Sunday School is for All Ages!

 
 

In Exodus 16:4, we read how the LORD tested Israel. In their hunger, He tested them “to see whether or not they will follow my instructions.” But, in Exodus 17:2, we read that Israel tests the LORD.

This is not the first time the descendants of Jacob have grumbled to Moses about thirst, but the Hebrew term for their behavior is a different one this time. Before, they were grumbling and complaining in their distress. Now they’re quarreling, contending, and even bringing suit against Moses and the LORD.

When God tested Israel, it was for their good. When He tested them, it was to move them into a posture of trust and obedience; trust that they could cease their labors, receive the gifts of manna and Sabbath rest, and no longer behave as slaves, but as sons. But Israel testing God? This is definitely not good! When they test God, their attitude conveyed in their words and their judgment is, in essence, “You work for us and you’re failing on the job.”

Wow.

How do we think God should respond to such ungodly insolence? We might enjoy seeing the children of Israel powerfully put in their place after displaying such haughty contempt for the LORD Almighty. Yet, let’s notice God’s response:

“The LORD answered Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take the staff you struck the Nile with in your hand and go. I am going to stand there in front of you on the rock at Horeb; when you hit the rock, water will come out of it and the people will drink.’ Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel” (Exodus 17:5-6).

Isn’t it interesting that God specifies that Moses should take the same staff that he used to strike the Nile, as if he was hauling some staff assortment? God’s language in these verses is meant to make us revisit the moment when Moses struck the Nile with his staff. In Exodus 7:20-21, we read of the first plague where Moses, in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials—the elders of Egypt—raises his staff and strikes the Nile, turning all of the water in all of Egypt to blood. The elders of Egypt bore witness to the judgment of God through the striking of Moses’s staff.

Now, with this same staff, the elders of Israel will bear witness to the judgment of God again being meted out with Moses’s staff—upon what? This time, Moses is commanded to strike the rock at Horeb (another name for Sinai). And we read in verse 6 that God Himself, who had been placed on trial by Israel, stands on the rock that is struck. This might be an altogether odd trial scene, except that the Apostle Paul provides an explanation for us:

“Now I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1-4, emphasis mine).

That rock—the rock at Horeb, the mountain of God—that rock was Jesus Christ. The staff of God’s judgment that we’d be pleased to see turned on an ungrateful, insolent people, is instead turned onto the rock upon which the manifest presence of God has stood. God turned the staff of His righteous judgment away from those who merited it and turned it onto Himself. The staff of God’s judgment was turned onto Jesus Christ and what happens? Streams of life-giving, living water are provided from a rock in the desert.

Millenia before the birth of Jesus, the work of Calvary is foretold. At Calvary, the work of redemption is finished where God’s judgment strikes the Innocent, and mercy flows forth upon the undeserving.

Sunday School for all ages begins weekly at 9:45 AM. All are warmly welcome.

I have a Question
 

 Subscribe in a reader

Read the Bible: Psalm 119:9-16 (Beth)

 
 

ב Beth

9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping your word.
10 I have sought you with all my heart;
don’t let me wander from your commands.
11 I have treasured your word in my heart
so that I may not sin against you.
12 Lord, may you be blessed;
teach me your statutes.
13 With my lips I proclaim
all the judgments from your mouth.
14 I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees
as much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your precepts
and think about your ways.
16 I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.

Psalms 119:9-16 (CSB)

Read all of Psalm 119 using the link below.

Psalm 119
i have a question
 

 Subscribe in a reader

Read the Bible: Introduction to Psalm 119

 
 

Psalm 119 celebrates the gift of God’s covenant instruction as the perfect guide for life. By singing and praying this psalm, worshippers express heartfelt admiration to God, who has so lovingly given the great gift of His Word, and deep yearning that their personal lives reflect the goodness and loveliness of God’s law.

At 176 verses, Psalm 119 is not only the longest psalm, but also the longest chapter in all of Scripture, longer than many entire books. The psalm’s structure follows a strict acrostic pattern: there are 22 stanzas of eight verses each, following the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. Within a stanza, the first word of each verse begins with the same letter, the letter to which the entire stanza corresponds.

The Law of God has fallen on hard times in our current culture. It is pitted against the gospel in ways neither intended nor helpful. An entire psalm proclaiming the beauty of God’s law as a guide to a life that is genuinely good and bountiful is a timely correction.

There’s no way that selecting about 15 verses out of 176 will do Psalm 119 justice. So, we’ll break from our pattern for a bit. Rather than post an entire psalm per day, we’ll post a stanza, along with the Hebrew letter it represents each day for 22 days. And for 22 days, we’ll walk in the same paths of our forebearers of the faith, delighting in the goodness of the law of God.

Read all of Psalm 119 using the link below.

Psalm 119
i have a question

Source

ESV Study Bible: Notes on Psalm 119. (2001). Crossway. https://www.esv.org/Psalm+119/

 

 Subscribe in a reader

Read the Bible: Psalm 119:1-8 (Aleph)

 
 

א Aleph

How happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk according to the LORD’s instruction!
2 Happy are those who keep his decrees
and seek him with all their heart.
3 They do nothing wrong;
they walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
5 If only my ways were committed
to keeping your statutes!
6 Then I would not be ashamed
when I think about all your commands.
7 I will praise you with an upright heart
when I learn your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep your statutes;
never abandon me.

Psalms 119:1-8 (CSB)

Read all of Psalm 119 using the link below.

Psalm 119
i have a question
 

 Subscribe in a reader

Read the Bible: Psalm 118

 
 

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his faithful love endures forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the LORD say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”

5 I called to the LORD in distress;
the LORD answered me
and put me in a spacious place.
6 The LORD is for me; I will not be afraid.
What can a mere mortal do to me?
7 The LORD is my helper;
therefore, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.

8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in humanity.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in nobles.

10 All the nations surrounded me;
in the name of the LORD I destroyed them.
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me;
in the name of the LORD I destroyed them.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they were extinguished like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the LORD I destroyed them.
13 They pushed me hard to make me fall,
but the LORD helped me.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.

Psalms 118:1-14 (CSB)

Read all of Psalm 118 using the link below.

Psalm 118
i have a question
 

 Subscribe in a reader