Posts from June 2022

  DISCUSSION                                                               In the book of Galatians, Paul is surprised that the Christians in Galatia had already turned aside to a different doctrine.  It seems that part of their problem had been they had allowed some false teacher to creep in and confuse them by saying that they had to adhere to specific aspects of the Mosaic Law; namely circumcision.  As he finishes up his letter, he makes this statement in Galatians 5.9 “A…

  DISCUSSION                                                         What a great victory Jehu must have thought he had accomplished in destroying all the prophets of Baal along with their temple in 2 Kings 10.18-27.  Not only did they destroy it, but the Bible said that they made it a “latrine” or “sewer”.  I am sure this was an event that was spoken of for months and years after the fact and considered a great accomplishment.  As it was a great…

  DISCUSSION                                       “You have got to be kidding me. You mean to tell me that if I go and dip myself in the Jordan River seven times, my leprosy will go away? You’re not even going to lay your hands on me, or touch me, or say abracadabra or nothing?  Man, that is the craziest thing I have ever heard!”   That might have been the way Naaman reacted if this happened today. Honestly, considering what…

  DISCUSSION          In 2 Kings 1, Judah’s new king is Ahaziah.  He has had some type of accident and has not been able to walk as a result. He sends messengers to inquire of Beelzebub (an idol) as to whether or not he will get better.  As they are on their way, they meet a man from God who scolds them for inquiring of an idol over the LORD.  As a result, he tells them that Ahaziah will die due…

  DISCUSSION                            Have you ever been in a situation where you feel powerless?  It may be because of illness, tragedy or the actions of others against you. Whatever the case, you have no control over the situation.  In 2 Chronicles 20, that is the way Jehoshaphat feels.  The Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites have joined forces and are headed to attack the nation of Judah.  The Bible says that King Jehoshaphat is afraid because he knows…

  DISCUSSION                                  In the final days of Ahab, King of Israel, he is faced with a battle against the King of Syria.  In his estimation, he was not allowed to defeat them himself, so he solicits Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah to join him.  Jehoshaphat agrees and unites with Ahab on one condition; that they inquire of the LORD first.  Ahab agrees and calls in 400 prophets and asked them, “Should I go and…

  DISCUSSION                                                “Sell out -someone who sacrifices their personal convictions for some type of advancement.”       Naboth had set himself up to become a very wealthy man.  He owned a vineyard that was located on a prime piece of property, right beside the palace of King Ahab.  It just so happens that Ahab desired this vineyard for himself and he wanted to turn it into a vegetable garden.  As Naboth might have expected, Ahab…

  DISCUSSION :                                                                                                             As the spiritual state of the nation of God continues to decline, the prophets of God became afraid of Ahab and Jezebel and hid in caves in groups of fifties. God is looking for a prophet with the courage to, not only confront Ahab…

  DISCUSSION                             As we continue our study of the kings of the two kingdoms, we see that as the nation of Judah begins to be (for the moment) on the right track in the early days of Asa, the Kingdom of Israel continues to fall in rapid decline.  With each passing king they grow worse; from bad with Jeroboam, to really bad with Baasha, to really really bad with Elah, to extremely bad with Zimri, to…

  DISCUSSION                                        As we continue to read and study the nation of Israel, it doesn’t take very long before we see a tremendous downfall of the kingdom after the sins of Solomon.  The kingdom has now been divided into two sections; the nation of Judah is now referred to as the Southern Kingdom and the nation of Israel now becomes known as the Northern kingdom.  Judah is comprised of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin,…

                  1 Kings 13 tells us about the Prophet Who Lied and the Prophet Who Died… the Li-ar and the Li-on…   It’s an interesting story where the man of God goes to Jeroboam to tell him about his future and how it will come crushing down by a child named Josiah because of the evil he was doing.  In fact, upon telling Jeroboam this, his hand withers and the very sign that the man of God predicted … “Surely…

  DISCUSSION                   As we did for Proverbs 27 – 29, we’re looking at an outline of the Proverbs for today. Proverbs 30 – Agur Gets Existential This next section is entitled “Sayings of Agur, Son of Jakeh” (no one knows who Agur was, but he may have been a non-Israelite, representing Near-Eastern wisdom in a more general way). It begins with a confession of human ignorance—the speaker admits that he doesn’t know anything, doesn’t understand how…