Weekly Bible Study Review

Weekly Bible Study Review

December 23, 2012

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Class Schedule
Go to www.theocentrix.org click on the "Events" tab
for maps and more information.

open book
Covenant Class
Lake Avenue Church
Family Life 201-202

309 N Lake Ave
Pasadena CA 91101
Sundays 9:00 am

Cafe Class
Culture Cafe
1359 N Altadena Drive
Pasadena CA 91107
Tuesdays 11:00 am

Villa Class
Pasadena CA

Call for location
(626) 531-6641

Wednesdays 7:00 pm

Read-to-Believe Class
Lake Avenue Church
Family Life Room 201
309 N Lake Avenue
Pasadena CA 91101
Thursdays 7:00 pm

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

January 12, 2013

February 9, 2013

March 9, 2013

April 6, 2013

May 4, 2013

June 1, 2013

June 29, 2013

July 27, 2013

August 24, 2013

September 21, 2013

October 19, 2013

November 16, 2013

December 14, 2013

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
Exodus

Exodus 21:12-23:33

21:12-36 When it comes to personal injuries notice how many of the offenses are punishable by death.

Offense	Penalty
a man strikes another man and kills him	death penalty
unintentionally killing another man	flee to a city of refuge
premeditated murder	death penalty
attacking one's father or mother	death penalty
kidnapping	death penalty
cursing one's father or mother	death penalty
hitting a man with a stone or fist	if the injured man gets up and walks around outside with his staff then the assailant just pays for loss of time
beating a male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies	unspecified punishment
beating a slave with a rod	no punishment as long as the slave gets up after a day or two
men who are fighting and hit a pregnant woman	husband determines the fine if there is no serious injury otherwise, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, wound for wound
hitting a servant and destroying an eye or knocking out a tooth	set the servant free to compensate for their loss
a bull gores a man, woman or child to death	stone the bull and don't eat the meat
a bull with a habit of goring and whose owner has been warned gores a man, woman or child to death	stone the bull and execute the owner too unless the victim's family allows him to redeem his life by paying them for their loss
a bull gores a slave to death	owner of the bull pays 30 shekels of silver to the master of the slave and the bull is stoned
a man uncovers or digs a pit and doesn't cover it, a donkey or ox falls in the pit and dies	the owner of the pit pays the owner of the animal but keeps the dead animal for himself
a bull injures another bull and it dies	owner must sell the live bull and the two men divide the money and the dead bull equally
a bull with a habit of goring kills another bull	owner of the live bull must replace the dead animal and may keep the dead one

Click to read more...

Thursday Read-to-Believe Class
Hebrews

Hebrews 13:1-25

v. 1-5 The author gives his readers some important things to do:

1. love each other (love the other believers)

2. entertain strangers (this seems dangerous given their situation but in doing so they might entertain angels. They're not supposed to hide out by themselves.)

3. take care of people who are in prison (in those days prisoners could starve if someone from the outside didn't bring them food on a regular basis.)

4. uphold marriage (God will judge the sexually immoral)

5. be careful not to love money

6. be content with what they have been given by God.

The author reminds his readers that God has given them Himself and He will never leave or forsake them. God proved this was true back in Deut. 31:6 when He took care of the Israelites during their 40 years in the wilderness. The same God who so faithfully cared for the Israelites will care for the believers as well.

v. 6-9 Since the Lord is their "helper" they need not fear what people can do to them. This was especially important to the readers because they were suffering persecution and needed to be reminded that their suffering at the hands of men was temporary.

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)

Exodus 21:12-23:33

22:1-24 This section is mainly about stealing. In class we talked about how the penalties were either restitution or death. There was no mention of being sent to prison.

Offense	Penalty
a man steals an ox or a sheep and he slaughters it or sells it	restitution: 5 cattle for the ox and 4 sheep for the sheep
a thief is killed while breaking into a house	the defender is not guilty of bloodshed if he kills the thief at night but he is guilty of bloodshed if it happens after sunrise.
a man who steals something	must be sold into slavery if he is unable to pay restitution
a man in possession of stolen livestock	must pay back double
a man grazes his livestock in another man's field or vineyard	must make restitution from the best of his own produce
a man starts a fire and it spreads into another man's field burning up his grain	must make restitution
a man gives his neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen	the thief must pay back double but if the thief is not found the man who held the goods must appear before the judges and they will decide whether he was the thief
a man gives an animal to his neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or stolen	must settle the issue by taking an oath before the Lord, no restitution is needed
a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while the owner is not present	borrower must make restitution but if the owner was present the borrower does not have to pay. If the animal was hired then that money covers the loss.
a man seduces a virgin and sleeps with her	he must pay the bride-price and marry her unless her father refuses, then he must still pay the bride-price for virgins.
a woman who practices sorcery	death penalty
sexual relations with an animal	death penalty
offering sacrifices to another god	death penalty
taking advantage of a widow or orphan	the Lord will kill the offender with the sword

22:25-23:13 This section of instructions doesn't specify any penalties but illustrates the way in which God's people are supposed to live together.

The Israelites must not charge each other interest when they make a loan.
They must not blaspheme God or curse their rulers.
They must not hold back their offerings.
They must give God the firstborn of their sons, cattle and sheep.
They must not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts.
They must not spread false reports or help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.
They must not follow the crowd in doing wrong
They must not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.
They must return their enemy's wandering donkey to him.
They must help their enemy if his donkey has fallen under its load.
They must not deny justice to poor people in their lawsuits.
They must not bring false charges or put an innocent man to death.
They must not accept bribes because it will blind them to the truth.
They must not oppress an alien because they were aliens in Egypt.
They may sow and reap their fields, groves and vineyards 6 years but not in the 7th.
They must work 6 days and rest on the 7th, including their animals and servants.
They must be careful to do everything the Lord has said and not invoke the names of other gods.

Notice how the chapters we read this week add a lot of detail to the Ten Commandments. It's as though the list of ten that we are so familiar with is merely the condensed version of the law. Be sure to click here to see the handout we used in class.

23:14-19 In addition to the weekly Sabbath the Israelites are to celebrate three annual festivals in which all the men come before the Lord with an offering.

Feast of Unleavened Bread-- eat unleavened bread for 7 days in the month of Abib to remember their exodus from Egypt
Feast of Harvest-- offer God the firstfruits of their early harvest
Feast of Ingathering-- offer God a portion of their year-end harvest

They won't be able to celebrate Feasts 2 and 3 until they reach the Promised Land in 40 years and start planting crops. The best of their produce must be offered to the Lord. They are also instructed not to offer the blood of an animal sacrifice with anything containing yeast, or keep the fat of the festival sacrifices until morning, or cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

Notice the parallel between the Old Covenant and the New.

Old Covenant	New Covenant
Unleavened bread	Bread (Body of Christ)
Animal blood	Wine (Blood of Christ)

v. 20-26 The Lord said He would send an angel ahead of them to guard them as they traveled through the wilderness to the Promised Land. They must listen to this angel. If they rebel against him the angel will not forgive their rebellion because "my Name is in him." However if they do everything He says then the Lord will be against all their enemies and wipe out the inhabitants of Canaan so the Israelites can move in. Again He warns them not to engage in idolatry but rather to demolish the idols in the land. If the Israelites worship only the Lord then He will bless them and give them "a full life span."

v. 27-33 The Lord will send His "terror," or the fear of Him, ahead of the Israelites while they travel. He will make their enemies turn and run. He will drive out the Canaanites, but not in a single year, because the Israelites' population was not yet large enough to fill that land. The wild animals would become too numerous for them. So they will inherit their land little by little, the boundaries of which extend from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. The Lord established those boundaries for them. Once again the Lord warns them not to fall into idolatry or make covenants with other nations. Much more next time.

--Sandy Blank

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Thursday Read-to-Believe Class (continued)

Hebrews 13:1-25

Continuing the list...

7. consider the outcome of the leaders' lives, imitate their faith. Christ has not changed and never will change. They can trust Him fully.

8. Don't be led astray by strange teaching.

9. Their hearts are strengthened by faith, not by ceremonial foods.

v. 10 The readers may have been feeling that they'd lost something special when they became believers. They were no longer part of the long tradition of Judaism with all its sacrifices and rituals. The author speaks directly to that sense of loss. He says that "we" (the believers) have an altar. Believers have a place to offer sacrifices to God. This altar is different from the altar in the Tabernacle of the Jews. So different in fact that people who do not have faith in Christ have no right to eat from this altar.

v. 11 In the Judaic system the high priest carried the blood of an animal into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle every year on the Day of Atonement. He would sprinkle the animal blood and this would ceremonially cleanse the people. The dead body of the sacrificial animal was taken out of the camp and burned. Leaving it in the camp would have defiled the camp.

v. 12 Similarly, Jesus was quite literally taken out of the camp (outside of Jerusalem) when He was crucified. He was the atoning sacrifice whose blood makes people holy.

v. 13 Therefore, whoever has faith in Jesus must go outside the camp to Him. Why outside the camp? Because that's where He is. And when they go to Him there they will also experience disgrace just as He did.

Let's go back to the Old Testament and examine this idea of going "outside the camp."

Exodus 32:35- 33:11 The Lord was angry with the Israelites because they made a golden calf and worshiped it, claiming that it brought them out of Egypt rather than giving the Lord credit for rescuing them. The Lord became so angry with them that He told Moses to pitch a tent for Him outside the camp. From then on whenever the Israelites wanted to inquire of the Lord Moses had to go outside the camp to speak with Him. Moses had to go out there because that's where the Lord was. This was a shadow of what would happen in the future when Christ was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem. It also showed what the first century believers would have to do-- leave the camp of Judaism and go out to where Jesus is. Of course in doing so they would also subject themselves to the disgrace and scorn to which Christ had been subjected. See the Hebrews Diagram .

v. 14 The believers do not have "an enduring city" here on earth but are looking for the New Jerusalem, Mount Zion, that is to come. See the Two Mountains Diagram .

v. 15-16 The sacrifices the believers are to offer on their altar are sacrifices of praise to God. Also, they must do good and share with others. These sacrifices are pleasing to God. This new altar of theirs does not require animal sacrifices.

v. 17 The readers are to obey their leaders in the church and willingly submit to their authority. The leaders will have to answer to God for the way they have carried out their responsibilities. The followers should make the leaders' job easier rather than harder.

v. 18-21 The author asks for their prayers and assures them that he is acting honorably before the Lord. He wants to come and see them. He closes with a benediction praying that God may equip them with everything they need to do God's will. God works in them to accomplish what is pleasing to Him through Christ. The author describes God as the God of peace who raised Christ from the dead and made an eternal covenant with believers through His blood. To Him be glory forever!

v. 22-25 This has been only a short letter but it was filled with loving correction and instruction. Timothy has been released and will come to see them. The letter closes without greetings to specific individuals. This may have been because of the danger of imprisonment or other sanctions against the believers in that place. "Grace and peace to you all."

Congratulations class! We have read through Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy and Hebrews in one year. That's quite a good foundation. Next time we will begin reading Paul's letter to the Galatians.

--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.