We have recently studied the book of Exodus:

Question:
As God led Israel’s escape through the Red Sea, how many battles did Moses have to win against the Egyptians?

Question:
How did Moses respond to an unprovoked attack by Amalekites?

Question:
On this urgent occasion did Moses ask for specific guidance from God?

Question:
And did this impromptu battle give Israel lasting protection from raids by Amalekites or from other brigands?

Question:
On later occasions God would send a destroying angel, or rain down hailstones. He might create auditory hallucinations, produce blindness, plague enemies with “terror,” or maybe afflict them with stinging insects.

So, was it necessary for God’s untrained people to go out, in God’s name, and personally take the lives of many other people?

Question:
Have we heard of too many deadly fights, especially in the former land of Canaan?

How can the fighters and the politicians on both sides of these fights claim that they are simply doing what God told them to do?

Question:
As we read through week after week of difficult texts, what kinds of questions should we ask?