BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 30, Day 5: Facing Outward
11) I wish I had a definitive answer to this question, but, truthfully, this is so hard to know. It’s hard to know how you impact others. One day, we all will know on the other side of heaven. That being said, I tried to impart what I learned to my family and friends.
12) I was challenged to be more open to others, more accepting, and to meet people where they are at rather than expect them to be in the same place I’m at. I was challenged to let God handle my anger towards others and let Him be the definitive judge.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 29, Day 5: Romans 15:4
13a) I think I have a good understanding of how God’s people simply got caught up in sin and all they needed to do was to cry out to Him. This is a good lesson for us. God is always waiting for us to return to Him.
b) Many. I learned how sin is omnipresent, lurking, and how easy it is to fall into sin. We need to turn to God in these moments.
14a) I loved Lamentations and how Jeremiah poured out his heart and his lack of understanding to God. So must we.
b) God is in control, and He uses countries to enact His will on earth.
c) Lamentations 3:22: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
15) There is always hope in the Lord if we simply turn to Him.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 29, Day 5: Romans 15:4
Good wrap up of our Bible study!
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 29, Day 5: Romans 15:4
This verse summarizes what ultimately the Israelites found in exile: hope. We can find encouragement and endurance in their struggles as we wrestle with our own personal trials and tribulations.
God loves His people so much that He will do whatever it takes for them.
God wants to fill us with hope, especially when we face challenges. We choose Him. God is our refuge.
Keep learning about God for every snippet you glean will one day bloom. It all matters.
What will you accomplish now with your new knowledge?
Have you not known since the beginning that God is God? He sits enthroned above earth. He brings down princes. Who can compare to God or is his equal? Those who hope in God will not grow weary. They will soar on wings like eagles. He gives them strength.
Micah 7:18-19
God forgives sins. He shows mercy and compassion on us. His anger does not linger.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 29, Day 2: Isaiah 40:21-31 and Micah 7:18-19
5a) It’s God Himself telling us about Him and revealing himself. We can trust what God says about Himself, as it helps us to grow closer to Him. He completely revealed Himself to us through His Son, Jesus Crhist, and it helps us remember Him and what He has done for us.
b) That He is faithful. That he is merciful and compassionate. That He wants to bless me.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 29, Day 2: Isaiah 40:21-31 and Micah 7:18-19
Great verses and a great recap!
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 29, Day 2: Isaiah 40:21-31 and Micah 7:18-19
Isaiah 40:21-31
God’s greatness is evident in all of Creation. God sits above us all. He is master since He knows the stars by name. Knowing God is in our lives should make a difference in how we live.
God gives us His strength. He gives it to us as we rely on Him, seek Him. We can soar above all things like eagles. Strength to go forward.
Habakkuk complains again to God, asking Him why He tolerates treachery and those who do evil to others.
The Lord gives Habakkuk a message to give to the people: woe to those who do not live by faithfulness. Woe to all those who do evil to others.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 28, Day 3: Habakkuk 1:12-2:20
6a) The Lord is everlasting. He will never die. He has appointed the Babylonians to execute judgment and to punish. Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
b) Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wickedswallow up those more righteous than themselves?
c) I really don’t. We all deserve judgment. God is in charge. Evil happens for a reason. It is for us to accept, not to understand.
7) Habakkuk waits on God’s reply and expects to be corrected. This is what we all should do. Wait on the Lord and let Him work.
8 ) People who are righteous live by faith. Others desire evil and are proud. In essence, those who rely on themselves (proud) and those who rely on God (the faithful).
9) He warns people who do evil against others, who are proud, greedy, drunk, and practice idolatry.
10) God is above all else and truly no one has any right to be in His presence. We should be humble before the Lord in all ways and in all things for God is Holy.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 28, Day 3: Habakkuk 1:12-2:20
This is so typically human. We still question God because we can’t understand Him and His ways. And God answers in typical style: because I am God.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 28, Day 3: Habakkuk 1:12-2:20
Habakkuk wonders why God chose the Babylonians to judge Judah. First he wonders why God doesn’t judge Judah. Then he wonders why choose the Babylonians. Why judge evil with more evil? Why not?
Then he wonders how long the Babylonians will rule.
Habakkuk expected God to answer him, so he waited. He expected to be corrected, too.
God says there are the proud and there are the faithful.
Fun Fact: “Just live by faith” is one of the most quoted Old Testamant verses in the New Testament.
Romans 1:17the justified man – “The just shall live by faith.”
Hebrews 10:38faith – “The just shall live by faith.”
Galatians 3:11 the Christian life – “The just shall live by faith.”
Christians are to live by faith. That is it. By nothing else: works, feelings, etc.
God would deal with the Babylonians who were prideful.
God calls out to the greedy, the violent, the drunk, and the idolater.
The Lord is alive in His Holy temple, and He would deal with them all.
We watch and pray as we wait on God to answer our prayers.
Zedekiah did evil in the eyes of the Lord. It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence. Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem in response. The city was taken and Zedekiah was captured. The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah.11 Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes.
Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem, including the temple. He took away the artisans, leaving the poor to work the fields. The city was looted. Jehoiachin king of Judah was freed by the new king of Babylon, but still was exiled.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 5: Jeremiah 52
12a) Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem in response. The people were starving, the city was taken, and Zedekiah was captured. Nebuchadnezzar burned Jerusalem, including the temple. He took away the artisans, leaving the poor to work the fields. The city was looted.
b) Zedekiah was captured. The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes.Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, , bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death.
c) The temple was where God dwelled. Once it was gone, the people had no place to meet God under the Old Covenant. It was a symbol that God had abandoned His people to His judgment.
13) It proves that God knows the future. It gives us faith that God is the One True God. It gives faith in prophecy.
14) I think it’s significant that Jehoiachin was never really “free.” He was still an exile in Babylon. Bible scholars point out that King Jehoiachin received small kindnesses out of God’s grace and as a foreshadow of God’s blessing and restoration of His people to come. It ends this chapter on a positive note.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 5: Jeremiah 52
A sad chapter and day for God’s people. It’s hard to read, especially of the temple’s destruction. But, it serves as a warning to us all to obey God with all our hearts, minds, and souls.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 26, Day 5: Jeremiah 52
Almost every verse is fulfilled prophecy in Jeremiah 52.
We read about the evil reign of Zedekiah and what happened to him. Jerusalem is destroyed; the city is plundered; the people are left in ruin and/or carried away to exile. All the leaders were killed, too.
Bible scholars point out that King Jehoiachin received small kindnesses out of God’s grace and as a foreshadow of God’s blessing and restoration of His people to come. This ends the chapter (and the book of Jeremiah) on a positive note.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 25, Day 3: Select Passages From Jeremiah
7)
Jeremiah 2:5-6; 3:19-20: God’s people followed worthless idols and therefore became worthless themselves. They no longer sought the Lord. Instead, the people were unfaithful even when God gave them everything.
Jeremiah 4:6; 6:1: God is bringing destruction from the north.
Jeremiah 10:17-18: God will bring distress on His people. They will be captured and forced to leave the land.
Jeremiah 25:8-14: I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy[a] them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin.10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp.11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians,[b] for their guilt,” declares the Lord, “and will make it desolate forever.13 I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations.14 They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
8a)
Jeremiah 4:19-21: Jeremiah is distraught, in anguish. He must speak.
Jeremiah 9:1: Jeremiah cries for his people.
Jeremiah 10:23-25: Jeremiah pleads for God’s people. He asks God to pour out His wrath on other nations that do not acknowledge Him.
Jeremiah 15:16-18a: Jeremiah loved God’s word. He sat alone sometimes becuase of his obedience to God. Jeremiah was angry at being the bearer of bad news. He was in pain and did not know when it would end. He wondered about God’s goodness and power.
b) It bothers me, but it’s impossible to linger on or you will be like Jeremiah and let it consume you. I pray about it, and let God do the rest.
c) Lord, let me see those who need you and your Son, Jesus Christ. Let me pray over them to find you and to be open to you. Let me see what you see. Let me help who you want me to help. Let me be more like you. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 25, Day 3: Select Passages From Jeremiah
I can’t imagine the burden that Jeremiah felt with his calling in life. To be the bearer of bad news, the one no one likes and the one everyone hates is tough. It was definitely by the will of God, that’s for sure.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 25, Day 3: Select Passages From Jeremiah
God’s people are so ungrateful for what He has done for them that they dismiss Him. This has to pull at God’s heart.
Therefore, God will bring judgment.
Jeremiah is grieved for his people. He pleads with God for mercy and to judge the Babylonians for their evil, too.
Jeremiah feels alone sometimes because of his obedience, calling from God, and faithfulness to God. How many of us feel that way, too?
Jeremiah points out the people’s sins, tells them judgment is coming and to repent, and gives them hope.
The Lord is slow to answer, but He does not leave the guilty unpunished. He will punish Nineveh for their evils.
Yet, the Lord is good. He is a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.
He will destroy Nineveh.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 24, Day 2: Nahum 1
3a) The Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies. 3 The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
b) The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. He afflicts Judah but promises to do so no more. Yet, the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
c) We are saved by Christ’s blood. There will be justice but also salvation for believers. It’s comforting to know that God will be the judge of everything. We only have to believe and follow Him.
4) Jonah’s message about their doom was believed by the Ninevites and they worked to changed their ways. God relented his anger and punishment because of it. In Nahum’s time, his message was ignored, and Nineveh fell. God showed no mercy.
5a) It gave them hope that they would be freed and could return home one day. It also gave them faith that God keeps His word and enacts revenge; that God has their back. That God is in charge.
b) I know that God cares about what is right and wrong, so that no matter what evil is around me, they will pay one day when they stand before God.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 24, Day 2: Nahum 1
Great lesson on how God is in control and He will enact revenge in His timing.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 24, Day 2: Nahum 1
Nahum preached against injustice and predicted the downfall of Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. God addresses nations as much as He addresses individuals.
God shows mercy, but He also judges.
Nahum means “comfort.”
God will deliver His people and defeat their enemies.
Assyria returned to idolatry, cruelty, and arrogance after Jonah’s warnings. Judah emulated Assyria. Yet, God saved Judah.
We learn when Micah prophesized in verse 1: during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. The Lord will come down and punish His people for their sins. Micah will mourn because of the people’s sins, weeping and wailing.
Micah 2
Micah says that there is woe to those who plot evil, who covet, steal, defraud, and rob others. As consequences, the Lord will plan disasters upon His people. There will be false prophets. Yet, God will redeem a remnant of Israel.
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 23, Day 2: Micah 1-2
3) During the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah—the vision he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
4a)
Micah 1:1-7: because of Jacob’s transgression, because of the sins of the people of Israel. They worshipped idols.
Micah 2:1-5: Planning sin and plotting evil. Covet fields and houses and seize them. They defraud people of their homes and rob them of their inheritance
Micah 2:6-11: They steal and drive people from their homes. There are false prophets.
b) Because our hearts and nature are evil. We are tempted, and we sin.
c) Sin is easy to do, which is why so everyone does it. Sometimes, following God’s ways are harder. It’s a choice to not sin just as much as it’s a choice to sin. It’s important to be cognizant of your choices.
5) God would gather a remnant and the One (Jesus) would go before them.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 23, Day 2: Micah 1-2
See here the consequences of sin clearly for God’s people.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 23, Day 2: Micah 1-2
Micah 1
Moresheth (also called Moresheth Gath in Micah 1:14) was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem. Micah was from the country and he preached somewhere around 739 BC and 686 BC, the same time as Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea. His name means “Who is like the Lord.”
Micah tells the people to listen to what he has to say. Idolatry was everywhere, and it was time to put God first again.
God will come to judge Israel and Judah. Samaria will be left desolate because of it.
Micah announces the judgement on Judah howling and wailing, very sad to do so.
The nations will know of God’s judgment, and it will bring shame on the people.
Micah 2
Sin is bad, but planned sin is even worse. God will bring His people low because of their planned sins.
God would take away what He had given them.
Still, God will restore His people even if they embrace false prophets.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 22, Day 4: Isaiah 43:19 & Others
9a) Suffering makes you realize that you are not in control of your life, so you turn to the One who is for help to get through your troubles and get at least a sense of normalcy.
b) There have been many difficulties in my life, from bankruptcy to moves and more. Every time, I grow closer to Him and His ways and path for my life.
c) I am inspired by all those throughout history that have suffered for a cause or for the kingdom, from the apostles who were martyred to Christians today who refuse to compromise on the Words of the Bible. It inspires me to be a better person.
10)
Numbers 32:23: He draws us to Him when we fail to do things His way or follow His Word.
Psalm 40:17: He uses financial difficulties (or poor in spirit), so we depend on Him.
Psalm 118:13-14: He uses our setbacks to grow us towards Him.
Jeremiah 9:7: He tests us to refine us and draw us closer to Him.
Zechariah 13:9: He refines us by fire in our lives so we call upon Him.
11a) Pride. Self-aggrandizement. The need to be right and be in control. The shame we feel admitting we failed.
b) God shows others through me that you don’t have to be perfect; you are great even in your weaknesses.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 22, Day 4: Isaiah 43:19 & Others
Great study on suffering. We only need to turn to God to come through on the other side.
End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 22, Day 4: Isaiah 43:19 & Others
God will make our way. We just have to trust Him.
Our job is to remain faithful through suffering and grow from it. To trust Him through the pain and hard times.
His will and work are accomplished through our pain.
He will complete His work in us.
In hard times, we recognize the truth — that God upholds us every day.
