The One Year Chronological Bible - Week 6 Reflection Questions

Week 6 (Feb 2-8): Exodus 4:18-24:18

As you read through these passages of the Bible, reflect upon these questions individually, through journaling, in pairs, or in small groups...

1. After calling Moses back to Egypt, God almost killed him (Ex. 4:24-26), but Zipporah's quick thinking saved him.  What are we to make of this incident?
2. Moses went to Pharaoh, but rather than let God's people go, Pharaoh increased the work load.  Moses returned to the Lord and said, "Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?  Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."  Moses seemed to think that when he went back that the Pharaoh would just let the people go.  When that didn't happen, he was frustrated with God.  When have you complained to God about things taking too long or becoming too difficult?  How did God respond?
3. Throughout the story of Moses going to the Pharaoh and asking to let his people go, we read multiple times that "The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart.  How are we to understand this seemingly counter productive (and perhaps unsettling) statement?  What is the bigger plan or purpose behind these realities?
4. In all, the Lord brought 10 plagues against Egypt through Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh finally let all the people and the live stock go.  In Moses' requests, he did not ask for the people to be released from slavery.  Rather he asked that they be allowed to go into the wilderness to worship God.  Is there significance to this request and if so, what?
5. It is from these events that God initiated the passover festival for the Jewish people.  Over a thousand years later, it was during the passover that Jesus was tried and crucified.  What common threads do we find between these two stories?
6. In the Exodus, the Israelites were instructed to ask their neighbors for silver, gold and clothing before they left.  "The LORD had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians."  Typically when we think of plundering, we think of forcefully taking things from someone.  Here plundering is asking and then receiving freely.  Is their significance to the upside down approach to plundering; and if so, what?
7. When Moses instructed the people about the passover festival, he said, "On that day tell your son, 'I do this because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.  This will be for you like a sign on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that this law of the LORD is to be on your lips.  For the LORD brought you our of Egypt with his mighty hand.'"   Have you experienced the mighty hand of the LORD in your life?  What were the circumstances and how have you remembered/commemorated that work?
8.  When the Israelites saw the Egyptians pursuing them in the dessert, they were afraid.  "Moses answered the people, 'Do not be afraid, Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.  The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.  The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.'"  Has there been a time in your life when you were following the LORD and became fearful of the circumstances that you encountered?  Did you find that the LORD was fighting for you as well?  What did that look like?
9.  In parting the Red Sea, God provided safe passage for the Israelites and secured victory over the Egyptians as God "fought" for the Israelites.  What are we to make of God killing the Egyptians, especially when we read that God hardened Pharaoh's heart?
10. While in the dessert, the people complained to Moses that there was nothing to eat and that they would starve.  God provided quail in the evening and manna in the morning.  When have you feared that there would not be enough, but found that God has miraculously provided for your needs?
11. While in the dessert, the Lord used the gathering and saving of manna to teach/reinforce the importance of God's command to keep the sabbath.  In what ways do you keep this commandment today?  Are there ways or practices that you could incorporate into your weekly rhythm to add significance to this?
12. When Moses' father-in-law Jethro came to visit, he gave advice about how Moses should conduct things.  Who has given you wise advice?  What was the advice and were you able to follow it?
13. While out in the wilderness, Moses went up on the mountain to speak with God.  The people feared speaking to God themselves and were happy to have Moses stand between them.  How is your experience of speaking to God similar and/different today?
14. Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.  If you were to write them in modern speech with current examples, what would "your" Ten Commandments say?
15. In multiple instances, the instructions of God that refer to how people should be treated, refer back to the Israelites own experiences of being foreigners and slaves. How have your own experiences in life shaped the ways in which you interact with others?

 May the Lord bless and shape us through our individual reading and corporate study of His word this year.