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JANUARY 28
their angels always see the face of My Father 18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind
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who is in heaven. For the Son of Man has on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatev-
come to save that which was lost. er you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
12 “What do you think? If a man has a hundred 19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree
sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not on earth concerning anything that they ask, it
leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
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to seek the one that is straying? And if he 20 For where two or three are gathered together
should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
rejoices more over that sheep than over the
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ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so it
is not the will of your Father who is in heaven
that one of these little ones should perish.
15 “Moreover if your brother sins against
you, go and tell him his fault between you and 18:20 two or three. Jewish tradition requires
him alone. If he hears you, you have gained at least 10 men (a minyan) to constitute a syn-
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your brother. But if he will not hear, take with agogue or even hold public prayer. Here,
you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two Christ promised to be present in the midst of
or three witnesses every word may be estab- an even smaller flock—”two or three”witness-
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lished.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it es gathered in His name for the purpose of
to the church. But if he refuses even to hear discipline.
the church, let him be to you like a heathen
and a tax collector.
DAY 27: Is it okay to question God?

Upon hearing that God was sending Moses to be the leader/deliverer of Israel (Ex. 3:10), his
response of “Who am I…?”is an expression of inadequacy for such a serious mission.It sounded rea-
sonable, for after 40 years of absence from Egypt, what could he, a mere shepherd of Midian, do
upon return?
But was Moses crossing the line from reasonable inquiry to unreasonable doubt in 3:13? God’s
patient replies instructing Moses on what He would do and what the results would be, including
Israel’s being viewed with favor by the Egyptians (3:21), ought to caution the reader from hastily
classifying Moses’attitude as altogether wrong from the very beginning of the interaction between
him and the Lord.Yes,Israel might ask for God’s name in validation of Moses’declaration that he had
been sent by the God of their fathers. Asking “What is His name?” meant they sought for the rele-
vancy of the name to their circumstances—the character, quality, or essence of a person. God’s
answer was:“I AM WHO I AM”(v.14).This name for God points to His self-existence and eternality; it
denotes “I am the One who is/will be.”The significance in relation to “God of your fathers”is imme-
diately discernible: He’s the same God throughout the ages!
A response of divine anger comes only in 4:14 at the very end of Moses’questions and objec-
tions, where he moved beyond inquiry into objection.

January 28 God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or

with the sword.”
4 Then the king of Egypt said to them,
Exodus 5:1–6:30
“Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people
Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and
5 told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of
Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a
feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”
And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I
2 5:2 Who is the LORD…? In all likelihood
should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not Pharaoh knew of Israel’s God, but his interrog-
know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.” ative retort insolently and arrogantly rejected
So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has
3 Him as having any power to make demands of
met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey Egypt’s superior ruler.
into the desert and sacrifice to the LORD our

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