Bible Study September 9, 2020
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Exodus 12:29 -- 15:21
[text Exodus 14:19-31]
The focus text for today is the Crossing of the Red Sea. This is the climax of the story of release from Egypt. Before we move into this is detail, take a look back at where we have been in the past weeks that we have been in the Book of Exodus. Who were key characters or actors? What were some of the key events? Where have we seen God (YHWH – I will be what I will be)? What has God’s action been? List some of those most significant to you.
Once again, remember the four major themes in Exodus: 1) Liberation, 2) Law, 3) Covenant, and 4) Presence. Which of these themes do you see in the focus text as well as the larger section of Scripture for today?
Towards the end of Chapter 12 (vs 43-49) and the middle of Chapter 13 (vs 3-10), we read instructions from God to and through Moses about observing the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. What “feasts” or rituals do you have in your life that help you mark time and “remember?”
There are a number of interesting facts that I had not noticed before – 12:32: Pharaoh asks Moses to bless him; 12:34: the people brought the bread they were in the process of making with them; 12:35: the people of Israel asked the Egyptians for their riches and they gave them; 12:38: they were a mixed multitude. What did you notice?
Please take a look at 12:42. What do you think this means? What does this have to do with “remembering?”
List the ways that God was revealing Godself to the people of Israel? What does this tell us about God’s character (remember “I will be what I will be.”)
This account is more than a simple narrative of the people of Israel being released from slavery in Egypt. Notice the many times that God seeks glory over Pharaoh (14:4 and 14:17). What is at stake here is the overthrow of the earthly leader who sought power and accumulation through violence and the oppression of others, an overthrow that God accomplishes for the Hebrews using leadership of a murderer and fugitive. It is a “mixed multitude” of people, the people of Israel (Jacob), that are leaving Egypt. Creation is a recurring motif here. Read Exodus 1:7 again and also Genesis 1:9. Think about the parting of the waters at the Red Sea at the command of Moses. What new thing might God be creating here? How does this new creation compare to Egypt?
Read of the journey described in 13:17-19. Who was leading them? What could the purpose of this “detour” be? When in your life have you felt between “the devil and the deep blue sea?” Or “a rock and a hard place?” What was your response? Did you see deliverance by God. [Note: the Hebrew word for “deliverance” is very close to the Hebrew for “Jesus” or “Joshua.”]
Let us pray: O God you are our Deliverer! Help us to always look to you when we are in fear and give us courage to fear not, stand firm and see the salvation you prepare for us. Enable us to share this with others for the sake of Jesus, in whose name we pray. Amen
