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.

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