Exodus 2:11-1511 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill...
Exodus 2:11-15
11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.
Numbers 12:3
3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
Numbers 20:1-12
1 In the first month the whole Israelite community arrived at the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. There Miriam died and was buried.
2 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. 3 They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! 4 Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? 5 Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 The Lord said to Moses, 8 “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”
9 So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. 10 He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
FAILURES OF MOSES
- Exodus 2:11-15
- Exodus 3
- Exodus 4:24-26
- Numbers 20:1-12
ON PRIDE AND HUMILITY
C.S. Lewis:
“The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility...According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
Jesus in Luke 14:11:
“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
ICE BREAKER
Share a time where either you failed, or you witnessed a memorable failure.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Glance over chapters 1 and 2 of Exodus. How does scripture set the scene so that the reader might expect an immediate heroic victory?
- Consider some of Moses' failures that scripture records (2:12-14, chapter 3, 4:24-26, Numbers 20:1-12). Which ones stand out to you? Does our culture punish certain types of failure differently than others?
- Numbers 12:3 tells us that Moses was the most humble person alive in his day. How can failure contribute to someone developing humility?
- Jeremy said "a more accurate understanding of the battle for our souls is the battle between our pride and our humility." C.S. Lewis called pride "the essential vice, the utmost evil." What makes pride so dangerous? How does humility counteract pride?
- What are some positive ways humility can be displayed...
- ...in our homes?
- ...at Southside?
- ...by our leaders?
- ...in our community?
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