Week 12

Exodus 13-14
The Red sea parts

-400 years of slavery ends in freedom. The people may have been excited. The portion says the Israelites were ready for battle. But God directs them in a different route because he knows that they are not battle ready.
-God places a high premium on his people remembering the acts of deliverance. A festival and a ritual is created that will help them remember the big deliverance from Egypt. Celebration and sanctification goes hand in hand. Celebrate and commemorate the mighty acts of God.
-Yeast becomes a symbol of sin. The omission of yeast from food is done to remind them of a life free of sin.
-The pillar of cloud and the fire - Shekinah (Glory of God or presence of God)
-Note that scholars differ on where they actually crossed over to Canaan.
-They took Joseph's bones with them. Remember the promises that you make to your forefathers.

God sometimes takes us to places that may seem unsafe. But when he puts us somewhere, he will be a pillar of cloud for us. He does it, so that his glory is evident in our life and through us. 

Exodus 15-16
Marah and Manna

7 events appear between leaving Egypt and Mt Sinai. Here are three:
1. The appearance of Shekinah (glory)
2. Parting of red sea
3. Cleansing of bitter water at Marah
- Just 72 hours before Marah events, the people had just witnessed the greatest miracle in history. Yet, the people start grumbling. Just like us. We too forget the deliverance and grumble at the earliest possible moment.

Jehvah Rapha - God, the healer is mentioned here in chapter 16.

Manna - "what is it?"

First mention of Sabbath 

Exodus 17-18
The Staff of Moses

7 events happen between Israel's departure from Egypt and their arrival in Sinai:

1. Shekinah's appearance
2. Parting of the Red sea
3. Water of Marrah
4. Manna and Quail

5. Water at Rephidim:
- it again proves how pathetic we are that we do not remember the miracles in our life. As you can see in this portion, Israel again mistrusts God. And, God is with them in a pillar of cloud, yet they ask "Is the Lord with us"?
- the staff of Moses - is an example of the ordinary becoming extra ordinary in God's hands - it is being used in this incident as well
6. Battle: Here, the staff of Moses is described as the staff of God. The ownership changes. When we begin to use our mediocre talents, he takes ownership of it.
- Israel has to fight, but God gives victory.
- Note that the story of Joshua begins here. It is at least 40 more years before he assumes leadership, but God has begun the mentoring process.
- Jehovah Nissi - Lord, our banner - is being used here for the first time.
7. The visit of Jethro: he teaches Moses an important lesson - delegation (important principle for all churches)

Exodus 19-20
The mountaintop revelation - 10 commandments

God's revelation of himself is progressive. The first eleven chapters of Exodus focuses on God's power. Now, he reveals His Holiness. If Israel has to truly become the chosen people, they should live in Holiness. In the gospels, God reveals His Love to us. God's power, holiness and love.

Do not go into God's presence in an irreverent and shabby way.
Today, we can go to God's presence in prayer. We have been washed with His blood and consecrated. But we should go in reverence of his Holiness.

The ten commandments:
Touches on the relationship between - 
1-4: God and me
5: Me and family
6-10: Me and others

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. 
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. - the only commandment not repeated in the New Testament. 
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet. - deals with attitude and not an action

I have broken each one of the above. That's why I need Jesus to save me.

What does honor your father and mother mean?
obey them
hold them in high esteem (proverbs 4:8)
show respect for them (leviticus 19:3)
care for them

God didn't give the law to make us righteous. Because, the law can never do that. Why did God give the ten commandments?
1. He gave it to reveal man's sinfulness (Romans 3:19-20)
2. He did it to reveal the nature of sin (Romans 7:8)
3. To reveal the Holiness of God
4. To restrain the sinfulness of man and help us to come to Christ (Gal 3:24)
5. To restrain sinful behavior in order to protect society

Day 5:
Hebrews 11: 22-29 and Psalms 105

Week 11

Exodus 1-2
The Moses story begins

-It is likely that the exodus happened around BC 1445. A lot of data on Exodus cannot be historically placed. While a lot about the origins of Exodus is highly debated in intellectual circles, the unity of the Word of God provides me enough data to convince me about the authenticity of the Exodus story.

-The pharaoh of verse 8 may not be the same as the one in 1:15, and may not be the same as the one in 2:15. There could be at least 4 different pharaohs in the chapter 1-2. A long period is covered in these chapters.

-Note that God remembered the names of the two midwives, not the pharaohs. God remembers a lot of VIP's who are seemingly smaller, lesser ones while in the World.

-Isn't it interesting that God uses Pharaoh's daughter to bring forth the man who would eventually rescue Israel from the Pharaoh.

-Note the last paragraph where it says the Israelite's cried out to the Lord. God hears their cry. It is possible that God was ready to deliver them and was waiting for such a response from Israel.

Exodus 3-4
The Lord meets Moses

Exodus 4:12 - "Now therefore go, and I will be with you and teach you what to say"

The burning bush - a theophany (a physical encounter with God)
Jehovah (the Angel of the Lord) appears in a physical appearance of God himself with man.
This is the first time the word Holy is used as an adjective in bible. It's not a holy thing - does not mean that the object is blameless, it only means that the object is set apart for the exclusive use of God.

In this encounter, God takes the initiative of meeting with Moses. It has been four centuries since God talked to man. Forty years ago, Moses went searching for God when he thought he was the deliverer of Israel. Here, God comes searching for Moses. The redemption of mankind is initiated by God. He initiates the encounter that saves you and me. We have a luxury of the written word of God that speaks to us. Moses did not have it.

Chapter 3 verse 7-8
God sees
God hears
God speaks
God saves
God sends

God's name: "I am who I am" - "I will be what I will be"
Here God explains the name Yahweh. It points to the self existence of God. It is something we cannot ever relate to. God as a just God is something we can relate to. But his 'self-existence' is something we can never comprehend.
God's self-existence means:
- he has no needs
- he is not affected by anything outside himself (he cannot be pushed to do anything, he does hear cries and moves to it, but it is at his time)
- he never changes

Moses' questions God
- Who am I?
- What's you name?
-Why should they believe me?
- Why me?
- Why not someone else?

Homework:
Exodus 4:24-26
Read more about this passage.

Exodus 5-7
Moses encounters Pharaoh

What would have happened if Pharaoh had given the permission to go worship the Lord for 3 days?
God says beforehand that the Pharaoh will not permit the Jews. Maybe it is given here to just show how harsh the Pharaoh was.

What you can see from these events is that the Gods of Egypt is also powerful and demonic. They also reproduce a lot of 'miracles'. But they have limited power. In this power encounter (between Kingdom of the demons and God), the demonic forces does strike back. But God always wins. Watch for evil miracles as end times approach. Never assume that the demons of the world are powerless.

Moses' staff has an important lesson for us. God shows him something wonderful with the staff and checks to see is Moses trusts God ("pick up the snake"). If we do that, God has a remarkable habit of using whatever we have in our hand to serve his purpose - as a mighty instrument of his.

"I have hardened the Pharaoh's heart". Romans 9 confirms this. But chapter 8 in Exodus shows that the Pharaoh himself refused to heed the warning from Moses. God uses the powerful to teach us a lesson in faith - He is sovereign. He has a plan for redemption of his people. Men and women are responsible for all the choices that they make.

Finally, note that God's first wrath was against the Nile, which is a source of a lot of religious significance in Egypt.

Exodus 8-10
The ten plagues

-Examine the struggle of Pharaoh against God. The lesson for us is that such a struggle is futile.
-Pharaoh then tries to negotiate - you can go worship, but do not leave Egypt. Lesson: Do not negotiate with God. It is futile.
-Examine how Pharaoh hardens his own heart.
-See how Pharaoh's repentance differs from the repentance that God expects.
-Note that each of the plagues were targeted against specific Gods of Egyptians.
-Note that the Pharaoh's prophets could also do some miracles - but they could not reverse them, like how Moses could do. As the plagues progress, the Pharaoh's prophets were unable to do anything at all.

Exodus 11-12
The final plague

Week 10

Week 10

Psalms 119:1-88
Psalms 119:89-176
Psalms 33
Psalms 2
Psalms 22

Week 9

Luke 24
The resurrection

How do we know that his death was effective in paying the penalty of sin?
His resurrection proves that. If God did not accept the penalty of death, there would still be a body in the tomb.

The empty tomb was seen by two women. The angels announce the resurrection of the Christ to the women, but their response is 'terrifying'.

Four appearances of the risen Christ:
1. To the two who are traveling to Emmaus
2. To Peter
3. To the ten gathered in the upper room
4. 40 days after resurrection, to the disciples at the time of ascension

Luke is the only one who talks about Jesus' appearance to the two people on road to Emmaus.
It appears that the two people did not believe the resurrection. They were not gullible people. They were convinced that Jesus was real. His resurrection body was real - he walked and talked, and ate food. The first interpreter of the cross was Christ himself. He explains the prophecy, the fact and interprets it for the two disciples.

The gospel will be preached to all nations. But first, they should be clothed with power from on high. Luke sets his narrative for the next book of his series - Acts of Apostles.

The following facts help us establish the resurrection of Christ unequivocally:
- the origin and existence of the Christian church. It is unbelievable that the disciples would come back to the world with such strength and resilience if not for their own conviction that Christ has indeed risen. It is inconceivable that the set back on the cross would have been usurped by such a tremendous act of sharing the gospel to the multitudes if not for the resurrection. Only a living Christ would have been able to convert these scared people into those who were willing to be martyred on the cross themselves.
- If Christ would not have risen, the NT would not have been written. Who would write about a man who preached such great things and then suffered the ignominy of a crucifixion.
- The empty tomb - if Jesus was not risen, his body would have been removed by either of two people - his enemies or his disciples. If his enemies had removed the body, when the disciples would have announced his resurrection, they would have brought back the body to defeat the claim. If his disciples would have removed the body, they would have been unable to do it because of the armed guards in the tomb, and besides how can they do what they did in the early church.
- the fact that the early church observed Sunday as the holy day, unlike Saturday which was already the Sabbath is quite a confirmation of the resurrection. The early disciples were Jews but they did dispense with the old means of Sabbath Saturday.
- the celebration of holy communion - held in memory of Jesus' death. If the death of Jesus was not followed by the resurrection, it would never be a celebration.
- the millions who confirm that Jesus has risen, the testimony of the Holy Spirit, all confirms that Jesus lives today, He walks with me, He talks with me, He lives within my heart.

Luke 23

The crucifixion

As the chapter 23 quite interestingly describes, several enemies become friends at Christ's trials. No one wants to pull the trigger of his death but everyone conspires together. Pharsiees are religious fanatics. Sadducees are political animals, who are compromising with Romans unlike Pharisees. These two groups plot Jesus' death together. Herod and Pontius Pilate are arch rivals, but now they become friends. Sanhedrin and Romans hate each other. But here they work together. 

Coming to the actual trials, the Sanhedrin violates their own rules in the shady scam trial. They want to kill him, therefore they bring the issue of blasphemy which carries capital punishment. But the Jews lost the right to execute such a punishment to the Romans. So they have to take Jesus to the roman court as well. Over there, blasphemy is no sin. So they bring up new charges which can carry capital punishment - that Jesus claimed he was King and that he was anti-Caesar. 

The Sunday crowd that welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem constitutes religious pilgrims. The crowd in this trial that shouted "crucify him" are likely to be a mix of religious bigots, fanatics and paid thugs. So, the argument that Jesus was less popular at the end of the week does not stand on strong evidence. 

Now moving to Simon the Cyrene - according to the gospel of Mark, he has two sons - Rufus and Alexander. Apostle Paul mentions that Rufus was a leader of the early church. It is likely that Simon became a follower of Christ with the one-time rendevous with Jesus on the road to Golgotha. 

In summary, Jesus coming was prophesied as early as 1000 years before his actual coming (Psalms 22 - King David and Isaiah 53). Then he came and laid down his life for us. Apostle Paul and rest of his disciples then help interpret Jesus' death and resurrection and it's importance to us through the rest of New Testament. 

Finally, focus on three individuals -

- the thief on the cross who asked Jesus to let him be in paradise with him

- the roman centurion who praised Jesus while he was on the cross 

- Joseph of arimathea who did a courageous act as a Sanhedrin by following Jesus

Luke 22

The sad state of Judas

We start with Judas. He is one person described in the bible as having been taken over by satan. How did Judas, one of Jesus' closest disciples end up in this state? Was it a problem with greed? Or was he attempting to go political with Jesus, trying to force him to lead the people against the Romans? How did he not understand Jesus and what he stands for, and came for? The bible does not give us an answer why Judas betrayed the Christ. But one thing is clear:

Being close to Jesus is not a sign of genuine relationship. Mere proximity to Jesus is no proof of a relationship with him. One can be a church leader and yet not know him. Are you like that? Are you a modern day Judas?

Satan controlled Judas. But he certainly made the choices that allowed Satan to control him. Like deciding to go meet the high priest. 

If there is one thing that is obvious about Jesus' last week, it is that he was in total control of everything. The Pharisees did not want Jesus to be crucified on Passover time. They were worried about setting off a riot. They wanted to ensure a quick and private judgement. But Jesus controlled the timing of his death. Based on the narrative, there was no lamb at the Passover meal that he had. If we examine it, we can see that Jesus himself became the lamb on a Passover day. He is our Passover lamb. 

More on how Jesus controlled everything at a different time. The word to remember is CONTROL. He exerts the same control on today's life situations and the world too. It may seem that evil is winning, but appearances are deceptive as one can see from the last week of Jesus. What the Romans and Pharisees saw as a victory was eventually their absolute defeat. 

The second aspect of this passage is the institution of the communion. The concept of the bread and wine actually representing the actual body of Christ (Eucharist) is not theologically sound. It is instead used as a metaphor. One should remember Jesus' coming, his sacrifice for our sins and the resurrection often. That's why Jesus instituted such a simple ceremony or sacrament. 

Finally, Peter has an important role in this chapter. Read about it. Read Jesus' conversation with Peter as well. Jesus mentions that Peter will be sifted like wheat. But he also says that Jesus is praying for Peter. He also instructs Peter to pray so he will not fall into temptation. But Peter slept off. And eventually fell into the temptation of denying Jesus. So, pray that you do not fall into temptation. 

Can you be a modern day Peter? Can Jesus build his church (small groups) on your shoulders? 

Luke 21
The passion week - The widow's offering

Sunday - comes to Jerusalem to adoring crowds
Monday - cleanses the temple
Tuesday - confrontation with religious jews


Despite these important debates and confrontations, Jesus still notices the widow. Luke, as is typical with him, makes it a point to note this down in his documentation. Jesus uses his omniscience to know that the widow has only 2 coins left. Two lessons for us:
1. Spirit of giving is the important thing - Paul says in 2 Cor 8:12 - for if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable.
2. The value of the offering to God is not measured by the amount, but by the sacrifice involved. 

The fig tree
"He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.  When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near."
Jesus prophesies events happening in two different time periods in Luke 21:
- "no stone in temple will be left unturned" -  happened in AD 70 when Romans destroyed the temple; persecutions - occured before 70 AD
- when he will return in cloud in power and glory - will happen in future

Luke 21:10 "Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven." - may have been deliberately left ambiguous so that every believer across the ages will be watchful and be prepared. 

Luke 21:32 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. - various interpretations exist
1. could be related to AD 70 - unlikely since Jesus did not reurn in this time point (preterism or historicism)
2. related to the state of Israel's creation - will end soon (futurists or dispensationalist) 
3. The actual word for generation also means 'race'. The end of the race of Jews. The generation of Jews will last until the last day when He returns. This third version sounds more real. 
Regardless of what we believe, the point is - we should eagerly watch and wait for his return. It will help with our preparation of the persecutions. Just as the early Christians were able to manage those tough days. 

Read this for further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurism_(Christianity)

Luke 19-20
To Seek and to Save the Lost

Story of Zaccheus
One of the key stories in Luke's gospel - key verse:"son of man came to seek and to save the lost."

Can we have this as our mission statement too? 

Although it is hard for a rich man to be saved (see Luke 18), Jesus shows how a rich man can be saved through the Zaccheus story. The key word is REPENTANCE. 

He is a great example that in Christ you are a new creation. The story shows the Joy that a man has when he comes to Christ. Salvation came to his household.

Additional points:
- Jesus using the title 'Son of Man': See Daniel 7:13 - Jesus is promising to fulfill that prophecy.
- The arrival on a donkey: Zechariah 9:9 - fulfillment of another prophecy.
- Luke 19:41-44 was fulfilled in AD 70 when Jerusalem was overthrown by Romans under Titus.
- Sadducees = liberalized and politicized Jews who collaborated with Romans.
- Luke 20:17 is seen in Psalms 118:22
- Luke 20:41-43 is seen in Psalms 110:1