The rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his might, and all that he did, and the cities which he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? Nevertheless in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he showed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

And the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

1:20 dealt well with the midwives. The midwives had both disobeyed their rulers and lied to them, both of which actions are normally sinful in God’s sight (e.g., I Peter 2:13; Ephesians 4:25), and yet God rewarded them. When situations arise in which the commands of rulers conflict with explicit commandments of God (in this case, the murder of innocent children conflicts with the commandment against murder and also His explicit commandment and promise to Jacob–note Genesis 46:3,4), then God’s word must be obeyed (Acts 5:29) rather than the unlawful orders of men. The midwives protected the infants at the risk of their own lives. What may seem superficially to have been a “false witness” was not “against thy neighbour” (Exodus 20:16), but in hazardous protection of their neighbor, just as was the case with those Christians who hid their Jewish neighbors during Hitler’s pogroms.

2:11 when Moses was grown. Moses was forty years old at this time (Acts 7:23) and, although he had been raised from infancy in Pharaoh’s palace and in all the culture and wisdom of the mighty nation of Egypt (perhaps even being a prospective Pharaoh himself, as the “son” of Pharaoh’s daughter–Exodus 2:10), he still considered the Hebrews to be “his brethren,” and needed his protection. It seems very likely that he had, by this time, come into custody of the ancient tablets which he would later compile into the book of Genesis. Joseph had possibly deposited them in his own vaults for safekeeping.

3:4 Moses, Moses. When God calls a name twice, it is clear that the occasion is of great importance, as here when He called Moses. Note also the double calls: “Abraham, Abraham” (Genesis 22:11); “Samuel, Samuel” (I Samuel 3:10); “Simon, Simon” (Luke 22:31,32); “Saul, Saul” (Acts 9:4); and “Jerusalem, Jerusalem” (Matthew 23:37,38).

6:7 to me for a people. The promise of God to set apart a special people whose identity would be linked to Himself has been reaffirmed again and again, beginning as far back as His rejection of Cain while accepting Abel (Genesis 4:5). It was specially affirmed to Abraham (Genesis 12:1; 15:4,6), and here to Moses and the children of Israel. Finally, He has also chosen all “they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” (Galatians 3:7, 26-29; note also Acts 15:14).

12:41 four hundred and thirty years. This 430 years of “sojourning” in Egypt (Exodus 12:40) seems to conflict with the statement by God to Abraham that his seed would be a stranger in a land that would “afflict them four hundred years” (Genesis 15:13) and the statement by Stephen to the same effect (Acts 7:6). These numbers are not just round numbers (note the stress here on “the selfsame day”). Varied interpretations have been offered for the discrepancy of the thirty years, but the most obvious seems the inference that the first thirty years in Egypt (seventeen years before Jacob died, thirteen years after his death) were years of favor under Pharaoh, but when the new king arose “which knew not Joseph” (Exodus 1:8), then the Israelites were soon resented and persecuted, and eventually enslaved, remaining in such disfavor for exactly four hundred years.

19:19 voice of the trumpet. There seems to have been a host of angels present around Mount Sinai as the Law was being given (note Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19) and one or more were blowing loudly on the trumpet of God. This, along with the lightning and dark cloud and great quaking of the mountain, made an awe-inspiring spectacle which the people could never forget (or so it would have seemed). Compare the exposition of this scene in Hebrews 12:18-21.

7:26 eat no manner of blood. The prohibition against eating blood began with the Noahic covenant (Genesis 9:4), and continues today (note Acts 15:20,29). The blood both contains and symbolizes life (Leviticus 17:10-13), and thus should not be eaten. Furthermore, modern medical science confirms that blood tends to become septic soon after death, and hence is dangerous to health.

11:2 beasts which ye shall eat. This remarkable 11th chapter of Leviticus is controversial, not only because of its division of animals into clean animals (suitable for eating and for sacrifice) and unclean animals, but also because a great uncertainty exists among Hebrew scholars regarding the identity of many of the kinds of animals as named. The dietary restrictions no doubt were mainly for health and sanitation reasons, as well as ceremonial applications. The latter uses have been removed in the present economy (Acts 10:9-15; I Timothy 4:3-4), but the health and esthetic factors may still be worth consideration.

23:16 fifty days. The Lord “came down” at Sinai on the fiftieth day after the first Passover (Exodus 12:6; 19:1, 11), just as the Holy Spirit came down fifty days after Christ’s crucifixion (Acts 1:3-4; 2:1-4).

25:23 the land is mine. The principle of divine ownership of the land applies not only to Israel, but to all nations (Psalm 24:1; Acts 17:26). The principle applies with special emphasis to the true Christian, whose very body belongs to the Lord (I Corinthians 6:19,20).