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Homegroup - Leaders Notes
Exodus - Unit 7 (last one of 2013)
Top Tips for Healthy Homegroups
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Don't let prayer and praise get squeezed out.
Leaders - always be on the lookout for ways to involve lots of people and develop their gifts
Maybe ask someone to lead one of the questions
Maybe ask someone to lead a 5 minute creative worship slot
Don't let the teaching part become a monologue
Remind people occasionally about the importance of confidentiality
Encourage people to get in touch and tell you if they cannot attend that week - it develops a sense of
responsibility to others
Encourage people to read ahead and do the homework - it uses up half your valuable time if you have to read all
the passage
Do something different
Try using a different location for your gathering
If your group gets smaller than about 7 people - talk to Simon/Graham/or Emma - we will see if there are other
people who want to join you
If your group gets bigger than about 14 - start thinking about splitting your group to form two new groups
Ask the group for new ideas
Each term think about organising a social and invite your fringe along
Each term think about arranging a social action event or asking Graham if there is a project that your homegroup
could be helping with.
Do you celebrate Communion in your group? Tom's group have arranged to go and share communion with Betty
who has been part of their group but is now unable to attend and living at a home in Risby. Just brilliant.
This is the last Homegroup Study before Christmas. Your group may also have a social arranged - or
have some 'good deeds' planned - like helping Graham give out hampers, or delivering our Christmas
leaflets, or carol singing around the estate on Wednesday December 18 at 6:30pm.
Homework - please read Exodus Chapter 16 and 17.
Bring along an object that reminds you of God's help in your life (see question 6)
Q1
This will be given to you on the day
A1
q1
a1
What did the Israelites remember nostalgically about Egypt?
we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted (16v 3)
q2
a2
how much manna were the Israelites told to gather for each person?
an omer a day and two omers on Friday (16v16)
q3
a3
What did the manna taste like?
it tasted like wafers made with honey (16v31)
q4
a4
who witnessed Moses striking the rock and the miraculous flow of water?
some of the elders of Israel (17v5-6)
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q6
a6
who attached the Israelites at Rephidim?
The Amelikites (17v8)
q7
a7
who supported Moses during the battle? (no points for the answer God!)
Aaron and Hur (17v12)
This is deliberately quite a tough quiz. if you got 5 correct you did very well. If you got less than 4 you probably didn't do the homework. Please make sure you do the homework in advance otherwise half of your valuable time together is spent reading the passage.
Q2
What did the Israelites get nostalgic about (See also Numbers 11v5) What do we get nostalgic
about? What are the dangers of nostalgia?
A2
The Israelites got nostalgic about food! Meat and plenty of it. Fish. Cucumbers, Melons. Leeks.
Onions and Garlic. - out of all the things to get nostalgic about this seems fairly shallow to me - but
perhaps it reflects the fact that they were hungry.
What do we get nostalgic about? I get nostalgic about Christmas when I was a child. We used to go
to Grans big house and I would play with my 30 cousins and the food was great and it always
snowed, and it was magical, and everybody was happy and I got exactly the present that I wanted.
The danger of nostalgia is that it is selective memory. I probably fought with my cousins. I probably
was disappointed with my presents. It didn't snow every year. And I hated sprouts.
The Israelites are nostalgic about the food - but are forgetting that they were slaves who were being
deliberately worked to death as policy of state-sponsored genocide. Under this regime I doubt very
much that they had access to as much meat as they wanted.
The danger of this selective memory nostalgia is that it can lead us to be dissatisfied with the present
because we are comparing the present unfavourably with a past that never was! And the
dissatisfaction leads to grumbling - which is more serious than we tend to think.
Q3
What does God think about grumbling? (Exodus 14v11-12, 15v24, 16v2, 17v3)
A3
I'm not sure exactly what grumbling means. I tend to think there is probably a justified type of
grumbling - that expresses proportional and rational dissatisfaction with a genuine grievance: but
that might be called something else.
Q3
But typically grumbling (1) Is behind the scenes - rather than out in the open (2) Is self centred rather than seeing the bigger picture (3) Is negative - rather than neutrally analytical. (4) It is
selective about facts (5) It is unrealistic (6) People seem to enjoy it - and put more energy into the
grumbling than they do in trying to find a solution. (7) Grumbling tends to minimise my own
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responsibility and blame everything on somebody else (8) Grumbling is disproportionate. (9) It tends
to misidentify the problem - and blame an easy target rather than the real one (10) it is unrealistic
about how easily things can be solved. (11) Grumbling tends over-simplify and polarise so that
people are divided into 'us' and 'them'.
Exodus 14v11-12 God delivers them
Exodus 15v24 The Lord answers with a miracle
Exodus 16v2 the Lord answers by providing quail and manna
Exodus 17v3 God provides water
It is amazing to me - how long suffering God is. The 'grumbling' is an expression of lack of gratitude
and lack of faith, and failure to remember the miracles that God has so recently performed, failure
to appreciate their deliverance from slavery, it is a mistrust of God's care, a lack of respect for the
Lord and his leaders - but despite all this God is only good to them.
But if you read on it is the people's grumbling that keeps them in the wilderness. They could have
made the journey to the promised land in 40 days - but it took them 40 years living in the wilderness
because of their grumbling. We need to guard ourselves. God will still be good to us - but we will live
in the wilderness if we copy their ungrateful thinking.
2
Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— Psalm 103v2.
We will be much happier if we start from the assumption that we deserve nothing - and every good
thing is a blessing from God. Psalm 103v2 tells us to remember our blessings and praise, thank and
worship God in response.
Q4
Have a general discussion sharing everything that you know about manna? (I have 18 facts about
manna) Do you think that manna teaches us any spiritual lessons?
A4
The name manna means 'What is it?" (16v15)
It came in the night (but not on saturday) - and looked like thin flakes of frost (16v14)
It appeared on the desert floor (16v14)
It was white like coriander seed (16v31)
It tasted like wafers made with honey (16v31)
Each person had an omer a day (16v16)
Moses called it bread given by the Lord (16v15) Manna is called 'the grain of heaven' in Psalm 78
Manna is called 'bread from heaven' in John 6v31
Manna is called the food of angels in Psalm 78v25
There was more than enough for everybody (Psalm 78v25)
It did not keep overnight - but it did on Friday night
The people had to go and gather it (16v16)
It could be baked or boiled (16v23)
Some manna was preserved in a jar and set before the Lord (16v33)
Some manna was preserved in a jar to show future generations (16v33)
The jar that the manna was put in was made of gold (Hebrews 9v4)
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The Israelites complained about (Numbers 11v6)
Manna stopped after the Israelites produced their own food in Canaan (Joshua 5v12)
Manna is used as a spiritual metaphor in a variety of ways in Scripture. It becomes a symbol of God's
word, God's provision, Jesus pictures himself as the bread that came down from heaven (John 6v58)
eternal life (Revelation 2v17) Paul cites manna as he argues for social action and equality (2
Corinthians 8v12-15)
Here are a few thoughts from me
Manna is metaphor for God's word. We should feed on God's word each day. I believe that God will
provide fresh insight each day. And that we cannot live on yesterday's blessing. We can't eat enough
on a sunday to live through the week - we each need to (1) Work at it - God could have put the
bread in their bread bins - but it was out there and required daily effort to go and collect it (2) Stoop
- we need to come humbly to God's word each day - just as the people had to stoop to the desert
floor to gather (3) The Israelites got bored with manna. But with a bit of effort it could be boiled or
baked, or roasted or fryed, mixed with quail, herbs, spices, made into dumplings, bread, pancakes,
biscuits, donuts, yorkshire puddings. We need to make sure that our reading of God's word each
day doesn't get stale and repetitive. We don't read God's word for the sake of reading it - we read it
to meet with God. And learn and be challenged. To transform our thinking and our values. To focus
in the unseen. Change your Bible notes. Discuss it with your partner or somebody else. Learn a verse
and meditate on it. Copy out favourite verses and stick it them up at home. Make a list of promises
that you come across. Make a list of encouraging Scriptures to put in birthday cards, or emails, or on
Facebook or Twitter. (Do you know that the person who chooses the Scripture for the East Anglian
each day is in our fellowship. They take it very seriously - and pray carefully about their selections.)
Q5
Chapter 16 talks about keeping some manna in a jar to remember God's goodness and for the
benefit of future generations. This was eventually put in the Ark of the Covenant. What else was put
inside the Ark of the Covenant? If the Ark of the Covenant was found with these objects inside what effect do you think it would have on your faith? As part of homework you were asked to bring
along an object that reminds you of God's goodness in your life. Share briefly (2 minutes max) what
you have brought and why.
A5
The ark of the covenant was a box made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold. On its lid were two
carved angels facing each other with spread wings. It was carried on poles (it was too holy to touch)
It's resting place was in the Holy of Holies in the temple. It contained the original ten
commandments (well the second set actually) and Aaron's rod and the golden jar containing manna.
It's a puzzling selection - wouldn't Moses rod have been more significant than Aaron's - anyway that
is for another time)
Presumably it got taken by the Romans when they took Jerusalem in AD 70. I guess the Romans
were disappointed with the Ark and its contents. The ark was just overlaid - not solid gold. I imagine
they opened the gold jar with great excitement - something really valuable must be in a expensive
container like this. I suppose they emptied it out the white stuff - what is this somebodies ashes?
Ewwww - and kept the gold jar. The dried up stick must have been a disappointment too. And I
reckon that few bits of stone with unreadable writing probably discarded also. Any priests lurking -
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would have surely picked up the discarded pieces and I wouldn't be altogether surprised if they turn
up some day. Either way it wouldn't make or break my faith - but it would be interesting.
Invite your group to share about the objects that they have bought. Think about the time. If your
group is 10 people - even two minutes each will take 20 minutes. But this is important. One way
might be to get people who say little to share and leave the people who talk a lot for another time.
8
The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua,
“Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top
of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
10
So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to
the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but
whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew
tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands
up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So
Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and
make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from
under heaven.”
14
Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. 16 He said, “Because hands were
lifted up against[c] the throne of the LORD,[d] the LORD will be at war against the Amalekites
from generation to generation.”
15
Q6
Look at the verses 8 - 16. Share thoughts, insights or questions. Encourage those who haven't
spoken much to share. Try and keep your gabby ones quiet. (1) Who were the Amalekites? (2) What
were their normal tactics? (3) Who won this battle?
A6
(1) The Amalekites were descended from Esau (Genesis 36v12) (2) The Amalekites normal tactics
were to follow the Israelites and pick off the weak and the slow. This was sneaky, underhand, mean
and according to (Deuteronomy 25v18)shows 'no fear of God' - a bit like Esau. (3) You could say that
Moses won the battle - when his arms fell Israel were defeated. You could say that Joshua won it cos
verse v13 says "Joshua won the battle...." You could say that God won the battle. You could say that
the battle would have been lost without Aaron and Hur. The point is that God's sovereignty does not
allow us to be prayerless and actionless. Prayer alone is not enough. And action without prayer
won't succeed either. Notice too that Moses is careful to give God the glory after.
We are starting 2014 with a week of prayer. And the B of BLESS is Begin with Prayer. Prayer is not
mentioned in this passage, but Moses lifting his hands is surely a picture of prayer. Prayer is hard
work. 12 Epaphras, [ ] is always wrestling in prayer for you, (Colossians 4v12) That's why Moses
needed help from Aaron and Hur. (Is this the first prayer triplet in the Bible?) We can't all be a
Joshua or a Moses but we can all be a Hur even if we are a him!
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--------------------------------------------------------------This is the last study of this year. Please pray for all the events over Christmas and invite freinds,
family, neighbours, workmates to the Family Service, Orchestral Carols, Carols by Candlelight - as
appropriate. To invite somebody to The Apex must be the easiest ask of the whole year - let's make
the most of it.
As we start 2014 - please join in with the Week of Prayer. And six Nitelife's in January and February
are being given over for us all to follow the Network Course from Willow Creek - Discovering,
Developing and Deploying your spiritual gifts. We hope you will make a special effort to be a part of
it
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Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— Psalm 103v2.