Weekly Bible Study Review
February 5, 2012

 


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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
Hutchins Hall Room 402
309 N Lake Avenue
Pasadena CA 91101
Thursdays 7:00 pm

peacock 1
Arbo Class
LA County Arboretum
301 N Baldwin Ave
Arcadia CA 91007
Saturday 12:00 noon
Once per month

 

January 7, 2012 

February 4, 2012 

March 3, 2012

March 31, 2012 

 April 28, 2012 

May no class

June 2, 2012 

July 14, 2012 

August 11, 2012 

September 8, 2012 

October 6, 2012
November 3, 2012
December 1, 2012
 
topofpageGreetings! 

This newsletter is sent to people who attend one of Sandy's weekly Bible studies. The left column has 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.



cafeclasssWednesday Cafe Class

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 7:1-35

7:1-4 Paul now responds to matters the Corinthians asked him in a previous letter. Remember, not all of Paul's correspondence was preserved. There were other letters. Apparently the Corinthian believers were not sure whether believers should marry, divorce, remarry, etc. So Paul lays out specific instructions according to certain categories. Keep in mind that Paul is expecting the Lord to return very soon, within a few years. He did not know that we would be reading this nearly 2,000 years after he wrote it.

 

Paul's general thought is that it's good not to be married. But he makes a concession because there is so much sexual immorality in Corinth. Each man should have a wife and each woman should have a husband. The husband and wife have an obligation to each other. One's body belongs not only to oneself only but also to the spouse. By saying this Paul elevated the status of the wife by saying that her body belongs to her, not just to her husband. Remember, it was common in that culture for a wife to be considered the property of her husband with very few rights of her own. 

 

Click to read more...   

rtbclassThursday Read-to-Believe Class  
Genesis

Genesis 13:1-15:7

13:1-4 When Abram left Egypt he was a very wealthy man because of the gifts given to him by the Egyptian Pharaoh. He and Sarai and Lot went to the Negev and then to Bethel where he had pitched his tents earlier. Abram once again "called on the name of the Lord."

 

v. 5-13 Lot also had livestock and tents. Abram and Lot could not stay together because there wasn't enough grazing land and water to support all of their flocks and herds. They had to go their separate ways. Abram graciously offered Lot first choice in where he would like to go. Lot chose to go to the plain of the Jordan River where there was abundant grass and water. So Abram went the other direction and moved to the area of Canaan. The wicked city of Sodom was in the plains where Lot chose to go.

 

v. 14-18 After they separated, the Lord told Abram that He would give him all the land as far as he could see. It would belong to Abram and his descendants forever. The Lord also promised that Abram would have descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth. Abram was told to walk the length and breadth of the land the Lord was giving him. So he moved his tents to Hebron and built an altar to the Lord there.

Click to read more... 

 
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)
1 Corinthians 7:1-35

v. 5-7 Paul instructs the married couples not to deprive each other of sexual intimacy unless it is by mutual consent and only for a short period of time. He is concerned that they could be tempted into sexual immorality because they lack self-control. For Paul, marriage is a concession not a command. He wishes they could all be like he is-- single and content in his celibacy. But he views this as a gift from God and acknowledges that not everyone has this gift.

 

Now we see specific instructions he gives to several groups of people.

v. 8-9 To the unmarried and widows

  • Remain unmarried.
  • If you can't control your passions then get married.

v. 10-11 To the married (believer married to a believer)

  • The wife must not separate from her husband.
  • If she does separate then she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband.
  • The husband must not divorce his wife.

In class we talked about the situation in which they were living. The believers were only supposed to marry other believers. There were a limited number of people in the local church. If couples were allowed to casually divorce and remarry then the local church would soon be filled with ex-husbands and ex-wives moving about in a relatively small social circle. The resulting tensions would not be good for the unity of the church. Paul was giving instructions that were in the best interests of the whole group of believers. Today we tend to think more about our own individual rights and autonomy than was the norm in the first century church.    

 

v. 12-16 "To the rest" of the married couples (believer married to an unbeliever)

  • If the unbeliever is willing to live in peace then the believer must not divorce the unbeliever.
  • The unbeliever is "sanctified" (set apart, not saved) through the believing spouse.
  • The children of this marriage are not unclean but are "holy" (set apart). Not at all inferior to children whose parents are both believers. 
  • If the unbeliever leaves, the believing spouse is not bound to this marriage. He/she may marry again.

v. 17-23 "Each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him."

  • If circumcised don't become uncircumcised.
  • If uncircumcised don't be circumcised.
  • If a slave then you are Christ's freedman. Don't be troubled by your status but if you can gain your freedom then do it.
  • If a free man when you were called then consider yourself a slave of Christ.

 v. 24-30 Each person "should remain in the situation God has called him to." Paul speaks of "the present crisis." What was the crisis? The church throughout the world was experiencing deadly persecution. Paul no doubt expected this to continue for a short while and then Christ would return. Therefore, a person's status or possessions were a very temporary matter and would soon be taken away either by their persecutors or by the return of Christ. If they do marry they have not sinned but the more attachments they have the more pain they are likely to suffer. Time is very short.

That's why Paul says--  

  • If you are a virgin, remain as you are.
  • If you are married, do not seek a divorce.
  • If you are unmarried, don't look for a wife.
  • If you have a wife, live as if you did not.
  • If you are mourning some loss, live as if you are not.
  • If you buy something, live as if it is not yours to keep.
  • If you use the things of this world, live as if not engrossed in those things.

v. 31 "This world in its present form is passing away." Paul believes that time is very short. Persecution is coming and the Corinthian believers will have many things taken from them because of their faith in Christ. Paul is trying to spare them a lot of pain, not restrict them. Notice that although Paul is talking a great deal about marriage he is also speaking very broadly about their status as slaves or freedmen, their attachment to worldly possessions, and their attitude toward loss.

 

Before we try to apply this to our own decisions about whether to marry or to buy something we must understand that Paul's instructions are given in light of their "present crisis." Are we experiencing the same kind of "present crisis" where we live today? No, most of us are not. Some believers in other countries are suffering deadly persecution but most of us reading this are not. If every believer reading this today decided to "remain a virgin" then in a short time there would be no more children of Christians. It would not be wise to take all this as literal commands. It is better to glean the general principles from this that will help us live a life that's not based on perishable things like status and possessions, but on our identity as followers of Christ.

 

v. 32-35 Paul wants the readers "to be free from concern." An unmarried man or woman is able to focus on pleasing the Lord, while a married person is focused on pleasing their spouse. The married person's interests are divided between the Lord and the spouse. Paul is saying this not to restrict them unnecessarily but to encourage them to live "in undivided devotion to the Lord."

  

Much more about this next time.

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

Genesis 13:1-15:7

14:1-7 While Abram was at Hebron there was trouble brewing between some of the kings in the region. There were four powerful kings that had come into the area from Elam and Shinar to the east. These four powerful kings conquered the five weaker kings who ruled the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding area. The five weaker kings had to pay tribute (goods and money) to the four powerful kings. In class we compared the situation to the mob coming into a neighborhood and forcing the business owners to pay protection money. This arrangement went on for 12 years but in the 13th year the five weaker kings rebelled. So the four strong kings flexed their muscles and conquered a large area occupied by the Rephaites, Zuzites, Emites, Horites, Amalekites and Amorites. This was intended to intimidate the five weaker kings.

 

v. 8-12 Nevertheless, the five weaker kings drew up battle lines and prepared to fight the four kings. But the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled to the hills, leaving their cities on the plain vulnerable to attack. So the four kings attacked Sodom and Gomorrah, taking all the people and all their goods. Then they went away, apparently heading back to their home in the east. Unfortunately they carried off Lot and all his possessions. This now becomes Abram's war.

 

v. 13-16 When one of the survivors told Abram that Lot had been taken captive he called out 318 trained men who had been born in his own household and began pursuing the four powerful kings. He went north as far as Dan and during the night split his men into smaller groups to attack the kings. Abram chased the kings as far as Hobah, north of Damascus and recovered all the goods. He brought back Lot and his possessions along with all the people who had been taken captive. Abram and only a few men had done what five kings and their armies were unable to do. Click to see the handout. 

 

v. 17-20 But this isn't the end of the story. After Abram defeated the four kings, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in a place called the King's Valley. Melchizedek, king of Salem, also came out meet him. Melchizedek was priest of God Most High. He brought bread and wine and blessed Abram saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe (10%) of all the goods he had recovered from the four kings. This was Abram's acknowledgement that it was God Most High who had made it possible for him to defeat the four powerful kings.

 

v. 21 Then the king of Sodom (the one who fled instead of defending his own people) said to Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." The king of Sodom was now the king of an empty city and he wanted his people back. As we discussed in class, he wanted his "tax base" returned to him and he was willing to give Abram a handsome reward by letting him keep the flocks, herds, silver, gold, etc. Abram wasn't obligated to give anything back. He could have easily killed the king and made himself the new king of Sodom.

 

v. 22-24 Abram told the king that he'd raised his hand to the Lord in a solemn oath that he would accept nothing belonging to the king, "not even a thread or the thong of a sandal" so that the king would never be able to say, "I made Abram rich." He would only accept the food his men had already eaten and a share for each of the three men who were his allies in the fight.

 

15:1 After this incredible victory over the four kings Abram had a vision in which the Lord said, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward." Notice the three parts of this message and how closely related it is to what Abram had just been through.

1) He's told not to be "afraid" at a time when he was probably still shaken up from fighting the four kings.

2) The Lord is his "shield"-- it was certainly the Lord who shielded him in battle.

3) The Lord is his "very great reward"-- a much greater reward than what was offered by the king of Sodom.

 

v. 2-4 Abram asks the Lord, "What can you give me since I remain childless?" He had no children to inherit the land the Lord had promised to give him. He had only a trusted servant who would be his heir. The Lord said "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." Abram's descendants would be as countless as the stars in the sky.

 

v. 6 Now here's a critically important verse. "Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness." We discussed in class how Abram not only believed that the Lord exists but he believed what the Lord was saying to him. "Believing the Lord" is not synonymous with "believing in the Lord." When Abram believed the Lord it showed that he trusted the Lord to tell him the truth. Abram believed the Lord when he said he would have a son who would be heir to all the land the Lord had promised him. And the Lord credited Abram's belief as righteousness. In other words, the fact that Abram believed the Lord showed that Abram was righteous in the sight of God.

 

v. 7 The Lord told Abram that He was the one who brought him out of Ur and led him to Canaan in order to take possession of the land that would eventually be passed down to his descendants (the Israelites). Abram needed to understand that the Lord who spoke to him in Haran and all the other places he had traveled was the same Lord who was speaking to Him now. In Abram's day, people worshiped many local gods. For example, those who lived in the mountains worshiped certain gods. People living near the sea worshiped other gods. When a person moved from one place to another they adapted to the local rituals and worshiped the gods of that place. But Abram was being led, sustained and protected by a God who was not stuck in one place. Abram's God was everywhere he went.

We'll talk about this much more next time. See you then.

 --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 [email protected]. 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.