Class Lesson June 16, 2013

Hey Gang,



You know, the Bible is made up of many stories that fit together to tell one story – God’s Story. This 13-week study will help us understand the Bible’s story, our place in the story, and its implications for our lives today.

Most people are familiar with at least a few Bible stories. They may not, however, see how what may seem to be disparate parts fit together. A person’s inability to understand the larger story affects their ability to see how the stories, accounts, prophecies, history, and other writings are to be understood. Are they independent or do they connect in some way?
What is the theme and what message is being communicated? Therefore, this study is important because it can lead us not only to understand the Bible’s overarching message but also to encounter the Lord God who is its ultimate Author. After all, it is His story.





The lessons in this series are:


June 2 - God Begins the Story
June 9 - God Chooses a People
June 16 - God Delivers His People
June 23 - God Instructs His People
June 30 - God Dwells Among His People
July 7 - God Establishes a Kingdom for His People
July 14 - God Disciplines His People
July 21 - God Restores His People
July 28 - God Promises the Messiah
August 4 - God Sends His Son
August 11 - Jesus Is Crucified and Raised
August 18 - Jesus Commissions His Church
August 25 - God Completes the Story

 Click Here to Watch

 

Life Goal

Notice God compassionately expresses His power on behalf of His people.

Let me ask you this, do you ever feel like God doesn’t care about what you might be going through? Have you ever thought, I’ve made such a mess of things, even God can’t fix them? Or have you ever thought it really frustrates me to see evil people go unpunished? Or maybe, you’re ready for God to deliver you from your troubles. Maybe you want to trust God, follow His plan, and find your place in it. Or just maybe, you’ve prayed for so long, you wonder, will answers ever come?


God’s people often find themselves in difficult circumstances perhaps through no fault of their own. Some experience death because of these circumstances. This is neither good nor right. God is always working in history for the delivery of His people. When we cry out to God for help, we sometimes get the impression He’s not listening. Because we do not see all God is doing behind the scenes or at least outside our field of vision, we think He’s doing nothing. The Israelites might have thought the same thing during their 400 years of Egyptian slavery.

During this time, “the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor … They worked the Israelites ruthlessly and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and all kinds of fieldwork” (Ex. 1:11, 13-14). The people “groaned because of their difficult labor, and they cried out” (Ex. 2:23). And while it may have appeared to those suffering that their pain went unnoticed by the God they cried out to, God knew. He noticed; He cared; and He acted. While the Israelites were sweating under the whip of their Egyptian taskmasters, God was preparing a deliverer.


Moses’ story begins in Exodus 2, where it is recorded that his life was spared as an infant when his mother and sister hid him from the Egyptians. His family hid Moses because the king of Egypt ordered the death of all Hebrew infant boys (1:16). Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses and reared him as Egyptian royalty. At age 40, Moses fled to the dessert after killing an Egyptian he saw beating a Hebrew. He was 80 years old when he obeyed God’s call to confront Pharaoh and tell him to let God’s people go (Ex. 7:7). For 80 years, God had been preparing this deliverer in His time and His way.



Deliverance is an important feature in God’s Story. Today’s lesson focuses on God’s care for His people, His judgment on those who oppress, and His deliverance of people.

I. GOD CARES – EXODUS 3:7-10

7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. 8 I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the territory of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 9 The Israelites’ cry for help has come to Me, and I have also seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.


10 Therefore, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh so that you may lead My people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”



People that God delivered:


Joseph - Brothers, prison, and famine

Noah - Flood

David - Saul’s attempts at murder

Jonah - The belly of a whale

Israelites - Hunger and thirst in the wilderness

Paul - Hatred of Christ and Christianity

Humanity - The power of sin

Lazarus - Death

Moses - Fear of inadequacy



In what situation are you waiting on God to act on your behalf?



Why might God have allowed time to pass before revealing His care for people in their suffering?

• God called Moses at that juncture, and Moses had to choose whether or not he would let God use him as an instrument to do His work. God’s plans and purposes are not dependent upon our abilities, position, or circumstance. As such, His love and concern for us cannot be determined by the struggles we face or the length of time we wait for Him to deliver us from them. Instead, we can trust that He is concerned about our suffering and is able to act on our behalf in His way and in His time, for our good and His glory.

What about you? How is God nudging you to do His work? What temptation do you face to just mind your own business?

• Pray now that God would show you what to do and how to do it to show you care about the things He cares about. Commit to act on those things as He leads.
• What is God’s attitude toward injustice, suffering, and oppression? How should that comfort us? How should it challenge us?
• God’s opposition to injustice gives hope that He will ultimately right the wrongs of our world. It does not escape His notice when oppression occurs. God cares, and He will have the last word in judgment.
• As God’s children, we should reflect His heart, loving what He loves and hating what He hates. When we wonder why God doesn’t do something about certain injustices, could we be the “Moses” God wants to use as His instrument in bringing deliverance?

Realize that this world delivers some unfair and very painful situations. God will equip you to manage them, but He did not cause them. We should let God use these situations as an instrument to do His work, no matter what the outer circumstance is.



1. God is aware of the suffering of His people and acts to redeem them from oppression.

2. God’s promises are sure.

3. God calls us to join Him in His work.



When you find yourself in a difficult situation, are you willing to live according to God's will and follow His plan? Will you trust that He will do what is right and deliver you according to His plan and timing?



In these verses, God reveals that He is aware of every detail of every situation. He not only cares, but He has a plan to deliver and fulfill His every promise. Quite often we hear criticism about the God of the Bible being cruel and uncaring. The Bible is loaded with evidence of how much God cares. The nation of Israel has numerous examples of how God has cared for them since their inception. So do Christians of the church age.



If anyone wants to know how much God cares, just look at the cross. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

As Moses obeyed God and took his message to Pharaoh, he faced opposition, problems, and resistance at every point. The Israelites questioned his motives and his mission. The situation actually grew worse as the Pharaoh was angered. An older pastor once gave this response to someone who was questioning God’s care during a time of suffering. He said, “My favorite verse of Scripture is ‘and it came to pass.’ ”

II. GOD JUDGES – EXODUS 12:12-13, 29-31

12 “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. I am Yahweh; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. 13 The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.



29 Now at midnight the Lord struck every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and every firstborn of the livestock. 30 During the night Pharaoh got up, he along with all his officials and all the Egyptians, and there was a loud wailing throughout Egypt because there wasn’t a house without someone dead.

31 He summoned Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites, and go, worship Yahweh as you have asked.



When have you stubbornly ignored God’s commands?

• Pharaoh ignored God’s words to him through Moses.

Why do you think Pharaoh assumed he could get away with bucking almighty God? Why did God then choose to bring such severe judgment? How do you reconcile God’s judgment with His love? Why is God’s judgment a necessary part of His story and love?

• God will not be mocked without consequence. He will not let people act like brats forever. God executed swift judgment against Pharaoh and the false gods he served. Eventually Pharaoh’s behavior invited the deaths of every firstborn male of Egypt. The Hebrews could escape this by following a specific directive from God: marking their doorpost with blood.
• The blood on the doorposts showed acceptance of God’s plan for rescue – after all, the sight of dried blood by itself had no power to deter death – it was that they placed their faith in God.

Why obey God even if the instructions seem confusing? How do you make certain it’s God’s voice?

• The only reason the Hebrews were spared death is that they followed God’s instructions specifically. God will show us what to do and how to do it no matter the situation. This event clearly foreshadows placing our faith in the blood of Jesus as payment for our sins. You can’t earn God’s favor, but you can live like someone who is grateful for His mercy.

How did God’s actions demonstrate His faithfulness, mercy, justice and power?

• God’s actions fulfilled His promises made to Abraham in Genesis.
• Genesis 15:13-14 says from last week: 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. 14 However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions.
• God’s severe punishment of the Egyptians shows, among other things, that God does not allow people to reject Him with impunity.

We should trust that God is concerned about our suffering and is able to act on our behalf.



1. God’s judgment is sure on those who defy Him.

2. In His mercy, God took the initiative to provide a means of escape to those who will heed His word.

3. The Passover event is a foreshadowing of Christ’s shedding His blood for the redemption of sinners.



Have you received God's deliverance - salvation - through the blood of His Son, the spotless Lamb, and the Lord Jesus Christ? Do others see evidence of the power of the one, true God in your life as you walk in faith, surrender, and obedience to Him?


God was very patient with Pharaoh. He sent 10 different plagues while warning him to let the people of Israel go free. The Pharaoh could have repented and placed his faith in God at any time, but he did not. He hardened his heart after each plague. At a certain time, after the seventh plague, God hardened the Pharaoh’s heart even further and made him an example. These verses provide an excellent opportunity to study and appreciate the blood of Jesus Christ. Even though judgment was sent, anyone could have escaped that judgment by simply applying the blood to their houses. The blood was sufficient for everyone, but death occurred in every home where the blood was not applied. 

III. GOD DELIVERS – EXODUS 14:5-6, 13-14, 21, 26
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said: “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.” 6 So he got his chariot ready and took his troops with him;



13 But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet.”



21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided,



26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back on the Egyptians, on their chariots and horsemen.”




What person helps you get back on track when you start thinking wrongly? When have you been so set on a certain path that you wouldn’t even listen to even that person?



How do you think Moses knew God would fight for them?

• At the burning bush, Moses didn’t have much confidence in God or himself. But as he allowed God to use him, his confidence grew to the point that when the situation was bleak, he was ready to stake his life on the fact that God would come through. And God did come through.

We can know that God will not be deterred from fulfilling His ultimate plan.



1. The power and faithfulness of the Lord are unparalleled and unequalled.

2. The plan of the Lord to deliver His people cannot be deterred, no matter the size or the strength of the force of evil against it.

3. The Lord can be trusted as being mighty to save.



Finally, after the 10th plague, Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go free. They packed quickly and headed for the land of Canaan. But, Pharaoh changed his mind and decided to use his powerful army to retrieve the freed slaves. He and his army would quickly discover that God is serious about His plans for the nation of Israel. The story of God’s deliverance and judgment at the Red Sea are just another example of God’s story being fulfilled. Jesus offers deliverance to all who will believe.




Conclusion

God set aside a people for Himself through Abraham. God promised to make them a people and give them a land. God used the blood of the Passover lamb to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt, pointing ahead to another Passover Lamb that would deliver people, not from physical slavery, but from spiritual slavery to sin, all to the glory of His grace.

 A Father's Love and Sacrifice

 

Prayer of Commitment

Glory be to the Lord, who delivered me from the bondage of sin and set my feet on solid ground. Amen.

God set aside a people for Himself through Abraham. God promised to make them a people and give them a land. God used the blood of the Passover lamb to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt, pointing ahead to another Passover Lamb that would deliver people, not from physical slavery, but from spiritual slavery to sin, all to the glory of His grace. Remember, this is God's Story and those who believe and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ are His People and each one of us carries a great hope.

See you on Sunday as we continue in His Story!

In His Love,

David & Susan