Welcome to
GVM
Bible Study
Teacher:
Pastor Burnice B. Green, Sr.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What's in this Study
We will be looking at some "wilderness"
experiences from scripture and comparing them
to some of our own so that the next time we feel
"lost in a desert" we will be able to draw
encouragement and strength from the scriptures
in this study. At the end of each study we'll look
at what was "given up" (sometimes for the good
and sometimes unnecessarily) because of the
wilderness experience.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What's in this Study
Six Lessons - One for each of the Weeks of Lent
I'm in the Wilderness, but How Did I Get Here? Numbers 13 & 14
I'm in the Wilderness, and it's Not My Fault? Genesis 21
What? You Want Me to Go Into the Wilderness on Purpose? Matthew 10
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness? Exodus 16:1-30
Strength in the Wilderness Matthew 4:1-13
God's Promise After the Wilderness Isaiah 32 & 35
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
I'm in the Wilderness and It's not my fault
Week Two
Sometimes even when we are obedient to God and go
in faith where He leads us, we still find ourselves in the
wilderness. Take Job for example, He was a devout
man, but Satan wanted to prove a point. Through it all
Job stayed strong in the Lord. Let's look at another
servant of God who found herself wandering in the
wilderness through what seems to be no fault of her
own.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
I'm in the Wilderness and It's
not my fault
Read Genesis 21:8-20
Discussion Groups of no
more than 5
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
I'm in the Wilderness and It's not my fault
Why do Hagar and Ishmael find themselves
in the wilderness? Does this seem fair? (5
minutes)
How do you think Abraham felt? (5
minutes)
When have you ever found yourself in a
wilderness situation that you had no control
over? How did you respond? (5 minutes)
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
I'm in the Wilderness and It's not my fault
Hagar and Ishmael were cast into the
wilderness quite suddenly. How does the
scripture say they responded?
How did God respond?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
I'm in the Wilderness and It's not my fault
Hagar and Ishmael wandered for a while
before they finally stopped and cried out to
God. What might have happened had they
stopped sooner?
The last time you were in the wilderness, did
you wander for a while or stop and cry out to
God?
What keeps you from crying out to God.
(Psalm 46:10)
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
I'm in the Wilderness and It's not my fault
This scripture says that "God opened her
eyes." What does this tell us about the well?
Share a time when God "opened your eyes."
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What's in this Study
Six Lessons –
In the next six weeks we'll be looking at some
"wilderness" experiences from scripture and
comparing them to some of our own so that the
next time we feel "lost in a desert" we will be able
to draw encouragement and strength from the
scriptures in this study. At the end of each study
we'll look at what was "given up" (sometimes for
the good and sometimes unnecessarily) because
of the wilderness experience.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What's in this Study
Six Lessons - One for each of the Weeks of Lent
I'm in the Wilderness, but How Did I Get Here? Numbers 13 & 14
I'm in the Wilderness, and it's Not My Fault? Genesis 21
What? You Want Me to Go Into the Wilderness on Purpose? Matthew 10
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness? Exodus 16:1-30
Strength in the Wilderness Matthew 4:1-13
God's Promise After the Wilderness Isaiah 32 & 35
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What? You want me to go into
the wilderness on purpose
Week Three
Occasionally, the wilderness experiences
we have will be ones God leads us into. It's
hard to imagine going into a wilderness on
purpose just because Jesus sends you
there, but that's just what the disciples did.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What? You want me to go into
the wilderness on purpose
Week Three
Read Matthew 10:5-20
Discussion Groups of no more
than 5 (different from last week)
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What? You want me to go into the
wilderness on purpose
1. What circumstances make this seem like a
"wilderness" condition even though the disciples may
not have been sent into a true wilderness?(5 minutes)
2. What do you think it may have been like to spread
the good news in the first century? (5 minutes)
3. What kind of experience might God call you to that
could feel like you've been called into the
wilderness?(5 minutes)
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What? You want me to go into the
wilderness on purpose
4. What kind of gifts and/or power was given
to the disciples to endure this wilderness
experience? Why is these gifts/power
important?
5. Why did Jesus call the disciples "sheep
among wolves"? How were they supposed to
compensate for this seemingly uneven
match?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What? You want me to go into the
wilderness on purpose
6. When have you felt like a "sheep among
wolves"? How did your response mirror Jesus'
advice in vs. 16b or what do you wish you'd
done differently? The last time you were in the
wilderness, did you wander for a while or stop
and cry out to God?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What? You want me to go into the
wilderness on purpose
7. In vs. 17 & 18 Jesus warns the disciples
(and us) that going into the wilderness and
the unknown for His sake would not be easy.
What is the obstacle He mentions specifically
in these verses? How were the disciples (or
any of His followers) supposed to handle
this obstacle?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
What? You want me to go into the wilderness on purpose
THE LAST QUESTION:
• What kinds of things did the disciples give up to
be obedience to Jesus? Would you be willing to do
the same?
TO THINK ABOUT:
• When you find God calling you into this sort of
wilderness, a place where you just aren't
comfortable, remember the disciples and how
much more "uncomfortable" they were. Praise God
that He brought the disciples through their desert,
and He will bring you through, too. Have faith that
He will never let you down.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness?
Week Four
In Exodus we read the history of Israel being
under the tyrannical rule of Egypt. (To find out
how they got here, read Genesis chapters 37 &
39-45) God heard their cries for deliverance and
rescued them from the hands of Pharaoh.
(You'll find this account in Exodus chapters 115). Today we're going to find them a short time
later. Let's look at how they faced their
wilderness experience.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness?
Week Four
Read Exodus 16:1-15
Discussion Groups of no more
than 5 (different from last week)
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness?
1) Only 1½ months after their deliverance
from Egypt, what do we find the
Israelites doing? Why?
Share a time when you were like the
Israelites and forgot the goodness of God
because you were in the wilderness?
What was/is your biggest complaint
when you find yourself in the
wilderness?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness?
2. The Israelites thought they were grumbling
against Moses and Aaron (vs. 2), but who were they
really grumbling against? Why does God say that?
3. Share a time when you "grumbled against"
someone or some situation. How does remembering
God is in control of everything in our lives put into
perspective our grumbling? Why did Jesus call the
disciples "sheep among wolves"? How were they
supposed to compensate for this seemingly uneven
match?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness?
4. How did God answer the cries of the Israelites?
Read John 6:32-35 and consider how this might be how
God sometimes answers our cries.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness?
Let’s Read Exodus 16:16-30
5. What can we learn from the Israelites
about obedience? When was the last time
you weren't obedient and what did you
learn from it?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Are You Grumbling in the Wilderness?
• 6. Look at Hebrews 13:5 and I Thessalonians
5:18 and discuss how we measure up in the
midst of our "wilderness." Talk about why
these verses are sometimes difficult and how
following/not following them affects our
witness.
• THE LAST QUESTION: What do you give
up in the midst of your grumbling?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Strength in the Wilderness
Week Five
Matthew 4:1-11 (parallel account found in
Luke 4:1-13) Let’s Read
1. What was the specific reason that Jesus
was led out into the wilderness? (Compare
with Deuteronomy 8:1-5) Share a time
when you felt like you were in the
wilderness for a similar reason?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
2. Jesus is most assuredly God, but during
this time in His life we see Him in one of
His most human moments (next to His
suffering before and on the cross). Discuss
how you would feel (how Jesus probably
felt) after going 40 days without food or
water.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Strength in the Wilderness
3. How would this have affected Jesus'
ability to resist the first temptation Satan
threw at Him? (or yours)
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Strength in the Wilderness
4. What was at the heart of the 2nd temptation?
What do we learn from Jesus' answer?
5. How might the third temptation have been
attractive to Jesus?
6. What can we learn from this temptation about
compromise?
7. What do we learn about Satan in this passage?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Strength in the Wilderness
8. What did Jesus use to combat him? How
can this help us defeat this enemy?
9. Are there any verses you have memorized
that have helped you in the wilderness?
10. How did Jesus’ temptation end?
11. Who has been your "angel" at the end of
your "wilderness" experience?
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
Strength in the Wilderness
What did Jesus give up in this passage?
Why?
TO THINK ABOUT: Jesus has been through
everything that you and I will face. He has been in
the "wilderness" physically, like He was in this
passage, as well as spiritually, like the Garden of
Gethsemane, during Judas' betrayal, Peter's denial
and the Roman's cross. He even cried out to God,
"Why have you forsaken me?" Consider how this
knowledge can help you have strength in the midst
of your wilderness.
40 Days in the Wilderness Bible Study
• God's Promise After The Wilderness
• Hopefully up to this point, this study has helped
you understand some of the reasons we go
through hard times and how we can grow in
difficult situations. The beauty of going through
life with God is the knowledge that there is more
to life than just living everyday. We have
promises from God. Promises of life with His
Son, Jesus Christ and promises of reward after
the wilderness.
God's Promise After The
Wilderness
• Read Isaiah 32:1-2 & 14-20
• 1. Because God is with us, how are we like a
a. shelter in the wind
b. refuge in the storm
c. stream in the desert
God's Promise After The
Wilderness
• 2. Verse 14 sort of reminds us what being in the
"wilderness" is like. How does verse 15 tell us
we get out? How does this happen in our lives?
• 3. Do you feel more like a desert, a fertile field or
a forest right now? Why?
• 4. When we get into the middle of a desert, what
do these verses tell us we should ask Jesus for?
God's Promise After The
Wilderness
• Concluding Statement:
• TO THINK ABOUT: The next time you're in the
wilderness, don't go there alone. Remember the
promises of God, and remember that Jesus
knows what it is like to be in the wilderness.