# 23 2024 Dev. Ecc 12:11,12. Remembering God’s Grace! Read all of chapter twelve first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc.12:11-12 “The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.[b]  Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.”

Ecc. 12 Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “Teacher” says: continuing from chapter 11, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth…” Remember your creator before you are old and incapacitated. “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of mankind.”

Vs.1-5 The teacher tells us to remember, while we still can and while we are young, and at the time we are vulnerable, remember Him! How easy it is to depend on our own strength, on the optimism of youth. How easy it is to follow a dangerous path. Remembering means to know God’s precepts and expectations, to experience His grace, His love, His forgiveness and to remember His call on our lives as followers of Jesus.  We are old before we realize and before most of us will admit it. The Teacher here describes getting old in graphic terms. Think of the days of Solomon, and also some Third World countries today, how difficult and discouraging it is for those who need medical help, both physical and mental and spiritual. We need to count our  blessings today.

Vs.6-8 “Remember your Creator…” before things go bad, before your strength is depleted, before your health is broken and before “the spirit returns to God who gave it.” 

Vs.9-11 The Teacher has shared His wisdom and His knowledge,  “what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise” inspire, instruct and set parameters. “Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.” There is no end of information in this world, today. We are overwhelmed with it! Who is able to discern the lie, the half lie from the truth,  the right from wrong? There is only one way, weigh what you hear and what you think you know by God’s Word, by Jesus’ example, and by the whispers of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The teacher says:  

Vs.13-14 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

For God will bring every deed into judgment including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”

We are judged by what we believe, what we believe is what we do, how we live, how we act, what we say and how we serve God. Amen!

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# 22 2024 Dev. Ex.4: 13. God’s Concern! Read all of chapter four first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex.4:13 “But Moses said, ‘Pardon your servant. Please send someone else’”      

Ex.4 The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and how to worship. God chose the time for liberating His people Israel from Egypt. God chose the method and He chose the person to accomplish it 

Vs.1-13 Moses is doing what many others have done when God calls. If only God would call us like He called Moses, that would have made it much easier to make that difficult decision to give up all you know in order to serve. But Moses continues to raise objections to his appointment. He mentions the possibility of the elders not believing him, he is in-adequate, he says, “I am slow of speech and tongue.” God shows Moses His power and gives him three signs, The snake from his staff, temporary leprosy of his hand and Nile water into blood. God also tells Moses and us that He is the creator of everything. Not only is God with us, He made us to be who we are and as he tells Moses, I can and will remake you for the task I have given you. That we need to remember as God continues to call us to different tasks. God has answered every objection that Moses had but Moses simply did not want to go back to Egypt. “Pardon your servant… Please send someone else.” After forty years of peace and harmony, it is understandable Moses did not want to give that up and jump into the difficult job of leading a million plus mass of people out of Egypt.

Vs.14-17 “Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses”. Understandable, but God teamed Moses up with Aaron, his brother. “I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.”  Did Moses have a choice? No, God calls, we listen. 

Vs.18-20 Moses informs his father-in-law, Jethro, that he is returning to Egypt. “Jethro said, ‘Go, and I wish you well.’” God continues to assure Moses, “those who wanted to kill you are dead.” So Moses departed with his wife and sons. “And he took the staff of God in his hand.” God commanded Moses to show the signs He gave to him to Pharaoh. But I will harden his heart. God did not harden his heart against his will, Pharaoh was an arrogant and power hungry leader who thought he was god. “Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’” Pharaoh was told the end game but he refused to listen. 

But then there was an other issue: “At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses [b] and was about to kill him. But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.[c] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. Zipporah must have known about God’s covenant with his people (Ge.17) Moses had not taken God’s covenant seriously by not circumcising  his sons. 

We live under the New Covenant of Jesus’ blood. How serious are we? “The LORD said to Aaron, ‘go into the wilderness to meet Moses… Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites… He also performed the signs before the people, and they believed.” Realizing that God was concerned, “they bowed down and worshiped.” God is concerned about us as well, given our culture and the opposition to our Christian values. 

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# 21 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 11:8.Enjoy Life! Read all of chapter eleven first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc.11:8 “However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all.”

Ecc.11.  Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “Teacher” says: Be prudent but we are not in control. Be diligent but we are not in control. “Remember your Creator while Young.”

Vs.1-2 The Teacher says in today’s idiom, “hedge your bets.” And “don’t  put all your eggs in one basket.”

Vs.3-6  The Teacher tells us that we are completely dependent on the weather, it is unpredictable, this is very applicable in an agricultural society as in that time. They, like farmers today, make choices in faith. We trust in God’s care, but we use common sense in all that we do, as the Teacher suggests in His time. He also suggests diligence, after planting, “at evening let your hand not be idle.”

Vs.7-10 “Remember your Creator while young.” Enjoy the good days, but “remember the days of darkness.”  “Everything to come is meaningless.” One dark day weather wise and event wise in our lives will undo a number of good days. 

“You who are young, be happy…let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.” Then the Teacher warns the youth, “follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.”

Don’t be anxious and cast off the troubles of your body,” willfulness, unhealthy desire for things, and lust. There is an advantage in being young, but also a disadvantage in lack of prudence. “For youth and vigor are meaningless.” Thanks be to God for His grace, for His care and for His blessings. In an unstable world Jesus is our Rock. Amen.

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# 20 2024 Dev. Ex.3: 14. I AM WHO I AM! Read all of chapter three first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex.3:14  “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.[c] This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”         

Ex.3 The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and the worship of God.  Ch.1 sets the stage, Ch.2 sets God’s plan into motion and Ch.3 the burning bush, God revels His plan to Moses.

Vs.1-3 Now Moses has been with his wife and father in law for 40 yrs. He is tending the flock of his father in law way out in the wilderness, near mount Horeb, the mountain of God. He saw a burning bush but it was not consumed by the fire. Moses goes over to take a look.

Vs.4-6 When close to the bush God called out to him and Moses answered “Here I am… Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” God announces His presence and who He is. Moses quickly covers his face to avoid seeing God. 

Vs.7-10 God tells Moses that He has indeed seen the misery of His people in Egypt. The way that Moses wrote  the Pentateuch he seems to be wondering what we are wondering. Why did it take so long? Moses is now 80 years old. The Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 yrs., long enough to become a nation, so much so that the Egyptians feared them and wanted to reduce their number by persecution. 

80 yrs. + is a long time for us humans. But God is working His plan. And so it is for us, the church is the new Israel, the people of God. God has His plan but we see the church declining in the West, but in the Third World it is exploding. Go figure, God has a plan! Satan has taken over at some of our universities, and God has taken over at some of our other universities, God is planning, He was then and He is now!

Vs.11-15 But Moses did not want to fit into God’s plan. “Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’” How many times have we not done the same, when the Holy Spirit moves us? Not me, Lord, send someone else. We have disobeyed more than once and missed out on one of the greatest privileges of Christianity, Service.  

God said to Moses, “I will be with you.” God gives Moses a sign , the mountain of God, where He will bring them to worship. But Moses, still trying to get out of God’s call, says, who will I say sent me to them? This is my name: “ I AM WHO I AM.” The first   part of the name, I AM, is associated with the Lord, God uses that here saying to them, the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sent me to you. The full name is also connected with Yahweh the verb “to be.” The name could also be translated as “I will be what I will be” (Notes).  “God said to Moses, ‘I will be with you'” God will be there for us!

Jesus uses this name 7 times as well in the Book of John, “I AM” the Bread of Life, the Light, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way, the Truth and the Life, and the True Vine.  Well, yes, Jesus is God, the second person of the Trinity.

Vs.16-21 God tells Moses, “assemble the elders of Israel, tell them the God of your fathers sent you. The elders will listen to you.” Tell Pharaoh that the God of the Hebrews, wants us to go into the wilderness, a three day journey and sacrifice to Him. He will not let you go, but I will work wonders and strike the Egyptians until they let you go. “And so you will plunder the Egyptians.” God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that He is glorified. Praise be to God!   

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# 19 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 10:18. Probity! Read all of chapter ten first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc.10:18 “Through laziness, the rafters sag; because of idle hands, the house leaks.”

Ecc.10.  Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “Teacher” says: pay attention to your choices! “Whoever digs a pit may fall into it.” Your secret negative thoughts about a person become obvious by your attitude.

Vs.1-4. A fly in the ointment ruins it all. One mistake overshadows many good deeds. “The heart of the wise inclines right, but the heart of the fool to the left.”. The teacher urges common sense, “calmness can lay great offenses to rest.” 

Vs.5-7. The Teacher warns against persons of many words but little action, to be put in charge. The wise and fool suffer alike as well as the rich and poor.

Vs.8-11. Take the time to think things through, your actions may harm you and others. Take time to be prepared, sharpen your mind and your tools. What is not accomplished on time may not be paid for.

Vs.12-15 “Words from the month of the wise are gracious, but fools are consumed by their own lips.” By ignoring wisdom things get worse and worse. “No one knows what is coming – who can tell someone else what will happen to them. True, I don’t know what will happen to you but I know what will happen to me at the end of my life. Praise God! Fools do not know the way.

Vs.16-20. Woe to the land whose leaders are irresponsible and drunk on power.  Don’t we know it? Blessed is the land where humility, common sense, justice and probity (honesty and goodness) is practiced. Let us get back to that! Lack of effort, lack of attention, unabated feasting and seeking only money, causes many problems. Your secret negative thoughts about a person become obvious by your attitude. Find something positive about every situation and about every person you meet! 

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# 18 2024 Dev. Ex.2:10. Pharaoh’s Grandson! Read all of chapter  two first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex.2:10 “When the child grew older, she (Jachebed) took him to Pharaoh’s daughter and he became her son”          

Ex.2.The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and the worship of God.  Ch.1 sets the stage, Ch.2 sets God’s plan into motion. The Egyptians become more aggressive by ordering all male infants to be thrown into the river. 

We are being subjected to mass abortions in our time. How do we deal with it? We do what Israel did, we cry out to God in faith and we vote.  

Vs.1-4 God chooses Amram and Jachebed, Moses’ father and  mother, who put Moses in the river but in a basket. Although the passage seems to indicate Moses as the first born, in fact Miriam is the first born, Aaron is the second born and Moses was the youngest. 

Vs.5-10 I suspect Jachebed timed the time and place for putting Moses in the reeds in the river. Even so God is in control and caused  Pharaoh’s daughter to find and want to keep the child. Providently, Miriam was close by and offered someone to nurse the child. What joy in that household that day! But in the end she had to give Moses back to Pharaoh’s daughter. We know very little about the next 35 yrs. but we can be sure he received all the education Egypt had to offer, law, engineering, and military training. He knew at least three languages, Hebrew, Egyptian and Arcadian, the trade language of the day.  

In Acts 7 Stephen says: “Moses was great in speech and actions.” From non biblical sources like Josephus and Esubebius, early historians, we learn that most likely Moses was a military leader, common for children of the hierarchy. 

Vs.11-25 One day, when Moses was 40 yrs. old, he went to see what was going on with his people. He saw one of his people being beaten by a Egyptian task master, I suppose he tried to stop him but he ended up killing him. This became known by the Pharaoh who was after Moses’ life, so Moses flees to Midian. Providentially, Moses runs into a unjust situation around a well, a lot happens around wells in Scripture. Moses helps the daughter’s of Reuel, a priest in Median, who had to wait to water the sheep even though they were there first. Moses  rectifies the situation by driving away the offenders and watered the sheep himself. 

He is invited to stay and “Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage.    Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom,[c] saying, ‘I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.’” 

“During that long period, (40 years,) the king of Egypt died.” During this time the Israelites continued to cry out to the Lord.  “So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”  This chapter covers 80 yrs, it was a long time to be suffering. But God is working all the time to bring about the conditions for His Salvation. We need to remember that when our requests seem to fall on deaf ears, it does not. God is working all the time to bring about what He wants for us, always what is good. We may count on it. Praise Him!

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# 17 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 9:3. The Equity of Life!  Read all of chapter nine first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc. 9:3 “This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all.”

Ecc.9.  Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “Teacher” makes an equity statement: “All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked”. Death.

Vs.1-2 “So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them.” In this chapter the Teacher makes observations that are followed with  proverbs:

  “As it is with the good,so with the sinful; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take. them.”

He is speaking about death that no one can escape, as it is today in our own lives. “The righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands.” This is where equity stops. Thanks be to God!

Vs.3-6. “This is the evil in everything… The same destiny overtakes all.” We all die because we are sinful but “anyone who is among the living has hope” or “What then is to be chosen?” (Notes) We have a choice between good and evil, it is better to be a poor man than to be dead and rich.

We all know that we will die, that life in this earth is over but what we       

accomplish in the  name of Jesus does not die, no one may      

  remember us our what we have done but God does and rewards His  

  servants. Thanks be to God!

Vs,7-12 The teacher makes the observation, “Go, eat your food … drink your wine with a joyful heart… God has already approved…enjoy life with your wife…” God does approves the enjoyment of life, He has created it and in spite of the evil that has entered into our lives our choices in faith allows us a good quality of life by God’s grace. Equality is available to all. Now we know that our life does not end on this earth, but God’s intention is for us to live forever with Him. Choose life!     

  In this world everything comes to the rich, the strong, the swift, the   

wise, “ but time and chance happen to them all…” No, God’s blessings determine all! Are there unexpected problems and blessings, yes, but not without God’s will. 

Vs.13-18 “ Wisdom Better Than Folly” A wise but poor man outsmarts a “powerful king…” saves a city but does not get the credit, “So I said, ‘Wisdom is better than strength.’” The teacher ends his pondering with a powerful proverb: 

   “The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts    of a ruler of fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.” Yes, one sinner destroyed much good. Do not be that one! Look to God for direction! Jesus is near! Amen.

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# 16 2024 Dev. Ex.1:8. Change! Read all of chapter one first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ex.1:8 “Then  a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.”           

The book of Exodus Is about three main subjects: God’s deliverance, God’s morality and the worship of God.  Ch.1 sets the stage forGod’s  plan and promise, All of Jacob’s sons and their families ended up in Egypt. The promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is beginning to be fulfilled. “They had multiplied greatly…” But that was always the case, God wanted them to become a nation. What changed was the attitudes of the Egyptians. We are being subjected to radical change in our time as well. How do we deal with it? We do what Israel  did, we cry out to God in faith.   

Vs.1-7 All of Jacob’s family joined Joseph and his family in Egypt. As long as Joseph was alive all was well. But  after His death and the death of all his brothers, Joseph and his service was soon forgotten. To make matters worse they had “become so numerous that the land was filled with them.” 

Vs.8-14 The new king saw the Israelites as a security threat, they were foreigners after all and they could serve Egypt as slaves. The whole plan was to make their lives miserable, make bricks for building store houses and to reduce their fertility. “So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor…”  

Vs.15-20 Apparently Israel continued to increase in numbers so Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill all the male babies. From the very beginning Satan was and is against God’s people, the Jews in Egypt and still today all around the world, like he is against all Christians today. He knows his fate but he can’t help himself, he is not able to change and will always bring on evil. But the midwives disobeyed the order and God rewarded them with families. Satan is also behind the abortion industry in this country and worldwide, if people do not have more children we will be in serious trouble by a lack of workforce.

The final order of the Pharaoh was like the final solution of Hitler, exterminate them all, but in this case, the males, by throwing the new borns into the river. This was an order for all jews in the land.  Even under these difficult conditions God is in control and has a plan, thanks be to God.

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# 15 2024 Dev. Ecclesiastes 8:1. Wisdom!  Read all of chapter eight first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.

Ecc. 8:1 “A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.”

Ecc.8.  Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “teacher” asks a question; “Who is like the wise?” Who can tell someone else what is to come? Again he says: “No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun.”

Vs.1-6 “Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things?” The teacher ask two questions: Are you wise, can you explain things, life, death, finances, health, love, hate? Yes, we can. Do we know everything? No, but by living by God’s grace yes, we can know things more than those who do not. Those who practice wisdom  are relaxed and assured by faith. They obey the rules, they know right from wrong and practice that in its time. 

Vs.7-8 “Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone what is to come?”  That is true, but there are predicable outcomes, for goodness, for wise choices, for choosing good or for bad, “so wickedness will not release those who practice it.”

Vs.9-13 We live in a broken world, as the teacher also sees the exploitation of others and the injustice of a long life for the wicked. “Yet  because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them”. Do not envy those who are rich and live a long life, it is all in God’s hands and he rewards those accordingly, “what is wealth if you lose your soul?”

Vs.14-15 “The righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve.” What is the difference  between the wicked and the righteous? We all sin and “fall short of God’s glory.” By God’s grace we serve by faith and are righteous in Christ, Amen?  But even the wicked serve God, unbeknown to them, but they benefit those who serve God! Thanks be to God. In faith we may rejoice, enjoy life, “all the days of the life God has given them”. 

Vs.16-17 “No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun.” But if we see “all that God has done”, if we see life and  the world in the light of the Words of God and in Jesus’s love we know more and understand more than one who does not have the light. Praise be to God. Let Your Light Shine!’

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