Jesus the Christ: Kingship

1 Samuel 8 | The people of Israel do not want what is given to them, 8:7. God had given them all of the leadership that they needed through the Judges and the Lord’s words to them. They in turn ask for what they think to be more, but is actually something far less than the good that God had given them. And this theme runs rampant in our lives. We reject what God has given us because we think that what we want is something better. And we see a similar rejection to the one in 1 Sam. take place with Jesus and His Kingship.

The Jews might have been insulted to think that Jesus, a                                                      carpenter’s son, could be their promised King.

- Sign of mockery on the Cross
-“Are you king of the Jews?”

Jesus’ triumphal entry demonstrates His Kingship in a very powerfully humble way. John 12:12 people laid down palm branches. A symbol triumph from the time of the Maccabees. (Trent’s favorite book of the Bible) But, to juxtapose this Jesus rode in not on a powerful steed but on a donkey. A lowly donkey. Jesus knew what He came to do, but once again the people did not understand.

What is the Biblical idea of a kingdom? Not so much a geographic region as much as it is a sphere of the Royalty’s influence. Once again, a very encouraging thing to understand as we work to see the Lord’s relationship and interaction with us. As God is omnipotent all is within His sphere of influence.

Christ’s Kingdom: Jesus said that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. What does that mean for us? (Share any stories from last week. Examples of building the Kingdom.)

Mark 1:15 – Kingdom of God is near.

Mark 15:2 – Jesus tells us that He is the King.

We can experience the power of His reign as we obey Him. When Christ                            comes again we will see the Kingdom in full power.

God & Jesus: An Intimate Relationship

A look at divine community.  John 1:1-3. Use this lesson as an opportunity to know better the way that the Father and the Son interact with each other and then how we can live better in community.

Evidences for plurality when speaking of God OT:

- Genesis 1:26 – Let us make man in our own image, after Our likeness
- Genesis 3:22 – “Like one of Us”
- Genesis 11:7 – “Let Us go down”
- Isaiah 6:8 – “Who will go for Us?”

These are all beautiful examples of the openness of communication that                              exists between the Father and the Son and the Spirit. For right now,                          however, we are only focusing on the Father and the Son. There is a                                    consent between the Trinity about the actions that are taken. Isaiah 6:8                             clearly points to the unity which exists in Their desire for the Father’s                               glory.

We can be most unified when we are in agreement about working together                          in order to bring God more glory.

Evidences for plurality of Persons in the NT:

-1 Corinthians 8:4-6 – One God, and recognition of the Lordship of Jesus.
- Ephesians 4:3-6 – Again, pointing to oneness.
- James 2:19 – Same as above
- John 6:27 – Seeing the Father is God
- Matthew 9:4 – Jesus possessed traits only existent in God
- Matthew 28:18-20 – God’s traits displayed in the Great Commission.

Seeing the unique roles that are filled by the different Persons of the                                    Trinity.

Timothy Keller quote about the Trinity. And how does this apply to us and our   community relationships with each other? Common Goal, breaking bread, prayer, etc.

God & His Nature: Justice

What is justice, or the just? This question is highly problematic for anyone without a theistic worldview. And even for us it can be sometimes a difficult question to answer. However, as believers we know that our God is just, and that justice is something that He desires in us. Here are some passages:

2 Chronicles 12:6 He is just; Jeremiah 22:3 He desires justice from us; Deuteronomy 32:4 He is just; 2 Thessalonians as we know that our Lord is just we can rely on Him; Revelation 19:1-2 The glory of God’s justice that we see when all is finished.

So, we know that God is just and that He desires justice from us, and for us to act             in just ways. But what is this thing justice. Much like love, justice is best shown in its attributes rather than its definition. The Bible blesses us by giving us examples from which we might work.

Psalm 9:16 In the end the evil get what they worked for; 1 Kings 3:16-18 That the people get what is theirs; Isaiah 7:17 defending the oppressed; Isaiah 9:7 We see Christ’s role as being one Who is just. In some ways we can see that justice involves the way that we respond and help the poor and oppressed around us. What are some areas of social justice that we see as important for us to act on? God cares deeply about acting justly and He wants for us to also.

Our wonderful gift of justice through Christ on the Cross! It is important to realize that the only reason we can or should seek justice for the oppressed is that we have received eternal justification from Christ.

God & His Nature: Love

Examining the relationship between God and Love

• Love of God – God’s desiring for us to be fulfilled in Him and for His glory to be pronounced loudly.
• 1 John 4:8 – God is love. This phrase is not reversible.
• One of the really amazing parts of love to me is how it is so intricately connected to His other attributes i.e. grace, mercy, kindness, justice.
• Understanding what love is and how God is love helps better know how to act and behave. As well as provides us with the security of knowing that God acts out of towards us.

Focus on 1 John 4:7-21: Love is a tremendous gift from God. Only in God                              does love truly exist.

The Ahavah Initiative

Something incredibly radical takes place here in verses 10&11. This is so radical because it changes the way we might understand love. Love is not a kind of human outpouring of affection to God. But love first comes from God to us, then we might pass true love to others. Because, and only because of the Lord’s love to us are we capable of loving others and Him.

One of the most frustrating parts of love is that it is best defined by listing its attributes. And we see these listed in 1 Corinthians 13. (Read) It is much like identifying a painting in a museum. It is recognized by its attributes, i.e. a frame, brush strokes, etc. Love is similar in that we can see something and go “Ah, that is love.” How do we know? Because it fits what the Lord says about love here, here, and here. This love that God possesses is shown to us most perfectly through the atonement of our sins, paid by the blood of Christ on the Cross.

Q.) How do we know if we have acted in a way of love towards other people?
Q.) How do we know God’s love for us?

God & His Nature: Omni-Qualities

Introduction: What do we gain by studying these large, seemingly distant parts of God? Well, hopefully we will see how these HUGE aspects lead us to a deeper understanding of His intimate affections for us.

Omnipotence:

• Meaning that God is all powerful. That there is no thing which He cannot do unless it is contrary to His nature.
• In Scripture the only time that we see the word almighty used in when                 referring to God

Scripture references: Genesis 17:1-2 God refers to Himself as almighty. And what he says he will do He does 2 Corinthians 6:16-18

As with the other omni qualities of God that we will look at, we will see                            that they have an overarching effect on us. And display more clearly Who                               God is.

Omniscience:

Meaning: “That God knows everything, things actual and possible, effortlessly and equally well.” Ryrie

Acts 15:16-18, God is working out His plan that He has known for ages.

This aspect of God offers a great deal of security for us believers. There is nothing that can ever happen, or that we might do which would or could surprise God. We can rest in His knowledge and love. Ephesians and God’s “grand, cosmic, eternal plan”. 2:10 “Prepared in advance for us to do.” God has His plan for us and it cannot and will not be thwarted. God knows us better than we know ourselves. Psalm 139:1-6, Hebrews 4:13.

Omnipresence

Meaning that “God is everywhere present with His whole being at all                                 times.” Ryrie

For me, this concept is so very hard to grasp in a very wonderful way.  It is not that God is spread out throughout the entire universe like a sheet, if that were true that would mean that there was only a part of God in a particular place. Instead, God wholly exists everywhere. Further, this does not mean that God exists completely in atom-like areas to a seemingly infinite number. But rather, He wholly exists HERE  HERE and HERE .

We also wee that God’s immediacy differs in certain places. This concept is particularly wonderful as it pertains to us believers. Galations 2:20 It is another mystery of the Gospel that through the Cross Jesus Christ our Lord and savior dwells in us. Wonderful. & The Security of Immutability

In summation look at Psalm 77. (Have people read, same with above                                  verses) In the first 9vv David is deeply troubled and in despair. Notice verses 7-9 and the questions he asks. He asks if God’s promises have failed? “forgotten to be merciful?”

And look where he turns to remember Who his God is… “The                                            years of the right hand of the Most High.” David looks to Who God  has been in the past and he trusts that He will be the same in the future. That is faith in God’s immutability. Verses 16-20 are a poetic rendering of the Lord leading His people through the Red Sea. We look at Who God has been in the past and we can trust for Him to be the same for us always.

He is faithful and just to us.

The Importance of Studying Theology

What is Theology?

Theology is the study of God, as well as His interactions with Humanity,                          and His knowability. Christian theology presumes that God can be known.                      This not a major issue because of the Bible’s explicit telling us that God                             can be known.

We all make theological claims

Because of this it is of even greater importance that we know what we are                          talking about. The Bible reveals to us Who God is. Theological statements                       would not need to be studied if there was no way for us to know Who God is.                       We can know and we ought to know it well. We believe that God is the                             Sovereign Ruler of the universe, thus the way we view the universe ought                           to different from the way that the non-believer views the universe. With                             things such as hope, joy, peace, etc.

Theology as our Paradigm

The truths that we hold within our theological statement make up what is                          our paradigm when viewing the world. Everything we see and do ought to
be the way it is because of our beliefs about God. He is our God – We know Him personally, intimately Who He is changes who we are. How He loves changes how we love.

The End Goal of Theology

Theology leads to worship. The knowledge is nowhere near an end in                                 itself. As we study God we begin to see images and brush strokes of a                                     Divine Being Who loves us more than we can possibly imagine. We begin to get wrapped up in a blanket that is being hurled in a whirlwind. And that love we feel is what will change us forever. Theology leads to a growth of knowledge As we grow in knowledge we grow in worship as well

Definition of Christian: One who aligns Himself with the teachings and priorities   of Jesus Christ. The hope is that as we learn more about God we will learn more            about Who it is that He wants for us to be s the universe. With things such as hope, joy, peace, etc.

King Solomon – The Wisest Man Who Ever Lived (minus Jesus)

Background: Solomon is now King of Israel as opposed to any of David’s other sons, as promised by the Lord. He has just recently been appointed King after Adonijah, David’s fourth and oldest living son, tried to take the throne. He then was married to Pharaoh’s daughter, forming an alliance with Egypt.

+ Summarize I Kings 3: 2-15 for the guys. Bear in mind that we have some ground to cover Scripturally in this bible study.

Everyone knows this story, but I want to point out the significance of Solomon asking for wisdom and being granted it for the basis of the study.

Discuss anything you would like from this passage.

For the remainder of the bible study, we will be doing a short word study on wisdom. What it means, what its application is, and debunking any assumptions about it. So Solomon was the wisest man to ever live. But what really is wisdom?

{The Origins of Wisdom} Read Proverbs 8: 22-31

Discuss any initial reactions.

Talking points:

• Wisdom here is portrayed as a woman. She was with the Lord in the beginning, and with her, God created everything. I think it is interesting to point out that the Lord was not wise, as in wise in character. But rather, He used wisdom. Wisdom is something to use, not to be. Wisdom is gained, not a part of someone. We will go deeper into that later.
• Talk about how daily wisdom was the Lord’s delight. What does that mean? How can using wisdom daily bring us joy?

{The Characteristics of Wisdom} Read Proverbs 8: 1-21

Discuss anything that stuck out to the guys. Probably spend the most time on this section, possibly going through it verse by verse to see what we can ascertain from this passage.

Main talking points:

• Verses 1-4 – Wisdom is made readily available to anyone. Anyone of us can search it out and find it if we want. It literally calls out to us in the streets.
• Verse 11 – Do we truly value wisdom as more precious than jewels? Do we understand the significance of being wise?
• Characteristics of Wisdom: Knowledge and Discretion are key. Hates Pride and Arrogance. Wisdom is powerful. Rulers and Kings rule by it. Those who seek will find it. Is essential to walking in righteousness.

{The Importance of Wisdom} Read Job 28: 20-28 

Discuss any initial reactions.

Talking points:

• Man has sought wisdom everywhere in the previous verses, but has not found it. Therefore, wisdom is not found in any place of this world or that man has made. Wisdom, the rhetorical answer here, is found in the Lord alone.
• Verses 25-26 – What does this tell us about wisdom? It is used to quell powerful forces. The rain and lightning are two extremely powerful forces of nature that man has never been able to control. But God did, with wisdom. Therefore, when things are out of control in our life, we can use wisdom.
• Verses 27-28 – The Lord tested wisdom as said above, and saw it as good. So why then did God draw the conclusion that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom? Discuss what this means.

{The Outcome of Wisdom} And finally, read 1 Kings 10:1-13 

Basically, talk about how wise Solomon must be for a Queen from a long way off to hear about his wisdom. Then see the two things the Queen notices from his wisdom.

Two Traits:

1. She sees how all the detail by which he keeps his house in order. In our lives, the outcome of us using wisdom should be order in our lives and a lack of chaos.
2. She sees how happy his subjects are. When we use wisdom correctly, we bring joy to those around us, and people are made happy by our actions in wisdom.

Samuel – Israel asks for a King {1 Samuel 8}

“When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.^[a] 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. ³ But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.” 
- 1 Samuel 8: 1-3

Background on Samuel, the last Judge. Maybe ask them first what they know about Samuel?

He was a Nazarite (set apart to be used by God) just like Samson, who followed the stipulations of the Mosaic Covenant as best he could. Samuel became a source of deliverance for Israel.

Twenty years after the Philistines had captured and returned the Ark of the Covenant, Samuel led the people in national repentance. Samson’s ministry may have taken place during these 20 years. The Philistine oppression resulted in the Israelites turning to God for help. Samuel told the people what they needed to do to secure God’s blessing and victory over their enemy. They needed to repent. The people did so, and the hope of deliverance revived.

“Brief as the portrait of Samuel here is, it gives us a glimpse of the ideal ruler. He had been provided by God and trained by him; he now showed himself able to read his people’s minds and capable of rebuking them effectively. He was decisive in word and action, and he was fully in touch with God.”

But his sons stunk. Joel (“Yahweh is God”) and Abijah (“My [divine] Father is Yahweh”) disqualified themselves from leadership of Israel by disobeying the Law and taking bribes from the people.

Exod. 23:6, 8 – “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits…You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just”

Deut. 16:19 – “You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.”

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“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. ⁵ They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead^[a] us, such as all the other nations have.”But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
- 1 Samuel 8: 4-6

Discuss some possible reasons either from direct interpretation or general assumptions of why Israel wanted a king:

• Wanted to be like other nations
• Samuel’s sons were not fit to rule
• Didn’t like the Judges
• No satisfaction of a relationship from God
• etc

The Israelites had pressed their leaders for a king at least twice in their past history. The first time was during Gideon’s judgeship (Judg. 8:22), and the second was during Abimelech’s conspiracy (Judg. 9:2). Now in Samuel’s judgeship they demanded one again.

Luckily, God had made provision for kings to rule His people in the Mosaic Law.

Read Deuteronomy 17: 14-20

Discuss the traits of the king described here.

How can we be “kings” over what the Lord has given us dominion over? We are meant to rule by the Word, to give order and life to this world. If you were at Relentless, maybe summarize and discuss a little of what Ben Stuart talked about.

Read 1 Samuel 8: 7-18

Discuss God’s response to the people’s request.

Discuss Samuel’s admonishing.

“But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. ²⁰ Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. ²² The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”
- 1 Samuel 8: 19-22

God allows them to have a king. Interesting move on God’s part. Let’s discuss some things here.

1. Israel still wants to be “like other nations.” Why is this so, so bad?

The entire reason that God called Abraham to go to the Promised Land, that God called Moses to bring them out of Egypt, that God gave them rules and statues to sanctify themselves, that God provided them ways to be forgiven, that God then delivered them to the Promised Land was to set them apart. We are not supposed to be like everyone else. We are set apart to worship God and have a relationship with Him. C’mon Israel!!

Summarize this for the guys and discuss the significance of Israel’s set-apartness

1. Look at what they want the king to do. Judge them and go forth in battles.

Again, you must be joking me. Doesn’t this sound like God’s role?

But God allows Israel a king. Why? Discuss God’s move here.

Why would God allow a man to rule over Israel? He knows that we are faulty and will definitely fail. But He gives in to the people’s request. Why?

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Takeaway: Why do we always think we know what is best for our lives?

Israel thought, even with Samuel’s warnings, that they needed a king. We know from the beginning of Saul’s rule till Christ, with exceptions of 75% of David’s reign and 50% of Solomon’s plus some other good guys here and there, that having a king stunk. But God allowed it.

Big Question: What are some areas in our lives that we still have kingship over? What are some places that we are still calling the shots? School? Relationships? Organizations?

How can we let God rule in our lives? We will fail as king, so let’s let a God who has ruled since forever have a shot in our lives.

Moses – What does Godly Leadership Look Like?

Read Numbers 11: 4-9

Israel is complaining yet again. We are backtracking chronologically a bit from last week. Notice this time they complain about food. It wasn’t as if they didn’t have any food; they just didn’t like the food that was being provided. However, the “rabble” or “worthless foreigners” were non-Israelites that had come out of Egypt with them. Notice how they were the ones who first began to wail and thus infected Israel.

Application: How careful do we need to be around nonbelievers? We are never called to not associate with them, but they can corrupt our walk. Discuss this.

Read Numbers 11: 10-15

Let’s look at Moses’ distress here. The burden of leading Israel is so severe that he either asks for deliverance or death.

What do we think about this response? Acceptable? Overreaction? Legitimate cry out to the Lord?

Read Numbers 11: 16-17

This is God’s response to Moses’ cry of too heavy of a burden. He says that He will withdraw some of the Spirit He gave to Moses and distribute it to other leaders.

Here is where I think the meat (pun) of the bible study is. We need to come to a conclusion about Moses’ reaction. We must determine that when the going gets tough in leading, should we rely on God or ask Him to send help? Or both?

Dr. Constable wrote – “It is tragic in his great hour of need Moses did not respond as the Apostle Paul would do when facing an unbearable burden in 2 Corinthians.”

“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me–to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” 2 Corinthians 12: 7-9

So now we ask, should we solely rely on God to provide for us in our hour of need?

However, what about us not trying to do things on our own?

Galatians 6:2 – “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ” (not sure if this can be applied to leadership: your call)

Mark 6: 7 – “And He summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.”

Christ sent out the 12 in twos so that they would not be overwhelmed with this responsibility. Ecclesiastes talks about how two are better than one, that one can help the other.

So, we should always cast our worries and doubts to the Lord. We should never be ashamed to ask for help from the Lord. But do we ask Him to take away the burden (not just leadership), or rely on Him for strength? Christ asked the Lord to take the cup from his hands in Matthew 26.

What is our conclusion? And in context, what is our verdict on Moses?

Moses Statue - Sculpted by Michelangelo

Moving right along, read Numbers 11: 18-23

The Lord declares He will give them a massive amount of meat. Moses doubts. Even Moses seems to have forgotten the miracles the Lord has performed. Which leads to one of, if not my favourite verse in the entire bible.

Verse 23: Is the Lord’s power limited? Of course not. He declares that we will see whether what He says will be true or not. How important is that for us today? We talked about in our second week of Abraham some promises that God has made to us that we can hold on to. I will list them once again.

• Philippians 4:19 – “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
• Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”
• Matthew 17:20 – “He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
• James 1:5 – “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”

Read Numbers 11: 24-30

Once again, the Lord disperses His spirit from Moses and gives it temporarily to 70 elders of Israel, who begin prophesying. Moses, depending on your conclusion earlier in the bible study, reacts rightly here in verse 29 when approached by an Israelite. What a humble response, in my opinion, after having been top dog leading this Israelites for so long.

When others who are doing the same ministry as us get credit and we don’t, do we respond in this way? How hard is it to watch one person be exalted while we are not?

Matthew 6: 5-6 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Not that people who are exalted in public are hypocrites, but to remember that works done without praise of men are rewarded in Heaven.

Read Numbers 11: 31-35

They get their quail in abundance, just as the Lord said. But notice that they get sick from eating it.

The Lord shows here that even though the people think that meat is better than manna, in reality the manna was better for them.

How many times in our walk do we think we know what is better for us than the Lord does? How many times are we proven wrong?

Wrap up the bible study by summarizing what spiritual leadership lessons we learned from the lesson and recapping the major points. Boom shaka daka.

Moses – What Does it Take for us to Believe in God?

Numbers 20: 1-13

I want to begin by establishing Moses’ credibility before we look at his major downfall. Open up by reading these three verses.

Numbers 12:3 – “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.”

Exodus 33:11 – “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.”

Deuteronomy 34: 10-12 – “Since then no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord know face to face, for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against the Pharaoh, al his servants, and all his land, and for the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of Israel.”

What type of prophet was Moses? What can we say about Moses’ legacy?

Ok, now let’s dive into the text.

Read Numbers 20: 1-13. I would recommend having one guy read it out loud, then spend a couple minutes of silence thinking about the passage.

Talk about everyone’s initial reaction to God’s proclamation in verse 12. Do we think this is fair? Is this too strict? Is it just? Discuss.

Implications here: This is the beginning of the end for the Israelites in the wilderness. At this point, they had been in the wilderness for 37-40 years. Moses had been leading them all this time. Now, God is not allowing him to enter the Promised Land because of this mistake. One commentator put it this way:

“Here’s the mighty Moses, who confronted Pharaoh, arranged the Ten Plagues, split the Red Sea, brought the Torah down from Mount Sinai, and defended the people through trials and tribulations in the desert. Now he makes one little mistake, and God takes away his dream of entering Israel. The consequence seems inappropriately harsh!”

Alright, let’s backtrack a bit. Reread verses 3-5. Israel is complaining and grumbling again. Typical Israel. I searched “grumbled” on BibleGateway. This is what I found.

Exodus 15:24 
So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?

Exodus 16:2
In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

Exodus 17:3
But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Numbers 14:2
All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert!

Numbers 14:29
In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me.

Numbers 16:41
The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the LORD’s people,” they said.

Deuteronomy 1:27
You grumbled in your tents and said, “The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.

So basically, nothing new. I am sure Moses is sick of this by now. Now, let’s look at God’s specific response and instructions to Moses in verse 8. He said speak to the rock, not hit it.

Brainstorm and discuss some ideas as to why Moses hit the rock. Two big ones stick out to me initially:

Pride: read verse 10 and notice the words he uses “shall we bring forth water…?” Moses accredits the miracle to him, not the Lord.

Unbelief: verse 12 shows that Lord think that Moses did not believe in Him.

Dr. Constable – “Moses did more than God told him to do. He failed to believe that God’s way was best and took matters into his own hands. His motives may have been one or more of the following. He may have had a desire for the greater glory of God. He may have been proud or may have relied on his own ability to work miracles. We know he was impatient with the Israelites’ complaining and felt frustrated by their slowness to learn a lesson God had previously taught them (cf. Ps. 106:32-33). In any case he failed to accept God’s will as best, and this is unbelief.”

Let’s look at one more possibility. Read Exodus 17: 1-7. This is the exact same place as in Numbers. What conclusions can we draw from there? Discuss.

Conclusion: Warren Wiersbe – “Evidently Moses, in his frustration with the people, thought that he was the performer of the miracle rather than only God’s instrument. This is a common error in modern ministry, and it still produces great frustration: thinking that we need to be manufacturers rather than simply distributors of blessing to others.”

We see from verse 12 that the Lord declared that it was Moses’ unbelief that caused him to sin and suffer the consequence of not being allowed to enter the Promised Land. And this is after Moses had been besties with God for a long time. He talked with God face to face. He had a real, personal relationship with the Lord. If Moses did not have belief, what chance do we have?

This is where we can conclude with encouragement. Have some guys, hopefully all, discuss an event in their life where they saw God or had God move in extraordinary ways that they will remember as evidence for God’s provision. God is real. Hopefully there are some sweet stories. Boom shaka daka.