Commissioned

Q5. (Judges 8:28-31) How does Gideon influence Israel during his life? The land endured peace for forty years. Israel was strong both spiritually and militarily and was not invaded during his lifetime. What is the positive continuing effect of his leadership as judge? The positive continuing effect of Gideon

Q3. (Judges 8:24-27) Why is spiritual unfaithfulness looked at as prostitution or adultery? Israel is spoken of as the betrothed wife of Yahweh and is the Church the

Q4. (Judges 8:24-27) What is a snare? A snare is and entrapment. It is a lure that diverts your attention. In what way does Gideon's ephod ensnare his family and the people of Israel?(8:24-27) The people began to worship the ephod and his family became the caretaker of the ephod. How can something be a sin if we don't see it as a sin? Something can be a sin even though we don

What is an ephod? (8:24-27) An ephod is a sacred garment worn by priest. What might the gold ephod have looked like? The gold ephod, when not in use, may have looked like a human when it was hung on a wall.

Q2. (Judges 8:24-27) What does Gideon ask for his reward? Gideon asks the men to give him gold, a part of the spoil. Was Gideon wrong to take a reward? No, he was not. In those times, a soldier's pay was from the plunder stripped from the corpses of the opposing army or taken from the villages of the defeated. As leader he probably did not have the occasion to participate in the gathering of the plunder and now ask the men to give him of their share. Where did the sin begin? The sin began when Gideon made an ephod out of the gold.

Q1. (Judges 8:22-23) Why does Gideon refuse to be king over Israel? Gideon refused to be king over Israel because he wanted to point the people to the one who had given them the victory, the Lord God. The people were attributing the victory to Gideon, but Gideon knew that the real champion here is God. In what sense would becoming king be treason? For the Israelites, God is their Ruler; He has always been with them, in fact a covenant was made at Mt. Sinai, the people agreeing to the rule of God and His sovereignty over them. For Gideon to now step forward as their ruler would be treason. Why didn't the Israelites see bestowing kingship as treason? With this understanding of God as the nation's sovereign, it would be treason to bestow kingship on anyone.

Q5. (Judges 8:18-21) Why does Gideon slay Zebah and Zalmunna? Gideon slay Zebah and Zalmunna because they were responsible for the death of his brothers in an earlier incident at Mt. Tabor. Is he unjust or fulfilling his just obligation? (Numbers 35:16) According to the standards of the time, Gideon was justified in this slaying, as he had a family obligation to exact vengeance for his brothers' unjust deaths. Why does Romans 12:19 prohibit Christians from taking vengeance? (8:18-21) Such vengeance and judgment against our offenders God has promised to enact on our behalf.

Q4. (Judges 8:4-17) Why do the cities of Succoth and Peniel refuse aid to Gideon's army? They refused to give any aid to Gideon because they also feared the Midianite winning the battle and returning to destroy anyone who had assisted Gideon. Why does Gideon punish these cities later? What is their sin? Is Gideon just? Gideon punished these cities because the refused to give aid to him and his men when they were in need. They had broken their covenant responsibility to help their fellow Israelite. Can you think of a circumstance when a Christian might be guilty of the sin of Succoth and Peniel? (8:13-17) Yes, I can think of circumstances today when Christians might be guilty of the sin of Succoth and Peniel. There are times when ministries make appeal to the larger Body of Christ to assist them in a venture and the appeal seem to fall on deaf ears. We are guilty as the people of Succoth and Peniel when we have it within our powere to help and do not lend a hand when asked.

Q3. (Judges 8:10-12) Why must Gideon vanquish the Midianite force of 15,000 men in Karkor? Gideon must destroy the remnants of the Midianite army to protect his people from any future incursions by the Midianites. What danger do we face when we deal with problems only half-way? (8:10-12) The possibility of having to deal with the same problem again.

Q2. (Judges 7:24-8:3) What does Gideon ask the Ephraimites to do? Gideon asked the Ephraimite to take up position by the Jordan river and block the escape of the Midianites. Why are they so angry? The Ephraimites were angry because Gideon did not call them earlier to be a part of the army that entered the Midianites camp. They wanted to join in on the spoils of victory. What do you learn from Gideon's approach to the Ephraimites' arrogance? (7:24-8:3) Gideon showed humility in his answer to the Ephraimites

Q1. (Judges 7:16-22) Why does Gideon divide his army into three companies? The three company of men were strategetically dispersed around the enemy

Q1. (Judges 6:33-35) What inspires Gideon to blow the battle horn and summon an army against the Midianites. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon to take action and he was inspired to blow the battle horn and summon an army against the Midianites. What does Gideon have in common with other judges and leaders of his era? (Hint: see Deuteronomy 34:9; Judges 3:10; 11:9; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Samuel 11:6.) They were led by the Spirit of the Lord.

Q6. (Judges 7:13-14) What does the rolling barley loaf mean in the Midianite's dream? The rolling barley loaf represented the Israelite army entering the Midianites

Q5. (Judges 7:5-6) What significance, if any, do you see in selecting the "lappers" from the "kneelers"? The

Q4. Why do we demand that God's directions make sense to us before we'll follow them? We demand that God's directions make sense to us before we'll follow them because we sometimes forget that His ways are not our ways and when given a direction it may seem so simple or bizarre and out of line with the situation that we doubt it is of God. What's the spiritual danger here? The spiritual danger here is that we could walk in disobedience to the directions of God. We're afraid of being -- or being perceived as -- religious kooks. How can we balance blind obedience with getting confirmation through spiritual people whose discernment we trust? God has placed men and women in our lives that are our Spiritual Fathers and Mothers. They are there to disciple us along the way. Ocassionally we may have a directive from God and because of our immaturity in certain spiritual areas it would behoove us to seek out those Spiritual "Giants" who are hearing from God and can give us right admonishment. Everyone in the body of Christ is there to play a part. When we allow them to play their part we contribute to their "perfecting." We should never feel that we have all the answers, God uses us in different ways and we should be appreciative of the "gifts of the Spirit," that are available to us through our brothers and sisters.

Q3. (Judges 7:1-3) Why did God feel Gideon's army was too large? God felt that Gideon

Q2. (Judges 6:36-39) Why does Gideon put out a fleece before the Lord -- twice? Gideon wanted to be certain that the move he was about to make was under the direction of God and not his fleshly desires directing him. Is this a sign of unbelief or of belief? It is not a sign of unbelief, Gideon simply sought assurance from the Lord. Is this a "testing" of God? No, this was not a

Q2. (Hebrews 7:22) What is a guarantee or surety? A guarantee or surety is a promise of fulfilling an obligation. In what sense is Jesus the guarantor of the New Covenant? Jesus is answerable for the fulfillment of the obligation which he guarantees in the New Covenant. The obligation being eternal life for the Believer. He has promised that he has gone to prepare for us a place where we can spend eternity with Him and when the Father releases Him he will return and receive us, Believers, in that place he has prepared.

In what sense have we "fled to a place of refuge"? In the sense that when we come to Jesus, he provides us with shelter and protection from danger or distress. Jesus is our refuge. "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence; and his Children shall have a Place of Refuge." Proverbs 14:26 Why are we to "take hold of" this hope actively? We are to "take hold of" this hope actively because it is propels us to our rich reward in Christ. "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;" Hebrews 3:14 (KJV) We must "take hold of" this hope actively and as Abraham, who is our example did, endured to the end and obtained the promise. "And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." Hebrews 6:15 (KJV) How does Christian hope differ from hoping that something is true? The "hope" of the Christian is an expectation of the fulfilment of the promises of God. In what ways does an anchor illustrate the idea of hope? The anchor illustrates the idea of hope in that just as the anchor keeps the ship "firm and secure," so is our hope firm, secure and unshakeable in the promises of our God.

Q4. (Hebrews 6:12) If we take seriously the writer's exhortation to exercise both faith and patience for the long haul, what effect does that have on our Christian life? On our perspective? If we take seriously the writer's exhortation to exercise both faith and patience for the long haul, our Christian life will be that of accepting God at his word and diligently but patiently persevering to the end. How can we resist the subtle temptation to think that our salvation depends upon our endurance rather than Christ's atonement and the grace of God? As we run the race with patience we do so knowing that we seek the eternal life that is ours through the redemption of Jesus. It is because of Christ's atonement and the grace of God that we have salvation and can look forward to an eternal life with Him.

Q3. (Hebrews 6:4-6) What is apostasy? Apostasy is a conscious, deliberate and persistent abandonment of the Christian way of salvation. Why is it impossible from a practical standpoint to restore apostates to Christian faith and practice? It is impossible because the apostate falling away from the Christian faith and practice has finality. What point was Jesus making in his Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)? Jesus was showing them that when the Word of God has no place to take root it is soon removed from the place where once deposited. If we do not allow the Word of God to be the standard for our lives then we will find that the Word of God is not the foundation upon which we build our lives and to us will soon will become as a "famine of the Word." What is Jesus' point of the Parable of the Tares or Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30)? Jesus is telling us not to be quick to be judges of those in the faith who appear to have gone astray. In due time He will be judge and will remove the weeds from the tares.

Q2. (Hebrews 6:4-5) What difference, if any, would you find between the description in verses 4-5 and a Spirit-filled Christian today? What is the writer's point in forming this description? There is virtually no difference, since both lived or are living after Jesus made the statement that the Holy spirit will come when he depart. The writer is pointing to the fact that both have the same experience of Jesus as Savior, the Word of God to guide and the Holy Spirit as "Comforter," "Counselor" and "Teacher" among other things, dwelling within. John 16:7 (KJV) Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Q1. (Hebrews 5:14) How does a person become mature in God's Word according to verse 14? A person become mature in God's Word by constantly reading, meditating and putting the Word of God to work in their lives and they live, measuring every action according to God's Word. "... who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." (5:14b) What can you do to grow in maturity? We grow in maturity on the nourishment of the Word of God; being diligent to seek out for ourselves the Word and being doers of the Word and not mere hearers only.

Q5. (Hebrews 5:9) In verse 9, what does "made perfect" refer to, since it obviously isn't talking about Jesus' moral growth and perfection? (Hint: The word teleioō means "bring something to its goal or accomplishment.") "made perfect," refer to Jesus completing the purpose of His mission. His mission was completed with his death, followed by his resurrection and exaltation to His place on the right hand o f God the Father.

Q4. (Hebrews 5:8) In what sense did Jesus "learn obedience from what he suffered"? Jesus' "learn obedience from what he suffered" was his compliance to the Father's will. How did Jesus' learning process differ from ours, since he didn't sin and suffer the consequences of his sin -- the way we usually learn? Jesus' learning process differs from ours in that He complied with the Father's will, though sinless he suffered death for the sins of the world; whereas it is because of our experience of sin that we learn obedience.