masika

Q3. (16:13-14) What is the significance of Hagar's name for God -- El Roi, the God Who Sees? What does it mean to a person who is discouraged and losing hope? What does it mean to you personally? El Roi, the God Who Sees. Hagar is the only person in Scripture to name God. It's this characteristic of God

Q2. What does 1:8 tell us about the Father? The Father is the speaker here in 1:8 and in 21:6. But Jesus is the speaker in 1:17 and 22:12-13. What is the significance of this for our understanding of who Jesus is? The Father is the last and the end. Jesus and The Father are one. God finished the work of creation and Jesus finished the work of redemption.

Q2. (16:7-9) Why does the angel ask Hagar something that the angel already knows? ("Where have you come from, and where are you going?") Why does she send her back to Sarah? Have you ever reacted and got yourself out of the place God wanted you? The angel what to hear a confession from Hagar. She was send back to her mistress because, you can not run away from a problem without solving it.

Q1. Revelation is written to encourage and strengthen a church facing intense persecution. Why is the theme of testimony and witness so important to that purpose? How is Jesus as the "faithful witness" (1:5) supposed to encourage us? Why are we afraid to be clear witnesses in a culture where we aren't persecuted? Because the writer of Revelation John was a beloved apostle and an eyewitness of Jesus Christ. He was the only one if the Jesus' original 12 Disciples who was not killed for the faith. This revelation was given to John direct from Jesus. The purpose was to reveal the full identity of Christ and give warning and hope to believers of that time and even today. Many hesitate to witness about their faith in Christ because they don't know feel the change in their lives has been spectacular enough, or even some their walk in the Lord is right so they fear what others will say about them when they witness.

Q1. (16:1-6) Why does Sarah take her anger out on Abraham? Why does she take her anger out on Hagar? Is she trying to get rid of Hagar or the baby? In what sense is Hagar's pride Abraham's fault? In what sense is Hagar's affliction Abraham's fault? What situation in your family does this reminds you of? Because it is often easier to strike out in frustration and accuse someone else than to admit an error and ask for forgiveness. How easy it is to excuse our sins by blaming someone else or circumstances. It is human nature to hide our sins or overlook our mistakes. But it is hard to learn from mistake you don't acknowledge making. And good is a mistake if it doesn't teach something? To learn from an error you need to admit it, confess it, analyze it, and make adjustment so that it doesn't happen again. Everybody makes mistake, but only fools repeat them.

Q6. How does Gideon influence Israel during his life? (8:28-35) What is the positive continuing effect of his leadership as judge? There are few things we learn from the Story and life of Gideon First, it was not enough for Gideon to lead the people of Israel to a great victory. They desperately needed his ongoing wisdom and leadership. His failure to lead them left them open to the seduction of the priests of Baal. Second, Gideon

Q5. Why is spiritual unfaithfulness looked at as prostitution or adultery? (8:24-27) What is the concept of God's relationship to his people which underlies this analogy? What kinds of temptations to spiritual adultery do you face today. (This is not a place to dump on denominations or sects, but to examine your own personal temptations to spiritual adultery.) It is because it they are against God's law. When we break God's law in full awareness of what we are doing, our hearts become hardened to the sin, and our relationship with God is broken. This begins with diverting attention from object of devotion to another. The diverting of our affection is the first step in the blinding process that leads into sin. It also involves a process of deterioration, it is not usually an impulsive decision. This is dangerous because you don not always realize it is happening until it is late.

Q4. What is a snare? In what way does Gideon's ephod ensnare his family and the people of Israel? (8:24-27) How can something be a sin if we don't see it as a sin? What was the essence of the sin the Israelites committed? What is the essence of Gideon's sin? A snare is a trap It is instructive to see how Gideon went on from victory to victory while acting in dependence upon God. But after all he fell into the miserable snare of taking ornaments from the people and making an ephod which diverted his mind and the minds of the people from the living God to what was an outward witness of past blessing which could not secure present good and power. But by which he evidently sought to connect the deliverance with himself and his house. We are only a step away from Gideon's sin ourselves. It is so easy for us to think not only that we are indispensable, but that we are the sole agents and means of guidance and of revelation. Many leaders in today's church have become just so absorbed with themselves and their own position and their own agenda that they consider themselves to be infallible, the leaders and the guides of the church.

Q4 (15:17-18a) Why did God go through the covenant ritual with Abraham, with the divided carcasses? Why does God bind himself to a solemn promise? How does Abraham respond to God's promises (15:6)? What promises has God made to us that affect our futures? What significance does blood sacrifice have in those promises? Because God's covenant with Abraham was a serious business and also this was customary way to ratify a contract of Covenant. This action symbolized the judgment on anyone who broke the contact. It represented an incredible promises from God and huge responsibility for Abraham. Abraham believed and trusted what God had promised him. We are all accustomed to promises. We are also accustomed to seeing them made and broken. Anyone who has lived for a number of years would certainly never lay claim to having kept every promise made. There are many reasons why this is true. Sometimes we forget, sometimes we are negligent, and sometimes it may be due to circumstances beyond our control. A Covenant Sealed with Blood The best of the covenants of promise God made still lie in the future.

What is an ephod? (8:24-27) What might the gold ephod have looked like? An ancient Hebrew instrument of priestly divination. After being used by God to save Israel from years of Midianite tyranny, Gideon took and offering of gold earrings from his army which he melted and molded into a golden ephod, that he and all Israel began to hold sacred as holy article and image for worship. This narrative sounds similar to the golden calf that was molded and used for

Q3. (15:16) Have you ever been frustrated with God for not fulfilling his promise to you immediately? Why does God sometimes delay the fulfillment of his promises to a future time? WE CAN NOT UNDERSTAND GOD'S MIND. WE JUST HAVE TO TRUST HIM THAT WHATEVER HE PROMISED HE WILL FULFILL. # This is a recurring pattern in God's dealings with humans. He waits until it is impossible, and then He does the impossible - so that no one is confused about God's role in the matter.)

Q2. (15:6) What is so amazing about this verse? On what basis does God declare Abraham a righteous person? What significance does this have to our New Testament understanding of justification by faith? Bible commentaries and dictionaries demonstrate that the legal terms

Q2. What does Gideon ask for his reward? (8:24-27) Was Gideon wrong to take a reward? Where did the sin begin? Just after nobly refusing to become king (Judg. 8:23), Gideon made the biggest mistake of his career. He asked for earrings taken from the Midianites (called Ishmaelites in verse 24; compare Gen. 37:25, 27, 28), and from this gold he made an "ephod," a priestly shoulder cape or mantle By making an ephod containing a lot of gold, like the ephod worn by the Israelite high priest (Exod. 28:6-14), Gideon intended to worship the Lord. But it was wrong for him to set up priestly worship functions that the Lord had not authorized, in competition with the sanctuary. Because the Lord was not present with Gideon's ephod, the ephod itself came to represent God and be worshiped (Judges 8:27). Compare 1 Kings 12:25-33, which describes how Jeroboam set up unauthorized golden calves at Bethel and Dan, in competition with the Lord, who had brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But these material representations were, in fact, idols.

Q1. Why does Gideon refuse to be king over Israel? (8:22-23) In what sense would becoming king be treason? Why didn't the Israelites see bestowing kingship as treason? Gideon understood the importance of putting God first

Q1. (15:1) What does it mean to you personally to call God your "Shield"? What does it mean to you that he promises to you (as heir of the promises to Abraham) "an exceedingly great reward"? What does it mean to you to call God your Suzerain or Sovereign? This is one of God's character, The Lord is "WHO HE IS, HE IS FAITHFUL TO HIS PROMISES" God as our shield and protection (and even identification) is a theme that runs through the Bible. David says of God in Psalm 18:35, "You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me and your help made me great." When others fail us, when we cannot help ourselves, the I AM is always there for us. In the "armor of God" (Ephesians 6), the shield of faith is in fact our trust in God to protect us

Q5. Why does Gideon slay Zebah and Zalmunna? Is he unjust or fulfilling his just obligation? (Numbers 35:16) Why does Romans 12:19 prohibit Christians from taking vengeance? (8:18-21) Gideon was a man chosen by God to rescue the Israels, so what he did it was not bad. The people had killed his own brothers, so he was revenging. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave new commandment to Love one another, so we are not to take revenge.

Q4. (14:21-24) Why does Abraham refuse to take the spoils of war that the king of Sodom offers him? What does this tell us about Abraham's character? What is the lesson here for us to learn? He did not what to boast that he made Abraham rich. Abraham was a man who feared God, and he did not what to have nothing to do with pagan gods, that King didn't fear God. Abraham recognized that Sodom was a corrupt and godless city. Any association with the city was bound to lead to a compromised faith. Even in this seemingly harmless relationship Abraham knew that there is always a price to be paid when we unite with the world. This is the same principle the Apostle Paul was thinking of when he told the Corinthians not to be unequally yoked together. We must be careful who are friends are, who we associate with, and what kinds of values we embrace. There is always a price when we unite with the world * we water down the truth so as not to offend. * we compromise our reputation and witness. This was Abraham's concern. He didn't want people to think that he had been blessed by the King of Sodom. He wanted the world to know that his blessing was from the Lord Almighty. * we lose our spiritual sharpness. As we dabble with the things of the world our spiritual sharpness is dulled. Sin doesn't bother us as much. We aren't as affected by the immorality, the vulgarity, the violence, the disrespect shown to God. As we develop an appetite for the things of the world we dull our appetite to things of God. Any connection with the world will distort our thinking. * If we allow our culture to define riches . . . we will become obsessed with the material * If we allow our culture to define love . . . .we will find ourselves embracing perversion * If we allow our culture to define worship . . . we will focus on external feelings rather than inward humility * If we allow our culture to define self-image . . . we will end up with an arrogance that refuses to submit to God's authority. * If we allow our culture to define what is appropriate to feed our minds (e.g. in the media)... we will end up compromising our pursuit of that which is holy. * If we allow our culture to define God . . . we will end up worshipping a reflection of ourselves Abraham refused to run the risk of compromise. He gave up what he was "entitled to" in order to retain his purity before the Lord. It's a vitally important lesson in our day of constant compromise.

Q4. Why do the cities of Succoth and Peniel refuse aid to Gideon's army? (8:4-9) Why does Gideon punish these cities later? What is their sin? Is Gideon just? Can you think of a circumstance when a Christian might be guilty of the sin of Succoth and Peniel? (8:13-17) They were fearing that may Gideon with his small army might not defeat the large army of the enemy who had oppressing them for long time. Their sin was fear and not trusting God. We should not fear Satan, The God Who is with us is bigger than our enemy. There are times in our Christian walk that we fail to join those brethren who are praying for something and think that problem is big to God to handle. We even undermine the people God Has put in big position to minister unto us. Christian might be guilty of the sin of disobedience.

Q3. (14:20) What is the significance of Abraham giving one tenth of the spoils of war to Melchizedek? Does tithing today represent the same kind of worship? Why should we tithe to God first (like Abraham did) before dividing up our paychecks to pay our bills? Abraham was a man who pleased God all the time. He was obeying God's word. It was also a tradition to give a tenth of one's earning to the gods. Abraham followed accepted tradition of that time. The Bible makes the purpose of tithing very clear to teach us to fear the Lord and to put Him first in our lives. We are to give God the first and the best of what we earn. For example what we do first with our money shows what we value most. Giving the first part of our paycheck to God immediately focuses our attention on Him. It also reminds us that all we have belongs to Him. A habit of regular tithing can keep God at the top of our priority list and give us a proper perspective on everything else we have.

Q3. Why must Gideon vanquish the Midianite force of 15,000 men in Karkor? What danger do we face when we deal with problems only half-way? (8:10-12) Because the Midianites were responsible for enticing Israel into Baal worship, earlier God commanded Isreal to destroy them (Numbers 25:16-18). But Israel took the women as captives, rather than killing them. because of the failure to completely destroy them, however the tribe repopulated, they started to oppress the Israel. Gideon didn't want to make the same mistake again as his forefathers did. When we discover sin in our lives, we must deal with it complete. When God points out sin, move quickly to remove it from your life. Dealing a problem half-way will bring more trouble in future in our life.

Q2. What does Gideon ask the Ephraimites to do? Why are they so angry? Who do you learn from Gideon's approach to the Ephraimites' arrogance? (7:24-8:3) Gideon asked the Ephramites to attack the Miianites, they were to cut them off at the shallow crossing of the Jordaan River at Beth-barah. They were angry because they felt Gideon had left them to join the battle but had left them in place to "clean up" the escaping Midianites (Left overs). Gideon assured them that their accomplishment was even greater that his own clan. Not every necessary job is a highly visible leadership role. Much of the necessary labor of any effective enterprise is considered by many to be dirty work. But such work is vital to getting any big task done. Engineers and millionares my design and finance an elegant building but it is the bricklayer who get the work done. Pride cause us want recognition. Are we content to be God's bricklayers or do we resent the work God has given us?

Q2. (14:13-16) What does Abraham's military expedition to rescue Lot from the Mesopotamian kings tell us about his character? About his abilities? About the way he deals with neighbors? What is here for us to emulate? Abraham had courage that came from God, facing a powerful foe he attacked. He was prepared, he had taken time to train his men for a potential conflict. We never know when we will be called up[on to complete difficult tasks. Like Abraham, we should prepare for those times and take courage from God when they come. We should be willing to act immediately when others need our help, and we sometimes we must get involved in a messy or painful situation in order to help others.

Q1. (13:2) Does Abraham's material wealth reflect God's blessing on him? Does material wealth always reflect God's blessing. Does physical poverty always reflect God's curse? God desires, above all things, for all His children to prosper and to be in health. We are to seek the Kingdom of God first and all things will be added unto us. Prosperity and wealth can be obtained honestly or dishonesty - ethically or unethically. Far too many are quick to judge those who are prosperous and successful. It is quite sad that there are a lot of wonderful, successful Christians who are being unfairly judged and condemned because of the blessings they have received from God. They work hard, apply effective principles, expect God

Q1. Why does Gideon divided into three companies? What is the strategy with the trumpets, the empty jars, and the torches? (7:16-20) What was the result of this strategy? Why did this strategy work? (7:21-22) Gideon was following the plan given to him by God. He was doing it on his understanding. Most of the Christian fail to follow the principles given by God. We use our own imagination, which seems good in our own eyes. When the will of God is clear (statement or principle from Bible) do not wait for God to verify it. Act on it. Do not check up on God or test Him. If the will of God is not clear, then 1) live inside God's plan 2) apply the doctrine that you know and 3) use the principles of divine guidance. After Gideon followed God's plan, he worn the war.

Q5. (12:2-3) What relationship does God's promise to Abraham in 12:2-3 have to do with the incident of Sarah's abduction in 20:10-20? God's plan from the beginning was to make Himself be known to all people through Abraham. That is why God made a covent with Abraham decipite the fact he had some weakness in his faith. No matter how much we love God, certain temptations are especially difficult to resist, These are vulnerable spots in our spiritual armor. As we struggle with these weakness, we can be encourged to know that God is watching out for us just as He did for Abraham.