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Study 4: Do you hear the people singafter the death of general lamarque who was the only one of the upper classes who spoke on behalf of the poor, the students tried to start a revolution. they thought the people would follow them and so they took up arms against the establishment. “Do you hear the people sing” expresses the frustration they felt, of the determination to not be slaves again. it expresses their hope that after a “crusade” and beyond the barricade there is a world they long to see.

Read the “Do you hear the people sing” song

Read Matthew 26:47-56; Ephesians 6:10-20

in Jesus’ time there were similar rumblings amongst some of the Jews towards the roman empire. a group called the zealots used violence to try to overthrow rome. the Jewish people were expecting a Messiah who would lead a violent overthrow of their oppressors, so Jesus confused them. When they finally came to take him away at gethsemane, peter tried to protect him by cutting off the ear of the high priest’s slave. Jesus rebuked peter saying that didn’t he know that if Jesus wanted he could call on the angel armies of heaven to enforce his will. he wasn’t interested in doing that. those who live by the sword die by the sword.

paul later clarified where the real war is, “our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (ephesians 6:12). this is a battle that can’t be won with swords, barricades or any other form of violence. the fight we are called to is one where the weapons are truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the word of god. Beyond this spiritual war there is a better world, just as the students in les Misérables longed for when they tried to start their revolution.

Discussion Questions

1. are there situations where you feel powerless? Where you feel angry but can see no possibility of change in the situation? Can you see why people might think their only hope is to physically fight against those who perpetrate injustice?

2. if Jesus chose not to be the military-leader-Messiah that israel was expecting how do you think his followers should respond in situations where other people might resort to violence?

3. einstein said, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them”. With this in mind, how does using the spiritual weapons from ephesians 6 work to overcome oppression and violence?

4. name one situation in your life where you are having problems with one or more people. Which of the spiritual weapons in ephesians 6 could you apply to overcome the spiritual forces behind that situation?

Bible Study Series

Do You Hear the People Sing“Do you hear the people sing

Singing the song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!

Will you join in our crusade?

Who will be strong and stand with me?

Beyond the barricade

Is there a world you long to see?”

Les Misérables (Universal Pictures, 2012).