Elijah then ordered the prophets of Baal killed. He told Ahab to eat and drink as the sound of rain was approaching. He goes to Mt. Carmel and prayed. His servant looked towards the sea seven times before he saw a cloud rising from the sea. He told his servant to tell Ahab to go down before the rain starts. Ahab journeys to Jezreel while clouds form. Elijah ran ahead of Ahab by the power of the Lord.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 4, Day 5: 1 Kings 18:40-46
13) Because they opposed God and had led His people astray.
14a) He goes to Mt. Carmel and prayed. His servant looked towards the sea seven times before he saw a cloud rising from the sea.
b) His persistent faith.
15) Where to move. I just keep on chugging along where I’m at until He moves me.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 4, Day 5: 1 Kings 18:40-46
The most interesting thing here is the judgment of the prophets. It’s no laughing matter to outright oppose God.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 4, Day 5: 1 Kings 18:40-46
Rain could now fall since the purpose of the drought was to prove the false gods of Baal false was now defeated.
Elijah waited on God to answer him. So must we all. We must have stubborn faith, too.
Elijah ran 14 miles to Jezreel with God’s help. He wanted to beat Ahab, but we are unsure why.
John the Baptist was thrown in prison, so Jesus returned to Galilee from Nazareth. He went to Capernaum in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali to fulfill Isaiah’s words. Jesus preaches how the kingdom of heaven is near. Jesus began to call his disciples. He first called Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew, who were fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. He next called james and John who were in a boat with their gather, Zebedee.
Jesus began to travel through Galilee, preaching the Good News and healing people of diseases and sicknesses. Large crowds began to follow him and bring their sick to him to be healed.
BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 4, Day 5: Matthew 4:12-25
12 ) Capernaum in Galilee, fulfilling Isaiah’s words that the future king would come from there.
13 ) John the Baptist baptized people in the Jordan River who came from all over Judea.
14a ) Jesus called and they immediately followed him without question. They dropped everything they were doing in the moment.
b ) It’s best to answer God’s call immediately. Life is too short to delay.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 4, Day 5: Matthew 4:12-25
We’re about to embark on an exciting journey with Jesus as he begins his work. What I would give to have walked with him.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 4, Day 5: Matthew 4:12-25
Matthew begins his telling Jesus’s ministry in Galilee. John tells the story of an earlier ministry of Jesus where he himself baptized people and where we get the story of the Samarian woman at the well John 3:22 and 4:1-2.
Galilee was a very populuous area for Biblical times, which is probably why Jesus began there. He could make the biggest impact there. It was very fertile and had many wealthy citizens. Both Jews and Gentiles lived here side by side. In ancient times, there were nine cities that had 15,000 or more people who lived on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Remember that the people of Nazareth, his hometown, rejected him because they had seen him grow up ordinary (Luke 4:16-30), which is why he chose Capernaum. Plus, the disciples were there too, as we see. Jesus was the light in this region as Isaiah predicted.
Jesus waits until John the Baptist is put into prison to begin his ministry.
Do note that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God seem to be the same thing. Bible scholars believe Matthew used the phrase “kingdom of heaven” because the Jewish people never wrote out the word “God.”
A Purpose
Jesus didn’t just randomly call his disciples. The Bible records other places where he encounters them (John 1:35-42 and Luke 5:3). Undoubtedly, Jesus knew who he would call ahead of time. Jesus calls most of the disciples when they were doing something. Jesus needed doers and action-takers.
Most rabbi had disciples so this was not unusual behavior on the part of Jesus. This is how rabbis taught other rabbis.
Just like we have guest speakers at church, they did so in ancient times, too.
Healing shows that Jesus could overcome the consequences of sin (which was death to the body).
FUN FACT: This is the first time the Bible mentions demon-possessed. It shows Jesus’s ultimate authority over the evil in the world. While Old Testament people were troubled by spirits 1 Samuel 18:10, 19:9), this is the first time it is mentioned of removing an evil one from the body.
Cain got married and had sons who got married and had sons of their own. Lamech, one of the descendents of Cain, committed murder as well. Eve gave birth to another son named Seth.
BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 4, Day 5: Genesis 4:17-26
14) They lived in tents and raised livestock. They invented musical instruments, such as the harp and flute, and learned to play them. They learned to work bronze and form tools. They built cities.
15) Seems like the murder tendency runs in the family and that revenge is acceptable. Inferring from Cain’s relationship, it is probably not a close relationship and their activities make it seem more man-centered than God-centered. Lamech boasts and claims a greater retribution than God could deliver — a clear sign of self-centeredness rather than God-centeredness. From the murder, we can infer that they were okay with committing crimes.
16) Seth replaced Abel and the hope is that he will be closer to the Lord than Cain, God-fearing, and loving of God. God will answer those who call on His name.
17) Personal Question. My answer: God offers us grace no matter what we do or how much we turn from Him. Faith is what matters more than what you bring to Him. He wants your heart more than a token gift.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 4, Day 5: Genesis 4:17-26
The Bible is moving on, quickly running through many generations here so that we have a record of Adam’s line (and Jesus’s) before we move on to Noah in Genesis Chapter 5, our next lesson.
End Notes BSF Study Questions Genesis: Lesson 4, Day 5: Genesis 4:17-26
Necessity demanded that Adam’s sons marry his daughters. The gene pool of humanity was pure at this point. However, as time went on, God decreed there no longer be marriage between close relatives because of the danger of inbreeding.
Other examples of sibling marriages: Abraham married his half-sister Sarah (Genesis 20:12).
Advancement of Man Amidst Spiritual Decline
We see humanity’s rapid advancement here. Cities were founded (Genesis 4:17), homes were built, music and the arts were innovated, and metalworking began.
The name Lamech may mean conqueror. He was the seventh from Adam on Cain’s side. Lamech’s arrogance (Genesis 4:23-24) is a contrast to Enoch, who was the seventh from Adam on Seth’s line (Jude 14).
Biblical first: Lamech was the first bigamist in history, going against God’s original plan for one man and one woman to become one flesh (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-8). The names of his wives and daughter show the emphasis in his heart: Adah means, “pleasure, ornament, or beauty.” Zillah means, “shade” probably referring to a luxurious covering of hair. His daughter’s name was Naamah, which means, “loveliness.” Lamech’s culture was committed to physical and outward beauty.
Lamech boasted about his murder, believing he could deliver a greater retribution than God. This shows just how far man has fallen and how far they have pulled away from God in a short amount of time.
The Devolvement of Humanity
The city was Cain’s city; the focus of Lamech was his beautiful wives and his own perceived strength. But for all of Lamech’s boasting, neither he nor his descendants are ever heard of again in the Bible. He came to nothing.
Adam and Eve had many children who were not specifically named in the Biblical record, but Seth replaced Abel in some sense and was the one to whom the promise of a deliverer from the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15) would be passed.
Some have called Genesis 4:26 the first revival, because it was the first indication of a spiritual resurgence after a clear decline.
Summary of passage: God curses the serpent for his beguilement of Adam and Eve to crawl on his belly and eat dust and God put enmity between the serpent and man for all time. Literally, this is humans not liking snakes (especially women). Figuratively, this is humans not trusting Satan and having an inborn wariness of him.
God punished woman by greatly increasing her pains in childbirth; woman will desire her husband who will rule over her.
God punished Adam by cursing the ground so painful toil is now required to eat of it. The ground will produce thorns and thistles. And now death is introduced since “for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Adam names Eve and God makes them clothes and banishes them from the Garden of Eden so that he won’t be able to eat from the tree of life. He places cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life.
Questions:
13a) “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
b) “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
c) “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
14a) The serpent is Satan and her offspring will be Jesus. Jesus will ultimately defeat Satan (crush his head) even though Satan will wound Jesus (strike his heel). “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20)
b) With garments of skin
15a) Everyone dies. We are all sinners through Adam. Jesus was sent to redeem his people, bring grace, and offer justification through his death so that we may have eternal life.
We were born sinners. But Jesus can redeem us. The results and consequences for us today are we have a choice: to choose or reject Jesus. Choose Jesus=life. Reject Jesus=death.
b) Jesus.
Conclusions: We see here that God never abandoned us, even when we sinned. He always had Jesus planned to save us. It’s hard to comprehend: why would God create us if He knew we would Fall? Only God can answer that. He must think we are worthy in some way. Sometimes I wish I believed but a piece of that worthiness.
I had never thought of us being born with a wariness to Satan before. So we’re born with a natural rebelliousness towards God but a natural distrust of Satan. Again, we must choose. Naturally, we gravitate towards serving ourselves (like children). But we learn to choose and no choice in life is more important. The outcome of our life depends upon this choice.
