of thing that we don’t think Christians should do. And there is definitely a sense in which we should not do this! But we also need to recognise that at the end of the day every knee will bow and every tongue confess. At the end of the day it is the people of God who will reign.

John 13:2 - The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas

13:2

John mentions the supper (which may or may not be the “last supper”, some think it could have been the day before), but does not dwell on it in the way that the synoptics do. John mentions here that “the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus”. We are prone to wanting to assign events or actions solely to either God, the devil or to man. The Bible does not do this. Here we have the devil’s part being stated. Elsewhere it is made clear that this was always part of God’s plan, He was not taken by surprise! Then the gospels also make clear that Judas bore responsibility for his actions. From our time bound human perspective we cannot work out how all three can be responsible, it seems to us that it must be one of them. But this is not the Biblical perspective, and the reason we cannot work out how this can be is because while we are time bound, God isn’t! This is the same reason why people have such a problem with predestination, thinking it is opposed to human responsibility.

Exodus 3:16-19 - I will bring you up out of the affliction

3:16,17

Moses is further told to gather the elders of Israel, and to tell them that God has seen their suffering. All the people need to know who God is, the leaders need to know who God is. When a nation has godless leaders it does not augur well for that nation, as many of us in the West can testify. Moses is also to tell the leaders that God’s plan is to bring them into a land flowing with milk and honey. God’s plans for mankind are good, if only we will listen to Him.

3:18,19

God tells Moses that the leaders will listen to him. We so often think that people will not listen to us. Sometimes they won’t, but there are times when God opens doors and opens hearts, so that people will listen. Moses and the elders are to go to Pharaoh and politely ask to be allowed to go into the desert to sacrifice to the Lord. God knows that Pharaoh will refuse. So why does He still tell them to do this? So that Pharaoh’s guilt is clear. He had every chance to avoid disaster, but was stubborn and so brought it upon himself. This is true of all mankind.

John 13:1 - He loved them to the end

13:1

We now enter the time just before the crucifixion, and John focuses on Jesus’ teaching to the disciples, whereas the synoptics concentrate on the last supper, and Jesus’ teaching to the crowds. There is a lot of discussion on how John’s timeline corresponds to that found in the synoptics. If you want to know more about that then it is best to look at a good commentary, such as the one by Carson. I must admit I don’t find such discussions particularly enlightening, that is not to say that they are not important, but I will stick to what John wants to teach us. 

Jesus knew “that His hour had come”. Jesus was going to return to the Father. Thus far there has been a big emphasis on the fact that Jesus came from the Father, and was sent by Him. Now He will return to the Father. “He loved them to the end”. This can be taken as “He loved them to the uttermost”, or in a temporal sense. Both are true, and are not at odds with each other. It is amazing that given all that Jesus was about to go through, He was still fully focused on loving the disciples, and preparing them for the future.

Exodus 3:14,15 - I AM WHO I AM

3:14

God’s reply is “I AM WHO I AM”, and He instructs Moses to tell the people that “I AM” has sent him. Again, at a superficial level this does not seem that helpful. However, it exposes the error in much of our thinking. If we are looking at this as a purely human enterprise, then indeed it is not that helpful. But we are not involved in a human enterprise, but have been co-opted by God into a divine enterprise. We always need to be aware that the gospel is God’s message, not ours.

3:15

God then expands further on what Moses is to say. He is to tell them that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has sent Moses. Also that He is YHWH, and this is how they are to remember Him always. God is reminding them of who they are, where they have come from. Without God, His promises and actions in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, there would have been no nation of Israel. Likewise we too need to be reminded of who we are. We were created by the Lord, we belong to Him, and the gospel has come so that His purposes in our lives can be fulfilled.

John 12:48-50 - The words I have spoken will judge him

12:48

Jesus makes it plain here that His saying “I did not come to judge the world” in no way means we can do what we like, or that nothing we are doing is wrong. Jesus did not come to judge, but to call us to repentance. If we neglect that call, then we are already judged. Go and read John 3:16-21,  and my comments on those verses. The words Jesus has spoken will judge such a person. What does that mean? Jesus quite clearly upheld the teaching of the Old Testament, and has called us all to repentance. So if someone rejects Jesus they will be judged for two reasons (i) they are guilty under the Law; (ii) they have ignored the call to repentance.

12:49,50

Jesus yet again reminds people that He is not speaking just on His own authority. He was speaking the message that the Father gave to Him. And note that it is a commandment, the gospel is a  commandment, not a suggestion. “What to say and what to speak”. Jesus’ words are God’s words. So if we reject Jesus then we reject God. The commandment brings eternal life, it is a good commandment! Rejection of the commandment brings eternal death. The section finished with Jesus saying again that He speaks the word of the Father.

Exodus 3:12,13 - I will be with you

3:12

While Moses’ reluctance is understandable from a purely human perspective, it is also foolish. Just as it is foolish for us to live life from a purely human perspective. Living from a human perspective is why we are in the mess that we are in. “But I will be with you”. That should be enough, it is certainly the most important factor.

God then gives Moses one of the most useless signs in the Bible! Again, from a human perspective. Moses, like Gdeon at a later date, would like something tangible now. The sign that God was indeed with him would be the success of his task! I.e. after he had led them out of Egypt and brought them to the mountain of God.

3:13

Moses then raises another objection (there are quite a few to come). This one boils down to why the people of Israel should accept him as their “saviour”. Remember the comments I made on 3:11. Moses was not some popular hero, but a spoiled brat in the eyes of the Israelites. We can all face a similar dilemma. We have a message to all people from God, the gospel, but why should the people pay any attention to us? Why should our claim to have a message from God count for anything in their sight?

John 12:46,47 - I have come into the world as light

12:46

Without Christ we live in darkness. In his rebellion against God man has chosen to live in darkness, not knowing where he is going. It is only when we put God first, when we listen to what He says, that we are living as we ought to live. When we rebel we become foolish, and we see many examples of this in life. If we live according to a lie life becomes increasingly complicated, and eventually we get found out. Transgenderism is a current example where our thinking has become foolishness. So how do we get back on track? We need to believe in Christ, He is the light, and when we turn to Him we find our way back to the proper track.

12:47

But what if someone does not listen to Christ, then it is not Christ who judges him as such. One day He will return and will judge the world, but for now He has come to save the world. We fear that if we are found to be in the wrong then we will be judged. The call at present is to recognise our sinfulness and to believe in Christ. Then we will not be judged. Instead, we will be forgiven, and through the Holy Spirit a work of transformation will begin in our lives.

Exodus 3:10,11 - I will send you to Pharaoh

3:10

So how was God going to deliver His people? Why had He bothered to tell Moses about all this? The reason was that God was going to send Moses to Pharaoh. In John’s gospel one of the key themes in the book is that the Father sent the Son. Moses was sent by God to deliver the people. There are of course many differences between Moses and Jesus, but this aspect is a parallel between the two. A feature of God’s work is that He involves us in His work. Weak and sinful as we are, God involves us in what He is doing.

3:11

God has chosen Moses, but Moses doesn't think he is the right man for the job. Before we criticise Moses too harshly we should remember a couple of things. First Pharaoh wanted to kill him.Secondly, he wasn’t too popular with the Israelites! His killing of the Egyptian had not been viewed as a brave act of heroism. Remember also that Moses had not shared in the oppression, instead he had enjoyed a life of luxury in the palace, so would not have been regarded with favour by the Israelites. God chooses who He will, and this will often not fit into any of our categories of who would be suitable.

A long argument is going to ensue between God and Moses. It is sometimes said that if we reject God’s choice of us for some task then He will go and choose someone else. The Biblical evidence for this is rather thin! God was determined to send Moses, just as He was determined to send Jonah to Nineveh.

John 12:44,45 - Whoever believes in me

12:44

“And Jesus cried out ...” This is the end of Jesus’ public ministry before the cross, the next few chapters will focus on the time Jesus spent with the disciples. This section summarises many of the themes that Jesus has previously spoken about. “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in Him who sent me”. Jesus is not a standalone figure. He was sent by the Father, and He and the Father are one. Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father (Heb 1:3). Belief in God and belief in Jesus are the same thing. We cannot have one without the other.

12:45

When we see Jesus we see the Father. The character of God and the character of Jesus are one and the same. Jesus said only what He heard the Father say, He did only what He saw the Father do. Any “theology” that sees a distinction between Jesus and the Father is fundamentally flawed. These claims made by Jesus were made by none of the prophets, no one else would dare to make them, for anyone else who made them would most definitely be guilty of blasphemy. In this sense the religious leaders were right to accuse Jesus of blasphemy, except for one basic fact, Jesus was actually sent by the Father, He actually is God.

Exodus 3:8,9 - I have come down to deliver them

3.8

“I have come down to deliver them”. Men are saved when God takes action. Here we God came down to deliver them out of Egypt, in Christ God came down in the flesh to save all mankind. And this salvation had two aspects. The first was to deliver them out of oppression, out of slavery. The second was to take them to “a land flowing with milk and honey”, “a good and broad land”. In Christ we are not just forgiven, we are given new life. We are given eternal life.

3:9

So the cry of the people had come to God. People can often groan thinking that no one, least of all God, is listening to them. The Bible teaches us that God does hear, He does listen. It does seem that He is often slow to act, from our perspective. But God does here and He will act. This should also be a warning to all oppressors. They may seem to get away with it for a time, but they can be assured that it will only be for a time, then judgement will come.

John 12:42,43 - They loved the glory that comes from man

12:42

We see here another side to belief. There were some even among the religious leaders who “believed” in Jesus. However, because of their fear of the Pharisees they did not admit openly to their belief. The fear of the Pharisees was real because they could have someone put out of the synagogue, and since the synagogue was such a pivotal part of societal life this could have a profound effect. So what was the nature of their “belief”? It seems most likely that it meant that they accepted the claims that Jesus was making, they at least recognised that He was from God. However, this belief was not strong enough or deep enough so that they would confess this belief in the face of opposition from the Pharisees.

12:43

John now puts the matter clearly. “They loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God”. In terms of the religious types who “believed” in Jesus, they feared the Pharisees more than they feared God.  In Matt 10:33 Jesus has very strong words to say about this, “whoever denies me before men, I will deny before my Father who is in heaven”. One of the root meanings of “glory” is “weight” in the sense of significance. We face a key question, who do we think has the greatest influence or impact on our lives, man or God? Or perhaps to use more Biblical language, who do we fear? In parts of the world this is a fundamental question. In the West it is one that is becoming more pertinent as our societies become increasingly anti-Christian.

Exodus 3:6,7 - I am the God of your father

3:6

Whatever circumstances we are going through, God can appear in the midst of them, and the place can become “holy ground”. God begins by reminding Moses that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. All God’s actions go back to the covenant He had made with Abraham, and had reaffirmed to Isaac and Jacob. For many years the Israelites had been living under increasing oppression. Now things were going to change.

3:7

“I know their sufferings”. The Lord knew what was going on in Egypt to His people. Now the Israelites were not exactly a perfect people, this is a constant message throughout the Bible. We have already seen plenty of examples of “imperfection”, to put it mildly, throughout Genesis, and we will see many more. But they are His people, and God cares for them. Our God is a God who saves sinful people.

John 12:40,41 - He saw His glory

12:40

John then quotes from Is 6:10, words from the glorious vision that Isaiah saw. Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord, he was then overcome with his own guilt, and this guilt was taken away by the angel. God then asks “whom shall we send” and Isaiah gladly volunteers, only to be told that God has blinded the eyes of the people and they will not see. If they could see and believe then they would be saved. Note that “heal” here is referring to “healing” from sin, not physical healing. The situation was the same with Jesus and the Jews. He is a perfectly capable saviour. If they had believed then they would have been saved. 

12:41

“Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke of Him” (ESV). NIV has “he saw Jesus”. The text actually says “him”, and this is normally taken as referring to Jesus. The point that John is making is that this unbelief of the Jews was to be expected, and was all part of the plan. Paul makes a similar point in Rom 9-11. John says that Isaiah saw “His glory”. The unbelief of the Jews was not a setback, it was not a problem, rather it was all part of the plan.

Exodus 3:3-5 - Moses, Moses!

3:3,4

So Moses goes to see what is going on. God sees that Moses is approaching and calls out to him, “Here I am”. We think that God is far off, that being distant from God, or God being distant from us, is the normal state of affairs. As a result of the fall, it sadly is the normal state of affairs, it is the way things are because of our sin. We have both been cast out from God, and have run away from Him, wanting nothing to do with Him. However, it is not the way things are meant to be. We are meant to be in fellowship with God.

3:5

While God wants to see Moses, it is on His terms. There is a proper balance that we need to maintain in our attitude towards God. There is a closeness that we are meant to have. God is our Father, Jesus calls His disciples friends. At the same time He is holy, He is the creator and sustainer of all things, He is God. So Moses is commanded to take off his sandals, for He is standing on holy ground. The ground was not holy because of any religious significance, but because God was there.

John 12:37-39 - Therefore they could not believe

12:37

John now talks about the unbelief of the people. We must appreciate that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, He is the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies. Yet the Jews, on the whole, did not believe in Him. This would seem to present a problem. Right at the beginning of his gospel John said that Jesus came to His own people, but they did not receive Him (Jn 1:11). So this unbelief of the Jews has been a theme of John throughout his gospel. This unbelief persisted despite Jesus doing many miracles. Today there is a belief among some that if only we had more miracles then more people would believe. Now miracles are good. Jesus did miracles, the apostles did miracles, miracles do happen. They can deepen faith, but there is no guarantee on this matter.

12:38,39

John now cites a couple of sections from the Old Testament, showing that this unbelief was foretold by the Bible. The first quote comes from Is 53:1. Paul cites the same verse in Rom 10:16. So the unbelief was foretold, we then get in 12:39 “Therefore they could not believe”. We should note that the text here is not merely saying that this was a fulfilment of Scripture (which it was), but that it had to happen that way. At the same time we should note that in the Bible predestination and human responsibility go together, as we find in this passage. In our limited human thinking we conclude that one excludes the other, if God predestined things then there is no human responsibility, conversely if there is human responsibility (often spoken of as freewill) then God cannot be sovereign. Both of these statements are flawed and result from our looking at things from a purely human perspective. The Bible sees no problem, therefore neither should we.

Exodus 3:1,2 - Fire out of the midst of a bush

3:1

The background having been set, we now begin the real action. In reading all this Moses is a type of Christ, i.e. the events of the Exodus are important in their own right, they established the nation of Israel, but they also point towards the real Exodus, our salvation in Christ. The Israelites were set free from slavery in Egypt. In Christ we are set free from slavery to sin. While Moses is a type of Christ, he is also a sinner! This latter fact is made manifestly true in the whole of the Pentateuch. The Bible is extremely clear about the sinfulness of its heroes. Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law. The Hebrew implies this was an ongoing task, i.e. his normal job. Moses had no idea what was going to happen that day. He was just getting on with life, and the prospects for life must have looked fairly grim. No going back to his people, no setting them free from slavery.

3:2

However, Moses could not have been more wrong. The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses. The term “angel of the Lord” can mean an angel, a messenger of God, or it can be an oblique way of referring to God Himself. The Isrealites were very reluctant to mention God Himself, this being out of reverence for the Lord. Here we have the famous burning bush, which was not actually burning up. This may have been an illusion, i.e. a product of the way the sun was shining, or it could be an actual miracle. The latter seems by far the more likely, though it is not crucial. Whatever the case, the bush attracted Moses’ attention.

John 12:34-36 - Believe in the light

12:34

The crowd questioned Jesus. It is noteworthy that John uses the word “crowd” here rather than “Jews”, so he is definitely referring to the general mass of the people. They knew from the Old Testament that the Messiah would be forever, not a temporary figure. It seems that they assumed Jesus was talking about His death, they also knew that Jesus was referring to Himself as the Messiah. They also expected the Messiah to be triumphant. The cross did not figure in anyone’s expectations of the Messiah.

12:35,36

Jesus,as so often, draws attention to Himself. They should walk in the light while they have it, they should learn from Jesus. Jesus implies that He will not be with them for much longer, if they do not learn now then darkness will overtake them. If someone walks in the darkness then they do not know where they are going. This is something which we see all too clearly in our society. We need to walk in the light then we can become sons of light. How much better to be sons of light than sons of darkness!  We see in our society that it is led by sons of darkness, there are even parts of the church that are led by sons of darkness.

Jesus then left and hid Himself again. Jesus chose when to be seen in public.

Exodus 2:18-25 - God saw the people of Israel - and God knew

2:18-22

The women came home to their father and relayed what had happened. Reuel and Jethro are the same person, and he was surprised that they had arrived home so early. It seems that the shepherds were something of a perpetual hazard. Following middle eastern hospitality customs, Reuel wanted to give Moses some food. Moses went along, and also acquired a wife! Zipporah can be translated as “warbler” or even “twitterer” (no reference to today’s tweeting!). Zipporah gave birth to a son whom Moses called “Gershom”, which means “sojourner”.

2:23-25

The king of Egypt died. He was the one who had started imposing the heavy burdens on the Israelites, and the succeeding king apparently continued in the same vein. “The people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help”. So the first two chapters have been setting the scene for the great Exodus. The cry of the people came up to God and He remembered His covenant. Now this does not mean God had forgotten it and the cry of the people jogged His memory. It is more that this is how things looked from a human perspective. It can seem as if God had forgotten, God seems to allow injustices to continue for a significant length of time. But God is acting according to His covenant. 

“God saw the people of Israel - and God knew”. This is an amazing verse. We may think that God has forgotten, but He has not. For all our individual circumstances God sees and God knows.

John 12:32,33 - I will draw all people to myself

12:32

Jesus’ being “lifted up” has two meanings, and both are important. One is that He is lifted up on the cross, and the other is that He is lifted up to glory. Both are essential, and one without the other means that Jesus would not draw people to Himself. If Jesus had never died on the cross, as well as the problem of our sin still remaining (not a minor matter!) He would not have the place in public consciousness that He does have. If He had died and not been raised, then (again for the time being ignoring the implications outlined in 1 Cor 15!) the gospel would not have got off the ground.

12:33

This verse makes it clear that being lifted up definitely does refer to the cross. But without the resurrection and the ascension the cross might be a glorious sacrifice, but would ultimately have achieved little. Instead, it has achieved everything.

Exodus 2:13-17 - Moses fled from Pharaoh

2:13-15

Later he saw something that aggrieved him all the more. He saw two Hebrews fighting each other. Why should they be fighting each other when the Egyptians were the true enemy? So he intervened again, but this time the two Hebrews objected. “Who made you a prince and judge over us?” Very similar sentiments were expressed towards Jesus. Most significantly, it became apparent that the two Hebrews knew what Moses had done to the Egyptian. Moses thought his actions had been done in secret, but that was not the case. Eventually Pharaoh became aware of it, and he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled and sat by a well. Wells were where Isaac and Jacob had met their wives.

2:16,17

Sure enough, this well was also to become important. The priest of Midian had seven daughters and they came to the well to draw water for the flocks. However, shepherds also came along and began to drive the women away. Moses intervened and drove the shepherds away so that the women could water their flocks. Now Moses is in a very bad situation here, on the run for his life, yet he still acts in a good way here. There can be times in our lives when, though not quite as desperate as Moses’ situation, we feel that everything is going wrong. It can be easy in such circumstances to not care about anyone else, to turn in on ourselves. It is much better if we still do acts of kindness, even in the midst of our misery.

John 12:29-31 - Now is the judgement of this world

12:29,30

The voice does not seem to have been that clear to the crowds, or perhaps it is more likely that they are describing what the voice sounded like, as the text implies that they did hear the voice. Some claim it thundered, others that an angel had spoken to Jesus. So some wanted to say that God had not actually spoken ( a common enough phenomenon!), whilst others believed He had spoken. Jesus tells that the voice was not for His benefit, but for theirs.

12:31

We now get something of the great importance of what is about to happen, and its global significance. If we just see Jesus as a “good man”, or the cross merely as a demonstration of God’s love then we really don’t see anything at all. First, Jesus says that “now is the time for judgement of this world”. The cross is a judgement upon all mankind, it is a judgement upon you and me. Part of what the cross says is that that is where you and I deserve to be. My sin and sinfulness was judged upon that cross. The judgement also has consequences, for the “ruler of this world will be cast out”. The cross marks the defeat of Satan, he has lost his hold over the world. Now there can be silly interpretations of this. One is to say that Satan no longer has any power or influence. That is quite clearly nonsense. But it is true that he is a defeated enemy, and that when we walk in step with the Spirit, living by faith in Christ, we have authority over him. We can drive him out. Doing so may involve suffering, but we need to know that we are on the victorious side.

Exodus 2:11,12 - He struck down the Egyptian

2:11

According to Acts 7:3 Moses was forty years old at this point, and Moses had been brought up in Pharaoh’s household. However, he obviously maintained an affinity with his own people. Having been nursed by his mother at an early age she probably instilled in him the fact that he was a Hebrew, an Israelite. He saw the increasing burdens that his people were under and saw a particular incident of an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite.

2:12

Moses didn't just feel bad about the situation, he intervened directly. He killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. We will see much later that Moses had a temper, which ultimately prevented him from entering the Promised Land. His actions here may have been partly a product of that temper.

John 12:27,28 - Now is my soul troubled

12:27

Jesus knows that He will soon be glorified, but He also knows what He has to go through first of all. He is going to have to go through an incredible ordeal. So what should He do? Should He ask His Father to save Him from this hour? No, for that is the very purpose for which He came. Jesus was sent in order to save us, and for that to happen He had to die on a cross for our sins.

12:28

Jesus then calls on the Father to glorify His name (the Father’s Name). When the focus seems to be on the suffering that Jesus will have to go through, He responds by putting His focus on the Father. We can learn from this. We will never go through what Jesus went through, but when any suffering we have to endure is upon us our natural tendency is to focus upon ourselves. In such times it is good to seek the glory of God. There is then an audible voice that declares, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again”. The Father and the Son are united in purpose with regard to the cross, it is a joint enterprise.

Exodus 2:4-10 - She took pity on him

2:4-8

“His sister stood at a distance”. This is probably Miriam, and it seems that Moses was not the firstborn. Pharaoh’s daughter and her maids were walking by the river and came across the basket. Seeing that there was a child in it she took pity on the child. Moses’ sister volunteered to get a Hebrew woman to nurse the child, and so she went to get Moses’ mother! We see God looking after the child.

2:9,10

Moses’ mother looked after Moses in his younger years, then as he grew older he was brought to Pharaoh’s daughter and was adopted as her son, at this point he acquired the name Moses. So Moses was brought up in Pharaoh’s household, and would have learnt the ways of Egypt. Joseph and Daniel are other heroes of the Bible who spent a significant amount of time in heathen power centres. Sometimes God leads us to learn about the world and its ways, though we must always ensure that we remain faithful to the Lord.

John 12:25,26 - If anyone serves me, he must follow me

12:25

Jesus then expands this principle to the disciples. Following Jesus is not a glorious road in any worldly sense. It will lead to ultimate glory, but first it takes us along a road that may involve much suffering. So if preserving our life is our number one goal we have missed the point. Moreover, rather than saving our life, we will actually lose it. If, on the other hand, we are prepared to lose our life, then we will keep it for eternal life. 

12:26

This verse sums up what discipleship means. It means following Jesus, and following Jesus means being where He is, going along the same road that He went along. It involves suffering with Christ. We follow Him as His servants. So why should anyone choose to follow such a road? It is because the Father will honour the one who Honours Christ.

We need to take these words of Jesus very seriously. We do also need to bear in mind that they are not meant to give the whole story. Following Jesus is not a life of never-ending misery! Far from it, but there will be times when there is a price to pay, for some this may even include the ultimate price.

Exodus 2:1-3 - She saw that he was a fine child

2:1

Moses was the son of a Levite man and woman. It is significant that Moses is not in the ancestry of Jesus, who, humanly speaking, came from the tribe of Judah. The work of Moses is clearly important, but the new covenant marked an important break (NOT a doing away with!) from the Law, as Hebrews explains. This does not mean the Law is not important, as Matt 5:17-20 makes abundantly clear. We should also note that Moses appeared, along with Elijah, with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.

2:2,3

The edict to throw male babies into the Nile was in force at this point, and Moses’ mother saw that he was a fine child, so she hid him for three months. This does rather raise the question of whether she would have done the same if he had been an ugly looking baby! It may simply mean that she recognised that there was something special about him, that God had a special purpose for him. Eventually it became impossible to hide the baby, so she made a basket, coated in bitumen and pitch to make it waterproof, and the basket was put among the reeds. So technically she was obeying the Egyptian law, but was also maximising the chances of Moses surviving somehow.