Exodus 5

Exodus 5

Exodus 5:1 After that, Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “This is what Yahveh – the God of Israel – says, ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a feast to me in the open country.'”

Exodus 5:2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is Yahveh, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know Yahveh, and I will not also let Israel go.”

Exodus 5:3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the open country that we may sacrifice to Yahveh our God, or else he will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”

Exodus 5:4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.”

Exodus 5:5 And Pharaoh said, “Notice, the people of the land are now many, and you are making them rest from their burdens!”

Exodus 5:6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the slavedrivers of the people and their foremen,

Exodus 5:7 “You will no longer provide straw for the people to make bricks, as you have in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves.

Exodus 5:8 But you will impose on them the same number of bricks that they made in the past, you will not reduce it, because they are lazy. Therefore, they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’

Exodus 5:9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

Exodus 5:10 So the slavedrivers and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw.

Exodus 5:11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.'”

Exodus 5:12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.

Exodus 5:13 The slavedrivers pressed them, and this is what they said, “Finish your work, your daily task each day, just as when there was straw.”

Exodus 5:14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s slavedrivers had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your prescribed task[1] of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”

Exodus 5:15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, and this is what they said “Why do you treat your slaves like this?

Exodus 5:16 No straw is given to your slaves, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And notice, your slaves are beaten; but your own people have failed.”[2]

Exodus 5:17 But he said, “You are lazy, you are lazy; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahveh.’

Exodus 5:18 Go now and get to work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.”

Exodus 5:19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You will not reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.”

Exodus 5:20 They met Moses and Aaron, who stood before them, as they came out from Pharaoh;

Exodus 5:21 and they said to them, “Yahveh look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the eyes of Pharaoh and his slaves and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

Exodus 5:22 Then Moses turned to Yahveh and said, “O LORD, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?

Exodus 5:23 Because since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not stripped your people at all.”


[1]  חֹק = prescribed task. Exodus 5:14; 12:24; 15:25, 26; 18:16, 20; 29:28; 30:21.

[2] חָטָא = fail. Exodus 5:16; 9:27, 34; 10:16; 20:20; 23:33; 29:36; 32:30, 31, 33.0; 29:28; 30:21.

Exodus 5 quotes:

“Here Moses was, finally doing God’s will God’s way. And what happened? Everything went wrong! Pharaoh rejected his request and tightened the screws of oppression on the Hebrews. Even Moses’ people turned against him, faulting him for their increased labors.”

Swindoll, Charles R., and William D. Watkins. Moses, God’s Man for a Crisis Bible Study Guide from the Bible-Teaching Ministry of Charles R. Swindoll. Insight for Living ; Distributed by Word, Educational Products Division, 1985. p. 62.

“First, Moses went to the source of the enslavement he wanted to destroy—the Pharaoh (Exodus 5:1). We too must go the sources of the slavery we want to end. If our children are being oppressed by false philosophies in their schools, then we must go to the school boards with our complaints instead of talking behind their backs. If laws in our communities are inadequate or unfair, then let us go to the sources of these laws to seek changes.”

Staton, Knofel. Struggle for Freedom. New Life Books, 1977. p. 29.

“Exodus 5 sees the full engagement of the conflict concerning who was in control and who would be served. The Egyptian perspective was that the hierarchy of service went as follows: Pharaoh — other gods > Egyptians > other peoples including the Hebrews. The book of Exodus has another perspective: Yahweh — Moses, Aaron, and the Hebrews > Pharaoh. The conflict between these two political models will not be resolved until 12:31-33, when Pharaoh says, “Leave … Go, worship the LORD.” Here in Exodus 5, however, the pharaoh wins the first round. Moses is in the midst of the fray when God renews his call in Exodus 6. God does not leave him without guidance when Moses seeks the face of the Lord.”

Bruckner, James K. Exodus. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster, 2008. p. 62.

Exodus 5 links:

behind the scenes
Exodus- pressure
resistance to the miracle


Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, March 11, 2021


EXODUS in Jeff’s library

Exodus 4

Exodus 4

Exodus 4:1 Then Moses answered, “But notice,[1] they will not believe me or listen to my voice, because they will say, ‘Yahveh did not appear to you.'”

Exodus 4:2 Yahveh said to him, “What is this in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”

Exodus 4:3 And he said, “Throw it to the ground.” So, he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake,[2] and Moses ran from it.

Exodus 4:4 But Yahveh said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail” – so he put out his hand and held it strongly,[3] and it became a staff in his hand-

Exodus 4:5 “that they may believe that Yahveh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”

Exodus 4:6 Again, Yahveh said to him, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” And he put his hand inside his shirt, and when he took it out, he noticed his hand was leprous like snow.

Exodus 4:7 Then God said, “Put your hand back inside your shirt.” So, he put his hand back inside his shirt, and when he took it out, he noticed it was restored like the rest of his flesh.

Exodus 4:8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or listen to the first sign, they may believe the latter sign.

Exodus 4:9 If they will not believe even these two signs or listen to your voice, you will take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground, and the water that you will take from the Nile will become blood on the dry ground.”

Exodus 4:10 But Moses said to Yahveh, “Oh, my Lord, I am not articulate, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your slave,[4] but I am heavy of speech and of tongue.”

Exodus 4:11 Then Yahveh said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, Yahveh?

Exodus 4:12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you will speak.”

Exodus 4:13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

Exodus 4:14 Then the anger of Yahveh was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Notice, he is coming out to meet you, and when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.

Exodus 4:15 You will speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and will teach you both what to do.

Exodus 4:16 He will speak for you to the people, and he will be your mouth, and you will be as God to him.

Exodus 4:17 And take into your hand this staff, with which you will do the signs.”

Exodus 4:18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and asked him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro told Moses, “Go in peace.”

Exodus 4:19 And Yahveh had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who were seeking your throat are dead.”

Exodus 4:20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

Exodus 4:21 And Yahveh said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see to all the miracles before Pharaoh that I have put in your power. But I will make his heart strong, so that he will not let the people go.

Exodus 4:22 Then you will say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what Yahveh says, Israel is my firstborn son,

Exodus 4:23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, notice, I will kill your firstborn son.'”

Exodus 4:24 At a lodging place on the way Yahveh met him and sought to put him to death.

Exodus 4:25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!”

Exodus 4:26 So he let him alone. It was at that time that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.

Exodus 4:27 Yahveh had told Aaron, “Go into the open country to meet Moses.” So, he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.

Exodus 4:28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of Yahveh with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do.

Exodus 4:29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel.

Exodus 4:30 Aaron spoke all the words that Yahveh had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.

Exodus 4:31 And the people believed; and when they heard that Yahveh had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.


[1] הֵן = notice. Exodus 4:1; 5:5; 6:12, 30; 8:26.

[2] נָחָשׁ = snake. Exodus 4:3; 7:15.

[3]חָזַק = be strong, strongly. Exodus 4:4, 21; 7:13, 22; 8:19; 9:2, 12, 35; 10:20, 27; 11:10; 12:33; 14:4, 8, 17; 19:19.

[4] עֶבֶד = slave. Exodus 4:10; 5:15, 16, 21; 7:10, 20; 8:3, 4, 9, 11, 21, 24, 29, 31; 9:14, 20, 21, 30, 34; 10:1, 6, 7; 11:3, 8; 12:30, 44; 13:3, 14; 14:5, 31; 20:2, 10, 17; 21:2, 5, 7, 20, 26, 27, 32; 32:13.

Exodus 4 quotes:

“What has God put in your hand? It might be a gift or a talent or a resource that you don’t think very much of. Moses didn’t walk around admiring the rod he carried in his hand. But God used it for great glory. You may think God has to put something new or different in your hand before He can use you. But right now, God has put something in your hand that He can use. You have some gift, some interest, some ability that marks your life. God wants to ask you the same question He asked Moses: “What is that in your hand?” The answer may reveal how God wants to use you today.”

Guzik, David. Free and Clear. Enduring Word Media, 2004. p. 25.

“In Exodus 4:16 God tells Moses that when Aaron speaks for him he shall be to Aaron as God. This is a remarkable assertion. It reveals in part the process of divine revelation. God will be with the mouth of Moses so that Moses will speak God’s Word; Aaron will hear the Word from Moses and speak it to the Israelites and Egyptians. Aaron can only speak what Moses says, and only Aaron will speak what Moses says. As the mouthpiece of -Moses, Aaron is acting as if Moses were God to him. Revelation is God speaking through the mouth of one man to another.”

Ramm, Bernard L. God’s Way out : Finding the Road to Personal Freedom through Exodus. Regal Books, 1987. p. 35.

“Although it is impossible to know exactly what Moses was thinking here, it seems likely there were at least two dynamics at work here. First, his words in Exodus 4:13 may have been a last ditch plea based on Moses’ sense of his insufficiency for the task set before him. But I think there is something else going on here. Moses’ words also display fear, stubbornness, recalcitrance, lack of faithfulness, and his self-centeredness. After all of God’s promises, Moses is still focusing on himself and his insufficiencies. God was not pleased. In Exodus 4:14 we learn that “the Lord’s anger burned against Moses.” In the verses that follow, God graciously offers Aaron to serve as Moses” mouthpiece, once again displaying to Moses that God’s ‘power is sufficient. But while God was gracious to Moses,”

Selvaggio, Anthony T. From Bondage to Liberty : The Gospel according to Moses. P&R Publishing, 2014. p. 65.

Exodus 4 links:

changing for the sake of the mission
Exodus- reluctance
sharing his passion
what I cannot do


Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, March 8, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, July 13, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, July 12, 2017


EXODUS in Jeff’s library

Exodus 3

Exodus 3

Exodus 3:1 At that time Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the open country[1] and came to Horeb, God’s mountain.

Exodus 3:2 And the agent[2] of Yahveh[3] appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and noticed the bush was burning, but it was not consumed.

Exodus 3:3 And Moses said, “I will go over to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

Exodus 3:4 When Yahveh saw that he went over to see, God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Notice me.”

Exodus 3:5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, because the place on which you are standing is sacred[4] ground.”

Exodus 3:6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Exodus 3:7 Then Yahveh said, “I have certainly seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their slavedrivers.[5] I know their sufferings,

Exodus 3:8 and I have come down to strip them from the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and extensive land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place now possessed by Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Exodus 3:9 And now, notice, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.

Exodus 3:10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may rescue my people, the sons of Israel, from Egypt.”

Exodus 3:11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and rescue the sons of Israel from Egypt?”

Exodus 3:12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this will be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have rescued the people from Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.”

Exodus 3:13 Then Moses said to God, “Notice, if I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”

Exodus 3:14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.'”

Exodus 3:15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, Yahveh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my permanent[6] name, and this is how I am to be remembered for all generations.

Exodus 3:16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, “Yahveh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, and this is what he said, “I have seen you and what has been done to you in Egypt,

Exodus 3:17 and I promise that I will bring you up from the trouble of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and honey.”‘

Exodus 3:18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of Israel will go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘Yahveh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the open country, so that we may sacrifice to Yahveh our God.’

Exodus 3:19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless forced by a mighty hand.

Exodus 3:20 So I will stretch out my hand and hit Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.

Exodus 3:21 And I will give this people favor[7] in the eyes of the Egyptians; and when you go, you will not go empty,

Exodus 3:22 but each woman will ask of her neighbor, and any woman who lives as a guest in her house, for silver and gold jewelry, and for clothing. You will put them on your sons and on your daughters. This is how you will strip the Egyptians.”


[1] מִדְבָּר = open country. Exodus 3:1, 18; 4:27; 5:1, 3; 7:16; 8:27, 28; 13:18, 20; 14:3, 11, 12; 15:22; 16:1, 2, 3, 10, 14, 32; 17:1; 18:5; 19:1, 2; 23:31.

[2] מַלְאָךְ = agent. Exodus 3:2; 14:19; 23:20, 23; 32:34; 33:2.

[3] יָהְוֶה = Yahveh. Exodus 3:2, 4, 7, 15, 16, 18; 4:1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 30, 31; 5:1, 2, 3, 17, 21, 22; 6:1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 26, 28, 29, 30; 7:1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 25; 8:1, 5, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31; 9:1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 33, 35; 10:1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27; 11:1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10; 12:1, 11, 12, 14, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 36, 41, 42, 43, 48, 50, 51; 13:1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 21; 14:1, 4, 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 31; 15:1, 3, 6, 11, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 25, 26; 16:3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 23, 25, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34; 17:1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 14, 15, 16; 18:1, 8, 9, 10, 11; 19:3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24; 20:2, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 22; 22:11, 20; 23:17, 19, 25; 24:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 16, 17; 25:1; 27:21; 28:12, 29, 30, 35, 36, 38; 29:11, 18, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 41, 42, 46; 30:8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 22, 34, 37; 31:1, 12, 13, 15, 17; 32:5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35; 33:1, 5, 7, 11, 12, 17, 19, 21; 34:1, 4, 5, 6, 10, 14, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 32, 34; 35:1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 21, 22, 24, 29, 30; 36:1, 2, 5; 38:22; 39:1, 5, 7, 21, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 42, 43; 40:1, 16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, 32, 34, 35, 38.

[4] קֹדֶשׁ = sacred. Exodus 3:5; 12:16; 15:11, 13; 16:23; 22:31; 26:33, 34; 28:2, 4, 29, 35, 36, 38, 43; 29:6, 29, 30, 33, 34, 37; 30:10, 13, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37; 31:10, 11, 14, 15; 35:2, 19, 21; 36:1, 3, 4, 6; 37:29; 38:24, 25, 26, 27; 39:1, 30, 41; 40:9, 10, 13.

[5] נָגָשׂ = slavedriver. Exodus 3:7; 5:6, 10, 13, 14.

[6] עוֹלָם = permanent, permanently. Exodus 3:15; 12:14, 17, 24; 14:13; 15:18; 19:9; 21:6; 27:21; 28:43; 29:9, 28; 30:21; 31:16, 17; 32:13; 40:15.

[7] חֵן = favor. Exodus 3:21; 11:3; 12:36; 33:12, 13, 16, 17; 34:9.

Exodus 3 quotes:

“The practice of removing the sandals on entering sacred places, and even houses on visits of courtesy, has ever been, and still is, general in the East.”

Alford Henry. The Book of Genesis and Part of the Book of Exodus : A Revised Version with Marginal References and an Explanatory Commentary. Strahan 1872. p. 229.

“Thus ‘I am that I am,’ God is an ultimate fact ; He cannot be explained by anything else, but only by Himself. And, again, ‘ I am — always — that which I am — now, and always have been,’ as in the New Testament, ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.’

Then. I am, because I am,’ there is no cause for God’s existence outside of Himself.

Then, too, ‘ I am who am,’ God is pure and essential being.

And, again, ‘I will be that I will be,’ or ‘I become that which I will, or choose to, become’; God is lord of His own destiny.”

Bennett, W. H. Exodus: Introduction. New York: H. Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1908. p. 58.

“The third chapter of Exodus is filled with revelation and interaction. It includes a theophany (the appearing of God) and the story of Moses’ call. Moses meets God for the first time in the burning bush, where God calls him to go back to Egypt. We are reminded of the oppression there and hear the first two of Moses’ five objections to God’s call. Exodus 3 gives the name of the Lord, repeats the promise of land to Abraham’s family, and predicts Pharaoh’s resistance. Finally, God promises to do “wonders” until the Egyptians let the people go and send them away with silver, gold, and clothing.”

Bruckner James K. Exodus. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster 2008. p. 39.

Exodus 3 links:

ACST 51- The Regenerator – jeffersonvann
Spring up, Oh Well
Yahveh


Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, July 7, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Friday, March 10, 2023
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Monday, July 10, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Saturday, July 8, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Sunday, July 9, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, March 10, 2021


EXODUS in Jeff’s library

Exodus 2

Exodus 2

Exodus 2:1 Then a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a daughter of Levi.

Exodus 2:2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and seeing that he was special, she concealed him three months.

Exodus 2:3 When she could conceal him no longer, she prepared for him a basket made of papyrus and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.

Exodus 2:4 And his sister stood at a distance to find out what would happen to him.

Exodus 2:5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave,[1] and she took it.

Exodus 2:6 After she opened it, she saw the child, and noticed the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

Exodus 2:7 Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

Exodus 2:8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So, the girl went and called the child’s mother.

Exodus 2:9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So, the woman took the child and nursed him.

Exodus 2:10 When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She called his name Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Exodus 2:11 Then after Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers and saw their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brothers.

Exodus 2:12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and buried him in the sand.

Exodus 2:13 When he went out the next day, notice, two Hebrews were fighting together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?”

Exodus 2:14 He answered, “Who made you an official and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing has been made known.”

Exodus 2:15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses ran[2] from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Exodus 2:16 Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

Exodus 2:17 The shepherds normally came and would drive them away, but Moses stood up and saved[3] them, and watered their flock.

Exodus 2:18 When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “Why have you come home so soon today?”

Exodus 2:19 They said, “An Egyptian rescued us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

Exodus 2:20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.”

Exodus 2:21 And Moses was agreeable to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah.

Exodus 2:22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, because he said, “I have been a foreign guest in a foreign land.”

Exodus 2:23 And after many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue came up to God.

Exodus 2:24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

Exodus 2:25 God saw the sons of Israel – and God knew.


[1] אָמָה = female slave. Exodus 2:5; 20:10, 17; 21:7, 20, 26, 27, 32; 23:12.

[2] בָּרָח = run, run through. Exodus 2:15; 14:5; 26:28; 36:33.

[3] יָשַׁע = save. Exodus 2:17; 14:30.


Exodus 2 quotes:

“The stories of Exodus 2 lead to verses 23-25. The point is that if humans can rescue other humans who are caught in strife, then how much more will the God that we know from Genesis, full of compassion and mercy and who has an established covenant relationship with his people, rescue them? If the daughter of Pharaoh can hear cries and be merciful against the stated will of her father, how much more will God hear, given his stated obligation to Abraham and his descendants? If Moses can see his people’s trouble and the trouble of a group of daughters of a priest of Midian, then how much more so will God, whose nature is to have mercy? If a priest of Midian can take on board a lonely fugitive and give him a home, then how much more so will the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, do so? If humans can do it, how much more so will God? This is the point of this chapter—God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. He looked on the Israelites and he was concerned. Where God ‘remembers’, ‘looks upon’ and ‘is concerned’, we can expect to see action.”

Reid, Andrew. Out of Darkness : Exodus 1- 18. Matthias Media, 2005. p. 15.

“Exodus 2:9 “took the boy and nursed him” Breastfeeding is the natural means planned by the Creator to forge an irrevocable bond between a mother and her child. This providential intervention gave the opportunity for physical and emotional bonding between Moses and his godly mother, giving to him immersion in her faith and values in his earliest, formative years.”

Patterson, Dorothy Kelley, Touched by Greatness : Women in the Life of Moses. Christian Focus, 2011. p. 38.

“Exodus 2 includes Moses’ birth, his amazing deliverance and adoption (2:1-10), his identification with “his” Hebrew people, the killing of an Egyptian, his escape to the land of Midian, his marriage to Zipporah, and the birth of their son, Gershom (vv. 11-22). The chapter concludes with a reminder of the groaning of the people in Egypt and God’s attentive ear (vv. 23-25).”

Bruckner, James K. Exodus. Hendrickson Publishers ; Paternoster, 2008. p. 26.

Exodus 2 links:

as luck would have it
Exodus- God saw and knew
God’s mountain
IN A DREAM #4 – jeffersonvann
preparing for the mission
the Gershom years


Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, July 6, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, March 7, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Wednesday, July 5, 2017


EXODUS in Jeff’s library

DAYS OF A HIRED MAN

DAYS OF A HIRED MAN

Job 7:1-10 NET

1 “Does not humanity have hard service on earth? Are not their days also like the days of a hired man? 2 Like a servant longing for the evening shadow, and like a hired man looking for his wages, 3 thus I have been made to inherit months of futility, and nights of sorrow have been appointed to me. 4 If I lie down, I say, ‘When will I arise?’, and the night stretches on and I toss and turn restlessly until the day dawns. 5 My body is clothed with worms and dirty scabs; my skin is broken and festering. 6 My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle and they come to an end without hope. 7 Remember that my life is but a breath, that my eyes will never again see happiness. 8 The eye of him who sees me now will see me no more; your eyes will look for me, but I will be gone. 9 As a cloud is dispersed and then disappears, so the one who goes down to the grave does not come up again.10 He returns no more to his house, nor does his place of residence know him any more.

We are now well into our reading of Job, and we are discovering that it differs from the other books we’ve read in the Old Testament in many ways. The other books mainly focus on the historical progress of God’s people, from the patriarchs to the establishment and history of Israel. However, Job doesn’t mention Israel at all. Job may have been a patriarch, but there is no effort within the book to establish any historical or ethnic connection with the Hebrew people.

So, why is the book of Job in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible? One reason is that the Old Testament was written to answer questions that God’s people had about life. Some questions didn’t relate to which nation they belonged to. These questions were about the meaning of life, the purpose of living, and how to handle life’s challenges. So, in addition to the Torah and the historical books, a collection of wisdom literature was inspired by the Holy Spirit to address these questions.

Some wisdom literature was created to help people make wise decisions in life. The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes focus on this topic. The Song of Songs—often called the Song of Solomon—highlights the beauty and joy of human love and courtship. God wanted His people to understand that human love is not evil. It is a gift from God and should be celebrated and enjoyed within proper boundaries. Proper relationships with the opposite sex are part of God’s wisdom.

Many people have written books, poems, and stories that fall into the category of wisdom literature. Most of this literature is now gone, lost over time. However, some books and documents have been preserved. The Holy Spirit guided the writing and preservation of the Old Testament wisdom literature so that we can all benefit from it.

Most of the wisdom literature addresses what is known as conventional wisdom. This can be summarized as the belief that doing what is morally right will lead to God’s blessing of health and prosperity. Psalm 1 illustrates this by describing the wise person as a tree planted by the water, thriving and bearing fruit. In contrast, the wicked are the opposite of the wise; they will not endure because they have chosen to walk the path that leads to destruction.

With all these teachings that express conventional wisdom, the LORD saw it necessary to provide another kind of wisdom literature. We needed to understand that although it is generally true that the righteous will be blessed and successful in life, it is also true that sometimes the righteous will not experience that blessing. God has a message for those who suffer. Conventional wisdom offers only one answer to that question: you suffer because you made a mistake, you did something wrong, you committed a sin.

In the book of Job, his so-called friends were experts on the subject of conventional wisdom. They delivered long, drawn-out arguments trying to convince Job that he needed to repent and regain God’s favor. To them, the calamities Job suffered, the pain he experienced, and the losses he faced all pointed to some hidden sin he must have committed. We need to be careful when we read Job because sometimes we are reading those arguments, and the Holy Spirit wants us to see that their arguments are flawed.

The book of Job offers another view on the problem of suffering. In Job’s case, he was suffering not because God was angry with him, but because God was proud of him. Satan received permission to hurt Job because he believed that if Job endured enough pain, he would curse God.

The LORD eventually intervenes and rescues Job, but the main point of Job is not about the rescue. God is sovereign over our lives and has every right to allow us to suffer certain things, even if we are His obedient children. This serves as a helpful exception to the usual understanding of God’s justice.

There are also examples of this exception in the New Testament. One example is recorded in John chapter 9. The disciples encounter a man who was born blind. They ask Jesus who committed the sin that caused this man to suffer the fate of blindness at birth. Did his parents do something wrong, or would he do something wrong during his life, and would God punish him for it before he does it? Jesus told them that suffering was not caused by sin. It was allowed because God wanted to perform a miracle in his life. All suffering is caused by the existence of evil in this world, but it cannot always be traced to a particular evil.

Before he suffered, Job was a textbook example of conventional wisdom. He was a good man, obedient to God and considerate of others. God blessed him with great wealth, excellent health, and high honor. He considered himself a free man. However, through a series of unfortunate events, Job lost all his wealth, health, and honor. Today’s text describes how Job felt about that major reversal. He now saw himself as a hired hand, with someone else calling the shots, and Job did not like that at all.

In this section, Job lists several complaints. His description of the days of the hired man is important because it highlights what it truly means to face hardship. Let’s examine each of those complaints one by one.

Job complains about the WORK of a hired man (1-3a).

After years of living as a wealthy landowner, Job is now experiencing what it’s like to be part of the other half. He used to have an army of servants doing the hard work for him; now, it’s just him. So, he describes human life as “hard service,” and the Hebrew word he uses is the same one often translated as “army.” I know a little about what it means to be a soldier in the army, and it can sometimes be grueling work. One of the things that makes it tough is that you’re not doing what you want to do. You’re under someone else’s command—sometimes a lot of people. It can also be useless work.

Tennessee Ernie Ford sang a song about the work of a hired man. It was called “Sixteen Tons.”

“Some people say a man is made out of mud
A poor man’s made out of muscle and blood
Muscle and blood and skin and bones
A mind that’s weak and a back that’s strong

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter, don’t you call me, ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to the company store.”

All of us want to do what is right and succeed. But we all go through times in life when we ask the same questions Job asks here: Why does it have to be so hard? Why does so much of our effort just lead to more effort tomorrow?

Let’s take a moment to step back and understand what’s happening. This is the Bible—God’s word to us. It tells us that God knows what we are going through and how tough it can get. He understands our nature. He remembers that we are made of dust. He sees our sweat. He hears our moaning. His message to us is not, “Quit your complaining; you deserve what you get.” His message is “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” He told the Israelites, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

Job also complains about the REST of a hired man (3b-4).

He talks about his nights, but he does not spend them resting. He spends them sorrowing. He says, “The night stretches on, and I toss and turn restlessly until the day dawns.” The time he is supposed to rest is full of restlessness. He is consumed by sorrow over his past loss and anxiety about his fears of the future.

God wants His people to rest. He commanded the Israelites to take one full day off each week. They had been slaves, and He understood that they might want to keep working. But He told them to stop what they were doing regularly and trust Him. Why do we struggle so much with resting in the Lord’s presence? God wants us to take our burdens off our backs and give them to Him. Yet, we often want to keep carrying those burdens ourselves.

Job complains about the BODY of a hired man (5)

He says his body is covered with worms and dirty scabs; my skin is broken and oozing. He had spent many years being the picture of health, and now he is the picture of death. Satan was not satisfied with stealing all of Job’s possessions and family. He wanted to steal his health too.

Jesus said that false shepherds are thieves and that all they want to do is steal and kill and destroy, but he came that people might have an abundant life.

We don’t have to go through the same health problems Job faced to see that our bodies often push back against us. As we get older, things tend to stop functioning as they should. We need extra devices to help with weak eyesight, hearing, and even heart issues.

The New Testament tells us that we will receive a new body when Jesus returns. That new body will not grow old or wear out; it is designed for eternity. Job didn’t know all the details about this new body, but he did understand the coming resurrection. He said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that as the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (19:25-26). The only way that could happen is if God raises him from the dead. Job knew that his current mortal body would be replaced by Job 2.0. 

The message is that although our bodies may someday fail us, our God never will. He has a replacement body for us, one that is indestructible and created to glorify Him forever.

Job complains about the END of a hired man  (6-10).

He knows his days are numbered, and it is not a very big number. He is heading for his grave. Someone else will live in his house because he will not be going back there.

Some people teach that death is not real. They believe your body dies, but you keep on living forever somewhere else. That was not what Job believed. His complaint was genuine because death is a fact. The Apostle Paul says that the penalty for sinning is death, and all of us have to pay that bill. The good news is not that death is an illusion. The gospel good news is that a new resurrection life awaits those who put their faith in Christ.

Job experienced a sudden, drastic upheaval in his life. He confronted his mortality, and it didn’t happen gradually. Go outside and look at the clouds, and if you keep watching, they will disperse and disappear. Job’s message is that this is our destiny. Conventional wisdom says that the goal in life is to be wise and successful. Job said that won’t last. We need to understand this. Only by facing our mortality can we learn to look up to God and receive the gift of His grace.

Jesus Christ revealed the promise of resurrection, life, and immortality through the gospel. Job grapples with his mortality, and rightly so—it’s a common struggle for all of us. Yet, we can also cling to his hope of a Redeemer who will come to reclaim us from the grave.

“Many still mourn
And many still weep
For those that they love
Who have fallen asleep
But we have this hope
Though our hearts may still ache
Just one shout from above
And they all will awake

And in the reunion of joy
We will see
Death will be swallowed
In sweet victory

Where is the sting
Tell me, where is the bite
When the grave robber comes
Like a thief in the night
Where is the victory
Where is the prize
When the grave robber comes
And death finally dies”[1]


[1] “Grave Robber” by Petra.