L5: The Wilderness Test

The Gospel Project for Adults: Personal Study Guide - ESV

Lesson 4 Recap

Why did the Lord the people of Israel away from the land of the Philistines?

“Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt”

What did it mean in Exodus 13:18 when it says “Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle”?

organized for the march rather than equipped for war. They went up out of Egypt in a orderly array

What sign did the taking of the bones of Jospeh would them served?

it was a sign of God’s faithfullness to his covenantal promises.

What does the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire tell us about the presence of God?

It continues to guide us 24 hours

Why did God tell Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea?

To lure Pharaoh out to pursue them

Why did God “harden Pharaoh’s heart this time?

to get glory over Pharaoh and all his host and that the Egyptians shall know that God is the Lord!

From teachers notes: “Pharaoh was convinced to let Israel go but he was not c_____________

Converted

When seeing the Egyptian army pursuing them Israel said “For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” From Teachers note: Israels statements in Exodus 14:12 Israel had not c___________ in the Lord

Confidence

Moses told Israel that “The Lord will ______ for you, and you have only to be _______”

In Exodus 14:19 the angel of God that was going before Israel moved to the rear of the camp. Why would the angel of God do this before the waters parted?

Bonus Question: Pharaoh and his army went in after Israel in the midst of the say. How did we say sin acts towards us when we are escaping sin?

The Wilderness Test

THEOLOGICAL THEME: God's goodness is expressed through His sustaining grace toward His people.

What's your educational background? PhD or a master's? Maybe you stopped after an undergraduate degree, saying, "That's enough!" Maybe high school, or maybe you never finished high school. (Several men in my family have little formal education, but they're incredibly intelligent and successful-and they love to beat me at Trivial Pursuit!).

As Christians, there's a school that we all attend. God trains us, disciplines us, and sanctifies us in "Wilderness University.” Charles Spurgeon called the wilderness "the Oxford and Cambridge for God's students." Speaking of "the wilderness" is a way of referring to Israel's sojourn from Egypt, through the wilderness, to the promised land.

Question: What are some ways we receive an education "informally," or apart from schools and universities?

Question: What are some life experiences that teach us things we cannot learn elsewhere?

In Exodus 17, we pick up the story with Israel's wilderness experience. To set the context, realize that three consecutive stories in the wilderness journey concern food (Ex. 16:1-36) and water (Ex. 15:22-27; 17:1-7). Israel gets hungry and thirsty, and they complain. Their grumbling serves as a warning to us.

Voices from Church History

"After [the Red Sea crossing], Moses, by the command of God, whose providence is over all, led out the people of the Hebrews into the wilderness that... [He] might root out the evils which had clung to them by a long-continued familiarity with the customs of the Egyptians." -Clement of Rome (circa 30-100)

In this session, we obey the apostle Paul's admonition to learn from Israel's example in the wilderness. Like Israel, we too are sojourners who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, who have crossed over to the other side by grace, and who are now on the way to the promised land. In this faith journey, in our wilderness, God is sanctifying us and teaching us to trust Him, love Him, and follow Him.

1. Do we believe we deserve God's provision? (Ex. 17:1-2)

1] All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

2] Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?"

As the Israelites moved on, following the leading of the Lord in the pillar of cloud and fire, they camped at Rephidim, where there was no water.

Reference Exodus 15:22-27 this scenario has occured when Israel set off from the Red Sea. They traveled three days without water and when they finally found water at Marah it was undrinkable.

The difference however is that at Marah there was water, it was just undrinkable, this situation in chapter 17 there is no water to be found.

Instead of trusting God and seeking God, they began to quarrel and grumble against Moses (17:2-3). The place even gets named "Massah and Meribah,” which means testing and quarreling (17:7; see Ps. 95). Instead of trusting God, they tested God.

Israel saying “Give us water to drink” is not a humble request; but instead a showing of a lack of faith and trust in God and a challenge to his character.

Moses warns the people that their quarrel wasn’t with him but was the the Lord.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary states that their quarreling was challenging the Lord or trying His patience rather than trusting Him.

We must learn from their example and not imitate them. We must avoid believing that we somehow deserve God's provision. [Question: Have you ever thought you deserved something from God?]God's provision is a wonderful gift of grace. We must learn to trust God, not live with a sense of entitlement.

This sinful entitlement attitude was expressed in two ways. First, the Israelites demanded water. "Give us water to drink," they said. The text highlights their attitude. They weren't coming in humility asking for water but were acting like spoiled kids.

Question: When was the last time you grumbled about a situation in your life?

Question: How is grumbling related to a sense of entitlement?

Israel also expressed their entitlement by complaining about God's provision.

"Why do you quarrel?" Moses asked. What would you have done if you had brought out the people from Egypt only to hear them murmur, “In Egypt we sat beside meat pots”? I would have been very angry. But here, God reacted with mercy toward the Israelites. He still provided for them in spite of their ingratitude. What incredible patience and grace!

99 Essential Christian Doctrines

35. Sin as Missing the Mark

One aspect of sin is missing the mark of God's standards set for humanity. This missing of the mark is not a simple mistake but a falling short of God's glory through conscious choosing of sin. We may refer to sin as a failure on the part of humans to live according to God's standards, but we must recognize this failure is intentional. We miss the mark when we deliberately choose to cast aside God's intention for us.

Complaining is a serious sin, more serious than you might think (see 1 Cor. 10:1-12 and notice the sins mentioned there). Paul told the church in Philippi these important words: "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Phil. 2:14-15). Notice that Paul said one of the ways we shine in a dark world is by not complaining. Grumbling is the air we breathe, but you will stand apart from the world if you pepper your day with words of gratitude rather than words of complaint.

It behooves us to always consider that our actions not only represent the gospel but it also preaches the gospel.

For the Christian, this life is as bad as it's ever going to be. This is our wilderness, but the promised land is coming. And even in this difficult wilderness journey, we have a God who cares for His children. So avoid the culture's language of complaining, and instead, let there be thanksgiving flowing from your lips—to the God who parts seas and raises the dead. We are doing better than we deserve.

Question: Do difficult circumstances cause us to have wrong attitudes and actions or do they merely reveal wrong attitudes and actions? Explain your answer.

2. Do we believe God is good? (Ex. 17:3-4)

[3] But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

[4] So Moses cried to the LORD, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

Next, we see Israel questioning God's goodness. They were beginning to question their entire deliverance from Egypt. Was the purpose of their liberation for death in a wilderness? Of course not. There was no need to question God's provision.

If we are honest some of us have found ourselves questioning if following Jesus was the right thing to do. Especially when following Jesus doesn’t bring the results we thought.

Aren't we tempted to question God's goodness when we're facing a trial? In trials, we might think that God is trying to harm us or tempted to think that God won't provide for us. But for the Christian, we must rest in the fact that God is shaping us into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29), and this process often involves trying times (Rom. 5:3-4; Jas. 1:3).

Question: God intended to train and form His people during their time in the wilderness. In what ways might God be training you as you walk through difficult times?

God didn't redeem Israel to then forsake them. God redeems, and God provides.

I think we need to pause for a moment and discuss what does God providing look like in the life of a believer?

As believers, we should remember that God has brought us through a greater exodus. And if God would provide the solution for our greatest problem (through Christ's death and resurrection), then we have no reason to question His goodness or doubt His faithfulness when facing our day-to-day problems. God is good. Believe it.

✔Voices from Church History

"Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment and makes men torment themselves; it makes the spirit sad, the body sick, and all the enjoyments sour; it is the heaviness of the heart and the rottenness of the bones. It is a sin that is its own parent. It arises not from the condition, but from the mind. As we find Paul contented in a prison, so Ahab discontent in a palace." -Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

Meditate on these words, Christian-God's presence is your highest good. He is with you, and He will lead you all the way to glory. Trials will come, but you need not doubt God's goodness. Just look at the cross and remember that your greatest problem has already been solved. God is good.

Question: We all grumble and complain. How does adding the words "against the Lord" after "grumble" or "complain" change our view of this attitude?

3. Do we believe God is with us? (Ex.17:5-7; 1 Cor. 10:1-6)

The presence of God is a major theme in the Book of Exodus. God heard Israel's cry in Egypt. God was with them at the Red Sea. God journeyed with them in the wilderness. God's presence appeared majestically at Mount Sinai. God's presence was manifested in the tabernacle.

Moses even cried out to the Lord, asking Him not to leave the people ( Exodus 33:14-16). Moses proclaimed that they could not go one step without God's presence. What distinguished Israel from all the nations around them wasn't their land (they didn't have it yet). It wasn't their wealth (they had been slaves). It wasn't their culture (it wasn't fully developed yet). What distinguished them? It was that God was with them.

Once again, God's presence was manifested to the people in a remarkable way. Look at how God solved this particular water problem.

5 And the LORD said to Moses, "Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink." And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, "Is the LORD among us or not?"

By the end of this story, we see how Israel doubted God's presence. "Is the LORD among us or not?" they asked (17:7). They doubted if God was with them. But after Moses prayed, God provided water-from a rock (17:4-6).

We too may be tempted to think that God has abandoned us when we go through a wilderness experience. Yet God always remains faithful to His people. Paul said, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord" (1 Cor. 1:9).

Question: Can you think of a parallel between God's provision of water for complaining Israel and a specific provision He has made for you when you were grumbling?

Question: How did God's provision affect your attitude?

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul reflected on this episode as he exhorted the church in Corinth:

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,

2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, [3] and all ate the same spiritual food, [4] and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. [5] Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

[6] “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

Regarding this water-from-a-rock experience, Paul said that this story points to Christ, who is the Rock that was stricken for our salvation. When Paul said, “the Rock was Christ,” I take this to mean that the rock was a type of Christ. Moses struck the rock, instead of striking the people, and water flowed to save people. Jesus, the Rock, was stricken for our salvation. Instead of striking us, God struck the Son. Like the rock, when He was stricken, water flowed from His side (John 19:34). He died the death we deserved to die. Now, we drink from the water of life for eternal life (John 7:37-38). By believing in Jesus, we drink from the ultimate saving water.

Christ was wounded, stricken, pierced, and crushed for our iniquity. He didn't open up His mouth, as a lamb led to the slaughter. He submitted to God's will. He didn't grumble, but He took the judgment of grumblers like us, that we may know God's salvation (see Isa. 53:4-7). Praise the Rock!

The stories in Exodus instruct and encourage us, but they also serve as a warning to us. Paul used these stories as a warning to the Corinthian church. Despite seeing the signs and hearing God's word, the Israelite generation that experienced God's miraculous deliverance from Egypt and His provision in the wilderness didn't get to see the promised land (1 Cor. 10:5; see Num. 14:22-23,29,37; 26:64-65). Despite these wonderful provisions, only a few had real faith in God (Heb. 3:16-19; 4:2).

Here are three ways to apply the truths in this story. First, trust in God's providence for your daily needs. Israel's wilderness experience shows us that God is with His people, and God, in His goodness, provides for His people. Will you trust Him or worry and grumble against Him?

Second, trust in God's Son for your deepest needs. The bread-and-water stories also point us to a greater spiritual need that we have. Trust in Jesus and you won't be spiritually thirsty or hungry any longer. He is our Bread and our Water.

Third, offer living water to the thirsty. The Rock was stricken for our salvation, but we can't keep this good news to ourselves. We must tell everyone about the Living Water.

Question: How should the portrayal of God's mercy in Exodus 17 impact the way we show mercy to others?

Conclusion

★ Voices from the Church

"It was God, in the person of Jesus Christ, who stood on the Rock. It was Christ who was struck with the rod of God's justice in the place of guilty people."-Nancy Guthrie

If Jesus is the Rock who gives us living water, He is the only One in whom we find salvation. We are called to imitate the Savior's example by reaching across boundaries. We need to offer the living water to thirsty people, regardless of their social, moral, or religious background, because only One can satisfy.

We can offer a lot of good things to the world, and so we should. The world needs clean water, food, and clothing. And while we should offer them these things, let's also make sure we are offering them the gospel, the good news of the Savior who was crushed that people may live forever.

CHRIST CONNECTION: Moses struck the rock instead of the people, and water flowed for the people's salvation. Jesus is the Rock who was struck for our salvation, the Rock whose living water satisfies us forever.

HIS MISSION, YOUR MISSION

MISSIONAL APPLICATION: God calls us to testify to His goodness in providing for us.

1. List examples of how God has provided for you in the past and how He continues to provide for you today.

2. What does grumbling about our circumstances say about our heart's posture toward God?

3. In what ways can Christians be a stream of living water to the lost around us?