Interfriends
Bible Studies
(click on a study, copy and paste it---and it's yours)The Story of the World (and Us) Part 3a (leader)
God’s plan for restoring his creation to its life-filled beauty: He will begin with one family and through it he will bring life to all the nations of the earth.
A. God calls Abraham —Genesis 12:1-3
- What does God ask Abraham to do? (Leave his country and his family.)
Why? (Abraham has to be willing to cut his ties with his country and his family—with their gods, customs, rules, etc. in order to begin a new life with God.)
- What does God promise Abraham? (God will bless Abraham by making him into a great nation.)
- What does “blessing” mean here? —Remember Part 1? (“Blessing” means to be full of life, to be fertile, and to be able to pass that life on. Remember that, according to Genesis 11: 30, Abraham’s wife was unable to have children. She was not “blessed” then.)
- Who will be blessed because of Abraham? (All nations on earth.)
- Is there one blessing with two parts or two separate blessings? (The two parts—I will bless you and through you all nations will be blessed—form one blessing. We want to be blessed but we often forget that God desires to bless others through us!)
B. A covenant (partnership) is established —Genesis 17:1-9
- What 2 things does God want Abraham to do? —Gen. 17:1
a. (Walk with God)
b. (Live without any blame)
- What do those 2 commands mean? (In the Bible, “walk” often refers to “the way one lives.” Adam disobeyed God and hid from him. He was afraid of God. God wants Abraham to live intentionally and openly with God. No hiding from God. God also expects Abraham to do what is right.)
- Why would this be important to God? (God is giving us human beings another chance to live with him and to obey and love him.)
- What does God promise to do for Abraham? —Gen. 17:3-9 (God promises to make a covenant—a partnership—with Abraham. God will make Abraham the father of many nations. God gives Abraham a new name—a new identity. God promises to “be his God”—that is, to guide, protect and bless Abraham.)
- What must Abraham do? —Gen. 17:10 (Abraham must “keep the covenant,” that is, live by it’s rules.)
- Does God say what those rules are? (No. That will come in the book of Exodus.)
God works through Abraham’s descendants (Israel)
A. The birth of a blessed nation —Exodus 1—14
- What word might describe the condition of the Israelites according to Exodus1:7? (Blessed!)
- What word might describe her condition according to Ex. 1:11-14? (Cursed)
- Why does God get involved? —Ex. 2:24; 3:7 (God heard the groaning of Abraham’s descendants and he remembered the agreement—covenant—he had made with Abraham)
- What does God plan to do? —Ex. 3:8 (Free them from their slavery and lead them to their own land.)
- How will God do it? —Ex. 3:10 (Through the leadership of Moses. God’s preferred way of working is with and through people.)
- How does God want to be known? —Ex. 3:14, 16
a. name: (I AM WHO I AM—or I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE =Yahweh=The LORD)
b. action: (I will rescue you and bring you to your own land.)
- When Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh with the LORD’S message, how does Pharaoh respond? —Ex. 5:2 (He says, “Who is The LORD? Why should I obey him? I don’t know anyone by the name of I AM WHO I AM.)
- Read Exodus 12:1-14
a. Describe what is going on here. (The angel of death is going to go through the land. The descendants of Abraham are told to kill a lamb and sprinkle some of its blood on the outside door frames of their houses. When the angel of death sees that blood, he will “pass over” over that house and spare everyone inside. They will be saved “by the blood of the Passover lamb.”)
b. Why would the LORD want Israel to begin the year celebrating this event? (So that they would remember always that their life as a nation began with God saving them from slavery and oppression.
B. The life of a blessed nation —Exodus 15:22 — Deuteronomy 34
- What is the LORD’S vision for Israel according to Ex. 19: 5, 6?
a. (Israel will be God’s “special treasure.” God will love her.)
b. (Israel is to be a “kingdom of priests.”)
What does that mean? (Israel is to represent God to the other nations and bring to God the needs of the nations.)
- On what does the realization of that vision depend? —Ex. 19:5 (Israel must obey God completely. The success of their partnership depends on both God and Israel doing their parts.)
- What do the people promise? —Ex. 19:8 (“We will do everything the LORD has said.”
- “Walk before me and be blameless,” the LORD said to Abraham (Gen. 17:1). He wants Israel to be his partner in bringing blessing (life) to all the nations of the earth.
In Exodus 20:1-17, he tells them how to be and do that.a. How does the LORD begin? (He identifies who he is and what he has done for Israel.)
b. Why is this important? (Israel must always remember that God rescued her and that it is God who invites her to join him in this partnership. Israel must never think that she deserves this and that she is better than other nations. Israel must focus her attention first on God, not on herself and her desires.)
c. (Israel is to be God’s “holy nation.”) What does that mean? (Israel will show all the nations how we can live as God meant us to live.)
God first addresses our relationship with him: —Ex. 20:1-9
- What is the first rule? —Ex. 20:3 (Israel is to have no other gods beside the LORD. God knows that we human beings want and make up gods who do what we want them to do. God wants us to follow him and obey him only.)
Why is it important that this is the first rule? (It forces us to make the most important decision right at the beginning: Who are we going to follow?)
- What is the second rule? —Ex. 20:4 (We are not to put any other person or thing in the place of the LORD and dedicate our lives to them.)
What do nations, cultures, groups “bow down to and worship” today? (Money, success, athletic ability, good looks, prestige, power, etc., etc.)
- What is the third rule? —Ex. 20:7 (The “name of the LORD” refers to his character, his wishes, his plans. We are not to “use” the LORD in order get something we want.)
Can you give an example of what this might mean? (I might tell people that the LORD told me that they have to give me money or power over them. I might say that the LORD wants us to kill our enemies.)
- What is the fourth rule? —Ex. 20:8 (God wants us to remember the 7th day.)
Why would God want us to remember that seventh (Sabbath) day? —What did Part 1 say about the 7th day? (The seventh day was the day when everything was perfect and when God rested and enjoyed how beautiful everything was. God wants us to remember how that day because it is coming again.)
God next addresses our relationships with one another: vss. 12-17
- What is the fifth rule? —Ex. 20:12 (We are to honor our parents.)
How can we do that? (Thank God for them. Listen to what God might be saying through them. Accept their wise counsel. Learn from them. Treat them with respect. Care for them.)
- What is the sixth rule? —Ex. 20:13 (Do not kill.)
What is God protecting here? (He is protecting other people’s lives from our anger or our greed.)
- What is the seventh rule? —Ex. 20:14 (Do not commit adultery)
What is God concerned about in this rule? (God wants us to honor the commitment we make to love, honor and be faithful to our spouses. Adultery breaks that commitment.)
- What is the eighth rule? —Ex. 20:15 (Do not steal)
What does this rule protect? (The property of others from my power or greed)
- What is the ninth rule? —Ex. 20:16 (Do not give false witness against others.)
From what does this rule protect us? (It protects their lives as well as their reputations from lies.)
- What is the tenth rule? —Ex. 20:17 (Do not long for anything that belongs to others.)
- What does it mean to “long for” something our neighbor has? (Want it so badly that I will do something to get it.)
- Why is that dangerous? (I might do something to my neighbor in order to get what he has.)
- Is there anything we should long for? Cf. Matthew 6:33
C. Abraham’s descendants accept the rules of the partnership —Ex 24:3-4
- How do they respond when Moses tells them what the rules are? —Ex. 24:3 (They said, “We will do everything the LORD has told us to do.”)
- To celebrate the partnership Moses takes the blood of the animals and sprinkles half on the altar which symbolizes the presence of God. —Ex. 24:6
- What does he do with the other half of the blood? —Ex. 24:8 (He sprinkled it on the people.)
The blood (unites) God and Abraham’s descendants into a committed partnership with each other. (Children sometimes prick their fingers, making them bleed. They then touch fingers, making them “blood brothers.” They are now committed to each other.)