Through the Bible: Day 72, Exodus

It is vital that we spend time in God’s Word.

But it’s not always easy.

We read a chapter and we don’t know what to get out of it or even how to start to understand it.

I thought I could try to help you get a little something out of what you are reading by providing you with some questions to ask as you look at the text.  Good questions are a good start to understanding. Sometimes there will be more questions, sometimes less.

You can do this!

So, get a notebook, a pen, your Bible, and if you would like some help, take some time to answer the questions, and you may be surprised by all God teaches you.

Exodus 22

1. What has happened to Israel so far in Exodus? Give just a general answer. And then where is God taking Israel next? Again, just a general answer. But what is God stopping to do here? What do you think is the significance of that?
2. These are very specific laws that are intended to help Israel live as a nation. Obviously, this is a sinful world and so there need to be laws for a nation to be able to deal with the sin and brokenness in this world. We're not nation, not a theocracy right now, but what are some of the things we can learn about God and ourselves from these laws.
3. Read verses 1-4. What do these instructions basically have to do with?
4. Whabt about 5 and 6?
5. How about veres 7-15? What general issues are these instructions addressing?
6. Now go back and pick out several of the laws. See if you can identify the basic principle behind the law and how it might shape the way you think today.
7. Look at verses 16 -17? Who is this law intended to protect? How?
8. The next few laws in verses 18-24 all deserve the death penalty in Israel. What are these sins?
9. Bestiality and idolatry are both terrible sins. But what is the extra statement he makes about idolatry that shows how terrible a sin this is? (Do we think about idolatry as being like bestiality, or even worse?)
10. What is the reason given for not mistreating a sojourner? What does God say will happen if they do mistreat the widow or fatherless child? (We are learning here about imitating God and the way He treats us. The New Testament will pick up on this theme and tell us to be imitators of God!)
11. What do we learn about God's attitude toward the poor in verse 25-27? What reason does God give for the way they should relate to the poor?
12. What do we learn about our attitude toward authority in verse 28? What do you think it means to revile and curse?
13. What surprising statement does he make at the end of verse 29 and beginning of verse 30? What do you think about that? What are you saying about God if you give him your firstborn? (How important was the firstborn in that society?)
14. What does God want all of Israel to be? One way they demonstrated their separation to God was in what they ate? By throwing this meat to the dogs, what were they even saying about the difference between human and animals?