Bible Studies, Inspired by Faith and Science

Joshua: 1. Where does Joshua first appear in the Bible? 2. How close were Joshua and Moses? 3. What tribe was Joshua from? 4. What has a talking donkey got to do with Bible? 5. Did the Israelites kill all their enemies in the desert? 6. Where is Gilead? 7. What happened to Rahab the harlot? 8. How did the Israelites enter the Promised Land? 9. What happened at Jericho? 10. How many times did the Israelites cross water on dry land? Joshua (Hoshea), an Ephraimite (Num 11:28, 13:8, descendant of Joseph), first appears in the Bible when the Amalekites attack the Israelites on their way to Mount Sinai. Moses tells Joshua to lead the army (Ex 17:9). Later Joshua goes up Mount Sinai with Moses, and so is not involved in the golden calf incident (24:13). Moses leads the Israelites in the desert, handing leadership over to Joshua just before they cross the Red Sea into Canaan (Num 27:18). Their travels are plagued with rebellion, plague, thirst (back at Meribah near Mount Sinai, Num 20), poison...

Road to Canaan 1. What happened to Miriam? 2. What happened to Aaron? 3. What happened to Aaron’s sons? 4. How did Moses die? 5. Where did Moses die? 6. Who was Korah? 7. Why did the Israelites have to wander in the desert? 8. How many years did the Israelites spend in the desert? 9. Where were the Israelites when they were in the desert? 10. Who died in the desert? Moses’ sister Miriam saved his life when he was a baby, and became a prophetess among the Israelites. Her victory song after the Red Sea crossing is one of the earliest recorded psalms (Ex 15:20). She objected to Moses’ leadership, in particular to his being married to Gentile (Cushite) and his claiming a special relationship with God (Num 12:1-2). After being exposed to the cloud of God’s presense, her skin was white and she was banished for seven days as a leper. According to some traditions, she married Hur, one of the friends who held Moses’ hands during the battle with the Amalekites near Mount Sinai (Ex 17:...

Parting Seas and Manna in the Desert 1. How long did the plagues of Egypt last? 2. How many men were in the Exodus? 3. Did any Egyptians travel with the Israelites? 4. What did the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire look like? 5. How many bodies of water ran dry for the Israelites? 6. Why might the Red Sea be the Reedy Lake? 7. Where did the Red Sea crossing take place? 8. Where did Moses make bitter water sweet? 9. What did the Israelites eat and drink in the desert? 10. What did Mount Sinai look and sound like? The plagues of Egypt began with the red river in late summer and continued through to March or April of the next year, when the Exodus took place. Hailstorms would have left the desert with water and abundant plants, making this the only time of year such a large group of people could travel with their flocks. The Bible “counts” the people, giving a total of 603,550 men (Num 1:19-21)—so many they would easily outnumber any other army of the time though the Bible also says they...

Burning Bushes and Plagues of Frogs 1. How old was Moses when he returned to Egypt? 2. Where was the burning bush? 3. Can bushes burn without burning away? 4. Can sticks turn into snakes? 5. What did Moses and Aaron ask the Pharaoh to do? 6. What have red rivers, dead fish, and plagues of frogs got in common with each other? 7. Which plague was the first that the Egyptian magicians failed to copy? 8. Did God try to help the Egyptians at all? 9. Did the Egyptians try to help the Israelites at all? 10. If the Israelites fled across the Sinai peninsula, how long would it take to escape Egypt? The Bible says Moses was grown up (Ex 2:11) when he fled from Egypt and 80 (7:7) when he returned. A generation was about 25 years though it might be “estimated” at 40—a generic big number. 80 years could represent two generations, making Moses about 50 and Aaron 53. (When the Israelites are spend 40 years in the desert, 40 years is described as the same as "a generation": Num 32:13) Moses ...

Young Moses 1. Why were the Israelites in Egypt? 2. How long were the Israelites in Egypt? 3. Where did the Israelites live in Egypt? 4. How many Israelite midwives served the whole community? 5. Why wasn’t Aaron killed as a baby? 6. Why wasn’t Moses killed as a baby? 7. What was the name of Moses’ real mother? 8. What was the name of Moses’ foster-mother? 9. Why might Moses have written some of the books of the Old Testament? 10. Why did Moses run away? At the end of Genesis, God’s people are living in the hill-country of Goshen near the Nile delta, near the area where Rameses will later be built. They’re pretty isolated from other Egyptians, since they’re shepherds and shepherds are despised. They stayed there for 400 years (Ex 12:40) and probably consolidated their memories of the Genesis stories while telling them round the camp-fire. Other tribes may have added and expanded traditional stories in the retelling, but the Israelites believed their stories to be God’s word ...

8: What if… the Ten Commandments were just the short form? Moses goes back up the mountain to plead for the people in Exodus 32:31-35 , and although the Levites have already killed some of the wrongdoers, God claims that punishment is his own domain. He gives the order to Moses to lead the people onward in their journey ( Exodus 32:33, 33:1-6 ) but then He makes them wait. There’s more than “just” the Ten Commandments to be given on Sinai. What if… stories are told from different points of view? Exodus 33:7-11 says the Lord speaks to Moses face to face, but 18-23 says no one can see God’s face. The first description may come from Joshua’s point of view, and the second from Moses’. Whatever if meant, the people see smoke and know Moses is meeting God in a much more real sense than they can. But Moses is aware of how much he is missing. Later, when he interacts more closely with God on the mountain, his face is described as radiant ( 29 ), from the heat perhaps, and also from “seeing G...

7: What if… Mount Sinai was a volcano? Exodus 19:16-25 . The mountain does have lots of the characteristics of a volcano and we know God has control over nature. 1. fire ( Deuteronomy 4:11 , Exodus 19:18 ) 2. explosions, thunder ( Exodus 19:16 ) 3. trumpets (a real but lesser known sound effect due to expanding gasses) ( Exodus 19:19 ) 4. lightening ( Exodus 19:16 ) 5. earthquakes ( Exodus 19:18 ) 6. smoke and clouds over the summit ( Exodus 19:16,18 ) 7. lava ( Judges 5:5 mentions even Sinai melting before the Lord). Deuteronomy 1:2 gives more information about the location and Colin Humphreys’ book explains many reasons why Mount Sinai might in fact be Mount Bedr, in Arabia. A large pasture at its base would provide good camping and the river would allow the Israelites to wash their clothes ( Exodus 19:10 ). A tradition that no one should touch the mountain is preserved by the Bedouin to this day ( 19:11 ). What if… Moses went up the mountain several times? It’s not clear how far u...

6: What if… rocks drip water and trees drip dew? The Exodus story is retold in Numbers, again with those small variations that help confirm and shed light on what happened. Colin Humphreys has researched the descriptions and locations and provides a fascinating account of the most likely journey in his book. Numbers 33:8-15 lists the Israelites as stopping at the Desert of Etham, Marah, Elim, the Red Sea, the Desert of Sin, Dophkah, Alush, Rephidim, and the Desert of Sinai. Combining this list with the account in Exodus helps us come up with a possible map. What if… there really was no water on the road through the Desert of Shur? Exodus 15:22-25 . The word Shur means wall, suggesting a rift wall or rift valley. The Bible says the Israelites found no water for 3 days as they walked in this desert. (Note, they are on days 8, 9 and 10 of their journey here, and Arabian tradition says Moses took 9 days to reach Madian.) The trade route south from the Gulf of Aqaba fits the description ...

4: What if… God’s really acts in our world? Would finding a “natural” explanation for an event stop it’s being miraculous? When Jesus calmed the waves, the disciples cried out “Who is he, that even the wind and waves obey him?” When Moses stretched his hand over the water, the Hebrews might have said the same. But what if the storm was just about to abate, and the water just about to turn red. Would that stop it from being a miracle? Egyptian magicians could make the tide turn red. That’s magic, unless we understand how it’s done. But they couldn’t part the sea and neither, in general, can we. We might guess when seas will run dry, but God, who created nature, makes the timing exactly right for His people to escape. When too many “natural” coincidences pile on top of each other, perhaps that’s when it’s fair to say there’s a God and He’s performing miracles. It might even be the “simplest” explanation. What if… God designed our instincts? There is something very natural about placing ...

3: What if… God uses nature to perform miracles? How much do you know all about Moses and the burning bush? Try these questions: Was Moses always the obedient servant of God? See Exodus 4:25 . He didn’t circumcise his sons. Why does God have such a cryptic name? See Exodus 3:6,14-16 . Sinai is God’s mountain, but if Jethro called it that, it was probably the mountain of a different god. God introduces himself to Moses through the history of his relationship with his people. Why is Moses afraid? He’s been living among people of a different religion, and probably following different traditions. He may have assumed God had forgotten about him. What does God ask? In Exodus 3:18 God tells Moses to speak to Pharaoh, but not to day “Let my people go forever.” Instead God asks, through Moses, “Let them travel 3 days journey.” Three days out, plus one to worship, plus three days back is seven days, just long enough to for them to cross the peninsula into Midian where Pharaoh can’t chase th...

2: What if… there’s a mountain in Arabia…? What if… Egypt was a good place for the Israelites? 1. Why did the Egyptians let the Israelites stay? Genesis 46:31-34 says the Israelites were herdsmen – a despised occupation in Egypt; they presented no threat to Egyptian jobs. 2. Where did the Israelites live in Egypt? Goshen was probably hill-country – fine for animals but not particularly fertile, quite likely near the Nile delta where Rameses would later be built. 3. Did the Israelites mix with Egyptians? There probably weren’t any Egyptians near Goshen till work started on Rameses. At that point Israelite men were probably enslaved to work on the palace. Their wives may well have become servants in Egyptian houses. 4. How long did the Israelites stay in Egypt? Exodus 12:40 says they stayed 430 years. This could mean a little under 10 generations. (40 for a generation, 10 for a countable number.) 5. What did they do while they were there? Until they were enslaved, the Israelites p...