February 24 Readings

Blended Reading Plan from Back to the Bible

Exodus 19-20; 1 Thessalonians 5

Exodus 19 with Commentaries, verse by verse
Exodus 20 with Commentaries, verse by verse

Exodus 19 showed the preparation the people made when God would come down in a dense cloud from Mount Sinai. The people had to wash their clothes. Moses had to consecrate the people for two days, they had to abstain from sexual relations and on the third day God would appear to them. There was a boundary set so that no one would cross the boundary or they would be killed. Why all these restrictions? Because God is a holy God and when you come to God you have to meet Him on His terms.

Exodus 20
In verse 1-17, God spoke the words for Moses which are the Ten Commandments. What was the purpose of the Ten Commandments? It was to love God (commandments 1-4) and to love our neighbor as ourselves (commandments 5-10). If we love God and our neighbor we would not be breaking any of the commandments. Another purpose of the Ten Commandments were it was a foundation for civil and religious laws for Israel. Third reason the ten commandment would prevent chaos and anarchy in the society.
Jesus went one step further with the Ten Commandments. He gave the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) in which the intent of the heart is judged even if no action is taken or any laws broken. For example, if a man is angry with his brother, he commits murder. If a man looks at a woman with lust and have not even touched the woman, he has commited adultery. We would be all guilty then even we did not commit any crimes or done the actual physical act such as murder or adultery. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount was much more difficult to keep than the Sermon on the Mount.
In verses 18-21, the people were afraid of God. in verse 20 Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."
Finally he spoke about idols. This goes back to the first commandment, you shall have no other gods before me because I am the Lord your God.
What about us? Let us go through a period of self-examination. Do we love the Lord with all our soul, mind, heart and strength? Do we love our neigbor as ourself? Are there any idols in our lives? May God reveal the sins in our lives and that we would not only repent, seek reconciliation and restitution.

Other Links
Calvin Harmony of the Law Volume 1 Search for the chapter you want with (CTRL F)
Calvin Harmony of the Law Volume 2 Search for the chapter you want with (CTRL F)
Calvin Harmony of the Law Volume 3 Search for the chapter you want with (CTRL F)
Calvin Harmony of the Law Volume 4 Search for the chapter you want with (CTRL F)
Dr. Thomas Constable Study Notes is a PDF file, open with Adobe Acrobatic Reader
Deffinbaugh on Exodus
Scott Grant on Exodus
Arthur Pink: Gleanings form Exodus


1Thessalonians 5 with Commentaries, verse by verse
Paul wanted the Thesalonian Christians to know that Jesus was coming again. He would come as a thief in the night. Despite all these prophets we have to day that Jesus is coming befoe, during and after the Tribulation, no one really knows when He will come back, although we have all thes wondeful prophecy charts and timetables. Jesus will come back on time, in his own time. This is why we should wait expectantly and faithfully. If you knew that a thief was going to rob you in the middle of the night, you would be up, waiting for him! In the same way we should wait like the five wise virgins in Matthew 25.

Paul metioned parts of the armor of God, which included faith and love as our breastplate, and the hope of salvation as our helmets.

We should live a holy life because the next thing Paul talked about was the coming of the Lord (1Thes 4.13-18). We would not be ashamed when he comes back if we live a holy life. He describe how Jesus will returned, so that we should encourage each other. The world is full of bad news but the good news is Jesus is coming again and that we should rejoice in that.

He left some final instructions, amomg which are verses which are easy for us to memorize, v 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually

Other Links
Calvin on 1Thessalonians
John Chrysostom Homilies on First Thessalonians
Dr. Thomas Constable Study Notes is a PDF file, open with Adobe Acrobatic Reader
J. Hampton Keathley, III on 1 Thessalonians
Index to Sermons by McArthur, Ryle, Edwards and Spurgeon on 1 Thessalonians
Sermons by Piper on 1Thessalonians

Jesus Saves
This Posting is NOT a commentary of the passages read today but it is a devotional. Please send a comment if something spoke to you today from the passages, links or thoughts that I have shared with you.