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BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 14, Day 3: Joel 2:18-32

by atozmom, posted in BSF People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided 2022/2023

SUMMARY OF JOEL 2:18-32

God took pity on his people and their cries. “I am sending you grain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.” Joel says to not be afraid for the Lord will now bless the land and protect them from their enemies. The Lord will pour out his spirit during the day of the Lord on the people who will be saved.

BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 14, Day 3: Joel 2:18-32

6) That the Lord took pity on his people. That he would sendgrain, new wine and olive oil, enough to satisfy them fully; never again will He make them an object of scorn to the nations. Joel says to not be afraid for the Lord will now bless the land and protect them from their enemies.

7a) God gave all people the Holy Spirit to be with them always. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord and Jesus will be saved.

b) I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.

c) God is faithful. He cares for His people. He forgives them when they turn from sin with the right heart. This is encouraging for me in my sin, too.

8 )

John 16:7-15: The Holy Spirit guides us in the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Jesus because it is from Jesus that he will receive what he will make known to you. He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment.

Acts 1:8:  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Romans 8:9-16: the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. You will have eternal life because the Spirit is living in you. The Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18: Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. We have freedom and glory because of the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. The Holy Spirit allows us to bear these spiritual fruits. The result of the work of the Spirit in a believer’s life is these attributes.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 14, Day 3: Joel 2:18-32

I love how God always is there to provide us with our needs and how the gift of the Holy Spirit is something none of us should take for granted.

End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 14, Day 3: Joel 2:18-32

God promises to provide for his repentent people and protect them from their enemies. God will restore His people fully, promising to bring rain and restore what the locusts ate.

Then there will be ultimate restoration and blessing and God’s Spirit will be poured out onto the people after Jesus dies. During Old Testament times, only certain people had the Spirit come upon them.

Joel’s prophecy would be fulfilled at Pentecost when 120 believers were the first to receive the Holy Spirit with signs from heaven.

All are eligible to come to God and to pray for Him to come into their lives.

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BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 12, Day 2: Jonah 1

by atozmom, posted in BSF People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided 2022/2023

SUMMARY OF JONAH 1:

God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against its wickedness. But Jonah ran from the Lord and headed for Tarshish on a ship. God sent a great wind and storm against Jonah’s ship. They threw their cargo overboard to lighten it. Jonah was sleeping, and the crew cast lots, which told them he was responsible for the storm.

Jonah confessed that he was running from God, so he told them to throw him overboard because the storm is his fault. At first, the men did not do this, but the sea grew wilder. The men prayed for God to not fault them for throwing Jonah over. A fish swallowed Jonah, and he was in its belly three days and three nights.

BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 12, Day 2: Jonah 1

3a) 2 Kings 14:25 says, “He was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher.”

b) Jonah ran away from the Lord.

c) He was afraid to do what God told him to do. He may have been afraid of the people of Nineveh. He was outside of his comfort zone. It was a hard job and Jonah simply did not want to do it. Many Bible scholars believe that Jonah did not believe that the evil Assyrians deserved repentance and mercy from God.

d) They run in every way possible. They ignore his voice and his calling. They don’t do what he tells them to do. They don’t pray or go to church. They hide from Him like Jonah did.

4) When you disobey God, there are consequences. He pursues you and does what he has to to get you to listen to him.

5) I usually don’t struggle with this. None of us are worthy of God’s love and grace, no matter how “good” we are or how “evil.”

6) All the time. He asks me to be nice to people I don’t want to be nice to. He puts me in places I hate. He challenges me to bloom where planted. Sometimes I succeed; sometimes I fail. Still, I try.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 12, Day 2: Jonah 1

I love the story of Jonah. Such a colorful story of God doing whatever it takes to get your attention.

End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 12, Day 2: Jonah 1

map of nineveh and tarshish www.atozmomm.com It’s important to understand that Nineveh was the capital of Assyria at the time. It was a pagan city. God chose Jonah to go and speak to the people of Nineveh and rebuke them for their sins.

Nineveh was to the east of Israel. Tarshish was to the west in what is now Spain. Jonah wanted to get as far away from God’s calling as possible.

God sent a storm. God’s timing is now when He calls. You don’t put off His call for when it’s convenient for you.

Jonah slept as many Christians sleep through God’s calling. We must be awake for Christ.

Jonah asks to be thrown into the sea, and gives us a picture of Christ who threw himself into humans’s storms.

The storm ended once Jonah was thrown into the sea, proving God existed. Many Bible scholars believe the men on the ship came to faith in God after this.

What Was the Fish?

We don’t know what kind of fish this was. It could have been a whale or a special fish God created for just this moment in time. Either way, God was not finished with Jonah yet. He lived three days and nights in the belly of the fish. This was what Jonah personally needed to come to God and obey Him. God does the same with us, just in different ways.

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BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 7, Day 5: 2 Chronicles 20:31-21:3

by atozmom, posted in BSF People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided 2022/2023

SUMMARY OF 2 CHRONICLES 20:31-21:3

Jehoshaphat reigned in Jerusalem 25 years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. The high places were not removed, and the people still has not set their hearts on God. Later, Jehoshaphat made an alliance with the evil king Ahaziah, king of Israel, to build trading ships. The Lord destroyed the ships as punishment for this alliance.

Jehoshaphat died and Jehoram his son succeeded him.

BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 7, Day 5: 2 Chronicles 20:31-21:3

13a) Both. It was corrective as a consequence of aligning with a wicked king and protected Judah and Jehoshaphat from having to deal with Israel and risk more pagan ways introduced to their country.

b) He has many times moved me away from those who would cause me to sin. God is good.

14) For the most part, Jehoshaphat did right in the eyes of the Lord with only a few stumbles. As humans, we all do this. That is our goal. To walk most of the time with the Lord, and when we fall, to get right back on the path of the Lord.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 7, Day 5: 2 Chronicles 20:31-21:3

I loved learning about Jehoshaphat. Didn’t know/remember much about him. Great king with some faults like we all have. Great examples of God being with His people. Good stuff.

End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 7, Day 5: 2 Chronicles 20:31-21:3

The writer of Chronicles does not set the fault of the people still not walking in the ways of the Lord as Jehoshaphat’s fault, which is true. There’s only so much control you have over your people as a king.

1 Kings 22:48-49 is the parallel passage of the wrecked ships. Another offer of alliance with Ahaziah after this failed one was refused by Jehoshaphat. He learned his lesson (which is a great lesson for us, too!).

God’s mercy shown through when he wrecked the ships. This prevented Jehoshaphat from an ungodly alliance — something none of us want.

It is presumed that the gift of fortified cities to Jehoshaphat’s other sons got them away from the influence of Jehoram, so they would not be seen as a threat.

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BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 6, Day 5: 2 Kings 1

by atozmom, posted in BSF People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided 2022/2023

SUMMARY OF 2 KINGS 1

King Ahaziah of Israel fell. He sent messentgers to false gods to ask if he will recover from his injury. The angel of the Lord instructs Elijah to confront these messengers and send them back to King Ahaziah to tell him that he would die due to his lack of faith. King Ahaziah sent a commander and 50 troops to retrieve Elijah to him. Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume them. He did this to the next 50 men who came for him, too.

A third captain with 50 men begged to not be killed. God told Elijah to go with this man. Elijah went to the king who then died. King Ahaziah had no sons so Joram succeeded him as king.

BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 6, Day 5: 2 Kings 1

13) King Ahaziah of Israel fell. He sent messentgers to false gods to ask if he will recover from his injury rather than consulting God.

14a) Elijah was God’s chosen messenger to reveal to King Ahaziah his punishment for seeking false gods.

b) I think he was Spirit-led. If he wasn’t, fire would not have reigned down. The lesson is that the 3rd captain and men came humbly and begged for their lives. After all, they were just doing what they were told from the king.

15) I think we all can relate to resisting God, especially when things are just not going our way in this world. They key is to turn back to Him always.

16) He has always provided, always answered (nor not answered prayers) according to His will, and He continues to lead me in my life.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 6, Day 5: 2 Kings 1

I don’t remember this at all. While we may see God’s judgment as harsh on the 100 men, remember they are unbelievers, and God’s judgment is perfect. The men could have refused the king’s order since God’s commands are superior to men’s commands, but they did not.

End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 6, Day 5: 2 Kings 1

Ahab had been a powerful ruler. With his death, Moab felt safe to rebel. They had been under Israel’s control since the time of David (2 Samuel 8:2 and 8:11-12). This is just one sign of Israel’s imminent decline.

Ahaziah could have repented when warned of his death. He did not. God is merciful, so he may have been spared.

The soldiers acted immorally when coming for Elijah. In fact, it was a slight against God more so than Elijah. Elijah asked God to send fire down. God could have refused. Instead, God sent his judgment upon them.

The sin was not believing in God and His presense in Israel. For that, Ahaziah and the soldiers paid with their lives.

Joram or Jehoram was the brother of king Ahaziah and a son of Ahab.

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BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 1, Day 4: Isaiah 5:1-7; Acts 7:1-53; and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

by atozmom, posted in BSF People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided 2022/2023

SUMMARY OF ISAIAH 5:1-7

This is about God’s treatment of Judah. Israel is the vineyard, and God had done everything possible to care for them, but they only yielded bad grapes. So he lets it grow wild and uncultivated, which yields only bloodshed and cries of distress.

SUMMARY OF ACTS 7:1-53

Stephen tells us the back story: God appeared the Abram/Abraham while he was still in Ur in Mesopotamia before he left for Haran and told Abram to leave Ur and to go to Canaan. So he went to Haran. Then after Terah, his father, died God sent Abram to Canaan.

God gave him no inheritance in Canaan but He promised him his descendants would possess the land. God told Abram his children would be strangers in the land and would be enslaved for 400 years. But God would punish that nation and afterward they will come back to Canaan to worship Him. Here, God instituted the covenant of circumcision as a sign of this covenant.

Then Abraham had Isaac whom he circumcised. Isaac had Jacob who became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Joseph was sold as a slave, but God was with him and he was made ruler over Egypt and the palace. When famine struck Canaan, Jacob brought his entire family to Egypt, so Joseph could feed them.

Moses was born and saw God in the burning bush. God sent him to Egypt to lead his people out of slavery. The people rebelled while heading to the Promise Land, making a golden calf. Joshua drove the nations out of the Promised Land so Israel could occupy it. Solomon then built God a temple, a permanent place to be worshipped.

Stephen calls the Sanhedrin stiff-necked and just like their fathers. They resist the Holy Spirit, and they killed Jesus.

SUMMARY OF 1 CORINTHIANS 10:1-13

Paul warns against being idolaters, as some of their forefathers were in Moses’s day. They should not commit sexual immorality, not test the Lord, and not grumble. Past events were recorded as warnings for us, but we need to be ever vigilant against temptation. But God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear, and He’ll provide a way out to stand up against the temptation.

BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 1, Day 4: Isaiah 5:1-7; Acts 7:1-53; and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

10) God took care of Israel since the time before they were born and through their lives. He treated them tenderly and watched over them. Yet, they rebelled, so He took away his protection.

11) That God has chosen me out of all the peoples of the earth. What power lies in this fact.

12a)

Stephen tells us the back story: God appeared the Abram/Abraham while he was still in Ur in Mesopotamia before he left for Haran and told Abram to leave Ur and to go to Canaan. So he went to Haran. Then after Terah, his father, died God sent Abram to Canaan.

God gave him no inheritance in Canaan but He promised him his descendants would possess the land. God told Abram his children would be strangers in the land and would be enslaved for 400 years. But God would punish that nation and afterward they will come back to Canaan to worship Him. Here, God instituted the covenant of circumcision as a sign of this covenant.

Then Abraham had Isaac whom he circumcised. Isaac had Jacob who became the father of the twelve patriarchs.

Joseph was sold as a slave, but God was with him and he was made ruler over Egypt and the palace. When famine struck Canaan, Jacob brought his entire family to Egypt, so Joseph could feed them.

Moses was born and saw God in the burning bush. God sent him to Egypt to lead his people out of slavery. The people rebelled while heading to the Promise Land, making a golden calf. Joshua drove the nations out of the Promised Land so Israel could occupy it. Solomon then built God a temple, a permanent place to be worshipped.

The main points of Acts 7 are:

  • Abraham’s calling (7:2-8);
  • the Patriarchs in Egypt (7:9-16);
  • life of Moses (7:17-36);
  • Moses and Israel in the wilderness (7:37-43);
  • and the Tabernacle of Testimony (7:44-50).

He emphasizes God’s calling and care of His people and His provision of a leader when they needed it the most. He also emphasized how God was with them without a physical temple for thousands of years.

b) I think all of our lives are like this: we have spiritual successes and failures, but the ultimate goal is to have progressively fewer failures as we move towards God and Jesus. We should learn from the past so we can be better in the future.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 1, Day 4: Isaiah 5:1-7; Acts 7:1-53; and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

A lot of reading in this lesson. I love Stephen’s summary of the Old Testament. It’s concise and covers the big picture. Great stuff!

End Notes BSF Study Questions People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided Lesson 1, Day 4: Isaiah 5:1-7; Acts 7:1-53; and 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

Isaiah 5:1-7: Israel had everything it needed to grow and follow the Lord and they chose not to. God did all He could do; the fault is solely Israel’s. So, as punishment, God stopped protecting His people and stopped giving them blessings.

Acts 7:1-53: Stephen emphasizes Israel’s perpetual rejection of God and the Law. Then he points out how they rejected Jesus, the Son of God. He is showing how Israel treated Moses and how the Jews treated Jesus the same way. Moses was divinely appointed by God, as was Jesus. Yet, Moses was repeatedly rejected by the people, as was Jesus. The people turned to idols and God let them go.

Worship does not have to be in a temple, as Israel’s history showed.

Fun Fact: This is the longest speech in Acts.

1 Corinthians 10:1-13: Paul lists all the blessings the Israelites in the wilderness had:

  • They had God as a cloud, a constant reminder of His presence
  • All were baptized via the Red Sea
  • God provided them with food and drink

Yet, they did not please God, and they died in the wilderness, never entering the Promise Land.

The point is just becuaes you are a believer, you may not be pleasing God. This is why you should not be an idolater, commit sexual immorality, not test the Lord, and not grumble.

We need to learn from Israel’s mistakes and God gives us the ability to resist our temptations.

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Summer Bible Study: WordGo’s Study of 1 John: Week 2, Day 4: 1 John 4:7-21

by atozmom, posted in WordGo 1 John

Summary of 1 John 4:7-21

Let us love one another. Since God loved us enough to send his Son to die for our sins, we should love one another. God lives in us and his love is complete in us if we love others.

We have the Holy Spirit sent by God to live in us. If we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, God lives in us.

God is love. We have no fear if we have Jesus. If you love God, you must love your brother and sister. We love because God loved us first.

Questions for 1 John 4:7-21

9) God demonstrated his love by sending his Son to die for our sins. His love is made known to us by the Holy Spirit that lives in us and his love is complete in us if we love others.

10) If we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, God lives in us and we live in God. We know and rely on the love God has for us. There is no fear.

11) Care and love for others

Conclusions to WordGo Study of 1 John 4:7-21

Here, we see who God is and how we are in God. A life of faith and love shows that we are Christ’s. God is love. A child’s life bears the imprint of their parents’ character.

God gave us Jesus as the ultimate gift of love. So we should love others, too, with the power of the Holy Spirit.

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BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 23, Day 2: Matthew 22:15-33

by atozmom, posted in BSF Matthew 2021/2022

SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 22:15-33

The Pharisees continue to try to trip Jesus up with words. They ask him if it is right to pay taxes to Caesar. Of course, Jesus knows they are trying to trip him up. Instead, he asks for a denarius. On the denarius is a portrait of Caesar, so Jesus said give to Caesar what is his and give to God what is His.

Next, the Sadducees try to trip up Jesus. They ask him that at the resurrection, whose wife will a woman be who married all of the brothers because it was their duty to marry her. The Sadducees believe there is no resurrection. Jesus said at the resurrection there is no marriage. They will be like angels in heaven and be living.

BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 23, Day 2: Matthew 22:15-33

3) The Pharisees continue to try to trip Jesus up with words. They ask him if it is right to pay taxes to Caesar. They think that if Jesus answers to pay the taxes, he will alienate many Jews. If he advocates to not pay taxes, he could go to jail for breaking Roman law.

4a) Jesus knows they are trying to trip him up, so he won’t satisfy them.

b) We must submit ourselves to governing authorities, so we must pay taxes since they are our elected officials chosen by God. To God, we owe our lives, but more than that, our service and our love.

5a) The Sadducees ask Jesus that at the resurrection, whose wife will a woman be who married all of the brothers because it was their duty to marry her.

b) They don’t know the Scriptures or the Power of God. At the resurrection, we will all be living and marriage won’t exist.

6) It reveals how Jesus knows our hearts and intentions and talks about the deeper issues. He knows the Pharisees and the Sadducees are trying to trip him up, so he responds appropriately. I was not really surprised or amazed. Jesus is all-knowing, so his actions make sense to me.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 23, Day 2: Matthew 22:15-33

You can tell the Pharisees and the Sadducees don’t understand who Jesus is; if they did, they would know he wouldn’t fall into their trap. Jesus gives them many opportunities to repent. They do not.

End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 23, Day 2: Matthew 22:15-33

You know it’s serious when the Pharisees are working together with the Herodians (most likely pagan Romans).

Note they compliment Jesus first, hoping to take his guard down.

They think that if Jesus answers to pay the taxes, Jesus could be accused of denying God’s sovereignty. If he advocates to not pay taxes, he would be an enemy of Rome.

There were many taxes in Judea imposed by Rome. This scene is referring to the poll tax, which is a denarius a year that everyone has to pay.

Jesus shows he is in control. God is superior over all, but government handles local and national affairs.

Fear God. Honor the king. (1 Peter 2:17)

Christians have the image of God stamped on them. We belong to God, so we are to give ourselves to Him. We belong to Him. Jesus makes it clear that there is a separation between church and state here.

The Sadducees

The Sadducees were a small group of wealthy, aristocratic elite who only believed in the first five books of Moses and even then they picked and choose what to believe in. They were more politial than religious, and with the demise of the temple in 70 AD, they disappeared as a political party. They are only mentioned by name in the New Testament about a dozen times, but when chief priests are mentioned, this referred to them, too.

The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, as the ridiculousness of this question shows. While the premise is true that if a married man died childless, it fell to his brother to marry the widow  Deuteronomy 25:5-10, which is known as levirate marriage. Levir is a Latin word meaning “brother-in-law.”

These highly learned men did not know the Scriptures or the Power of God. God can raise people from the dead, and as Paul says, you can have Biblical knowledge, but not understand the Bible. (2 Timothy 1:13).

Jesus tells them that life in resurrection is now what we know life on earth. Jesus says angels are in heaven, meaning they are real, which the Sadducees do not believe.

In the Bible, angles are always male. (Genesis 18:2, 16; Genesis 19:1-11)

Jesus uses the patriarches of the Old Testament since that is the only part of the Bible that the Sadducees believed in. Jesus quotes God as saying, “I am,” not “I was.” This shows they are still living and God is the God of the living.

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BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 22, Day 4: Matthew 21:33-46

by atozmom, posted in BSF Matthew 2021/2022

SUMMARY OF MATTHEW 21:33-46

Jesus tells the Parable of the Tenants. A landowner rented out his vineyard. When it was time to collect the rent, he sent his servants to do so. The tenants beat one servant, killed another, and stoned a third. The landowner sent other servants who were treated the same way. Finally, he sent his son who was killed, too. Jesus asks what will the landowner do when he goes to his tenants. The response is he will kill them and rent out the land to others.

Jesus said that the stone that was rejected will be the capstone, quoting Psalm 18:22-23. He says the kingdom of God will be taken from them (the priests and teachers of the law) and given to a people who will produce fruit (Gentiles). The chief priests wanted to arrest Jesus but couldn’t because everyone saw him as a prophet.

BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 22, Day 4: Matthew 21:33-46

10) The landowner is God. The tenants is Israel. The servants are the Old Testament prophets. The heir is Jesus. The vineyard is the land of Israel.

11a) Jesus is the cornerstone of Christianity. Faith in Jesus is the key to the kingdom of heaven. 1 Corinthians 1:23 says Jesus is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Jesus is the stumbling stone to many to God. Those who reject Jesus will never gain the kingdom of heaven, which is Jesus’s message to the religious leaders. Those who accept Jesus (the Gentiles in Jesus’s parable) will bear fruit and gain heaven.

b) Every way. People reject Jesus’s message in every aspect of their lives, picking and choosing what to believe and what not to believe.

12) It makes life harder, that’s for sure. When people don’t do the right thing.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 22, Day 4: Matthew 21:33-46

The message is one of how without Jesus, you are lost and do harm to others indiscriminately like how the religious leaders are persecuting and will kill Jesus. There are severe consequences for doing so.

More ways to help strengthen your prayer life!

End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 22, Day 4: Matthew 21:33-46

The belief of the tenants was if they killed the heir, then they would be able to take over the vineyard for themselves. Instead, the owner would judge and destroy them.

The Old Testament uses the vineyard to represent Israel  (Deuteronomy 32:32, Psalm 80:8, Jeremiah 2:21, and especially Isaiah 5:1-7).

Note how the owner (God) expects his son (Jesus) to be respected. Instead, the Son is killed. (a foretelling of his own death).

The message to the chief priests is clear — they can expect severe judgment for rejecting Jesus. The leaders have shown no fruit.

Leadership would now be given to the apostles and eventually to the Church (both Jewish and Gentiles).

Jesus asks the leaders if they’ve ever read the Scriptures. They are probably much offended by this since they obviously have.

The leaders answer to Jesus’s question has them condemning themselves.

Jesus is clearly laying out the consequences of rejecting him, and he is telling them that he is the chief cornerstone from Psalm 118.

We see the cornerstone here, too:  Daniel 2:34, 44-45 Isaiah 8:13-15  Isaiah 28:16,

Jesus is telling the leaders to expect to lose their leadership to others. You can either be broken by submission to God or broken by judgment.

Jesus shows grace to the leaders by giving them multiple opportunities to come to him. Instead, the reject him and kill him.

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BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 21, Day 4: Matthew 21:1-11

by atozmom, posted in BSF Matthew 2021/2022

map of jesus enters jerusalem www.atozmomm.comSUMMARY OF MATTHEW 21:1-11

As Jesus and his disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. He sent two disciples ahead to borrow a donkey and her colt. This fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 that the king will come riding on a donkey. The disciples brought the donkey and colt and placed their cloaks on them. Jesus sat on them. A crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches and put them on the road.

The crowds shouted, “Hosannah,” or “save” in Hebrew. Jesus entered Jerusalem, and the crowds proclaimed him as he entered.

BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 21, Day 4: Matthew 21:1-11

10a) That Jesus knew ahead of time what others would ask so he told the disciples what to say.

b) This fulfills prophecy

11a) The crowds: A crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches and put them on the road. The crowds shouted, “Hosannah,” or “save” in Hebrew. They understood who Jesus was, and the crowds proclaimed him as he entered.

The disciples: We are not told what the disciples were doing when Jesus enters Jerusalem. Presumably walking by his side.

b) Jesus comes humble on a donkey. He makes no fanfare of his own. He goes to his destiny willingly.

12) I love how every moment is choreographed like an exquisite dance. Jesus is the center in a simple, powerful way.

Conclusions BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 21, Day 4: Matthew 21:1-11

The crowds here make this scene powerful. It’s as if most everyone realizes what a moment this is.

Insanely good movie.

End Notes BSF Study Questions Matthew Lesson 21, Day 4: Matthew 21:1-11

Jesus enters Jerusalm publically, embracing what is to come.

Jesus rode on the colt. Mark and Luke tell us the colt had never been ridden. (Mark 11:2) Yet, it is calm. The mother helps.

Jesus is fulfilling every bit of prophecy. (Daniel 9:24-27).

A colt is what royalty rode in ancient times.  Judges 10:4; 12:14. However, recently, royalthy had switched to riding horses, and donkeys had transitioned to creatures of burden by Jesus’s time.

The laying of clothes and branches is honoring Jesus and recognizing who he was.

Palms and branches wer ea symbol of victory and success.  1 Maccabees 13:51; 2 Maccabees 10:7; and Revelation 7:9

Hosanna is the crowd looking to Jesus to save them. We see this elsewhere in the Bible towards kings.  2 Samuel 14:4 and 2 Kings 6:26

We missed Jesus’s weaping over Jerusalem, as this was only reported in Luke (Luke 19:41-44).

Ironic that these same people who were begging for Jesus to save them would in a mere five days condemn him to death. Man is so fickle.

Note Jesus is still called “Jesus of Nazareth.”  (Matthew 2:23).

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