Exodus 2: A Mother's Faith, a Son's Brashness / TBC Men's Study 2016-2017 / Exodus: God Rescues His People.

INTERVARSITY PRESS DAILY BIBLE STUDY

Exodus 2: A Mother's Faith, a Son's Brashness

Sorry for the inconvenience of not posting the IVP questions.  Intervarsity Press asked that I not repost their study so that it will drive traffic to their site.  Use the link above to access the core questions for this study.

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2016-2017 Tulsa Bible Church Men’s Bible Study – tulsabible.org

For further consideration:

ID: Inductive Questions (Asking the text questions like who, what, where, when, why, & how?”)

CR: Cross References (Comparing Scripture to Scripture, understanding the vague by the clear.)

WS: Word Study (Understanding definition, theological meaning, and usages in other passages.)

1. CR   (2:1-4)  Hebrews 11:23-29 records five “By faith” events from the book of Exodus.  According to Hebrews 11:23, what effect did faith have on Moses’ parents? 

2.  ID (2:23) Is there a difference between sighing and praying?  Have you every prayed prayers that could be best described as “groaning”?

3. WS (2:24-25) In what sense does an omniscient God, remember His covenant?

Exodus 2: A Mother's Faith, a Son's Brashness / TBC Men's Study 2016-2017 / Exodus: God Rescues His People.

INTERVARSITY PRESS DAILY BIBLE STUDY

Exodus 2: A Mother's Faith, a Son's Brashness

Working downtown on an engineering maintenance project, the man knew that his friend's wife lay dying in a hospital only four blocks away. But he didn't go to see the woman. Lack of appropriate dress demolished his courage to do something bold in Christ's name. Few of us can brag about how bravely we have responded in crisis. Faith, for us, is a comfortable intellectual exercise, not something that demands bold action. That definition becomes even more attractive when we're not sure how to distinguish between faith and foolishness. This study contrasts a privileged kid's brashness with a woman's courageous faith in action.

Warming Up to God

What has been the most costly thing you have had to do for God?

Discovering the Word

1.     How did God plan for the infant Moses to survive Pharaoh's murderous edict (vv. 1-10)?

2.     What did Moses' survival cost his mother?

3.     Why did Moses flee to Midian (vv. 11-15)? (He was 40 years old at the time.)

4.     Meanwhile, what was happening to the Israelites in Egypt (v. 23)?

5.     How did their condition affect God and why (vv. 24-25)?

Applying the Word

1.     How has God confronted you recently with a demand for courageous faith?

2.     God hears the cries of his people today. What difference does that make when you are confronted by circumstances you are powerless to change?

Responding in Prayer

Ask God to use you in his plans to creatively address the difficult situations in your life.

InterVarsity Press / PO Box 1400 / Downers Grove, IL 60515 / 630.734.4000 / email@ivpress.com

Copyright © 1995-2016 by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA

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2016-2017 Tulsa Bible Church Men’s Bible Study – tulsabible.org

For further consideration:

ID: Inductive Questions (Asking the text questions like who, what, where, when, why, & how?”)

CR: Cross References (Comparing Scripture to Scripture, understanding the vague by the clear.)

WS: Word Study (Understanding definition, theological meaning, and usages in other passages.)

1. CR   (2:1-4)  Hebrews 11:23-29 records five “By faith” events from the book of Exodus.  According to Hebrews 11:23, what effect did faith have on Moses’ parents? 

2.  ID (2:23) Is there a difference between sighing and praying?  Have you every prayed prayers that could be best described as “groaning”?

3. WS (2:24-25) In what sense does an omniscient God, remember His covenant?

2016 - 2017 Tulsa Bible Church Men's Bible study / Exodus: God Rescues His People INTRODUCTION

EXODUS

God Rescues His People

 1 Corinthians 10:11 reminds us that, "these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction..."   Serious students will find a gold mine of insight and practical values that relate to living today in our study of Exodus.  This is history with a punch. 

This year’s study on Exodus will have 24 lessons.  The lessons have two parts.  We are using the exellent Intervarsity Daily Bible Study questions for Exodus as the core of our study.  From time to time extra questions, reference articles, and other resource materials that are helpful will be added.  They will be in the section titled “For Further Consideration.” 

I think my current favorite commentary on Exodus is Moses and the Gods of Egypt by John J. Davis.  It has a focus on the historical and cultural aspects of the book.  There are also many good standard sources of helpful information online.  Some of them are linked from my blog entry, “A Brief Outline of Bible Study Tips and Links Updated 16.09.12.”

Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa, in their book Talk Thru the Bible, observe that, “Exodus contains no direct messianic prophecies, but it is full of types and portraits of Christ.”[1]  These include…

               1.      Moses (Deut. 18:15),

               2.      The Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7),

               3.      The seven feasts,

               4.      The Exodus (Romans 6:2-3; 1 Corinthians 10:1-2),

               5.      Mana and water (John 6:31-35),

               6.      The Tabernacle, and

               7.      The high priest (Hebrews 4:14-16; 9:11-12).

In Exodus 5:2, Pharaoh complains that he does not know the Lord.  In Exodus 6:7, God tells the Israelites that they will know that “I am the Lord your God” and in Exodus 7:5 that the Egyptians will know that “I am the Lord.”  One of the interesting phrases that I have enjoyed tracking through Exodus and into Leviticus is “I am the Lord” or “I am the Lord your God.”  My prayer for you and your men is that through this study you too will know what is means when the great I AM says, “I am the Lord your God.”

This year's study locations are:

Monday's at NOON Downtown — 1215 South Boulder / 12th-floor conf. room 

Tuesdays @ 7:00 PM TBC — 5838 S Sheridan, Tulsa 

Thursdays @ 5:30 AM IHOP —31 & Memorial / 3130 S. Memorial Dr., Tulsa 

Thursdays @ 6:15 am IHOP —71 & Lewis / 5230 S. Yale Ave., Tulsa 

Thursdays @ 6:15 am IHOP —Broken Arrow / 1901 E. Hillside Dr., BA 

Thursdays @ 6:15 am Braum’s —71 & Garnett / 11123 E 71st St., Tulsa 

Fridays @ 6:00 am Panera —91 & Memorial / 8920 S Memorial Dr.,Tulsa 

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[1] Kenneth Boa, Bruce Wilkinson,  Talk Thru the Bible, (Thomas Nelson Publishers: 1980) p. 14

Zākar: What does it mean for God to remember His covenant?

We are forced to use human terms and categories to describe the God of Israel. We call this anthropomorphic language.[1]  The Hebrew word zākar is often used to speak of God remembering His covenant with His people (Gen. 9:15-16; Exod. 6:5; Lev. 26:42, 45; Ps. 105:8, 42; 106:45). Exodus 2:24 says that as a when God heard “their groaning in Egypt,” He “remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.”

  The word zākar also appears in prayers recorded in the Bible by people like Moses (Exod. 32:13), Samson (Judges 16:28), Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:3), Nehemiah (Neh. 13:14, 22, 29, 31), Jeremiah (Jer.15:15; Lam. 5:1), and Habakkuk (Hab. 3:2).  These prayers are calling on God to more than know about them or the statements in His covenants.  They are a call for God to act on their behalf.

There are three groups of meanings [for zākar]: 1) for completely inward mental acts such as “remembering” or “paying attention to,” 2) for such inward mental acts accompanied by appropriate external acts, and 3) for forms of audible speaking with such meanings as “recite” or “invoke.” … This range of meanings shows the same blending or overlapping between mental states and external acts seen also in other Hebrew terms (e.g. Hebrew šāmaʿ “to hear”).^[2]

Other scriptures instruct the people to remember God or His commandments (Deut. 8:18; Joshua 1:13; Eccl.12:1; Mal. 4:4).  These passages are not commands to prepare for a history quiz.  They are a call for them to do what God has commanded.  

We often you the expression is a similar way when we tell someone to remember to do something.  The expectation is that action will follow.  When God “remembers” His covenant, it means that he is going to act to fulfill His promises.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H2142&t=NKJV 

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[1]  Bob Utley, The Exodus of Israel from Egypt: God Fulfills His Promise to Abraham (Bible Lessons International, 2014), p 27 < http://www.freebiblecommentary.org/old_testament_studies/VOL02OT/VOL02OT.pdf>

^[2] R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 241.

Exodus 1: Evil Plans, Courageous Resistance / TBC Men's Study 2016-2017 / Exodus: God Rescues His People.

INTERVARSITY PRESS DAILY BIBLE STUDY—Lesson 1
Exodus 1: Evil Plans, Courageous Resistance

Sorry for the inconvenience of not posting the IVP questions.  Intervarsity Press asked that I not repost their study so that it will drive traffic to their site.  Use the link above to access the core questions for this study.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016-2017 Tulsa Bible Church Men’s Bible Study – tulsabible.org

For further consideration:

ID: Inductive Questions (Asking the text questions like who, what, where, when, why, & how?”)

CR: Cross References (Comparing Scripture to Scripture, understanding the vague by the clear.)

WS: Word Study (Understanding definition, theological meaning, and usages in other passages.)

1. CR   By one count, the New Testament writers quote from or allude to Exodus more than fifty times.  Several of those are from Stephen’s sermon in Acts seven.  Read Acts 7:17-44 to get the “Cliff Notes” for the story of the exodus.  What was the point of Stephen’s sermon (7:51-53)?  Does that have any application for us today in this Bible study?

2. ID (1:19)  Have you ever heard of anyone named Shiphrah or Puah?  There is sometimes much made over whether the midwives lied to Pharaoh.  R Alen Cole, in the Tyndale Old Testament Commentary on Exodus, makes this observation about the midwives. 

“We are not told whether the midwives were lying, or whether the quick delivery of ‘Hebrew’ babies was a biological fact. Arabian parallels are quoted by Driver, but Rachel certainly had a hard delivery (Gen. 35:16). Even if they lied, it is not for their deceit that they are commended, but for their refusal to take infant lives, God’s gift. Their reverence for life sprang from reverence for God, the life-giver (Exod. 20:12, 13), and for this they were rewarded with families. The relevance of this to modern controversy about abortion should be carefully pondered.”^[1]

3.  WS (1:17, 21)  What was the Hebrew word for fear that described the mid-wives’ motivation to disobey the pharaoh?  (Note its use in other passages in Exodus.  3:6; 9:30; 14:10, 13, 31; 15:11; 20:20; 34: 10, 30 )

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Driver Exodus by S. R. Driver, 1911.

^[1] R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 2, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 62.