Weekly Bible Study Review
January 16, 2011

 


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In This Issue
Cafe Class
Read-to-Believe Class
Dichotomy of the Week
Class Schedule
Go to www.theocentrix.org click on the "Events" tab
for maps and more information.

Cafe Class
Culture Cafe
1359 N Altadena Drive
Pasadena CA 91104
Wednesdays 10:00 am

classroom
Read-to-Believe Class
Lake Avenue Church
Family Life Room 201
309 N Lake Avenue
Pasadena CA 91101
Thursdays 6:30 pm

peacock 1
Arbo Class
LA County Arboretum
301 N Baldwin Ave
Arcadia CA 91007
Saturday 12:00 noon
Once per month
January 22
February 26
March 26
 April 30
May no class
June 4
July 9
August 13
September 17
October 15
November 12
December no class


PCC Class
"How to Read the Bible  with Confidence"
Pasadena City College
Extended Learning Center
www.pcclearn.org
February 8 and 15, 2011

 
 

REMINDERS

Arbo Bible Study

It's time to RSVP for the Arboretum lunch and Bible study coming up on Saturday, January 22nd.

Cost: Free

Click here to RSVP.


PCC Bible Class

It's time to register for Sandy's Bible class at Pasadena City College. Two sessions: Feb 8th and 15th.

Cost: $49 payable to PCC.

Click here to register.
 




 
topofpageGreetings! 

This newsletter is sent to everyone who attends Sandy's weekly Bible studies. The left column has a table of contents and the current class schedule. Be sure to watch for the links in each article. Clicking on them will lead you to charts, diagrams and additional articles related to your class.  
Anyone can subscribe to this free newsletter by using the link in the upper left corner. If you would like to forward this issue to a friend all you have to do is click on the link below.




cafeclassWednesday Cafe Class 
Hebrews

Hebrews 11:32

Samson- Last week we saw that Samson's parents were visited by an angel before he was born. They were told that he would be under a Nazarite vow and consecrated to the Lord. At that time the Philistines were ruling over the Israelites. Samson decides to marry a Philistine woman against his parents' wishes. They didn't realize that the Lord was "seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines" (Judges 14:4). The Lord was about to use Samson and his new wife to stir up a major conflict between the Israelites and the Philistines in order to set Israel free from their captors.

 

On the way to meet his future wife Samson killed a lion with his bare hands but didn't tell his parents about it. Later when he went down that road again he saw that the lion's carcass had a beehive and honey in it. He scooped up the honey and ate some of it. He gave some to his parents but didn't tell them where it came from. Touching a dead carcass was a violation of his Nazarite vow.

 

Samson held a 7-day feast before his wedding and was given 30 companions from among the Philistines. They became angry with Samson when they couldn't solve a riddle he gave them. These 30 companions went to Samson's wife and threatened to kill her and father if she didn't give them the answer to the riddle. When Samson found out what they had done he was enraged and went out and killed 30 men from another town, stole their clothing and gave it to the 30 companions.

 

Then Samson went home to his family and left his wife with her people. Her father gave her to another man in marriage. Later Samson came back to see his wife and when he found out she had been given to another man he caught 300 foxes, tied them tail-to-tail in pairs and tied a torch to each pair. He lit the torches and let them loose to set fire to all the grain fields, vineyards, and olive groves. When the Philistines found out it was Samson who had done this they killed his wife and father-in-law. Samson took vengeance by killing many of them. He killed 1,000 men in one day with the jawbone of a donkey.

Click to read more... 


rtbclassThursday Read-to-Believe Class  Romans

Romans 1:1 - 2:24  

This letter was written by the apostle Paul in about 57-58 AD. He had not yet been to Rome but was planning to visit them soon.

Chapter 1:1 Paul became an apostle, not by human appointment but because God made him one. The gospel is "the gospel of God." It's God's message not Paul's personal message.

 

v. 2-3 This gospel was promised by God "beforehand" through the prophets. The Holy Scriptures Paul mentions are the writings that we call the Old Testament today. God told people about His Son through the writings of the OT prophets. Jesus is both a descendant of David and the Son of God.

 

v. 4 Jesus "was declared with power" to be the Son of God through His resurrection. This was proof that Jesus is God's Son. Paul mentions the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in this passage--again alluding to the Trinity without explaining how God can be 3 in 1.

 

v. 5 Through Christ and for His name's sake Paul and his fellow workers (we) were given the task of "calling people from among the Gentiles" (not every individual Gentile but rather individuals from Gentile nations) to faith in Christ. It was no longer only the Jews who were called the people of God.

 

v. 6-15 "You" (the first century Roman readers) are also called to belong to Christ. Paul addresses his letter to the believers in Rome. He thanks God for them because of their faith in Christ. Paul wants to come visit them for mutual encouragement but has been prevented from doing so until now. He must preach the gospel to Greeks and non-Greeks (everybody).

 

v. 16-17 Paul is not ashamed of the gospel. It's the power of God to save both Jews and Gentiles. "First to Jews" because the gospel went to them first at Pentecost and then it went out to Gentiles. In the gospel "a righteousness from God" (not from law, or works) is revealed. This righteousness starts with faith and ends with faith. This righteousness is Jesus.

Click to read more...
Dichotomy of the Week
There are many dichotomies in the Bible. A dichotomy divides people into two groups that do not overlap. In other words, it's impossible for a person to be in both groups at the same time. Here's a list of some dichotomies that are found in Paul's epistles:
           "in Adam" or "in Christ"
           "under law" or "under grace"
           "darkness" or "light"

In Romans Paul uses a dichotomy to talk about righteousness. Today when we hear the term righteousness we usually think of ethical behavior. But the Jews in Paul's day would have associated righteousness with obedience to the Law of Moses. The term righteousness would never have been associated with Gentiles who didn't have the Law. There was a very definite division or dichotomy between people who had the Law and people who did not.

Righteousness can also be defined as being in a proper relationship with God. Naturally, Paul understood that his own people (the Jews) felt that they were in a proper relationship with God because of their ethnic background and their possession of the Law of Moses. In Romans 3:21 Paul makes a shocking statement that now apart from law the righteousness of God has been revealed. In verse 23 he explains that this righteousness apart from law comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. 
--Albert Baroody

Since ancient times the Bible has been read aloud to groups of people who were eager to hear the words of Life. We're really no different today. Believers still look to the Bible for wisdom and instruction. We belong in the Word together. Thank you for your participation in these classes. I hope you will pass this email on to others and invite them to attend a Bible study.

Grace and peace,
Sandy Blank
cafeWednesday Cafe Class (continued)

Hebrews 11:32

One day Samson went to a prostitute. The Philistines wanted to kill him but Samson slipped away in the middle of the night, tore the doors of the city gate off and carried them to the top of a hill.

 

Later he fell in love with Delilah, a Philistine woman. The leaders bribed her with a large amount of silver to find out the secret to Samson's great strength. He lied to her 3 times before she finally wore him down and he told her the truth. He said that he had been under a Nazarite vow since birth and his hair had never been cut. If his hair was cut off he would be as weak as any other man. Delilah had a man cut off his hair while he was sleeping. The Philistines captured him, took out his eyes and made him grind grain in prison. But as his hair grew back he became strong again. While the Philistines were feasting in a celebration to their god Samson prayed to the Lord for strength and he pushed the pillars of the assembly hall down killing thousands of Philistines. Samson also died. He was buried in his father's tomb. Samson was judge of Israel for 20 years (Judges 13-16).

 

Jephthah was a mighty warrior whose father was Gilead and his mother was a prostitute. Gilead had other sons by his wife and they refused to let Jephthah share in their father's inheritance. So Jephthah left and became the leader of a band of men. Later when the Ammonites waged war on Israel the leaders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to go to battle for them. He was reluctant to help them because they'd rejected him before. Nevertheless he agreed to fight for them if they would then make him their head.

 

Jephthah made a vow to the Lord that if He would give him victory over the Ammonites then Jephthah would sacrifice to the Lord the first thing that came out of door of his house when he returned from battle. The Lord did give him victory and the first one to come out to meet him was his daughter. She was his only child. Jephthah was heart-broken but was determined to keep his vow to the Lord. His daughter agreed that he must do so. She was allowed to roam the hills for two months with her friends to mourn because she would never marry. When she returned, Jephthah fulfilled his vow to the Lord. Each year the young women of Israel commemorated her death by going out in the hills for four days. Jephthah led Israel six years and then he died (Judges 10-12).

 

Why are these two men listed in Hebrews 11:32? We wouldn't want our sons to imitate their violence or immorality. So why are they listed by the author of Hebrews along with Rahab, Gideon, Barak, David and Samuel? What do all these people have in common? They were each chosen by God. They each believed what God told them. They trusted Him and obeyed Him. Therefore, in spite of anything that might seem to disqualify them from inheriting eternal life, they are counted righteous in the sight of God because they believed and trusted Him. They had faith in the one true God at a time when most of the people around them did not.

 

If we look at this in light of the Hebrews diagram we see that the original readers of Hebrews were also surrounded by people who did not have faith in Christ. They needed to hear these stories to remind them that others had gone before them and struggled to maintain their faith in a faithless world. These examples of faith would have served as a great encouragement for the first century readers to keep going forward in their Christian life.

 --Sandy Blank
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readtobelieveThursday Read-to-Believe Class (continued)

Romans 1:1 - 2:14 

v. 18-20 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven" against the godlessness of wicked men who suppress (hold down) the truth by their wickedness. They know something of God because God has revealed Himself to them. Since the creation of the world people have been able to see His power and divinity through nature. Therefore men (and women) are without excuse for suppressing this truth.

 

v. 21-23 Paul tells his readers that these wicked people knew God but 1) didn't glorify Him as God and 2) didn't thank Him. So their thinking became futile and their hearts were darkened. They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for lifeless idols.

 

v. 24-27 Three times Paul says "God gave them over." First to the sinful desires of their hearts, second to shameful lusts and third to a depraved mind. Repetition is for emphasis. God did not lose control of them, He simply let them go their own way.

 

v. 28-32 "They did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God" that they were given through what they could see in the physical world. They became filled with every kind of evil, greed, immorality, etc. They were not neutral toward God, rather Paul calls them "God-haters." They know God disapproves of their attitudes and behaviors but they continue this lifestyle and approve of others who live this way.

 

In chapter 2 Paul goes from talking about "them" to directly addressing "you" (his readers in Rome). Some of his readers are relying on the law to make them righteous instead of relying on Christ.

v. 1 "You" (the self-righteous) have no right to judge "them" (the obviously evil people in chapter 1) if you're doing some of the same things they do.

 

v. 2-5 God is a just judge. He doesn't show favoritism. If something is wrong then it's wrong for everyone--Jew and Gentile. God's patience is supposed to lead them to repent of these sins. It doesn't mean He approves. Paul is calling some of his readers stubborn and unrepentant and they're "storing up wrath" against themselves. But everyone will eventually be judged by God.

 

v. 6-13 There will be wrath and anger, trouble and distress for those who do evil. First for Jews then for Gentiles. And there will be eternal life, glory, honor and peace for those who do good. First for Jews then for Gentiles. All who sin apart from the law (Gentiles) will perish and all who sin under the law (Jews) will be judged guilty by the law and still perish. Again Paul is showing that God does not play favorites.

 

v. 14-15 When Gentiles do things that are required by the law (that is, when they don't steal or murder or commit adultery) they show that the law is in their hearts. Their conscience sometimes condemns them and at other times defends them.

 

v. 16 Notice that verses 14 and 15 are in parentheses. Read verse 13 again (skip 14-15) and then read verse 16. "This" refers to being "declared righteous" at the end of verse 13. The day will come when God will judge every man through Jesus Christ.

 

v. 17-24 Now it's clear that Paul is talking to his Jewish readers-- those who still rely on the law instead of on Christ. On the basis of the law these men brag about their relationship with God. They claim to know His will and think of themselves as guides for the blind, lights for those in darkness, instructors of the foolish, etc. But some of them steal or commit adultery or rob temples and see nothing wrong with it. They brag about the law while they are breaking the law. Paul quotes Isaiah and Ezekiel when he says "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." Some of these Jews were living more immoral lives than some of the Gentiles.

 

Let's recap--the chapter 1 people were obviously immoral and openly rejected God as their God. They worshiped idols and lived an increasingly depraved lifestyle. The chapter 2 people looked pretty good on the outside but their reliance on the law rather than on Christ was akin to idolatry. They didn't reject the true God and worship idols, rather they rejected the Son of God and clung to the law. They were not only immoral, but also hypocrites. Paul has much more to say about all of this and we'll continue next time.

 --Sandy Blank 

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This newsletter is maintained by Sandy Blank (Ph.D. Educational Studies, Biola; MA Biblical Studies, Grace University). If you would like further information about any of her classes or would like to know how to start a Bible study in your area please contact her at sandyblank@theocentrix.org. This newsletter is sponsored by Theocentrix, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting God-centered Bible literacy. Visit www.theocentrix.org for more information.