Series: Moses: Adventuring with God

The Miraculous Passing
Exodus 13:17-14:31 - February 16th
 

(Note for leaders: there is a lot to learn from this passage and many questions, please skip questions to do what is best for your group, Q10-14 are the “heart” of the message)
 
Icebreaker
 
Q1 - How would you describe something that is miraculous? What is a miracle?
Q2 - Are there any miracles you know of that aren’t attributed to God?
Q3 - Can you think of any unlikely coincidences that people might have seen as a miracle?
 
Study
 
The word miracle comes from the Latin word miraculum, which means “object of wonder”, the word derives from smeiros, meaning “to smile”, which is what you’d do if a miracle happens. A miracle is an event that we can’t explain by natural and scientific laws, generally attributed to a supernatural being.
 
Please read Exodus 13:17-14:4
 
Q4 - Why did God lead them through the longer route? What does this say about some of our journeys in life?
 
Q5 - Can you think of anytime when you felt frustrated with a situation but then could see God’s purpose behind it?
 
Q6 - How did God guide his people? Why do you think God needed to be so visual and supernatural?
 
Q7 - How does God guide us today? Does he sometimes do it in such an obvious way? Why or why not?
 
Please read Exodus 14:5-14
 
The Egyptians had been oppressed and then set free, but now Pharaoh is coming back for them.
 
Q8 - How does this relate to us who have been set free by Jesus from sin and oppression? Do we need to continue “fighting” for our freedom?
 
v.11-12 says “They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, “Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!’”
 
Q9 - Do you see yourself or others reflected in this passage? Do you see us as Christians complaining in similar ways?

Please read Exodus 14:15-22
 
Q10 - What is Moses’ reply to their complaints? Why could he be so sure? Why was he so confident and full of faith?

v. 19-20b “Then the angel of God, who had been travelling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.”

Q11 - Do you think that God still fights our battles? What kind of battles do we have in which we might want to ask for God’s power to fight for and with us?

v.21-22 “Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”

Q12 - Do you think that this was a miracle, a supernatural act of God? If so, why do you think God chose to be so intentionally supernatural when liberating His people from Egypt?
Hint: This is the biggest act of salvation in the Old Testament, it changed everything for them as a nation and their relationship with God. It is God’s biggest intervention until Jesus came and in many ways a firm foundation for their future worship and trust in their God.
 
Action

Q13 - Are we entitled to ask God for miracles? How do you feel God would respond to that?
Q14 - Have you ever seen God do a miracle or heard about one from some you know? Share stories of when you’ve seen or heard of God working in a supernatural way.
 
Prayer
We believe in a God who has had huge interventions in the world’s history, the two better known ones were the liberation from Egypt and Jesus’ birth and resurrection. We also believe that God intervenes in our lives, we trust that he is working in us and that he wants us to bring our concerns and battles to him in prayer.

Spend some time together as a group praying for each other’s’ battles, struggles, difficulties, dreams, we trust in a God who is interested in our lives.