Skip to main content

Week Two - Talking Trees and a Thorn Bush King

 Welcome to Week Two of our Bible Study! This week, we will officially jump into our first parable and it actually fits the definition of a fable, since we have talking trees. Yes that’s right, talking trees and a thorn bush king, oh my..

This story takes place in the times of the Judges; the recurring theme in Judges is, “then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord…” It was during this period, after Joshua was gone and before King Saul, that Israel lacked a moral compass. The Nation did evil, God rebuked them and they were punished for a season, cried out to God, and he provided deliverance. Rinse, repeat, and that’s Judges.

Our story takes place after the passing of Gideon, which most of us remember reading or hearing at some point if we’ve hung around in church long enough. You can read about Gideon in Judges 6-8. The net of Gideon’s obedience was 40 years of peace for Israel. As often occurs though, after Gideon was gone, things went south. The instrument of evil in this story was the son born by Gideon’s concubine, Abimelech. Even though Gideon had many wives and at least 70 sons, he still had at least one concubine.

We will unpack all these events and provide some context during our study time. In the meantime, read Judges 2:16-23 and chapters 6-9 and ponder the lessons we can take from these events. The verses in chapter 2 are the outline for the whole book of Judges and the experience of Israel during the time of the judges. Chapters 6-9 tell the story of Gideon and culminate with our parable/fable for this week. At the end of chapter 9 we see God’s judgment fall on Abimelech.

Some questions to consider, although I would like for you all to have some of your own thoughts/questions as well.  

-          What can we learn from Israel’s actions and patterns of rebellion?

-          Is there correlation between the mindset of Israel and the mindset of many nations today?

-          Why did the olive and fig tree and grape vine not want to be king?

-          Why did the people of Israel forsake God after the passing of each Judge?

-          What are the consequences of disobedience?

-          Why do we so often focus on symptoms of problem rather than addressing the problem? Examples?

We will actually begin our study by backtracking to Joshua and see what he said to the nation of Israel in his final address. We will see how prophetic his words were and how the nation did the very thing he warned them not to do.

I hope everyone is having a great week and has found many things to be thankful for this week. God is always good and always faithful, so we can be thankful for that indeed!

Blessing to you all. Greg

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week Twenty-seven: The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin

Welcome to Week Twenty-Seven of our Bible study! This week we will be looking at Luke 15:1-10. This is a beautiful parable of Jesus explaining how the shepherd will leave the 99 to look for the lost sheep, and the woman who has lost a coin will search everywhere for it. It is a beautiful story because it gives us a portrait of the love our Lord has for the lost and how He desires for all to come to repentance. I think this perspective is critical if we are to get a glimpse of who God really is and what He ultimately wants for all mankind. A few questions/thoughts that come to mind: ·        The religious leaders wouldn’t associate with “sinners;” what does this tell you about their character and how they saw their own source of righteousness? ·        Who were the “sinners” Jesus was associating with? ·        Why did Jesus choose to dine with people that were so reviled by the religious lead...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week Twenty-Nine: What Does God Expect From Us

Welcome to Week Twenty-Nine of our Bible study! Have you ever wondered, “What does God expect of me?” Or perhaps, “What is God’s will for me?” These topics are big business in the self-help industry and there have been a lot of studies and books about God’s will/expectations in our lives. This week we will be look at Luke 17:7-10. This short parable addresses God’s expectations in a very direct, in your face kind of way. In addition to these verses, we will look at a few other passages on the subject and try to gain an understanding of what Jesus was saying to his disciples in this short parable. We will have lots to discuss this week! As always, I welcome your participation and look forward to seeing you all Sunday evening at 7:30 pm. About Zoom:   We will use Zoom for this Bible study. If you are using a computer, just type in www.zoom.com and select “Join a Meeting” at the top of the page, then enter the meeting ID: 696 778 0839. If you are using a phone, iPad or other po...
1 comment
Read more

Week Three - David and Bathsheba

 Welcome to Week Three of our Bible Study! This week, we will look at another story from the Old Testament. I know most folks think of Jesus using parables to teach, and it is debatable if this story in II Samuel should be classified as a parable. It is a Bible story but was used as a vehicle to convict King David of his egregious actions. Whatever we want to call it, that’s our topic for this week. Most folks that have spent time in church have heard the story of David and Bathsheba, found in II Samuel 11. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, then ordered Uriah to be sent to the front line of battle so that he was killed. In chapter 12, we find the prophet Samuel confronting David. While the baby borne from this adulterous relationship dies, David and Bathsheba parent another baby that turns out to be pretty important, King Solomon. All of chapter 11 is a play by play of the events, but the last verse is a moral statement about David’s action...
Post a Comment
Read more