Day 45 (Exodus 15-16 | Matthew 28 | Psalm 21:8-13)

Day 45
Exodus 15:1-16:36
(15 | 16)

It's amazing how quickly a crowd's opinion can change. At the start of chapter 15, the Israelites are singing praise to God. At first, it seems a bit odd; the Israelites seem to be rejoicing that their Egyptian pursuers had been drowned. But then the song goes on to glorify God for the way he saved the Israelites, and demonstrates the Israelites' confidence in him for the future.

Day 44 (Exodus 13-14 | Matthew 27:45-66 | Proverbs 4:20-27)

Day 44
Exodus 13:1-14:31
(13 | 14)

The passage starts with God laying claim to every firstborn male - whether human or animal. Moses explains that every firstborn male must be redeemed before the LORD because of what God did in Egypt; every firstborn male throughout Egypt was struck down as he passed through Egypt. It was because of this that Pharaoh finally allowed the Israelites to leave. Moses gives the Israelites an outline of how they are to commemorate their coming out of Egypt every year.

Day 43 (Exodus 11-12 | Matthew 27:11-44 | Psalm 21:1-7)

Day 43
Exodus 11:1-12:51
(11 | 12)

The LORD tells Moses of the final plague he will bring against Egypt; the plague on the firstborn. Moses reports to Pharaoh that unless the Israelites are allowed to leave, the LORD will go throughout the land at midnight, and every single firstborn son throughout Egypt - from the firstborn son of the Pharaoh to the firstborn of the cattle -  will die. However, the LORD will distinguish between Egyptians and Israelites. No one will be harmed amongst the Israelites.

Day 42 (Exodus 9-10 | Matthew 26:69-27:10 | Psalm 20)

Day 42
Exodus 9:1-10:29
(9 | 10)

Aaron and Moses put a simple request to Pharaoh: let the Israelites go out into the desert to worship the LORD their God. God hardens Pharaoh's heart, and he refuses, and continues to refuse the request. So God brings a succession of plagues against Egypt. Four of the plagues were in yesterday's passage; the plagues of blood, frogs, gnats and flies.

Day 41 (Exodus 6:13-8:32 | Matthew 26:47-68 | Psalm 19:7-14)

Day 41
Exodus 6:13-8:32
(6:13-30 | 7 | 8)

God commands Moses and his brother Aaron to take the Israelites out of Egypt. The lineage of Moses and Aaron is explained, and it is demonstrated that they are great-grandsons of Levi. Interestingly, when the heads of the families of the Israelites in Egypt are named, only three tribes are named; Reuben, Simeon and Levi. Now, I'm not sure if this is meant to demonstrate that these three tribes were ahead of the rest of the tribes. If not, it seems strange to only mention these three tribes.

Day 40 (Exodus 4:1-6:12 | Matthew 26:31-46 | Proverbs 4:10-19)

Day 40
Exodus 4:1-6:12
(4 | 5 | 6:1-12)

Moses is concerned that the people won't believe him, and that they won't listen to God's message because of this. So God gives Moses various signs to perform in front of the people; in the first, Moses's staff is turned into a snake; in the second Moses's hand is made leprous, and then healed again. A third sign, only to be used in the event that the first two are not believed, involves water from the Nile turning into blood when it is poured on the ground. Moses has another problem; he's not a very good speaker. So God recruits Moses's brother, Aaron, to speak for Moses.

Day 39 (Exodus 1-3 | Matthew 26:1-30 | Psalm 19:1-6)

Day 39
Exodus 1:1-3:22
(1 | 2 | 3)

Towards the end of Genesis when the nation of Israel (Jacob and his family) head to Egypt, it is already a fairly large group; Jacob's eleven sons, their wives and their children number seventy in total. Joseph, the twelfth son, and his family are already established in Egypt, but still add to the number of Israelites in Egypt. By the time the first generation of Israelites in Egypt have died, the number of them has increased massively. So when a new Pharaoh comes to power, he's afraid of them. He's unaware of Joseph and everything he did for Egypt. What he is aware of is the number of foreigners living in his land, and the fact that their number just keeps increasing. He's afraid they do not have any loyalty to their host nation.

Day 38 (Job 40:3-42:17 | Matthew 25:14-46 | Psalm 18:43-50)

Day 38
Job 40:3-42:17
(40:3-24 | 41 | 42)

After God's questions to Job in yesterday's passage, Job is predictably shocked. He replies that he is unworthy of responding, and tries to leave it at that.

Day 37 (Job 38:1-40:2 | Matthew 24:32-25:13 | Psalm 18:37-42)

Day 37
Job 38:1-40:2
(38 | 39 | 40:1-2)

As soon as Elihu finishes speaking, God enters the conversation. The first thing he says is, "who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you shall answer me" (38:2-3), and the last thing he says is, "will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!" This must've been absolutely terrifying for Job!

Day 36 (Job 35:1-37:24 | Matthew 24:1-31 | Proverbs 4:1-9)

Day 36
Job 35:1-37:24
(35 | 36 | 37)


Elihu claims God ignores the wicked when they cry out because of their arrogance. Elihu further claims that God is more likely to ignore Job because he reckons he can't see God move, nor does he think God takes any action against the wicked. Elihu goes on to say that God doesn't hate men, and that actually the reason Job doesn't see what God is doing is because he has the wrong perspective; God isn't keeping the wicked alive, rather he preserves the rights of those afflicted by the wicked.

Day 35 (Job 33-34 | Matthew 23 | Psalm 18:25-36)

Day 35
Job 33:1-34:37
(33 | 34)

Elihu starts by saying they're the same; both he and Job have been brought up from the clay. So they should not fear each other. Elihu then asks, legitimately, how Job can say that God doesn't answer prayers. He says that God does answer, it's just that people might not realise it. He goes on to say that God does redeem men when they don't deserve it because he doesn't want them cast into the pit any more than they want to be.

Day 34 (Job 30-32 | Matthew 22:15-46 | Psalm 18:16-24)

Day 34
Job 30:1-32:22
(30 | 31 | 32)

In chapter 29, Job went on about how people used to respect him. In chapter 30, he speaks about how people treat him now, after his apparent fall from grace. He laments the fact that God doesn't seem to be answering his cries for help. But in all this, and throughout chapter 31, he continues to insist he is innocent.

Day 33 (Job 25-29 | Matthew 21:33-22:14 | Psalm 18:7-15)

Day 33
Job 25:1-29:25
(25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29)


Bildad continues the trend of being deeply unhelpful by essentially saying God is so powerful and awesome that man surely has no chance of being righteous in God's eyes. Job calls him out on this with his beautifully sarcastic reply in 26:2-4. Job goes on to list some of the works of God, saying they're only on the fringes of his works. Who can truly understand God and his power?

Day 32 (Job 22-24 | Matthew 21:18-32 | Proverbs 3:21-35)

Day 32
Job 22:1-24:25
(22 | 23 | 24)

Eliphaz pipes up with another deeply unhelpful contribution. First, he questions whether or not it actually genuinely makes a difference to God whether or not our walks are righteous - does it actually benefit him, does he gain anything? Eliphaz then does what none of Job's friends have done up to now - he outright accuses Job of sinning. He also tells Job how to get back into God's good books:

"Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you" (22:21)
"If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored" (22:23)

Day 31 (Job 19-21 | Matthew 21:1-17 | Psalm 18:1-6)

Day 31
Job 19:1-21:34
(19 | 20 | 21)

Job remains unconvinced that he's actually done anything wrong. But if he has, he believes that that's his problem, that his friends shouldn't be concerned about that. They should be concerned about God's judgement on their own lives first and foremost. Additionally, his friends should be pitying him not trying to bring him down further, he argues. Job laments everything he's lost. Yet even in this, he continues to exalt God, and looks forward to the day when they can meet.

Day 30 (Job 15-18 | Matthew 20:20-34 | Psalm 17:13-15)

Day 30
Job 15:1-18:21
(15 | 16 | 17 | 18)


Eliphaz questions Job's wisdom in saying everything he has so far; by doing what he's doing, he's making things worse for himself. He goes on to say that since man is inherently corrupt, how can God trust him? The rest of his argument seems to be that implying that Job must have done something wrong, as God punishes the unjust.

Day 29 (Job 11-14 | Matthew 20:1-19 | Psalm 17:6-12)

Day 29
Job 11:1-14:22
(11 | 12 | 13 | 14)

A third friend of Job's, Zophar the Naamathite, then pipes up. I'm not 100% sure, but I think his argument is pretty much that Job must have done something wrong, whether he's willing to admit it or not. God seems to already have decided that Job has done something wrong, who is he to argue with God's judgement? Zophar's advice is to identify the sin and remove it from his life. Once he's done that, he'll back in with God.

Day 28 (Job 8-10 | Matthew 19:16-30 | Proverbs 3:11-20)

Day 28
Job 8:1-10:22
(8 | 9 | 10)

Another of Job's friends, Bildad the Shuhite, seizes the opportunity to speak. Bildad's argument seems to be that Job must somehow deserve what he is going through:

"Does God pervert justice? Does the Almighty pervert what is right?" (8:3) 

Bildad's advice is this; plead your case with God. If you're truly blameless, God will come in on your side. After all, "God does not reject a blameless man" (v. 20).

Day 27 (Job 4-7 | Matthew 19:1-15 | Psalm 17:1-5)

Day 27
Job 4:1-7:21
(4 | 5 | 6 | 7)


If you've ever read Job before, you'll know this is where the book starts getting unnecessarily wordy. It can be a bit difficult to wade through at times, and nigh on impossible to actually comprehend at others. I can't say that any notes I write will actually make anything any better. In fact, they might make matters even more convoluted. I'm going to try anyway; it might actually help me make sense of what's going on!

Day 26 (Job 1-3 | Matthew 18:10-35 | Psalm 16)

Day 26
Job 1:1-3:26
(1 | 2 | 3)
Job is a man who has everything. He has ten children, thousands of livestock and loads of servants. More than that, he fears the LORD. He frequently made sacrifices of atonement for his kids, just in case they had sinned in their hands. He is a righteous and upright man.
One day, God starts boasting to Satan about Job. Satan argues that Job is only the way he is because God has provided so much for him. God allows Satan control of Job's life, but prohibits him from harming Job physically.