Lesson 5: Water and Manna

Scripture

Exodus 15:22-16:18

Quick Summary

            The Hebrews are free from Pharaoh’s rule but are now stuck in the desert without food or water. They complain because they have nothing to drink, and God gives them water. They complain because they have no food and God give them meat for supper and bread for breakfast. The bread which falls from heaven as dew in the morning is called Manna.

The Point

God will provide.

Questions for Family Time

1.     What did God provide for the Israelites/Hebrews in the desert?

a.      Water, quail (meat), manna (frosted flakes, bread)

2.     What has God provided for you?

Our Song for today:

I hunger and thirst for you, I hunger and thirst for you.

In the desert of my need, you’re the fountain that I seek.

You’re the living water I keep running to.

I hunger and thirst for you, I hunger and thirst for you.

I hunger and thirst for you, I hunger and thirst for you.

Heaven’s Manna, Bread of Life, fill the emptiness inside

Nothing else can satisfy me like your do.

 I hunger and thirst for you, I hunger and thirst for you.

Deeper

            My daughter was 4 months old when I got a call from the emergency room. My husband had been working in construction when a table saw on his work site fell off of its makeshift stand and deeply cut his fingers. With the rest of the week off to recuperate, we went to visit his parents over the weekend and came home to get the call Monday morning that he had been fired. That Thursday, we got another call that his mother had passed away. After two funerals and two weeks away from home, we came home to discover our electricity had been out and all of our perishable food had perished. Our credit cards were maxed out and we had no income. It was the desert of our need.

God fed us in that desert. A Methodist woman came by with groceries to fill our house. Our church provided baby clothes. Most miraculous of all, within a week we got a call about a church in need of a pastor. We had sent that resume long enough before that we had forgotten we sent it.

God met our every need, just as he met the need of the Hebrews in the desert. God doesn’t promise life will be smooth sailing when we trust in him. But when we trust him, he provides what we NEED to get through the desert.     

Personal Reflection

1.     What deserts has God fed you in?

Lesson 4: Crossing the Red Sea

Scripture

Exodus 14:5-31

Quick Summary

            After his son died in the last plague, Pharaoh finally allowed the Hebrews to leave Egypt with Moses. Moses and the Egyptians went out following a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. They got to the Red Sea and got stuck. By that time, Pharaoh had changed his mind and was hot on their trail. On God’s command, Moses raised his staff on the bank of the Red Sea and God split it in two, sending a breeze down the center. The Hebrews walked across on dry land. By the time the Hebrews all got across, Pharaoh’s army was between the walls of water. With one more command from God, Moses raised his staff again, and the water rushed over the pursuing army. The Hebrews were safe and free from Egypt thanks to God!

The Point

God will make a way when we are stuck.

Questions for Family Time

1.     What were the Hebrews stuck between?

a.      The Red Sea and the Egyptian Army

2.     How did God make a way for them?

a.      He split the Red Sea in half, and the Hebrews walked through on dry land.

3.     What happened to the Army chasing them?

a.      They died when the water went back over the path.

Our Song for today:

CHORUS: Pharaoh, Pharaoh, whoa baby, let my people go! (2x)

A burnin' bush told me just the other day
That I should go to Egypt and say,
"It's time to let my people be free -
Listen to God if you won't listen to me!"

CHORUS

Well me and and my people goin' to the Red Sea,
With Pharaoh's best army comin' after me.
I took my staff, stuck it in the stand,
And all of God's people walked on dry land.
Singin...

CHORUS

Now Pharaoh's army was a-comin' too,
So whattaya think that God did do?
Had me take my staff and clear my throat,
And all of Pharaoh's army did the dead man's float.

CHORUS

Well that's the story of the stubborn goat.
Pharaoh should've know that chariots don't float.
The lesson is simple, it's easy to find,
When God says, "GO!" you had better mind!

Deeper

Have you ever found yourself stuck like the Hebrews? Their past was chasing them down. They were trying to follow God, and find their way out, but they had no other place to go. Their past was going to be their death.

Many times, that is what it feels like when we decide to follow God. When we commit to walking away from our old life, and becoming a disciple, we come to places where it would just be easier to go back to our old ways. Even when we know they aren’t right.

It is in those moments that we need to keep walking forward. We need to trust that God will split the waters that stand in our way. It may take some time. The Bible says it took all night for the breeze to dry the seabed. At that same time though, God’s pillar stood between the Hebrews and the Egyptian Army, protecting God’s people.

It is hard to wait for God. It is hard to walk through the sea, seeing water on both sides of you, and not know if you will make it out before the waters come in. It is hard when you know those chariots are right behind you. But God saw the Hebrews through, and landed them on safety on the other side. Keep following God and he will make a way where none seem possible.

Personal Reflection

When have you walked away from your past and had a roadblock? How did you get through? Did you trust God or go back to your old ways?

Lesson 3: 10 Plagues of Egypt

Scripture

Exodus 7:14-12:30

Quick Summary

            When Pharaoh would not let the Hebrew slaves leave with Moses, God sent 10 Plagues to Egypt. The last plague was called Passover. In this plague, God had all his followers paint their door frames with sheep blood. That night, the angel of death killed all the first born not inside those door frames. That included Pharaoh’s oldest son. Pharaoh finally released the Hebrew slaves, and let them leave captivity.

The Point

God is God Alone!

Questions for Family Time

1.     Which do you think was the worst plague and why?

2.     Why did God send the 10 plagues?

a.      To show he was stronger than all the Egyptian Gods/ to get Pharaoh to let the slaves go

Our Song for Today:

Our new song names all 10 plagues and goes to the tune of “12 Days of Christmas”

On the 1^st Day of Plagues our true God sent to Egypt…

                    ….A river that turned into blood

            2^nd….a fleet of jumping frogs           

            3^rd…a bunch of biting gnats  

            4^th…a swarm of silly flies    

5^th…diseased, dying cows     

6^th…breakout of boils           

7^th…a rainstorm of hail                     

8^th…a load of hungry locusts            

9^th…darkness over the land  

10^th…the death of first born

Deeper

            The last of the 10 plagues is still celebrated by Jews throughout the world to commemorate God freeing the Hebrews from slavery. The last meal before leaving Egypt is served as a yearly holiday called Passover.
            As Christians, Passover is still very important, though for very different reasons. The Bible says that it was at this annual family feast that Jesus gave bread and wine to the disciples and told them to remember him every time they ate these two things. We refer to this as “The Last Supper” because it was the last meal Jesus had before dying for our sins on the cross. Four times a year, we remember this Last Supper through eating bread and drinking grape juice together at church in what we call Communion. We do this as a way to receive the spiritual food God gives us, and to receive Jesus’ sacrifice anew.
            Passover is a big deal for both Jews and Christians because it reminds us of God freeing us from slavery. For Jews, the slavery was a physical one from Egypt. For Christians the slavery was to sin and rebellion toward God. Jesus is the “lamb” slain and his “blood” covers us so we can have eternity with God, just as the death passed over the Hebrews.  

Even though Passover seems a very gruesome story, it is a central story to both the Old and New Testaments. God told the Hebrews to make sure and tell this story generation to generation all through time. It’s hard to understand some of the symbols around Jesus’s story without knowing this story that all his first followers knew since they were children.  

Personal Reflection

            Have you received Communion? Did you receive more than just bread and juice when you took it? How has God freed you from slavery to sin and rebellion?

Lesson 2: The Burning Bush

Scripture

Exodus 3:1-4:17

Quick Summary

            Moses is out farming one day and sees a bush on fire but not burning up. He goes over to investigate, and God starts speaking to him. God tells Moses that God is going to use Moses to free the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. Moses doesn’t think he can do the job. God meets every excuse with tools for the job ahead: (1) a staff that turned into a snake (2) disappearing leprosy (3) his brother Aaron to give speeches.

The Point

God give us tools for the jobs he give us.

Questions for Family Time

1.     What was the job God had for Moses?

a.      Free the Hebrew slaves

2.     What tools did God give him?

a.      Staff that turned to a snake

b.     Leprosy

c.      His brother to speak for him

3.     What job has God given you?

4.     What tools do you have?

Our Song for today:

Chorus: Go down Moses way down in Egypt land. Tell all Pharaohs to let My people go
When Israel was in Egypt land                      Let My people go
Oppressed so hard they could not stand        Let My people go
Chorus
"Thus spoke the Lord," bold Moses said      Let My people go
“If not I'll smite, your firstborns dead”         Let My people go
Chorus

Deeper

            So often, we look at what we don’t have rather then what we do have. We look at our empty bank account, our lack of abilities or talents, the gadgets we don’t have. We look at our community and we look at the businesses and organizations we no longer have. We are like Moses, seeing our weaknesses and our lack.
            But God is a God of abundance. He doesn’t call the equipped for his work, he equips the called. He doesn’t see a food pantry recipient, he sees a creative chef that make a meal out of canned meat and green beans. He has given us all resources to serve each other. He sends us help, and he calls us to be help for others, so that no one will go without. Earlier this summer a LA resident offered me vegetables from their garden. I was not in need, so I sent them to another friend here in town who could use them. That friend turned around a couple weeks later, right as I ran out of vegetables, and offered me some vegetables out of her abundance. Together, we can share our resources, and support each other.
            Moses had every resource he needed, every tool he needed, for the job ahead. God has given us every tool as well. It may just be in someone else’s hand right now.

Personal Reflection

What tools do you have to add to our collective church’s tool box? What gifts do you have to share? What tool do you need that you don’t have?