Tag: bsf genesis lesson 14 day 5

cave of the patriarchs by hebron www.atozmomm.com

BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 14, Day 5: Genesis 23

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2020/2021

Summary of Genesis 23:

Sarah lived to be 127 years old. She died in Hebron. Abraham offered to buy a burial plot from the Hittites, and they told him he could pick any plot to bury her in, free of charge. Unsatisfied, Abraham approached Ephron and offered to buy his cave. Ephron offered to give it to Abraham. Abraham refused and offered to pay for the land. Ephron reluctantly agrees, and the land is deeded to Abraham. Abraham then buries Sarah.

BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 14, Day 5: Genesis 23

14) Personal Question. My answer: Inspirational. God is a personal God and wants a relationship with all of us.

15) They call Abraham “a mighty prince among us.” His reputation has spread, as well as his blessings from God.

16) Abraham purchases his first piece of the Promised Land, thereby owning it.

17) Personal Question. My answer: I’m unsure if they do nor do I know how. All I worry about is trying to do God’s will each and every day. The rest just falls into place.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 14, Day 5: Genesis 23

We see Sarah honored and buried here in a fitting manner. We also see her death. In today’s world where everyone is scared of dying so they put their life on hold and instead trust in masks and medical doctors, we see here that everyone lives, everyone dies, and the truth is death is better because you get to go home. The lies the devil has fed us has spread and put the fear of death in people when it should be the fear of God.

End Notes BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 14, Day 5: Genesis 23

map of cave of machpelah www.atozmomm.com

Fun Fact:  Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age when she died is recorded. She led a good life and stands to be an example for us all.  (Isaiah 51:1-2 and 1 Peter 3:3-6). She is also mentioned more often than any other woman in the Bible as well.

Here we see one of the patriarchs of the Bible weep over the loss of his soul mate. Where we get tears as a sign of weakness is beyond me.

Abraham’s foreigner remark alludes to heaven as our real home.

Abraham wants this cave as the place to lay his wife. He built an altar to God here (Genesis 13:18) and believes it fitting for Sarah. It’s no different than us picking out a nice place to bury our loved ones.

The exchange between Ephron and Abraham is an example of how bargaining was done in that time and in that culture. Ephron had no intention of giving Abraham the land but that is how the bargaining started off. Kindness took precedent and is still predominant in the Middle East today when bargaining. This also testifies to the truth of the Bible.

As we continue our study of the book of Genesis, we’ll see this cave of Machpelah become the family burial plot of Abraham, with Abraham, Isaac, Rebekah, Leah, and Jacob buried here.

You can still see the Cave of Machpelah, which is considered the second holiest place for the Jewish people after the Temple Mount. It has a really cool history and would probably be a really cool place to visit one day.

BSF Study Questions Genesis Lesson 14, Day 5: Genesis 15:9-21

by atozmom, posted in BSF Genesis 2012/2013

Summary of passage: Again, Abram questions God, asking for reassurances of this promise.  God tells Abram to bring him a heifer, goat, ram, dove, and a pigeon.  Abram cut these in half (except the birds).

Abram fell asleep and the Lord revealed that Abram’s descendants will be strangers and enslaved for 400 years.  But that God would punish this nation and they will emerge with great possessions.  Abram will die in peace and at an old age.

Then the Lord appeared (many believe) in the smoke and united the pieces, making a covenant with Abram, giving his descendants this land.

Questions:

11)  God says that Abram’s descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and they will be enslaved and mistreated for 400 years (Exodus 6:1; 12:31-36; 40 and most of Exodus tells of God’s plan to free the Israelites from the Egyptians).

God will punish the nation they serve as slaves and afterward the descendants will come out with great possession.  This is shown in Exodus as God punished the Egyptians when Pharaoh refuses to release the Israelites.

In modern history, Egypt as an empire and great civilization no longer exists thanks to Alexander the Great and the Roman Emperor Octavian.  Also, the country of Israel exists today.

Abram will go to his fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age (Genesis 25:7-8).

In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back to Canaan to the land God gives them.

12a)  God as fire:  Genesis 15:17; Exodus 3:2-6 God appearing in burning bush; Exodus 13:21 God leading the Israelites at night as fire; Exodus 19:18 the Lord descending on Mt. Sinai in fire; 1 Kings 18 has Elijah answering the challenge by God coming as fire.  This is God as fire.

God used fire as a sign He accepted sacrifices:  Judges 6:21; 1 Kings 18:38; 1 Chronicles 21:26; Leviticus 9:24

God uses fire as judgment:  Genesis 19:24 when He burned Sodom and Gomorrah; Exodus 9:23; Numbers 11:1; Numbers 16:35 where God consumed people in fire.

Fire used to show God’s glory and holiness:  Daniel 7:9; Isaiah 33:13-15

God himself is a consuming fire in Deuteronomy 4:24

God the Son as light: 1 John 1:5, John 3:18-20; John 9:5; Romans 13:12

b) Personal Question.  My answer:  I’m reminded of a Greek myth that tells of how man first received fire.  It was given to them as a gift by Prometheus who was punished by Zeus because Zeus did not want man to have fire.  Prometheus was chained to a rock and forced to endure an eagle pecking at his liver for the rest of his days.

Fire is essential for living and surviving.  We have to cook our food and fire is what has been used for millenia.  Light is essential for seeing.  Otherwise we are blind.

Basically, God is essential for living since He is fire and light.  Without Him we cannot eat.  We cannot survive.  We cannot see.

Man could not exist without fire.  For the Sun itself is a ball of fire from nuclear explosions.  Furthermore, fire changes things.  Look at wood and metals.  Thus, if God is fire and fire changes things, then God changes things, namely us.

13)  Because He wants as many as possible to see the “light” and come to Him; to see His kindness and repent before it’s too late.

14a)  To the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.  This would be from modern-day Egypt to Iraq, which would include Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq, and parts of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  The river in Egypt is most likely the Nile River.  The Hebrew word for the river used here means “large river” so probably the Nile.

b)  Under Solomon (1 Kings 8:65) and possibly under Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:25).

Conclusions:  I loved the study of fire in the Bible and I only mentioned a tid-bit of ways fire is used.  It also symbolizes evil, the devil, greed, the Holy Spirit, etc.  Fire changes and purifies.  This I LOVE!  Since God is fire God changes and purifies!  Awesome!

I was also reminded by this SITE where I learned about fire how Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew are much more expressive languages than English and the way fire is used depends on translations and meanings.  These languages have many more meanings for some words than English does.

This is just an interesting ARTICLE on the Promised Land boundaries with maps.  However, this article is propounding a world viewpoint.

Maps of Promised Land:  This was interesting.  I found various maps of the Promised Land the Scriptures used to back up the boundaries.  Here is what I found:

http://www.zionismexplained.org/map/thepromisedland.gif  This Link specifically uses Genesis 15:18-21

http://www.differentspirit.org/articles/boundaries.php  This one shows King Solomon’s boundaries with references.

MAP of Modern Day Israel against Solomon’s Empire in 990 BC.

Another MAP of Modern-Day Israel, showing Gaza, West Bank, and Golan

End Note:  I liked this lesson because it prompted me to learn more.  I spent two days looking up references and finding all these websites.  If I hadn’t of done this, this lesson wouldn’t have had the impact it did on me.  Please see HERE for the spiel this one comment inspired.