Provision – SS2 Christian Religious Studies Lesson Note (First Term)

Provision is God’s care for His people shown in meeting their material needs, such as food, water and shelter.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. explain how God provided manna and water for the Israelites in the wilderness;
2. state why Moses called the place Massah and Meribah;
3. state the lessons to learn from God’s provision for the Israelites;
4. describe how God provided for Elijah at the Brook of Cherith;
5. narrate Elijah’s meeting with the widow of Zarephath.

What are the examples of God’s provision in this topic?

This topic gives four examples of God providing for people in need, shown in the table below.

How did God provide for the Israelites in the wilderness? (Exodus 16:1-21; 17:1-7)

God provided manna for food in the Wilderness of Sin and water from a rock at Rephidim.

Why did the Israelites murmur in the Wilderness of Sin?

• Hunger: the people had no food in the wilderness.
• Complaint against leaders: they murmured against Moses and Aaron.
• Accusation: they said Moses had brought them out to starve them to death.

How did God provide manna?

Manna is the bread-like food God gave the Israelites daily during their years in the wilderness.

1. The people complained openly about hunger.
2. Moses turned to God for an answer.
3. God promised to send bread from heaven.
4. Quails came in the evening, and manna lay on the ground in the morning.
5. The manna was “a fine flake-like thing, fine as hoarfrost on the ground.”
6. The people were told to gather as much as each person could eat.
7. Some gathered more than enough and kept it until the next day. It went bad.
8. On the sixth day they gathered a double portion for the Sabbath.

How did God provide water from the rock?

God provided water by commanding Moses to strike a rock at Rephidim.

1. On the journey, the people became thirsty.
2. As usual, they murmured and demanded water.
3. Moses called on God, and God answered at once.
4. God showed Moses a rock at Horeb and told him to strike it.
5. Moses struck the rock in the sight of the elders of Israel.
6. Fresh water rushed out, and the people drank and were satisfied.

Why was the place called Massah and Meribah?

Moses named the place Massah and Meribah because the people found fault and doubted God’s presence.

• Massah: means proof or testing, because the people tested God.
• Meribah: means contention or quarrelling, because the people quarrelled with Moses.
• Their question: they asked whether the Lord was among them or not.

What lessons does God’s provision teach?

God’s provision teaches that He cares for, protects and is patient with those who trust Him.

• God does not forsake His people: manna from heaven shows the Israelites belong to the One in heaven. In a crisis, He will not abandon those who trust Him.
• God defends His people: He is ready to fight those who fight us, as He fought the Egyptians.
• God is vigilant: He is our guardian, refuge and sanctuary.
• God solves every problem: there is no problem He cannot solve.
• God is patient: several times He provided for the people, and several times they remained ungrateful.
• Greed and hoarding bring loss: the manna kept beyond the day’s need went bad.

How did God provide for Elijah and the widow of Zarephath? (1 Kings 17:1-16)

God fed Elijah through ravens at the Brook of Cherith, then through a poor widow at Zarephath.

Why did the drought come?

• Cause: the Israelites had sinned by neglecting the worship of God and worshipping Baal.
• Announcement: Elijah announced a period of dryness to King Ahab.
• Length: the drought lasted three years.

How did God provide for Elijah at the Brook of Cherith?

1. God told Elijah to go to the Brook of Cherith.
2. He drank water from the brook.
3. God commanded ravens to feed him there.
4. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening.
5. Because of the drought, the brook later dried up.

How did God provide for Elijah through the widow of Zarephath?

1. God told Elijah to go to Zarephath, where a poor widow would take care of him.
2. At the gate of the town, he met the widow preparing her last meal.
3. Elijah asked her for water, and she obliged him.
4. He then asked her for a morsel of bread as well.
5. She said she was preparing her last meal so that she and her son would eat it and die.
6. Elijah assured her she would have an abundant supply.
7. He said the supply would not stop until God sent rain to the land.
8. The widow obeyed, and her flour and oil did not run out.

Evaluation

1. Why did the Israelites murmur against Moses and Aaron in the Wilderness of Sin?
2. Describe how God provided water for the people at Rephidim.
3. Why did Moses call the place Massah and Meribah?
4. How did God feed Elijah at the Brook of Cherith?
5. What did Elijah assure the widow of Zarephath?

Assignment

In your notebook, narrate how God provided manna for the Israelites in the Wilderness of Sin, and state three lessons from this provision.