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THE BOOK OF EXODUS,
Chapters 1-40

CHAPTER ONE

 

 

1:8:  “a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph” = Much has been speculated about the specific Pharaoh mentioned here.  However, Stephen gives us a clue when he notes that, “Another king arose who knew not Joseph,” Acts 7:18.  The Greek term used by Stephen here is, “heteros,” which really means, “another of a different kind,” other than, “allos,” which Stephen could have used, which means, “another of the same kind.”  Thus, this Pharaoh was of a different race and dynasty other than of Egyptian heritage.  Josephus also makes mention of this fact when he describes, “the crown being come to another family,” “Antiquities ii,” 9.  It is also possible that this person was the Assyrian mentioned by Isaiah in Isaiah 52:4.

 

“Not that he was ignorant of Joseph’s services to the nation, but he wished to make no recognition of them, and, so far as possible, to bury them in oblivion.”  PP:241.

 

“This new king of Egypt, learned that the children of Israel were of great service to the kingdom.  Many of them were able and understanding workmen, and he was not willing to lose their labor.  This new king ranked the children of Israel with that class of slaves who had sold their flocks, their herds, their lands and themselves to the kingdom.”  3SG:178; 1SP161.

 

1:13 & 14:  “serve with rigour” = The concept of “the Egyptians” meaning all of them might be going a bit to far.  More likely it would refer to those in authority.  However, all of the Egyptians may have been in agreement with the leaders, just as most people believe the news media today.  The propaganda that the Israelites were becoming too strong via numbers was surely being sent out.

 

“[161] They compelled their women to work in the fields, as though they were slaves.  Yet their numbers did not decrease.  As the king and his rulers saw that they continually increased, they consulted together to compel them to accomplish a certain amount every day.  They thought [162] to subdue them with hard labor, and were angry because they could not decrease their numbers, and crush out their independent spirit.”  1SP:161-162.

 

1:16:  “stools” = The Hebrew word used here is “oben,” and is better translated literally as meaning “stone.”  It is also used in Jer. 18:3 which gives us the indication that this is a “round stone,” or “wheel.”  According to the “Fragments to Calmet, Nos.” pages 312-313, this stone seems to signify where women washed their new-born infants.

 

“a son, then ye shall kill him” = “The king commanded that the male children should be killed as soon as they were born.  Satan was the mover in these matters.  He knew that a deliver was to be raised up among the Hebrews to rescue them from oppression.  He thought that if he could move the king to destroy the male children, the purpose of God would be defeated.”  3SG:179.

 

1:19:  “And the midwives said unto Pharaoh” = Apparently there are situations when God blesses a lie (see verse 20).  And those situations are when the circumstances are in order to save lives.  See Joshua 2:4-5 [Heb. 11:31]; First Samuel 20:28-29.

 

1:21:  “He made them houses” = From “Adam Clark’s Bible Commentary:”  “. . .previously to this time the Israelites had no fixed dwellings, but lived in tents, and therefore had a better opportunity of concealing their children; but now Pharaoh built them houses, and obliged them to dwell in them, and caused the Egyptians to watch over them, that all the male children might be destroyed, which could not have been easily effected had the Israelites continued to live in their usual scattered manner in tents.  That the houses in question were not made for the midwives, but for the Israelites in general, the Hebrew text seems pretty plainly to indicate, for the pronoun lahem, to them is the masculine gender; had the midwives been meant, the feminine pronoun lahen would have been used.

 

“Others contend that by making them houses, not only the midwives are intended, but also that the words mark an increase of their families {THIS WOULD BE MY POSITION}, and that the objection taken from the masculine pronoun is of no weight, because these pronouns are often interchanged; see 1Ki. 22:17, where lahem is written, and in the parallel place, 2Ch. 18:16, lahen is used.  So bahem, in 1Ch. 10:7, is written bahen, 1Sa. 31:7, and in several other places.  There is no doubt that God did bless the midwives, His approbation of their conduct is strictly marked; and there can be no doubt of His prospering the Israelites, for it is particularly said that the people multiplied and waxed very mighty.  But the words most probably refer to the Israelites, whose houses or families were built up by an extraordinary in crease of children, notwithstanding the cruel policy of the Egyptian king.  Vain is the counsel of man when opposed to the determinations of God!”

 

And from “John Gill’s Bible Commentary,” we have about the same:  “. . .which some understand of the Israelites making houses for them, being moved to it by the Lord, to preserve them from the insults of the Egyptians; others of Pharaoh building houses for them, in which he kept them, until the Hebrew women came to their time of delivery, who were ordered to be brought to these houses, that it might be known by others, as well as the midwives, whether they brought forth sons or daughters, neither of which is likely:  but rather the sense is, that God made them houses, and hid them from Pharaoh, as Kimchi interprets it, that he might not hurt them, just as he hid Jeremiah and Baruch:  though it seems best of all to understand it of his building up the families of these midwives {AGAIN, MY POSITION}, increasing their number, especially their substance and wealth, making them and their households prosperous in all worldly good; but because the word is in the masculine gender, some choose to interpret it either of the infants themselves, the male children the midwives preserved, and of their being built up families in Israel, or by means of whom they were built up; or of the Israelites themselves, whose houses were built up by their means:  and others are of opinion that material houses or buildings are meant, built for the Israelites, that the midwives might know where to find them and their wives, when ready to lie in, who before lived up and down in fields and tents:  but the sense of God’s building up the families of the midwives is to be preferred, there being an enallage or change of the gender, which is not unusual.”

 

1:22:  “cast into the river” = When Pharaoh saw that his plot had failed, he commanded the Egyptians to kill all the male babies born to the Hebrews.  They were to throw them into the Nile River, probably as an offering to “Hapi,” the god of the Nile, and also a god of fertility.

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

 

2:2:  “goodly” = Actually meaning, “beautiful,” see Acts 7:20.  The Hebrew term “godly,” (“H2896; ob”), describes more than just external beauty.  This word is used, for example, in characterizing God’s handy work during the Creation week, when He declared everything was "good," even "very good" (Gen. 1:4-10 & 31).

 

2:5:  “daughter of Pharaoh” = According to Josephus (“Antiqu.” l. 2. c. 9. sect. 5.) her name was “Thermuthis,” and according to Artapanus, a heathen writer, her name was “Merrhis,” (“Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel.” l. 9. c. 27. p. 432).

 

“And these angels directed the footsteps of Pharaoh’s daughter to the river, near the very spot where lay the innocent little stranger.  Her attention was attracted to the little strange vessel, and she sent one of her waiting-maids to fetch it to her.”  1SP:163.

 

2:8:  “the child’s mother” = Jochebed; see Exodus 6:20; Numbers 26:59.

 

“[163] She believe that God had preserved his life.  Faithfully did she improve the precious opportunity of educating her son in reference to a life of usefulness.  She was [164]

 

“more particular in his instruction than in that of her other children; for she felt confident that he was preserved for some great work.  By her faithful teachings she instilled into his young mind the fear of God, and love for truthfulness and justice.  She did not rest here in her efforts, but earnestly prayed to God for her son that he might be preserved from every corrupting influence.  She taught him to bow and pray to God, the living God, for He alone could hear him and help him in any emergency.  She sought to impress his mind with the sinfulness of idolatry.  She knew that he was to be soon separated from her influence, and given up to his adopted royal mother, to be surrounded with influences calculated to make him disbelieve in the existence of the Maker of the heavens and of the earth.

 

“The instructions he received from his parents were such as to fortify his mind, and shield him from being lifted up and corrupted with sin, and becoming proud amid the splendor and extravagance of court life.  He had a clear mind, and an understanding heart, and never lost the pious impressions he received in his youth.  His mother kept him as long as she could, but was obliged to separate from him when he was about twelve years old, and he then became the son of Pharaoh's daughter.”  1SP:163-164; 3SG:181-182.

 

2:9:  “And the woman took the child, and nursed it” = “How far-reaching in its results was the influence of that one Hebrew woman, and she an exile and a slave!  The whole future life of Moses, the great mission which he fulfilled as the leader of Israel, testifies to the importance of the work of the Christian mother.  There is no other work that can equal this.  To a very great extent, the mother holds in her own hands the destiny of her children.  She is dealing with developing minds and characters, working not alone for time, but for eternity.  She is sowing seed that will spring up and bear fruit, either for good or for evil.  She has not to paint a form of beauty upon canvas or to chisel it from marble, but to impress upon a human soul the image of the Divine.  Especially during their early years the responsibility rests upon her of forming the character of her children.  The impressions now made upon their developing minds will remain with them all through life.  Parents should direct the instruction and training of their children while very young, to the end that they may be Christians.  They are placed in our care to be trained, not as heirs to the throne of an earthly empire, but as kings unto God, to reign through unending ages.

 

“Let every mother feel that her moments are priceless; her work will be tested in the solemn day of accounts.  Then it will be found that many of the failures and crimes of men and women have resulted from the ignorance and neglect of those whose duty it was to guide their childish feet in the right way.  Then it will be found that many who have blessed the world with the light of genius and truth and holiness, owe the principles that were the mainspring of their influence and success to a praying, Christian mother.”  PP:244.

 

“[182] Here Satan was defeated.  By moving Pharaoh to destroy the male children, he thought to turn aside the purpose of God, and destroy the one whom God would raise up to deliver his people.  But that very decree, appointing the Hebrew children to death, [183]

 

“was the means God overruled to place Moses in the royal family where he had advantages to become a learned man, and eminently qualified to lead his people from Egypt.  Pharaoh expected to exalt his adopted grandson to the throne.  He educated him to stand at the head of the armies of Egypt, and lead them to battle.  Moses was a great favorite with Pharaoh’s host, and was honored because he conducted warfare with superior skill and wisdom.  ‘And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.’ [Acts 7:22]. The Egyptians regarded Moses as a remarkable character.”  3SG:182-183.

 

2:10:  “Moses” = The Egyptians call water “Mo,” and those who are rescued from the water “Uses” (Ant. ii. 9, 6, “Whiston’s translation”).  Thus, the name Moses.  However, Moses means, “to draw out,” as the verse states.

 

“The king of Egypt was also a member of the priesthood; and Moses, though refusing to participate in the heathen worship, was initiated into all the mysteries of the Egyptian religion.”  AURA:533; ED:62; RC:327.

 

“she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter” = “Younger than Joseph or Daniel was Moses when removed from the sheltering care of his childhood home; yet already the same agencies that shaped their lives had molded his.  Only twelve years did he spend with his Hebrew kindred; but during these years was laid the foundation of his greatness; it was laid by the hand of one little known to fame.”  RC:327 (see aolso PP:244.1).

 

2:11:  “when Moses was grown” = “Angels instructed Moses that God had chosen him to deliver the children of Israel.  The rulers among the children of Israel were also taught by angels that the time for their deliverance was nigh, and that Moses was the man whom God would use to accomplish this work.  Moses thought that the children of Israel would be delivered by warfare, and that he would stand at the head of the Hebrew host, to conduct the warfare against the Egyptian armies, and deliver his brethren from the yoke of oppression.  Having this in view, Moses guarded his affections, that they might not be strongly placed upon his adopted mother, or upon Pharaoh, lest it should be more difficult for him to remain free to do the will of God.”  1SP:165; 3SG:183; PP:247.

 

“While he (Moses) was sitting under the very shadow of the throne, the Spirit of the Lord stirred his heart to lift the crushing weight that was pressing his brethren into the lowest degradation and slavery.  His heart ached with sorrow, as if he himself were in slavery, laboring in the brick kiln, and sharing their degradation.  They were slaves, suffering under the cruel lash.  They were a reproach and a hissing to all the Egyptians, from Pharaoh down to the lowest serf.”  TMK:22.

 

“[166] The king was interested in Moses, and he commanded that he should be instructed in [167]

 

“the worship of the Egyptians.  This work was committed to the priests, who officiated in the idolatrous feasts observed by the people in honor of their idol gods.  But they could not, by any threats or promises of rewards, prevail upon Moses to engage with them in their heathenish ceremonies.  He was threatened with the loss of the crown, and that he should be disowned by Pharaoh’s daughter, unless he renounced his Hebrew faith.  But he would not renounce his faith.  He was firm to render homage to no object save God, the Maker of the heavens and of the earth, to Whom alone reverence and honor are due.  He even reasoned with the priests and idolatrous worshipers upon their superstitious ceremonial worship of senseless objects.  They could not answer him.  His firmness in this respect was tolerated, because he was the king’s adopted grandson, and was a universal favorite with the most influential in the kingdom.

 

“The Lord preserved Moses from being injured by the corrupting influences around him.  The principles of truth, received in his youth from God-fearing parents, were never forgotten by him.  And when he most needed to be shielded from the corrupting influences attending a life at court, then the lessons of his youth bore fruit.  The fear of God was before him.  And so strong was his love for his brethren, and so great was his respect for the Hebrew faith, that he would not conceal his parentage for the honor of being an heir of the royal family.  1SP:166-167. 

 

2:11-12:  “he slew the Egyptian” = “Moses set about his work by trying to obtain the favor of his people by redressing their wrongs.  He killed an Egyptian who was ill-treating an Israelite.  In this he manifested the spirit of him who was a murderer from the beginning, and proved himself unfit to represent the God of mercy, love, and tenderness.  He made a miserable failure of his first attempt.  Like many another, he immediately lost confidence in God and turned his back on his appointed work.  He fled from the wrath of Pharaoh.  He concluded that because of his mistake, his sin in taking the life of the Egyptian, God would not permit him to have any part in the work of delivering His people from their cruel bondage.  But the Lord permitted him to make this mistake in order that He might be able to teach him the gentleness, goodness, long-suffering, that is necessary for every worker for the Lord to possess.”  ST, July 12, 1905.

 

2:14:  “Surely this thing is known” = Moses did not flee Egypt due to a fear of Pharaoh.  Rather, he left Egypt because he was rejected by his own people as being the savior God would use to get them out of Egypt.

 

“The matter of Moses’ killing the Egyptian was made known to the Egyptians by the envious Hebrew whom Moses reproved.  And when it reached Pharaoh it was greatly exaggerated.  And the Egyptians told Pharaoh that Moses designed to make war with the Egyptians, and to overcome them, and rule himself as king.  Pharaoh was exceedingly angry.  He thought that this conduct of Moses meant much, and that there was no safety for his kingdom while he lived.”  1SP:167; 3SG:185-186; PP:247.

 

“Moses was too fast in slaying the Egyptian.  He supposed that the people of Israel understood that God’s special providence had raised him up to deliver them.  But God did not design to [168] deliver the children of Israel by warfare, as Moses thought; but by His Own mighty power, that the glory might be ascribed to Him alone.

 

“God overruled the act of Moses in slaying the Egyptian to bring about His purpose.  He had in His providence brought Moses into the royal family of Egypt, where he had received a thorough education; and yet he was not prepared for God to intrust to him the great work He had raised him up to accomplish.  Moses could not immediately leave the king’s court, and the indulgences granted him as the king’s grandson, to perform the special work of God.  He must have time to obtain an experience, and be educated in the school of adversity and poverty.  His father-in-law feared God, and was especially honored of all the people around him for his far-seeing judgment.  His influence with Moses was great.”  1SP:168.

 

2:15:  “when Pharaoh heard this thing” = The whole matter [of Moses’ killing the Egyptian] was quickly made known to the Egyptians, and, greatly exaggerated, soon reached the ears of Pharaoh.  It was represented to the king that this act meant much; that Moses designed to lead his people against the Egyptians, to overthrow the government, and to seat himself upon the throne; and that there could be no security for the kingdom while he lived.  It was at once determined by the monarch that he should die; but, becoming aware of his [Moses’] danger, he made his escape and fled toward Arabia."  PP:247. 

 

“dwelt in the land of Midian” = “The Lord could do little through him when he was the general of armies. . . For forty years Moses was placed in the wilderness, to learn in the school of poverty, to learn in the walks of humble life, that he was weak, inefficient, helpless.”  SW:23.

 

“During this time, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote the Book of Genesis and also the Book of Job.”  ST, February 19, 1880; 3BC:1140.

 

“In the military schools of Egypt, Moses was taught the law of force, and so strong a hold did this teaching have upon his character that it required forty years of quiet and communion with God and nature to fit him for the leadership of Israel by the law of love.  The same lesson Paul had to lean.”  ED:65.2.

 

“While Moses was living in retirement, the Lord sent his angels to especially instruct him in regard to the future.  Here he learned more fully the great lesson of self-control and humility.  He kept the flocks of Jethro; and while he was performing his humble duties as a shepherd, God was preparing him to become a spiritual shepherd of His sheep, even of His people Israel.  He had been fully qualified as a general, to stand at the head of armies; and now the Lord would have him learn the duties, and perform the offices, of a faithful shepherd of His people, to tenderly care for His erring, straying sheep.”  1SP:168.

 

2:18:  “Reuel” = Reuel, first mentioned in Exodus 2:18, i.e., Jethro (meaning, “the shepard,” or “friend of God”), is mentioned also in Exodus 3:1.  He is definitely the father-in-law of Moses, and Hobab (Num. 10:29) is his son.  In the account of the marriage of Zipporah to Moses (Exo. 2:16-21) Jethro seems to be called Reuel.  The various names of Jethro perplexed the Talmudists also; some held that his real name was “Hobab,” and that Reuel was his father.  However, Jethro/Reuel is Moses’ father-in-law.  Reuel is probably a clan name (see Gray, “Nu,” ICC), and Hobab is a member of the clan (“son”) of Reuel (Num. 10:29, the King James Version reads “Raguel”).  Bottom line, Raguel (Num. 10:29), if he be identified with Jethro, may be regarded as his proper name, while “Jether,” or “Jethro” (i.e., meaning “excellency”) would be his official title.

 

“His father-in-law feared God, and was especially honored of all the people around him for his far-seeing judgment.  His influence with Moses was great.”  3SG:187.

 

2:21:  “Zipporah” = It has been argued that Numbers 12:1 states that Moses’ wife was an “Ethiopian.,” or better, a “Cushite,” and thus Moses had two wives.  However, as a Cushite, she was a native of Arabia Chusea, in which country Midian was.  Hence, “Cushan,” and the curtains of “Midian” are spoken of as being together, or one and the same in Habakkuk 3:7.  Therefore, each woman is one and the same.

 

“[19] The wife of Moses was not black, but her complexion was somewhat darker than the Hebrews.  She was of a timid disposition, [20] tender-hearted, and was greatly affected to witness suffering.  This was the reason that Moses consented to have her return to Midian, while he was in Egypt, that she might not witness the terrific plagues which the Lord was to bring upon Egypt.  After she met her husband in the wilderness, she saw that his burdens and anxieties were liable to wear away his strength, and in her distress she acquainted her father with the matter.  Jethro had marked that the care of all the people was upon Moses, and therefore he counseled him to look after the religious interest of the Hebrew host, while worthy men, free from covetousness, should be selected to look after the secular concerns of the people.  After Miriam became jealous, she imagined that Aaron and herself had been neglected, and that Moses’ wife was the cause -- that she had influenced the mind of her husband -- that he did not consult them in important matters as much as formerly.”  4aSG:19-20; 1SP:286-287.

​

 

CHAPTER THREE

 

 

3:1:  “Jethro” = See my Exodus 2:18 Note.

 

3:2:  “the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” = According to Psalm 104:4, “Who [God] maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming fire.”  Thus, this was an “angel.”  Then when we get to verse 4, God speaks from “out of the midst of the bush.”  The “angel” causes the commotion; Moses notices; God takes over.  Compare with Acts 7:31, where God’s “voice” talked with Moses.  If we look up the phrase, “angel of the Lord,” we can learn that Christ often appears to mankind as an “angel,” such that man can look upon Him.  See Genesis 22:15-16 & Zechariah 3:1-2 as examples.

 

“By His Humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His Divinity, He lays hold upon the throne of God.  As the Son of Man, He gave us an example of obedience; as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey.  It was Christ Who from the bush on Mount Horeb spoke to Moses,” DA:24; FLB:47.

 

“not consumed” = “The burning bush. . . was a living reality. . . God was conversing with humanity.”  YI, December 20, 1900; 1BC:1099.

 

“The burning bush, in which Christ appeared to Moses, revealed God.  The symbol chosen for the representation of the Deity was a lowly shrub, that seemingly had no attractions.  This merciful God shrouded His glory in a most humble type, that Moses could look upon it and live.  So in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, God communicated with Israel, revealing to men His will, and imparting to them His grace.  God’s glory was subdued, and His majesty veiled, that the weak vision of finite men might behold it.”  DA:23.

 

3:5:  “put off thy shoes from off thy feet” = Why, “for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.”  However, it is more than that.  When Moses obeyed, God stepped into Moses’ shoes and was now able to walk with Moses to free His people from (sin) Egypt.  Will you take off your shoes from off of your feet and allow God to direct your life?

 

It is then that the Word of God can come into our lives such that we can have ourselves “Abide in Me {Him}, and I in you.”  John 15:4.  What makes us supernatural is when we allow God to come into our human nature and mold us to inherit a spiritual nature.

 

3:8:  “Hivites” = These are thought to be the Horites who were previously associated with the Upper Mesopotamians kingdom of Mittanni.

 

3:10:  “that thou mayest bring forth My people” = One of the main reasons that God brought forth His people out of Egypt is found in Psalm 105:45, i.e., “That they might observe His statutes, and keep His Laws.”

 

“It was to preserve the children of men from total apostasy, that the Lord manifested His mighty power in bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, and establishing them in the land of Canaan.”  ST, December 15, 1881.

 

“The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery and heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching principles of God’s Ten Precepts.”  PP:310.

 

3:10:  “Pharaoh” = “The Pharaoh before whom he [Moses] was to appear, was not the one who had decreed that he should be put to death [see Exo. 2:15].  That king was dead, and another had taken the reins of government.”  3SG:189.

 

3:14:  “I AM THAT I AM” = To name something is to define it.  God does not want us to name Him until we know Him.

 

Regardless of what anyone will attempt to teach you about the true Name of God, He Himself declares it right here.  The Hebrew is, “hayah, aser, hayar.”  “Hayah” appears multiple times in the Old Testament and is a verb meaning, “to exist; to be;” and in a broader sense (when not referring to God), “to become; to happen; to come to pass; to be done.”  “Aser” is a relative pronoun meaning, “which; who” or a conjunction meaning, “that; because; so that; as; so that.”  However, its basic usage is as a relative pronoun (see Gen. 21:2; Deu. 1:22; Isa. 5:28; Hos. 3:1), or a relative pronoun with a preposition prefixed (see Gen. 21:17; Exo. 5:11; 33:12), or with nouns placed before it, it can mean “of” or “where,” such as in Genesis 39:20.

 

The “Vulgate” translates its Latin (“Ego Sum Qui Sum”) as, “I Am Who am.”  The “Septuagint” translates its language as, “I Am He Who exists.”  The “Syriac,” the “Persic,” and the “Chaldee,” preserve the original words without any changes of the original text.  The “Arabic” paraphrases them as, “The Eternal, Who passes not away.”  The “Targum of Jonathan,” and the “Jerusalem Targum,” paraphrase the words thus:  “He Who spake, and the world was; Who spake, and all things existed.”  A more literal translation could signify, “I will be what I will be.”  However, “I AM THAT I AM,” seems to be the most accurate.  Or, “I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.”

 

However, in Exodus 6:3, our God gives Moses His real Name, as opposed to a statement about Who He is, that being “Jehowah,” or the more acceptive, “JEHOVAH.”

 

“I AM means an eternal presence; the past, present, and future are alike to God.  He sees the most remote events of past history, and the far distant future,” 1BC:1099.

 

3:15:  “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel” = “Moses was Commanded first to assemble the elders of Israel, the most noble and righteous among them, who had long grieved because of their bondage.”  3SG:190; 1SP:171.

 

3:19:  “I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go” = “The Lord also assured Moses that Pharaoh would not let Israel go.  Yet his courage should not fail, for He would make this the occasion of manifesting His signs and wonders before the Egyptians, and before His people.”  3SG:190; 1SP:171.

 

“And yet, after they should perform many miracles before Pharaoh in the sight of the people, they would not let Israel go.”  1SP:173.

 

3:22:  “borrow” = See my Exodus 12:35 Note.

 

 

CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

4:1:  “they will not believe me” = “[173] The backwardness of Moses at first proceeded from humility, a modest diffidence.  But after God promised to remove his difficulties, and be with his mouth, and teach him what to say, and to give him success finally, in his mission, then for him to still manifest reluctance was displeasing to God.  His unwillingness to execute the mission God had preserved his life to fill, and had qualified him to perform, after the assurance that God would be with him, showed unbelief and criminal despondency, and distrust of God Himself.  The Lord rebuked him for this distrust.  The deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, in the manner God proposed [174] to do the work, looked hopeless to him of the mission’s ever being successful.”  1SP:173-174.

 

4:18:  “returned to Jethro his father in law” = “He did not dare to tell Jethro his message to Pharaoh, lest he should be unwilling to let his wife and children accompany him on such a dangerous mission.”  1SP:174.

 

4:21:  “I will harden his heart” = See my Bible Study:  “HARDENING OF PHAROAH’S HEART.”

 

What is missed here is that God was giving Pharaoh an opportunity to take credit for letting Israel go.

 

“[174] That is, the display of almighty power before Pharaoh, being rejected by him, would make him harder and more [175] firm in his rebellion.  His hardness of heart would increase by a continual resistance of the power of God.”  1SP:174-175.

 

4:22:  “Israel is My son, even My firstborn” = God instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh that if Pharaoh will not let God’s “firstborn” son go, God will kill Pharaoh’s “firstborn;” see verse 23.

 

“The Lord called Israel His first-born because He had singled them out from all the people to be the depositaries of His Law, the obedience of which would preserve them pure amidst idolatrous nations.  He conferred upon them special privileges, such as were generally conferred upon the first-born son.”  1SP:175.1.

 

4:24:  “the LORD met him, and sought to kill him” = An enhanced spiritual lesson is here displayed more than circumcision itself.  What Moses is to learn here is that he is not to be influenced by anyone, even though they be family; for later he would face Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; his brother and sister; etcetera.  Obedience to God was to always be displayed by the leader of God’s people that God has chosen, and will chose.

 

God is teaching Moses/us that when not obeying every Law of God, He cannot bless your ministry.  If you are not obedient to God, what makes you think that you can teach others to be obedient also?

 

“[195] As Moses journeyed to Egypt, the angel of the Lord met him and assumed a threatening posture, as though he would slay him.  He was fearful of his life.  He had yielded to the refusal of his wife to have their son circumcised, and, in compliance with her wishes, had neglected to obey God.  His wife, fearful that her husband might be slain, overcame her feelings of undue affection for her son, and performed the act herself.  After this, the angel let Moses go.  In his mission to Pharaoh, he was to be placed in a perilous position, where his life would be exposed to the will of the king, if God did not by His power, through the presence of His angels, preserve him.  While Moses was living in neglect of one of God’s positive Commands, his life would not be secure, for God’s angels could not protect him while in disobedience.  Therefore, the angel met him in the way and threatened his [196]

 

“life.  He did not explain to Moses why he assumed that threatening aspect.  Moses knew that there was a cause.  He was going to Egypt according to God’s express Command, therefore the journey was right.  He at once remembered that he had not obeyed God in performing the ordinance of circumcision upon his youngest son, and had yielded to his wife’s entreaties to postpone the ceremony.  After he had obeyed the Command of God he was free to go before Pharaoh, and there was nothing in the way to hinder the ministration of angels in connection with his work.”  3SG:195-196; 1SP:175-176; PP:255-256.

 

4:27:  “the LORD said to Aaron” = “The Lord had informed Moses that Aaron, his brother three years older than himself, would come forth to meet him, and when he should see him, would be glad.  They had been separated for many years.  Angels of God had instructed Moses in regard to the work he should perform.  Angels were also sent to teach Aaron to go forth and meet Moses, for the Lord had chosen him to be with Moses; and when he should meet his brother, to listen to his words; for God had given Moses words to speak to him in regard to the part he should act in connection with the deliverance of Israel.”  1SP:176.

 

“Aaron, being instructed by angels, went forth to meet his brother, from whom he had been so long separated; and they met amid the desert solitudes, near Horeb.”  PP:257.

 

4:31:  “the people believed” = “The Hebrews expected to be delivered from their bondage without any particular trial of their faith, or suffering on their part.  They were many of them ready to leave Egypt, but not all.  The habits of some had become so much like the Egyptians that they preferred to remain with them.”  SG:197.

 

 

CHAPTER FIVE

 

 

5:1:  “Pharaoh” = The Pharaoh at that time is believed to be Amenhotep II (B.C. 1450-1425), for he is listed in history as having lost a son and later dying abruptly himself.  Plus, the time period is close if not correct.

 

“I was directed to the power of God manifested though Moses, when the Lord sent him in before Pharaoh.  Satan understood his business and was upon the ground.  He well knew that Moses was chosen of God to break the yoke of bondage upon the children of Israel; and that he in his work prefigured Christ’s First Advent to break Satan’s power over the human family, and deliver those who were made captives by his power.”  RH, February 18, 1862.

 

5:3:  “unto the LORD our God; lest He fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword” = “This very providence Satan made a means to serve his purpose, darkening the minds of the Israelites, and leading them to imitate the practices of their heathen masters.  On account of the superstitious veneration in which animals were held by the Egyptians, the Hebrews were not permitted, during their bondage, to present the sacrificial offerings.”  PP:333.3.

 

5:5:  “ye make them rest” = The Egyptian translation reads, “Ye do make them to keep Sabbath.”

 

Most argue that the Hebrew word used here, that is “H7673; shabath,” a verb and not a noun, although used as a noun in Second Chronicles 36:21, simply means, “decease.”  In other words, their argument is that Moses simply had them “rest” from their work and not “rest” because of the Ten Commandment Sabbath Law of God.  I will grant you that “shabath” most assuredly normally means “cease from what you are doing,” as in Genesis 8:22; Job 32:31; Jeremiah 31:36, and many more.  In fact, of the 70 times the word is used, only 13 times does it refer directly to the Seventh-Day Sabbath Commandment of God.

 

However, let’s be reasonable.  If Moses had “made” the Israelites to “cease” from their labors -- as is suggested from the false explanation to discount the fact that this is referring to the Seventh-Day Commandment of God -- then why does Pharaoh then command them to “make brick[s],” Exodus 5:7, with less “straw,” Exodus 5:11, if Moses had gotten the Israelites to “cease” from all labor that Pharaoh had assigned them?  Obviously, they still had to labor for Pharaoh and their “taskmasters,” Exodus 5:11, made sure of that.  Therefore, the more honest conclusion is that Moses was having them observe the Ten Commandment Seventh-Day Sabbath God Commanded Law.  Just how they got away with doing that is a miracle in and of itself (for I cannot explain how they got away with that other than Divine intervention).

 

“As persons become convinced from the Scriptures that the claims of the Fourth Commandment are still binding, the question is often raised, is it necessary in order to secure salvation that we keep the Sabbath?  This is a question of grave importance.  If the light has shone from the Word of God, if the message has been presented to men, as it was to Pharaoh, and they refuse to heed that message, if they reject the light, they refuse to obey God, and cannot be saved in their disobedience.  On the other hand, many have died conscientiously observing the first day of the week as the Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment.  These will not be condemned, because they followed the best light they had.  They will not be held responsible for light which they never received.”  RH, January 5, 1886.

 

5:7:  “Ye shall no more give the people straw” = “Modern investigators have run tests show that when straw is mixed with mud the resulting bricks are three times as strong as those made without straw.  Fluids in the straw release humic acid and harden the bricks.”  Gerald Vardaman, in his work, “Archaeology and the Living Word,” 1966, page 37.  Thus, this is silly by Pharoah, for it only made his structures less ridged.  The anger of the wicked makes them loose common sense.

 

5:8:  “tale” = Better, “total.”

 

5:10:  “the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers” = “[198] The task-masters placed over the Hebrews were Egyptians.  They had officers under them who had oversight of the work, and directed the people.  These officers were Hebrews, and they were responsible for [199] the work of the people under them.”  SG:198-199; 1SP:178.

 

5:15:  “Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh” = “These officers thought that their oppression came from their task-masters, and not from the king himself.  Therefore they went with their case to the king and told him their grievances, and the cruel treatment of their task-masters.  Pharaoh’s heart was hardened against their distress, and he derided them, and mocked at all their complaints.  He was filled with hatred against them.”  3SG:199; 1SP:179.1.

 

5:21:  “The LORD look upon you, and judge” = “As the children of Israel charged all their suffering upon Moses, he was greatly distressed, and felt almost like murmuring because the Lord delayed to deliver His people.  They were not yet prepared to be delivered.  They had but little faith, and were unwilling to patiently suffer and perseveringly endure their afflictions, until God should work for them a glorious deliverance.”  1SP:180.1.

 

“Words like these destroyed the hopes of many of the Israelites.  The case appeared to them very much as the Egyptians had represented.  It was true that they were slaves, and must endure whatever their cruel taskmasters might choose to inflict.  Their children had been hunted and slain, and their own lives were a burden.  Yet they were worshipping the God of Heaven.  If Jehovah were indeed above all gods, surely He would not thus leave them in bondage to idolaters.  But those who were true to God understood that it was because of Israel’s departure from Him, -- because of their disposition to marry with heathen nations, thus being led into idolatry, -- that the Lord had permitted them to become bondmen; and they confidently assured their brethren that He would soon break the yoke of the oppressor.”  PP:260; 1SP:180-181.

​

 

CHAPTER SIX

 

 

6:3:  “God Almighty” = See my Exodus 3:14 Note.  Here is my Genesis 28:3 Note:  “I saw that God’s holy name should be used with reverence and awe.  The words God Almighty are coupled together and used by some in prayer in a careless, thoughtless manner, which is displeasing to Him.  Such have no realizing sense of God or the truth, or they would not speak so irreverently of the great and dreadful God, Who is soon to judge them in the last day.  Said the angel, ‘Couple them not together; for fearful is His name.’  Those who realize the greatness and majesty of God, will take His name on their lips with holy awe.  He dwelleth in light unapproachable; no man can see Him and live.  I saw that these things will have to be understood and corrected before the Church can prosper.”  EW:122.

 

6:9:  “but they hearkened not unto Moses” = “[180] And being surrounded with idolatry, many of them had lost the knowledge of the true God, and had forgotten His Law.  And they united with the Egyptians in their worship of the sun, moon, and stars, also of beasts and images, the work of men’s hands.  Everything around the children of Israel was calculated to [181]

 

“make them forget the living God.  Yet there were those among the Hebrews who preserved the knowledge of the true God, the Maker of the heavens and of the earth.  They were grieved to see their children daily witnessing, and even engaging in, the abominations of the idolatrous people around them, and bowing down to Egyptian deities, made of wood and stone, and offering sacrifice to these senseless objects.  The faithful were grieved, and in their distress they cried unto the Lord for deliverance from the Egyptian yoke; that He would bring them out of Egypt, where they might be rid of idolatry, and the corrupting influences which surrounded them.

 

“But many of the Hebrews were content to remain in bondage rather than to go to a new country and meet with the difficulties attending such a journey.  Therefore the Lord did not deliver them by the first display of His signs and wonders before Pharaoh.  He overruled events to more fully develop the tyrannical spirit of Pharaoh, and that He might manifest His great power to the Egyptians, and also before His people to make them anxious to leave Egypt, and choose the service of God.  The task of Moses would have been much easier had not many of the Hebrews become corrupted, and been unwilling to leave Egypt.”  1SP:180-181.

 

“Had it not been for these wonderful manifestations, many would have been satisfied to remain in Egypt rather than to journey through the wilderness.”  3SG:205; 1SP:183-184.

 

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

 

 

Chapters 7-11:ALL:  See my Bible Study:  “PLAGUES OF THE BOOK OF EXODUS.”  Nine times God says to Pharaoh through Moses, “let My people go.”

 

7:1:  “I have made thee a god to Pharaoh” = “Moses was somewhat discouraged.  In his despondency he inquired of the Lord, If the children of Israel, Thine Own circumcised people, will not hearken unto me, how then shall Pharaoh, who is uncircumcised and an idolater, hear me?”  1SP:182.

 

7:3:  “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart” = See my Exodus 4:21 Note.

 

“Every punishment which the king rejected would bring the next chastisement more close and severe, until the proud heart of the king would be humbled, and he should acknowledge the Maker of the heavens and the earth as the Living and All-Powerful God.

 

“[183] The Lord brought up his people from their long servitude in a signal manner, giving the Egyptians an opportunity to exhibit the feeble wisdom of their mighty men, and array the power of their gods in opposition to the God of Heaven.  The Lord showed them by His servant Moses that the Maker of the heavens and the earth is the Living and All-Powerful God, above all gods; that His strength is mightier than the strongest -- that Omnipotence could bring forth His people with a high hand and with an outstretched arm.  The signs and miracles performed in the presence of Pharaoh were not given for his benefit alone, but for the advantage of God’s people, to give them more clear and exalted views of God, and that all Israel should fear Him, and be willing and anxious to leave Egypt, and choose the service of the true and merciful God.  Had it not been for these [184]

 

“wonderful manifestations, many would have been satisfied to remain in Egypt rather than to journey through the wilderness.”  1SP:183-184.

 

7:12:  “they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents” = The reason for this first miracle becomes obvious when we consider that in Egypt, the Uraeus goddess “Wadjet” was personified by the image of a cobra and represented sovereign power over Lower Egypt.  The symbol of a cobra appeared in Pharaoh’s crown, a sign of his power, deity, royalty, and divine authority, because this goddess would spit venom at his enemies.  The Egyptians also believed that the sacred serpent would guide Pharaoh in his afterlife.

 

It is also significant that the ancient Egyptians considered a snake god, “Nehebkau,” meaning, “he who harnesses the spirits,” to be sacred, adored, and worshiped.  According to their mythology, this serpent god had great power because he, in their mythology, swallowed up seven cobras.  Thus, God communicated to the Egyptians that He, not the serpent god, has sovereign power and authority over their false gods.  After such a powerful confrontation, the Egyptians should have been able to understand this message immediately and distinctly.

 

“[205] Satan, through the magicians, counterfeited this miracle.  He could not produce living serpent’s for he has not power to create or to give life.  This power belongs to God alone.  But all that Satan could do he did -- he produced a counterfeit.  By his power, working through the magicians, he caused the rods to assume the appearance of serpents.”  5T:697.

 

“[206] The magicians seemed to perform several things with their enchantments similar to those things which God wrought by the hand of Moses and Aaron.  They did not really cause their rods to become serpents, but by magic, aided by the great deceiver, made them to appear like serpents, to counterfeit the work of God.  Satan assisted his servants to resist the work of the Most High, in order to deceive the people, and encourage them in their rebellion.  Pharaoh would grasp at the least evidence he could obtain to justify himself in resisting the work of God, performed by Moses and Aaron.  He told these servants of God that his magicians could do all these wonders.  The difference between the work of God and that of the magicians was, one was of God, the other of Satan.  One was true, the other false.

 

“Pharaoh declared that Moses and Aaron were impostors, and could accomplish no more than his magicians.  Said Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh, That Jehovah Whom thou pretendest not to know, will convince thee that He is more powerful than all gods.  They informed him that God would yet perform greater wonders, which would leave him without excuse, and which would be perpetual monuments of His providence and power in behalf of Israel.”  3SG:205-206; 1SP:184-185.

 

“[264] Though the Lord caused the real serpent to swallow up the spurious ones, yet even this was regarded by Pharaoh, not as a work of God’s power, but as the result of a kind of magic superior to that of his servants.  Pharaoh desired to justify his stubbornness in resisting the Divine Command, and hence he was seeking some pretext for disregarding the miracles that God had wrought through Moses.  Satan gave him just what he wanted.  By the work that he wrought through the magicians, he made it appear to the Egyptians that Moses and Aaron were only magicians and sorcerers, and that the message they brought could not claim respect as coming from a superior being.  Thus Satan’s counterfeit accomplished its purpose, of emboldening the Egyptians in their rebellion, and causing Pharaoh to harden his heart against conviction.  Satan hoped also to shake the faith of Moses and Aaron in the Divine origin of their mission, that his instruments might prevail.  He was unwilling that the children of Israel should be released from bondage, to serve the living God.  But the prince of evil had a still deeper object in manifesting his wonders through the magicians.  He well knew that Moses, in breaking the yoke of bondage from off the children of Israel, prefigured Christ, who was to break the reign of sin over the [265]

 

“human family.  He knew that when Christ should appear, mighty miracles would be wrought as an evidence to the world that God had sent Him.  Satan trembled for his power.  By counterfeiting the work of God through Moses, he hoped not only to prevent the deliverance of Israel, but to exert an influence through future ages to destroy faith in the miracles of Christ.  Satan is constantly seeking to counterfeit the work of Christ, and to establish his own power and claims.  He leads men to account for the miracles of Christ by making them appear to be the result of human skill and power.  In many minds he thus destroys faith in Christ as the Son of God, and leads them to reject the gracious offers of mercy through the plan of redemption.”  PP:264-265; 5T697.

 

7:13:  “He hardened Pharaoh’s heart” = See my Exodus 4:21 Note.

 

The literal Hebrew reads, “Pharaoh’s heart was hard.”  This should be translated the same as it appears in verse 22(“Pharaoh’s heart was hardened”), for the Hebrew is identical.

 

7:15:  “he goeth out unto the water” = “[333] During the plagues on Egypt, Pharaoh was punctual in his superstitious devotion to the river, and visited it every morning; and, as he stood upon its banks, he offered praise and thanksgiving to the water, recounting the great good it accomplished, and telling the water of its great power; that without it they could not exist; for their lands were watered by it, and it supplied meat for [334]

 

“their tables.  The first plague which visited Egypt was to come upon the waters, one of the exalted gods of Pharaoh.  Moses smote the water before Pharaoh and his great men, and they saw the water which they were adoring turned to blood.  It was a putrid mass for seven days; and all the fish that were in it died.  The people could not use the water for any purpose.”  1SP:333-334.

 

7:17:  “In this thou shalt know that I Am the LORD” = “But many of the Hebrews were content to remain in bondage rather than to go to a new country and meet with the difficulties attending such a journey.  Therefore the Lord did not deliver them by the first display of His signs and wonders before Pharaoh.  He over-ruled events to more fully develop the tyrannical spirit of Pharaoh, and that He might manifest His great power to the Egyptians, and also before His people to make them anxious to leave Egypt, and choose the service of God.  The task of Moses would have been much easier had not many of the Hebrews become corrupted, and were unwilling to leave Egypt.”  3SG:202.

 

“upon the waters” = This plague was aimed against “Hapi,” the god of the Nile.  Without water there is no possibility of life.  So the Egyptians invented their god “Hapi,” and worshiped him as the provider of life.  The changing of water into blood symbolizes transforming life into death.  Hapi was not able to provide and protect life.  Thus was demonstrated that these are only possible through the power of the true Lord God Almighty.

 

7:21:  “blood throughout all the land of Egypt” = “The water in the houses, the supply preserved in cisterns, was likewise changed to blood.”  PP:265.

 

7:22:  “the magicians of Egypt did so” = See my Exodus 7:11 Note.

 

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

 

 

8:2:  “frogs” = Here, the frog goddess “Heqet” is directly confronted.  The frogs would have come from the River Nile and other waters because of them being turned into blood.  However, this was three months later, because September is the normal timing of frogs in the River Nile.  Recognized as the goddess of fertility in child-birth, their habitat being taken away meant destruction to the Egyptians.

 

8:7:  “the magicians did so with their enchantments” = “[208] Although the magicians appeared to produce frogs like Moses and Aaron, they could not remove them.  When Pharaoh saw that the magicians could not stay the plague, or remove the frogs, he was somewhat humbled, and would have Moses and Aaron entreat the Lord for him, to remove the plague of the frogs.  He was beginning to know something about that God Whom he professed to be wholly ignorant of.  Moses and Aaron had told Pharaoh that they did not produce the frogs by magic, or by any power they [209]

 

“possessed; that God, the living God, had caused them to come by His power, and that He alone could remove them.  Previous to this, Pharaoh had exulted over Moses and Aaron, because the magicians could cause the same things to appear with their enchantments.  And when he asked Moses to entreat the Lord for him, he reminded him of his former haughty boasting and glorying because of the works performed by his magicians; and he asked Pharaoh where was now his glorying over him, and where was the power of those magicians to remove the plague.”  3SG:208-209; 1SP:186-187.

 

8:10:  “To morrow” = “The time of each plague was given before it came, that it might not be said to have happened by chance.”  1SP:217.

 

“He set the next day, secretly hoping that in the interval the frogs might disappear of themselves, and thus save him from the bitter humiliation of submitting to the God of Israel.”  PP:265.2.

 

8:14:  “upon heaps” = “The work of the magicians led him [Pharaoh] to believe that these miracles were performed by magic.  But he had abundant evidence that this was not the case when the plague of frogs was removed.  God could have caused them to disappear, and return to dust in a moment; but He did not do this, lest after they should be removed, the king and the Egyptians should say that it was the result of magic, like the work of the magicians.  They died, and then they gathered them together into heaps.  Their bodies they could see before them, and they corrupted the atmosphere.  Here the king, and all Egypt, had evidences which their vain philosophy could not dispose of, that this work was not magic, but a judgment from the God of Heaven.”  3SG:243; 1SP:216; PP:266.

 

8:15:  “he hardened his heart” = See my Exodus 4:21 Note.

 

8:16:  “lice” = The type of insect here, the Hebrew being, “H3654; kinnim,” is not clear.  It could be “gnats, mosquitos, ticks, or lice.”  However, the plague was directed against the god “Geb,” the Egyptian god of the earth.  Out of the dust of the earth echoes of the Biblical Creation story.  Unable to duplicate this miracle (only God can create life), the magicians declared, “This is the finger of God,” Exodus 8:19.

 

8:18:  “they could not” = Why?  Read Genesis 1:24.  Because God is the Only Creator.

 

8:24:  “a grievous swarm of flies” = The Egyptian god “Khepri,” or “Uatchit,” was the fly god of swamps and marshes, which had the head of a fly.

 

“[188] The Egyptians worshiped certain beasts, and they regarded it an unpardonable offense to have one of these beasts slain.  And if one of their objects of worship were slain, even accidentally, the person's life alone could answer for the offense.  Moses shows Pharaoh the impossibility of their sacrificing to God in the land of Egypt, in the [189] sight of the Egyptians; for they might select for their offering some one of the beasts which they considered sacred.” 1SP:188-189.

 

“They were not such flies as harmlessly annoy us in some seasons of the year; but the flies brought upon Egypt were large and venomous.  Their sting was very painful upon man and beast.”  1SP:217; 3SG:243.

 

8:26:  “sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians” = “The Egyptians worshiped certain beasts, and they regarded it an unpardonable offense to have one of these beasts slain.  And if one of their objects of worship were slain, even accidentally, the person’s life alone could answer for the offense.  Moses shows Pharaoh the impossibility of their sacrificing to God in the land of Egypt, in the sight of the Egyptians, for they might select for their offering some one of the beasts which they considered sacred.”  3SG:211.

 

8:29:  “let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more” = Let me bring this up to modern English and possibly set a better picture of this conversation.  What Moses really said was, “Quit lying to me!”

​

 

CHAPTER NINE

 

 

9:3:  “cattle. . . horses. . . asses. . . camels. . . oxen. . . sheep. . . murrain” = “Hathor,” is the Egyptian goddess of love and protection and was depicted with the head of a cow.  The bull god “Apis” was also very popular and highly regarded in ancient Egypt.  Here, God shows Who is really in charge of ones “protection.”  Murrain affects animals but not people.

 

9:8:  “ashes of the furnace” = According to “TSK Cross References,” “the fiery furnace, which was a type of the slavery of the Israelites, but to a cruel rite common among the Egyptians.  They had several cities styled Typhonian, in which at particular seasons they sacrificed men, who were burnt alive; and the ashes of the victim were scattered upwards in the air, with the view, probably, that where any atom of dust was carried, a blessing was entailed.  The like, therefore, was done by Moses, though with a different intention, and more certain effect.”

 

“sprinkle” = The literal meaning of this Hebrew word, “zaraq,” literally means, “to scatter abundantly.”  Thus, when it comes to performing the act of “sprinkling” the “rams blood” before and “round about” the “altar” in the Holy Sanctuary, which is a symbol of Christs blood being “scattered upon it abundantly.”  See Exodus 29:16 & 20 & 21; Leviticus 1:5 & 11; 3:2 & 8 & 13; 4:6 & 17; 5:9; 7:2; 14:7 & 16 & 27 & 51; 16:14 & 15 & 19; 17:6: Numbers 8:7; 18:17; 19:4 & 18 & 19; Second Kings 16:15; Ezekiel 43:18.

 

9:9:  “boil breaking forth with blains” = This plague hits at the heart of the gods and goddesses that provided protection against diseases, sores, and other afflictions.  “Isis,” the goddess of medicine, magic, and wisdom, is made manifest.  “Sekhmet,” the goddess of war and epidemics, along with “Imhotep,” the god of medicine and healing fall into this category.  These false gods are shown to be unable to protect their own worshipers; as shown in Exodus 9:11, where even the magicians and sorcerers are so afflicted that they cannot appear in Pharaohs court; which shows that they are helpless against the Creator of heaven and earth.

 

9:9:  “boil breaking forth with blains” = Blains is an Old English word “bleyen,” and is used sometimes as a synonym for boil.  Wyclif (1382 A.D.) uses the expression, “stinkende bleyne,” for Job’s sores.  The corresponding Egyptian god that our Lord specifically was demonstrating His power over was, “Isis,” the Egyptian goddess of Medicine and Peace.  Other Egyptian gods effected were “Sekhmet,” which was the lioness goddess of war and destruction, who could unleash plagues or heal diseases with her breath; and “Shu,” the god of the air.

 

9:11:  “the magicians could not stand before Moses” = “The Egyptians were thus permitted to see how useless it would be for them to put their trust in the boasted power of the magicians, when they could not save even their own bodies from the plagues.”  1SP:190.2.

 

9:15:  “thou shalt be cut off from the earth” = God’s patience is over for this and anyone’s stubborn attitude in some of the most awesome displays of Who is the true God.  When God shows Who He is to you in an undeniable jester, don’t fail to acknowledge Him.  

 

9:16:  “for this cause have I raised thee [Pharaoh] up” = Here is one reason (see Exo. 10:1-2 & 14:4 & 18) why all of this took place, “that My Name may be declared throughout all the earth.”  There are not many who have any interest in knowing Who the real God is, or if He exists, that do not know of this sequence of events.

 

“[213] This does not mean that God had given him an existence for that purpose; but His providence had so overruled events that such a rebellious tyrant as Pharaoh should be upon the throne of Egypt at the time God would deliver the Hebrews.  For this purpose his life had been preserved, though he had justly forfeited the mercy of God by his crimes.  God saw fit to spare his life, to manifest, through his stubbornness, His wonders in the land of Egypt.  He would cause Pharaoh’s rebellion against Him to be the occasion to multiply evidences of His power for the good of His people, and that His name might be magnified before the Egyptians, and brought to the knowledge of those who should afterward live upon the earth.  The disposing of events is of His providence.  He could have placed a more merciful king upon the throne of Egypt, he would not have dared to persist in his rebellion with the display of God’s mighty power manifested before him as it was before Pharaoh.  But then the purposes of God would not have been accomplished.  His people would have been deceived in regard to the sinfulness of the idolatry of the Egyptians, and would not have experienced in themselves the hard-hearted cruelty which the idolatrous Egyptians could practice.  God would manifest before them that He hates idolatry, and that He will punish cruelty and oppression wherever it exists.

 

“Although many of the Israelites had become corrupted by idolatry, yet the faithful stood firm.  They had not concealed their faith, but openly acknowledged before the Egyptians that they served the only true and Living God.  They [214] rehearsed the evidences of God’s existence and power from creation down.  The Egyptians had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the faith of the Hebrews, and their God.  They had tried to subvert the faithful worshipers of the true God, and were annoyed because they had not succeeded, either by threats, the promise of rewards, or by cruel treatment.

 

“The two last kings who had occupied the throne of Egypt had been tyrannical, and had cruelly entreated the Hebrews.  The elders of Israel had endeavored to encourage the sinking faith of the Israelites, by referring to the promise made to Abraham, and the prophetic words of Joseph just before he died, foretelling their deliverance from Egypt.  Some would listen and believe.  Others looked at their own sad condition, and would not hope.  The Egyptians had learned the expectations of the children of Israel, and derided their hopes of deliverance, and spoke scornfully of the power of their God.  They pointed them to their own situation as a people, as merely a nation of slaves, and tauntingly said to them, If your God is so just and merciful, and possesses power above the Egyptian gods, why does He not make you a free people?  Why not manifest His greatness and power, and exalt you?  The Egyptians then called the attention of the Israelites to their own people who worshiped gods of their own choosing, which the Israelites termed false gods.  They exultingly said that their gods had prospered them, and had given them food, and raiment, and great riches; and that their gods had also given the Israelites into their hands to serve them, and that they had power to oppress them, and destroy their lives, so that they should be no people.

 

“[215] They derided the idea that the Hebrews would ever be delivered from slavery.

 

“Pharaoh boasted that he would like to see their God deliver them from his hands.  These words destroyed the hopes of many of the children of Israel.  It appeared to them very much as the king and his counselors had said.  They knew that they were treated as slaves, and that they must endure just that degree of oppression their taskmasters and rulers might put upon them.  Their male children had been hunted and slain.  Their own lives were a burden; and they were believing in, and worshiping, the God of Heaven.  Then they contrasted their condition with that of the Egyptians.  They did not believe at all in a Living God, Who had power to save or to destroy.  Some of them worshiped idols, images made of wood and stone, while others chose to worship the sun, moon, and stars; yet they were prospered, and wealthy.  And some of the Hebrews thought that if God was above all gods, He would not thus leave them as slaves to an idolatrous nation.

 

“The faithful servants of God understood that it was because of their unfaithfulness to God as a people, and their disposition to intermarry with other nations, and thus being led into idolatry, that the Lord suffered them to go into Egypt.  And they firmly declared to their brethren that God would soon bring them up from Egypt, and break their oppressive yoke.

 

“In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, God plainly showed His distinguished mercy to His people, before all the Egyptians.  God saw fit to execute His judgments upon Pharaoh, that He might know by sad experience, since he would not otherwise be convinced, that His power was [216]

 

“superior to all others.  That His Name might be declared throughout all the earth, He would give exemplary and demonstrative proof to all nations of His Divine power and justice.  It was the design of God that these exhibitions of power should strengthen the faith of His people, and that their posterity should steadfastly worship Him alone who had wrought such merciful wonders in their behalf.”  1SP:213-216; 3SG:239-241.

 

9:18:  “hail” = “Nut” was the Egyptian goddess of the sky and heavens and was often depicted as controlling what happened under the sky and on the earth.

 

9:19:  “gather thy cattle” = “Gather thy cattle” to where?  According to “Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible:”  “In Egypt the cattle are sent to pasture in the open country from January to April, when the grass is abundant.  They are kept in stalls for the rest of the year.”  Some question as to how there were any “cattle” left in Egypt at all, since they were supposedly killed in the fifth plague (Exo. 9:6).  However, what is meant there in the fifth plague, is that all of the “cattle” that were in the city or home owner stalls were killed.  And now, the Egyptian people’s faith in what plagues have already fallen are to be tested; in that, their “cattle” that were killed were in the stalls, and now you want the Egyptian’s to put their remaining “cattle” in those very stalls in order to save them?  Great test of faith indeed.

 

9:20:  “the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses” = Notice that “the servants of Pharaoh” no longer listen to Pharaoh; but they are listening to Moses and what he tells the Israelites to do.

 

9:22:  “hail. . . herb of the field” =  “Osiris” was the god of crops and fertility.  Also included would be “Nut,” the Egyptian goddess of the Sky and “Set,” the storm god.  In the Bible, hail is often associated with God’s judgment (Isa. 28:2-17; Exe. 13:11-13). 

 

9:27:  “I have sinned” = What an admission (or abomination).  He acknowledges that he is a liar.  Satan does the same.  The problem is, there is no shame in the admission.

 

9:30:  “I know that ye will not yet fear the LORD God.” = See my Exodus 9:27 Note; then notice the word

“yet.”  This will happen in Exodus 12:31-32.  And this “fear” is not respect, but terror.

 

“After the plague was stayed, the king refused to let Israel go.  Rebellion produces rebellion.  The king had become so hardened with his continual opposition to the will of God, that his whole being rose in rebellion to the awful exhibitions of His Divine power.”  3SG:215.

 

9:31:  “barley was in the ear” = Or better, the barley was ripe, ready for the harvest.  Christ arose at the time of the waving of the sheaf of barley as the first fruits of the coming harvest (1Co. 15:23).  According to Exodus 13:4 this is the “month Abib [improper translation; should be translated as “in the month of the Abib,” in other words, “in the month of the barley harvest,” or when the “barley ears” where ready to be harvested],” when Israel left Egypt; around our April (Passover).  Thus, if we translate the phrase properly, it should look like this:  “the barley was Abib,” i.e., “the barley was ready to be harvested.”  But our God foresaw this and had hail come down before the Egyptians could harvest the “flax and the barley.”  For they were a wicked people that needed to learn that our God was not One to be trifled with and that He would be acknowledged as the One and Only True God.

 

9:34:  “thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more” = “After the plague was stayed, the king refused to let Israel go.  Rebellion produces rebellion.  The king had become so hardened with his continual opposition to the will of God, that his whole being rose in rebellion to the awful exhibitions of His Divine power.”  1SP:192.1.

 

 

CHAPTER TEN

 

 

10:1:  “I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants” = See my Exodus 4:21 Note.

 

10:4:  “locusts” = The corresponding Egyptian god that our Lord specifically was demonstrating His power over was, “Senehem,” the god that protected against “locusts.”  Also, “Seth,” the Egyptian god of Storms and Disorder.  In an interesting note, locusts normally appeared in the month of March.  Thus, we may have a potential time period here.  Or, even better, this was not March and this makes for an even greater miracle!

 

10:7:  “let the men go” = “Had not a portion of the Egyptians seen the folly of their worship of such gods, had they not repented, the whole nation would have been wiped out of existence. . . The humble and obedient were men of influence, who had been greatly benefited by the life and example of Joseph, and through him had obtained a knowledge of God.”  YI, April 15, 1897.

 

“Egypt is destroyed?” = “[216] They related to him that they had sustained great loss by the death of their cattle, and that Egypt was nearly ruined by lightning.  And the hail mingled with fire, had broken down their forests, and had [217]

 

“destroyed their fruit, and nearly all their grain; that everything was in a ruinous condition, and that they were losing all that they had gained through the labor of the Hebrews.”  3SG:216-217.

 

10:11:  “go now ye that are men” = “[217] The king shows his contempt of God’s Command by his answer to Moses and Aaron.  Let your God require this of you if He will, for you to take your little ones, I will not let you go.  Your little children are not needed in your journey.  Does your God think I will do this thing, and let you go with your wives and little children into the wilderness upon so dangerous an expedition to them?  I will not do this, but only you that are men shall go to serve the Lord.  This hard-hearted, oppressive king would now pretend to the Hebrews that he had a special interest in their welfare, and a tender care for their little ones.  He had tried to destroy the Israelites with hard labor; but now, to serve his own purpose, professes [218]

 

“to have a very special care for them, and plainly declares to Moses and Aaron that God, Who would require such a thing as for them to go with their families into the wilderness, should not be obeyed; for He would only lead them out to destroy them, and their bodies would certainly lie in the wilderness.”  3SG:217-218; 1SP:195-196.

 

10:17:  “that He may take away from me this death only” = “The Egyptians were afraid that after the locusts had eaten everything in the field, they would even attack the people of Egypt and devour them.”  1SP:195; 3SG:218-219.

 

10:21-22:  “[21] darkness. . . [22] thick darkness” = The corresponding Egyptian god that our Lord specifically was demonstrating His power over was, “Ra,” the Sun god.  These three days (Exo. 10:22) of “darkness which might be felt,” most probably owing to the South-West wind from the desert after the spring equinox filling the air densely with fine sand, such that men and beasts hide (Exo. 10:23), and this darkness could literally be “felt.”

 

“The people were not merely deprived of light, but the atmosphere was very oppressive, so that breathing was difficult;” 1SP:217.

 

10:23:  “Israel had light” = Of special notice is that the Israelites not only escaped this plague, but had “light,” miraculously made by God.

 

10:26:  “Our cattle also shall go with us” = “As Moses had witnessed the wonderful works of God, his faith had grown strong, and his confidence had become established, while God had been fitting him and qualifying him, by manifestations of His power, to stand at the head of the armies of Israel, and, as a shepherd of His people, to lead them from Egypt.  He was elevated above fear by his firm trust in God, which led him to say to the king, ‘Our cattle shall go with us; there shall not an hoof be left behind.’  This firm courage in the presence of the king, annoyed his haughty pride, and he uttered the threat of killing the servants of God.  He did not realize in his blindness that he was not only contending against Moses and Aaron, but against the mighty Jehovah, the Maker of the heavens and of the earth.  Moses had obtained the favor of the people.  He was regarded as a very wonderful man, and the king would not dare to harm him.”  1SP:197.

 

10:29:  “I will see thy face again no more” = “It was the king and the priests that opposed to the last the demands of Moses.”  PP:272.

​

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

 

11:2:  “borrow of his neighbour” = See my Exodus 12:35 Note.

 

11:8:  “Pharaoh in a great anger” = Should read, “Pharaoh who was in a great anger,” for it was Pharaoh who was angry, not Moses.  See 1SP:198.

 

“As Moses told the king of the plague which would come upon them, more dreadful than any that had yet visited Egypt, which would cause all his great counselors to bow down before him and entreat the Israelites to leave Egypt, the king was exceedingly angry.  He was enraged because he could not intimidate Moses, and make him tremble before his kingly authority.  But Moses leaned for support upon a mightier arm than that of any earthly monarch.”  1SP:198.2; 3SG:222.

 

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

 

 

12:2:  “This month” = Which is what?  If we go to Deuteronomy 16:1 we find that Israel was to “Observe the month of Abib.”  The Hebrew word for “Observe” is “shamar,” and literally means, “to guard, protect, hedge about.”  This is the same Hebrew word that is used in regard to the angel “guarding” the way to the “tree of life,” in Genesis 3:24, and in Exodus 31:13-14, and many other places God tells Israel to “guard” or “keep [holy]” the hours of the Sabbath.  Thus, “This month” equals “Abib.”

 

12:3:  “a lamb, according to the house” = The “Lamb [Jesus]” is never too small to visit your house; but the house may be to small to house “The Lamb.”

 

12:4:  “let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls” = See the additional information in my Exodus 12:27 Note.

 

“[200] There were quite a number of the Egyptians who were led to acknowledge, by the manifestations of the signs and wonders shown in Egypt, that the God of the Hebrews was the Only true God.  They entreated to be permitted to come to the houses of the Israelites with their families upon that fearful night. . . [201] And they pledged themselves to henceforth choose the God of Israel as their God.  They decided to leave Egypt, and go with the children of Israel to worship their God.  The Israelites welcomed the believing Egyptians to their houses.”  1SP:200-201.

 

12:6:  “in the evening” = The Hebrew is “ereb,” which translates better as, “dusk,” meaning, before the Sabbath day, before the setting of the sun; for no work was to be done of the Sabbath Day.  So the lamb is sacrificed on the 14th and eaten on the 15th of the month.  Therefore, the Passover has a Preparation Day, on the 14th, while the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” begins on the 15th, going for 7 days (verse 19), going until the 21st day (verse 18), eating the lamb and unleavened bread until the 22nd day, the “at even,” of verse 18.

 

This is confirmed in that Jesus tells His disciples to go buy a “sword,” Luke 22:36, on the Sabbath Day -- NO.  This is Friday, the Preparation Day, not the Sabbath Day.  Had it been the Sabbath Day our Lord would have been in violation of it by His suggestion to go purchase a “sword.”  Plus, according to John 13:1, this meal (actually two days away) was “before the Feast of the Passover.”  And even Pilot knew this in John 19:14.

 

12:7:  “take of the blood” = “Every plague had come a little closer and more severe, and this was to be more dreadful than any before it.  But the proud king was exceedingly angry, and humbled not himself.  And when the Egyptians saw the great preparations being made among the Israelites for that dreadful night, they ridiculed the token of blood upon their door-posts.”  3SG:246; 1SP:219.

 

12:8:  “in that night” = The Hebrew is, “layil leyl layelah,” which literally means, “at the going down of the sun.”  However, “night” seems more appropriate, for that is the translation in Genesis 1:5 (see also Psa. 136:9).  It is also used figuratively to signify gloom or despair that can engulf human (prophets) hearts when in the absence of Divine guidance (see Mic. 3:6), or human calamity and affliction (see Job 30:17; 36:20), which would learn more towards “the going down of the sun,” i.e., God’s guidance.

 

Here is the importance of understanding this.  The 14th of Nisan is a “High Sabbath,” but it is not “Passover.”  You may eat a “lamb” on the 14th, but not that night, which would be the 15th (see my Bible Study:  “THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS”).

 

12:9:  “purtenance” = Meaning, its “guts.”  This was not a pleasant meal.

 

12:11:  “Passover” = The unluckiness superstition of “Friday the Thirteenth” goes all the way back to Egypt, when (Passover falling on the 14th of the month; Lev. 23:5) all of the firstborn of Egypt were slain (the night before).

 

“Christ ate the Passover supper {See my Bible Study:  “THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS”} with His disciples just before His crucifixion, and the same night, instituted the ordinance of the Lord’s supper, to be observed in commemoration of His death.  The Passover had been observed to commemorate the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt.  It had been both commemorative and typical.  The type had reached the antitype when Christ, the Lamb of God without blemish, died upon the cross.  He left an ordinance to commemorate the events of His crucifixion. {1SP:201.1}

 

“Christ ate the Passover supper with His disciples, then arose from the table, and said unto them, ‘With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’  He then performed the humiliating office of washing the feet of His disciples.  Christ gave His disciples the ordinance of washing feet for them to practice, which would teach them lessons of humility.  He connected this ordinance with the supper.  He designed that this should be a season of self-examination, that His followers might have an opportunity to become [1SP:202]

 

“acquainted with the true feelings of their own hearts toward God and one another.”  ST, March 25, 1880 par. 5; 1SP:201-202; 3SG:225.

 

12:12:  “firstborn” = Why all the firstborn?  “Isis” was a goddess protecting children; “Heqet” was a goddess attending women at childbirth; and “Min” was a god of reproduction.  Besides these, there were several Egyptian gods of fertility.  Plus, in Exodus, Chapter One, the Egyptians obeyed the command of their false god Pharaoh in murdering the firstborn of the Israelites.  Thus, God was holding them in account for that.

 

“all the gods of Egypt” = Here is the main reason for all of these great demonstrations of our God.

 

“[200] There were quite a number of the Egyptians who were led to acknowledge, by the manifestations of the signs and wonders shown in Egypt, that the God of the Hebrews was the only true God.  They entreated to be permitted to come to the houses of the Israelites with their families upon that fearful night when the angel of God should slay the first-born of the Egyptians.  They were convinced that their gods whom they had worshiped were without knowledge, and had no power to save or to destroy.  And they pledged themselves to [201]

 

“henceforth choose the God of Israel as their God.  They decided to leave Egypt, and go with the children of Israel to worship their God.  The Israelites welcomed the believing Egyptians to their houses.”  1SP:200-201.

 

12:22:  “hyssop” = Why “hyssop?”  Because it has chemical properties that will react with any portions of the blood used upon the door posts that will counteract with any bad properties that may be in the blood.

 

“The hyssop used in sprinkling the blood was the symbol of purification, being thus employed in the cleansing of the leper and of those defiled by contact with the dead.  In the Psalmist’s prayer also its significance is seen: [Psalm 51:7 quoted].”  PP:277.​

 

12:27:  “He smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses” = “[224] And they were required to separate themselves and their children from the Egyptians, and gather them into their own houses, for if any of the Israelites were found in the houses of the Egyptians, they would fall by the hand of the destroying angel. . . There was quite a number of Egyptians who were led to acknowledge, by the manifestations of the signs and wonders shown in Egypt, that the God of the Hebrews was the Only true God.  They entreated to be permitted to come to the houses of the Israelites with their families, upon that fearful night when the angel of God should slay the first-born of the Egyptians.  They were convinced that their gods whom [225]

 

“. . . they had worshiped were without knowledge, and had no power to save or to destroy.  And they pledged themselves to henceforth choose the God of Israel as their God.  They decided to leave Egypt, and go with the children of Israel to worship their God.  The Israelites welcomed the believing Egyptians to their houses.”  3SG:224-225.

 

12:29:  “cattle” = This does not mean “bovine.”  It would be better translated as, “flocks.”  This is just like the translation of the word “meat,” in the KJV, meaning, “food.”

 

12:30:  “not a house where there was not one dead” = It must be understood that there are generations living in a house in those days.  You’ve got the Great Grandfather, who may have been the oldest, the firstborn in his family, he is dead; his oldest son, he is dead; and his oldest sons son is living in the house, and he is dead.  Imagine in the middle of the night or early in the morning finding all these people dead in the house?  What a cry of terror.

 

12:31:  “serve the LORD” = In Exodus 5:2 Pharaoh did not even know Who Jehovah was and then he begins to use Jehovah’s Name in Exo. 8:8.  But now he uses “Jehovah’s” Name in fear and acknowledgement.  Pharaoh’s stubbornness will eventually get the best of him, but he now knows Who God is and there will be no excuse for him in the judgment.

 

12:31-32:  “And he [Pharaoh] called for Moses and Aaron by night. . . Also take your flocks and your herds. . . bless me also” = SDA’s:  EGW prophet or not:  According to 1SP:219 & 3SG:246:  Pharaoh went to Goshen to tell Moses (Israel) to leave.

 

Pharaoh “humbled himself, and went with his counselors and his rulers to Goshen in haste, and bowed before Moses and Aaron. . . They implored them to be gone, fearing if they continued longer, they would be all as dead men.  Pharaoh also entreated Moses to bless him, thinking at the time that a blessing from the servant of God would protect him from the further effects of the dreadful plague.”  1SP:219; 3SG:246.

 

12:35:  “borrowed” = Poor translation.  The Hebrew is, “Sha’al,” and literally means, “ask.”  And so is it translated elsewhere.  They knew they would not be returning.  Therefore, they would not be “borrowing” anything.

 

“The powerful works of God, which he wrought before the Egyptians for the deliverance of the Hebrews, would give them favor in the sight of the Egyptians, that when they should leave Egypt they should not go empty-handed.”  1SP:171.

 

“and of her that sojourneth in her house” = “God directed them to borrow of their neighbors, and the stranger that sojourned with them.  That is, the Egyptian that had been appointed over them to see that they performed a certain amount of labor each day.”  3SG:191; 1SP:172.

 

12:36:  “such things as they required” = Notice that these are supplied words.  A more accurate translation of “shaal shael” would be, “They demanded of them.”  Here is the entire verse:  “Jehovah gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and they demanded of them.”

 

12:37-38:  “about six hundred thousand” = This is a count of men only:  “God wrought most wondrously to free more than a million people.”  3BC:1149 (MS 4, 1896).  See Exodus 14:22 Note.

 

“The Israelites left Egypt in haste, yet in order.  They were divided into several bodies, and each division had its leader.”  1SP:219.

 

12:38:  “mixed multitude” = “They were called a mixed multitude because the Hebrews had intermarried with the Egyptians.”  1SP:243.

 

12:40:  “four hundred and thirty years” = See Galatians 3:17.  See also my Exodus Introduction Note.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 

 

13:4:  “month Abib” = See my Exodus 9:31 Note.

 

13:11:  “pillar of a cloud” = “The Words which He spoke from the pillar of cloud in the wilderness were the same as He spoke in His sermon on the mount.”  ST, September 5, 1895.

 

13:13:  “thou shalt redeem” = The reason for this redemption process is explained in verses 14-16.  The offering for “an ass” was “a lamb.”  But if you did not want to redeem the “ass” because you wanted to keep your lambs, or whatever, you were to kill the “ass” as the redemption.  Thus, by offering all the firstborn of the animals in your possession, you were essentially making a redemption offering for your firstborn son.

 

13:16:  “for frontlets between thine eyes” = This is the text that is used by devout Jews for their wearing of little boxes upon their foreheads.  However, this text is a figure of speech and not literal, or else they should be actually wearing their “firstborn of man, and [or] the firstborn of beast[s],” verse 15, between their eyes and carrying these sacrifices in their hands.

 

13:17:  “repent” = True Biblical repentance should be an invocation to be more like Christ; not an open door to beat oneself up.

 

13:18:  “Red sea” = The Hebrew is “suph,” meaning, “reed, rush, water plant.”  And “yam,” meaning “sea,” in a “general meaning for sea.”  This translation that we have today as “Red sea” is because of the false assumption of the Israelites crossing over the Red sea from Egypt.  However, we now have conclusive evidence that they crossed over the “Gulf of Aqaba.”  The “way of the wilderness of the Red sea” literally means that they went through the “wilderness” above (north of) the Red Sea.  This is verified by seeing Numbers 20:16.  The other point is that they were no longer in Egypt at this time, i.e., “out of the land of Egypt.”  If they were still to be crossing the Red Sea they would still be in Egypt.

 

13:21:  “the Lord” = Jesus.  See First Corinthians 10:4 & 9.

 

“the LORD went before them” = “The cloudy banner in the sky. . . was. . . a canopy to protect them from fiery heat by day.”  ST, March 10, 1881.

 

“The pillar of fire that speaks terror and wrath to the transgressor of God’s Law, is a token of light and mercy and deliverance to those who have kept His Commandments.”  AA:589.

 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

 

 

14:2:  “that they turn” = Meaning:  “The Lord knew that the Philistines would oppose their passing through their land.  They would say of them, They have stolen away from their masters in Egypt, and would make war with them.  Thus God, by bringing them by the way of the sea, revealed Himself a compassionate God, as well as a God of judgment.  The Lord informed Moses that Pharaoh would pursue them, and He directed him just where to encamp before the sea.  He told Moses that He would be honored before Pharaoh and all his host.”  1SP:206.

 

14:3:  “For Pharaoh will say” = “The Lord informed Moses that Pharaoh would pursue them, and He directed him just where to encamp before the sea.”  1SP:206.

 

“the wilderness hath shut them in” = This is confirmed by Josephus, in Antiquities of the Jews, Book 2, 15-13:  “For there was [on each side] a [ridge of] mountains that terminated at the sea, which were impassable by reason of their roughness, and obstructed their flight.”

 

14:4:  “I Am the LORD” = Here is the reason for all of these miracles, for all of these hardships, for all that Israel and Egypt has gone through, and that is for you and for me also to know, that “Jehovah” is “the LORD,” the only god.  Also, Exodus 9:16; 10:1-2; 14:18 are the reasons for this display of miracles.

 

14:6:  “took his people with him” = “Pharaoh prepared a well-equipped army, composed of the priests of their idol gods, and of the rulers, and all the great men of his kingdom.  They thought if their priests accompanied them, they would be more sure of success.  The most mighty of Egypt were selected that they might intimidate the Israelites with the grand display of their power and greatness.  They thought that when the news should reach other nations, that they were compelled to yield to the power of the God of Israel Whom they had despised, they would be looked upon with derision.  But if they should go with great pomp, and bring Israel back with force, they would redeem their glory, and would also have the services of the children of Israel again.”  3SG:247; 1SP:220.

 

14:15:  “Wherefore criest thou unto Me” = “God would have Moses understand that He would work for His people -- that their necessity would be His opportunity.  When they should go as far as they could, He must bid them still go forward; that he should use the rod God had given him to divide the waters.”  1SP:207.2.

 

14:19: “angel” = “The Angel, Who was Christ.” 3T:339; 1SP:318 & 341.  See First Corinthians 10:4 & 9.

 

14:22:  “went into the midst of the sea” = “. . . the vast army of more than a million people went safely over.”  RH, June 1, 1897.

 

“dry ground” = “The waters rose up and stood, like congealed walls on either side, while Israel walked in the midst of the sea on dry ground.”  3SG:234.

 

14:23:  “And the Egyptians pursued” = SDA’s:  Here is 1SP:209 & 220 & SR:124.1 & 3SG:234 where EGW tells of the hesitation of the Egyptians.  Then compare with your adulterated versions entitled “Go Forward,” in 4T:24-25; AURA:363; RH, October 8, 1903 par. 9 {4RH:561; Some of her writings were CHANGED after 1884-5}; See the index in Book 1, Signs of the Times, page 5, with reference to 4T:20-28; and ST, April 1, 1880 {1ST:145; Note the title change from “Go Forward” to “Israel Leaves Egypt.”}.  These only tell of 1SP:220.  In other words, they leave out page 209.

 

“The Egyptian host was triumphing through that night that the children of Israel were again in their power.  They thought there was no possibility of their escape; for before them stretched the Red Sea, and their large armies were close behind them.  In the morning, as they came up to the sea, lo, there was a dry path, the waters were divided, and stood like a wall upon either side, and the children of Israel were half way through the sea, walking on dry land.  They waited awhile to decide what course they had better pursue.  They were disappointed and enraged, that, as the Hebrews were almost in their power, and they were sure of them, an unexpected way was opened for them in the sea.  They {THEN} decided to follow them,” 1SP:209; SR:124.1.

 

“They overtook the Hebrews at the Red Sea.  This place was appointed for the last display of the power of God before the infatuated Egyptians.  In the morning, they came up to the Red Sea and saw the Hebrew host walking upon a dry path prepared for them in the sea, while high walls of water stood upon either side, congealed by the power of God.  This exhibition of God’s power only increased their feelings of rebellion; and they had so long resisted such manifestations, that they were hardened; and in their blindness, rushed into the path that God had miraculously prepared for His people.”  1SP:220.

 

“The Egyptian host was triumphing through that night that the children of Israel were again in their power.  They thought there was no possibility of their escape, for before them stretched the Red Sea, and their large armies were close behind them.  In the morning, as they came up to the sea, lo, there was a dry path, the waters were divided, and stood like a wall upon either side, and the children of Israel were half way through the sea, walking on dry land.  They waited a while to decide what course they had better pursue.  They were disappointed and enraged, that, as the Hebrews were almost in their power, and they were sure of them, an unexpected way was opened for them in the sea.  They decided to follow them.”  3SG:234.

 

“[64] The vast armies of Egypt ventured to traverse the sea by the same path, in pursuit of Israel.  A dark [65] cloud was before them, and yet they pressed on.”  21:MR:64-65.

 

And YI, February 12, 1903 {NOTE THE DATE} par. 4 would have us believe:  “As the people stepped into the sea, the waters rolled back, a path was made, and they walked through on dry land.”  Instead of our Lords wind drying the sea-bed all night.

 

SDA’s:  NOW compare the above with these adulterated versions:

 

“Then Moses, obeying the Divine Command, stretched out his rod, and the waters parted, rolling up in a wall on either side, and leaving a broad pathway across the bed of the sea for the children of Israel.  The light from the pillar of fire shone upon the foam-capped billows, lighting the road that was cut like a mighty furrow through the waters of the Red Sea until it was lost in the obscurity of the farther shore. {4T:24.2}

 

“All night long sounded the tramping of the hosts of Israel crossing the Red Sea; but the cloud hid them from the sight of their enemies.  The Egyptians, weary with their hasty march, had encamped upon the shore for the night.  They saw the Hebrews only a short distance before them, and as there seemed no possibility of escape, they decided to take a night’s rest and make an easy capture in the morning.  The night was intensely dark, the clouds seemed to encompass them like some tangible substance.  Deep sleep fell upon the camp; even the sentinels slumbered at their posts. {4T:24.3}

 

“At last a ringing blast arouses the army!  The cloud is passing on!  The Hebrews are moving! {What were they doing before?  Sleeping like the Egyptians; but in the bottom of the Red Sea?} Voices and the sound of marching come from toward the sea.  It is still so dark that they cannot discern the escaping people {Then how do they know “The Hebrews are moving?”}, but the command is given to make ready for the pursuit.  The clatter of arms and the roll of chariots, the marshaling of captains and the neighing of steeds, are heard.  At length the line of march is formed, and they press on through the obscurity in the direction of the escaping multitude {Are we to believe, as this account puts it, that our God so clouded their eyes that they couldn’t see the danger they were headed into?  That our God had tricked they into entering into the Red Sea?  No, the God I serve ALWAYS shows us and pleads with us not to go into such danger.}. {4T:24.4}

 

“In the darkness and confusion they rush on in their pursuit, not knowing that they have entered upon the bed of the seaand are hemmed in on either hand by beetling walls of water. [25]

 

“They long for the mist and darkness to pass away and reveal to them the Hebrews and their own whereabouts.  The wheels of the chariots sink deep into the soft sand, and the horses become entangled and unruly.  Confusion prevails, yet they press on, feeling sure of victory {NO WAY}. {4T:24.5}

 

“At last the mysterious cloud changes to a pillar of fire before their astonished eyes.  The thunders roll and the lightnings flash, the waves roll about them, and fear takes possession of their hearts.  Amid the terror and confusion, the lurid light reveals to the amazed Egyptians the terrible waters massed up on the right hand and on the left.  They see the broad path that the Lord has made for His people across the shining sands of the sea, and behold triumphant Israel safe on the farther shore. {4T:25.1}

 

“Confusion and dismay seize them.  Amid the wrath of the elements, in which they hear the voice of an angry God, they endeavor to retrace their steps and fly to the shore they have quitted.  But Moses stretches out his rod, and the piled-up waters, hissing, roaring, and eager for their prey, tumble down upon the armies of Egypt.  Proud Pharaoh and his legions, gilded chariots and flashing armor, horses and riders, are engulfed beneath a stormy sea.”  4T:24-25.

 

“As the cloud moved slowly on, the Egyptian sentinels discovered that the Israelites had moved their encampment, and at once the mighty army was set in readiness for motion.  They heard the sound of the marching of the Hebrews, but they could see nothing, for the cloud that gave light to Israel was to the Egyptians a wall of darkness.  Guided by the sound, they followed on into the miraculous path God had prepared for His people.  All night they followed {Other versions say “In the morning”}, but they moved slowly, for their chariots drove heavily.  Yet still they moved on, expecting soon to break through the cloud and overtake the fugitives. {CTr:105.3}

 

“At last the shadows of the night passed away, the morning dawned, and the pursuing army was almost within reach of the fleeing Hebrews. . . Before their astonished eyes the mysterious cloud changed to a pillar of fire reaching from earth to heaven.  The thunders pealed and the lightnings flashed.  ‘The clouds poured out water:  the skies sent out a sound:  Thine arrows also went abroad.  The voice of thy thunder was in the Heaven:  the lightnings lightened the world:  the earth trembled and shook.’ {CTr:105.4}

 

“The Egyptians were seized with confusion and dismay.  Amid the wrath of the elements, in which they heard the voice of an angry God, they endeavored to retrace their steps and to flee to the shore they had quitted.  But Moses stretched out his rod, and the piled-up waters, hissing, roaring, and eager for their prey, rushed together and swallowed the Egyptian army in their black depths.”  CTr:105.3-105.5; RH, October 8, 1903 Par. 4-9.

 

“Deep sleep fell upon the camp, even the sentinels slumbered at their posts. {ST, April 1, 1880 par. 18}

 

“At last a ringing blast arouses the army!  The cloud is passing on!  The Hebrews are moving!  Voices and the sound of marching come from toward the sea.  It is still so dark they cannot discern the escaping people, but the command is given to make ready for the pursuit.  The clattering of arms, and the roll of chariots is heard, the marshalling of the captains, and the neighing of the steeds.  At length the line of march is formed and they press on through the obscurity, in the direction of the escaping multitude. {ST, April 1, 1880 par. 19}

 

“In the darkness and confusion, they rush on in their pursuit, not knowing that they have entered upon the bed of the sea, and are hemmed in on either hand by beetling walls of water.  They long for the mist and darkness to pass away, and reveal to them the Hebrews and their own whereabouts.  The wheels of the chariots sink deep into the soft sand, the horses become entangled and unruly, and angels of God go through the host and remove their chariot wheels. Confusion prevails, yet they press on feeling sure of victory. {ST, April 1, 1880 par. 20}

 

“At last the mysterious cloud changes to a pillar of fire before their astonished eyes.  The thunders peal, and the lightnings flash, waves roll about them, and fear takes possession of their hearts.  Amid the terror and confusion the lurid light reveals to the amazed Egyptians the terrible waters massed up on the right hand and on the left.  They see the broad path that the Lord has made for His people across the shining sands of the sea, and behold triumphant Israel safe on the farther shore. {ST, April 1, 1880 par. 21}

 

“Confusion and dismay seizes them.  Amid the wrath of the elements, in which they hear the voice of an angry God{REALLY}, they endeavor to retrace their steps and fly to the shore they have quitted.  But Moses stretches out his rod,” ST, April 1, 1880 par. 18-22.

 

In an interesting note:  “Of all the men of Egypt in that vast army, not one escaped.  All perished in their determination to have their own way and to refuse God’s way.  That occasion was the end of their probation.”  MS 35, 1906; 1BC:1101.7.

 

14:25:  “took of their chariot wheels. . . for the LORD fighteth for them “ = “[209] The Egyptians dared to venture in the path God had prepared for His people, and angels of God went through their host and removed their chariot wheels.  They were plagued.  Their progress was very slow, and they began to be troubled.  They remembered the judgments that the God of the Hebrews had brought upon them in Egypt, to [210]

 

“compel them to let Israel go, and they thought that God might deliver them all into the hands of the Israelites.  They decided that God was fighting for the Israelites, and they were terribly afraid, and were turning about to flee from them, when ‘the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea. . .’ ”  1SP:209-210; 3SG:235.

 

14:28:   “there remained not so much as one of them” = “The time had come when God would answer the prayers of His oppressed people, and would bring them from Egypt with such mighty displays of His power that the Egyptians would be compelled to acknowledge that the God of the Hebrews, Whom they had despised, was above all gods.  He would now punish them for their idolatry, and for their proud boasting of the mercies bestowed upon them by their senseless gods.  God would glorify His Own Name, that other nations might hear of His power and tremble at His mighty acts, and that His people, by witnessing His miraculous works, should fully turn from their idolatry to render to Him pure worship.”  1SP:212.3.

 

“Although many of the Israelites had become corrupted by idolatry, yet the faithful stood firm.  They had not concealed their faith, but openly acknowledged before the Egyptians that they served the Only true and living God.  They rehearsed the evidences of God’s existence and power from creation down.  The Egyptians had an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the faith of the Hebrews, and their God.  They had tried to subvert the faithful worshipers of the true God, and were annoyed because they had not succeeded, either by threats, the promise of rewards, or by cruel treatment.  The two last kings who had occupied the throne of Egypt had been tyrannical, and had cruelly entreated the Hebrews.  The elders of Israel had endeavored to encourage the sinking faith of the Israelites, by referring to the promise made to Abraham, and the prophetic words of Joseph just before he died, foretelling their deliverance from Egypt.  Some would listen and believe.  Others looked at their own sad condition, and would not hope.  The Egyptians had learned the expectations of the children of Israel, and derided their hopes of deliverance, and spoke scornfully of the power of their God.”  3SG:240.

 

 

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 

 

15:1:  “Then sang Moses” = “Moses repeated the song of thanksgiving which he had composed,” ST, March 10, 1881.

 

15:2: “I will prepare Him an habitation” = Pre-Sanctuary; prophetic song/language.  This is opposed to the “Sanctuary” mentioned in verse 17, which refers to the One in Heaven.

 

15:20:  “Miriam” = According to Josephus (Antiquities, III, p. 98) Miriam married Hur, who (Hur) later, together with Aaron had held up the arms of Moses in the battle with the Amalekites.

 

“took a timbrel in her hand” = “Moses did not hesitate to join in the sacred song with timbrels.”  RH, June 1, 1897.

 

15:24:  “the people murmured” = “The children of Israel seemed to possess an evil heart of unbelief.  They were unwilling to endure hardships in the wilderness.  When they met with difficulties in the way, they would regard them as impossibilities.  Their confidence in God would fail, and they could see nothing before them but death.”  3SG:249.

 

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

 

16:1:  “wilderness of Sin” = Some say that this should be translated as, “wilderness of Zin,” see Numbers 20:1.  However, the “Zin” mentioned there is near the land of Edom, whereas the “wilderness of Sin” is between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai (see Num. 33:11&12).

 

16:3:  “to kill this whole assembly with hunger” = “[221] They had not really suffered the pangs of hunger. [222]

 

“They had food for the present but they feared for the future.  They could not see how the host of Israel was to subsist, in their long travels through the wilderness, upon the simple food they then had, and in their unbelief they saw their children famishing.  The Lord was willing that they should be brought short in their food, and that they should meet with difficulties, that their hearts should turn to Him Who had hitherto helped them, that they might believe in Him.  He was ready to be to them a present help.  If, in their want, they would call upon Him, He would manifest to them tokens of His Love and continual care.  But they seemed to be unwilling to trust the Lord any further than they could witness before their eyes the continual evidences of His power.  If they had possessed true faith and a firm confidence in God, inconveniences and obstacles, or even real suffering, would have been cheerfully borne, after the Lord had wrought in such a wonderful manner for their deliverance from servitude.”  1SP:221-222; 3SG:249; ST, April 8, 1880.

 

“When difficulties arise, or when they are brought into strait places -- when their faith and their love to God are tested -- they shrink from the trial, and murmur at the process by which God has chosen to purify them.  Their love does not prove pure and perfect, to bear all things.  The faith of the people of the God of Heaven should be strong, active, and enduring -- the substance of things hoped for.”  1SP:223.

 

16:4:  “whether they will walk in My Law” = Obvious reference is here given that the Israelites already knew about God’s SEVENTH-DAY SABBATH, dispelling the idea that the Sabbath did not exist before Sinai.

 

16:7:  “ye shall see the glory of the LORD” = “The Lord gave to Israel evidences of His presence, in order that they might fear His name and obey His voice, and might realize that God was their Leader and Ruler, and that Moses was simply the Lord’s general, to direct their ways through the wilderness to the promised land.  Jesus Christ, the Captain of the Lord’s host, was the Divine Leader.  The people whom God had chosen to be His especial treasure, under oppression, servitude, and idolatry, had become disorganized and demoralized.  Their associations in Egypt had left a degraded mold upon their habits and appetites, and there was need that they should be transformed in character.  Christ had visibly manifested His presence and power among them.  The glory of God had been revealed in a most remarkable manner, so that they exceedingly feared that they would be consumed by the presence of the Lord.  They had heard the voice of God, as Christ bade Moses and Aaron draw near to the cloudy pillar in which He was enshrouded, and the Lord talked with His servants. . .

 

“From the pillar of cloud and fire Christ taught them that their murmurings were directed, not against Moses, but against their Divine Leader.  Moses and Aaron had led them according to His directions, and they were assured that it was not the man Moses that was guiding them but the Lord Jesus Christ.  From time to time the character of God and His dealings with them were opened up to the Israelites.  Christ was lifting them up from their demoralized condition by the revelation of Himself.”  ST, January 24, 1895.

 

“murmurings” = “This murmuring soon infected nearly the whole body of the people.”  4aSG:16.

 

16:12:  “At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread” = “[121] When the Lord brought his people from Egyptian bondage, He led them through the wilderness to prove them, and try them.  He promised to be their God, [122] and to take them to Himself as His peculiar treasure.  He did not prohibit their eating meat, but withheld it from them in a great measure.  He gave them food which He designed that they should have, which was healthy, and of which they could eat freely.  He rained their bread from Heaven, and gave them purest water out of the flinty rock.  He made a covenant with them, that if they would obey Him in all things, He would put no disease upon them.  But the Israelites were not satisfied with the food which God gave them.”  4aSG:121-122.

 

16:13:  “the quails came up” = “Once before, when they received the manna just before they reached Sinai, the Lord had answered their clamors for flesh-meat.  They ate of it only one day, however, and then it was withheld because it was not the best article of food for them.”  ST, August 12, 1880; CDF:378.

 

16:15:  “It is manna” = They did not say this.  The literal Hebrew is, “What is it?”  The reason this is the correct rendering is well seen by what follows their question (as opposed to an answer to a question they did not have), “for they wist not what it was.”  Then Moses tells them what it is:  See Numbers 11:7; Psalm 78:25.

 

“It was Christ Himself. . . Who had daily fed them manna from Heaven,” 2SP:276.

 

“Both the manna and the shewbread pointed to Christ, the Living Bread, Who is ever in the presence of God for us.”  PP:354.

 

16:22:  “the rulers” = How is it that the people knew this rule but “the rulers” did not?  Thus “the rulers” seem to be the problem and may be the cause of some or all of the revolts.

 

The “Pulpit Bible Commentary” makes this possible, but total excuse:  “It is to be supposed that, in his original announcement to the elders of God’s purposes as to the manna, Moses had informed them that the quantity would be double on the sixth day (Exo. 16:5); but his statement had not made any deep impression at the time, and now they had forgotten it.  So he recalls it to their recollection. [Verse 23 quoted].”

 

16:23:  “To morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the LORD” = YOU CAN NOT GET MUCH PLAINER, THAT GOD WANTED ISRAEL TO BE OBSERVING THE SABBATH WELL BEFORE SINAI.  Also, I have CAPITALIZED “Sabbath.”  Look at your KJV Bible and how many times “Sabbath” is NOT CAPITALIZED.  This is ridiculous for any translator to do so, because “Sabbath” is a PROPER NOUN; meaning, it, “Sabbath,” SHOULD ALWAYS BE CAPITALIZED.  It is almost as if you have to have a vengeance against the ONE SIGN that the Almighty gave to His people from the beginning of time in order to treat this institution of His this way.

 

“seethe” = “[225] The Lord is no less particular now in regard to His Sabbath, than when He gave the foregoing special directions to the children of Israel.  He required them to bake that which they would bake, and seethe (that is, boil) that which they would seethe, on the sixth day, preparatory to the rest of the Sabbath.  Those who neglect to prepare for the Sabbath on the sixth day, and who cook food upon the Sabbath, violate the Fourth Commandment, and are transgressors of God’s Law.  All who are really anxious to observe the Sabbath according to the Commandment, will not cook any food upon the Sabbath.  They will, in the fear of that God Who gave His Law from Sinai, deny themselves, and eat food prepared upon the sixth day, even if it is not so palatable.  God forbade the children of Israel’s baking and boiling upon the Sabbath.  That prohibition should be [226]

 

“regarded by every Sabbath-keeper, as a solemn injunction from Jehovah to them.  The Lord would guard His people from indulging in gluttony upon the Sabbath, which He has set apart for sacred meditation and worship.

 

“The Sabbath of the Lord is a day of rest from labor; and the diet upon that day should be more simple, and partaken of in less quantities, than upon the six laboring days, because we do not have that exercise upon the Sabbath that we have upon the other days of the week.  Many have erred in not practicing self-denial upon the Sabbath.  By partaking of full meals, as on the six laboring days, their minds are beclouded; they are stupid, and often drowsy; some suffer with headache.  Such have no truly-devotional feelings upon the Sabbath, and the blessing resting upon the Sabbath does not prove a blessing to them.  The sick and suffering require care and attention upon the Sabbath, as well as upon the other six days of the week; and it may be necessary for their comfort to prepare warm food and drinks upon the Sabbath.  In such instances, it is no violation of the Fourth Commandment to make them as comfortable as possible.  The great Lawgiver is a God of compassion, as well as of justice.”  1SP:225-226.

 

16:28-30:  “Laws” = NOTICE THAT THE SEVENTH DAY SABBATH IS OBSERVED BEFORE SINAI (verse 28).  Also all of God’s “Laws,” plural.

 

 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

 

17:1:  “wilderness of Sin” = Some say that this should be translated as, “wilderness of Zin,” see Numbers 20:1.  However, the “Zin” mentioned there is near the land of Edom, whereas the “wilderness of Sin” is between the Red Sea and Mount Sinai (see Num. 33:11&12).

 

17:2, 6:  “Lord” = This “Lord” is none other than Jesus Christ, proved by seeing First Corinthians 10:9.

 

17:5 & 6:  “elders of Israel” = These are the group that later become known as the “Sanhedrin.”  These are the “seventy,” of Exodus 24:1 & 9; Numbers 11:16, 24, 25.  Now we know that “Sanhedrin” is actually Greek.  “San” means, “Sitting together with.”  A good verse to see this definition is Matthew 2:4.  Most translators interpret the entire word “Sanhedrin” as, “assembly,” or “council.”

 

17:6:  “I will stand before thee” = “The cloud of his glory rested directly before the rock. . . Moses smote the rock, but it was Christ Who stood by him and caused the water to flow from the flinty rock.”  1SP:228; 3SG:257; PP:298.

 

“and thou shalt smite the rock” = “The smitten rock typified Christ, Who was to be wounded for men’s transgressions, that the stream of salvation might flow to them.”  LP:168.

 

17:7:  “Massah” = The Hebrew means “tested,” or better, “tempted,” in that “they tempted the LORD,” as the text states.

 

‘Meribah” = Meaning, "quarreling” or “contention.”

 

17:8:  “Then came Amalek” = See Deuteronomy 25:17.

 

“[228] Because of their unbelief, God suffered their enemies to make [229] war with them, that He might manifest to His people from whence cometh their strength.”  1SP:228-229.

 

“If the children of Israel had not murmured against the Lord, [Exo. 15:24; 16:2; 17:3] He would not have suffered their enemies to make war with them.”  1SP:230; 3SG 258; SR:134; ST, April 15, 1880.​

​

17:9:  “Joshua” = Meaning, “Jehovah Saves.”  According to Numbers 13:16, Joshua’s original name was “Oshea,” meaning “Saves.”  It is believed, via Jewish tradition, that Moses was the one to change his name.

 

17:14:  “I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek” = Not the people themselves, who would exist “from generation to generation,” (verse 16), but God will destroy the remembrance of their sinfulness and all sin.

 

 

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

 

 

18:14:  “did to the people” = Rather, “did for the people.”

 

18:17-23:  “Jethro” = “Jethro had marked that the care of all the people was upon Moses, and therefore he counseled him to look after the religious interests of the Hebrew host, while worthy men, free from covetousness, should be selected to look after the secular concerns of the people.”  1SP:286; 4aSG:19; ST, August 19, 1880.

 

 

CHAPTER NINETEEN

 

 

19:1:  “Sinai” = The location of Mt. Sinai has now been well established.  See my Bible Study:  “MOUNT SINAI, THE TRUE BIBLICAL LOCATION OF.”

 

19:3:  “the LORD called unto him out of the mountain” = “Soon after their arrival at Sinai, Moses received a Divine summons to ascend the mountain.  Alone he climbed the steep and jagged rocks placing his feet in steps made without hands.”  ST, April 22, 1880.

 

19:5:  “peculiar treasure unto Me above all people” = The Hebrew for “peculiar treasure” is “sugullah,” better translated as just “treasure,” a “treasure” so precious that God would allow no one else to touch it but Himself.

 

“They were called peculiar, because they alone, among all the nations of earth, preserved the true worship of God, by keeping His Commandments.”  1SP:394.1.

 

19:9:  “that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever” = “When the Hebrews had met with difficulties in the way, they were disposed to murmur against Moses and Aaron, and accuse them of leading the host of Israel from Egypt to destroy them.  God would honor Moses before them, that they might be led to confide in his instructions, and know that He had put His Spirit upon him.”  1SP:233.

 

19:10:  “let them wash their clothes” = “[233] The people were required to refrain from worldly labor and care, and to possess devotional thoughts.  God required them also to wash their clothes.  He is no less particular now than He was then.  He is a God of order, and requires His people now upon the earth to observe habits of strict cleanliness.  And those who worship God with uncleanly garments and persons, do not [234]

 

“come before Him in an acceptable manner.  He is not pleased with their lack of reverence for Him, and He will not accept the service of filthy worshipers, for they insult their Maker.  The Creator of the heavens and of the earth considered cleanliness of so much importance that He said, ‘And let them wash their clothes.’ ”  1SP:233-234.

 

19:16:  “the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud” = “The angelic host that attended the Divine Majesty summoned the people by a sound resembling that of a trumpet, which waxed louder and louder until the whole earth trembled.”  1SP:234; 3SG:264.

 

19:18:  “the LORD descended upon it in fire” = “The Divine Majesty descended in a cloud with a glorious retinue of angels, who appeared as flames of fire.” 1SP:234.3; 3SG:264.

 

“God desired to be near His people in order that they might realize the terrible majesty of His power and the sacredness of His Law; and so in mercy He drew near and caused a thick cloud to separate Him from their sight, that they might not be destroyed by the presence of His glory.  Through the thick cloud they could hear His voice.”  21MR:89.

 

19:20:  “Moses went up” = “Moses was not permitted to enter within the cloud of glory, but only draw nigh and enter the thick darkness which surrounded it.  And he stood between the people and the Lord.”  3SG:365; 1SP:235.1.

 

CHAPTER TWENTY

 

 

20:ALL:  See my Bible Study:  “TEN COMMANDMENTS, THE.”

 

20:1:  “God spake all these words” = “[236] The First and Second Commandments spoken by Jehovah are precepts against idolatry; for idolatry, if practiced, would lead men to great lengths in sin and rebellion, and result in the offering of human sacrifices.  God would guard against the least approach to such abominations.  The first four Commandments were given to show men their duty to [237]

 

“God.  The Fourth is the connecting link between the great God and man.  The Sabbath, especially, was given for the benefit of man, and for the honor of God.  These last six Precepts show the duty of man to his fellow-man.

 

“The Sabbath was to be a sign between God and His people forever.  In this manner was it to be a sign -- all who should observe the Sabbath, signified by such observance that they were worshipers of the Living God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.  The Sabbath was to be a sign between God and His people as long as He should have a people upon the earth to serve Him.”  1SP:237.

 

“[261] The Law of God existed before man was created.  The angels were governed by it.  Satan fell because he transgressed the principles of God’s government.  After Adam and Eve were created, God made known to them His Law.  It was not then written, but was rehearsed to them by Jehovah.

 

“The Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment was instituted in Eden.  After God had made the world, and created man upon the earth, He made the Sabbath for man.  After Adam’s sin and fall, nothing was taken from the Law of God.  The principles of the Ten Commandments existed before the fall, and were of a character suited to the condition of a holy order of beings.  After the fall, the principles of those Precepts were not changed, but additional Precepts were given to meet man in his fallen state.

 

“A system was then established requiring the sacrificing of beasts, to keep before fallen man that which the serpent made Eve disbelieve, that the penalty of disobedience is death.  The transgression of God’s Law made it necessary for Christ to die a sacrifice, and thus make a way possible for man to escape the penalty, and yet the honor of God’s Law be preserved.  The system of sacrifices was to teach man humility, in view of his fallen condition, and lead him to repentance, and to trust in God alone, through the promised [262]

 

“Redeemer, for pardon for past transgression of His Law.  If the Law of God had not been transgressed, there never would have been death, and there would have been no need of additional Precepts to suit man’s fallen condition.

 

“Adam taught his descendants the Law of God, which Law was handed down to the faithful through successive generations.  The continual transgression of God’s Law called for a flood of waters upon the earth.  The Law was preserved by Noah and his family, who for right-doing were saved in the ark by a miracle of God.  Noah taught his descendants the Ten Commandments.  The Lord preserved a people for Himself from Adam down, in whose hearts was His Law.  He says of Abraham. . .”  1SP:261-262.

 

“He did not trust them to be taught by any one, not even His angels, but spoke His Law with an audible voice in the hearing of all the people.  He did not, even then, trust them to the short memory of a people who were prone to forget His requirements, but wrote them with His Own holy finger upon tables of stone.  He would remove from them all possibility of mingling with His holy Precepts any tradition, or of confusing His Requirements with the practices of men.

 

“He then came still closer to His people, who were so readily led astray, and would not leave them with merely the Ten Precepts of the Decalogue.  He Commanded Moses to write, as He should bid him, Judgments and Laws, giving minute directions in regard to what He required them to perform, and thereby guarded the Ten Precepts which He had engraved upon the Tables of Stone.  These specific Directions and Requirements were given to draw erring man to the obedience of the Moral Law, which He is so prone to transgress.”  1SP:264.

 

I would admonish you to look up in Ellen White’s writings, using as your search, “transcript of His character.”  Here is only one:  ‘“Christ Came to our world to represent the character of God as it is represented in His Holy Law, for His Law is a transcript of His character.”  2SM:106; 1MR:44; 17MR:8.

 

“[298] He did not trust them to be taught by any one, not even his angels, but spoke His Law with an audible voice in the hearing of all the people.  He did [299]

 

“not even then trust them to the short memory of a people who were prone to forget His requirements, but wrote them with His Own Holy finger upon tables of stone.  He would remove from them all possibility of mingling with His Holy Precepts any tradition, or of confusing His Requirements with the practices of men. . . 

 

“He required Moses to write as He should bid him, judgments and laws, giving minute directions in regard to what He required them to perform, and thereby guarded the ten precepts which He had engraved upon the tables of stone.  These specific directions and requirements were given to draw erring man to the obedience of the Moral Law which he is so prone to transgress.  If man had kept the Law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved in the ark by Noah, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity of the ordinance of circumcision.  And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, which circumcision was a token or pledge of, they would never have gone into idolatry, and been suffered to go down into Egypt, and there would have been no necessity of God’s proclaiming His Law from Sinai, and engraving it upon tables of stone, and guarding it by definite directions in the judgments and statutes given to Moses.”  3SG:298-299; 1SP:264-265, 268-287; SR:148-149; ST, June 17, 1880.  See Exodus 20:24-2.

 

“In the twentieth of Exodus we find the Commandments that God has given as Ruler of the world.”  21MR:88.

 

“Every Command is a promise; accepted by the will, received into the soul, It brings with it the life of the Infinite One.  It transforms the nature and re-creates the soul in the image of God.”  ED:126.

 

“But in Heaven, service is not rendered in the spirit of legality.  When Satan rebelled against the Law of Jehovah, the thought that there was a Law came to the angels almost as an awakening to something unthought of.  In their ministry the angels are not as servants, but as sons.  There is perfect unity between them and their Creator.  Obedience is to them no drudgery.  Love for God makes their service a joy.  So in every soul wherein Christ, the hope of glory, dwells, His words are re-echoed, ‘I delight to do Thy will, O My God:  yea, Thy Law is within my heart.’  Psalm 40:8.”  MB:109.

 

“Those who have heard the voice of God proclaiming His Holy Law on Mount Sinai, in the hearing of the people, know His voice, and when men claiming to be led by Christ, and professing to be entirely sanctified, assert that the Law of God is abolished, and ridicule and make light of the great moral standard, and set at naught the testimony of prophets and apostles, we can confidently say that we hear not in their teachings the voice of the true Shepherd.”  ST, July 4, 1895; YI, September 27, 1894.

 

“What condescension was this, that the infinite God should stand side by side with His Son, while the Law, which is the foundation of His government, was given. . . Man was so dear to the Creator of the world that He spoke to him through Jesus Christ, with an audible voice, giving unmistakable evidence of His presence and majesty.”  ST, October 15, 1896.

 

“Any violation of the laws of nature is a violation of the Law of God.”  ST, April 4, 1900; 1BC:1105.3; 4T:30; 2PRC:504; M&S:40; PC:49, 262; 7MR:412; 8MR:37; YI:80; 1RH:109, 509.

 

20:3:  “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me” = What is interesting here is that the Hebrew word for “gods” “plural,” in this verse is the same Hebrew word for “God,” “singular,” in verse one, that being, “Elohim.”  So how do we justify the translation difference?  In standard Hebrew (and this works in English), in order to determine if when a noun is to be “plural,” all verbs and adjectives within the sentence must be/will be “plural” also,  Or, when the noun is “singular,” then the verbs and adjectives will be “singular.”  In verse one we can clearly see that “spake” is “singular.”  Whereas, in this verse, we can identify “other” as being “plural.”

 

The English can be a little deceptive here.  It could be understood falsely, in that one could derive that it is acceptable to have gods, but just not to place them “before” Him, i.e., above Him.  But the Hebrew is more exacting, in that “’al,” does mean “before,” as I pointed out with the English concept.  However, the Hebrew phrase is, “’al paniym,” meaning “before [His] face,” or “before [His] countenance.”  In other words, our God doesn’t want to see any false god’s in your possession when He visits with you.  And when is it that He does not want to be with you (see John 14:17)?

 

20:3-17:  “Thou shalt not” = The Hebrew expresses either “Thou shalt not,” or better, “You will not.”  The Hebrew stresses the fact that if one love’s God and places Him first in their life, “They Will Not.”  The obedience called for by the Sinai-tic Covenant was meant to be a loving response to God’s provision of salvation; and there can be no salvation without obedience to It.

 

“God requires obedience, not for the purpose of showing His authority, but that we may become one with Him in character.”  Ser.B:432.

 

The first “four precepts were written on the first table of stone” and “the last six. . . on the second table of stone.”  2S&T:185.

 

“The First and Second Commandments spoken by Jehovah are precepts against idolatry, which if practiced would lead men to great lengths in sin and rebellion, and result in the offering of human sacrifices.”  3SG:266.

 

“The Commandments as given from Sinai, with promises of God’s favor and records of His wonderful works for their deliverance, were by Divine direction expressed in song, and were chanted to the sound of instrumental music, the people keeping step as their voices united in praise.” ED:39.

 

“The Ten Commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were written by His Own hand.  They are of Divine, and not human composition.”  GCB, June 2, 1913; 1SM:25.

 

“The New Testament does not present a lower standard than the Old.  In His sermon on the mount Jesus set forth the very principles that came from His lips to Moses, to be given to the children of Israel.  Christ delineated the duties of men to God and to their fellow men in much stronger lines, because through disobedience men had become confused in regard to God’s claims.”  SpTA09:58.

 

20:4:  “any graven image” = Besides the obvious, not to bow before aa physical idol, a “graven image” is anything that you place or value above God; weather you realize it or not.  “The heart is deceitful above all things,” Jeremiah 17:9.  John Kelvin states it this way:  “The human heart is an idol factory.”  We must not worship God in our imagination of Him.  But in the revelation of Himself He has given us.

 

This Commandment actually goes further than just images and statues.  It’s about false representations of Who God really is.  Anything that falsely represents God’s true character is idolatry in essence.  To distort the true nature of God is to break this Commandment.

 

“. . . he [Satan] would destroy the efficacy of all worship; for how can man be elevated by adoring what is no higher than himself, and may be symbolized by his own handiwork?  If men could become so blinded to the power, the majesty, and the glory of the infinite God as to represent Him by a graven image, or even by a beast or reptile; if they could so forget their own Divine relationship, formed in the image of their Maker, as to bow down to these revolting and senseless objects, -- then the way was open for foul license; the evil passions of the heart would be unrestrained, and Satan would have full sway.”  PP:335.

 

“under the earth” = Here is my Philippians 2:10 Note:  The true meaning in this context is “all inclusive,” as opposed to a literal location.  In other words, every being (not just on earth) is included in the Commandment.  However, here is my Exodus 20:4 Note:  According to Psalms 24:2 & 33:7 what is “under the earth” is “water.”  Therefore, although “water” is essential for the existence of life on earth, it should not be worshiped; such as the Egyptians worshiped the Nile River.

 

20:5:  “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children” = “God did not mean in this threatening that the children should be compelled to suffer for their parents’ sins, but that the example of the parents would be imitated by the children. . . the effects of a sinful life are often inherited by the children.  They follow in the footsteps of their parents.  Sinful example has its influence from father to son to the third and fourth generation.  If parents indulge in depraved appetites, they will in almost every case see the same acted over in their children.  The children will develop characters similar to their parents’; and unless they are renewed by grace, and overcome, they are truly unfortunate.  If parents are continually rebellious, and inclined to disobey God, their children will generally imitate their example.”  3SG:291.

 

“The children were not condemned for the sins of the parents, but when, with a knowledge of all this light given to their parents, the children rejected the additional light granted to themselves, they became partakers of the parents’ sins, and filled up the measure of their iniquity.”  4SP:29.

 

Exodus 20:6; Deuteronomy 5:10:  “thousands of them” = The text could have just said, “of them.”  And since it did not and was specific with the included word “thousands,” one could conclude that this is also a prophetic statement, specifically referring to the 144,000 of the Book of Revelation.

 

20:7:  “take the Name of the LORD thy God in vain” = The Hebrew for “vain” is, “shav shav,” literally meaning, “falsely.”  God had made known the glory of His nature in His “Name” earlier (Exo. 3:14; 6:2), and as such It was not to be abused by His people.  In all the passages in which “shav shav” has been so rendered it retains its proper meaning, “to take up, lift up, raise;” e.g., “to take up or raise” (begin) a proverb (Num. 23:7; Job 27:1), “to lift up” a song (Psa. 81:3), or “lift up” a prayer (Isa. 37:4).

 

It is evident from the parallel in Psalm 24:4, “to lift up his soul to vanity,” that the word prohibits all employment of the “Name” of God for vain and unworthy objects, which includes not only false swearing (which is condemned in Lev. 19:12), which is a profanation of the Name of Jehovah, but also the trivial swearing in the ordinary intercourse of life.  It includes every use of the Name of God in the service of an untruth or lying, and added forcefulness in cursing.  It means to swear by God’s “Name” that a false statement is actually true.

 

The ancients believed that to give someone a new name, such as renaming Daniel to Belteshazzar (Dan. 2:26), was to prove that one had power over the other.  Thus, to use the Name of God in any way other than reverently, would be indicating you have power over God; and like Jesus was accused of (all-be-it, what they really meant, claiming to be God), that would be blasphemous.

 

In conclusion, I believe this Commandment comprises more than just taking the mention of our Lord’s Name “in vain.”  What I believe it is saying overall is to take upon one’s self His Name, i.e., “Christian” as an example, and thus be representing Him, all be it, “in vain;” meaning, representing Him “falsely.”

 

The Hebrew “nasa-eth,” translated as “take,” literally means, “carry, bear up, support, sustain.”  This goes back to my second concept, in that when you take upon yourself the name of “Christian” for example, you better “carry” that name in a way that represents the character of God correctly; or else be in violation of this Commandment.

 

“[306] This Commandment not only prohibits false oaths and common swearing, but It forbids us to use the Name of God in a light or careless manner, without regard to Its awful significance.  By the thoughtless mention of God in common conversation, by appeals to Him in trivial matters, and by the frequent and [307] thoughtless repetition of His Name, we dishonor Him.”  PP:306-307.

 

20:8-11:  “Remember” = What most people fail to consider, is that the seventh day is only the culmination of the Commandment.  What the Fourth Commandment really covers is all seven days of the week and how we are to behave upon them.  Thus, you are allowing God to work in your life every day; worshipping him every day.  And then spending the seventh day in thanksgiving.

 

Being a parent I believe I have discovered the most frustrating thing as a parent.  Even if you are not a parent this applies to you if you have friends, relatives, siblings, or especially a mate.  As a parent, you nurture, doing your best to raise your children in a loving, motivating, caring, safe environment, and so on.  You do your best to protect them, steering them in the right direction and advising them when you see they are headed in a course that could and will eventually hurt them.  So what am I talking about?  “Gratitude” (or “appreciation,” or whatever you want to call it).  Or in this case, “ingratitude.”  This applies to parents with children, friends, relatives, siblings, or mates who do not (care to) listen.

 

And how does this apply to the Fourth Commandment?  How does the Fourth Commandment start out?  “Remember the Sabbath day to keep It Holy.”  What our Lord is really saying is, “Remember what I have done for you and be grateful.”  He is asking us for one day out of seven to praise Him.  To be grateful, “remembering” what He has done, is doing, and will do for us.

 

The word “Remember” implies that this Commandment was already in place.  For in fact, the word “Remember” is “showing that the Sabbath was not then instituted; we are pointed back for Its origin to creation.”  PP:336.

 

Here is my Mark 2:27 Note:  “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” = Another way to structure this verse is to read it like this:  “Man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for man.”  The Hebrew word for “man” in Mark 2:27 is “anthropos,” which literally means, “mankind; a human being.”

 

“made” = The word “made” in this verse is the Greek word “ginomai,” which means literally “created.”  Thus, Jesus is instructing His audience about something that they already knew, that the Sabbath was made during creation week itself.

 

“The Sabbath of the fourth commandment was instituted in Eden.  After God had made the world, and created man upon the earth, He made the Sabbath for man.”  3SG:295.

 

“Man was not made to fit the Sabbath; for the Sabbath was made after the creation of man, to meet his necessities.”  RH, May 30, 1871.

 

“ ‘The Sabbath was made for man,’ to give him rest and peace, and remind him of the work of his Creator, not to be a grievous burden.”  2SP:196-197.

 

“The Sabbath of the Fourth Commandment, sanctified by God, was given to man as the memorial of the creation of the world and all things therein.  Ever since the institution of the Sabbath in Eden, Satan has made a determined effort to destroy this memorial, and in its stead to institute a spurious sabbath, in order that the memorial of God’s great and wonderful works might be lost from the mind, and there be brought about a worldwide apostasy against God’s Law.”  5MR:88.1; 19MR:244.2.

 

“The day God set apart to be kept free from secular labor He designed should be respected in commemoration of His wisdom, power, and goodness in creating the world and man.” ST, March 31, 1898.

 

“In the beginning, when the Sabbath Law was given the marriage law was also given.  It was then that God bestowed on man His two great gifts, -- the Sabbath as a day of rest, and woman as a helpmeet.”  ST, August 30, 1899.

 

“The Sabbath is a sign of Christ’s power to make us holy.”  DA:288.

 

“[32] In the Ark was the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the Tables of Stone which folded together like a book.  Jesus opened them, and I saw the Ten Commandments written on them with the finger of God.  On one table were four, and on the other six.  The four on the first table shone brighter than the other six.  But the fourth, the [33] Sabbath Commandment, shone above them all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God’s Holy Name.”  EW:32-33; CET:92-93; LS:100-101; Mar. 245; ExV:16; BLJ:159; WLF:18; RH, July 21, 1851, par. 10; Broadside3, April 7, 1847 par. 3.

 

20:12:  “Honour thy father and thy mother” = In Leviticus 19:3, reverence towards parents is placed on an equality with the observance of the Sabbath, and the Hebrew word, “fear [yare],” is used instead of “honour [kabad/kabed].”  Fellow-men, or neighbors, are to be loved (Lev. 19:18), while parents on the other hand, are to be honored and feared.

 

Notice that the Commandment does not say, “Obey your father and mother;” although when the parents are asking you to do Godly things, then obedience is implied.  According to Exodus 21:15, a child that is violent needs to be handled immediately; if the parents are in fear for their lives; even to the point of putting them to death.  However, we have ways to determine if there is a mental condition going on and it can be dealt with that way.

 

“The Law of God requires that a son should honor his parents, and provide for their necessities, and tenderly care for them when they are old.”  ST, January 3, 1900.

 

“land” = “The land here referred to is the new earth.”  YI, September 1, 1873.

 

20:13:  “kill” = Although the Hebrew “ratsach” or “ratzach,” literally translates to “no killing,” the closest Greek word “phoneuo” Matthew 5:21, means “murder,” and is evidenced to the fact that God does not condemn killing for self-defense (Exo. 21:12-13; 22:2); or in cases of an accidental killing (Num. 35:10-11, 20-24; Deu. 4:42); or when enemies threaten to kill you (Num. 31:1-8; Deu. 13:12-18).  And Jesus takes it further by teaching us in Matthew 5:21-22, that if you even call your fellow man names (Raca) “without a cause,” that makes it murder.  See also my Bible Study: “WAR, BIBLICALLY JUSTIFIABLE.”

 

Let’s take a look at the original word for “kill,” i.e., “ratsach,” and the original culture in Bible times, which does not detract from our era.  First of all, “ratsach” although literally meaning, “no killing,” it is better translated as “murder; slay; murder with premeditation or with intent.”  In Genesis 9:5-6 we can establish that the main reason for this instruction (Commandment) is because man is made in the “image of God.”  Even though taking the life of the murderer should be enough of a deterrent, the greater deterrent should be because there is a God who will hold you accountable.

  

The Hebrew word in this instance is an imperfect verb in the second person masculine form.  I know; English teacher please.  In the “KJV,” “ratsach” is used 47 times, meaning and translated as “murder,” and 2 times as, “to slaughter.”  Therefore, the “KJV”  translators were sloppy here with the Hebrew word “ratsach.”  As an example, in Genesis 4:15, the Hebrew word for “kill” is “hacot,” and if it was used here, then “kill” would have been the correct translation.

 

Our modern translations render the Hebrew word as “murder” rather than “kill.”  However, is that really a parallel definition?  It is hard to believe that we have adequately understood every nuance of the term “kill,” and then that we could presume that we can make it equal exactly some concept of Western law to Biblical Law.

 

Studies of the word by Hebrew scholars and historians are open to two or more interpretations.  It does seem to fit well for descriptions of what we would call “manslaughter,” meaning, “killing in anger.”  Some have suggested that it only applies to “blood revenge” killing.  While scholars do disagree on some points, there are indeed certain limitations that are agreed upon one way or the other.  Figuring these out comes from careful study of the text in its social and legal context.

 

“Ratsach” is used only a few times in the Old Testament.  In long passages such as in Numbers, Chapter 35, Deuteronomy, Chapter, 19, and Joshua, Chapters, 20 & 21, there it is used to describe the act of someone who has committed what we might call “manslaughter,” or the more liberal, “negligence.”  By contrast, it seems that there is more to the matter.  If we go to texts such as Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 7:9; Hosea 4:2, we can find contextual clues that are not fully provided above.  However, there are even clearer verses we can look at.

 

In Judges 20:4, it describes the killing of a woman who was in a house that was beset upon by night by a gang of evil men.  In First Kings 21:19, the Lord rhetorically asks Ahab if he has ”ratsached.”  This is after Ahab has concluded a plot to do away with Naboth by having two fellows say they have heard Naboth blaspheme.  (This word also describes Ahab in 2Ki. 6:32).  This is pre-meditated murder in the first degree.  In Job 24:14, it describes one who in the light sets upon the poor and the needy and is a thief at night.

 

In Psalm 62:3 it describes the fate of someone who is not prepared for what will happen to them, for they have no foundation in God.  In Psalm 94:6 it describes the wicked who kill the widow and the stranger, i.e., those who are helpless and disoriented.  In Proverbs 22:13, it describes something a lion will do to the slothful man.  This verse, we shall see, is a helpful KEY to the whole puzzle. In Hosea 6:9 it is applied to priests who commit iniquity, with a comparison to a troop of robbers waiting for someone.

 

Taken all together we can discern a simple definition of ”ratsach.”  It refers to any killing that is done in the manner of a predatory animal, which means either, “as an angry reaction to stimulus,” or, “lying in wait, as one waits for prey.”

 

Therefore, we have no difficulty or contradiction in Scripture with this verse, or with places where God declares judgment of death upon men for their having committed “murder” (either of self by not adhering to God’s Love and His salvation method, or of another individual).

 

But wait, there is another verse which Skeptics appeal to -- Leviticus 24:17.  The Hebrew word used here is ”nakah,” and some make much over the fact that though this is forbidden by God, we see the Canaanites getting ”nakahed,” and David “nakahing” Goliath, etcetera.  “Nakah” occurs in the Old Testament almost 500 times.  But it is a word that is used in the sense of striking (Gen. 19:11, where land is ”nakahed”), defeating or conquering (Gen. 14:5 & 7, where Abraham ”nakah’s” an army).  It does not mean “to kill” as in the sense of “murder,” but is given the definition of “kill” by context alone.  Being that ”nakah” does carry a variety of nuances, it is erroneous to allege that there is some contradiction in Scripture over ”nakah.”

 

In light of the above we may consider how the Command “thou shalt not kill” would apply in various situations today.  I will provide a few application thoughts of offhand situations and any reader may make further assessment of their own on any given situations.

 

Manslaughter:  This one is simple enough, for as noted above, this crime of passion continues to this day.  Few would dispute that the Command does not apply here.

 

Murder:  Premeditated killing would come under the rubric of an animal lying in wait as mentioned above.  Here again few would dispute that the Command does not apply here.

 

War:  See my Bible Study, “WAR, BIBLICALLY JUSTIFIABLE,” which covers the Biblical allowed reasons for War.  It is here that some difference of opinion arises, and anti-war protesters have at times used this Command.  In light of the above delineations, it appears that such objectors could be right, if a war is pursued under certain conditions.  If a war is waged for a countries personal gain to the detriment of another’s, such a purpose clearly does not come under the Rabbinic understanding of ”ratsach.”  Animals do not fight for their freedom from tyranny, whereas men do and can righteously so.  But animals do defend themselves and put up defenses, which is neither done in passion nor is it premeditated.

 

Capital Punishment:  As noted above, acts of judgment do not come under the rubric understanding of ”ratsach.”  Capital punishment is not done for predatory reasons, but is framed as a “war” of its own, rather, a defense for society (assuming it is done properly, which many would say, it is not).

 

Abortion:  Abortion opponents have painted abortion as a “predatory” and “murderous” act, and whether they are right or not is dependent upon the identity of the fetus.  If a fetus is human, they are right.  A life is erased for predatory (that is, personally advantages) purposes (convenience, for example) barring other circumstances (life of the mother, for example).

 

Suicide:  ”To shorten life by self-murder is a breach of the sixth precept of God’s Law.”  HR, January 1, 1873.  It is believed in today’s circles that this is no more than a selfish act that disregards the feelings of others, i.e., family.  Jesus taught that we are to serve others and be self-less.

 

Therefore, we can see that we must go back to what Jesus taught about the Law.  Remember that Jesus said that it’s what is in the heart that matters.  You can look at a woman with lust and it is in actuality adultery.  If you hate someone you have killed them in your heart.  If we go into the military with the mindset that we are there to protect our country, that is one thing.  If, however, we are there for selfish reasons of debauchery and wanting to destroy and take advantage of the ones you overcome, then you have transitioned to “murder.”

 

20:14:  “commit adultery” = The Hebrew word used for this phrase is “na’aph.”  It literally means, “to break wedlock with your spouse;” or, “to apostatize.”  Besides its clear understanding of remaining faithful to one’s own spouse, according to its usage in Jeremiah 3:9; 23:14; Ezekiel 23:37; Hosea 4:13-14, or to sacrifice or worship idols, is also to “commit adultery” against God by worshiping any other god than Him.  The parallel is clear, in that to “commit adultery” against one’s own spouse and to swear allegiance to a different god, is to “commit adultery.”  See Leviticus 20:10 & First Corinthians 6:9.

 

Christ makes it even more damming (Mat. 5:27-28) if one even looks sexually at “a woman,” “any woman,” whether or not you are married or not, you have broken this Commandment.  In a side note, Jesus was attacking the Pharisaical practice of believing this Commandment only applied to women.

 

20:15:  “Thou shalt not steal” = In the Jewish concept of what this word really meant was, “Thou shalt not kidnap.”  The idea was that “stealing,” or better,“ kidnaping, was a violation of one’s personal boundaries.  This makes the Commandment stand out more, in that it would be a more personal type of crime against a person, rather than an inanimate item that belongs to one’s self; which is stealing someone’s labor.

 

When you think of stealing, rather, “Thou shalt not steel,” what comes to your mind?  What should come to your mind is, “What is God asking me not to steel?”  Is He asking me to just think of material things (which is what usually comes to our minds), or does He also conclude in this Commandment those things such as “stealing” time spent with Him, and “resources” that should have been used for Him?  I believe He is!  We should not “steal” compassion when a fellow human being needs some.  We should not “steal” kindness when a fellow human being needs some.  We should not “steal” giving a simple smile when it could break up a sour situation.  On and on it goes.  I’m sure you can think of more examples.

 

In an astonishing side note, the fact that our Lord indicates that we are not to “steal” things from our neighbors, specifies that He is indorsing private ownership (not communism).  For those who want to deny God His right to Command morality, I believe the atheist runs from God, or can’t find a God, correlates in the same way a thief can’t find a policeman.

 

The Hebrew word for “steal” is “ganab,” and means, ”to thieve; carry away; secretly obtain by stealth.”  But a more interesting application to its meaning is, “to deceive.”  In other words, to steal intentionally with planning.  See for example Genesis 31:26, where Jacob steals Laban’s heart desires.

 

20:16:  “false witness” = Most people think of this as lying about another.  However, it goes further than that.  It also comprises repeating to another something you overheard about an individual without knowing whether or not it is really true.  In other words, we would call this gossip.

 

The literal Hebrew is, “lo ta’aneh verea’ka ed shaqer.”  Which literally translates to, “Thou shalt not answer as a lying witness against your fellow.”  See such verses as Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:16-19; Proverbs 6:16 & 19; 14:5; 25:18.

 

“False speaking in any matter, every attempt or purpose to deceive our neighbor, is here included.  An intention to deceive is what constitutes falsehood.  By a glance of the eye, a motion of the hand, an expression of the countenance, a falsehood may be told as effectually as by words.  All intentional overstatement, every hint or insinuation calculated to convey an erroneous or exaggerated impression, even the statement of facts in such a manner as to mislead, is falsehood.  This precept forbids every effort to injure our neighbor’s reputation by misrepresentation or evil surmising, by slander or tale bearing.  Even the intentional suppression of truth, by which injury may result to others, is a violation of the Ninth Commandment.”  PP:309.

 

20:17:  “covet” = This one Commandment comprises them all.  It is and will be broken before any of the rest of them.  We can clearly see this principle illustrated with the first sinner, i.e., Satan.  His sin was covetousness, wanting to “I will be like the most High,” Isaiah 14:14.  “Thou shalt not covet” really means, “To be satisfied with what you have.” This is confirmed by seeing first, Hebrews 13:5, then Philippians 4:11 & First Timothy 6:8.  And according to Colossians 3:5, “covetousness, which is idolatry.”

 

“The sin of covetousness. . . God ranks with idolatry.”  ST Nov. 18, 1880; 1BC:1116.

 

20:23:  “Ye shall not make with Me gods” = “They were in danger of imitating the example of the Egyptians, and making to themselves images to represent God.”  1SP:238.

 

“[238] God would have His people understand that He alone should be the object of their worship; and when they should overcome the idolatrous nations around them, they should not preserve any of the images of their worship, but utterly destroy them.  Many of these heathen deities were very costly, and of beautiful workmanship, which might tempt those who had witnessed idol worship, so common in Egypt, to even regard these senseless objects with some degree of reverence.  The Lord would have His people know that it was because of the [239] idolatry of these nations, which had led them to every degree of wickedness, that He would use the Israelites as His instruments to punish them, and destroy their gods.”  1SP:238-239.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

 

 

Exodus 21:6 & Deuteronomy 15:17:  “bore his ear” = “Anyone who refused liberty when it was his privilege to have it, was marked.  This was not a badge of honor to him, but a mark of disgrace.  Thus God encouraged the cultivation of a high and noble spirit, rather than a spirit of bondage and slavery.”  2S&T:186.

 

21:10:  “take him another wife” = God is not here condoning polygamy; but making provisions for this ungodly behavior that had crept in when following the actions of nations around them.

 

21:15:  “put to death” = Surely we can understand that this is not speaking of a toddler.  This may very well be speaking of a literal interpretation of the Fifth Commandment, “Honour thy father and thy mother.”  A lad that would strike one’s own parents (unrighteously) surely needs to be delt with; especially if still living at home.

 

21:20:  “surely punished” = The Hebrew is “naqam,” which means “avenged,” or “to take revenge,” and should have been translated as such.  It is used in Gen. 9:6 for our proper understanding of what should take place if a murder happens:  “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed [and the reason is], for in the image of God made He man.”  See also Numbers 35:19 & 30-33.  Some argue that in “naqam’s” usage with Cain (see Gen. 4:15 & 24) they were not to administer this duty upon him.  However, a closer look at the context shows us that, “if anyone murders Cain, they shall pay the price [be slain].”  Why God allowed Cain to live is the same reason Satan was (ask God).

 

21:22:  “her fruit depart” = Literally this should be translated as, “her baby comes out.”  In other words, she has a premature birth.  But, “yet no mischief follow.”  So everything works out.  Pro abortionists like to use this verse and believe it should be translated as being a “miscarriage” in order to justify abortions.  Find another verse, for that is not what took place here.

 

21:24:  “eye for an eye” = Proverbs 24:29 states, “Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me.”  And Matthew 5:38-39 seems to contradict this instruction.  However, “eye for an eye” is in regard to civil law and would be presided over by a judge to determine who is at fault and what punishment need be applied.  Whereas, Proverbs and Matthew are forgiving another an injustice done to someone personally.

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

 

 

22:22 & 24:  “[22] fatherless child. . . [24] widows, and your children fatherless” = This is the Bibles definition of an “orphan.”  Why?  In Western culture we consider an “orphan” to be a child without both father and mother.  However, the Bibles definition (here) shows us that it is ONLY a child without a father.

 

22:28:  “the gods” = The Hebrew word for “gods” here is “Elohim,” which is the plural form of “God,” as it is used and translated in Genesis 1:1, and as it should be translated here.  It is sometimes also translated as “judges,” (Exo. 21:6; 22:8&9) often as “gods,” (Exo. 20:3 & 23; Etcetera) but usually as “God,” (Exo. 20:1 & 2 & 5 & 7; Etcetera).  “Judges” or “magistrates” could be the more correct rendering here.  However, “the gods” is a poor rendition for “Elohim.”  It might better be stated as:  “Thou shalt not blaspheme or make light of God [the foundation of justice and power], nor curse the ruler of thy people [who derives his authority from God].”

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

 

 

23:15-16:  “unleavened bread” = The “unleavened bread” mentioned here would be that of the Passover harvest, which would equal Pentecost (see Lev. 25:15-21).

 

“ingathering” = The “ingathering” here mentioned would be comprised in the Feast of Tabernacles (see Lev. 23:33-36).

 

23:19:  “not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk” = "seethe" means to "boil."

 

From “Adam Clarke’s Commentary On The Bible:”  “This passage has greatly perplexed commentators; but Dr. Cudworth is supposed to have given it its true meaning by quoting a MS. comment of a Karaite Jew, which he met with, on this passage.  ‘It was a custom of the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid and boil it in the milk of its dam; and then, in a magical way, to go about and besprinkle with it all their trees and fields, gardens and orchards; thinking by these means to make them fruitful, that they might bring forth more abundantly in the following year.’ - Cudworth on the Lord’s Supper, 4th.

 

“I give this comment as I find it, and add that Spenser has shown that the Zabii used this kind of magical milk to sprinkle their trees and fields, in order to make them fruitful.  Others understand it of eating flesh and milk together; others of a lamb or a kid while it is sucking its mother, and that the paschal lamb is here intended, which it was not lawful to offer while sucking.

 

“After all the learned labor which critics have bestowed on this passage, and by which the obscurity in some cases is become more intense, the simple object of the precept seems to be this:  ‘Thou shalt do nothing that may have any tendency to blunt thy moral feelings, or teach thee hardness of heart.’  Even human nature shudders at the thought of causing the mother to lend her milk to seethe the flesh of her young one!  We need go no farther for the delicate, tender, humane, and impressive meaning of this precept.”

 

23:20:  “an Angel before thee” = “The angel Who went before Israel was the Lord Jesus Christ.”  1SP:238.

 

23:24:  “their gods” = “The Lord would have His people know that it was because of idolatry of these nations, which had led them to every degree of wickedness, that He would use the Israelites as His instruments to punish them, and destroy their gods.”  1SP:238.2.

 

23:25:  “I will take sickness away” = This verse shows us that our Lord could have both taken their sicknesses away, and most likely made it such that there would be NO MORE SICKNESS among them.

 

23:27:  “will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come” = “These promises of God to His people were on condition of their obedience.  If they would serve the Lord fully, He would do great things for them.”  1SP:239.

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23:28:  “hornets” = Notice how this could have been the method in which our Lord would have removed the entire inhabitants of the land (see also Deu. 7:20).  However, according to Joshua 24:12, God did remove “two kings of the Amorites.”  But according to Joshua 24:12-13, Israel was disobedient and disrespectful of God methods, that our Lord did not accomplish the way in which He wanted the land concurred.

 

“[998] God would not blot out the idolatrous nations.  He would give them opportunity to become acquainted with Him through His Church.  The experience [999] of His people during the forty years of their wilderness wandering was to be the study of these nations.  God’s Laws and Kingdom were to extend over all the territory of the earth, and His people must be known as the people of the Living God.  Their service was an imposing one, and testified to the truth of a Living God.  Their sacrifices pointed to a Coming Savior, Who would take the kingdoms under the whole heaven, and possess them forever and ever.  Evidence had been given of His power to do this for as their invisible Leader had He not subdued their enemies and made a way for His Church in the wilderness?”  2BC:998-999; MS 134, 1899.

​

“God “did not design that they should gain the land of promise by warfare, but through submission and unqualified obedience to His Commands.”  The Signs of the Times, September 2, 1880.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

 

 

24:3:  “all the judgments” = “The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery and heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching principles of God’s Ten precepts.  That the obligations of the Decalogue might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments.  These laws were called judgments, both because they were framed in infinite wisdom and equity, and because the magistrates were to give judgment according to them.”  PP:310.

 

24:4:  “Moses wrote” = “Moses had written, not the Ten Commandments, but the judgments which God would have them observe, and the promises on condition that they would obey Him. . . Moses then wrote their solemn pledge in a book [verse 7], and offered sacrifice unto God for the people.”  1SP:240; 3SG:270.

 

24:8:  “Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the bold of the covenant” = The symbolism here is that should you break this “covenant” which you are making with God you will be as dead as these oxen whose “blood” you are wearing.  It must be understood that we are under a “blood covenant,” that the “blood” of Messiah has/can save you from your sins (Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:20; 10:4-5; 13:20; 1Pe. 1:2), as long as you are obedient to that “covenant,” i.e., keep His Commandments and His Commandments are not grievous.  For according to Hebrews 9:21 Moses also sprinkled this blood on “the tabernacle,” which contained the Law of God and all the articles that pointed to the upcoming sacrifice of Christ.

 

24:10:  “they saw the God of Israel” = See my Bible Study:  “GOD, WHO HAS SEEN HIM.”

 

“They did not behold the person of God, but only the inexpressible glory which surrounded Him.  Previous to this, had they looked upon such sacred glory, they could not have lived, for they were unprepared for it.  But the exhibitions of God’s power had filled them with fear, which wrought in them repentance for their past transgressions.  They loved and reverenced God, and had been purifying themselves, and contemplating His great glory, purity and mercy, until they could approach nearer Him Who had been the subject of all their meditations.”  ST, May 13, 1880; 1SP:240-241; 3SG:271.

 

24:11:  “they saw God” = The Hebrew for “saw” is, “chazah,” meaning, “to see in vision,” as explained in Numbers 24:4 & 16.

 

24:12:  “which I have written” = “written with the finger of God” = Found in Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 32:16; 34:1 & 28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 5:22; 10:2 & 4.  The total number of Commands given in the Pentateuch is 613, of which 365 where prohibitions and 248 positive Commands.

 

“The Father and the Son spoke to Moses from the rocks.”  RH, March 1, 1881.

 

24:16:  “six days:  and the seventh day he called unto Moses ” = “Even Moses could not go up at once into the mount; for he could not immediately approach so nigh unto God, and endure the exhibitions of His glory.  Six days he was preparing to meet with God.  His common thoughts and feelings must be put away.  During six days he was devoting his thoughts to God, and sanctifying himself by meditation and prayer, before he could be prepared to converse with God.”  1SP:242; 3SG:272-273.

 

“Upon the seventh day, which was the Sabbath, Moses was called up into the cloud.  The thick cloud opened in the sight of all Israel, and the glory of the Lord broke forth like devouring fire. . . The forty days’ tarry in the mount did not include the six days of preparation.  During the six days, Joshua was with Moses, and together they ate of the manna, and drank of ‘the brook that descended out of the mount.’  But Joshua did not enter with Moses into the cloud.  He remained without and continued to eat and drink daily while awaiting the return of Moses; but Moses fasted during the entire forty days.”  PP:313.

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

 

 

25:8:  “that I may dwell among them” = Did you ever consider why God could not “dwell among them” in Egypt?  Since God will not be present where evil is present, what is in your house that keeps God from dwelling with you?

 

“Moses wrote all the directions in a book, and read them to the most influential of the people.”  1SP:269.1.

 

25:15:  “tree” = The statement about the “tree” points to a natural agency, but the result was manifestly supernatural.  Thus, what type of tree was not important, for our Lord did not then want us to be going out, seeking healing properties from a certain type of tree, instead of worshiping and praying to The True healing Agent.  Just as He hid the body of Moses (the burial place) so people would not go there to worship.

 

The tree employed was the medium, but the sweetening was not dependent upon the nature or quality of the tree, but the power of God.  What this tree was we know not:  some think that the tree was extremely bitter itself, such as the “quassia” tree; and that God acted in this as He generally does, correcting contraries by contraries, which, among the ancient physicians, was a favorite maxim.  By contrast, if it was in its own nature sweet, when he says in Exodus 38:5, “was not the water made sweet with the wood, that its virtue might be known?” it would comprise another variety of trees.

 

However, most Hebrew writers say the tree was bitter itself, and therefore the miracle was the greater.  Gorionides says it was wormwood (Heb. Hist l. 6. c. 38. p. 742).  Ardiphne, which Cohen de Lara (“Ir. David,” p. 21) makes to be the same which botanists call “Rhododaphne,” or rose laurel, and which, he says, bears flowers like lilies, which are exceeding bitter, and are poison to cattle; and so says Baal Aruch (“Fol.” 51. 3); and much the same has Elias Levita(“Methurgeman, fol.” 9. 2).

 

Both the “Targums of Jonathan,” and “Jerusalem,” call it the bitter tree.  The “Targums of Jonathan,” and “Jerusalem,”also state that, when Moses prayed, “the Word of the Lord showed him the tree ‘ardiphney,’ on which he wrote the great and precious name of (Jehovah), and then threw it into the waters, and the waters thereby became sweet.”

 

By contrast, what the tree “ardiphney” was, for it is just a name like Moses, we are not informed.  Many suppose that this tree which healed the bitter waters was symbolical of the cross of our blessed Redeemer, that has been the means of healing infected nature, and through the virtue of which the evils and bitters of life are sweetened, and rendered subservient to the best interests of God’s followers.  And hence the “statute” and “ordinance” that followed, which would have been singularly inopportune if no miracle had been wrought; thus proving them, our God could now bring the Israelites (us) into circumstances, which would put their faith and obedience to the test.

 

25:18:  “two cherubims” = The word “cherubim” is already plural and therefore this translation is redundant.  To translate it as “two cherubim” would have been correct.

 

25:20:  “the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings” = “One wing of each angel was stretched forth on high, while the other wing of each angel covered their forms. . . in token of reverence and humility.”  1SP:272.

 

25:22:  “ark of the testimony” = “In the earthly ark Moses was required to place the tables of stone.  These were called the tables of the testimony, and the ark was called the ark of the testimony, because they contained God’s testimony in the Ten Commandments.”  4aSG:8.

 

25:30:  “showbread” = “It was called show-bread, or ‘bread of the presence [literal translation],’ because it was ever before the face of the Lord.  It was an acknowledgment of man’s dependence upon God for both temporal and spiritual food, and that it is received only through the mediation of Christ.”  PP:54.

 

25:32:  “candlestick” = Just as the “candlestick” was “beaten” and olive oil was used for its fire, so Jesus was pressed into submission in the garden of Gethsemane.  For Gethsemane in the Hebrew means, “olive oil press” and in the Greek, “oil press.”  The soiled garments of the priests were never washed, but used as wicks for the candlestick.  Thus, the purification process is seen.

CHAPTERS TWENTY-SIX THROUGH THIRTY

 

 

26-30:ALL:  See my Bible Studies upon the Sanctuary.

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

 

 

28:3-4:  “Aaron’s garments” = “As in the typical service the high priest laid aside his pontifical robes, and officiated in the white linen dress of an ordinary priest; so Christ laid aside His royal robes, and garbed Himself with humanity, and offered sacrifice, Himself the priest, himself the victim.  As the high priest, after performing his service in the holy of holies, came forth to the waiting congregation in his pontifical robes; so Christ will come the second time, clothed in garments of whitest white,” AA:33.

 

28:34:  “pomegranate” = In an interesting fact, The “pomegranate” bloom looks like the “Star Of David.”

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

 

 

29:26:  “it shall be thy part” = In other words, this is the portion of the sacrifice that belonged to Aaron and his sons for food, as explained in verses 27-28.

 

29:33:  “atonement” = The Hebrew word for “atonement” is “KaPHaR,” and means, “to cover up.”  The illusion is, “To cover up one’s sins.”  The English sense is, “At One Ment,” meaning “To be one with God.”  If God “covers up your sins,” then in a sense you would then be “At One with God.”  This process is well explained by seeing Leviticus 17:11, where it is demonstrated that the life is in the blood and that the blood covers up your sins; which is anticipatory of the Sacrifice of our Lord.

 

29:38-42:  “morning. . . even” = “In this custom Christians have an example for morning and evening prayer.  While God condemns a mere round of ceremonies, without the spirit of worship, He looks with great pleasure upon those who love Him, bowing morning and evening to seek pardon for sins committed and to present their requests for needed blessings.”  PP:354.

 

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CHAPTER THIRTY

 

 

30:25: “oil of holy ointment” = For the anointing of the articles of the Sanctuary (verses 26-29) and Aaron and his sons (30).  Compare with Hebrews 9:6.

 

30:30: “and his sons” = When Christ rose, He did not go directly into Heaven in the presence of the Father (John 20:17).  He had to verify that His sacrifice was acceptable with the Father first (Heb. 9:7).  Compare with Hebrews 9:8-10.  What is interesting, as with Aarons sons being sanctified with him, Aaron being the High Priest representative of Christ, so were his son’s representative of those whom Christ took with Him (Mat. 27:52-53), which I believe to be the 24 elders of Revelation.  See my Bible Commentary on Revelation 4:4.

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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

 

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31:6:  “Ahisamach” = Found on inscription “375a,” approximately dated to the first half of the 15th century B.C.; found in the turquoise mines in Egypt.

​

31:13:  “My sabbaths ye shall keep” = “The Sabbath given to the world as the sign of God as the Creator is also the sign of Him as the Sanctifier.  The power that created all things is The power that re-creates the soul in His Own likeness.  To those who keep holy the Sabbath day it is the sign of sanctification.  True sanctification is harmony with God, oneness with Him in character.  It is received through obedience to those principles that are the transcript of His character.  And the Sabbath is the sign of obedience.  He who from the heart obeys the fourth commandment will obey the whole law.  He is sanctified through obedience.”  6T:350.

 

31:13-17:  “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep” = “Directions had just been given for the immediate erection of the tabernacle for the service of God; and now the people might conclude, because the object had in view was the glory of God, and also because of their great need of a place of worship, that they would be justified in working at the building upon the Sabbath.  To guard them from this error, the warning was given.”  PP:313.3.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

 

 

32:1:  “the people” = “[243] It was the mixed multitude that came from Egypt with the Israelites who were the principal movers in this dreadful departure from God.  They were called a mixed multitude, because the Hebrews had intermarried with the Egyptians. {1SP:243.1}

 

“The children of Israel had seen Moses ascend up into the mount, and enter into the cloud, while the top of the mountain was all in flames.  They waited for his return every day; and as he did not come from the mount as soon as they expected he would, they became impatient.  Especially were the believing Egyptians, who left Egypt with the Hebrew host, impatient and rebellious. {1SP:243.2}

 

“A large company assembled around the tent of Aaron, and told him that Moses would never return -- that the cloud which had hitherto led them now rested upon the mount, and would no longer direct their route through the wilderness.  They desired something which they could look upon to resemble God.  The gods of the Egyptians were in their minds, and Satan was improving this opportunity, in the absence of their appointed leader, to tempt them to imitate the Egyptians in their idolatry.  They suggested that if Moses [244]

 

“should never return to them, they could go back into Egypt, and find favor with the Egyptians, by bearing this image before them, acknowledging it as their god. {1SP:243.3}

 

“Aaron remonstrated against their plans, until he thought the people were determined to carry out their purpose, and then ceased his reasoning with them.  The clamors of the people made Aaron afraid of his life.  And instead of standing up nobly for the honor of God, and trusting his life in His hands Who had wrought wonders for His people, he lost his courage, his trust in God, and cowardly yielded to the wishes of an impatient people; and this, too, in direct opposition to the Commands of God.”  1SP:244.1; ST, May 13, 1880; 3SG:274.

 

“God designed that both these great leaders of His people should be representatives of Jesus Christ.”  ST, October 14, 1880.

 

“which shall go before us” = “[316] A few who ventured to denounce the proposed image [317] making as idolatry, were set upon and roughly treated, and in the confusion and excitement they finally lost their life.   Aaron feared for his own safety; and instead of nobly standing up for the honor of God, he yielded to the demands of the multitude.”   PP:316-317.

 

32:4:  “Aaron” = “Instead of exercising faith in God, trusting to Divine power to sustain him, he was tempted to believe that if he resisted the demands of the people they would take his life, and he did as they desired.  He collected the golden ornaments, made the molten calf, and fashioned it with a graving tool.  Then the leaders of the people declared, [Exo. 32:4 quoted].”  19MR:109.

 

32:4:  “molten calf” = Why a “calf,” better translated as, “bullock,” from the Hebrew word “egel” here and elsewhere?  The ancient Egyptian “god of creation” was “Fatada.”  Although “Ra” was their “sun god,” “Fatada” was their creator god.  Big difference.  So what does a “Bull” have to do with “Fatada?”  Bulls where sacred to this false supposed god.  How low can you go after witnessing what the Jews had in their redemption?

 

In this cultic belief system, a “sacred bull” was picked out.  When the “sacred bull” died, it was mummified and placed under what would eventually be the final resting place of the pharaoh that just died and was also mummified.  Meanwhile, the “sacred bull” that died would be replaced by another “sacred bull” until it died, et cetera, et cetera.  A pharaoh could have as many “sacred bulls” underneath him at death as he outlived.

 

32:5-6:  “when Aaron saw it” = “When Aaron saw the image he had graven, he pleased the people and he was proud of his workmanship.  He built an alter before the idol. . . They drank and feasted, and then gave themselves up to mirth and dancing, which ended in the shameful orgies that marked the heathen worship of false gods.”  19MR:109.

 

32:7:  “thy people” = Notice how the Lord has disowned Israel because they “have corrupted themselves.”  However, this is just a test to see if Moses really loves them and knows what to do with them.  And Moses passes the test, for Moses knows what to do with them -- he gives them right back to where they belong in verse 11, to “Thy [God’s] people.”

 

32:10:  “that I may consume them” = Why would God even say He would do this?  Because they had broken the “blood covenant” of Exodus 24:8.

 

“God saw that the children of Israel, especially the mixed multitude, were continually disposed to rebel, and, by their works, provoke Him to destroy them.  He knew that they would murmur against Moses, when in difficulty, and grieve Him by their continual rebellion.  He proposed to Moses to consume them, and make of him a great nation.  Here the Lord proved Moses.  He knew that it was a laborious and soul-trying work to lead that rebellious people through to the promised land.  He would test the perseverance, faithfulness and love of Moses, for such an erring and ungrateful people.  But Moses would not consent to have Israel destroyed.  He showed by his intercessions with God that he valued the prosperity of God’s chosen people more highly than a great name, or to be called the father of a greater nation than was Israel.”  1SP:245.1; 3SG:276.

 

“But Moses discerned ground for hope where there appeared only discouragement and wrath.  The words of God, ‘Let Me alone,’ he understood not to forbid but to encourage intercession, implying that nothing but the prayers of Moses could save Israel, but that if thus entreated, God would spare His people.”  PP:318.

 

32:11:  “Moses besought the LORD” = “[277] The thought that the heathen nations, and especially the Egyptians, would triumph over Israel, and reproach God, was overwhelming to Moses.  He could not let Israel go, notwithstanding all their rebellion, and their repeated murmurings against him.  How could he give up a people for whom so much had been done, and who had in so wonderful a manner been brought out of Egypt.  The news of their deliverance had been spread among all nations, and all people were anxiously watching to see what God would do for them.  And Moses remembered well the words of the Egyptians, that he was leading [278] them into the wilderness that they might perish, and he receive their possessions.”  3SG:277-278.

 

32:12: “repent of this evil” = Rather, “repent of the calamity” that God might bring upon them.  For, “The wages of sin is death,” Romans 6:23, meaning God had the righteousness to do so.  But, in God’s mercy, “the gift of God is eternal life,” Romans 6:23.

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Exodus 32:14; Judges 2:18; First Samuel 15:11, 35; First Chronicles 21:15; Jeremiah 42:10; Joel 2:13; Amos 7:3; Jonah 3:10; 4:2:  “repented” = This is not a change of mind (Num. 23:19; 1Sa. 15:29).  For God allows Himself to take either course of action in that divine warnings (and that is precisely what this is -- a warning) are always conditional based upon the response of the people (Jer. 18:8).  While His judgments are sure (Gen. 6:6), “His mercy endures for ever,” First Chronicles 16:34.  For God even “repents” of the warnings forecasted events despite the desired response of the people (Deu. 32:36; Hos. 11:8).

 

32:14:  “the LORD repented of the evil” = “God had proved him [Moses], and was pleased with his faithfulness, his simplicity of heart, and integrity before Him,” 1SP:247.

 

32:15:  “the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written” = Jewish scholars believe that as God was writing on the one side of the tablet, He was also writing on the opposite side at the same time.

 

32:19:  “he [Moses] cast the tables out of his hands” = “. . . he threw down the tables of stone by Divine direction purposely to break them in the sight of the people, and thus signify that they had broken the covenant so recently made with God.”  ST, May 20, 1880; 19MR:110; 1BC:1109.

 

“As Moses beheld the children of Israel shouting and dancing in an excited manner, in imitation of the idolatrous feasts and idol-worshipers of Egypt, so unlike the reverential worship of God, he was overwhelmed.  He had just come from the presence of God’s glory, and although he had been warned of God that the people had corrupted themselves, had made an idol and had sacrificed to it, yet he was in a measure unprepared for the dreadful exhibition which he witnessed of the degradation of Israel.”  3SG:279.

 

SDA’s NOTICE:  “To show his abhorrence of their crime, he threw down the tables of stone, and they were broken in the sight of all the people, thus signifying that as they had broken their covenant with God [AGREED], so God had broken His covenant with them [UNTRUE].”  PP:320.1.

 

The fact that God tells Moses to “Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first:  and I will write upon these tables the Words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest,” Exodus 34:1, lets us know that God did not break His covenant with the people, even though they did.  Plus, Exodus 34:4-9 explains that our God is merciful towards them even though they had broken his covenant.  By contrast, Exodus 34:10 is NOT a renewing of the broken covenant, but another promised covenant (NEW) if they should be obedient to Him.  Our God is known to poor more and more blessings upon an obedient people.

 

32:21-24:  “Moses said unto Aaron” = “However much Aaron excused himself, God regarded him as the principal agent in this terrible transgression.”  ST, May 20, 1880.

 

“God did not reprove Moses for breaking the tables of stone; but was very angry with Aaron because of his sin, and He would have destroyed him had it not been for the special intercessions of Moses in his behalf.”  3SG:281.

 

32:24:  “there came out this calf” = “He would have Moses think that a miracle was performed -- that the gold was cast into the fire, and by some miraculous power it was changed to a calf.  This was to lessen his guilt in the eyes of Moses, and cause it to appear that he had a plausible excuse for permitting the people to sacrifice to it,” 3SG:282.

 

32:25:  “Aaron had made them naked unto their shame” = “Moses rebuked Aaron, and informed him that his conduct was highly censurable; for he had been blessed above the people, and had been admitted into close converse with God.  That he should commit so great a sin, even to save his life, was a matter of astonishment to faithful Moses.  He saw that the people were naked; that is, were stripped of their ornaments; for Aaron had made them naked to their shame, among their enemies.  He had deprived them of their ornaments, and put them to a shameful use.  They had not merely lost their ornaments, but they were divested of their defense against Satan, for they had lost their piety and consecration to God; and had forfeited his protection.  He had in His displeasure removed His sustaining hand, and they were left exposed to the contempt and power of their enemies.”  3SG:282; 1SP:250.

 

32:26:  “Who is on the LORD’S side” = Notice that before the cry was, “we wot not what is become of” Moses, Exodus 32:23.  But now that Moses is before them, they still insist on not repenting.  The problem was not the absence of Moses, but that the people wanted to do what they wanted to do.  The problem today is not God’s Church or the people in it, but being obedient to the Author of the Church.

 

“The trumpeters caught up the words and sounded them through the trumpet, ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto Me.’ ”  19MR;112.

 

“Moses requested all who had been free from this great sin of idolatry to come and stand by him at his right hand; also, those who had joined the rebellious in worshiping this idol, but who had repented of their sin in so quickly departing from God, to stand at his left hand.  There was quite a large company, mostly of the mixed multitude, who instigated the making of the calf who were stubborn in their rebellion, and would not stand with Moses, either at his right hand or at his left.  Moses then commanded those at his right hand to take their swords, and go forth and slay the rebellious, who wished to go back into Egypt.  None were to execute the judgment of God on the transgressors only those who had taken no part in the idolatry.”  3SG:283.

 

32:26-27:  “Levi gathered themselves” = Those free from the sin of idolatry stood on Moses’ right hand, the repentant ones on his left.  Only the ones on the right hand could execute the judgment of God.

 

“[251] Moses requested all who had been free from this great sin of idolatry, to come and stand by him at his right hand; also, those who had joined the rebellious in worshiping this idol, but who had repented of their sin in so quickly departing from God, to stand at his left hand.  There was quite a large company, mostly of the mixed multitude, who instigated the making of the calf, who were stubborn in their rebellion, and would not stand with Moses, either at his right hand or at his left.

 

“Moses then commanded those at his right hand to take their swords, and go forth and slay the rebellious, who wished to go back into Egypt.  None were to execute the judgment of God on the transgressors only those who had taken no part in the idolatry.  He commanded them to spare neither brother, companion, nor neighbor.  Those who engaged in this work of slaying, however painful, were now to realize that they were executing upon their brethren a solemn punishment from God; and for executing this painful work, contrary to their own feelings, God would bestow upon them His blessing.  By performing this act, they showed their true feelings relative to the [252]

 

“high crime of idolatry, and consecrated themselves more fully to the sacred worship of the only true God.  The terror of the Lord was upon the people, and they were afraid that they would all be destroyed.  As Moses saw their distress, he promised, according to their earnest request, to plead with the Lord to pardon their great sin.”  1SP:251-252; 3SG:283-284.

 

32:27-28:  “slay every man” = “Love no less than justice demanded that for this sin, judgment should be inflicted.  God is the guardian as well as the Sovereign of His people.  He cuts off those who are determined upon rebellion that they may not lead others to ruin.  In sparing the life of Cain, God had demonstrated to the universe what would be the result of permitting sin to go unpunished.  The influence exerted upon his descendants by his life and teaching led to the state of corruption that demanded the destruction of the whole world by a flood.  The history of the antediluvians testifies that long life is not a blessing to the sinner; God’s great forbearance did not repress their wickedness.  The longer men lived, the more corrupt they became.

 

“So with the apostasy at Sinai.  Unless punishment had been speedily visited upon transgression, the same results would again have been seen.  The earth would have become as corrupt as in the days of Noah.  Had these transgressors been spared, evils would have followed, greater than resulted from sparing the life of Cain.  It was the mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the necessity of visiting judgments upon millions.  In order to save the many, He must punish the few.  Furthermore, as the people had cast off their allegiance to God, they had forfeited the divine protection, and, deprived of their defense, the whole nation was exposed to the power of their enemies.  Had not the evil been promptly put away, they would soon have fallen a prey to their numerous and powerful foes.  It was necessary for the good of Israel, and also as a lesson to all succeeding generations, that crime should be promptly punished.  And it was no less a mercy to the sinners themselves that they should be cut short in their evil course.  Had their life been spared, the same spirit that led them to rebel against God would have been manifested in hatred and strife among themselves, and they would eventually have destroyed one another.  It was in love to the world, in love to Israel, and even to the transgressors, that crime was punished with swift and terrible severity.”  RH, February 11, 1909; PP:325-326.

 

32:30:  “I will go up unto the LORD” = Here is my Psalm 99:6 Note:  “Moses and Aaron among His priests” = Moses was not a “priest.”  However, when he had to step between God’s anger at His people, he was as it were, a “high priest.”

 

“The position of Joshua differed in some respects from that of Moses.  Not only was the latter a prophet and a ruler in Israel, but he officiated in the capacity of high priest, and asked counsel directly of God Himself.  But after Moses, neither Joshua nor any other of the rulers of Israel was permitted to come to the Lord except through the high priest.”  ST January 13, 1881, paragraph 8.”

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32:32:  “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive [masa] their sin” = The original Hebrew for the word “forgive” comes from a common Hebrew word in the Bible, which is “masa,” which literally means:  “to bear,” or “to carry.”  Isaiah, talking specifically about Christ’s death on the cross, twice uses a form of that same word:  “Surely He hath borne (masa) our griefs,” also “and He bare the sin of many,” Isaiah 53:4, 12.  Thus we can see that Moses was asking God to bear the sins of His people.

 

“if not, blot me” = The faithfulness of Moses in the office that had been entrusted to him was now to be put to the test.  It was to be made manifest whether he loved his own glory better than he loved the brethren who were under his charge; whether he would prefer that he should himself become the founder of a “great nation,” or that the Lord’s promise should be fulfilled in the whole people of Israel.  This may have been especially needful for Moses, in consequence of his natural disposition (see Num. 12:3 and compare with Exo. 3:11).  This trial of Moses repeated in a very similar manner Numbers 14:11-23, and may be compared with the trial of Abraham in Genesis, Chapter 22, and of our Savior in Matthew 4:8-10, and of Paul in Romans 9:3.

 

“His intercessions here illustrate Christ’s love and mediation for the sinful race.”  3SG:285.

 

“Thy Book” = “The Book here referred to is the Book of Records in Heaven, where every name is recorded, and their acts, their sins, and obedience are faithfully written.  When any one commits sins which are too grievous for the Lord to pardon, their names are erased from the Book, and they are devoted to destruction.”  3SG:285; 1SP:252-253.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

 

 

33:7-8:  “[7] took the tabernacle. . . [8] every one which sought the LORD” = “. . . all who desired to seek the Lord were commanded to separate themselves from the congregation by resorting thither.  The tabernacle here mentioned was a temporary tent arranged for the worship of God.  The Sanctuary, the pattern of which God gave to Moses, had not yet been built.  All who sincerely repented of their sins, made supplication unto God in confessing their sins with great humility.  Then Moses went into the tabernacle.  The people watched with the deepest interest to see if God would accept his mediation in their behalf; if He condescended to meet with Moses, then they might hope that they would not be utterly consumed.”  ST, June 3, 1880; 1SP:254; 3SG:287.

 

33:11:  “face to face” = See Genesis 32:30 and verse 20; then see my Bible Study:  “GOD, WHO HAS SEEN.”

 

33:17:  “thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name” = “Here Moses shows himself to be indeed a type of Christ.”  ST, June 3, 1880.

 

33:20:  “there shall no man see Me [God] and live” = See my Bible Study:  “GOD, WHO HAS SEEN.”

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

 

 

34:1:  “Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first” = The symbolism is, “the first” ones were broken by mankind without God’s help.  God was the only one involved in the making of the tablets and the writing thereof.  This time, mankind will be involved in keeping them with God’s (writing) help.  In this second writing, the symbolism is that this time man will bring his heart to God and God will write His Commandments upon our hearts (see Jer. 31:33; Rom. 2:15; Heb. 10:16).

 

The fact that Moses was not punished for the breaking of God’s hand written Commandments on tablets, like he was when striking the rock, shows us that the symbolism of mankind breaking God’s Commandments makes perfect sense.  And a new way of keeping them needed to be established.

 

34:3:  “no man shall come up with thee” = “The Lord forbade any man’s being seen throughout the mount, because of their recent transgression, lest His glory should consume them.  This will give all to understand how God regards the transgression of His commandments.  If the people could not look upon His glory, which appeared upon Sinai the second time, as He again wrote His Law, how will the wicked, who have trampled upon the authority of God, bear His burning glory as they meet the great Lawgiver over His broken Law?”  1SP:256.3.

 

34:5-6: “[5] the LORD descended. . . [6] the LORD passed” = “Moses was full of zeal to do God’s work; the most talented, skillful men were at hand to carry out his suggestions.  Yet he was not to make a bell, a pomegranate, a tassel, a fringe, a curtain, or any vessel of the sanctuary, except according to the pattern shown him.  God called him into the mount, and revealed to him the Heavenly things.  The Lord covered him with His own glory, that he might see the pattern, and according to it all things were made.” DA:208.

 

34:7:  “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” = The Hebrew word “nasa’ nasah.” Which is translated as “forgiving,” literally means “bearing,” (see Gen. 4:13 and others).  Thus, the way God deals with our sin is by removing it from us and bearing it upon Himself.

 

“visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children” = “God did not mean in this threatening that the children should be compelled to suffer for their parent’s sins, but that the example of the parents would be imitated by the children.  If the children of wicked parents should serve God and do righteousness, He would reward their right-doing.  But the effects of a sinful life are often inherited by the children.  They follow in the footsteps of their parents.  Sinful example has its influence from father to son, to the third and fourth generations.  If parents indulge in depraved appetites, they will, in almost every case, see the same acted over in their children.”  1SP:257.

 

34:13:  “groves” = The “groves” were places where the trees were carved into false gods and idols.

 

34:18:  “the month Abib” = Which is when you harvest the “barley.”  Thus, this is known as the “Barley Harvest Month.”

 

34:21:  “but on the seventh day thou shalt rest” = “[259] God is no less particular now in regard to His Sabbath than when He made this requirement of the children of Israel.  His eye is upon all His people, and over all the works of their hands.  He will not pass by unnoticed those who crowd upon His Sabbath, and employ time for their own use which belongs to Him.  Some professed Sabbath-keepers will intrude upon the Sabbath in doing those things which should have been done previous to the Sabbath.  Such may think they gain a little time; but instead of being advantaged by robbing God of holy time, which He has reserved to Himself, they will lose.  The Lord will afflict them for their transgression of the Fourth Commandment; and that time they thought to gain by intruding upon the Sabbath, will prove a curse to them.  God’s prospering hand withdrawn, will cause a decrease in all their possessions, instead of an increase.  God will surely punish the transgressor.  Although He may bear with him for a while, his punishment may come suddenly.  Such do not [260]

 

“always realize that judgments are from God.  He is a jealous God, and requires heart service and perfect obedience to all His Commandments.”  1SP:259-260.

 

34:28:  “he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights” = “In the wilderness of temptation Christ was without food forty days.  Moses had, on especial occasions, been thus long without food.  But he felt not the pangs of hunger. . . He was especially sustained by the glory of God which enshrouded him.”  RH, July 28, 1874; 1SM:269; ST June 11, 1874; 5BC:1079.

 

“he wrote” = It has been argued that the “he” here is Moses.  However, the Hebrew is not definitive as to the “he.”  Therefore, we must gather from other accounts that this was indeed the “He,” i.e., the “finger of God.”  The “LITV;” “MKJV;” & “TS2009” versions, capitalizes the “He.”  See also the “GNG;” “ISV;” “WEB;” & “WEBA” versions.

 

34:30:  “the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him” = “And if they could not even look upon the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, because he had been communing with God, how much less can the transgressors of God’s Law look upon the Son of God when He shall appear in the clouds of heaven in the glory of His Father, surrounded by all the angelic host, to execute judgment upon all who have disregarded the Commandments of God, and have trodden under foot His blood!”  3SG:294.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

 

 

35:3:  “Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitation upon the Sabbath day” = “[408] Soon after the return into the wilderness, an instance of Sabbath violation occurred, under circumstances that rendered it a case of peculiar guilt.  The Lord's announcement that He would [409]

 

“disinherit Israel had roused a spirit of rebellion.  One of the people, angry at being excluded from Canaan, and determined to show his defiance of God's Law, ventured upon the open transgression of the Fourth Commandment by going out to gather sticks upon the Sabbath.  During the sojourn in the wilderness the kindling of fires upon the Seventh day had been strictly prohibited.  The prohibition was not to extend to the land of Canaan, where the severity of the climate would often render fires a necessity; but in the wilderness, fire was not needed for warmth.  The act of this man was a willful and deliberate violation of the Fourth Commandment -- a sin, not of thoughtlessness or ignorance, but of presumption.”  PP:408-409.

 

35:22:  “bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold” = These, of course, were acquired from the Egyptians before leaving Egypt (See Exo. 11:2; plus, only some earrings were offered for the building of the golden calf Exo. 32:2).  What God is taking care of here is that these articles were used by the Egyptians in there culture to ward off evil spirits.  Thus, God is using evil objects for good.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

 

 

36:13:  “taches” = What we might call today, “staples.”

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

 

 

37:9:  “spread out their wings” = “One wing of each angel was stretched forth on high, while the other wing of each angel covered their forms. . . in token of reverence and humility.”  1SP:272.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

 

 

38:8:  “the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle” = Although “the women” is a supplied wording and not in the original text, apparently “women” did “serve,” another rendering of the Hebrew word “saba,” in front of the Sanctuary.  This is verified by seeing Luke 2:37 & John 18:16.  And Luke 2:37 tells us just what this “service” was (see also Pro. 8:34), i.e., “with fasting and prayers night and day.”  Also, in First Samuel 2:22 & Matthew 26:69 we learn that women served at the door of the Tabernacle.

 

A quick study of the Hebrew word “saba” tells us that it is a verb meaning “to wage war, to muster into service, to serve.”  This word is primarily used to describe a gathering of people waging war against another city or country (Num. 31:7, 42; Isa. 29:7-8; Zec. 14:12).  In one instance, it was used to depict our Lord waging war (Isa. 31:4).  In several contexts, this word referred to the mustering of people into service (2Ki. 25:19; Jer. 52:25).  However, in the context we are looking for, this word described the religious service in the Tabernacle (Exo. 38:8; Num. 4:23; 8:24; 1Sa. 2:22).

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CHAPTER FORTY

 

 

40:2:  “shalt thou set up the Tabernacle” = Remembering that all the articles of the Tabernacle were previously dedicated prior to this erecting (see Exo. 30:25-29).

 

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