Exodus Review:
Pharoah has finally let Moses & Aaron take the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt after the plague of the firstborn dying in his land. The Lord established the ordinance of the Passover for Israel to celebrate for an everlasting festival to remember their great deliverance from being enslaved to Egypt.
God did not have them take the easy route in the wilderness toward the Promised Land. He led them by way of the wilderness by cloud by day and fire by night. After their great deliverance passing over the dry land of the red sea while Pharoah and his army were drown in the sea, Moses and the congregation sang songs of praise while Miriam and the ladies danced.
They were immediately hit with a test of finding no water to drink for three days. When they finally found water to drink, it was bitter and could not be drank. Moses cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him to put a tree into the water to make it sweet for them to drink. We looked at how the tree that Jesus died on, the cross, made the bitter waters of life sweet again. God revealed Himself by Name to the children of Israel - Jehovah Rapha - The God Who Heals.
The people have been complaining and blaming Moses during the trials and he lets them know that it is truly God they are blaming. Leadership is a hard role, especially over the 600,000 men (aside from children) that had come out of Egypt according to Exodus 12:37. In chapter 18, God will use Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, to give him advice to help the role be lightened for him. Today, we look at Moses' burden becoming a little bit lighter.
Exodus Chapter 18
1. What had Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, heard concerning Moses and Israel? vs. 1 - Name 2 things.
2. What were the names of the 2 sons of Moses and what did their names mean? vs.2-4 - List both below:
3. Where did Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, bring his wife Zipporah and his 2 sons? vs. 5
4. How did Moses react when he heard that Jethro, his father-in-law, had come to bring him his wife and 2 sons? vs.6-7
5. What did Moses share with his father-in-law when they visited in the tent after all this time apart? vs. 8
6. How did Jethro, his father-in-law, respond to the Lord's goodness to Israel concerning the deliverance from Egypt? vs. 9
7. What personal revelation did Jethro come to through Moses' testimony of how God overcame the gods of the Egyptians? vs.10,11
8. What did Jethro do in light of this revelation? vs. 12
9. Who joined Jethro and Moses in this covenant-type meal before God? vs. 12
10. What happened on the next day concerning Moses and all the people? vs. 13
11. How long was Moses occupied with this task? vs. 13
12. Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, asked Moses why he sat alone as judge from morning to evening over all the people.(vs.14) What did Moses tell him? vs. 15
13. What was Moses making known to the people when he judged disputes among them? vs. 16 - Name 2 things
14. Why did Jethro tell Moses that it was not a good thing what he was doing alone? vs. 17-18 - Name 2 things
15. What counsel did Jethro give Moses concerning this? vs. 19
16. What was Moses to teach the people? vs. 20a - Name 2 things
17. What was Moses to make known to the people? vs. 20b - Name 2 things
18. Jethro told Moses to select out of all the people men who would share the responsiblity of settling minor disputes among the people. What 4 characteristics did the selected men need to possess? vs. 21a
19. How does this compare to the qualifications of leaders in the New Testament church?
- 1 Timothy 3:1-13
- Titus 1:5-9
Back to Exodus 18
20. How did Jethro advise Moses to break down the groups and responsibilities? How many were in the 4 groups he suggested? vs.21b
21. How often were the leaders of the groups to settle the minor disputes? vs. 22
22. How were they to handle the major disputes that came up? vs. 22
23. This would make it easier for Moses for the leaders to share the burdens with him. (vs.22) ...Even though Jethro had suggested this as his personal counsel, what did Moses need to do to confirm this? vs. 23
24. Having the proper leadership would allow the people to settle their disputes and live in peace. How does the New Testament instruct us to pray for our leadership so that we can be led to the same results?
- 1 Timothy 2:1,2
25. How did Moses repond to Jethro and God's counsel after that? vs. 24-25 - Name 3 things
26. These leaders judged the people at all times. Because they have been broken down into groups of 10, there would be about 6,000 leaders based on the fact that we are told that the men alone who came out of Egypt were 600,000. (See Exodus 12:37). They would handle all the minor disputes of the 10's, but what would happen if there was a major dispute that needed counsel? vs. 26
27. Moses said good-bye to his father-in-law after that. Where did Jethro return to? vs. 27
How wonderful to see that Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, who was a priest of Midian (a heathen nation), came to recognize that the God of Moses was truly greater than all other gods (vs.10-11) ... because of the testimony Moses gave him of how the Lord delivered them from many hardships (vs.8).
28. How can our testimony of God's help in our hard times witness to those in our sphere of influence so that they may come to know our God? Think of someone who you need to share God's goodness with this week. Who comes to mind?
The Lord used Jethro to give Moses some great advice on how to lead so many people (600,000 men aside from the children as told us in Exodus 12:37). We need to realize that one minister over a congregation cannot meet all the needs of the people entrusted to him. It is important that he break down the responsibilities with elders and deacons as well as teachers of small groups.
29. What can we do to help carry the burden of our leadership? We saw in 1 Timothy that we can pray for leadership. We can also discover our spiritual gifts in the body of Christ so that we can contribute to the needs of others. How will this lesson effect your attitude of the leaders that God has placed to serve in your life?
30. Summarize this chapter and post a prayer if you would like.
No comments:
Post a Comment