Weekly Bible Study Review

Weekly Bible Study Review

June 17, 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 91107
Tuesdays 11:00 am

Read-to-Believe Class
Lake Avenue Church
Hutchins Hall Room 402
309 N Lake Avenue
Pasadena CA 91101
Thursdays 7:00 pm

.
Romans Challenge

Albert Baroody invites you

to read the book of Romans in two translations with three other people

in four weeks.

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

July 14, 2012

August 11, 2012

September 8, 2012

October 6, 2012

November 3, 2012

December 8, 2012

Greetings!

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.

Tuesday Cafe Class
Ephesians

Ephesians 1:1-23

1:1-2 Paul identifies himself as an apostle of Christ Jesus. He became an apostle by the will of God. This letter is written to the believers living in Ephesus in the first century. There is much written about Ephesus in Acts. This is where the Ephesian riot happened and where Paul taught at the hall of Tyrannus for two years. There is also a letter to Ephesus in the book of Revelation. The Ephesians seem to be quite mature in their faith. We see in this letter that Paul is not writing to correct them but to set their focus on matters in the heavenly realm. Ephesians is a big-picture book that sets the broader context of the Christian's faith.

v. 3-14 Paul and his believing readers have been blessed "in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Notice that he is not talking about physical blessings like camels, land or good health. Rather he's speaking of less tangible but more valuable blessings that are stored for them in heaven. God hasn't withheld anything from them; they've been given "every spiritual blessing."

Click to read more...

Thursday Read-to-Believe Class
Exodus

Exodus 26:1-28:43

Last time we read the description of the ark of the covenant, the table for the bread of the Presence, and the golden lampstand. Now we'll look at the construction of the Tabernacle itself. The Tabernacle was a portable temple that the Israelites would carry around in the wilderness. Click to see the handout.

26:1-37 It was made of embroidered linen curtains, wooden frames and crossbars overlaid with pure gold, and covered with three curtains; goat hair, ram skins dyed red, and sea cow hides. Moses was shown a pattern on the mountain so he would know how to build the Tabernacle. There was a curtain inside it that divided it into two rooms. The first room was called the Tent of Meeting or the Holy Place, and the inner room was the Most Holy Place.

The Tabernacle

-10 curtains made of linen and blue, purple, scarlet yarn and cherubim

-50 clasps made of gold to hold curtains together

-11 curtains made of goat hair for tent over Tabernacle

-50 clasps made of bronze to join the goat hair curtains

-1 covering made of ram skins dyed red

-1 covering made of sea cow hides

-20 upright frames made of wood overlaid with gold for the south side

-40 bases made of silver to go under the frames

-20 upright frames made of wood overlaid with gold for the north side

-40 bases made of silver to go under the frames

-6 upright frames made of wood overlaid with gold for the west end

-2 frames made of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold for the corners

-16 bases made of silver

-15 crossbars made of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold

-rings made of gold to hold the crossbars

-4 posts made of wood overlaid with gold for a curtain for Holy of Holies

-4 bases made of silver to hold the posts

-1 curtain made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and linen with cherubim

-hooks made of gold to hang the curtain

-5 posts made of wood overlaid with gold for a curtain for the entrance

-5 bases made of bronze to hold the posts

-1 curtain made of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen

-hooks made of gold to hang the curtain

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

Tuesday Cafe Class (continued)

Ephesians 1:1-23

The Spiritual Blessings of Being in Christ

v. 4 Chosen in Christ before the creation of the world.
v. 4 Chosen to be holy and blameless in the sight of God.
v. 5 Predestined to be adopted as God's sons through Christ. It was God's will and God's pleasure to adopt them.
v. 6 Given grace freely in Christ. Paul praises God for His grace.
v. 7 Redeemed through the blood of Christ.
v. 7 The forgiveness of sins. Again Paul mentions the riches of God's grace.
v. 9 Knowledge of the mystery of God's will which God was pleased to give them and which he purposed ahead of time.
v. 10 Unity of all things under Christ's authority.
v. 13 Inclusion in Christ.
v. 13 Marked with a seal-- the Holy Spirit.
v. 14 Guaranteed a spiritual inheritance.

In verses 11-12 the "we" means Paul and the other apostles who really were "the first to hope in Christ." Then in verse 13 the "you" refers to his 1st century readers in Ephesus who were included in Christ later, when they heard the gospel and believed. They were marked with the Spirit of God as a guarantee of their inheritance. In class we talked about how the mark of Old Covenant was circumcision and their inheritance was a share of the Promised Land. In order for a man to claim his share he had to have the mark of circumcision. But in the New Covenant the mark is the Spirit and the inheritance is in heaven. All those who claim a heavenly inheritance must have this mark of the Spirit.

v. 15-17 Paul prays for the readers because he wants to thank God for their faith in Christ and their love for all the other believers. He asks God the Father to give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, not so they can build up big impressive ministries, but so they "may know Him better." This is the ultimate goal: faith in Christ, love for people, and knowing God better.

v. 18-23 Paul prays that God will enlighten the "eyes of their hearts" to see things that their physical eyes cannot see; such as the hope to which God has called them, the riches of His glorious inheritance, and His great power. God's power was great enough to raise Christ from the dead and seat Him in the place of highest authority in heaven. Christ is far above all other rulers, authorities, powers and dominions. His title is greater than any other title that can be given and He will always be in this position of authority. All things have been put under Christ's authority by the Father. God appointed Him to be head over everything for His Body, the Church. The believers who were reading this letter would have known that they are the Church, the Body of Christ. God will use His power to raise them from the dead and seat them with Christ in heaven.

Notice how this entire chapter lifts the readers' eyes into the heavenly realm, far above any persecution or difficulties they may have been experiencing in their lives. Paul's just getting warmed up.

See you next time.

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

Exodus 26:1-28:43

27:1-8 They built a wooden altar and overlaid it in bronze. This altar was positioned outside the Tabernacle and was used to burn sacrifices to the Lord. The courtyard around all this was made of linen curtains.

The Altar

-1 altar made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze having 4 horns

-pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans made of bronze

-1 grate made of bronze

-4 rings made of bronze for the grate

-2 poles made of acacia wood overlaid with bronze for carrying the altar

The Courtyard

-curtains made of finely twisted linen to go around the entire courtyard

-20 posts for the south side

-20 bases made of bronze

-hooks made of silver and silver bands on each post

-20 posts for the north side

-20 bases made of bronze

-hooks made of silver and silver bands on each post

-10 posts for the west side

-10 bases made of bronze

-hooks made of silver and silver bands on each post

-6 posts for the east side

-6 bases made of bronze

-hooks made of silver and silver bands on each post

-1 curtain made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen for the entrance

-4 posts for the entrance

-4 bases made of bronze

-tent pegs made of bronze

27:20-28:5 The golden lampstand was kept in the Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons were to keep its lamps burning from evening till morning every day. The Lord told Moses to make sacred garments for Aaron and his sons "to give him dignity and honor."

Priestly Garments

-breastpiece

-braided chains

-12 stones

-Urim and Thummin

-ephod

-2 engraved onyx stones

-robe

-tunic

-turban

-sash

28:6-30 Aaron's ephod was worn over the rest of his garments. It had onyx stones engraved with the names of the 12 tribes attached on the shoulders. There was also a square breastpiece on which were mounted 12 individual precious stones engraved with the names of the 12 tribes. Gold chains were made to hold the breastpiece in place on his chest. Every time Aaron enters the first room of the Tabernacle he bears the names of the 12 tribes before the Lord as a memorial. Aaron, as the high priest, is the representative for all the Israelites before the Lord. The Urim and the Thummin were also placed in the breastpiece. Very little is known about what these were or how they were used to make decisions but the Urim and the Thummin were to remain with the high priest and be kept in his ephod.

v. 31-43 Aaron's robe was blue and hemmed with embroidered pomegranates alternating with gold bells. "The sound of the bells will be heard when he enters the Holy Place before the Lord and when he comes out, so that he will not die." He also wore a gold plate engraved with the words, "Holy to the Lord" on the front of his turban. As the high priest he would bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites would bring so they would be acceptable to the Lord. Again, Aaron represented all the people before the Lord. He also wore a linen tunic under the ephod and robe, as well as a sash and turban. Aaron's sons wore tunics, sashes and headbands. Linen undergarments were made for them reaching from the waist to the thigh. They must wear these undergarments whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting "so that they will not incur guilt and die." This is related to the Lord's command in Exodus 20:26 where He said "do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it." The priests were to dress modestly in the Lord's presence. In class we discussed the level of detail in the Lord's instructions. He was intimately involved in the construction and operation of His Tabernacle.

Next time we will read about how Aaron and his sons were consecrated as priests.

-- 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.