Genesis 32 - Esther 8 - Mark 3 - Romans 3

Genesis 32
- Angels (plural) met Jacob and said to him that "This was God's camp!"
- Jacob sent servants ahead of him to tell Esau how the Lord had blessed him to see how Esau would respond.
- Jacob also divided his people and belongs in two groups, so that IF his brother attacked him half might flee to safety.
- Esau is coming to meet Jacob with 400 men (When they last saw one another Esau had vowed to kill Jacob for stealing his blessing from his father.
- Jacob's response is fear and appeals to God in prayer, pointing to God's promise to bless him and multiply his family and to God's undeserved faithfulness and steadfast love. Jacob was well aware that everything he now had was an undeserved blessing.
- He created 3 "droves" to give to his brother http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/drove
- Jacob offered these 3 droves to his brother hoping to make peace with him.
- Did Jacob perhaps feel guilty about what he had done to Esau?
- Everyone crosses the stream except Jacob who finds a man and wrestles with him.
- Jacob demands that the "man" bless him before he stops wrestling with him.
- The man touches Jacob's hip and it dislocates at the sinew (which now Jacob's people no longer eat) and the man renames Jacob, Israel (he who has striven with God and man) This happened at Peniel.
- How and why did Jacob wrestle with this man for a blessing when he already had God's blessing?
- What was this new extra blessing that he received?
- Who was this man who wrestled with Jacob? If it was God how could Jacob see God face-to-face without dying (which is referenced in late passages like Moses on Mount Sinai.
- Was this an angel who wrestled with Jacob?

Esther 8
- Esther again risked her life going before the king and pleading, with tears, for the lives of her people.
- Mordecai replaced Haman as the king;s right hand man.
- Did King Ahasuares ever write his own laws?
- Esther had a law passed that on the 13th day of the 12th month (on the same day as the last Jew annihilating law) that the Jews could now defend themselves and destroy anyone who wanted to harm them.
- This took place on the 23rd day of the 3rd month, so the Jews still had 9 months until the old law proposed to destroy them.
- The Jew everywhere were filled with joy and celebrated this new law.
- Many people became Jews because they saw God's favor on the Jews.

Mark 3
- Jesus became angry with the Pharisees who questioned Him healing a man on the Sabbath.
- After this they plotted to destroy Him.
- The unclean spirits continued to call Him the Son of God, but He continued to tell them to stop speaking.
- Jesus calls the disciples and refers to James and John as "the sons of thunder". Mark also refers to Matthew here as Matthew and NOT Levi as referenced in Mark 2.
- Why did His family think Jesus was out of His mind?
- What part of His family thought this since His mother and brothers come to Him a few verses later?
- The scribes again accused Jesus of being possessed by Beelzebub, but Jesus says that Satan against Satan would end Satan's kingdom so would not make sense.
- Jesus said blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven (because they were saying Jesus had an "unclean spirit" not the Holy Spirit)
- Aren't all sins eternal sins?
- Why does Jesus again deny seeing His family?
- Jesus says that all believers are His brothers and sisters, which refers to our "adoption" as son and daughters of God because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
- Why does the footnote say that in earlier manuscripts the "brothers" word may have been "sisters"?

Romans 3
- Paul shows that Jews were trusted with God's oracles.
- He asks if the Jews' faithlessness means God is unfaithful, by no means!
- Our unrighteousness simply shows God's righteousness and why He must inflict wrath on us the sinners.
- Jews are therefore no better off than the Gentiles...all have sinned
- Paul seeks to rightly humble us by pointing out that "all have fallen short of the glory of God".
- "No one does good no not one"
- What OT reference is this from?
- Not one person will be justified by the Law, but by faith alone.
- The Law is to show people how far short they fall from the glory of God, so that they will turn to Jesus and place their faith in Him so that they may be justified.
- Jesus was a propitiation for us sent by God http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=propitiate
- God is just and our justifier
- This faith does not overthrow the law, it causes us to uphold it!
- Why would a just God choose to save sinners like me?