Vol. LXXXIII No. 4 Intermediate Bible Teacher FALL QUARTER September, October, November 2019 Editorials ............................................................................................................ 2 Deliverance UNIT I: The Call to Deliverance Sept. 1—A Long, Hard Oppression—Exod. 1:7-22 ......................................................... 5 Sept. 8—The Birth of Moses—Exod. 2:1-10 .................................................................... 10 Sept. 15—A Comfortable Exile—Exod. 2:11-25 ................................................................ 15 Sept. 22—Moses at the Burning Bush—Exod. 3:1-10 ...................................................... 20 UNIT II: Preparation for Deliverance Sept. 29—“Let My People Go”—Exod. 5:1-9 ..................................................................... 25 Oct. 6—A Plague of Blood—Exod. 7:14-24 .................................................................... 30 Oct. 13—Pharaoh’s Hardening Heart—Exod. 9:27-35 .................................................... 35 Oct. 20—Final Confrontation with Pharaoh—Exod. 10:21-29 ........................................ 40 Oct. 27—The Passover—Exod. 12:1-14 ........................................................................... 44 UNIT III: Deliverance Accomplished Nov. 3—Out of Egypt—Exod. 12:29-42 ........................................................................... 48 Nov. 10—Pursuit of the Slaves—Exod. 13:17—14:9 ........................................................ 52 Nov. 17—Crossing the Red Sea—Exod. 14:10-22 ........................................................... 56 Nov. 24—Deliverance from Pharaoh’s Army—Exod. 14:23-31 ....................................... 60 Daily Bible Readings .......................................................................................... 64 Editor in Chief: Todd Williams Writer: Carter Corbrey Edited and published quarterly by THE INCORPORATED TRUSTEES OF THE GOSPEL WORKER SOCIETY UNION GOSPEL PRESS DIVISION Rev. W. B. Musselman, Founder Price: $2.50 per quarter* $10.00 per year* *shipping and handling extra ISBN 978-1-59843-803-1 This material is part of the “Christian Life Series,” copyright © 2019 by Union Gospel Press. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from Union Gospel Press, except as permitted by United States copyright law. Edited and published quarterly by The Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society, Union Gospel Press Division, 2000 Brookpark Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44109-5812. Mailing address: P.O. Box 6059, Cleveland, Ohio 44101-1059. Phone: 216-749-2100. www.uniongospelpress.com WRITER’S FORECAST The thirteen lessons of this quar- prepared him to become the deliv- ter highlight one of the most exciting erer God used to bring Israel out of events in world history. We will study Egypt. the period of Israel’s history from its Lesson 3 covers Moses’ forty-year time in slavery in Egypt to its dramat- sojourn in Midian, a second stage in ic crossing of the Red Sea and the his life where he became a husband destruction of the Egyptian army, as and father and worked as a shepherd God delivered His people and pre- as God further prepared him to lead pared them for their journey to the Israel out of Egypt. Promised Land. In lesson 4 we will join Moses as The overall theme of the quarter is he receives his instructions from God “Deliverance.” The quarter is divided at the burning bush. into three units. In Unit I, titled “The Lesson 5 examines the first meet- Call to Deliverance,” we will look at ing between Moses and Pharaoh, the time and events between Isra- when Moses presents his first re- el’s change in status in Egypt as op- quest for Israel’s release. pressed slaves until Moses’ call to Moses’ first sign from God, the be Israel’s deliverer. The second unit, turning of the Nile River to blood, is “Preparation for Deliverance,” cov- the subject of lesson 6. ers the confrontations between Mo- In lesson 7 we study the harden- ing of Pharaoh’s heart as he refuses ses and Pharaoh leading up to the to let Israel go. Lesson 8 describes Passover and the final plague upon the plague of darkness, while les- Egypt. In the final four lessons in Unit son 9 explores the first Passover III titled “Deliverance Accomplished,” observance on the night of the tenth we will study God’s strategy as Isra- plague. el leaves Egypt but faces Pharaoh’s Lesson 10 looks at Israel’s release army, trapped between the army and from Egypt after the death of Egypt’s the Red Sea. firstborn. God prepares to trap the In lesson 1 we will see how the Egyptian forces as He leads Israel changes in Egypt and Israel result- into the wilderness in lesson 11. ed in Israel’s oppression and slavery Lesson 12 studies the dramatic by Egypt’s pharaohs. We will study parting of the Red Sea and Israel’s Egypt’s attempts to limit Israel’s deliverance from the Egyptian army, population through nefarious means. while lesson 13 explores God’s de- In our second lesson we will see struction of the Egyptian army by the how God used several people to waters of the Red Sea, thus freeing protect Moses at his birth and then Israel forever from Egypt’s control. PLEASE NOTE: Fundamental, sound doctrine is the objective of The Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel Worker Society, Union Gospel Press Division. The writers are prayerfully selected for their Bible knowledge and yieldedness to the Spirit of Truth, each writing in his own style as enlightened by the Holy Spirit. At best we know in part only. “They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). 2 HISTORY IS MORE EXCITING THAN FICTION Most of us enjoy an exciting novel or movie that has interesting characters, a plot with many twists and turns, despi- cable villains we can despise, and en- gaging heroes who save the day. When the last page is turned or the last scene played out, we like to feel the satisfac- tion that our lives are now richer for the experience. It is far more exciting to come to the pages of the Bible and know that we are not reading fiction but actual accounts of history. We can picture the changes taking place in Egypt. Decades from the time the nation would recall Joseph as a na- tional hero, the day arrived when no one demptive plan. The royal daughter, remembered him. Too much time and who might otherwise have obeyed her too many events had passed. Now the father’s evil orders, unknowingly hires Hebrew was viewed as an unwelcome the baby’s own mother to nurture and foreigner who might pose a threat to the teach the child the ways of his people nation’s security. One decision led to until he is old enough to come under another, and suddenly the Jews found her adoptive care. The groundwork of themselves oppressed and enslaved. the child’s future was thus laid properly The treatment of Jews before and in his early years. during World War II reminds us that this Once in the home of his adoptive is not such a far-fetched possibility even mother, the boy gains the education in our own day. and background he will later need in As time continued, however, God be- order to confront his people’s oppres- gan to intervene in dramatic yet imper- sors. ceptible ways. Common individuals be- Once his necessary education in came heroes. Egyptian midwives saved these surroundings was complete, lives from the obscurity of death during God moved him out and placed him childbirth. A Hebrew mother and her in new surroundings where he could family disobey the law, preserving their gain the character and experience of a son alive through an ingenious scheme. husband, father, and shepherd. But his We begin to see a strange turn of road to this point was not an easy one. events as the daughter of the very king He was forced to flee his privileged life who ordered the murder of Hebrew in- because he had committed a murder. fant boys takes pity on one of them and This was not the behavior we would saves him at the river’s edge. Now we expect of a man who would become see the plot of a movie begin to take God’s hero. Nonetheless, God was still shape. However, it is not a movie. It is in control. Moses took the path that real life. God does work in mysterious was the reverse of that of King David, ways. beginning first in the palace and then As He so often does, God ironically moving to the wilderness with his fa- turned evil into good through His re- ther-in-law’s flocks. Intermediate Bible Teacher 3 God spent eighty years preparing ways. For example, in Egyptian mythol- this deliverer to face a foreboding foe, ogy the Nile was believed to be the cir- a powerful nation’s king, one who was culatory system of the god Osiris. How viewed as a god and who acted with the appropriate that it was turned into blood. unquestioned authority of a god. It was if God were saying, in effect, “You Then in the obscurity and solitude of a want blood? OK, I will give you blood.” mountain in the wilderness God caught Likewise the plagues of frogs, lice, flies, his attention by means of a burning cattles, boils, etc., were all directed at bush. In this most unlikely of spots, God specific Egyptian gods and goddesses. called this man to become one of the This strange man and his God contin- most important people in history, one ued to thrust themselves into the king’s who would follow Him and serve as His life by bringing terrible hailstorms, dis- spokesman. ease upon the animals, boils upon the people, and thick darkness that blocked This unlikely spokesman for God re- out the sun. turned to Egypt with a twofold task: to For Pharaoh, there was more than first convince his own people that God enough evidence to prove that this had sent him, and then to confront man’s God was real.