Exodus 17 - An Introduction
1 Corinthians 10
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Here is the synopsis of this summer series:
The Old Testament laws, rituals, symbols and stories are a pre-image - a foreshadowing of the ultimate reality and truth found in Jesus Christ. These shadows point toward the need and fulfillment of God’s promise.
A couple of ground rules:
1) The literary and historical context must be fully understood and appreciated before any application can be employed.
2) Danger of moralizing the message - heroes and villains. The main point of these stories is God, who God is, and what God is up to. Only then can we learn wisdom from the character’s lives.
3) The Word of God is intended to motivate us intellectually, emotionally and spiritually to serve God and realize our need for a Savior.
Here is a wild story….
Judges 3:12-30
12 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and because they did this evil the Lord gave Eglon king of Moab power over Israel. 13 Getting the Ammonites and Amalekites to join him, Eglon came and attacked Israel, and they took possession of the City of Palms. 14 The Israelites were subject to Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
15 Again the Israelites cried out to the Lord, and he gave them a deliverer—Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera the Benjamite. The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon king of Moab. 16 Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a cubit long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man. 18 After Ehud had presented the tribute, he sent on their way those who had carried it. 19 But on reaching the stone images near Gilgal he himself went back to Eglon and said, “Your Majesty, I have a secret message for you.”
The king said to his attendants, “Leave us!” And they all left.
20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room of his palace and said, “I have a message from God for you.” As the king rose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king’s belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, and his bowels discharged. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it. 23 Then Ehud went out to the porch; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.
24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the palace.” 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them. There they saw their lord fallen to the floor, dead.
26 While they waited, Ehud got away. He passed by the stone images and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived there, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went down with him from the hills, with him leading them.
28 “Follow me,” he ordered, “for the Lord has given Moab, your enemy, into your hands.” So they followed him down and took possession of the fords of the Jordan that led to Moab; they allowed no one to cross over. 29 At that time they struck down about ten thousand Moabites, all vigorous and strong; not one escaped. 30 That day Moab was made subject to Israel, and the land had peace for eighty years.
Here is what we learn about God in this story:
1. God manifests his justice.
2. God turns liabilities into assets.
A couple of warnings -
1. A warning to oppressors - who exploit others for their personal gain.
2. A warning about the dangers of idols - these idols represent wealth, self and sex.
One final word -
There is sacrificial language all through this story.
Eglon - Young Bull // Round or Rotund
Fat - Fattened calf, fattened animal for sacrifice
The Scandal of the Cross
1 Peter 2
21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
22 “He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.”
23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
Romans 5
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Communion
Small Group Questions:
Text: Judges 3:12–30
Series Theme: The Shadow of Scripture
Big Idea: God’s justice, grace, and power often show up in surprising, even scandalous, ways.
Warm-Up Question
What’s the wildest or most surprising story you’ve ever heard from the Bible? What made it stick with you?
Discussion Questions
What does this story reveal about God?
How does God show up in this story? What do you make of the way he delivers Israel? How does this challenge or expand your view of how God works in the world?
Ehud’s left-handedness was likely seen as a weakness. How does God often use what the world sees as liabilities for his purposes?
Have you ever seen God use a weakness or limitation in your life to accomplish something good?
How do you see the idols in this story showing up in our culture? How do they subtly enslave people?
The story uses sacrificial imagery and foreshadows Christ’s victory through unexpected means. How does the cross of Christ parallel this story? How is Jesus’ victory different from how we expect power and victory to look?
What do you feel God is calling you to do in response to this story? Is there a place in your life you need to trust God’s justice or provision more deeply? Is there a personal idol or “enemy” that needs confronting?