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BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 1, Day 2: Ezekiel 1:1-3

by atozmom, posted in BSF Exile & Return: A Time to Build 2025/2026

Summary of Ezekiel 1:1-3

Ezekiel has a vision from God.

BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 1, Day 2: Ezekiel 1:1-3

3a) Ezekiel was an exile in Babylon (a lof of Judah had been exiled at this time). It was during the reign of King Jehoiachin. The Lord was with him. 2 Kings adds that Jehoiachin did evil in the eyes of the Lord.

b) I’m sure it was not pleasant being an exile in a foreign land. I’m sure he was doing his best to be faithful to the Lord while being surrounded and captured by pagans. He may have been depressed, anxious, losing faith in God, questioning God, etc.

4a) “The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God” and “the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest” and “There the hand of the Lord was on him.”

b) It shows that God has not abandoned Ezekiel. He is still with him, guiding him, as God does for us, no matter our circumstances. God offers compassion, His word, and His power to us.

5) God directs me and I follow the best I can. He gives me great peace in unsettling circumstances. He is and always has been faithful, even in my darkest days.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 1, Day 2: Ezekiel 1:1-3

I love the emphasis on God’s presence in our lives always, no matter the circumstances and God’s hand on us as we journey through life. Great news!

End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 1, Day 2: Ezekiel 1:1-3

Most likely, Ezekiel was 30 years of age at this time. He was a priest, and priests began their service in the temple at the age of 30. However, Ezekiel was now called to be a prophet.

The time is most likely 597 BC, before the complete fall of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah.

Ezekiel means “strengthened by God,” and he had the hand of the Lord on him.

Map of Kebar River

map of Kebar River
Courtesy of Pinterest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

END NOTES SUMMARIZED

The visions of the prophet Ezekiel are some of the most complex, symbolic, and vivid in the entire Bible. Given to him during the crisis of the Babylonian exile, their details reveal profound truths about the nature and character of God, intended to both challenge and comfort the displaced people of Judah.

Here are some of the key things the details of Ezekiel’s visions reveal about God:

God’s Overwhelming Majesty and Sovereignty

Ezekiel’s first and most famous vision (Ezekiel 1) is of God’s throne-chariot. The details are meant to overwhelm the senses and convey a being of unimaginable power:

  • The Four Living Creatures: Each creature has four faces (human, lion, ox, eagle), representing all of creation—humanity, wild animals, domesticated animals, and birds. This reveals that God is not just the God of Israel, but the sovereign ruler over all living things.
  • The Wheels Within Wheels: The intricate, intersecting wheels covered in eyes () reveal God’s omnipresence and omniscience. He can move in any direction with perfect agility, and His eyes see everything, everywhere.
  • The Dazzling Appearance: The vision is filled with imagery of brilliant light, flashing fire, and glowing metal, culminating in a throne of lapis lazuli. This reveals God’s glory and power as something awesome, terrifying, and utterly beyond human comparison or comprehension.

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BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 1, Day 2: Matthew 1:1-17

by atozmom, posted in BSF Matthew 2021/2022

Summary of Matthew 1:1-17

Matthew lists the genealogy of Jesus in these 17 verses. You’ll find a mix of characters here, from prostitutes, such as Rahab to kings, such as David and Solomon.  Most of the names are simply that — names of people whom the Bible does not talk about. However, God chose all to be a relative of Jesus. How cool is that?

Consider that there were 14 generations from Abraham to David, from David to the time of the Babylonian exile, and from the exile to the Messiah. Why the number 14? Matthew leaves out generations in order to create this numeric lineup. The letters of the Hebrew alphabet represented numbers, too. The letters in David’s name add up to 14, which is used to show that Jesus was the son of David, but also that Jesus is greater than David.

BSF Study Questions Matthew: Lesson 1, Day 2: Matthew 1:1-17

3)  It was super important in the Jewish culture at that time to know that Jesus, the son of God, came from those whom God chosen, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, and that he was of royal birth as the King of Kings. It lent credibility to the fact that Jesus was indeed the Messiah of the world as it proved Jesus’s royal line.

4) Matthew connects Jesus to David through Joseph. Most are names of those who were ordinary people.

5a)

TAMAR — GENESIS 38

  • Tamar disguised herself as a prostitute to lay with Judah, her father-in-law. This was because Judah would not give her his son as her husband as he was required to do by law.

RAHAB — JOSHUA 2; 6:17

  • Rahab hid the spies sent by Joshua from the king of Jericho and so only her and her family was spared when Jericho was conquered. She turned away from her gods to the One, True God and was rewarded for it. She then married Salmon and became a direct relative of Jesus.

RUTH — RUTH 1; 4:13-17

  • Ruth was a Moabitess who accompanied Naomi, her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem when her husband had died. She faithfully provided for Naomi, garnering the attention of Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer. They were married, and the rest is history.

“WIFE OF URIAH” — 2 SAMUEL 11; 12:15, 18, 24

  • The wife of Uriah was Bathsheba. David committed adultery with her, and she ended up conceiving. However, this child died as punishment for David’s adultery. The next son that was born was Solomon.

MARY — LUKE 1:26-56

  • God chose Mary to bear Jesus who was miraculously conceived.

5b ) None of these women are perfect. Tamar used deceit to conceive. Rahab was a prostitute. Ruth was a foreigner. Bathsheba committed adultery. Mary was a virgin. They all tell of how God uses whom he chooses for his purposes.

6) I think everything I have today is by God’s grace: my family, pets, home, job, etc. He gives me everything.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew: Lesson 1, Day 2: Matthew 1:1-17

Check out this gem of a book I found about these great women of the Bible!

I love Matthew’s genealogy. They are all imperfect people — some of them just a written name — who all played a role in bringing salvation to the world. Pretty cool. They were all chosen by God for a purpose, as we all are chosen by Him for a purpose, too. Sometimes, we might not see that purpose right away.

End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew: Lesson 1, Day 2: Matthew 1:1-17

The first thing Matthew emphasizes is the history of Jesus. This is to show that Jesus came from Abraham, the patriarch of God’s people and of the Jewish faith and that he came from the line of David (2 Samuel 7:12-16) to establish his rightful claim to be king. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be a son of David.

You will see throughout Matthew that he makes a concerted effort to bridge the gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament. There is a 400-year gap that is known as the Intertestamental Period (between Testaments). This time was full of upheaval, chaos, uncertainty, wars, and more. Rome took over Jerusalem. Rome oppressed the Israelites, so they realized their only hope was God. The world most definitely needed saving. And the time was right for Jesus to come. With the relative peace of Pax Romana, travel was possible, so Jesus’s disciples could indeed spread the Good News. Quick summary HERE

ABOUT MATTHEW

Matthew (also known as Levi) was a tax collector who was despised by the people. Yet, he gave it all up to become an apostle of Jesus. It is likely Matthew was well-versed in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Furthermore, this is the only Gospel written by a disciple. It was the most highly valued Gospel and the most quoted before 180 AD. It appears first in most lists.

There are two main themes Matthew follows:

  1. Matthew connects Jesus as the Savior and King promised in the Old Testament
  2. Matthew records Jesus’s teachings to show us how to live a life with purpose by following God

THE GENEALOGY

The fact Matthew mentions the four women shows God’s grace and how God is for everyone. God identifies with sinners. God includes women. Note how Joseph is the husband of Mary, not the father of Jesus. Matthew uses the number 14 to organize his genealogy. There are 14 generations from Abraham to David, from David to Babylon, from Babylon to Jesus. It is not meant to be complete.

Luke shows Jesus’s genealogy through Mary, who is through Nathan, a different son of David. (Luke 3:31)

Interesting fact:

Matthew passed over a man named Jehoakim (2 Chronicles 36:5-8) in his genealogy between Josiah and Jechoniah (Matthew 1:11). Jeremiah the prophet revealed that God decreed that no blood descendant of Jehoakim would sit on the throne of Israel (Jeremiah 36:30-31) because he was so wicked. Mary was not a part of the blood curse on the line of Jehoiakim since she is descended from Nathan and not Solomon.

Fun facts:

  • Matthew is known as the teaching Gospel.
  • Matthew is the only evangelist to use the word “church.”
  • Matthew is the Gospel of fulfillment.

TO THINK ABOUT

God gave us the Bible to show us how to live, to show us we are forgiven by Jesus’s sacrifice, we are his, and to give us purpose. By knowing God, we can experience everything God has for us. You are where you are at for a reason. What is that reason? Contact me today!

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