BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 25, Day 4: Genesis 35:1-5

Summary of passage:  God told Jacob to settle in Bethel and build Him an altar there. So Jacob and his household prepared to move, ridding themselves of their idols, purifying themselves, and changing their clothes.  Jacob buried the foreign gods and their rings under an oak at Shechem.  God protected them as they went so they would not suffer repercussions from the slaughter of Shechem.

Questions:

9a)  Go to Bethel and build Him an altar

b)  Jacob vowed that the Lord would be his God and he would give a tenth if he returned safely to his father’s house.

c)  Personal Question.  My answer:  To go where God wants me and follow His lead in my life and worship him by following his commands, which include tithing, praying, obeying, reading His word, praying, and much more.

10a)  ”To get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.”

b)  2 Corinthians says to purify yourself from everything that contaminates body and spirit in order to perfect holiness.  Ephesians tells us to put on our new self in the attitude of the mind in order to be righteous and holy.  1 John tells us to confess our sins and walk in the light and the blood of Jesus shall purify us from the unrighteousness. And to keep ourselves from idols.

c)  Acts recounts how people renounced sorcery by burning their scrolls.  An idol is anything we value and/or worship more than God.  This can be our kids, our spouse, any material items such as our house, car, or job.  And an image of an idol like in ancient times such as a Buddha statue or what-have-you.  (Anyone reminded of the study of Isaiah here?)

Conclusions:  Anyone else see a problem with the fact Jacob’s family had idols lurking around and it was only when God told them to leave did they see the need to dispose of them?  I’m sure as soon as they reach Bethel more idols will appear.

The WORST part:  Jacob, as supposedly the head of God’s chosen people, seemingly knew about these idols and condoned them!  It seems he only got rid of them because God spoke to him again.  Maybe he felt guilty.  Or maybe they were too heavy to carry across country!

Jacob is chastizing his family mildly.  It’s almost an after-thought.  ”Oh, yeah, by the way, you need to get rid of those idols you’ve had for 10 years now.”  Seriously???

There is definitely some failed leadership going on here.  This explains a lot about today’s society where the man does not take the primary role in the family and our children are failing because of it.

It’s safe to assume Rachel still had her idols here so she is setting the example that it’s okay to possess these idols.  God doesn’t care.  Wrong!

The changing of their clothes was symbolic here.  Just like circumcision was an outward sign of being God’s chosen people the changing of the clothes here in OT times is an outward sign that they are changing their minds, their attitude, their character, and their ways and turning to God.  It’s like the Ephesians passage we read.  They are taking off (literally) their old selves and putting on their new and turning to God for their salvation.

The earrings also must have had some kind of pagan association since they got rid of those as well.  We must also get rid of anything ungodly and separate ourselves from the world like Jacob did when he moved to Bethel away from the corruption of Shechem.

Good opportunity to learn from Jacob’s failing miserably as the head of his household and God’s and re-examine our own lives and see where we are failing in God’s call, where we are worshipping idols, where we are failing to set the example for others around us, how we can place ourselves away from worldly influences as much as possible, and how we can put God and His will back at the center of our lives.  That’s my prayer anyways.

Map of Bethel:  Quick reference point.  Bethel is in red and Shechem is right above it.

http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/bethel.htm

BSF Study Questions Acts Lesson 25, Day 4: Ephesians 6:17-18

Summary of passage:  Paul advises us to take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit (word of God) and pray in all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. Be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Questions:

8a)  It tells us to take the sword of the Spirit, meaning to have it to use as a weapon, and to pray in the Spirit on all occasions, meaning to pray all the time for everything (every battle, trouble, or temptation you are faced with).

b)  Personal Question.  My answer:  Memorizing key verses to use when I am assaulted. Ones that prop me up (different for everyone), and are specific to what I am facing. Studying and reading God’s word daily will change me, make me more Christ-like, and more able to withstand assaults.  Praying more.  Praying all the time for every thing that may seem insignificant to others but is a challenge in my life.  Pray for others.  Spread the Good News.

9)  According to Webster’s dictionary, alert means, “watchful and prompt to meet danger or emergency; quick to perceive and act.”

For me, be alert means not to become complacent in life or the devil will hit me when I least expect it and I will be unprepared.  I must be active in warfare, not passive.  I must always be prepared.

I liked the dictionary definition words “prompt” and “act”.  We must not let things linger and fester, things that could turn into sin.  We must be prompt to banish these from our lives.  I believe we all know what these things are when they arise for the Spirit inside of us lets us know.

Conclusions:  I’m not for sure prayer is a “secret resource”.  Prayer has been around for millenia in most religions.  If you hold any kind of belief, most people want to communicate with their higher being so people pray.  It may even be instinctual.

As a weapon, prayer may be a secret resource since some may not think to pray.  But again for millenia people have prayed before big battles or over dying loved ones or evil spirits or deeds.  I think prayer has been a weapon for a long time and not so much a secret.

The power of prayer is discussed a lot in the Bible.  Not for sure about other religions. But it’s a resource nevertheless.  You can judge if it’s a secret or not.

BSF Study Questions Isaiah Lesson 25, Day 4 Isaiah 56:1-8; Exodus 31:12-17; Deuteronomy 23:1-8

Summary of passages:  Isaiah 56:1-8:  The Lord says to maintain justice and do what is right for salvation and righteousness are close.  Blessed is he who does this, keeps the Sabbath, and does not do evil.  No foreigner can say the Lord excludes them from His people for foreigners and eunuchs who keep the Sabbaths, pleases the Lord, and keeps the covenant, the Lord will give them everlasting life.  If foreigners serve, love, worship the Lord, keep the Sabbaths and the covenant, then the Lord will bring those to his holy mountain and give them joy in the temple.  Their sacrifices will be accepted and the Lord’s house will be a house of prayer for all nations.  Others will be gathered besides Israel.

Exodus 31: 12-17:  The Lord says to observe the Sabbaths because it is His holy day and so it extends to His people as a holy day.  Anyone who desecrates the Sabbath must be put to death and anyone who does work on that day must be cut off from his people.  The Sabbath shall be a sign between the Lord and the Israelites forever as a symbol of the six days God worked and the one day He rested.

Deuteronomy 23:1-8:  No one emasculated by crushing or cutting (made a eunuch) may enter the assembly of the Lord.  No one born of a forbidden marriage (would be foreign blood if an Israelite married a foreigner) nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord.  No Ammonite or Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord as punishment when they did not help as the Lord led His people to the promised land.  Do not be friends with them as long as you live (harsh punishment, huh?).  An Edomite is your brother (Edom being founded by Esau, Jacob’s twin brother) as is Egypt since you abided in his country.  After three generations have passed, they may enter the assembly of the Lord.

Questions:

8a)  ”In the gospel, a righteousness goes forth–a righteousness that God delights to see and accept.  This righteousness is the provision of a right relationship with himself through the saving work of Jesus.”  The salvation is the salvation Jesus brought us when he died on the cross.  The righteousness is the gift of righteousness Jesus gave us when he died on the cross.  Through his death we were made righteous (a right relationship with God) through Jesus.  This righteousness is by faith alone from the first to the last (essentially from the beginning of time to eternity).  If you believe in Jesus and accept he died for you then you are made righteous in God’s eyes, which is an act of faith.  To be righteous is to have a right relationship to God.  Essentially, through Jesus’s death, we can have a relationship with God.

“To receive this gift of righteousness is to be justified by faith.  And those who receive the gift then are to live as righteous people, devoted to the service of what God declares to be right.”

All quotes are from Zondervan’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary by Douglas and Tenney.

b)  Verse 7.  The outer courts were the only place the Gentiles could come and pray. They were not allowed inside the inner courts of the temple.  It was not holy ground and non-Jews were not permitted there.  Buying and selling were permitted as well but mainly for sacrificial animals and money exchanges for tithes.  Jesus got mad because the outer court had become more of a market motivated by profit than for religious purposes.  Also, the market had grown so big that the merchants were pushing out those who had just come to pray.  The religious intentions had turned into a bazaar of exchanging goods and services; whereas God’s expectations had been for worship only.  (Some phrases summarized from Zondervan’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary).

9a)  All foreigners and eunuchs–all nations.  Traditionally, foreigners and eunuchs were excluded from worshiping God (Exodus 12:43, Deuteronomy 23:1, 3, 7-8, Leviticus 21:18-20).  Israel had come to be arrogant as God’s chosen people during their exile, thinking only of themselves and how God was only for them.  But here God says no–I love all people.

b)  In John 10:14-16, Jesus explains He has other sheep (the Gentiles) whom He will bring also.  They listen to Him and shall be one flock (shall be as equal as the Jews on the same footing).  Acts 8:26-40 tells how an angel of the Lord sent Philip to explain the Bible and baptize an Ethiopian eunuch (so both a foreigner and a eunuch).  The Spirit of the Lord was present.  In Acts 10:34-38 Peter realizes Jesus’s death was for all.  Jesus himself never discriminated while on earth.  While Peter was talking the Holy Spirit came on all circumcised believers and he baptized them all.

c) Personal Question.  My answer:  Unbelieving family members

Conclusions:  I LOVED Acts 8: 30-31 “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.  ”How can I,” he said (the Ethiopian eunuch), “unless someone explains it to me?”  Awesome!  I am so excited BSF has embraced such a goal.  I wish other churches and bible studies would be as effective.  Explaining the Bible so we can understand and when we understand we can do better, be better, and share the gospel as Jesus instructed.  Great stuff!  Sometimes I wonder if my church has this at its heart when it’s mission statement is to bring others into a growing relationship with Jesus.  I think they forget the growing part of it and just focus on accepting Jesus and then you’re on your own.

This was a rough lesson for me in many ways.  Question 8a once again challenged my thinking on what is righteousness (something I’m still trying to get a grasp of in my mind).  Romans is such a key passage in all the Bible that I’m still struggling to get.  I had to read about the inner and outer courts to make sure I understood why Jesus was so upset and make sure I had it straight who eunuchs were in the Bible.  It took me two days to do this lesson.

I’m not for sure how Exodus ties in here (since no question points to it) besides to make the point of keeping the Sabbath holy and how Isaiah repeatedly stated if foreigners keep the Sabbath holy, then they are accepted by God.  I’m assuming this is for emphasis and to show its importance to God.  Therefore, it is a requirement to be accepted by God in the Old Covenant as Isaiah records in Isaiah 56.

End Note:  Traditionally, eunuchs are castrated males, usually slaves turned into servants who serve for a king and tend his harem of women so no adultery can occur.  They also attend the king as well.  Castration was also a form of punishment for rape in ancient China.  It was also used for religious purposes.

Biblically speaking, the term eunuch could have referred not only to castrated men but also to a male official or confidant.  The Hebrew word had both meanings.  The context must be taken into account to get the full picture.  Here, I’m thinking Isaiah is referring to the castrated male since no one with imperfections could enter the inner courts (which included those cut–Deuteronomy 23:1).