Exodus 16:8-12 - He has heard your grumbling

16:8

The provision of manna and meat was to be a rebuke against the Israelites, a rebuke of their grumbling. Moses then makes clear that their grumbling against him and Aaron was actually grumbling against God. In the provision of food God was demonstrating that He was well able to supply all their needs, and their grumblings were unfounded.

16:9-12

The people had grumbled against Moses and Aaron, though really against God. They were not to come before the Lord, the one they had really grumbled against. While they were saying this, the Lord appeared in a cloud of glory. God often appeared in a cloud. This would both demonstrate His presence, but also deny them full view of God. For if they saw God in fullness they would die. God spoke to Moses and told him what to say to the people. Moses was to repeat to them the provision of food that the Lord would make, and that it was in response to their grumblings.

John 18:12-14 - So they arrested Jesus

18:12

Jesus was arrested, it seems that the Roman and Jewish officers were involved. Jesus was bound. Just let that sink in a moment, the Son of God, the one through whom and for whom all things were created, was bound. As we know, all this was according to God’s plan, achieving God’s purposes. There are times when it seems that the world and/or the devil are achieving their purposes. This is never the whole story.

18:13,14

Under normal Jewish practices the high priest was essentially appointed for life. However, the Roman authorities had stuck their noses in and there were periodic changes in the high priesthood, much to the chagrin of the Jews. Annas had been high priest, but since then five of his sons had held that office, and at the time Caiaphas, his son-in-law, held the office. However, in the eyes of the Jews Annas was the real boss, the godfather if you like! Back in John 11:49-52 Caiaphas had said that it was better for one man to die than for the nation to perish. Of course, at the time he actually had no idea at all about the true import of what he was saying, yet John puts it down as prophecy. The Jewish idea of God doing something, and our idea have significant differences, which is one of the reasons why we have such heated (and silly) debates about the sovereignty of God and predestination. The Bible sees all things as being down to God, our Western minds add all sorts of things to that which the Bible does not. In particular, we think that God determining something means that human responsibility goes out of the window. That is not a Biblical thought.

Exodus 16:4-7 - I am about to rain bread from heaven

16:4

The Lord made provision for the people. He was going to rain bread from heaven upon them. This is the manna. This section will also mention the quails, but the primary emphasis is on the manna. They were to go out and collect this manna each day. There has to be a link between this and the line in the Lord’s prayer where it says “give us this day, our daily bread”. This provision was also a test for them, would they walk in the ways of the Lord or not? The test in our life can be whether or not we trust in God’s provision for us. As with most things that God does, God was the provider, without God there was nothing. However, this did not mean the people did nothing, they were not passive recipients, but active recipients.

16:5-7

So the sixth day they would receive twice as much as usual. This was so that they would rest on the Sabbath. Moses and Aaron went to speak to the people. He is also direct about their grumbling. The people needed to get out of the habit of grumbling (as do we!). Moses also rebukes them for grumbling against Moses and Aaron. It was God who was their provider, it was God who brought them out of Egypt, not Moses and Aaron. It is a very human trait to attribute salvation to a man, rather than to God.

John 18:10,11 - Put your sword away

18:10

John is the only gospel writer to record that it was Peter who struck off the ear of the guard, and that the guard’s name was Malchus. If we accept that John’s gospel was written at a later date, then Peter would be dead by now. Prior to that, there may have been a wish to either ensure that Peter did not become a hero, or to give any idea that violence was a part of gospel ministry. Now John can safely give the full details. He also names the soldier. All the people mattered. The Bible records the names of many people, whom we would not bother recording. 

18:11

Peter, as was often the case, was not acting out of wisdom. Given his earlier protestations that he would stand by Jesus to the end, never denying Him, and Jesus then telling Peter that he would actually do the exact opposite. Given all this maybe Peter was trying to prove his absolute devotion. Jesus calmly tells Peter to put his sword away. The “sword” by the way, may have been little more than a dagger. Anyway, the reason Jesus tells him to put it away was that the cross, the events that were now unfolding, was the very reason that He had come to earth in the first place. Jesus had come to drink the cup that the Father had given Him.

Exodus 16:1-3 - They set out from Elim

16:1

They left Elim, the place of springs. We need to recognise that there are stopping off places that God gives us along the way, but they are only stopping off places, not permanent resting places. So they entered the wilderness of Sin. Of course, we could make all sorts of sermons about entering the wilderness of sin! However, linguistically they would not be justified! However, they now completely leave the land of Egypt.

16:2,3

“And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron”. I remember hearing sermons talking about “the children of Israel” as if they were a sweet little band. Israel was anything but, they were a band of dirty rotten sinners, and grumbled their way through the desert. While they were in Egypt they cried out because of the cruel oppression they were living under. However, now they were free of that oppression they quickly forget the suffering and begin to look back on those times with affection! This is a very human reaction. And Moses is accused of just bringing them out so that they could die in the wilderness. Our salvation involves being set free from oppression (slavery to sin), and then being led to the freedom of kingdom life. It is a journey, and sometimes a difficult journey.

John 18:6-9 - Whom do you seek?

18:6

“I am he” can be taken as a divine revelation, Jesus declaring clearly who He is., and the reaction of His captors was to fall back on the ground. In his rebellion man boasts about his supposed superiority over those who “foolishly” believe in God. But when man is faced with the reality of God things are rather different.

18:7-9

Jesus then asks them again whom they were seeking. We see in all the events of the Passion that it is Jesus who is in control. By rights Jesus should be on the run, He should be in fear of His life, the captors should be in charge, they should be elated that they are on the point of capturing their target. Instead the picture is one of the captors, the religious and the civic authorities operating blindly. There is one man who is in control and that is Jesus. It is God’s plans that are being fulfilled, not man’s plans. Jesus further demonstrates His control by telling them to let His disciples go. John sees this as a fulfilment of Jesus’ words that He has not lost one of those given to Him by the Father. Jesus was not a victim, He was winning our salvation.

Exodus 15:22-27 - The people grumbled

15:22-25

Having crossed the Red Sea any faith the Israelites had quickly evaporates. They went out into the “wilderness of Schur”. Three days into the desert and they had found no water, so they start to moan. They came to a place called Marah which had water, but the water was bitter (i.e. undrinkable). The people grumbled against Moses, and Moses cried out to God. The people’s lack of faith is shown by the fact that they grumbled against Moses. The Lord gave Moses an answer. He showed Moses a log, which Moses threw into the water and it made the water sweet (i.e. drinkable).

15:26,27

The Lord had saved Israel, but this did not mean that they didn’t have any responsibilities. We tend to get in a muddle over salvation. We know we are saved by grace, by what Jesus has done, not by anything we have done. However, the Bible is absolutely clear, again and again, that we have responsibilities. Here God outlines the key requirements for the Israelites. They were to “diligently listen to the voice of the Lord”. They were to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord. Today so much of the church seems to be more concerned to do what is right in the eyes of the world, rather than the eyes of the Lord. This means keeping His commandments. If they did this, then Israel would suffer none of the diseases of Egypt.

Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water. One wonders how far this was from Marah. Could they have just carried on from Marah and come to Elim?

John 18:3-5 - Jesus, knowing all that would happen to Him

18:3

Judas had arranged for a band of soldiers and officers from the religious leaders. The Romans had more soldiers around at festival time in order to quash any riots or other rebellious activities at these times of heightened tensions. They had lanterns with them for the simple reason that it was dark, and they imagined that they might be hunting around for Jesus in the dark.

18:4,5

While the captors imagined that Jesus would be “on the run”, trying to elude them, nothing could be further from the truth. A point that comes over again and again, both in John’s gospel and the synoptics, is that while it should have been the Roman authorities and the Jewish leaders who were in charge, the only One who was truly in charge, who knew exactly what was going on, was Jesus Christ. So far from running away, Jesus approaches the soldiers asking who they are looking for. Jesus knew exactly what was happening. They tell Him “Jesus of Nazareth”, and Jesus tells them that He is the one they are after. Thus probably came as something of a shock to the soldiers! We don’t get told of the Judas kiss in John’s gospel, but are told that Judas was there.

Exodus 15:14-21 - Terror and dread fall upon them

15:14-18

These verses seem to be looking ahead to the conquest of the Promised Land, and may be taken as being written in the “prophetic present”. I.e. Looking forward to what would happen, but treating it as if it had already happened. So the other nations would hear of what the Lord had done for His people and would be filled with fear. We see the purpose of the Lord, He will plant His people on the land that He has chosen. When God’s people lived under His guidance He acted on their behalf, and the nations were filled with fear. When they neglected the Lord, they were an object of scorn. The same applies to the church today. If we try to please the world, rejecting the Lord, then we become an object of scorn. Something we see all too often. It is only when we are true to the Lord that we genuinely influence the world.

15:19-21

15:19 summarises in prose what happened. The Egyptian army chased after the Israelites into the sea. The Lord had made a way for the Israelites, but then released the waters and the Egyptians were drowned. His people were safe. Miriam, Aaron’s sister, sang and danced with tambourine for the people, declaring that the Lord had triumphed gloriously, by throwing the horse and rider into the sea. As we know, Israel never remained faithful to the Lord for long. Indeed the last section of this chapter is an example of that. The tragedy of the human condition is that if we would only trust the Lord and obey Him life would be infinitely better.

John 18:1,2 - He went out with His disciples

18:1

We now come to the trial, the crucifixion and the resurrection. The events that Jesus’ life was always leading up to, the reason above all reasons that He was sent by the Father. So Jesus and His disciples now head across the Kidron Valley to the garden, this is Gethsemane. John’s account is consistent with the ones in the synoptic gospels, but tends to look at different aspects, or different details, of the events. There are all sorts of debates that can be entered into about the relationship between John and the synoptics which could be gone into, but we are not going to do so. There are two reasons for this: (i) I do not have the necessary expertise; (ii) I don’t find it that interesting. On the latter point I have to say I do not read the gospels and think there are loads of inconsistencies or contradictions. There can be the odd puzzling point, but I want to focus on what the Word of God is saying to us.

18:2

One of the aspects that we get more details on in John is the role of Judas. The synoptics tell us that Judas betrayed Jesus, but John fills things out a bit. Earlier he has mentioned that Judas was pilfering money while they were travelling around. Jesus had often gone to this garden, and Judas was, of course, fully aware of that. So he knew where Jesus was likely to be.

Exodus 15:11-13 - Who is like you, O Lord

15:11,12

The nations had many “gods”, and they claimed that they had a great influence on their lives and were central to their existence. Moses declares that there was no one like the Lord. God is completely different. He is majestic in holiness. Holiness is something that the gods knew nothing about. Likewise, it is an alien concept to all the ideologies that are floating around today. God is “awesome in glorious deeds”. The “gods” could do nothing (see Psalm 115:2-8). God stretched out His hand and the Egyptian army was swallowed up.

15:13

“You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed”. God’s dealings with us are founded in love (but not the sentimental mush that often passes for love these days). God did not redeem the people because they had paid a price, it was an act undertaken at His own initiative. 

John 17:24-26 - I desire that they may be with me

17:24

This most amazing prayer continues. Jesus now prays that we may be with Him where He is. I.e. that we will be with Jesus with the Father. He wants us to see His glory. The Father loved the Son before the creation of the world. Jesus is not a created being, He is not foremost among creation. Jesus is eternally the Son of God. He always has been and always will be. At present we do not see the glory of Christ in all its fullness. We see some of that glory. As Paul says in 1 Cor 13:12, we see through a glass dimly. One day we will see Him face to face, in all His glory.

17:25

The world does not know Christ and does not know the Father. That is tragic, because it leads to all the problems and suffering that we see in our own lives and in the world around us. However, there is hope, for Jesus knows the Father, and we know that the Father has sent the Son. Our knowing Christ is the hope for the world. So we should seek to know Him better, to love Him better and to trust and obey Him better.

17:26

Christ has revealed the character of God to us, the Name of God. For all the fullness of God dwells in Christ (Col 2:9). Jesus continues to make it known. He does this through the Holy Spirit and through the church. And Christ wants the love with which the Father loved Him may be in us, and that Christ may be in us.

Exodus 15:4-10 - Glorious in power

15:4-7

Remember that “host” essentially means “army”, so 15:4 says Pharaoh and his army were thrown into the sea. They drowned in the Red Sea. Anthropomorphic language is used when it speaks of God’s right hand. The key thing is that God is glorious in power and He shatters the enemy. God defeats His enemies. So when we see powerful evil forces at work in the world, then we should always remind ourselves that our God is more powerful, and that He will one day overthrow the enemy.

15:8-10

“At the blast of your nostrils ..” sees God as the one who sent the wind to pile up the waters of the Red Sea. God has control over the elements, as Jesus demonstrated when He stilled the storm, showing that He was God. We should not be overly concerned about what is in the enemy’s heart and mind (other than in knowing that he needs to repent!), ultimately he will not be able to fulfil his desires. The enemy is boastful, but his boasting is in vain. The Lord easily destroyed the Egyptian army.

John 17:22,23 - I have given to them

17:22

Now this is an amazing statement, “the glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one as we are one”. Now we need to understand this carefully. First, it should be taken alongside the statement that as the Father sent the Son, so Jesus sends us. Then earlier I gave a rough template for understanding “glory” as splendour and significance. And finally we must remember that Christ’s glory involved going to the cross. So bearing all that in mind, we need to appreciate how absolutely important and central the church is to God’s purposes in the world. God has created the church, and He has chosen to work through the church. That also places a responsibility upon us. If we are to have this glory in the right way then we must trust and obey Christ in every way. We must be “in Christ”. If we are anywhere else it will be a disaster, as the church has all too often demonstrated.

17:23

“I in them and you in me”. The unity with Christ is central to all this. Christ wants us to be perfectly one. This unity is not a human unity, but a godly unity, a trinitarian unity. The Trinity demonstrates the unity that God desires for His people. There is a complete and perfect unity of purpose and heart, but this goes together with a distinctiveness of individuals. It is definitely not a bland uniformity, but a uniformity that displays the glory of God.

Exodus 15:1-3 - He has triumphed gloriously

15:1

Having escaped from the Egyptians, Moses and the Israelites sing a song of praise. One thing we should notice is that the song focuses on the power and war likeness of God. We tend not to do that these days, being, if anything, rather embarrassed by this aspect of God. We should not be so. If God is not a warrior, if He cannot overthrow enemies then we do not have a saviour.

15:2,3

They praise the Lord because He has “triumphed gloriously”, and has thrown the enemy into the sea.”He has become my salvation”. It is only by the exercise of His power that God is our salvation. “The Lord is a man of war”, this is perhaps better translated as “The Lord is a warrior”. Our God is a warrior. We see powerful foes, but God is more powerful.

John 17:20,21 - That they may all be one

17:20

The teaching and the prayers of Jesus were not only for the disciples, but for all who would believe in Him. Later on when Jesus meets Thomas after the resurrection, He will say that blessed are those who believe in Him yet have not seen Him. If we believe in Christ then we are in a very privileged position. 

17:21

And why is Jesus praying these things for us? “That [we] may be one”, just as the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in the Father. That we may be in God “so that the world may believe that you have sent me”. Now notice that last bit! Jesus has spoken a lot about the world hating Him and so hating us, about the world not believing etc. That is not the whole story, it is a part we need to take full account of, but it is only part of the story. People can believe, but this will come about when we live as the children of God, being in Christ and He in us. It will not happen as a result of the church trying to be like the world.

Exodus 14:27-31 - Thus the Lord saved Israel that day

14:27-29

The Lord now tells Moses to stretch out his hand over the waters again. So, as before, it is the power of God that causes the action, but He involves Moses in the process. Moses did so and the waters that had been held back were released, drowning the Egyptians. All the Egyptian army was drowned, while the Israelites went through on dry ground.

14:30,31

The Lord has saved Israel on that day. They had been saved from the hand of their enemies, and they had seen the power of the Lord working on their behalf. Their enemies were all dead. So the people feared the Lord, believed in Him and also believed in Moses. As we shall see, this “belief” was rather skin deep, much like some of the “belief” mentioned in John’s gospel. However, they would now, for a time, believe that Moses knew what he was doing. We do need to recognise that our God is a God of power, and He acts to protect His people. If we forget this, then our theology is badly skewed.

John 17:18,19 - So I have sent them into the world

17:18

“As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world”. We know that Jesus was sent into the world, we need to appreciate that in the same way He sends us into the world. Christ was sent by the Father to show us what the Father is like, and to communicate the will and word of the Father. In the same way, we are to show what Jesus is like and to communicate the will and word of the Lord. Of course, we will not do this as perfectly as Jesus did His work, but this should be our aim. We have been sent by Christ to do His will. That is the only mission statement that the church needs.

17:19

Jesus consecrated Himself for our sake. He completely and utterly devoted Himself to the Father’s will, even to the extent of going to the cross. If Jesus had not done this we would still be under condemnation, we would still be lost in our sin. And He has done this not just so that we will not go to hell, but so that we will be sanctified in the truth. Back in chapter 3 Jesus spoke about the need to be born again. We need to be utterly transformed by the truth of the gospel.

Exodus 14:22-26 - The Israelites went into the midst of the sea on dry ground

14:22

So the people of Israel went into the sea on dry ground, and there was a wall of water on their right and on their left. There are all sorts of debates about the precise location of the incident, but it is clear from the account here that wherever it was there was a significant amount of water. It must also have been quite terrifying for the Israelites, seeing these walls of water that potentially could collapse at any moment and drown them. Our trust needs to be in God. Suppose they had tried to work out how the walls of water were being kept there? Part of understanding this would have led to the conclusion that it could have collapsed at any moment. Our confidence needs to be in who God is and in His love and care for us. 

14:23-26

The Egyptians came after them. The Lord looked down on them and threw them into a panic. So again we see God being active in the situation. The wheels of the chariots started to get clogged in the sand and the Egyptians started to realise that the Lord was working on behalf of the Israelites, so they decided to flee. So the first part of the defeat of the Egyptians was not there being drowned, but being thrown into a panic and chaos ensuing.

John 17:16,17 - They are not of the world

17:16

“They are not of this world, just as I am not of this world”. This does not mean being other-worldly, but Jesus had a fundamentally different worldview, a different driving force. Namely, living in complete obedience to the Father. We are to be likewise. It is tragic when the church sees its job as pleasing the world. This isn’t what Jesus did, and it is not what we are meant to do. If we can talk in terms of USP’s (unique selling points), the only USP that the church has is that it lives and speaks according to the will of God.

17:17

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth”. We need to realise that the thinking of the world is so often built upon a bed of lies. And living by lies corrupts individuals and corrupts society. We need the word of God, which is truth, to cleanse us. To cleanse our souls, our minds and our hearts. The word of God purifies us, that is why it is so important that we study the Bible.

Exodus 14:19-21 - Moses stretched out his hand

14:19,20

“Then the angel of God, who was going before the host of Israel ...” God was present with them, and He was actively present with them. The angel of the Lord had been ahead of the Israelites, but now moved to be between them and the Egyptians, so separating them the Egyptians and the Israelites. God is actively looking after us. This most definitely does not mean that we have no responsibility, but if we look at things purely in the light of our own abilities we are mistaken. God bases His plans on our taking our responsibility and His actions, taking the two together.

14:21

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove back the sea by a strong east wind ...” So Moses did what he had been told to do. Now why did God tell Moses to hold out his hand and staff? They clearly played no physical role in the sea being driven back? It was God’s power, not Moses’ power, that drove back the sea? I think it is because God’s power works through us. God wants a faithful trusting people, and His power will then work through His people. We see again the role of natural forces (the east wind). The division we often try to make between the natural and the supernatural is not a distinction that the Bible makes in the same way that we do.

John 17:14,15 - I have given them your word

17:14

Jesus has said that He spoke only what He heard the Father speak. So He has given us the word of the Father. The world hates us because we have the word of God, and the world is in rebellion against God. So if we belong to Jesus we are not of the world, and so become objects of the world’s hatred. This does not mean that every single human being hates us, we know that that is not true, but the world system is against us, and we should not be surprised when this truth is manifested.

17:15

Jesus does not ask that we be taken out of the world, but that the Father keep us from the evil one. So we should not expect to have a trouble or a risk free life. That is not Jesus’ prayer, and we will be frustrated and disappointed if that is what we hope for. Instead we should expect His protection in the midst of trouble. This possibly also has bearing on the mistaken teaching of pre-tribulation rapture which sees us being taken out of the world, rather than overcoming the world.

Exodus 14:15-18 - Why do you cry to me?

14:15

Moses has responded to the people, not God responds to Moses. “Why do you cry to me?” It isn’t clear whether God is complaining about the Israelites as a whole, or whether Moses had been crying out to God? Whatever the case, God tells Moses to tell the people to go forward. We face problems, but we must not be ruled by fear. God is well able to overcome any supposed obstacle. Indeed, Jesus tells us that in Him we are able to overcome any obstacle (Mark 11:23). We must not let fear rule over us.

14:16-18

Moses is then told how to move forward. He is to lift up his staff and stretch it out over the sea, which would then divide, so that there was a way forward. We are then told yet again that God will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, so that they will chase the Israelites and see that God has glory over Pharaoh. So we see that the focus of the Israelites was on themselves. The truth was that God was going to rescue them, and God’s focus was on the Egyptians. We can have a similar mindset. When facing trouble we focus on ourselves. This is a natural human reaction, but it leads to wrong thinking. We can get frustrated by events we see in the world, asking why doesn’t God do something about it? God may well be doing something about it, just not in the way that we would choose. God’s focus may well be different than ours!

John 17:12,13 - I have guarded them

17:12

In John 18:9 Jesus says that He has not lost one of those that the Father gave Him. Only the “son of destruction” was lost, and that was all part of the plan. This is referring to Judas. Jesus protected His disciples. Soon things would be different, for Jesus would not be with the disciples in the physical sense. Now He does say in Matt 28:20 that He will be with us till the end of the age, but this would be through the Holy Spirit. We see here the unity of the Trinity, and each person of the Trinity is God.

17:13

Jesus was now coming to the Father. The road there would involve the cross and the resurrection, but He was going to the Father. It seems that Jesus was praying these things out loud so that the disciples would hear them. He did this so that His joy would be fulfilled in us. We all want to be happy, but we often seek this joy or happiness in the wrong way. It normally involves us wanting circumstances to change. Jesus offers us a deeper and more sustainable joy than that.

Exodus 14:10-14 - Why did you rescue us

14:10-12

So far in this chapter we have seen:

1. What God was thinking (14:1-4)

2. What the Egyptians were thinking (14:5-9)

Now we get what the Israelites were thinking, and this was not good! The Israelites looked and saw the approaching Egyptian army. This filled them with fear and they cried out to the Lord. After that they turned on Moses. They blamed him for bringing them out of Egypt, claiming they had just wanted to be left alone and that all this trouble was down to Moses. This is not strictly true, for the people had been crying out to God because of the harsh regime they were under. They now thought that they would have been better staying under this harsh regime, they also thought that they had been brought out into the desert to die. Their thinking was completely mistaken. Their thinking about what things had been like was badly skewed (and would become even more skewed later on in their journey through the wilderness). Their thinking of what was going to happen to them could not have been more wrong. We need to realise that when we are facing real trouble that our thinking is usually very unreliable.

14:13,14

We now learn what Moses was thinking, or, at least, what he was telling them. Moses told them to “Fear not”. Jesus often used these, or similar, words to His disciples. Instead of fearing they were to stand firm, and then they would see the salvation of the Lord. God would work this salvation for them. One of the consistent lessons of the Bible is that God is active, too often we treat faith as a passive thing. We do not worship a passive God! The Lord would fight for them, all they needed to do was to be silent. Sometimes we just need to be silent, to stop worrying, and we will see the Lord fight for us.

John 17:10,11 - I am glorified in them

17:10

Everyone who belongs to Jesus belongs to the Father, and vice versa. “And I am glorified in them.” What does this mean, how does it work? Well if we use my working definition of glory meaning splendour and significance then we can take it as follows. The enormous significance of Christ is shown in the salvation of His people. Rebel sinners, people totally lost in their sin, people irreparably damaged by both their own sin and the sin of others, are redeemed. They are transformed from sinners to saints. And all this because of Christ. And Jesus is exalted to the highest place in glory.

17:11

We now get another reason for Jesus praying for them. The previous prayers have been given because of the glory that is Christ’s, because He has given us the truth. Now we get another reason, and that is because He is going away, He is returning to the Father. While Jesus would no longer be in the world, His disciples are left in the world. While here Jesus had kept the disciples, and none were lost. Jesus would no longer be in the world, so He prays for the Father to “keep them in your name”. And He prays to the Father to do this in the same way that He looked after His Son. Jesus also prays that we may be one as the Father and Son are one. There is perfect unity in purpose and action, but there is also distinctiveness. So it is to be with us.

Exodus 14:1-9 - Shall know that I am the Lord

14:1-4

We now come to the crossing of the Red Sea. The first thing to note is that God deliberately led the Israelites so that they would be trapped between the Red Sea and the pursuing Egyptian army. The situation was not one that took God by surprise, He was not responding to a particular situation that had arisen. This was all a deliberate part of God’s plan. 

I noted in comments on the previous chapter that God wanted the Israelites to trust Him. We do not realise how much we can trust the Lord, and are most reluctant to find out! As a rule we will only live by faith once we have exhausted all the other options. However, the primary purpose given here is so that Pharaoh and the Egyptians will realise that God is the Lord. We see many ungodly forces at work in society today and we may be perplexed at the way God acts, or doesn’t seem to be acting at all. We should remember that part of God’s purpose is that all will realise that He is the Lord.

14:5-9

Pharaoh and the Egyptians had driven the Israelites out, glad to see the back of them, and had given them silver and gold to see them on their way. These actions were driven by the horror of what was happening with the death of the first born. Once the Israelites had gone and the last plague had stopped they looked at things again. They were then struck by the realisation that a large segment of their slave labour was now no more. Therefore Pharaoh assembled an army of six hundred chariots and more. As usual there are debates over the numbers. One approach is to say that the numbers are wrong, or are rough estimates, or merely symbolic. Another would be to say that the number here is consistent with the number given for the number of Israelites who left Egypt. So the Egyptian army pursued the Israelites.

John 17:8,9 - I am praying for them

17:8

Jesus has given us the words that the Father gave Him. Jesus’ teaching was not just wise, it was not just a good idea, but they came directly from the Father. And Jesus’ disciples accept the words that come from Jesus, and hence from the Father. Yet again we see the importance attached to believing that Jesus was sent by the Father. All of God’s plans and purposes are found in Christ.

17:9

Jesus is praying for us. Now Jesus limits the scope of His prayers here. These prayers are limited to those whom God has given to Him. He is not praying for the world. Now we need to both fully accept this, and to remember John 3:16. The sovereignty of God worries people. Part of the reason for this is pride, it means that we are utterly dependent upon the grace of God, in every respect, and so we are. It strikes at the heart of human rebellion. However, as I have said before, this does not take away human responsibility.

Exodus 13:18-22 - Lest the people change their minds

13:18

So instead they went via the “Red Sea”, or “Sea of Reeds”. Now we know that the Israelites ended up facing a far greater peril, being hemmed in by the Egyptian army and the Red Sea. So what was the difference? What was the advantage in God leading them this way rather than the direct route? If they had gone the direct route then they would have been able to turn back to Egypt. At the Red Sea, because they were hemmed in, they had no option but to see the salvation of the Lord. They were forced to trust in Him. Sometimes God leads us into situations where we have no option but to rely on His intervention.

13:19-22

Following an earlier promise, the bones of Joseph were taken with them to be buried in the Promised Land. So God was fulfilling earlier promises, and Moses was also fulfilling an earlier promise made by Joseph’s sons. The Lord was with them. By day He was with them in a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. God was with His people.

John 17:6,7 - I have made your name known

17:6

Jesus has made the name of the Lord known, He has revealed the true nature of God’s character. This applies to those whom God has given to Christ. So we see again the intimate and inseparable nature of the Father and the Son. The Father has given people to Christ. This is the sovereign choice of God. They have recognised who Jesus is and accepted His testimony. And so we keep the word of God.

17:7

So a key marker of belonging to Christ is that we recognise that God has given everything to Christ, and that everything that Christ has comes from the Father. So when we see Christ we see the Father (John 15:9). If we love the Father we will love Christ (1 John 5:1). Loving and believing in Jesus is not simply a matter of thinking He is a good teacher or example, it means accepting who He really and fully is, and all that that entails.

Exodus 13:11-17 - By a strong hand the Lord brought us out

13:11

“When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites...” There are a couple key points to bring out from this. The first is that the land was currently occupied by someone else. If we look at our world there are many parts of society that are occupied by ungodly philosophies. Secondly, giving the land to Israel was not a whim, or a recent idea. It was the fulfilling of a promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, hundreds of years ago.

13:12-16

We now get the details of the consecration of the firstborn. The animals' firstborn  were to be sacrificed to the Lord. The firstborn sons also belonged to the Lord, but they were not to be sacrificed, but redeemed. Firstborn sons were to be made especially aware that they had been rescued by the power of the Lord and belonged to Him. There is repeated mention in this chapter of the “strong hand of the Lord”.

13:17

The Lord did not take the Israelites by the most direct route to the Promised Land. Why did God do this? He had the power to overcome the Philistines! God works with us and His primary purpose is to win our hearts, to win our trust. If they saw war then they would be tempted to go back to Egypt. 

John 17:3-5 - This is eternal life

17:3

Eternal life is not just what happens after we die. We get a foretaste of it now. For eternal life is to know God, and to know Jesus Christ who was sent by God. Knowing God is what we should seek after above all else. The world is a mess, and we as individuals get into a mess because we do not know God. And the solution to our problems is to know God. When we know God everything is different.

17:4,5

Jesus gave glory to God on earth. How did He do this? Above all else by being obedient to God even to the extent of going to the cross. In doing this He declared that obeying God was more important than any shame or suffering that might be inflicted on Him. He chose to obey God rather than give in to the world. 

Jesus then prays to the Father to glorify Him in His presence. Jesus was going to the Father, He would be in God’s presence again. Jesus would be glorified with the “glory that [He] had with You before the world existed”. So this tells us a lot about the glory that Jesus had. He was before the world existed, and we know from Col 1:15,16 that all things were created through Him.

Exodus 13:4-10 - Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread

13:4,5

They were to keep this festival when they had entered the land of Canaan as a reminder of how they had got there. Immediately when we are rescued by the Lord in some way we are grateful, but when life gets comfortable it is so easy for us to forget. The land flowing with milk and honey was currently occupied by various godless nations. The salvation of God’s people is a matter of conquest. Now we do not fight with the weapons of this world, military conquest is not part of the gospel! But we are to conquer. It is so easy for us to adopt a purely defensive approach. We need to recognise the victory we have in Christ.

13:6-10

We now get the details of the feast. It was to last for seven days, they were to eat unleavened bread, and leaven was to be banished from the house. Their children would wonder why they carried out this strange custom, and they were to tell them how the Lord had brought them out of slavery. This practice was to help the law of the Lord to be in their mouth, i.e. to be an integral part of their lives. They were to keep this festival, and it was a reminder that the strong hand of the Lord had rescued them. Our God is a God of power, and we must never forget that. If we do forget it then our theology will quickly go awry. It is also worth noting that these outward actions of the feasts were part of the process of their “internalising” the truth of the Lord.

John 17:1,2 - The hour has come

17:1

We now come to what is often referred to as Jesus’ high priestly prayer. We are not told precisely when and where he prayed this. It could have been in Gethsemane, though the synoptics only refer to Jesus’ prayer of anguish there. Jesus is praying primarily for His disciples here. Jesus starts by declaring that the hour has come, and for His Father to glorify the Son that the Son may glorify the Father. There have been several mentions in John’s gospel of the hour having not yet come. Now the hour is here. The time for the cross is upon Jesus. Glory includes concepts of splendour and of weight in the  context of significance. The cross is the most significant event in human history.

17:2

Jesus has authority over all humanity. This includes those who do not believe in Him and who oppose Him. When we see the world rejecting the gospel and even opposing it we should not fear, for Jesus has authority over them. This does not make for a simple solution, but the enemy will not win. The cross was far from “simple”. And Jesus has authority”to give eternal life to all whom you have given to Him”. So here we have predestination and the sovereignty of God, and this really upsets some people. People get upset because they cannot understand it. So let’s take a Biblical approach. We were chosen before creation. At the same time the Bible consistently tells us that we have responsibility. We have a responsibility to believe and to obey. So instead of fretting about how the two can work together, we are far better advised to just get on with it.

Exodus 13:1-3 - Consecrate to me all the firstborn

13:1,2

The Lord has rescued Israel by the plague on the firstborn of Egypt. Our salvation was freely earned by Jesus, He paid the full price for our redemption. However, our salvation being free does not mean that it is without consequence. We were bought at a price (1 Cor 6:20), and we are not our own (1 Cor 6:19). So here we see that all the firstborn, man or beast, were to be consecrated to the Lord. 

13:3

We now get the feast of unleavened bread, which occurred at the same time as the Passover. The primary purpose was for them to remember how they were rescued. They ate no leavened bread at that time, so during the feast they would not eat leavened bread. They were rescued from slavery, by the “strong hand” of the Lord. Many of Israel’s future failings were a result of her forgetting that her God had done so, and could do so again, rescuing her by His strong hand. Likewise, the Lord’s Supper reminds us how we were rescued.

John 16:29-33 - Now we understand (but not really)

16:29,30

The disciples are now trying to prove that they understand now, though they don’t actually know what Jesus means. It is a common human characteristic to pretend we know something, not wanting to admit our ignorance. The Pharisees and other religious leaders had periodically questioned Jesus, trying to trap Him, and always failing to do so. 

16:31-33

Jesus knew that they didn’t really understand. Soon they would be scattered, and Jesus would be left alone. Jesus went to the cross without help from any man. “Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.” Jesus was doing the will of the Father, and the Father was with Him in doing this. 

Jesus had told the disciples all this so that they too would be able to handle persecution. At the present time they were not able to do so, but after the cross, resurrection and sending of the Spirit they would be able to. Jesus was not promising them an easy life, far from it. What He was promising them was the ability to live a godly life in all circumstances. “But take heart, I have overcome the world”. Jesus has taken all the world could throw at Him, and has triumphed. In Christ we can do likewise.

Exodus 12:43-51 - This is the statute of the Passover

12:43,44

The chapter ends with the “institution of the Passover”. The event was not just important as the means of getting them out of Egypt, but was pointing forward to a far greater Passover. Foreigners were not allowed to eat it. You had to be part of the redeemed community in order to partake. Likewise, Holy Communion means nothing to someone who is not a believer in Christ. Slaves, however, were allowed to eat it, if they had been circumcised. The status of slaves in Israel was higher than in the surrounding nations, and is far different from our picture of slavery.

12:45-51

There is a repeat of the ban on foreigners eating the Passover. The Passover was to be eaten within the house. It was part of your home life. No bones of the lamb were to be broken. John 19:36 so this being fulfilled in Jesus’ death on the cross when His bones were not broken. All the congregation were to partake in it. This is a feast for the whole body. Strangers were allowed to partake if they were circumcised, but the uncircumcised were not allowed to eat it. The native and the stranger were counted together.

So the people of Israel did as the Lord had commanded them, and they were brought out of the land of Egypt.