Genesis 16
- Abram and Sarai had lived in Canaan 10 years and Sarai told Abram to try to bear children with their Egyptian servant, Hagar.
- Hagar gave Sarai a look of contempt and Sarai banished her.
- Why would Sarai tell Abram to sleep with their servant and then get mad at them?
- Why did Sarai deal harshly with Hagar when she was simply following Sarai's directions for her?
- This act shows that Abram and Sarai did not trust God whole heartidly because they tried to come up with an heir themselves.
- An angel of the Lord told Hagar that God heard her and would bless her son and that she should name him Ishmael.
- Why would God bless an Egyptian servant who is not an Israelite?
- How is having a son who is a "wild donkey of a man" a good thing and how is that a blessing?
- Abram called Hagar's son Ishmael.
- Did Hagar tell him that this should be his son's name or how did he know?
Nehemiah 5
- The Jews were exacting heavy taxes on their brothers. They were taking their brothers land and enslaving their children too. Nehemiah told them that this was not good.
- Nehemiah took counsel with himself (not others or God).
-Nehemiah told them that they needed to fear God and not put a burden on their brothers.
- Nehemiah led in this by lending grain to the poor without asking to be paid back and NOT eating his governor's portion which he had full rights to do. Nehemiah's sacrifices and servant heart encouraged others to follow suit. (This shows a Christian heart to serve and sacrifice that I want to have more of)
- The people promised not to do this any more and praised God.
- Former governor's had oppressed the people with taxes.
- Nehemiah asks God to remember his generosity.
- Is it wrong to ask God to bless the good things we do? Doesn't Jesus tell us to do good deeds, fast, and pray in secret?
Matthew 15
- Pharisees were upset because Jesus' disciples didn't wash before eating.
- Jesus told them that it wasn't what goes into the mouth that defiles a person but what comes out of it. They didn't understand what he meant because they had added to the Law.
- Jesus told His disciples when they asked Him that food goes into the stomach and then is expelled but what comes out of the mouth shows what is in the "heart of a person" (sin)
- Sin in people's hearts: evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. Again a tree will be judged by its fruit. (What fruit am I seeing in my own life?)
- If eating doesn't defile a person, was it really a sin for Jews at this time to eat an "unclean" animal since it was a Mosaic Law?
- The Canaanite woman asked Jesus to heal her demon possessed daughter, then turned to the disciples, then turned back to Jesus, but Jesus told her that He was sent to the lost sheep of Israel. He said the children's bread should not be fed to the dogs.
- She replied by saying even dogs get scraps from the table. She did not respond in anger but with wisdom.
- Her daughter was instantly healed because of the woman's faith.
- This was the second time Jesus had healed a non Jewish person (The first being the Centurion).
- Jesus fed 4,000 men with 7 loaves and a few fish and there was some left over.
- Why did the disciples ask how they were going to feed the crowd when He had just fed a huge crowd a few chapters earlier?
Acts 15
- Some in the church were preaching that the Gentiles MUST be circumcised in order to receive the faith. (This seems to be the first doctrinal issue had by the new church)
- They met together to discuss this matter and v. 9 - 11 sum up the truth of the Gospel very well. It said that even the Jews were unable to keep the Law of Moses and it would be wrong to place this burden on the Gentiles, since it is by GRACE we are saved. (It is not works or good deeds that make us right before God. It is only faith in Christ!)
- Peter recounted how God had had him preach to the Gentiles and Paul and Barnabas said the same thing.
- James (not sure which one) recalls a verse from Isaiah which says God will bring knowledge of Him to the Gentiles.
- Who is Simeon?
- They told the Gentiles to abstain from idols and sexual immorality and from blood (murder?)
- Why do they forget to remind them that it is by GRACE they will be saved?
- Judas and Silas join Paul and Barnabas until Paul and Barnabas get into a "sharp disagreement". It is so sharp that Paul takes Silas to return to towns where the Gospel has been preached and strengthen those places and Barnabas leaves Paul with John called Mark.
- Why didn't Paul and Barnabas pray about their disagreement and ask for the Spirit's direction?
- Is Barnabas mentioned in any other places in Scripture?
- John called Mark, Silas, Barnabas, and Judas were not the original apostles. The 12 apostles were not officially called by Jesus until Matthew 10. Until that time there was only Peter, Andrew, James, and John (chapter 4) and Matthew (chapter 9)
- Is Joseph called Barsabbas (acts 1:23) the same person as Judas called Barsabbas (15:22)?
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Genesis 15 - Nehemiah 4 - Matthew 14- Acts 14
Genesis 15
- God promises Abram to bless him greatly. Abram asks how since he has no heir except Eleazar who is not Abram's son.
- God promises Abram that he will indeed have a son, and his descendants will be as many as the stars. (This is a great promise!)
- Abram met God's promise with a question, so God had Abram prepare a sacrifice. God promises Abram that his descendants will be servants and sojourners for 400 years before finally gaining the promised land.
- What does it mean when it says the iniquities of the Amorites is not yet complete?
- Why did God send a flaming torch and a smoking fire pot between the halves of meat that were sacrificed to seal His promise to Abram?
Nehemiah 4
- Sanballat and Tobiah continued to taunt and mock the Jews who were rebuilding the wall in order to discourage them. They said the wall was so weak that a fox could knock it over.
- Nehemiah asked God to curse them for these taunts and not forgive them of their sins against the Israelites.
- They continued the wall until it was finished to half its original height.
- Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites were angry that the Jews were finishing the wall so plotted to come and fight the Jews and confuse their plans.
- Nehemiah sent people with their families to protect the gaps still in the wall. This shows that praying to God for safety can also be met with action. The people trusted God to protect them, but were ready for the battle if and when it came.
- Nehemiah reminded the people that the Lord is "great and awesome".
- The people building the wall carried building materials in one hand and their weapon in the other.
- Nehemiah told the people that when and where the trumpet sounded they should be come to fight because they were all building in different parts of Jerusalem.
- They didn't bathe because they wanted their weapons on at all times.
Matthew 14
- Herod had arrested John because John told Herod that it was not right that he should marry his brother's wife.
- Herod beheaded John the Baptist as per request of his step daughter because Herod had promised to grant any request she had.
- Jesus prayed over the five loaves and two fish (giving credit to God and not himself) and then fed 5,000 mean plus women and children. There were still 12 baskets lefts over after everyone ate. This was a big miracle!
- Jesus told disciples to sail across the sea ahead of Him. He went up to pray before meeting them.
- The disciples' boat was a long way offshore (many stadia - 1 stadia = 607 feet)
- Jesus walked across the water to them in a storm. They thought He was a ghost.
- Peter believed it was Him and asked to come out on the water. Peter walked on the water, but once his focus went from Jesus to the storm he began to sank. His faith was too weak to totally trust Jesus.
- The disciples worshipped Him and called Him the Son of God.
- The town of Gennesaret welcomed Him and took Him to heal all their sick. They only wanted to touch his clothes and their faith healed them. (It's amazing how different towns and groups of people responded to Him. I guess the same is true today).
Acts 14
- Paul and Barnabas go to Iconium and many people believe until Jews again stir up the people.
- They spoke boldly for God (something I need to do more).
- They had to leave that town because many plotted against them.
- They continued on into Lystra where Paul heal a lame man. When this happened the townspeople thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods (Zeus and Hermes) but even when Paul told them they were just men they celebrated and worshipped.
- (v.16 - 17) - Paul told how God had allowed the people to walk in their own ways but still God still gave all people witness of Himself (rains, harvest, etc.)
- Then people from Antioch and Iconium came and and persuaded the people of Lystra to stone Paul (and they thought he was dead)
- Paul got up after being stoned and went back into that city, and eventually back to Antioch. Paul did not fear death and boldly preached to all towns, even the ones where some people despised him.
_ Why does Paul flee one city where the people were planning on stoning him and go back into a city where they just tried to stone him to death?
- Paul appointed elders to the churches he was planting. This would ensure their leadership and fruitfulness.
- He stayed with the disciples and other believers for awhile to be strengthened. (The Christian walk is not a solo journey)
- God promises Abram to bless him greatly. Abram asks how since he has no heir except Eleazar who is not Abram's son.
- God promises Abram that he will indeed have a son, and his descendants will be as many as the stars. (This is a great promise!)
- Abram met God's promise with a question, so God had Abram prepare a sacrifice. God promises Abram that his descendants will be servants and sojourners for 400 years before finally gaining the promised land.
- What does it mean when it says the iniquities of the Amorites is not yet complete?
- Why did God send a flaming torch and a smoking fire pot between the halves of meat that were sacrificed to seal His promise to Abram?
Nehemiah 4
- Sanballat and Tobiah continued to taunt and mock the Jews who were rebuilding the wall in order to discourage them. They said the wall was so weak that a fox could knock it over.
- Nehemiah asked God to curse them for these taunts and not forgive them of their sins against the Israelites.
- They continued the wall until it was finished to half its original height.
- Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites were angry that the Jews were finishing the wall so plotted to come and fight the Jews and confuse their plans.
- Nehemiah sent people with their families to protect the gaps still in the wall. This shows that praying to God for safety can also be met with action. The people trusted God to protect them, but were ready for the battle if and when it came.
- Nehemiah reminded the people that the Lord is "great and awesome".
- The people building the wall carried building materials in one hand and their weapon in the other.
- Nehemiah told the people that when and where the trumpet sounded they should be come to fight because they were all building in different parts of Jerusalem.
- They didn't bathe because they wanted their weapons on at all times.
Matthew 14
- Herod had arrested John because John told Herod that it was not right that he should marry his brother's wife.
- Herod beheaded John the Baptist as per request of his step daughter because Herod had promised to grant any request she had.
- Jesus prayed over the five loaves and two fish (giving credit to God and not himself) and then fed 5,000 mean plus women and children. There were still 12 baskets lefts over after everyone ate. This was a big miracle!
- Jesus told disciples to sail across the sea ahead of Him. He went up to pray before meeting them.
- The disciples' boat was a long way offshore (many stadia - 1 stadia = 607 feet)
- Jesus walked across the water to them in a storm. They thought He was a ghost.
- Peter believed it was Him and asked to come out on the water. Peter walked on the water, but once his focus went from Jesus to the storm he began to sank. His faith was too weak to totally trust Jesus.
- The disciples worshipped Him and called Him the Son of God.
- The town of Gennesaret welcomed Him and took Him to heal all their sick. They only wanted to touch his clothes and their faith healed them. (It's amazing how different towns and groups of people responded to Him. I guess the same is true today).
Acts 14
- Paul and Barnabas go to Iconium and many people believe until Jews again stir up the people.
- They spoke boldly for God (something I need to do more).
- They had to leave that town because many plotted against them.
- They continued on into Lystra where Paul heal a lame man. When this happened the townspeople thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods (Zeus and Hermes) but even when Paul told them they were just men they celebrated and worshipped.
- (v.16 - 17) - Paul told how God had allowed the people to walk in their own ways but still God still gave all people witness of Himself (rains, harvest, etc.)
- Then people from Antioch and Iconium came and and persuaded the people of Lystra to stone Paul (and they thought he was dead)
- Paul got up after being stoned and went back into that city, and eventually back to Antioch. Paul did not fear death and boldly preached to all towns, even the ones where some people despised him.
_ Why does Paul flee one city where the people were planning on stoning him and go back into a city where they just tried to stone him to death?
- Paul appointed elders to the churches he was planting. This would ensure their leadership and fruitfulness.
- He stayed with the disciples and other believers for awhile to be strengthened. (The Christian walk is not a solo journey)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Genesis 14 - Nehemiah 3 - Matthew 13 - Acts 13
Genesis 14
- 4 foreign kings fought against five others in the Valley of Siddim
- People fell into a bitumen pit (also known as a tar pit) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_pit
- Kings if Soddom and Gomorrah fled
- Was Lot Abram's brother or nephew (see v. 12)?
- A survivor told Abram what had happened to Lot. Abram was staying with an Amorite near the oak (terebinth) tree - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terebinth
- Abram and 318 other men defeated the army and brought back the possessions and Lot.
- Lifting a hand to God can also mean taking a solemn oath to God.
- Melchizedek king of Salem brought Abram win and bread. Melchizedek was a priest of God meaning that God was still communicating with other people beside Abram. Melchizedek attributes Abram's successes to God. The king of Sodom says that Abram can take all of the possessions he brought back, but Abram refused because he wanted God to receive all credit for Abram's wealth, not the king of Sodom.
- Melchizedek appears 2 other times in Scripture Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7
- Abram gave Melchizedek one tenth of everything because he was a priest of God. Melchizedek has no known genealogy, but simply appears in these three places in Scripture.
- How did Melchizedek come to know so much about God and become a priest of God in this era?
Nehemiah 3
- Nehemiah had men (and women) rebuilding the walla and gates that were next to their own homes. This probably made the people take the work more seriously because it directly was affecting their own safety.
- A map of Old Jerusalem http://www.theglobeandmail.com/series/jerusalem/map500x500.gif
- This chapter dives into the specific parts of the rebuilding and shows how families work together to rebuild certain portions of the wall. It wasn't done in just one area at a time.
- Key structures mentioned: Sheep Gate, Dung Gate, Fish Gate, Water Gate, Horse Gate, East Gate, Gate of Yeshanah, Fountain Gate, Valley Gate, Muster (Hammiphkad) Gate, Pool of Shelah, Tower of Hannel, Tower of the Hundred, Tower of Ovens, Broad Wall, and the Wall of Ophel.
- The Tekoites nobles refused to serve their Lord (or their lords) - interesting that it could go either way.
Matthew 13
- everything that Jesus spoke to the people was done in parables.
- Jesus told the disciples that they had been given the ability to hear and understand
- Parable of the Sower - Jesus explains the 4 different types of "soil" (people) that the "seed" (Word of God) can fall on.
The Path = people who do not understand what they hear,
The Rocky Soil = people who hear and get excited but then lose joy when trials come
The Thorny Soil = people who hear the word but is choked out by cares of the world and person in unfruitful (which has already been address by Jesus in 2 previous parables)
Good Soil = believer who understands the Word and is fruitful
- (v.14-15) - fulfill Isaiah's prophecy.
- (v.34-35) - fulfil what Isaiah said about speaking in parables
- Parable of the Weeds and the Parable of the Nets both show how God's angels will sort out the righteous and unrighteous at the "harvest" Last Days
- Parable of Hidden Treasure and Pearl explain how we should take hold and value God's Word as a great treasure. The man sold everything he had and bought the field. We need to see God's Word as a great treasure, better than ANYTHING this world can offer us.
- (v.51-52) seem to be saying that godly people will take out the valuable old and new testament treasures and use them as one. "All Scripture is God breathed" as is stated in 2 Timothy 3:16
- Jesus returns to Nazareth, His hometown, and is rejected.
-Jesus' mom was Mary and his dad, Joseph, was a carpenter and had 4 other sons; James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas and other daughters. Jesus was from a big family.
- Does it say anywhere that Jesus was actually a carpenter himself?
Acts 13
- The Holy Spirit said for Barnabas and Saul to be sent out.
- Saul is first called Paul in this chapter
- John helped Barnabas and Paul at first but then John returned to Jerusalem
- Bar-Jesus a false prophet was speaking against them, and Paul rebuked him and struck him blind. The proconsul believed.
- Did they believe because of what happened or because or what they heard Paul preaching?
- Paul spoke boldly the Gospel to the people of Antioch during the Sabbath. He tied in 5 OT references mainly from the Psalms. He also addressed Israel's whole history, building upon what they knew.
- The people begged for Paul to speak again at the next Sabbath and the whole town came.
- The Jews were jealous and tried to dismiss them, so Paul said that since the Jews were resisting the Truth of the Gospel that he and Barnabas would preach it to the Gentiles (which Peter had just started doing after the "sheet vision".
- (v.51) states that " they (the Gentiles) began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed - This seems to tie in with predestination, because the Gentiles who believed had been "appointed".
- Paul and Barnabas were driven out of Antioch but were rejoicing and went on to Iconium.
- 4 foreign kings fought against five others in the Valley of Siddim
- People fell into a bitumen pit (also known as a tar pit) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_pit
- Kings if Soddom and Gomorrah fled
- Was Lot Abram's brother or nephew (see v. 12)?
- A survivor told Abram what had happened to Lot. Abram was staying with an Amorite near the oak (terebinth) tree - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terebinth
- Abram and 318 other men defeated the army and brought back the possessions and Lot.
- Lifting a hand to God can also mean taking a solemn oath to God.
- Melchizedek king of Salem brought Abram win and bread. Melchizedek was a priest of God meaning that God was still communicating with other people beside Abram. Melchizedek attributes Abram's successes to God. The king of Sodom says that Abram can take all of the possessions he brought back, but Abram refused because he wanted God to receive all credit for Abram's wealth, not the king of Sodom.
- Melchizedek appears 2 other times in Scripture Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7
- Abram gave Melchizedek one tenth of everything because he was a priest of God. Melchizedek has no known genealogy, but simply appears in these three places in Scripture.
- How did Melchizedek come to know so much about God and become a priest of God in this era?
Nehemiah 3
- Nehemiah had men (and women) rebuilding the walla and gates that were next to their own homes. This probably made the people take the work more seriously because it directly was affecting their own safety.
- A map of Old Jerusalem http://www.theglobeandmail.com/series/jerusalem/map500x500.gif
- This chapter dives into the specific parts of the rebuilding and shows how families work together to rebuild certain portions of the wall. It wasn't done in just one area at a time.
- Key structures mentioned: Sheep Gate, Dung Gate, Fish Gate, Water Gate, Horse Gate, East Gate, Gate of Yeshanah, Fountain Gate, Valley Gate, Muster (Hammiphkad) Gate, Pool of Shelah, Tower of Hannel, Tower of the Hundred, Tower of Ovens, Broad Wall, and the Wall of Ophel.
- The Tekoites nobles refused to serve their Lord (or their lords) - interesting that it could go either way.
Matthew 13
- everything that Jesus spoke to the people was done in parables.
- Jesus told the disciples that they had been given the ability to hear and understand
- Parable of the Sower - Jesus explains the 4 different types of "soil" (people) that the "seed" (Word of God) can fall on.
The Path = people who do not understand what they hear,
The Rocky Soil = people who hear and get excited but then lose joy when trials come
The Thorny Soil = people who hear the word but is choked out by cares of the world and person in unfruitful (which has already been address by Jesus in 2 previous parables)
Good Soil = believer who understands the Word and is fruitful
- (v.14-15) - fulfill Isaiah's prophecy.
- (v.34-35) - fulfil what Isaiah said about speaking in parables
- Parable of the Weeds and the Parable of the Nets both show how God's angels will sort out the righteous and unrighteous at the "harvest" Last Days
- Parable of Hidden Treasure and Pearl explain how we should take hold and value God's Word as a great treasure. The man sold everything he had and bought the field. We need to see God's Word as a great treasure, better than ANYTHING this world can offer us.
- (v.51-52) seem to be saying that godly people will take out the valuable old and new testament treasures and use them as one. "All Scripture is God breathed" as is stated in 2 Timothy 3:16
- Jesus returns to Nazareth, His hometown, and is rejected.
-Jesus' mom was Mary and his dad, Joseph, was a carpenter and had 4 other sons; James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas and other daughters. Jesus was from a big family.
- Does it say anywhere that Jesus was actually a carpenter himself?
Acts 13
- The Holy Spirit said for Barnabas and Saul to be sent out.
- Saul is first called Paul in this chapter
- John helped Barnabas and Paul at first but then John returned to Jerusalem
- Bar-Jesus a false prophet was speaking against them, and Paul rebuked him and struck him blind. The proconsul believed.
- Did they believe because of what happened or because or what they heard Paul preaching?
- Paul spoke boldly the Gospel to the people of Antioch during the Sabbath. He tied in 5 OT references mainly from the Psalms. He also addressed Israel's whole history, building upon what they knew.
- The people begged for Paul to speak again at the next Sabbath and the whole town came.
- The Jews were jealous and tried to dismiss them, so Paul said that since the Jews were resisting the Truth of the Gospel that he and Barnabas would preach it to the Gentiles (which Peter had just started doing after the "sheet vision".
- (v.51) states that " they (the Gentiles) began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed - This seems to tie in with predestination, because the Gentiles who believed had been "appointed".
- Paul and Barnabas were driven out of Antioch but were rejoicing and went on to Iconium.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Genesis 13 - Nehemiah 2- Matthew 12 - Acts 12
Genesis 13
- Abram left Egypt very rich (because of the gifts Pharaoh had give him when he had lied about his wife being his sister)
- Abram went back to Ai, where he first set up an alter to the LORD.
- Lot and Abram had been blessed with so many livestock in Egypt that the land could not support them both so Abram let Lot choose where he wanted to settle. (This shows that Abram trusted that the LORD would provide for him regardless of his location....amazing!).
- Lot chose to settle to the East near the Jordan because it looked like the best land. Abram happily took the land to the west.
- Men of Sodom (were already very wicked though Christ had said in Matthew that if He had preached to them, they would have repented of their sins)
- God again promised Abram and his offspring ALL the land that he could see in every direction. This is an amazing promise!
- Abram's response was to build an alter to God.
Nehemiah 2
- How does the Nehemiah timeline fit in with the Ezra timeline?
- Some thoughts on the timeline. King Cyrus was the original Persian king to send Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The Jews rebuilt the altar first (which apparently took them a year, then started rebuilding the Temple (but the people of the land tried to foil their plans until King Darius (who I think was after King Artaxerxes))
- Nehemiah had gone with this first group to Jerusalem.
- King Artaxerxes had ordered the rebuilding halted after finding the Israelites to be troublesome
- It says in Ezra 4:24 that rebuilding didn't start again until the 2nd year of King Darius.
- Nehemiah says the rebuilding started during the 20th year of King Artaxerxes.
- Why do these two accounts not seem to line up? Am I missing something?
- Nehemiah looks sad before the king which apparently has never happened before, meaning Nehemiah always looked joyful at work and did not complain (I wish I could say this is true for me)
- Nehemiah prayed to God (a quick second long prayer) before answering the king's question of why he was sad and what he was requesting of the king. This has always amazed me. Nehemiah's prayed in the blink of an eye, but this shows his awareness of a need for God's help.
- Nehemiah knew God had blessed his desires and plans.
- The king sent decrees and troops with Nehemiah (again showing God's provision) as well as orders for building materials from local people.
- Nehemiah went to Jerusalem alone at night to survey the damage and told no one of his plans to rebuild the city until the following day. His account with the king showed everyone that God was blessing his desires and everyone was excited to get started even though the local people were not happy to see Jerusalem being rebuilt.
- Nehemiah told those who were opposing him that God would strengthen them and make their plans prosper. Again, Nehemiah was not taking any of the credit.
Matthew 12
- Jesus was picking grains to eat on the Sabbath and healed a man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees wanted to trap him, but he said that they would help a sheep that had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath, so Jesus would heal men. He said to them that it is lawful to do "good" on the Sabbath.
- This action made the Pharisees mad and they started to look for ways to kill Him.
- Jesus left there, healed many, and told them not to tell anyone what He was doing for them thus fulfilling Isaiah. In this portion of Scripture it said that the Messiah would bring the "Gentiles hope". This happened in Acts through Paul and also with Peter and the Centurion.
- Jesus tells the people that He cannot drive out evil Spirits by the devil.
- (v. 22-32) - What does Jesus mean by blaspheming against the Spirit versus against the Son?
-Again Jesus tells the people that a "tree is judged by its fruit" meaning people are. What people say shows what is in the heart, so by your words and thus your heart motive you will be judged.
- (v.38) - People asked for a sign. Jesus said that was wrong, but he said the only sign that would be given was the sign of Jonah (like Johan who was in the whale for 3 days, Christ would be in the earth 3 days) and He also told the people indirectly that He was greater than Jonah and Solomon.
- (v.43 -45) - A Spirit driven out can come back with worse spirits
- How can this be prevented? What can stop them from doing this?
-Why didn't Jesus acknowledge His mother Mary and brothers arrival in this passage? What point was He trying to make?
Acts 12
- King Herod killed James brother of John and imprisoned Peter.
- Why didn't Herod kill Peter immediately too?
- Why did God let Herod kill James?
- An angel of the Lord saved Peter from prison, unfastening his chains and letting him out of the gate.
- The disciples didn't believe Rhoda, the servant girl when she said she saw Peter. They thought it must be Peter's angel she saw.
- Why does this mean? Were they seeing guardian angels around people at this time?
- Why didn't this "angel sighting" surprise them?
- People were getting food from Herod and were saying that he was a "god not a man" and at this very moment an angel of the Lord struck him down. God showed His power in killing a boastful king in the very height of his arrogance and pride.
- Barnabas and Saul return to Jerusalem with John.
- Abram left Egypt very rich (because of the gifts Pharaoh had give him when he had lied about his wife being his sister)
- Abram went back to Ai, where he first set up an alter to the LORD.
- Lot and Abram had been blessed with so many livestock in Egypt that the land could not support them both so Abram let Lot choose where he wanted to settle. (This shows that Abram trusted that the LORD would provide for him regardless of his location....amazing!).
- Lot chose to settle to the East near the Jordan because it looked like the best land. Abram happily took the land to the west.
- Men of Sodom (were already very wicked though Christ had said in Matthew that if He had preached to them, they would have repented of their sins)
- God again promised Abram and his offspring ALL the land that he could see in every direction. This is an amazing promise!
- Abram's response was to build an alter to God.
Nehemiah 2
- How does the Nehemiah timeline fit in with the Ezra timeline?
- Some thoughts on the timeline. King Cyrus was the original Persian king to send Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The Jews rebuilt the altar first (which apparently took them a year, then started rebuilding the Temple (but the people of the land tried to foil their plans until King Darius (who I think was after King Artaxerxes))
- Nehemiah had gone with this first group to Jerusalem.
- King Artaxerxes had ordered the rebuilding halted after finding the Israelites to be troublesome
- It says in Ezra 4:24 that rebuilding didn't start again until the 2nd year of King Darius.
- Nehemiah says the rebuilding started during the 20th year of King Artaxerxes.
- Why do these two accounts not seem to line up? Am I missing something?
- Nehemiah looks sad before the king which apparently has never happened before, meaning Nehemiah always looked joyful at work and did not complain (I wish I could say this is true for me)
- Nehemiah prayed to God (a quick second long prayer) before answering the king's question of why he was sad and what he was requesting of the king. This has always amazed me. Nehemiah's prayed in the blink of an eye, but this shows his awareness of a need for God's help.
- Nehemiah knew God had blessed his desires and plans.
- The king sent decrees and troops with Nehemiah (again showing God's provision) as well as orders for building materials from local people.
- Nehemiah went to Jerusalem alone at night to survey the damage and told no one of his plans to rebuild the city until the following day. His account with the king showed everyone that God was blessing his desires and everyone was excited to get started even though the local people were not happy to see Jerusalem being rebuilt.
- Nehemiah told those who were opposing him that God would strengthen them and make their plans prosper. Again, Nehemiah was not taking any of the credit.
Matthew 12
- Jesus was picking grains to eat on the Sabbath and healed a man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees wanted to trap him, but he said that they would help a sheep that had fallen into a pit on the Sabbath, so Jesus would heal men. He said to them that it is lawful to do "good" on the Sabbath.
- This action made the Pharisees mad and they started to look for ways to kill Him.
- Jesus left there, healed many, and told them not to tell anyone what He was doing for them thus fulfilling Isaiah. In this portion of Scripture it said that the Messiah would bring the "Gentiles hope". This happened in Acts through Paul and also with Peter and the Centurion.
- Jesus tells the people that He cannot drive out evil Spirits by the devil.
- (v. 22-32) - What does Jesus mean by blaspheming against the Spirit versus against the Son?
-Again Jesus tells the people that a "tree is judged by its fruit" meaning people are. What people say shows what is in the heart, so by your words and thus your heart motive you will be judged.
- (v.38) - People asked for a sign. Jesus said that was wrong, but he said the only sign that would be given was the sign of Jonah (like Johan who was in the whale for 3 days, Christ would be in the earth 3 days) and He also told the people indirectly that He was greater than Jonah and Solomon.
- (v.43 -45) - A Spirit driven out can come back with worse spirits
- How can this be prevented? What can stop them from doing this?
-Why didn't Jesus acknowledge His mother Mary and brothers arrival in this passage? What point was He trying to make?
Acts 12
- King Herod killed James brother of John and imprisoned Peter.
- Why didn't Herod kill Peter immediately too?
- Why did God let Herod kill James?
- An angel of the Lord saved Peter from prison, unfastening his chains and letting him out of the gate.
- The disciples didn't believe Rhoda, the servant girl when she said she saw Peter. They thought it must be Peter's angel she saw.
- Why does this mean? Were they seeing guardian angels around people at this time?
- Why didn't this "angel sighting" surprise them?
- People were getting food from Herod and were saying that he was a "god not a man" and at this very moment an angel of the Lord struck him down. God showed His power in killing a boastful king in the very height of his arrogance and pride.
- Barnabas and Saul return to Jerusalem with John.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Genesis 12 - Nehemiah 1 - Matthew 11 - Acts 11
Genesis 12
- The LORD told Abram to leave his home country and he did.
- God also starts to reveal His redemptive plan by telling Abram that "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (v.3) (God does not say just Jewish people will be blessed, but "all" will be blessed which is later revealed through Jesus work on the cross)
- Abram, Sarai, and Lot traveled through Canaan and the LORD told Abram that He would give this land to Abram's offspring, but not yet. So they traveled on.
- Abram build an alter to the LORD, showing his trust in God.
- There was a famine and Abram went into Egypt in search of food.
- He told his wife Sarai to pretend to be his sister because she was beautiful and Abram feared someone would kill him to get to her.
- Pharaoh takes Sarai as his wife, and Pharaoh give Abram lots of animals and servants as a gift.
- Then God curses Pharaoh who finds out that Abram is really Sarai's husband, so Pharaoh kicks them out of Egypt.
- Why didn't Pharaoh take back his animals and servants?
- Why did Abram trust God to provide him so much good and blessing to his descendants (when he didn't have any children) but not trust God to keep him safe in Egypt?
- Why didn't God punish Abram for his lack of faith?
Nehemiah 1
- Nehemiah became one of my favorite books of the Bible the first time I read through the Bible because of his passion for God and his ability to pray to God for everything.
- Nehemiah longed to hear how Jerusalem was doing and when he heard that the walls and gate had been destroyed he wept, mourned, fasted and prayed "for days". This was not just a quick prayer, but a heart felt, passionate prayer.
- He refers to himself as God's servant and confesses his sins first along with the sins of his people. He refers to the people as "we". He doesn't consider himself above sin or holier than others who have sinned worse.
- Nehemiah remembers God's character as being steadfast in love, great and awesome.
- Nehemiah remembered God's promise to the Israelites during Moses' time to scatter them when they were disobedient but to bring them back when they repented from their wrong ways.
- Nehemiah knew God's Word, yet had still been breaking it until now
- Why did hearing of Jerusalem's demised state all of a sudden bring conviction on Nehemiah of his sins?
- Nehemiah prayed for success with this man, meaning the king because Nehemiah was the king's cup bearer.
Matthew 11
- John the baptist sent some men to ask Jesus if He was "the one to come or whether they should be looking for another".
- Why does John second guess that Jesus is the Messiah when he knew it the day he baptized Jesus?
- Jesus points out that John was a prophet who people went into the wilderness to see, but even more than that John was the prophet who fulfilled the OT prophecy. Jesus refers to John as Elijah.
- What was Elijah supposed to come back and do according to the OT?
- Jesus asks the people what they are looking for in the Messiah because John ate and drank nothing and people said he was demon possessed and they called Jesus a drunkard, a glutton, and a friend of sinners because he ate and drank with the people.
- Jesus drank. I know there is much that has been said about drinking; whether it's good or bad, but Jesus did it. In a later scripture Jesus says that you should not get drunk on much wine. There in seems to be the difference. John though honored God by not drinking so that seems to be righteous as well. All of this 2 days after my study of Genesis where Noah got drunk and passed out.
- Jesus calls out curses on the cities who did not repent and turn from their sins after Jesus visited them. He said that if He had done these works in other cities, even Sodom (which was an OT city that was so bad God destroyed it).
- If this was so, why didn't Jesus go to the places where his ministry would be more accepted and fruitful?
- (v.28) - "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - This is the promise of trust in Jesus. Only He can truly help people find rest and peace in their lives. It's not by our works, but by our trusting in Him that we can find peace.
- He indirectly here refers to God being his Father and Jesus being the Son of God, but does not yet directly state that.
Acts 11
- The "circumcision party" criticized Peter for preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles until he recounted the story of the vision of the sheet. They were silent for a moment and then rejoiced that the Gentiles too were to be counted as God's people. This was a major shift in thinking which started in the times of Abraham.
- Stephen's group preached the Word to the Jews and many believed.
- Barnabas went to Antioch and too preached the Word of God. He met up with Saul (later Paul) and they preached there for a year. This was the first time Jesus' followers became known as "Christians".
- Agabus, a disciple, foretold of a great famine over the whole world (which later took place in the time of Claudius) and they began organizing relief for believers. They trusted God for all things, but also took practical steps to prepare.
- The LORD told Abram to leave his home country and he did.
- God also starts to reveal His redemptive plan by telling Abram that "in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (v.3) (God does not say just Jewish people will be blessed, but "all" will be blessed which is later revealed through Jesus work on the cross)
- Abram, Sarai, and Lot traveled through Canaan and the LORD told Abram that He would give this land to Abram's offspring, but not yet. So they traveled on.
- Abram build an alter to the LORD, showing his trust in God.
- There was a famine and Abram went into Egypt in search of food.
- He told his wife Sarai to pretend to be his sister because she was beautiful and Abram feared someone would kill him to get to her.
- Pharaoh takes Sarai as his wife, and Pharaoh give Abram lots of animals and servants as a gift.
- Then God curses Pharaoh who finds out that Abram is really Sarai's husband, so Pharaoh kicks them out of Egypt.
- Why didn't Pharaoh take back his animals and servants?
- Why did Abram trust God to provide him so much good and blessing to his descendants (when he didn't have any children) but not trust God to keep him safe in Egypt?
- Why didn't God punish Abram for his lack of faith?
Nehemiah 1
- Nehemiah became one of my favorite books of the Bible the first time I read through the Bible because of his passion for God and his ability to pray to God for everything.
- Nehemiah longed to hear how Jerusalem was doing and when he heard that the walls and gate had been destroyed he wept, mourned, fasted and prayed "for days". This was not just a quick prayer, but a heart felt, passionate prayer.
- He refers to himself as God's servant and confesses his sins first along with the sins of his people. He refers to the people as "we". He doesn't consider himself above sin or holier than others who have sinned worse.
- Nehemiah remembers God's character as being steadfast in love, great and awesome.
- Nehemiah remembered God's promise to the Israelites during Moses' time to scatter them when they were disobedient but to bring them back when they repented from their wrong ways.
- Nehemiah knew God's Word, yet had still been breaking it until now
- Why did hearing of Jerusalem's demised state all of a sudden bring conviction on Nehemiah of his sins?
- Nehemiah prayed for success with this man, meaning the king because Nehemiah was the king's cup bearer.
Matthew 11
- John the baptist sent some men to ask Jesus if He was "the one to come or whether they should be looking for another".
- Why does John second guess that Jesus is the Messiah when he knew it the day he baptized Jesus?
- Jesus points out that John was a prophet who people went into the wilderness to see, but even more than that John was the prophet who fulfilled the OT prophecy. Jesus refers to John as Elijah.
- What was Elijah supposed to come back and do according to the OT?
- Jesus asks the people what they are looking for in the Messiah because John ate and drank nothing and people said he was demon possessed and they called Jesus a drunkard, a glutton, and a friend of sinners because he ate and drank with the people.
- Jesus drank. I know there is much that has been said about drinking; whether it's good or bad, but Jesus did it. In a later scripture Jesus says that you should not get drunk on much wine. There in seems to be the difference. John though honored God by not drinking so that seems to be righteous as well. All of this 2 days after my study of Genesis where Noah got drunk and passed out.
- Jesus calls out curses on the cities who did not repent and turn from their sins after Jesus visited them. He said that if He had done these works in other cities, even Sodom (which was an OT city that was so bad God destroyed it).
- If this was so, why didn't Jesus go to the places where his ministry would be more accepted and fruitful?
- (v.28) - "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - This is the promise of trust in Jesus. Only He can truly help people find rest and peace in their lives. It's not by our works, but by our trusting in Him that we can find peace.
- He indirectly here refers to God being his Father and Jesus being the Son of God, but does not yet directly state that.
Acts 11
- The "circumcision party" criticized Peter for preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles until he recounted the story of the vision of the sheet. They were silent for a moment and then rejoiced that the Gentiles too were to be counted as God's people. This was a major shift in thinking which started in the times of Abraham.
- Stephen's group preached the Word to the Jews and many believed.
- Barnabas went to Antioch and too preached the Word of God. He met up with Saul (later Paul) and they preached there for a year. This was the first time Jesus' followers became known as "Christians".
- Agabus, a disciple, foretold of a great famine over the whole world (which later took place in the time of Claudius) and they began organizing relief for believers. They trusted God for all things, but also took practical steps to prepare.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Genesis 11 - Ezra 10 - Matthew 10- Acts 10
Genesis 11
- Abram (later Abraham) was 10 generations removed from Noah
- Abram and Israelites were descended from Shem.
- Everyone spoke the same language until God "confused" their language after they had began building the Tower of Babel. They thought in their pride that they could build a structure to reach heaven.
- Why does God talk saying "us" and "we"? (I think it's God talking with Jesus and the Holy Spirit)
- Why does God care if they build a tower or can do anything?
- Tehrah fathered three sons but Haran died, so Tehrah moved Abram and Nahor to the land of the Canaanites in the city of Haran (Was this city named after Tehrah's dead son?)
- Sarai, Abram's wife could not have children.
Ezra 10
- This chapter is confusing to me because the Israelites appear to be agreeing to "put away" their foreign wives and children from those wives.
- Ezra spent the night fasting, praying, and mourning over the sins of this broken commandment (Ezra took sin very seriously because it was against God- People supported Ezra and told him to be "strong and do it."
- The people saw the intense rain as a result of their intermarrying.
- Every type of person committed this sin while in exile; priests, singer, and average people.
- Did God approve of these divorces since He had said through Jesus that the people should not divorce except for marital unfaithfulness?
- One of Jesus ancestors Boaz (who had married Ruth) married a foreign woman and God blessed this marriage.
Matthew 10
-12 Disciples (Simon(Peter), James, Andrew, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas)
- Jesus gave the Disciples power to cast out demons and heal diseases and sent them out with a long list of warnings, basically saying that they WILL suffer for His name's sake, but that this will be its own reward in heaven.
- We should have the same kind of forward, heavenward thinking in what we do today.
- Jesus told them to accept food and lodging, but not to take payment.
- They have nothing to fear, because the same God who protects the sparrows and knows every hair on your head is in control. Man can do nothing to you that God can't protect you from.
- People need to love Jesus more than anyone/anything else; wives, children, friends, relatives. This is our commanded order of relationships on this earth. God must come first in our lives and in all we do.
- Were the Disciples filled with the Holy Spirit now or after Christ had died and rose again as it states in Acts?
- How and with what were they empowered?
Acts 10
- Cornelius was a God fearing man and a centurion at Caeseria not to be confused with the centurion from Matthew 8 who was from Capernaum.
- An angel visited Cornelius in a dream and he was terrified. The angel told Cornelius to send for Peter in Joppa.
- A "voice" said to Peter and let down a "sheet" containing animals and Peter refused to eat calling the animals "common" and "unclean". The voice said not to call anything unclean. Peter refused 3 times.
- Peter was "inwardly perplexed" but then the Spirit told him to go and meet Cornelius' people by the gate. Peter went without questioning the Spirit.
- Peter stated that it was unlawful for a Jew to associate with non Jews (as was stated in Ezra 10 today, where in Ezra told the Jews to leave their non Jewish wives and children because it was a life of sin against God). God was expanding His sovereign saving plan, extending grace to all people who would believe in His Son.
- God was showing Peter and the apostles that no people are viewed as "unclean" by God, only as those in need of the saving message of Jesus Christ's life,death, and resurrection.
- Cornelius' response to the angel was immediate where as Peter denied the "voice's" message three times. This is interesting since Peter was a man of God.
- It's interesting that Peter starts the Gospel message at His baptism with John.
- Was Jesus able to use the power of the Holy Spirit before this?
- Did Jesus wait to use this power until after He was baptized?
- ALL who heard the Gospel at Cornelius' house were saved. This must have sent a strong, reassuring message to the Jewish Christians that God wanted to save more than just the Jews through His Son Jesus.
- Abram (later Abraham) was 10 generations removed from Noah
- Abram and Israelites were descended from Shem.
- Everyone spoke the same language until God "confused" their language after they had began building the Tower of Babel. They thought in their pride that they could build a structure to reach heaven.
- Why does God talk saying "us" and "we"? (I think it's God talking with Jesus and the Holy Spirit)
- Why does God care if they build a tower or can do anything?
- Tehrah fathered three sons but Haran died, so Tehrah moved Abram and Nahor to the land of the Canaanites in the city of Haran (Was this city named after Tehrah's dead son?)
- Sarai, Abram's wife could not have children.
Ezra 10
- This chapter is confusing to me because the Israelites appear to be agreeing to "put away" their foreign wives and children from those wives.
- Ezra spent the night fasting, praying, and mourning over the sins of this broken commandment (Ezra took sin very seriously because it was against God- People supported Ezra and told him to be "strong and do it."
- The people saw the intense rain as a result of their intermarrying.
- Every type of person committed this sin while in exile; priests, singer, and average people.
- Did God approve of these divorces since He had said through Jesus that the people should not divorce except for marital unfaithfulness?
- One of Jesus ancestors Boaz (who had married Ruth) married a foreign woman and God blessed this marriage.
Matthew 10
-12 Disciples (Simon(Peter), James, Andrew, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Thaddaeus, Simon, and Judas)
- Jesus gave the Disciples power to cast out demons and heal diseases and sent them out with a long list of warnings, basically saying that they WILL suffer for His name's sake, but that this will be its own reward in heaven.
- We should have the same kind of forward, heavenward thinking in what we do today.
- Jesus told them to accept food and lodging, but not to take payment.
- They have nothing to fear, because the same God who protects the sparrows and knows every hair on your head is in control. Man can do nothing to you that God can't protect you from.
- People need to love Jesus more than anyone/anything else; wives, children, friends, relatives. This is our commanded order of relationships on this earth. God must come first in our lives and in all we do.
- Were the Disciples filled with the Holy Spirit now or after Christ had died and rose again as it states in Acts?
- How and with what were they empowered?
Acts 10
- Cornelius was a God fearing man and a centurion at Caeseria not to be confused with the centurion from Matthew 8 who was from Capernaum.
- An angel visited Cornelius in a dream and he was terrified. The angel told Cornelius to send for Peter in Joppa.
- A "voice" said to Peter and let down a "sheet" containing animals and Peter refused to eat calling the animals "common" and "unclean". The voice said not to call anything unclean. Peter refused 3 times.
- Peter was "inwardly perplexed" but then the Spirit told him to go and meet Cornelius' people by the gate. Peter went without questioning the Spirit.
- Peter stated that it was unlawful for a Jew to associate with non Jews (as was stated in Ezra 10 today, where in Ezra told the Jews to leave their non Jewish wives and children because it was a life of sin against God). God was expanding His sovereign saving plan, extending grace to all people who would believe in His Son.
- God was showing Peter and the apostles that no people are viewed as "unclean" by God, only as those in need of the saving message of Jesus Christ's life,death, and resurrection.
- Cornelius' response to the angel was immediate where as Peter denied the "voice's" message three times. This is interesting since Peter was a man of God.
- It's interesting that Peter starts the Gospel message at His baptism with John.
- Was Jesus able to use the power of the Holy Spirit before this?
- Did Jesus wait to use this power until after He was baptized?
- ALL who heard the Gospel at Cornelius' house were saved. This must have sent a strong, reassuring message to the Jewish Christians that God wanted to save more than just the Jews through His Son Jesus.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Genesis 9-10 - Ezra 9 - Matthew 9- Acts 9
Genesis 9-10
- God told Noah and his sons to populate the earth.
- beasts would now fear man
- God gave Noah the animals to eat. Apparently they had just been eating "green plants" on board the ark.
- What kind of reckoning does God require of animals? (v.5)
- God now said that whoever murders shall pay with his own life (No more protection like God gave to Cain after he murdered his brother).
- God made a covenant (symbolized by the rainbow) that He would never again flood the whole earth.
- (v.21) - Noah gets drunk and Ham goes in and finds him passed out and naked. His two brothers walk in backwards to cover Noah. Noah calls a curse upon Ham because he saw his father naked. Says that Ham's descendants (the Canaanites) will serve his brother's descendants.
- Why does Ham get in trouble for his actions when Noah was the one over indulging in wine?
- Japheth's descendants were the coastal tribes one being Tarshish.
- Ham's descendants were Egypt, Cush, and Canaan (to name a few) these would be mighty nations. Nimrod was the first "mighty man". Does this mean he was the first Pharaoh/king?
- Shem fathered many sons none of whose names I recognize as biblically mentioned tribes.
- Which of the three brother's tribes would spawn Abraham and eventually all of Israel?
Ezra 9
- The people of Israel had married "impure people" descendants of Ham's son Canaan, so Noah's curse on his son still stands.
- The officials and chiefs were the worst at intermarrying.
- Ezra's view is that they deserve God's wrath as Israel had received in the past, but God had chosen to bless them in giving them back their holy city. God was again reviving the Israelites from their slavery.
- Ezra quotes God's commandments to Moses and Joshua before they entered the promised land.
- Ezra states the message of the Gospel, that none of us can stand before God because of our guilt. This shows us our need for Christ's death and resurrection.
Matthew 9
- What town was "his own city"? Bethlehem? Egypt? Galilee? Nazareth?
-Jesus said that he forgave the man of his sins, and the Pharisees said he was blaspheming to themselves. He knew what they were thinking, so he healed the man to show them that He had authority over all things.
- Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector, and ate with them. Again the Pharisees criticized Him. He told them that He came to save sinners not the righteous.
- Jesus went to heal a young girl who had died and when he said she was sleeping the people laughed at Him, until He healed the girl. Same miracles are met with many different responses, mockery, fear, anger, and great joy.
- A woman touched Jesus' cloak and was healed simply by her faith.
- Jesus healed two blind men who had faith in Him and He told them not to tell anyone (doing deeds in secret which he had communicated in a past parable). They did not listen and went into the area telling others what Jesus had done.
- When Jesus depossessed a man the Pharisees called Him "the prince of demons" which he reasoned could not be true in one of the other Gospels.
- There are many people who need to hear the Gospel but Jesus says the workers are few. This is a call even today to share the Gospel with others because they are all around us. We simply need to go forth and share the "good news".
Acts 9
- One of the greatest life turn arounds was that of Saul. Saul had approved of the stoning of Stephen and was heading up a group who was persecuting the early church. On his way to Damascus Jesus spoke to him from a bright light which left him blind for 3 days. The men with him heard the voice as well and were speechless.
- Ananias was a disciple who the Lord came to in a vision. He told Ananias to go and lay hands on Saul, but Ananias hesitated because he had heard what Saul had been doing. The Lord said that Saul would be used to bring the truth of Jesus to the Gentiles.
- The Lord gave him faith and he obediently went and Saul regained his sight, was baptized, and began preaching the Gospel.
- Saul began preaching the Gospel and gained in strength. This confused the Jews and the disciples who had heard the evil he had done.
- Their was a plot to try and kill Saul, but he escaped.
- A Hellenist is a Greek speaking Jew.
-With Saul's conversion the strength of the church grew and they were comforted by the Holy Spirit.
- Peter raised Aeneas and Dorcus from the dead which God used to increase the faith of the people around them.
- God told Noah and his sons to populate the earth.
- beasts would now fear man
- God gave Noah the animals to eat. Apparently they had just been eating "green plants" on board the ark.
- What kind of reckoning does God require of animals? (v.5)
- God now said that whoever murders shall pay with his own life (No more protection like God gave to Cain after he murdered his brother).
- God made a covenant (symbolized by the rainbow) that He would never again flood the whole earth.
- (v.21) - Noah gets drunk and Ham goes in and finds him passed out and naked. His two brothers walk in backwards to cover Noah. Noah calls a curse upon Ham because he saw his father naked. Says that Ham's descendants (the Canaanites) will serve his brother's descendants.
- Why does Ham get in trouble for his actions when Noah was the one over indulging in wine?
- Japheth's descendants were the coastal tribes one being Tarshish.
- Ham's descendants were Egypt, Cush, and Canaan (to name a few) these would be mighty nations. Nimrod was the first "mighty man". Does this mean he was the first Pharaoh/king?
- Shem fathered many sons none of whose names I recognize as biblically mentioned tribes.
- Which of the three brother's tribes would spawn Abraham and eventually all of Israel?
Ezra 9
- The people of Israel had married "impure people" descendants of Ham's son Canaan, so Noah's curse on his son still stands.
- The officials and chiefs were the worst at intermarrying.
- Ezra's view is that they deserve God's wrath as Israel had received in the past, but God had chosen to bless them in giving them back their holy city. God was again reviving the Israelites from their slavery.
- Ezra quotes God's commandments to Moses and Joshua before they entered the promised land.
- Ezra states the message of the Gospel, that none of us can stand before God because of our guilt. This shows us our need for Christ's death and resurrection.
Matthew 9
- What town was "his own city"? Bethlehem? Egypt? Galilee? Nazareth?
-Jesus said that he forgave the man of his sins, and the Pharisees said he was blaspheming to themselves. He knew what they were thinking, so he healed the man to show them that He had authority over all things.
- Jesus called Matthew, a tax collector, and ate with them. Again the Pharisees criticized Him. He told them that He came to save sinners not the righteous.
- Jesus went to heal a young girl who had died and when he said she was sleeping the people laughed at Him, until He healed the girl. Same miracles are met with many different responses, mockery, fear, anger, and great joy.
- A woman touched Jesus' cloak and was healed simply by her faith.
- Jesus healed two blind men who had faith in Him and He told them not to tell anyone (doing deeds in secret which he had communicated in a past parable). They did not listen and went into the area telling others what Jesus had done.
- When Jesus depossessed a man the Pharisees called Him "the prince of demons" which he reasoned could not be true in one of the other Gospels.
- There are many people who need to hear the Gospel but Jesus says the workers are few. This is a call even today to share the Gospel with others because they are all around us. We simply need to go forth and share the "good news".
Acts 9
- One of the greatest life turn arounds was that of Saul. Saul had approved of the stoning of Stephen and was heading up a group who was persecuting the early church. On his way to Damascus Jesus spoke to him from a bright light which left him blind for 3 days. The men with him heard the voice as well and were speechless.
- Ananias was a disciple who the Lord came to in a vision. He told Ananias to go and lay hands on Saul, but Ananias hesitated because he had heard what Saul had been doing. The Lord said that Saul would be used to bring the truth of Jesus to the Gentiles.
- The Lord gave him faith and he obediently went and Saul regained his sight, was baptized, and began preaching the Gospel.
- Saul began preaching the Gospel and gained in strength. This confused the Jews and the disciples who had heard the evil he had done.
- Their was a plot to try and kill Saul, but he escaped.
- A Hellenist is a Greek speaking Jew.
-With Saul's conversion the strength of the church grew and they were comforted by the Holy Spirit.
- Peter raised Aeneas and Dorcus from the dead which God used to increase the faith of the people around them.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Genesis 8 - Ezra 8- Matthew 8- Acts 8
Genesis 8
- Flood began "February 17th" during Noah's 600th year. The rains ceased after 40 days and that is when he sent the raven, so around "March 29th". He sent the dove seven days later and got confirmation of land seven days after the first attempt, so around "April 12th". The flood lasted 150 days. On "July 17th", the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat (that's three months after he sent the dove and knew there was land). He could see the tops of other mountains on "October 1st". "January 1st" the lands were dry, but Noah did not actually leave the ark until "February 27th" God told Noah he could leave the ark. Noah was on the ark for 1 year and 10 days. (These dates are based on our calendar not Noah's)
What calendar would they have used in Noah's day and age?
- Noah sent out the raven but it never returned.
- He sent out the dove three times and on the second time it returned with an olive branch. The third time it too never came back. This branch told Noah that the flood waters were receding.
- Noah sacrificed some of "every clean animal and clean bird" meaning that either the animals had had babies on board or that some of the original 7 pairs put onto the ark were not used to repopulate the earth.
-Man is evil from youth because of sin, but God promised never to wipe out every living creature again.
Ezra 8
- There were a little over 2,200 men who came into the temple at this time but none were Levites (God's chosen line to be priests)
-Ezra chose 11 wise men (three of whom were named Elnathan) to go find a son of Levi.
- Sherebiah and Hashabiah were descendants of Levi and they brought with them 38 kinsmen.
- They were bringing great wealth of gold and silver into the temple which had been built and Ezra had the people fast for 3 days and humble themselves before God.
- Ezra did not ask the king for protection because he wanted to show God's power and faithfulness to protect them. Ezra's trust in the Lord and God's sovereignty was demonstrated to the Persians.
-They offered 12 bulls as burnt offerings for all of Israel. That is one bull for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12 goats were a sin offering.
- Why the strange numbers of rams an sheep being sacrificed? 96 and 77
- They also delivered the commission to the Persian official. They were first loyal to God and honored Him, but also acknowledged the Persian officials and kept their word of not rebelling against the Persians who had sent them to rebuild the temple.
Matthew 8
- Faith is a big part of this chapter. The beggar asked to be healed and he was. The Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant, but he told Jesus to simply say the word and he had faith Jesus could heal his servant without going to his house. Jesus marveled at the centurion's faith. He was not God's chosen people, but his faith was stronger than anyone's in Israel. The fact that Jesus marveled shows that this type of faith is NOT the typical response.
- Jesus healing the sick fulfilled another Scripture in Isaiah.
-Why didn't Jesus want the man to bury his dead father?
- How could the disciples not have faith or not know who Jesus was when they had seen so many miracles done by Him?
- 2 men possessed by demons both knew that Jesus was the Son of God before he said anything. They must know there will be a time when they will be "tormented", but they asked to be put into the herd of pigs until that time. The pigs then ran into the water and drown. The people responded in fear and asked Jesus to leave their town.
- Wouldn't this mean that the demons died there?
- How do demons possess people and animals and what are some ways we see this today?
Acts 8
- (v.37) is omitted from the text except for it being in a footnote
- Saul (later Paul) approved of Stephen's stoning and he led a mission to scatter the new church.
- Why and how were the apostles not scattered like the rest of the church?
- Unlike Christ demon depossession in Matthew 8, when Philip casts out demons in Samaria there is great joy.
- Simon, a magician in Samaria, believed and was amazed by the Gospel. He later tried to buy the Holy Spirit's power with money, for which he had to repent after being rebuked by Peter.
- Why were the people not filled with the Holy Spirit when they were baptized?
- Peter and John went down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit.
- God told Philip to talk to an Ethiopian official who happened to be reading Isaiah. Philip's response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit was to "run to the man" and share the Gospel. (I wish I were this responsive to the Spirit's prompting.)
- The Spirit "took Philip away" and he started preaching in other towns he came to.
- How did Philip go away by the Holy Spirit? Did he just disappear and reappear somewhere else?
- Flood began "February 17th" during Noah's 600th year. The rains ceased after 40 days and that is when he sent the raven, so around "March 29th". He sent the dove seven days later and got confirmation of land seven days after the first attempt, so around "April 12th". The flood lasted 150 days. On "July 17th", the ark came to rest on Mount Ararat (that's three months after he sent the dove and knew there was land). He could see the tops of other mountains on "October 1st". "January 1st" the lands were dry, but Noah did not actually leave the ark until "February 27th" God told Noah he could leave the ark. Noah was on the ark for 1 year and 10 days. (These dates are based on our calendar not Noah's)
What calendar would they have used in Noah's day and age?
- Noah sent out the raven but it never returned.
- He sent out the dove three times and on the second time it returned with an olive branch. The third time it too never came back. This branch told Noah that the flood waters were receding.
- Noah sacrificed some of "every clean animal and clean bird" meaning that either the animals had had babies on board or that some of the original 7 pairs put onto the ark were not used to repopulate the earth.
-Man is evil from youth because of sin, but God promised never to wipe out every living creature again.
Ezra 8
- There were a little over 2,200 men who came into the temple at this time but none were Levites (God's chosen line to be priests)
-Ezra chose 11 wise men (three of whom were named Elnathan) to go find a son of Levi.
- Sherebiah and Hashabiah were descendants of Levi and they brought with them 38 kinsmen.
- They were bringing great wealth of gold and silver into the temple which had been built and Ezra had the people fast for 3 days and humble themselves before God.
- Ezra did not ask the king for protection because he wanted to show God's power and faithfulness to protect them. Ezra's trust in the Lord and God's sovereignty was demonstrated to the Persians.
-They offered 12 bulls as burnt offerings for all of Israel. That is one bull for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. The 12 goats were a sin offering.
- Why the strange numbers of rams an sheep being sacrificed? 96 and 77
- They also delivered the commission to the Persian official. They were first loyal to God and honored Him, but also acknowledged the Persian officials and kept their word of not rebelling against the Persians who had sent them to rebuild the temple.
Matthew 8
- Faith is a big part of this chapter. The beggar asked to be healed and he was. The Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant, but he told Jesus to simply say the word and he had faith Jesus could heal his servant without going to his house. Jesus marveled at the centurion's faith. He was not God's chosen people, but his faith was stronger than anyone's in Israel. The fact that Jesus marveled shows that this type of faith is NOT the typical response.
- Jesus healing the sick fulfilled another Scripture in Isaiah.
-Why didn't Jesus want the man to bury his dead father?
- How could the disciples not have faith or not know who Jesus was when they had seen so many miracles done by Him?
- 2 men possessed by demons both knew that Jesus was the Son of God before he said anything. They must know there will be a time when they will be "tormented", but they asked to be put into the herd of pigs until that time. The pigs then ran into the water and drown. The people responded in fear and asked Jesus to leave their town.
- Wouldn't this mean that the demons died there?
- How do demons possess people and animals and what are some ways we see this today?
Acts 8
- (v.37) is omitted from the text except for it being in a footnote
- Saul (later Paul) approved of Stephen's stoning and he led a mission to scatter the new church.
- Why and how were the apostles not scattered like the rest of the church?
- Unlike Christ demon depossession in Matthew 8, when Philip casts out demons in Samaria there is great joy.
- Simon, a magician in Samaria, believed and was amazed by the Gospel. He later tried to buy the Holy Spirit's power with money, for which he had to repent after being rebuked by Peter.
- Why were the people not filled with the Holy Spirit when they were baptized?
- Peter and John went down and prayed for them that they would receive the Holy Spirit.
- God told Philip to talk to an Ethiopian official who happened to be reading Isaiah. Philip's response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit was to "run to the man" and share the Gospel. (I wish I were this responsive to the Spirit's prompting.)
- The Spirit "took Philip away" and he started preaching in other towns he came to.
- How did Philip go away by the Holy Spirit? Did he just disappear and reappear somewhere else?
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Genesis 7 - Ezra 7 - Matthew 7- Acts 7
Genesis 7
- (v.2) Noah was to take "7 pairs" of each animal not just two of each kind.
- Noah was 600 years old when the flood came (his children were around 100)
- "Windows of heavens opened" - it rained for the first time ever. Rained for 40 days and the flood lasted 150 days.
- God shut them in the ark.
-The highest mountains were covered by 22.5 feet of water.
- Only Noah and those on the ark survived.
Ezra 7
- Ezra was a 15th generation descendant of Aaron
- Artaxerxes came AFTER Darius because the first three words of this chapter start "Now after this" referring to Darius' decree.
- God blessed Ezra because Ezra "set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel" (v.10)
- Artaxerxes is the third Persian king to generously bless the Israelites in order to receive blessings from "their God". The Persians always refer to God as "Your God".
Who were the gods that the Persians worshipped?
- Artaxerxes said that Ezra could and should punish anyone who breaks the law of God.
Did Artaxerxes follows God's commandments too?
- Ezra was aware of God's provision and presence, so Ezra had courage in what he did.
Matthew 7
- We should not judge others because God will use that same measure against us. We should not analyze the sins of others without first looking at our own sins.
- (v.7-8) We need to take action and God will acknowledge us. We need
to ask, to seek, and to knock, and the door will be opened (but it may not be the door we expect or think we want). These are action statements for us.
-The Law and the Prophets - "whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them" If we are doing this we will not be selfish or self focused.
-We will be judged based on the fruit in our lives. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit.
-(v.22-23) How can people do things in Jesus' name without knowing Him?
- (v.27) - The rain destroyed the house on the sand just like the homes were destroyed by the first rains in Noah's time. Rain was a result of the Fall. Building your house on "the rock" (God) will assure that the house will not fall.
- People were amazed because Jesus had no "authority" but taught like those who did.
Acts 7
- Steven recounts Israel's history from Abraham to to Moses to Solomon
- God promised Abraham that His descendants would inherit the promised land but not for 400 years, yet Abraham still was faithful even though he didn't see the end results.
- During those 400 years, Joseph's story happened and as the 400 year period of time drew to a close, Moses was born. From Abraham to Moses was 400 years.
- The Israelites didn't want to follow Moses at first but were content being slaves in Egypt. This was not God's promised plan for His people.
- Moses' response to the bush was to tremble, look away, and take off his shoes.
- The angel gave them "living oracles" (the 10 commandments), but while Moses was on the mountain the people became impatient and had Aaron make the golden calf. Their faith was so weak that it caused Aaron to dishonor God.
- Why does it say an "angel" spoke to Moses from the bush and not God?
- Solomon built the house of God but God can not be contained there alone.
- Stephen points out how the people (Israelites) constantly persecuted the prophets, including Jesus and turned away from God. This made them angry and they stoned him for what he had said.
- Stephen ends his life aware of God and heaven, and his last words are, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” which mirrors what Christ said before he died on the cross.
- Stephen was the first martyr in the early church.
- (v.2) Noah was to take "7 pairs" of each animal not just two of each kind.
- Noah was 600 years old when the flood came (his children were around 100)
- "Windows of heavens opened" - it rained for the first time ever. Rained for 40 days and the flood lasted 150 days.
- God shut them in the ark.
-The highest mountains were covered by 22.5 feet of water.
- Only Noah and those on the ark survived.
Ezra 7
- Ezra was a 15th generation descendant of Aaron
- Artaxerxes came AFTER Darius because the first three words of this chapter start "Now after this" referring to Darius' decree.
- God blessed Ezra because Ezra "set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel" (v.10)
- Artaxerxes is the third Persian king to generously bless the Israelites in order to receive blessings from "their God". The Persians always refer to God as "Your God".
Who were the gods that the Persians worshipped?
- Artaxerxes said that Ezra could and should punish anyone who breaks the law of God.
Did Artaxerxes follows God's commandments too?
- Ezra was aware of God's provision and presence, so Ezra had courage in what he did.
Matthew 7
- We should not judge others because God will use that same measure against us. We should not analyze the sins of others without first looking at our own sins.
- (v.7-8) We need to take action and God will acknowledge us. We need
to ask, to seek, and to knock, and the door will be opened (but it may not be the door we expect or think we want). These are action statements for us.
-The Law and the Prophets - "whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them" If we are doing this we will not be selfish or self focused.
-We will be judged based on the fruit in our lives. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit.
-(v.22-23) How can people do things in Jesus' name without knowing Him?
- (v.27) - The rain destroyed the house on the sand just like the homes were destroyed by the first rains in Noah's time. Rain was a result of the Fall. Building your house on "the rock" (God) will assure that the house will not fall.
- People were amazed because Jesus had no "authority" but taught like those who did.
Acts 7
- Steven recounts Israel's history from Abraham to to Moses to Solomon
- God promised Abraham that His descendants would inherit the promised land but not for 400 years, yet Abraham still was faithful even though he didn't see the end results.
- During those 400 years, Joseph's story happened and as the 400 year period of time drew to a close, Moses was born. From Abraham to Moses was 400 years.
- The Israelites didn't want to follow Moses at first but were content being slaves in Egypt. This was not God's promised plan for His people.
- Moses' response to the bush was to tremble, look away, and take off his shoes.
- The angel gave them "living oracles" (the 10 commandments), but while Moses was on the mountain the people became impatient and had Aaron make the golden calf. Their faith was so weak that it caused Aaron to dishonor God.
- Why does it say an "angel" spoke to Moses from the bush and not God?
- Solomon built the house of God but God can not be contained there alone.
- Stephen points out how the people (Israelites) constantly persecuted the prophets, including Jesus and turned away from God. This made them angry and they stoned him for what he had said.
- Stephen ends his life aware of God and heaven, and his last words are, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” which mirrors what Christ said before he died on the cross.
- Stephen was the first martyr in the early church.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Genesis 6 - Ezra 6 - Matthew 6 - Acts 6
Genesis 6
-(v.3) My Spirit shall not abide in can also be translated as "My Spirit shall not contend with" which makes it sound like men are in great conflict with God.
- Nephilim were "giants" who were in those days and afterwards. Who were these men and does this mean that they survived the flood?
-God wanted to blot out man from the earth because he was sorry that He had created them. Why did God want to destroy the animals too when they could not sin?
-Noah found favor in God's eyes and was to make an ark with two of each animal in it. Noah was obedient and did all that God commended without question.
Ezra 6
- Darius found an old decree from Cyrus which had said that the Jews should rebuild Jerusalem, so he told the governor to help the Jews and Darius gave the Jews money to rebuild the city of God.
- Anyone who didn't follow this decree would be impaled by a beam from his own house.
- Darius gave Jews sacrifices to give to God so that they might pray for King Darius and his sons. Did God bless these prayers since the Persians were not His chosen people?
-Temple was finished in the 6th year of Darius
-Celebrated the Passover and Feast of Unleaven Bread with great joy. People saw God's hand in changing Darius' heart to help them rebuild the temple.
Matthew 6
-Give to the needy, fast, and pray so that only God sees it not to impress others.
- Lord's prayer is very God centered. It starts with hallowing God followed by basic requests from God; bread for today not letting us fall into temptation. Where do people get the final part of the Lord's Prayer that we recite?
- Lay up treasures in heaven. Be thinking about heaven not the here and now. You can not serve God and money. How can I use my money to glorify God?
-There's nothing to worry about. God knows that we need food and clothing. He provides for birds and the grass, so He will do the same for us too. Need to have faith.
- It's interesting that it does not say do not worry about today.
Acts 6
- The disciples delegated some jobs like serving tables and giving food to the poor so that they could focus on preaching. Moses also learned this lesson from his father-in-law when he was overwhelmed by everything he had to do. Prioritizing and delegating is encouraged in Scripture.
-Stephen, Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus were the 7 chosen men to help with daily tasks. These men were full of the Spirit, wisdom, and good repute.
-Jewish priests were now coming to a saving faith through Christ.
-The counsel seized Stephen and set him up with false witnesses because they could not contend with his wisdom. They said he was speaking against Moses and talking about destroying the temple. While they accused him, his face shone like an angel.
-(v.3) My Spirit shall not abide in can also be translated as "My Spirit shall not contend with" which makes it sound like men are in great conflict with God.
- Nephilim were "giants" who were in those days and afterwards. Who were these men and does this mean that they survived the flood?
-God wanted to blot out man from the earth because he was sorry that He had created them. Why did God want to destroy the animals too when they could not sin?
-Noah found favor in God's eyes and was to make an ark with two of each animal in it. Noah was obedient and did all that God commended without question.
Ezra 6
- Darius found an old decree from Cyrus which had said that the Jews should rebuild Jerusalem, so he told the governor to help the Jews and Darius gave the Jews money to rebuild the city of God.
- Anyone who didn't follow this decree would be impaled by a beam from his own house.
- Darius gave Jews sacrifices to give to God so that they might pray for King Darius and his sons. Did God bless these prayers since the Persians were not His chosen people?
-Temple was finished in the 6th year of Darius
-Celebrated the Passover and Feast of Unleaven Bread with great joy. People saw God's hand in changing Darius' heart to help them rebuild the temple.
Matthew 6
-Give to the needy, fast, and pray so that only God sees it not to impress others.
- Lord's prayer is very God centered. It starts with hallowing God followed by basic requests from God; bread for today not letting us fall into temptation. Where do people get the final part of the Lord's Prayer that we recite?
- Lay up treasures in heaven. Be thinking about heaven not the here and now. You can not serve God and money. How can I use my money to glorify God?
-There's nothing to worry about. God knows that we need food and clothing. He provides for birds and the grass, so He will do the same for us too. Need to have faith.
- It's interesting that it does not say do not worry about today.
Acts 6
- The disciples delegated some jobs like serving tables and giving food to the poor so that they could focus on preaching. Moses also learned this lesson from his father-in-law when he was overwhelmed by everything he had to do. Prioritizing and delegating is encouraged in Scripture.
-Stephen, Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus were the 7 chosen men to help with daily tasks. These men were full of the Spirit, wisdom, and good repute.
-Jewish priests were now coming to a saving faith through Christ.
-The counsel seized Stephen and set him up with false witnesses because they could not contend with his wisdom. They said he was speaking against Moses and talking about destroying the temple. While they accused him, his face shone like an angel.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Genesis 5 - Ezra 5 - Matthew 5 - Acts 5
Genesis 5
-None of the men mentioned were in Jesus' genealogy because it started with Abraham not Adam.
-Only the first born sons are mentioned in each genealogy.
- Enoch was the only one mentioned who "walked with God" and he never officially died.
-Methuselah was the oldest man in the genealogy at 969 years old before he died.
- Noah was 500 years old when he had his sons. His father lived 595 years after his birth.
- When was the flood chronologically after Noah had children?
Ezra 5
-Haggai and Zechariah are prophets in Jerusalem at this time.
-Zerubebel's faith was strong and he continued to rebuild the temple, others followed.
- This angered the governor and he asked them why they were rebuilding. They said that God was angry and had destroyed the temple but God has spoken to King Cyrus who ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple.
Matthew 5
- The Beatitudes emphasize the humble and give hop to those who lack in various areas. They also give increasing rewards comfort, inheriting the earth, mercy, seeing God, reward, sons of God, and a great reward.
- Christians are to show the world what they know through good works and glorifying God
- (v. 17 - 20) -You must keep all the laws perfectly, breaking even one loses you heaven.
- God looks at the heart not just the actions therefore being angry with someone is the same as murdering him and looking lustfully at someone is the same as committing the act. Thinking these things is still sin in God's eyes.
-Divorce is only okay if there has been sexual immorality.
-You should not make oaths or promises, just simply say yes or no and keep your word. This honors God.
- Resist retaliation - How and when is it okay to protect myself from harm?
- Love you enemies and pray for them. This makes a Christian different from the world. It is also a harder command to follow because it involves sacrificing and loving someone you don't want to. Hating them is easier, but not glorifying to God.
- Is anger okay in response to an action? If so, when?
Acts 5
- Ananias and Sapphira were the first people in the new church not to share everything. Peter said they had lied against God not against men and they died. Lying is first and foremost an act against God.
- Peter asked why Ananias had listened to Satan and tried to lie (similar to Adam and Eve)
- Fear filled all the people who witnessed these things.
-Sadducees were jealous because they were charged with Jesus' death, and they put apostles in prison. An angel released them without opening the gates which were guarded. Angel told them to teach "this Life". Life is capitalized so must be talking about Christ and the Gospel.
- Peter said they had to obey God rather than men.
- Gamaliel was a Pharisee who said that the Sadducees shouldn't do anything because if the apostles' plan was not from God it would fail but if their plan WAS from God it could not be stopped and the Sadducees might be found "opposing God".
- The apostles were still beaten and rejoiced for suffering for the name of Christ.
- Why isn't the power of Jesus name as evident today as it was during the early church? or How is the power of Jesus name evident today?
-None of the men mentioned were in Jesus' genealogy because it started with Abraham not Adam.
-Only the first born sons are mentioned in each genealogy.
- Enoch was the only one mentioned who "walked with God" and he never officially died.
-Methuselah was the oldest man in the genealogy at 969 years old before he died.
- Noah was 500 years old when he had his sons. His father lived 595 years after his birth.
- When was the flood chronologically after Noah had children?
Ezra 5
-Haggai and Zechariah are prophets in Jerusalem at this time.
-Zerubebel's faith was strong and he continued to rebuild the temple, others followed.
- This angered the governor and he asked them why they were rebuilding. They said that God was angry and had destroyed the temple but God has spoken to King Cyrus who ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple.
Matthew 5
- The Beatitudes emphasize the humble and give hop to those who lack in various areas. They also give increasing rewards comfort, inheriting the earth, mercy, seeing God, reward, sons of God, and a great reward.
- Christians are to show the world what they know through good works and glorifying God
- (v. 17 - 20) -You must keep all the laws perfectly, breaking even one loses you heaven.
- God looks at the heart not just the actions therefore being angry with someone is the same as murdering him and looking lustfully at someone is the same as committing the act. Thinking these things is still sin in God's eyes.
-Divorce is only okay if there has been sexual immorality.
-You should not make oaths or promises, just simply say yes or no and keep your word. This honors God.
- Resist retaliation - How and when is it okay to protect myself from harm?
- Love you enemies and pray for them. This makes a Christian different from the world. It is also a harder command to follow because it involves sacrificing and loving someone you don't want to. Hating them is easier, but not glorifying to God.
- Is anger okay in response to an action? If so, when?
Acts 5
- Ananias and Sapphira were the first people in the new church not to share everything. Peter said they had lied against God not against men and they died. Lying is first and foremost an act against God.
- Peter asked why Ananias had listened to Satan and tried to lie (similar to Adam and Eve)
- Fear filled all the people who witnessed these things.
-Sadducees were jealous because they were charged with Jesus' death, and they put apostles in prison. An angel released them without opening the gates which were guarded. Angel told them to teach "this Life". Life is capitalized so must be talking about Christ and the Gospel.
- Peter said they had to obey God rather than men.
- Gamaliel was a Pharisee who said that the Sadducees shouldn't do anything because if the apostles' plan was not from God it would fail but if their plan WAS from God it could not be stopped and the Sadducees might be found "opposing God".
- The apostles were still beaten and rejoiced for suffering for the name of Christ.
- Why isn't the power of Jesus name as evident today as it was during the early church? or How is the power of Jesus name evident today?
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Genesis 4 - Ezra 4 - Matthew 4 - Acts 4
Genesis 4
- Abel's gift of the first born of his flock was good where as Cain's gift of fruit was not and Cain's response was one of anger (possibly the first ever sin of anger or jealousy)
-God told Cain he was still accepted if he did well but warned Cain that sin was crouching at his door. God told Cain that he must "rule over his temptation to sin". Cain disregarded God's warning and killed his brother and lied to God.
- Even after being banished from Eden God was still present with His people because Cain "went away from the presence of the Lord". Being away from God's presence was "more than he could bear"
- Even after Cain sinned God promised to protect him from revenge.
- Cain's great great great great grandson also murdered someone.
- After Seth was born to Eve people began to "call upon the name of the Lord"
- Why does God extend mercy to Cain?
- Why does God continue to talk to His people after the Garden of Eden?
- What kind of mark did God put upon Cain?
Ezra 4
- Jewish adversaries offered to help them rebuild the city, and they said that they too worshipped the God of Israel, but Zurubebel told them no, they'd do it themselves.
- Persian kings order must have been Cyrus, Artaxerxes, Ahasuerus (not sure if he is Persian king), then Darius.
- Adversaries wrote Artaxerxes a letter telling him that Jerusalem is a wicked city and that he should check his historical records. He did and work was ordered to cease until the second year of King Darius
- Why would God have one Persian king send Israelites to rebuild the city and then the next king to stop them?
Matthew 4
- Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after being there 40 days (when he was at his weakest)
- Jesus confronted the devil's petitions with Scripture (we should do this too)
- The devil even used scripture to try to deceive Jesus.
- God let Jesus be tempted BEFORE sending angels to care for him.
- Jesus moved to Galilee and this fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy.
- Peter and Andrew "immediately" responded to Christ's call for them.
Acts 4
- 5,000 people believed in Jesus and Peter and John were arrested for preaching in the name of Jesus and healing the man.
- Jews saw that Peter and John were uneducated men and were amazed at their knowledge.
- Jews said not to speak in the name of Jesus anymore, but could do nothing to disprove the power of Jesus done to the 40 year old crippled man.
- Peter said he could not help speaking of "what he had seen and heard". This took precedence over fear of punishment.
- The believers prayed for boldness to speak the gospel and at that moment God reassured them of His presence by shaking the place they were in.
- The believers shared everything equally and met the needs of everyone there.
- Abel's gift of the first born of his flock was good where as Cain's gift of fruit was not and Cain's response was one of anger (possibly the first ever sin of anger or jealousy)
-God told Cain he was still accepted if he did well but warned Cain that sin was crouching at his door. God told Cain that he must "rule over his temptation to sin". Cain disregarded God's warning and killed his brother and lied to God.
- Even after being banished from Eden God was still present with His people because Cain "went away from the presence of the Lord". Being away from God's presence was "more than he could bear"
- Even after Cain sinned God promised to protect him from revenge.
- Cain's great great great great grandson also murdered someone.
- After Seth was born to Eve people began to "call upon the name of the Lord"
- Why does God extend mercy to Cain?
- Why does God continue to talk to His people after the Garden of Eden?
- What kind of mark did God put upon Cain?
Ezra 4
- Jewish adversaries offered to help them rebuild the city, and they said that they too worshipped the God of Israel, but Zurubebel told them no, they'd do it themselves.
- Persian kings order must have been Cyrus, Artaxerxes, Ahasuerus (not sure if he is Persian king), then Darius.
- Adversaries wrote Artaxerxes a letter telling him that Jerusalem is a wicked city and that he should check his historical records. He did and work was ordered to cease until the second year of King Darius
- Why would God have one Persian king send Israelites to rebuild the city and then the next king to stop them?
Matthew 4
- Jesus was tempted in the wilderness after being there 40 days (when he was at his weakest)
- Jesus confronted the devil's petitions with Scripture (we should do this too)
- The devil even used scripture to try to deceive Jesus.
- God let Jesus be tempted BEFORE sending angels to care for him.
- Jesus moved to Galilee and this fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy.
- Peter and Andrew "immediately" responded to Christ's call for them.
Acts 4
- 5,000 people believed in Jesus and Peter and John were arrested for preaching in the name of Jesus and healing the man.
- Jews saw that Peter and John were uneducated men and were amazed at their knowledge.
- Jews said not to speak in the name of Jesus anymore, but could do nothing to disprove the power of Jesus done to the 40 year old crippled man.
- Peter said he could not help speaking of "what he had seen and heard". This took precedence over fear of punishment.
- The believers prayed for boldness to speak the gospel and at that moment God reassured them of His presence by shaking the place they were in.
- The believers shared everything equally and met the needs of everyone there.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Genesis 3 - Ezra 3 - Matthew 3 - Acts 3
Genesis 3
- The serpent used semantics to trick Eve into eating the fruit and he twisted her reasoning to make it sound okay.
- Eve wanted to taste the fruit and to be wise. So the desire for knowledge of good and evil caused her to sin.
- Adam was with her when the serpent told her these things and he allowed her to eat of the fruit before he partook also
- The first truth that affected them was that they were naked and they hid from God. Fear was their response to God's presence instead of comfort or love.
- Adam's first response when talking with God was to blame Eve and her first response was to blame the serpent.
- God cursed the serpent, Eve with child birth, and Adam with hard work and weeds and death
- v.16 says for but the footnote says this means against, so as a result of their sin, they would be against one another
- God still provided clothing for them before banishing them from the Garden.
- Was the tree of life different from the tree of knowledge or was that one of the trees they could eat from before this sin?
Ezra 3
- The people burnt an offering because they were afraid
- Everyone gave what they could to rebuild the temple foundation, and while some rejoiced with great joy others were greatly grieved.
- Cyrus, the Persian king, was paying for the city to be rebuilt. Why?
- Zerubebel was the son of Shealtiel, so was in fact a ancestor of Jesus
Matthew 3
- People came to John confessing their sins even though he told them he was NOT the Messiah.
- Pharisees thought they would be saved because they were descendants of Abraham but John told them the people confessing sins were saved.
- When Jesus came out from being baptized did everyone see heaven open up and hear the voice or just Jesus? It seems like if everyone heard and saw it they would have fallen to their knees in worship.
Acts
- They gave the Spirit willingly and with power and healed a man and others were amazed.
- Peter and John gave all glory and credit to God and used it as an opportunity to preach the gospel
- Jesus was called the Author of Life
- Peter points to the OT prophets whose prophecies Christ life and death fulfilled tying the OT to the NT. Only day 3 and 6 prophecies have been fulfilled!!
- The serpent used semantics to trick Eve into eating the fruit and he twisted her reasoning to make it sound okay.
- Eve wanted to taste the fruit and to be wise. So the desire for knowledge of good and evil caused her to sin.
- Adam was with her when the serpent told her these things and he allowed her to eat of the fruit before he partook also
- The first truth that affected them was that they were naked and they hid from God. Fear was their response to God's presence instead of comfort or love.
- Adam's first response when talking with God was to blame Eve and her first response was to blame the serpent.
- God cursed the serpent, Eve with child birth, and Adam with hard work and weeds and death
- v.16 says for but the footnote says this means against, so as a result of their sin, they would be against one another
- God still provided clothing for them before banishing them from the Garden.
- Was the tree of life different from the tree of knowledge or was that one of the trees they could eat from before this sin?
Ezra 3
- The people burnt an offering because they were afraid
- Everyone gave what they could to rebuild the temple foundation, and while some rejoiced with great joy others were greatly grieved.
- Cyrus, the Persian king, was paying for the city to be rebuilt. Why?
- Zerubebel was the son of Shealtiel, so was in fact a ancestor of Jesus
Matthew 3
- People came to John confessing their sins even though he told them he was NOT the Messiah.
- Pharisees thought they would be saved because they were descendants of Abraham but John told them the people confessing sins were saved.
- When Jesus came out from being baptized did everyone see heaven open up and hear the voice or just Jesus? It seems like if everyone heard and saw it they would have fallen to their knees in worship.
Acts
- They gave the Spirit willingly and with power and healed a man and others were amazed.
- Peter and John gave all glory and credit to God and used it as an opportunity to preach the gospel
- Jesus was called the Author of Life
- Peter points to the OT prophets whose prophecies Christ life and death fulfilled tying the OT to the NT. Only day 3 and 6 prophecies have been fulfilled!!
Genesis 2- Ezra 2- Matthew 2- Acts 2
Genesis 2
- God rested the 7th day and made it holy
- It was not raining when the Earth first began. The ground was being wet by a mist (spring)
- Woman was the only living thing NOT created from the dust.
- Adam was in charge of taking care of the garden
- Man was not meant to be alone (It was not good) This was the first thing God saw as NOT good
If God had created plants on the 3rd day, why didn’t they grow until after man was created on the 6th day?
Did God create the animals before or after man? (see verse 19)
Why would verse 24 say a man should leave his mother and father when they haven’t been invented yet?
Ezra 2
- Exiles who returned were Nehemiah and Zerubbabel (was in Jesus’ genealogy) and sons of Asaph (from Sunday’s message)
- Sons of Barzillai and Immer could not prove their genealogy (were marked as unclean) They couldn’t partake of most holy food
- 42,360 people returned to Jerusalem by orders from King Cyrus
- People gave a free will offering to the LORD to celebrate being back in Israel
Matthew 2
- Wise men visited King Herod on way to see Jesus the king of the Jews
- They knew that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
- They were following a star that had appeared in the sky
- Wise men fell and worship Jesus
- Wise men were warned in a dream NOT to return to Herod so they went home a different way
- Angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt which fulfilled the Scripture reference in Hosea 11:1
- Herod killed all male children in Bethlehem under 2 (this fulfilled Jeremiah 31:15)
- An angel told Joseph to take his family back after Herod died
- The next ruler was evil so Joseph took his family to Galilee instead of returning home (this too fulfilled scripture that Christ would be a Nazarene
How long were they in Egypt because Jesus as a boy had gone to the temple?
Acts 2
- Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost
- They spoke in other languages
- People were amazed and astonished at this
- Many cultures were together, not just Jews
- Others not with the Spirit thought they were drunk
- It was 9am (too early to be drunk)
- The Spirit’s coming fulfilled what Joel 2:28-32 had said (Spirit shall come and all who call on His name shall be saved)
- Christ could not be held by death (v.24) (this fulfilled Psalm 16:8-11)
- Jesus was David’s descendant who God promised would sit on the throne forever
- David did not ascend to heaven to sit with God forever, Christ did
- People were “cut to the heart” and repented (Spirit brought conviction)
- 3,000 people were saved from their sins that day
- Awe and fear can be translated as the same word. First response of those who were saved was to sell all they had
When is Pentecost?
- God rested the 7th day and made it holy
- It was not raining when the Earth first began. The ground was being wet by a mist (spring)
- Woman was the only living thing NOT created from the dust.
- Adam was in charge of taking care of the garden
- Man was not meant to be alone (It was not good) This was the first thing God saw as NOT good
If God had created plants on the 3rd day, why didn’t they grow until after man was created on the 6th day?
Did God create the animals before or after man? (see verse 19)
Why would verse 24 say a man should leave his mother and father when they haven’t been invented yet?
Ezra 2
- Exiles who returned were Nehemiah and Zerubbabel (was in Jesus’ genealogy) and sons of Asaph (from Sunday’s message)
- Sons of Barzillai and Immer could not prove their genealogy (were marked as unclean) They couldn’t partake of most holy food
- 42,360 people returned to Jerusalem by orders from King Cyrus
- People gave a free will offering to the LORD to celebrate being back in Israel
Matthew 2
- Wise men visited King Herod on way to see Jesus the king of the Jews
- They knew that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2)
- They were following a star that had appeared in the sky
- Wise men fell and worship Jesus
- Wise men were warned in a dream NOT to return to Herod so they went home a different way
- Angel told Joseph to flee to Egypt which fulfilled the Scripture reference in Hosea 11:1
- Herod killed all male children in Bethlehem under 2 (this fulfilled Jeremiah 31:15)
- An angel told Joseph to take his family back after Herod died
- The next ruler was evil so Joseph took his family to Galilee instead of returning home (this too fulfilled scripture that Christ would be a Nazarene
How long were they in Egypt because Jesus as a boy had gone to the temple?
Acts 2
- Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost
- They spoke in other languages
- People were amazed and astonished at this
- Many cultures were together, not just Jews
- Others not with the Spirit thought they were drunk
- It was 9am (too early to be drunk)
- The Spirit’s coming fulfilled what Joel 2:28-32 had said (Spirit shall come and all who call on His name shall be saved)
- Christ could not be held by death (v.24) (this fulfilled Psalm 16:8-11)
- Jesus was David’s descendant who God promised would sit on the throne forever
- David did not ascend to heaven to sit with God forever, Christ did
- People were “cut to the heart” and repented (Spirit brought conviction)
- 3,000 people were saved from their sins that day
- Awe and fear can be translated as the same word. First response of those who were saved was to sell all they had
When is Pentecost?
Genesis 1 - Ezra 1- Matthew 1- Acts 1
Genesis
– God created all things:
- Order of creation:
Day/Night,
Water/Sky (separated waters),
vegetation,
Sun/Moon/Stars,
Birds/Fish,
Livestock/Creeping Things,
Man
- God created man in His own image.
Why were the “waters” there before God began creation?
Ezra
– God told King Cyrus of Persia to send Israelites back to Jerusalem to rebuild it
- This fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy.
- God stirred up certain people to rebuild Jerusalem
- Sheshbazzar was the King of Judah when God brought this forth
Matthew
– Well known people in Jesus’ genealogy
- Abraham –Isaac - Jacoob – Judah – Boaz (who married Ruth the Moabite) – Jesse – David – Solomon (son from affair with Bathsheba) – Joseph
- Joseph did not want to disgrace Mary when she was found to be pregnant.
- An angel told Joseph not to dismiss Mary and he listened without hesitation
Acts – written to Theophilus
- Proved that Jesus was raised from the dead and was witnessed by many of His followers.
- It is not for anyone to know when Christ will return
- OT reference to Psalm 109 is very vague about letting another take his office
- Matthias was chosen over Joseph (Justus) by casting of lots.
- Why didn't they choose to use both of these men?
Is there significance to the number 12?
Nate had pointed out that the 12 disciples mirrored the original 12 tribes of Israel, so that is why the number can't just be 13 godly disciples.
The first and second days might be a little rough. I just pasted on my notes from Word.
– God created all things:
- Order of creation:
Day/Night,
Water/Sky (separated waters),
vegetation,
Sun/Moon/Stars,
Birds/Fish,
Livestock/Creeping Things,
Man
- God created man in His own image.
Why were the “waters” there before God began creation?
Ezra
– God told King Cyrus of Persia to send Israelites back to Jerusalem to rebuild it
- This fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy.
- God stirred up certain people to rebuild Jerusalem
- Sheshbazzar was the King of Judah when God brought this forth
Matthew
– Well known people in Jesus’ genealogy
- Abraham –Isaac - Jacoob – Judah – Boaz (who married Ruth the Moabite) – Jesse – David – Solomon (son from affair with Bathsheba) – Joseph
- Joseph did not want to disgrace Mary when she was found to be pregnant.
- An angel told Joseph not to dismiss Mary and he listened without hesitation
Acts – written to Theophilus
- Proved that Jesus was raised from the dead and was witnessed by many of His followers.
- It is not for anyone to know when Christ will return
- OT reference to Psalm 109 is very vague about letting another take his office
- Matthias was chosen over Joseph (Justus) by casting of lots.
- Why didn't they choose to use both of these men?
Is there significance to the number 12?
Nate had pointed out that the 12 disciples mirrored the original 12 tribes of Israel, so that is why the number can't just be 13 godly disciples.
The first and second days might be a little rough. I just pasted on my notes from Word.
Getting Started
Well I hope this blog helps y'all get a better idea of what is being said in God's Word. This is my third year reading through the Bible in a year and I hope that by writing down thoughts each day, I will remember even more of what God's word has to say.
I thought it might be good for me and helpful to others if I'm writing down what I'm learning daily and having others share their insights. So please feel free to share thoughts and comments.
If you'd like to join the reading plan you can get D.A. Carson's book, "For the Love of God", or I'll post the next day's reading at the end of each day's post.
I want to be consistently reading and meditating on God's each day and I figured that this is a good way to have people keep me accountable.
Grace and peace to you
I thought it might be good for me and helpful to others if I'm writing down what I'm learning daily and having others share their insights. So please feel free to share thoughts and comments.
If you'd like to join the reading plan you can get D.A. Carson's book, "For the Love of God", or I'll post the next day's reading at the end of each day's post.
I want to be consistently reading and meditating on God's each day and I figured that this is a good way to have people keep me accountable.
Grace and peace to you
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