Bible reading notes
Getting to know you (Exod 4:1-9)
Exod 4:1-9 At one time I was listening to the conversation of some Christian friends from a charismatic background, who were bemoaning the fact that the initial glow of God’s presence seemed to have faded from their experience: they no…
Who are You, God? (Exod 3:13-22)
Exod 3:13-22 God answers Moses’s first objection about his mission to Pharaoh with the reassurance that ‘I will be with you’ (Exod 3:12). Now he comes with a second concern asking God for a name to take to Israel (v.13).…
How God brings salvation (Exod 3:7-12)
Exod 3:7-12 As a young adult, I remember a Billy Graham rally in Budapest in the early 1990s, where one of our youth group members came to accept Jesus’s forgiveness of her sins. To start with, she was jubilant, but…
A willing servant, a holy God (Exod 3:1-7)
Exod 3:1-7 We pick up again Moses’s tracks as he pastures his flock towards the west side of the wilderness (the Hebrew calls it the back end of the desert). According to Jewish tradition, forty years have passed since Moses…
Where is God? (Exod 2:23-25)
Exod 2:23-25 Most of us have wondered about God’s timing at one point or another. Sometimes it seems perfect and everything falls into place. At other times, we are left confused when tragedy hits unexpectedly or we struggle in a…
The shaping of character (Exod 2:15-22)
Exod 2:15-22 It always amazes me how patiently God shapes our lives for His service. We might feel that we have missed the boat and it is too late to start anything new, but the Lord’s perspective is different. Jesus…
A pull of loyalties (Exod 2:11-14)
Exod 2:11-14 Moses grew up with a dual identity as both Egyptian and Hebrew, prince and slave. We are not told of the turmoil this might have meant, but it is likely he would have felt the pull of loyalties.…
Nothing is too difficult for Him (Exod 2:1-10)
Exod 2:1-10 Many of us are familiar with the song whose refrain is ‘Nothing is too difficult for Thee’, but probably few know that the words come from Jer 32:17. It is not a triumphant response to God’s rescue, as…
A child of two worlds (Exod 2:1-10)
Exod 2:1-10 As a little girl I lived in India for three and a half years and was exposed to a very different world than Hungary (then a Communist country), where I spent the rest of my childhood. My family…
The hidden hand of God (Exod 1:15-22)
Exod 1:15-22 On the surface, things continue to go from bad to worse for Israel. Pharaoh’s tactic for suppressing any rebellion against him is both psychological and physical. Hard labour is meant to crush God’s people to the point where…