Liza

The Jews were the only nation that had continuous revelation from the Living God. They we the ones who had a relationship with their Maker. Now Gentiles too, could have the same relationship. This meant that they too were set apart, holy to serve God, a royal priesthood and citizens of God

Access to the Father shows that we have peace with our Maker. We are no longer in rebellion with Him. Our sins, which once held us back have been paid for by Jesus and we are privileged to come before the Kind who gives us eternal life. This is a bit like diplomatic relations because when 2 countries are hostile, there is no relationship. However, once the relationship is built, there is peace. We cannot love someone or something we know nothing about. The greatest commandment which told us to love God with our ALL could be fulfilled in the Gentiles

God

Jesus is king of the church. He has authority over the church and just as a mighty king has a mighty nation, we are equipped with power, and victorious over all, since Jesus has won all that battle for us.

When we accept Jesus, we are born spiritually. This spiritual rebirth also gives us authority, victory and power through Jesus. We are no longer at the mercy of circumstances or the whims of the

God is above all. Jesus has been seated at the position of authority and victory at the right hand side of the Father, and this victorious Christ has all things underneath His feet. For those who came from a pagan society, who served their gods out of fear rather than love or trust, this would have been a revelation. God who loved them enough to send His son to die for them, had given Jesus power over all things

Paul prays like this so that the Ephesians can see God

His status is equal to that of God. He who was in very nature God came to earth

Through Jesus death we are free and do not have to fear death

He was slain, and with His precious blood he bought sinful man from every tribe, tongue and nation to be a part of God

Lamb

Lion of the tribe of Judah

During Gideon

Israel is described as God

A snare is a trap. This ephod Gideon made trapped the Israelites spiritually. They went right back to worshipping idols after seeing God

The ephod refers to a sacred garment. The ephod Gideon made may have been an idol shaped like a garment similar to the priestly garments the Levite priests wore.

Gideon asked each person to give him an earring from the plunder. Taking it was not the sin, but rather what he did with it. He made an ephod and ALL of Israel worshipped it. From my understanding, this means that even though Gideon saw God

Gideon said that the Lord would rule over the Israelites, not him, for the reason they were asking him was because they saw him as their deliverer. However, it was God not Gideon who delivered them. God had called Israel to be His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy nation when He gave them the law. He was their king. So if Gideon chose to be king, he would be taking God

Gideon was avenging his brothers

These cities said Gideon had to capture Zebah and Zalmunna before they could get any aid. This was really mean of them because, forget even kinsmanship

There were 15,000 Midianites who ran away. They were stronger than 300. They could go and muster more men to defeat the Israelites and probably oppress them even more than earlier. Gideon had to defeat them thoroughly to eradicate the problem of further attack from them. I think this is a lot like spiritual warfare. You don

Gideon requested the Ephraimites to stop the Midianites from escaping by the Jordan. They were naturally upset because they had not been called earlier. However, Gideon has much wisdom in communicating with them and praises their victory while saying what he did was not such a big deal. I think we should learn this from him

I believe he divided them into three companies because he wanted them to spread out

We are reminded that Jesus also said that He will not drink of this fruit until that day He drinks it with us in His Father

Sorrow, because when I meditate on how much Jesus suffered for my sake, I am overwhelmed at the price He paid to save me. Joy, because I am free from sin, God has opened my eyes to the truth, and brought me into a relationship with Him, I can enjoy His love, favour and blessings