Rosesam

Q1. (12:10) What dangers faced Abraham and his family as aliens and sojourners in Egypt and elsewhere? Who might oppress them? What "aliens and sojourners" live in your community? Why did they come? How are they being oppressed or discriminated against by employers and others in the community? What can you and your church do to "love those who are aliens"? Abraham was a pilgrim and a wanderer, not settling down in any place for a long time. When Abraham went into Egypt, he must have been at the mercy of those who were ruling over Egypt would have no voice in any matters of his own welfare. The king’s law prevailed over all. He could change the rules according to his own whims and fancies. Abraham and his family may not be defended by anyone in case there was an attack on their lives and would have had to defend themselves. The ancient Nuzi tablets mention how a wife could be abducted by the Egyptians killing their husband and the wife was considered to be their prize. If the person accompanying a desirable woman is her brother, there would be negotiations rather than killing him. Probably this could have been practiced not only by the Egyptians, but other nations too. We are living in a country where there are people from many nations. We ourselves are expats here, who have come to work here and make a living. Here the locals and westerners are given priority in the workplace when it comes to positions and salary scales. The church can extend love and treat them as equal and embrace everyone, whatever their racial or country background, and love on them.

Q4. What kind of shalom will the Prince of Peace bring about in the New Heavens and the New Earth? What do we have to look forward to? The creation that we see now is after the Fall and the Flood. So many cataclysmic changes happened in both the events that the creation we see now may not be how God had originally created it. We see the beauty of creation and are awed by it, but it is actually hurting for we read in Romans 8:20-22 “For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered form the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now”. When the Prince of Peace reigns there would be restoration of creation, probably to how it was originally created. There would be no more violence even in the animal world. There will be righteousness and peace as satan would be bound for one thousand years. Nations will not war against each other and there will be real peace on earth, when the rightful owner of the earth is on the throne. After the Millennial reign the earth will pass away and there will be a creation of new heaven and new earth. It may be too awesome to describe in words for 1 Corinthians 2:9 says Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him. We will not be living in a water based planet then, for Revelation says that there was no longer any sea. There will no sun, no moon, no temple in New Heaven and New Earth. We will be close proximity to our Lord and it is truly something to look forward to. No wonder Revelation ends with the Spirit and Bride saying Come, Lord Jesus.

Q3. Why did Gideon name the altar "the LORD Is Peace"? In what sense did the Lord offer peace to Gideon? The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. We understand peace as an absence of strife or war. But in Hebrew, shalom means much deeper than that. It has the connotation of restoring something to its original place or bring back to completeness or wholeness. Shalom when used in greeting is actually a prayer for the well-being of the person, so that they have the very best in life. Gideon, who was hiding himself from the marauding Midianites had an encounter with God Himself, who appeared before him as the Angel of God. Because of this Gideon feared for his life, for no one can see God and live. Everyone who had a theophany had the same response of fear in them. Instead He gave Gideon the assurance that the Lord is with him and this is what caused Gideon to name the altar “the LORD is Peace”. The children of Israel had rebelled against God and was not enjoying His favor. It was at this time that Gideon had an encounter with God in which God assured His presence with him. This was a restoration of relationship to the nation of Israel. A restoration of relationship, will result in them being a majority against the Midianites. For, in whosoever’s side God is, that is the winning side. He realized that God wants the very best for them and this realization gave him peace and rest.

Q2. "Save" and "Savior" are used so much in Christian circles that they have become almost jargon words that we don't even think about. What are synonyms for "save" and "Savior"? What does a "Savior" actually do to earn the name? Jesus (Yeshua, God our salvation), redeemer, deliverer, defender, Messiah, restorer, rescuer, protector, preserver, liberator, guardian. To earn the name Savior, one must be willing to go to all the extent, even if it results in jeopardizing oneself, in order to save. That’s what Jesus did for us. We were unable to save ourselves. Ephesians says we were dead in sin, i..e. spiritually dead. If we go to a morgue and ask a body to lift its little finger, he would be unable to do, even with all the prompting or cheering, if we are willing to give to the dead body. Similarly, there was no way we could save ourselves in our dead situation. It is in this situation of ours that He gave us a new lease of life and a fresh start to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Savior all because of what Jesus did on the Cross. That’s why He is truly called Savior, and He is my Savior.

Q1. What was the responsibility of the next of kin to someone in his family who was in trouble? How did Jesus play the role of Kinsman-Redeemer for us? What does this say about God's love? What does this say about our worth? The Hebrew word for kinsman redeemer is “go’el”. A go’el is a near relative who is able to perform a wide variety of roles within his own clan or tribe. The office of the go’el existed for the defense of the clan and tribe. Any rights that a man possessed that could be lost due to his inability to perform them could and should be resumed by his next of kin. The most common duty of the kinsman redeemer was to purchase land of his kin so that it stays within the tribe. If he has sold to a person who is not belonging to his tribe, then the kinsman redeemer has the responsibility of redeeming the land. If a person was forced into slavery, his redeemer purchased him freedom. When debt threatened to overwhelm a person the kinsman stepped in to redeem the situation by paying the price of the debt. If a family member died without an offspring, the kinsman married his widow to continue the line of the deceased. When a member of the tribe is killed then the redeemer acted as the “blood avenger” and pursued the killer. To be a redeemer, there are certain conditions to be fulfilled. He should be related, he should be willing and he should be able. He should assume all legal obligations that accompany the role, and he should be free himself. In order to be related to us, He came down by becoming a Man. He was willing and able and went all the way to the Cross to ultimately die a heinous death and suffer separation from His Father with whom He had unbroken intimacy from eternity past. He was completely sinless, so when He died, it was indeed for the sins of the mankind and not for His own sins. By becoming our “Go’el” He redeemed the earth back to Himself, which satan had usurped from Adam because of the Fall. He redeemed man who was bound in the slavery of sin, back to Himself through His death on the Cross and thus purchasing a bride for Himself. He is also the “Blood Avenger” who will act as a judge to all those who denied His Son’s blood sacrifice and are partakers with those who crucified His precious Son, thus denying the salvation that He extended to them. hell was not created for man, but for devil and his angels. He did not want man to go to hell, so He made a provision for man to be with Him. Man had to simply believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ. So when man rebels against God, it is as though God is saying, I don’t want you to be separated from Me, but if you insist on going to hell, it will be over My dead body. So great is the God’s love for us that He chose to die for us that we be His redeemed. We are precious to Him, for He bent over backwards in order to redeem us. He sees worth in us, so much that He did not choose to forsake us nor leave us in our sinful condition. He chose us in the beloved, gave us sonship, made us heirs and co-heirs with His precious Son and gave us the Spirit of adoption, whereby we can cry out to Him, “Abba, Father”.

Psalm 100 Shout in jubilation to the Lord, O ye nations! Worship the Lord in celebration; come before Him with joyous songs Know that the Lord is our Maker, we belong to Him, the sheep of His pasture Let there be thanksgiving as you enter His courts, and let there be praise Praise and thanksgiving in abundance to Him as we enter His presence For the Lord is good; His love endures forever His faithfulness goes on from generation to generation

Q4. (Psalm 34:18-22) What encouragement does David give to the brokenhearted? What does it mean that God "redeems" you? How can we avoid condemnation according to Psalm 34:22? When our heart is broken, we can be assured that the Lord is nearest to us. When our heart is heavy, sometimes we do not realize the closeness of the presence of the Lord. So we may have to exercise faith, knowing that the word which is infallible says that He is near to the brokenhearted. So David is encouraging those, whose heart is crushed to know that the Lord is near them and believe it, seek Him and receive the comfort from Him that will bring peace into their hearts. Redeem means to buy back by paying the full price, what was rightfully belonging to them earlier. As the Creator, who created us, we are rightfully His. But the devil usurped it and Jesus redeemed us back to Him by paying the full price by His blood. The Son of God died for men to make us sons of God. God treated Jesus the way we are rightfully to be treated, so that He can treat us the way Jesus is rightfully to be treated. Great is His love for us and we see that there is more real estate of the Bible dedicated to His redemption than His creation. Whereas creation is described in very few verses, the entire Bible is dedicated to our redemption. Romans 8:1 says “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. When we are hidden in Him, God sees us not in our sinful state, but through the blood of Jesus and sees us as white as snow and as pure as wool. According to Psalm 34:22, when we take refuge in Him, we are hidden in Him. Even the accuser of the brethren does not stand a chance to accuse us and win, for Jesus has won the victory.

Q3. (Psalm 34:1-3) Why should we praise God continually? What are barriers to continual praise? What does continual praise do to our spirit? How are you training yourself to praise continually? I should magnify the Lord at all times for my sake. The Lord is mighty, but when we ponder on things around us, the Lord becomes small in our eyes. We doubt whether He is sufficient to meet our needs, whether He is able to help us in our troubles, whether He is powerful enough to deliver us from our afflictions. But when we magnify the Lord, the Lord becomes big in our eyes and the surrounding troubling things become small. We start seeing things in our perspective. Moreover praise renews our mind and it keeps us humble before the Lord. Moreover He has created us for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11) and He is worthy of our highest praise. Bible exhorts the redeemed to rejoice in Him always. We are the redeemed of the Lord, whom He purchased with His precious blood unto Himself. Pride, busyness, distractions, bitterness, lack of forgiveness, carnality, satanic oppression, self-centeredness, ignorance etc. are some of the barriers to continual praise. At the presence of the Lord is fullness of joy and at His right hand are pleasures evermore. So when we praise Him, it renews our spirit. We experience the peace of God, even in troubled and difficult situations. Fruit of the spirit in our lives become evident. Bible says that we become like the one we worship. So when we praise and worship the Lord, slowly but surely, we are being transformed into the image of our Savior Jesus Christ. I like to spend time in the word of the Lord, which renews my mind. I try to keep my focus on Him, which results in praise erupting from within. I pray and seek His help to keep me from wandering away from His presence.

Q2. (Psalm 118) What does "the stone the builders rejected" (verses 22-23) have to do with the Messiah? What do verses 25-27 have to do with the Messiah? When Solomon’s temple was being built, massive stones were cut out and chiseled in a quarry away from the temple site, so that no sound would be heard when the stones were assembled in the temple site. The stones were cut to such perfection that not even a knife blade could fit into the joints of these stones. The stones were enormous stones weighing several tons and they were hauled into the temple site. Tradition says that one of the stones that were transported to temple site was the corner stone. Since it was not fitting other stones, they threw it into the Kidron Valley as they couldn’t figure out the purpose of that stone. Over the period of time with all the refuse being dumped into the Kidron Valley, stone was completely forgotten. At the end of the project the corner stone was missing – until someone remembered that it had been rejected and thrown away. Jesus was the Chief Cornerstone and He quotes this passage in Matthew 21:42 as a reference to Himself. It is on Him that we the living stones are being built together to be a holy temple unto the Lord. But just as the Jewish nation rejected the corner stone, but ultimately took it back from the place they that dumped it into, they will ultimately accept Him as their Messiah. The only event Jesus orchestrated in His life was when He rode on a donkey to Jerusalem and presented Himself as their King. When a king comes into town riding on a donkey, he is coming in peace. Else he would be riding in a horse. When Jesus presented Himself as riding on a donkey, He was presenting Himself as their Messiah, the King. As their King, the people could choose to accept Him or reject Him. Even though they cried out echoing the verses of this psalm – Hosanna, save us now, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, within a week the very same people, instigated by their leaders, cried out crucify Him and thus rejected their Messiah and King. Unless we accept Him for who He is, He cannot reign in our hearts as King.

Q1. (Psalm 100) What is the predominant emotion in Psalm 100? How does this psalm make you feel emotionally about God? What are the reasons for praise given in verses 3 and 5? What are the commands in this psalm? This psalm was probably sung when thank offerings were offered in the altar and the predominant emotion is joyous thanksgiving in jubilation and adoration. We are secure in Him, for we are the sheep of His pasture. He is the Good Shepherd and He loves me and this realization that the Creator of the universe has chosen to love me causes me to be overwhelmed in His love. I love Him because He first loved me. He is our Maker, King and Shepherd. We are His because He made us and we belong to Him in His kingdom and are the sheep of His fold. Because we are secure in Him, our hearts resound with praise to the one who keeps us secure. The assurance that He is faithful to do it till the end gives us peace. Make a joyful noise unto Him, serve Him with gladness, come before His presence with singing, know that the Lord – He is God, Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise, be thankful unto Him and bless His name.

Q1. (John 1:1-3) According to the Apostle John, is Jesus fully God? What does it mean that Jesus is the “Word”? What does this say about him and his ministry? John in his opening remarks to his gospel says that in the beginning was the word. The words “in the beginning” transports us way back to Genesis. But in the phraseology John uses, he says before creation happened Word was. In the beginning was the word. This implies that the word was continuing even before creation began. Jewish minds explained what God did by His word. That is why we often read in the Old Testament, the word of God came unto… They believed that His word was responsible for everything. In the Targum, which is the Aramaic translation and commentary of the Hebrew Bible, the term for “Word” is “memra” which is the self-expression of God. When they read from the Targum, the name of God was replaced with “memra” thus equating God with His word. The Greeks on the other hand believed that the word, logos, was the reason for having an ordered universe. They believed that the universe was steered through the word. John embraced both the secular and religious view of the word and described that this word was Jesus. John 1 says that the word was with God. In Greek it is “pros ton theon” which means face to face or describes the intimate association with the Father, yet distinguished from the Father. Both, (in fact the Holy Spirit too), are individuals in the Godhead and hence Jesus is fully God. He is the word, who is God, embodied in the flesh. Now John, himself, in his epistle says those who do not believe that the divine God came in the flesh are considered to be a deceiver. In John 1:3, we read that all things were created by Him. In Colossians 1:16, we read that all things were created by Him and for Him. For His pleasure we were created (Revelation 4:11). He redeemed us back to Himself through His blood and there is forgiveness of our sins through Him. Now, He is interceding for us at the right hand of the Father. When the time is right, He will set up His millennial reign on this earth and rule as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

Q4. (Psalm 51:17) How does one achieve a "broken and contrite heart"? What are the earmarks of this condition? How does this differ from "being sorry" for a sin? How does humility relate to this condition? Bible says it is the goodness of the Lord that leads to repentance. When we realize that we have grieved a holy God, we become truly repentant. For it will cause a godly sorrow in us and this results in a broken and a contrite heart. We are truly sorrowful for having offended a holy God. Godly sorrow produces a change of mind with a willingness to change ones behavior. This is what repentance is all about and it is caused through humility and realization of one’s sins by the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. The sacrifice that God desires is a humble sacrifice. It should NOT be mixed with the pride of my spirituality or a sense of achievement of my righteousness. So there is no blame game or justifying my actions. It is made with an acute awareness of my need for His mercy. When this happens there will be a renewed intimacy in my relationship with Him and a desire to serve Him. Being sorry is a sadness of being exposed of our sin. When we see His holiness, we realize that He desires inward holiness rather than outward show of piety. So a contrite and broken heart, is deeply sorrowful of that our sin has grieved God and thus seeks forgiveness from Him. This will result in a change of heart by God when He creates it pure because of His forgiveness. A humble heart is willing to lay down self with all its pride and seek the face of God in all humility. It is a willing submission to what He says of my condition and accepting that sin requires judgement. But because that judgement was upon our Lord, we can plead for His mercy and seek His forgiveness.

Q3. (Psalm 51:10-12) How is it possible to have a "pure heart" after great sin? What does a "pure heart" consist of? What is the relationship between a "pure heart" (Psalm 51:10) and a "united" or "undivided heart" (Psalm 86:11)? Who purifies the heart? What is the process? God is able to blot out our sin when we confess them because of the finished work of Christ on the cross. So even though Jesus had not died at the time when David sinned, He was the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. His sin was rolled over to the cross and thus it is possible for God to create a pure heart in David. A pure heart is a willing heart to obey God and fulfill His commands. It is a heart devoted to God and steadfast upon Him. A pure heart is steadfast on the purposes and the will of God. So is an undivided or a united heart. A divided heart is one that has varying interests and divided attentions. Whereas an undivided heart is united in its single minded devotion to be waiting on the Lord, to know what He requires of us. It is a heart that is completely surrendered to God alone. God alone can purify the heart. David couldn’t create a clean heart himself for we don’t have the power to change our hearts which is required to create purity in it. But we can change our minds and if I change my mind God will change my heart. But He won’t change my heart until I change my mind. This requires repentance on my part, confession of my sins and seeking His forgiveness.

Q2. (Psalm 51:3-6) When David says, "Against you only I have sinned" (4a) is he minimizing his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah? What does he mean by this? When he mentions his sinfulness from before birth is he excusing himself or blaming Original Sin? What does he mean by this? Sin is rebellion against God, for it offends a Holy God. So before reconciliation can take place there is a need to agree with what God says about sin. That’s what confession is all about. Uriah and Bathsheba may have been innocent victims in this incident, but they are also sinners. In human perspective, we try to judge who is right and who is to blame. But in God’s sight we are all guilty and all are answerable to God who is holy. David, by breaking God’s commands, had grieved God and thus he needed to seek forgiveness from God alone, because it was against Him, his greatest offence was. So here he is not minimizing his sin against Bathsheba and Uriah, but taking responsibility for his sin and seeking the one who is able to cleanse him from his sin. When he mentions that in sin he was conceived, he was continuing his confession of sin unto God. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we’re sinners. He is confessing that because of the sin nature inherited form Adam he is a sinner from birth. He was having a right view of sin i.e. sin deserves judgement, thus requiring cleansing to escape judgement. Thus he is pleading on God’s mercy to cleanse him from his sin though he deserved judgement.

Q1. (Psalm 32:2-5) How does self-deceit operate with sin to enslave us? How does confession enable us to get free from sin? Why do we sometimes resist the truth about ourselves? What does it take to get us to see truth sometimes? When we deceive ourselves we don’t have the right view of sin. A right view of sin carries the understanding that sin deserves judgement. Without a right view of sin, we will end up covering our sin which enslaves us and we try to pass on the blame to someone else. This will result in guilt which destroys our joy. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and make Him a liar. Sin causes a separation in our relationship with God. Confession in Hebrew is homologeo meaning to say the same thing or agree with how God views sin. When we sin we are actually grieving God. True confession in the biblical sense is not a matter or promising not to sin again, but rather agreeing with God. If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Only when we confess our sin we find forgiveness and the guilt is removed. So confession will result in reconciliation back to God. Our guilt is gone and the devil can no longer torment us for our sins. This will result in a heart of gratitude unto God for what He has done for us. Pride causes us not to expose ourselves and keep it covered up. When there is repeated sinning in our lives without repentance, our conscience become seared and we no longer realize when sin is committed. We start calling sin by different names like adultery as affair, homosexuality as a problem in genetics etc. Or it may be a plain rebellion on our part not to confess and become right with God. Since sin offends a Holy God, the devil is also blinding us from seeing that. We need the conviction of the Holy Spirit to know that when we confess our sins, it loses its grip on us and that godly sorrow leads us to repentance and repentance will result in change of heart. An understanding of His heart as revealed through His word will cause us to realize that confession will result in restoration of joy. Bible says that “faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God”. As we meditate on the scriptures fear is removed and faith takes hold of us and this will cause us to confess unto Him. Even if we try to hide our sins, we can never hide it from the all-knowing, omniscient God. Humility which is the opposite of pride will result in confession. Humility causes the “I” in me to submit before Him. When we truly desire to be set free we will be truthful of our condition and confess before Him.

Psalm 51 Merciful One, have compassion on me and wipe away all my sins Wash my guilt away and purify me from all my sin. They are ever before me and are weighing me down It’s against You that I have sinner and You know my sins in and out So Your judgments are fair and You have the right to correct and punish me From the moment my mother conceived me, I was a sinner You want truth and integrity within me, so teach me Your wisdom Cleanse me with hyssop from deep within that I may be whiter than snow Let me rejoice in You, let the broken bones dance in joy and celebration Let my sins be hidden from You and the stain of my guilt be covered Create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me Don’t banish me from Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me Restore my joy and let me be willing and Obedient to You Then I will teach sinners Your ways so that they return to You Deliver me from violence that I may sing anthems to the God who saves Open my mouth Lord, that I may be unrestrained in my praises to You Sacrifices and burnt offerings are not what You are pleased in A broken heart and a contrite spirit, these will not go unnoticed by You Delight in Zion and help her; rebuild Jerusalem’s broken down walls You will be pleased in sacrifices offered in the right spirit Then bulls will be offered in Your altar again as a whole burnt offering.

Q4. (1 Peter 5:10) How has God shown his grace to you and your family? Why do you think Peter describes him as the God of All Grace? Grace is unmerited unearned undeserved favor. An acronym to remember grace is G – God’s R – Riches A – At C – Christ’s E – Expense Another definition of grace is getting what you don’t deserve. Only through understanding justice and mercy we understand grace. Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is NOT getting what you deserve and grace is getting what you don’t deserve. Because we are sinners, we deserve punishment. But because of His mercy we don’t get punishment and His amazing grace bestows us sonship and citizenship in His kingdom which we absolutely don’t deserve. God has been so gracious to us by giving us salvation. He has showered us with His goodness and He has been faithful to us in spite of our unfaithfulness. He has always brought us back to Him when we wandered away from His presence. He has been our provider, defender, life-giver, healer and the El-Shaddai etc. of our lives. Peter had experienced His grace in his life. He was the one who denied Him thrice, yet the Lord gave him opportunity to confess his love for Him thrice. He was called to preach the good news to both Jews and Gentiles first. Such grace to make a shifting sand like Simon into solid rock like Peter was something that Peter would have never forgotten in his life. He had seen such transformations amongst his friends. No wonder Peter describes Him as God of all grace.

Q3. How does God's steadfast love in the Old Testament relate to his mission of love in John 3:16? He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He never changes. His character and nature described in Exodus 34:5-7 is of the same God, whether it be in the Old Testament or in the New Testament. We, on human terms, prefer to describe creation in detail, but the Bible describes creation in a few words or verses, but how God was involved in redemption of man fills up the entire scriptures. He bent over backwards to see that man will not have to go to hell. It was all because of His steadfast love towards us. And this love is described in a nutshell in John 3:16. And it was this love that stretched forth His arms to humanity for their redemption, and hence we the redeemed will always rejoice in the Lord.

Q2. What does faithfulness have to do with trustworthiness and keeping one's word? What does the Faithful God inspire in you? Why must faithfulness be part of our character as believers? God’s nature is characterized by His faithfulness. His faithfulness reaches to the skies and extends to the heavens. The basic root of faithfulness is firmness, certainty, dependability, sureness etc. It is to stand on what is true. That’s why God is called as the sure foundation, a rock that cannot be moved. Based on the definition, we can say with certainty that God is indeed faithful to His word. He never goes back on His word. He’s absolutely faithful and true to His word. Bible says the words that proceed out of His mouth will never return unto Him void, but will accomplish that which He pleases and prospers in the thing where to He sent it. He is a man of His word. He says I have exalted My word above My name. One can trust in what He says for He is not a man to lie and we have the assurance that His word is the truth. His faithfulness inspires me to be faithful like Him. To imitate Him in my life, so that I will reflect Him to this world. Like the moon reflecting the sun, I want to reflect Him and thus magnify Him. Walking with Him in trust knowing that He will never let me down, no matter what. Faithful in my commitment, faithful in my devotion and walk, faithful to others and be a person of bedrock integrity. To be faithful and dependable in my dealings with other, so that others may count on me and trust me. A Christian should be someone who is dependable and trustworthy. If we reflect God’s character, it will draw others to the love of God. For some we may be the only book that they will ever read about who God is. The name Christian means little Christ. Even though used derogatorily in the early church period, we need to be mirroring God to this dying world.

Q1. Why was God's willingness to forgive essential to Israel's survival in the wilderness? Was Israel contrite after turning away from the Lord in Exodus 34? What is so amazing about God's forgiveness? Israel was a rebellious and stiff necked people. They were constantly murmuring and were never satisfied with the goodness of the Lord. They were continuously complaining and rebelling against Moses. They belittled God’s protection, provision and faithfulness and were bickering and reminiscing about their supposedly satisfied life in Egypt. They were disobedient to God’s commands and showing allegiance to idols rather than to Yahweh who had delivered them from the oppression and slavery in Egypt. It was the grace of God that caused Him to forgive the people and allowed them to remain a nation rather than being wiped out by the wrath of God. They were contrite only when their wickedness was revealed to them. But it was not true repentance, for when another problem arose, they immediately slipped back into their ungrateful, complaining attitude. Psalm 103:7 says “He made known His ways unto Moses and His acts unto the children of Israel”. They were awed by His acts, but because they did not know His ways and lacked devotion, they were in constant rebellion with the Lord. He forgives us because of His grace. It is His undeserved, unmerited and unearned favor. It amazes us and we don’t deserve it. But without His forgiveness, our life will be doomed and destined to hell. He does not want us to go to hell, for it was not prepared for man, but for the devil and his angels. He is not only willing to forgive and made a provision for us to go to heaven. We just need to accept His work for us. So it is as though He is saying, if you want to go to hell, it will be over my dead body. Man’s greatest need was forgiveness and God’s greatest deed was forgiveness. So God’s greatest deed was man’s greatest need.

Q4. (12:9) What was the significance of Abraham "calling on the name of Yahweh"? What does it mean for you to "call on the name of the Lord"? Abraham lived in Ur of Mesopotamia, the land of many pagan deities, of which nanna, the moon god, was considered to be supreme. Legend says that his father Terah was in the business of making idols of gods. But when God called Abraham, he left all and went after Him in obedience. When he reached the land he was promised, he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord. It’s as though he was saying “forsaking all I choose to follow you”. When we are in need, distress or in happy times we want to be with someone we love. We want their presence and that comforts us, multiplies our joy and we feel satisfied. In my life the one who is closest to me is my Lord. For me to call upon Him means to set my affections on Him and making Him and confidence and my all. It is confessing our need for the Lord based on the belief in our hearts that He is more than sufficient for us.

Q3. (12:1 with Hebrews 11:8-10) Why does it take special faith to begin to do something in obedience to God before we see how it will turn out? Have you had any of these "opportunities"? Are you in the midst of this adventure now? When God says to do something He doesn’t give us the full plan or the outcome/result of that obedience. It is like stepping out into the unknown without any clue of how things will turn out to. So this requires faith. Biblical definition of faith is found in Hebrews 11:1 which states, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So faith is like having the evidence beforehand. It is the unreserved confidence in the goodness of the Lord who is able to make all things work together for my good. Yes I have had opportunities where I had to step out into the unknown, not knowing what to expect, but over the years when I look back I have seen the goodness of the Lord upon my life.

Q2. (12:2-3) In what ways was Abraham blessed. How have all the peoples of the earth been blessed? In what way does Abraham continue bless people through your life? From him came a great nation. He was blessed and his name was made great and he became a blessing to all. All who blessed him were blessed but all those who cursed him were cursed. In him all the families of the earth were blessed. Even though I am not in the line of descent of Abraham, I am blessed because of the spiritual connection. By faith I become a descendant and share in the promises that God made to Abraham. Just as by faith, righteousness was imputed onto Abraham, by faith righteousness is imputed unto us when we believed on Him that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. And now having become the sons of God, we become a blessing to those around us.

Q1. (11:32) Have you ever begun something in response to God's urging and then stopped? Did God want you to stop? Is it time now to renew your obedience and begin again? (Don't take this question lightly. Sometimes circumstances prevent us from doing what we once felt God wanted us to do. However, he is able to redirect you into his will for you now. Seek him diligently to learn his will.) There are some things which God put in my heart which I am continuing to do. Some things I do, but not with full enthusiasm and with so many distractions. Some things I wonder whether it was God, for I don’t think I am qualified to do them. But the impression I got was so strong. May be there needs to be a lot of preparation. I know it’s my availability and not my ability that God wants. If the Lord is in something that He has urged me on, then He definitely did not want me to stop. Lord help me.

Q4. (Psalm 22) What similarities do you see between the words of Psalm 22 and the events of Jesus' crucifixion? Do you think Jesus understood Psalm 22 as referring to himself? Why do you think the Spirit inspired David to pen these words? There are so many similarities in this psalm for it foreshadows the event of Jesus’ crucifixion like Jesus crying out to the Father in the very first verse, gentiles mocking Him, all left Him and there was none to help, His bones out of joint, casting lots and parting garments of Jesus at the cross etc. But I want to dwell on verse 6 of this psalm which says that I am a worm which in Hebrew is translated “tola’ath”. Tola’ath stands for a scarlet worm from which red dye was produced in biblical days. The tola’ath reproduces by attaching itself on a limb of a tree, becomes a hard crimson shell and lays her eggs beneath its body. The eggs hatch and the baby worms get protection and food from the mothers body, for it eats the mother’s body. This worm reproduces only once in its lifetime. When the babies are big enough they emerge out of the shell leaving a scarlet spot on the tree as well as on the young ones. In the process of reproducing its young the tola’th dies and its offspring remains crimson all their life. After about three days, the red spot would turn into white flakes and fall off like snow. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though your sins be as crimson they shall be as wool” Isaiah 1:18 and the word that Isaiah used for scarlet is tola’ath. Great is the mystery of the Son of God who became a Man and greater still is the mystery of the Lamb of God becoming a worm for us that as we believe in Him, His blood which ran red washed our sins so that we are as white as snow. Jesus understood very well that this psalm spoke of His crucifixion. That’s why He quoted this psalm on the cross, thus fulfilling prophecy. Jesus knew the purpose of His birth as a Man. He came to die and save the mankind from the slavery of sins. That’s why the Bible declares in Isaiah, that His face was set like a flint towards Jerusalem. He knew His crucifixion would happen at Jerusalem and He did not deter or slow down His journey to Jerusalem. Moreover, the three recorded incidents of the Father speaking in the gospels all relate to His death. First at baptism, which was a picture of His death. Then at the Mount of Transfiguration where Elijah and Moses spoke of His decease, and in John 12:29 we hear it the third time after Jesus spoke of His coming agony. Biblical prophecy is all about patterns. In minds that have been trained in the Greek way, prophecy is all about prediction and its fulfillment. But Biblical prophecy is all about a replay of patterns. When the Spirit inspired David to pen this psalm, he would have very well thought that it related to his circumstances and it did. But its ultimate fulfillment was in the Son of David on the cross of Calvary. This would have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to put to rest every doubts in the cynic’s mind that He indeed came into the world and died just as it was prophesied. He is the God who declares the end from the beginning and thus is a sure way of knowing that it was indeed inspired by God Himself.