Last week, we learned how God rescued the Israelites time after time. He brought them through the waters of the “Reed Sea” (which may be the today’s Red Sea), turned rancid water into sweet, drinking water, and fed them with manna and quail. Yet, they still grumbled.
Water from the Rock
Read Exodus 17:1-4
– How are the Israelites living up to their pattern of how they approach Moses and God?
Read Exodus 17:5-7
– How does God provide water for the Israelites?
– How does the way that God provide for His people meant to strengthen their faith?
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-4
– How does the Apostle Paul foreshadow baptism in the New Covenant?
– How does the Apostle Paul foreshadow the Lord’s Supper in the New Covenant?
– Whom does Paul identify as the Rock that gave water to the Israelites in the desert:
Read 1 Corinthians 10:5-6
– What point does Paul make to the Corinthians (and to us) as a warning?
Read John 6:31-51
– How does Jesus show to the Jews that He is the fulfillment of the Israelites eating manna in the desert?
– At this point how is one to eat of Christ?
Read John 6:52-58
– How does Jesus now say what eating Him entails, especially in verse 54 and following?
– How does Jesus connect faith (belief) and the Lord’s Supper that He will soon establish?
Battle with the Amalekites
The Amalekites were a nomadic people of the Sinai Peninsula (Genesis 14:7, Numbers 13:29). They were descendants of Amalek, a grandson of Esau (Genesis 36: 12).
Read Exodus 17:8-16
– When the Israelites are battling the Amalekites, when are they succeeding and when are they failing?
– Discuss: Who then is the source of the victory?
– How had God previous rescued the Israelites with Moses lifting up his arms?
– What then is this supposed to remind the Israelites about who their God is?
– What lesson is God teaching about Hur and Aaron having to hold up Moses’ arms?
Moses and Jethro
Hearing that Moses and the Israelites were nearby, Jethro comes to see Moses and arranged for the reuniting of his family. We don’t know when Moses sent his wife and sons back to Jethro, we only know that he did because here they are reunited.
Read Exodus 18:1-12
– What does Jethro recognize about Yahweh? (vs. 10-11)
– What then do Moses, Jethro, and others do?
Read Exodus 18:13-27
– What advice does Jethro give Moses?
– How did God hint to Moses that this needed to be done in the Battle with the Amakelites?
Read Acts 6:1-6
– How do we incorporate what Jethro told Moses in the New Testament Church?
– What is the significance do we find with the people choosing and the Apostles laying on of hands?
– Discuss how is this duality is still supposed to be lived out today.
Click here to go to Lesson 11.
