Week 7 - The Old Testament
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Family Life - Small Group Warm Up Question:
Which family member had the biggest spiritual impact on you? Why? How?
The Old Testament
Job 41-42 ~ Exodus 1-13
1. When God described the Behemoth in Job 40 & Leviathan in Job 41, did you read them to be mythical or real? What do you make of Job 41:19-21, could this be a dragon? Are the 11 animals of Job 39 mythical or real? Does Behemoth and Leviathan match any modern-day animals? Or do they sound like a dinosaur? Could they be dinosaurs that perished in the flood or a post-flood ice age? What is God trying to communicate to Job through these animal descriptions from Job 38-41? What can we learn from this?
2. What do you think about Job’s reply to God in Job 42? How do you see God’s mercy in Job 42? How do you see God’s grace in Job 42? How would you respond to God if He confronted you with your own foolishness and ignorance? After reading the book of Job, how would you summarize it for someone else? What lesson do you want to take away from the book of Job?
3. What do you think it would have been like to be an Israelite living in Egypt after 400 years of slavery? What were Pharaoh’s motives in killing off the Israelite baby boys? What was Pharaoh’s fear? What do you think the motives are behind the modern-day killing of babies through abortion? What are the fears of the parents who choose to take the lives of their children by abortion? How can we help people facing those fears?
4. Contrasted to Pharaoh are the Egyptian midwives who “feared God” (Exodus 1:17) and “let the boys live.” When might Christians have to stand up against their government or ruler out of a fear of God? What risk did these Egyptian midwives face? How did God bless the midwives?
5. Exodus 2 describes the first adoption in the Bible through Moses’ adoption by Pharaoh’s daughter. What sort of courage do you think it took for Moses’ mother to give him up for adoption? What sort of courage do you think it took for Pharaoh’s daughter to adopt Moses? Why is adoption such a beautiful picture of God’s love for us? Have you ever considered adoption? What do you think some of the challenges are with adoption? Rewards?
6. The Israelites’ suffering increased and they “groaned” and “cried” to God. “God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant” (Exodus 2:24–25). When was a time that you were groaning and crying to God for relief? How long did it take to see God respond? What did it feel like while you were waiting for an answer? How did God respond? What did it feel like when God granted relief?
7. In Exodus 3, God speaks to Moses from a burning bush on Mt. Sinai (Horeb). Moses is told that the place was holy and he was to remove his sandals. How would you define the holiness of God? How do we interact with God? Are we too formal? Too informal?
8. While the Lord tells Moses in detail what God will do through him and says “I will be with you” (Exodus 3:12), Moses has his doubts and fears. What doubts and fears have you encountered in your walk with God? How can those doubts and fears limit our experience of God’s power? How did God build Moses’ faith in Exodus 4? What excuses did Moses use in response? Why does God give us so many miracles in the Bible? What excuses do we make?
9. How did the Israelites respond when they learned that God had heard their prayers and cared for them? (Exodus 4:31) How did Pharaoh respond to the same news? (Exodus 5:2) In what ways do you see modern-day hardness of heart towards Jesus?
10. The plagues of God on Egypt correspond with specific attacks on Egyptian deities. Why do you think God performed His miraculous plagues this way? Does a certain plague stand out to you more than others? (Exodus 6-11) When you see God’s protection through the Passover, what foreshadowing connections do you see with Jesus? (Exodus 12 & 13)
General Discussion Questions
• Context Questions: Who is writing this? Who is it being written to? When? Why? What type of writing is this? How does this matter to my understanding of the meaning of these chapters?
• Application Questions: How do you need to respond to and apply these truths to your life? (Is there a sin to avoid? A command to obey? An example to follow? A prayer to offer? A truth to remember or memorize? An attitude to change? A teaching to share?)