Notes

CHAPTER 1

1. There are fourteen Old Testament books that begin with and in the original text: Exodus, Leviticus, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Esther, Ezekiel, and Jonah. Most English translations either ignore the and or translate it “now.”

2. See my book Be Authentic (David C. Cook) for an exposition of the life of Joseph and the last days of Jacob. The Hebrew word translated “name” is shem, and Shem was the son of Noah through whom the Hebrew nation came (Gen. 11:10).

3. Exodus 1:9 is the first instance in the Bible of the phrase the children of Israel.

4. The word Hyksos means “rulers of foreign countries.” The Hyksos were outsiders who infiltrated Egypt as servants and slaves and gradually took over the government, ruling during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Dynasties (1700–1542 BC). Being Semitic in origin, they would certainly identify with the Jews living in Egypt.

5. With so many Jewish women bearing so many children, it’s likely that Shiphrah and Puah were “chief midwives” and had other women working under their supervision. The Egyptians were masters of organization and probably had a Bureau of Resident Alien Obstetrics.

6. These examples teach us that when Christians disobey the law because of conscience, their decisions must be based on the clear laws of God found in Scripture and not simply on personal prejudice. Note too that the midwives, Daniel and his friends, and the apostles were courteous in the way they dealt with the civil authorities and used the experience to bear witness of the truth of God. Jesus is the supreme example (1 Peter 2:13–25).

7. God’s law is clear that it’s wrong both to murder and to lie, but there are times in this evil world when we may have to choose between greater and lesser evils, and we need the wisdom of God to direct us (James 1:5). The legalist simply obeys the letter of the law, and the pragmatist does what seems safe and right at the time, but the spiritually minded person seeks the mind of Christ. As long as this world is in the travail of sin (Rom. 8:22), we will face difficult decisions.

8. Many conservative Bible scholars date the exodus at about 1445 BC. If Moses was eighty years old at the time of the exodus (Ex. 7:7), then he was born about 1525 BC.

9. Both Acts 7:20 and Hebrews 11:23 literally read “fair in the sight of God.” Since the parents acted by faith, and faith comes through the Word (Rom. 10:17), Amram and Jochebed must have had some communication from the Lord that Moses was special to Him.

10. We shouldn’t infer from the word pleasures that Moses was enjoying carnal delights in the palace. Rather, it was the pleasure enjoyed by a successful man of position. As a prince and “a man mighty in words and deeds,” he had authority, respect, and security and needed nothing.

11. The name Gershom means “alien, stranger.” Stephen points out in Acts 7:13, 35–36 that, like Jesus, both Joseph and Moses were rejected by their brethren at their first encounter but accepted at the second. Also, like Jesus, each man took a bride during the period of alienation from his people.

12. In Numbers 10:29 you find Raguel as an alternate spelling of Reuel and learn that his son’s name was Hobab. However, Judges 4:11 names Hobab as the “father-in-law of Moses.” The Hebrew word means “a husband’s male relative by marriage” and can refer to either a brother-in-law or a father-in-law and should be translated “brother-in-law.”

13. God’s promises to Abraham had been passed down from generation to generation, so that Moses would be able to connect God’s words in Exodus 3:18 with the promises in Genesis 15:13–21. It was all part of God’s “continued story” of redemption.

14. The older versions of the Bible transliterate the Hebrew name for God as “Jehovah,” but modern scholars prefer “Yahweh.”

15. In Egypt, Moses had been “mighty in words” (Acts 7:22), but his years of shepherding seemed to have silenced him.

CHAPTER 2

1. The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Banner of Truth Trust edition, 1976; vol. 2, 10. This is probably the most famous, least read, and most criticized sermon ever preached in America. Edwards preached it at Enfield, Massachusetts, on July 8, 1741, and God used it to begin a powerful spiritual awakening in New England.

2. Many scholars believe that the pharaoh of the exodus was Amenhotep II, son of Thutmose III, the pharaoh of the oppression, whose death opened the way for Moses to return to Egypt.

3. “Let My people go” is found seven times in the pre-exodus narrative: Exodus 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3.

4. The Lord had promised that the nation would worship Him at Mount Sinai (Ex. 3:12), but they could never reach Sinai in three days (19:1). However, Moses knew that Pharaoh wouldn’t let the people go (3:12–22); therefore, his words, though sincere, were but the first “volley” in God’s war against Pharaoh. God’s command gave Pharaoh an opportunity either to submit to the Lord or to reveal the sinfulness of his own proud heart.

5. God reminded the Jews that He was Jehovah (Ex. 6:2, 6–8, 29; 10:2; 16:12; 20:2; 29:46; 31:13), but He also wanted the Egyptians to know that He was the Lord (7:5, 17; 8:22; 14:4, 18). The name Jehovah is translated as LORD (all capitals) in most English translations of the Bible. It is used 6,823 times in the Old Testament.

6. See Genesis 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3; 49:3. El Shaddai (“God Almighty”) is used thirty times in the book of Job and eight times in the book of Revelation. Both of these books emphasize the greatness of God’s power.

7. The first nine plagues divide into three triads, each triad climaxing with a plague that wasn’t announced. The third (gnats), sixth (boils), and ninth (darkness) plagues came without warning; all the others were preceded by an announcement. Pharaoh had no right to complain because God told him what He was going to do.

8. The fact that there were still frogs in the river indicates that the water was again normal (Ex. 8:11). If the water were still blood, the frogs would have died.

9. Since the Lord is holy, just, and good, and His ways are perfect, nobody has to defend what He does or try to explain why He does it (Rom. 9:14–21). God gave Pharaoh many opportunities to repent, and yet he hardened his heart by the way he responded to God’s clear revelation of Himself. What more could Moses and Aaron have done?

10. The Hebrew word is translated “lice” in the KJV and NKJV, and “gnats” in the NIV and NASB. Some scholars think it might have been a plague of mosquitoes. God sent swarms of little, flying, biting creatures that made life miserable for the Egyptians.

CHAPTER 3

1. Pharaoh had given the land of Goshen to Joseph’s family in appreciation for all Joseph had done for the land of Egypt. See Genesis 45:10 and 50:8.

2. See Exodus 19:5–6 and Deuteronomy 32:8–9; 33:16. Balaam recognized the distinctiveness of Israel as a nation when he called the Jews “a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations” (Num. 23:9 NIV). In Romans 9:1–5, Paul lists the special blessings God gave to the people of Israel. The fact that the Jews are God’s chosen people doesn’t mean they’re better than any other people (Deut. 7:6–11) but that they belong to God in a special way, have special tasks to perform in this world, and are held accountable in a special way because of these privileges (Amos 3:2).

3. The goddess Hathor was pictured having the head of a cow, the god Apis the head of a bull, and Khnum the head of a ram. The cow was sacred to Isis and the ram to Amon. If the Egyptians had seen the Israelites sacrificing these animals to Jehovah, they would have protested violently and probably attacked the Jews, who, after all, were nothing but slaves in the land.

4. Inasmuch as there were still livestock in Egypt that were affected by the next two plagues (Ex. 9:9, 19–21), the word all in verse 6 should be interpreted in a relative sense. Note too that the livestock killed by the fifth plague were in the fields, not in sheds (vv. 19–21).

5. God warned Israel that if they disobeyed Him after entering the Promised Land, He would send them the same painful boils with which He had afflicted the Egyptians (Deut. 28:27, 35).

6. The fact that God allowed Pharaoh to be the ruler of Egypt, was longsuffering toward him, and mercifully spared his life doesn’t imply that God was to blame for Pharaoh’s decisions. When God isn’t allowed to rule, then He overrules and always accomplishes His purposes. However, He doesn’t deprive people of the privilege of choice, nor does He deny human responsibility. The Jews couldn’t blame God for what Pharaoh did, nor could Pharaoh absolve himself of responsibility.

7. The Jews considered thunder to be the voice of God (Ps. 29; John 12:29), and thunder often accompanied the great works of God (Ex. 19:19; 20:18; 1 Sam. 7:10; 12:17).

8. Pharaoh is one of six people in Scripture who said, “I have sinned” but gave no evidence of true repentance: Balaam (Num. 22:34), Achan (Josh. 7:20), King Saul (1 Sam. 15:24, 30; 26:21), Shimei (2 Sam. 19:20), and Judas (Matt. 27:4). Those who said it and proved their repentance by their obedience were David (2 Sam. 12:13; 24:10, 17; 1 Chron. 21:8, 17; Ps. 51:4) and the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:18, 21).

9. It is this incident that is referred to in Hebrews 11:27. Moses wasn’t afraid of the wrath of Pharaoh as he organized the Jewish people and led them out of Egypt, for he knew that God would defeat Pharaoh and his army.

10. The parallels between the plagues of Egypt and the judgments in the book of Revelation are worth noting: water turned to blood (Rev. 8:8; 16:4–6), frogs (16:13), painful sores (16:2), hail and fire (8:7), locusts (9:3), and terrible darkness (16:10).

CHAPTER 4

1. The phrase all the congregation of Israel (Ex. 12:3) is found here for the first time in the Bible and indicates that God was now looking upon His people as one nation. Passover united the people around the killing of the Lamb (12:6), the putting away of the leaven (v. 19), and the eating of the feast (v. 47).

2. In the book of Revelation, Jesus Christ is called “the Lamb” twenty-eight times, and the Greek word used means “a little pet lamb.” God’s judgment is “the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:16); the bride is “the wife of the Lamb” (21:9); and the throne is “the throne of the Lamb” (22:1, 3). The lamb is a type of Jesus Christ because the New Testament makes this clear. That is the ultimate and important mark of a type. Not everything that people call “types” of Christ really meet the New Testament qualification.

3. Keep in mind that the Jewish day was reckoned from evening to evening. The Passover lamb was slain “between the evenings” on Friday the fourteenth of Nisan, before the arrival of the next day. Israel left Egypt on the fifteenth of Nisan, at night.

4. John 6:51–59 compares our spiritual communion with Christ to feasting on Him. The literal-minded Jews misunderstood this image and thought that Jesus was telling them to eat human flesh and drink blood, but He explained that He was speaking about feeding on His Word (6:63). Peter got the message and expressed it clearly (vv. 66–68). To call John 6 a sermon on the Lord’s Supper (Communion, Eucharist) is to miss the point completely. Why would Jesus discuss a “family matter” like the Lord’s Supper with an unbelieving Jewish crowd when He hadn’t even mentioned the subject to His own disciples?

5. “And thy house” in Acts 16:31 doesn’t mean that the father’s faith would automatically save his children, but that the children could claim the same promise as their father and be saved. However, the statement reveals God’s special concern for families. He wants the children to believe and be saved.

6. This practice started about the second century before Christ. The four passages copied were Exodus 13:1–10, 11–16; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; 11:13–21. The English word phylactery is a transliteration of the Greek word phulakterion, meaning “an amulet, safeguard, means of protection.” It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word for these little boxes—tephillin—which means “prayers.”

7. When Israel got too friendly with the Midianites, it led to divine judgment and 24,000 people died. See Numbers 25.

CHAPTER 5

1. George Morrison, Sunrise: Addresses from a City Pulpit (London: Hodder and Stoughton), 66.

2. A. W. Tozer, That Incredible Christian (Christian Publications: 1964), 44–46.

3. If you consult more than one Bible atlas, you’ll discover that Old Testament scholars don’t agree on the exact route of the exodus. For one thing, they aren’t sure where some of the cities were located that are mentioned in the text (Ex. 14:2). A second factor is that the Hebrew yam suph, usually translated “Red Sea,” can also be translated “sea of reeds,” that is, one of the smaller bodies of water north of Succoth. One of the best discussions is found in The Moody Atlas of Bible Lands by Berry J. Beitzel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1985), 85–93.

4. Starting with Genesis 15:1 and ending with Revelation 1:17, the “fear not” statements of the Bible are a profitable study.

5. In the New Testament, the word exodus describes our Lord’s passion and work of redemption on the cross (Luke 9:31; “decease” in KJV) as well as the death and homegoing of the believer (2 Peter 1:15). Jesus saw His suffering as a “baptism” (Luke 12:50), when “all the waves and billows” of God’s judgment went over Him (Ps. 42:7 NKJV).

6. Some Bible students believe that Psalm 118 was sung at the laying of the foundation of the second temple, as recorded in Ezra 3:8–13. Compare verse 11 with Psalm 118:1–4, and note how the entire psalm parallels the experiences of the Jewish remnant in the land, especially verses 10–14 and verses 18–23.

7. The emphasis in Isaiah 11—12 is on the future regathering of Israel to their land and the glorious kingdom of Messiah. Isaiah 11:15 even pictures a “second exodus” and a drying up of the sea to allow the Jews to cross. It will be a happy time for Israel, and they will sing to the Lord as they did at the Red Sea.

8. In heaven, the tribulation saints will sing “the song of Moses … and the song of the Lamb” (Rev. 15). Israel sang by an earthly sea, but they will sing by the heavenly “sea of glass, mingled with fire.” Israel sang after seeing God’s judgments poured out on one nation, but the heavenly saints sing before the angels pour out the seven bowls of wrath on the whole world. In both instances, God’s power is revealed and God’s name is glorified.

9. Of course, God is spirit and as such doesn’t have a body, so the mentioning of His hand and His nostrils is simply figurative poetic language. Theologians call this “anthropomorphism,” the use of human characteristics to describe divine attributes and actions.

10. Why Miriam is called “the sister of Aaron” rather than “Moses and Aaron” is a puzzle. Both Aaron and Miriam were older than Moses and had no doubt been together in Egypt while Moses was in Midian, and therefore were close to each other. Perhaps phrasing it like this was one way Moses had to show that his sister in her leadership was identified with Aaron the priest, perhaps as a director of praise, and not with Moses the prophet. When she and Aaron stepped out of line, God chastened them (Num. 12). This is the only place in Exodus where she is mentioned by name, although we assume it was Miriam who guarded the baby Moses (Ex. 2:1–10).

11. For other biblical prophetesses, see Judges 4:4; 2 Kings 22:14; Nehemiah 6:14; Isaiah 8:3; Luke 2:36; and Acts 21:9. In his Pentecostal sermon, Peter quoted Joel 2:28–32 and affirmed that the coming of the Spirit would enable their sons and daughters to prophesy (Acts 2:17–18). Not all Bible students agree that the gift of prophecy is still in the church, especially now that we have the completed Word of God. The danger in the church is not false prophets but false teachers (2 Peter 2:1; 1 Tim. 4:1–2).

CHAPTER 6

1. Often after a great victory of faith, the Lord permits a trial to come to test us. When Abraham arrived in the Promised Land, he discovered a famine (Gen. 12:10), and after the glorious occasion of His baptism, our Lord was tempted by Satan in the wilderness (Matt. 3:13—4:11). Elijah won a great victory on Mount Carmel, but after that faced a trial of faith (1 Kings 18—19).

2. This is one of several “compound names” of the Lord found in the Old Testament. See Genesis 22:13–14; Exodus 17:15; Judges 6:24; Jeremiah 23:6; Ezekiel 48:35.

3. A type is an Old Testament person, object, institution, ritual, or event that points to a spiritual truth yet to be revealed. There are many Old Testament “illustrations” of New Testament spiritual truth, but in order to be true types, those illustrations must be authorized by the New Testament. For example, the relationship between Ruth and Boaz illustrates the love between Christ and the church, but nowhere does the New Testament call this a type. The same is true of Joseph, who in many ways reminds us of Jesus Christ. Some scholars call these “inferred types” because they parallel so many New Testament truths. Besides the manna, other types of Christ include Adam (Rom. 5:14), Melchizedek (Gen. 14; Heb. 5—7), the lamb (Ex. 12; John 1:29), and the brazen serpent (Num. 21:8–9; John 3:14). The Jewish sacrificial system is a type of the sacrifice of Christ (Heb. 10:1–18), as are the rituals and furnishings of the tabernacle and temple (Heb. 8).

4. Jesus wasn’t speaking about the Communion (Lord’s Supper, Eucharist) when He spoke about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. He hadn’t even instituted the Lord’s Supper for His disciples, so why would He discuss it with a congregation of rebellious unconverted Jews? He was using metaphorical language to explain spiritual truth, and the people took it literally, as they often did (John 2:19–21; 3:4; 4:11, 32; 8:30–36; 11:11–13).

5. Paul used the gathering of the manna as an illustration of Christian giving (2 Cor. 8:13–15). Each person in the Corinthian church would bring what God had directed him to give, and when it was all put together, it met the needs.

CHAPTER 7

1. David’s men thought of stoning him when they all came home and found their families and possessions gone (1 Sam. 30:1–6). How this would have solved the problem is a mystery. The Jewish people wanted to stone Jesus (John 8:59; 10:31), and they actually did stone Stephen (Acts 7:58).

2. This miracle must not be confused with a similar one described in Numbers 20:1–13, even though the name Meribah is used in both accounts (Ex. 17:7; Num. 20:13). The Israelites caused contention on more than one occasion!

3. The rabbis had a tradition that the rock Moses smote accompanied the Jews throughout their wilderness journey and provided water, but there’s no biblical basis for this. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul said that it was the spiritual rock that accompanied them, not a literal rock, and that Christ was that spiritual Rock.

4. The book of Hebrews uses the experiences of the people of Israel to illustrate the important spiritual truth that it is by faith we enter into our inheritance and enjoy what God has planned for us. At Kadesh-Barnea, Israel refused to obey God and enter the land, so they stayed in the wilderness for thirty-eight more years until that unbelieving older generation died. It’s because of unbelief that God’s people today miss God’s best for their lives. Our task is to hear His voice (the Word), believe what He says, and obey His will. He will take care of the rest.

5. For an exposition of the book of Joshua, see my book Be Strong (David C. Cook).

6. This is probably not the Hur whose son constructed the tabernacle (Ex. 31:2; 35:30; 38:22; 1 Chron. 2:19–20). See Exodus 24:14. Jewish tradition says he was married to Miriam and therefore was brother-in-law to Moses and Aaron, but there’s no biblical evidence for this.

7. The Greek verb gives us our English word agonize and was applied to athletes striving for victory (1 Cor. 9:25) and soldiers fighting a battle (1 Tim. 6:12). The NIV translates it “wrestling in prayer for you.”

8. The NIV margin reads “Because a hand was against the throne of the Lord,” referring to the attack of the Amalekites. The ASV margin agrees, “Because there is a hand against the throne of Jehovah.” This would explain why God declared perpetual war on the Amalekites, for they had arrogantly attacked the God of Israel. The NRSV translates the phrase “a hand upon the banner,” suggesting that the Jews “lay hold of God” by faith whenever they find themselves attacked. Banners were used to rally the troops (Isa. 13:2), declare war (31:9), alert the army (Jer. 51:12, 27), and declare victory (Ex. 17:15).

9. See Exodus 24:4, 7; 34:27; Numbers 33:1–2; Deuteronomy 25:17–19; 31:9, 24.

10. We have met Gershom (“stranger, alien”) in Exodus 2:22, but 18:4 is the first time the younger son Eliezer (“my God is my help”) is mentioned in the Bible. Like the names Joseph gave to his two sons (Gen. 41:50–52), the names of Moses’ sons reflected his own experience: an alien in the land, but with God’s help, a conqueror.

11. Numbers 31:14, 28 indicate that the army was organized on a similar plan. See 1 Samuel 22:7; 1 Chronicles 12.

12. Since Israel was a strong patriarchal society, the emphasis is on men, but throughout Scripture, the Lord called and used many gifted women to serve Him and His people

CHAPTER 8

1. The biblical record from Exodus 19:1 through Numbers 10:10 tells what happened in the camp during the eleven months the Jews were at Sinai. Moses received the law and shared it with the people; the workers constructed the tabernacle and its furnishings; the priesthood was established and instructed; and the people were numbered and the tribes organized for their march to Kadesh-Barnea.

2. See Exodus 5:1; 7:16; 8:1, 20; 9:1, 13; 10:3, 26.

3. It seems that eight times Moses went up the mountain and met with God and then descended to speak to the people. Some of the ascents and descents are implied because you find Moses addressing either God or the nation.

Ascended	Descended
19:3	19:7 (implied)
19:8	19:14
19:20	19:25
20:21	24:1–3 (implied)
24:9, 13, 15, 18	32:15
32:31	33:4 (inferred)
33:12 (inferred)	34:1–3 (inferred)
34:4	34:29

4. The eagle is identified with Israel not only in the matter of their deliverance from Egypt (Ex. 19:4) and their maturity (Deut. 32:11–12), but also with reference to their release from Babylonian captivity (Isa. 40:31) and their future safety during the time of Jacob’s trouble described in Revelation 6—19 (12:13–14).

5. Some students believe that the parable of the treasure (Matt. 13:44) refers especially to Israel, God’s treasure. On the cross, Jesus purchased the field (“the world,” 13:38) and “hid” Israel in it until that time when the promises will be fulfilled and the nation will enter the messianic kingdom.

6. The admonition for the men not to have intercourse with their wives (Ex. 19:15) does not in any way imply that the act is defiling. Later, when Moses expounded the law, he would deal with this matter (Lev. 15:16–18).

7. The section from Exodus 20:22—23:33 is known as “the book of the covenant” and was ratified through sacrifices by Moses and the people (24:1–8; Heb. 9:18–22). “The book of the covenant” was an expansion and application of some of the Ten Commandments to the life of the Jewish people.

8. Jesus didn’t point the rich young ruler to the law to tell him how to be saved but to convince him that he needed to be saved (Mark 10:17–31). The only person who perfectly kept the law was Jesus Christ, and He did it for us.

9. The law is a yoke that burdens us (Gal. 5:1; Acts 15:10), but the yoke of Christ gives us rest (Matt. 11:28–30). The law is a debt we can’t pay, so Christ paid it for us (Luke 7:36–50; Col. 2:14). Living under law means living in the shadows (Col. 2:16–17; Heb. 8:4–5; 10:1), but trusting Christ means living in the light of reality (John 8:12; 1 John 1:5–10).

10. For the origin of polytheism and idolatry, read Romans 1:18–32.

11. The prohibition against making idols doesn’t interfere with mankind’s right to artistic creative expression. The Jews were commanded to make a beautiful tabernacle and later a beautiful temple, and in both of them there were objects patterned after things in God’s creation. To create artistic things is one matter; to worship them is quite something else.

12. The promise in verse 12 is initially for the nation, assuring the Jews that obedience would keep them in their land a long time, but in Ephesians 6:1–3 Paul applied it to individual believers.

13. We have barely scratched the surface in our study of this important portion of Scripture. For further study, see: The Ten Commandments, by R. W. Dale (Hodder and Stoughton, 1910); The Ten Commandments for Today, by William Barclay (Harper & Row, 1973); Playing by the Rules, by D. Stuart Briscoe (Revell, 1986); Lifelines: The Ten Commandments for Today, by Edith Schaeffer (Crossway, 1982); Foundations for Reconstruction, by Elton Trueblood (Word paperback edition, 1972); The Ten Commandments, by Thomas Watson (Banner of Truth, 1965); and The Eleven Commandments, by Lehman Strauss (Loizeaux, 1955).

CHAPTER 9

1. See John 1:18; 5:37; 6:46; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16; Hebrews 11:27.

2. Jacques Ellul, The Humiliation of the Word (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1985), 86. The entire chapter (“Idols and the Word”) is an insightful discussion of the dangers involved in replacing hearing the Word with trying to “see” something remarkable from God or about God. God is incomprehensible and “wholly other,” and we can’t begin to understand His nature or His will apart from what He chooses to say to us. An idol is not only a substitute for the person of God but also for the Word of God.

3. Abraham Joshua Heschel, I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology, Samuel H. Dresner, editor (New York: Crossroad, 1996), 73. It’s unfortunate that, in Jesus’ day, some of the scribes and Pharisees had made an idol of the Scriptures and failed to know the God of the Scriptures (John 5:37–47).

4. Well-to-do men sometimes had concubines who were looked upon as legal but “secondary” wives. The law protected them from being classified as ordinary slaves and saw to it they were given their rights (Deut. 21:10–14).

5. The Latin word talis means “such like” and gives us the English word retaliate, which means “to pay back in kind.” The lex talionis (“law of retaliation”) was a principle that kept people from taking revenge and requiring more punishment than the crime demanded, as it were, killing a mosquito with a cannon.

6. As far as the criminal courts are concerned, the goal is to free the innocent and condemn the guilty, but when it comes to our relationship to God, there are no innocent people. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). But in His grace, because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, God can declare righteous any guilty sinner who believes on Jesus Christ (4:5). God justifies the wicked and so changes them that they don’t live wicked lives anymore!

7. Because of this law, orthodox Jews will not have milk and meat together at a meal.

CHAPTER 10

1. God is both transcendent and immanent, high above us and close to us, and we must maintain a balanced outlook in our theology and our worship. If we overemphasize the transcendent, we may try to worship a God so far away that He’s beyond helping us, but if we stress only the immanent, we may try to be so unduly familiar with God that we fail to honor His greatness. The secret is balance.

2. The Old Testament tabernacle had many different names, including: the tent of meeting (Ex. 27:21), the tabernacle of the LORD (Lev. 17:4), the tent/tabernacle of testimony (Num. 1:50; 9:15), the sanctuary of the LORD (19:20), the house of God (Judg. 18:31), the house of the LORD (1 Sam. 1:7), and the temple of the LORD (v. 9).

3. When the Jews entered the Promised Land, the ark was first located in Gilgal (Josh. 4:19; 9:6), but then Shiloh became its home (9:27; 18:1; 19:51; 22:12; Judg. 21:12; 1 Sam. 4—5). The Philistines returned the ark to Kiriath-Jearim, where it stayed for twenty years (1 Sam. 6:21—7:2). After David’s aborted attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem, it was placed in the house of Obed-Edom for three months (2 Sam. 6:1–11) and then was brought to Jerusalem (vv. 12–19). David’s great desire was to build a beautiful house for the ark, but God chose his son Solomon instead (2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 17). The last time we meet the ark in Scripture is in the heavenly temple (Rev. 11:19). In that context, it is a symbol of the faithfulness of God to keep His covenant with His people, and an assurance that His law will be vindicated and His glory revealed.

4. The Hebrew text doesn’t have the word ephah in verse 5, so we really don’t know how much flour was used for each loaf. If the measure was indeed an ephah, then each loaf was made from about four quarts of flour—and that’s a large loaf! Could two rows of six loaves that large fit on such a small table? Or were the six loaves stacked on top of one another?

5. The Hebrew text of Exodus 27:20 reads “that they may be kept burning continually.”

CHAPTER 11

1. These are not prayers offered by people in heaven who have been “made saints” and through whom people on earth can pray. All who have trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior are saints (set-apart ones) and have the privilege of prayer. The two passages in the book of Revelation teach us that no true prayer of faith offered by God’s children is ever lost but will be answered in God’s way and God’s time.

2. What is traditionally called the “Lord’s Prayer” should be called the “Disciple’s Prayer,” because our Lord could never pray it. He never said “Our Father” in His prayers, and He certainly didn’t need to ask for the forgiveness of sin! This prayer can be prayed meaningfully, from the heart, but it must not be recited carelessly like a religious charm. Basically, this prayer gives us a pattern to follow: God’s concerns come first (Matt. 6:9–10) before we bring our own requests (vv. 11–13). Our own personal requests must be tested by whether or not we’re sincerely concerned about honoring God’s name, hastening God’s kingdom, and doing God’s will. Prayer isn’t getting our will done in heaven; it’s getting God’s will done on earth.

3. All of our speech is to be “seasoned with salt” (Col. 4:6), which suggests that we ought to speak to people with the same holy reverence that we speak to God, for He hears what we say. The ability we have to speak to one another is as much a sacred gift of God as the privilege of prayer. Note how David connects the two in Psalm 141:1–3.

4. For an exposition of the meaning of the sacrifices listed in Leviticus 1—7, see my book Be Holy (David C. Cook).

5. In washing their feet, our Lord also taught the disciples the importance of humble service to one another. They occasionally wanted to seek the highest places, but Jesus gave them an example of taking the lowest place.

6. Blue, purple, and scarlet are found together twenty-four times in the book of Exodus. The priestly garments include gold, blue, and purple (28:6, 15; 39:2, 5, 8).

CHAPTER 12

1. The doctrine of “the priesthood of believers” is a precious one, for it means that each believer has the privilege of entering into God’s presence to worship, pray, and seek God’s will. Note that Peter speaks of the priesthood collectively (“a holy priesthood … a royal priesthood, a holy nation”), even though he writes to believers in five different provinces (1 Peter 1:1). It’s dangerous for a believer to separate himself or herself from the rest of God’s people and hope to learn the will of God. We belong to one another and we need one another. Isolated priests can become troublemakers in the church.

2. The Jewish priesthood belonged to the order of Aaron, while the priesthood of Christ belongs to the order of Melchizedek (Heb. 5:1–10; 7:1—8:13). Melchizedek was both a king and a priest (Gen. 14:18–24; Ps. 110:4), while Aaron was only a priest. When King Uzziah tried to force himself into the priesthood, God smote him with leprosy (2 Chron. 26:16–23), for the two offices of king and priest weren’t united until the priestly ministry of Christ. The Aaronic priests never finished their work, because the blood of bulls and goats couldn’t take away sin, but Christ finished the work of redemption by shedding His own blood. The tabernacle had no chairs for the priests to rest, but Jesus has sat down on the throne in heaven because He finished His work. The Old Testament high priests died and had to be replaced, but Jesus lives forever by the power of an endless life (Heb. 7:16). See my book Be Confident for an exposition of Hebrews 6—10.

3. The jewels on the high priest’s shoulders and on the breastplate remind us that our High Priest in heaven carries us on His shoulders and over His heart. He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities and gives us the grace we need when we come to His throne and ask for help (Heb. 2:17–18; 4:14–16; 7:25–28).

4. It is sometimes said that on the Day of Atonement, the bells indicated to the people outside that the high priest was still alive and God had accepted the sacrifices. But the high priest didn’t wear his beautiful robes on the Day of Atonement, but only simple linen garments of humiliation (Lev. 16:4), so there were no bells tinkling in the tabernacle. He didn’t put on his official robes until after the scapegoat had been released and the high priest had washed himself (Lev. 16:23–24).

CHAPTER 13

1. Phillips Brooks, The Influence of Jesus (London: H. R. Allenson), 191.

2. Some have defended Aaron by saying that the golden calf was supposed to represent God (Ex. 32:4) and not replace Him, but their arguments are weak. It was unlawful for a Jew to make any representation of Jehovah, and Aaron knew it. Unable to control the people, he compromised with them and encouraged their sin.

3. The phrase rose up to play in Exodus 32:6 is described in verses 18–19. Their feast was a demonstration of idol worship with all its sensuality and immorality. The word naked in verse 25 can also mean “to cast off restraint.” Aaron allowed the people to do whatever they wanted to do, and their evil hearts took over.

4. At least three times in his career, Moses put the people of God ahead of his own interests. In Egypt, he gave up his future as a royal prince to identify with the people of God in their trials (Heb. 11:24–26). On Mount Sinai, he refused God’s offer to make a new nation out of him and his descendants (Ex. 32:10), and he refused the same offer a second time at Kadesh-Barnea (Num. 14:1–20). Moses made his mistakes, but by every measure you can find, he was a great man and a great leader.

5. In Scripture, committing sin is sometimes compared to eating and drinking. (See Job 15:16; 20:12–19; Ps. 109:18; Prov. 4:17; 9:17; 18:8; 20:17; 26:22.)

6. The “Book of Life” is the book in which the names of the living are recorded and then blotted out when they die. See Psalms 9:5; 69:28. It must not be confused with the Lamb’s Book of Life that records the names of the saved (Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 20:15; 21:27). An unforgiven sinner was in danger of being killed by the Lord (2 Sam. 12:13). Paul was willing to be eternally condemned for the sake of the Jews (Rom. 9:3), and Jesus did die and suffer judgment for the sake of His people as well as the whole world (Isa. 53:4–6, 8).

7. Truly spiritual people don’t recognize their own godliness but usually feel as though they’re failures and far from what they ought to be. At Pentecost (Acts 2), each believer could see the tongues of fire above the other believers’ heads, but not over their own heads.

8. The Greek word for “transformed” in 2 Corinthians 3:18 is “transfigured,” as in Matthew 17:2. It describes the glory on the inside being revealed on the outside. Moses only reflected the glory of God; the dedicated believer radiates the glory of God. Unlike Moses, we don’t wear a veil when we come to God’s Word because we have nothing to hide.

9. The statement in Exodus 40:33 “So Moses finished the work” reminds us of Christ’s prayer in John 17:4 and His cry from the cross, “It is finished” (19:30), as well as Paul’s words, “I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). How important it is in the Christian life to end well.