2012 Bible Study Summary
Bible Study For Week OF January 8, 2012
REAL SUCCESS
Unifying Topic: Joseph Finds Favor
Genesis 41:37-45, 50-52
MAIN THOUGHT
Genesis 41:38 (KJV)
38 And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?
LESSON SETTING
Last week, we studied Joseph's rise from slavery to a position of prominence in Potiphar's household. His position, as we saw, was abruptly terminated by the lustful actions of Potiphar's wife. This was not the end of Joseph's story, however. The Lord was with him in prison. After languishing there for more than two years, he came to the attention of Pharaoh as one who could interpret dreams. This week's text comes at the conclusion of a dream interpretation that Joseph gave (see Genesis 41:15-36).
LIVING THE LESSON
Joseph's faithfulness to God allowed Him to move Joseph from the prison to the palace. When Joseph was at his lowest point, languishing in prison, God used Pharaoh and his dreams to prepare Joseph to be blessed. Joseph's trust in God never wavers. He obeyed God and did not let the actions of others-whether Potiphar's wife, the butler, or Pharaoh himself-dictate how he reacted. When you are given the chance to "ride in the second chariot" (v, 43), as Joseph was, learn how to do so with a sense of gratitude and humility. God has a way of blessing those who are willing to trust and depend on Him. God blessed Joseph with two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. These names were given as a sign of trust in God. God's gift of sons to Joseph signaled His approval of Joseph's actions and His never-failing love for His covenant people.
Bible Study For Week Of January 15, 2012
SHARING BLESSINGS
Unifying Topic: God Preserves A Remnant
Genesis 45:3-15
MAIN THOUGHT
Genesis 45:8 (KJV)
8 So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
LESSON SETTING
As Joseph had predicted to Pharaoh, seven years of plenty came to Egypt. At the end of those seven years, a severe faming set in, just as Joseph had said. The famine spread though out the known world (see Genesis 41:57; 42:5). The next three chapters of the Joseph narrative recount the journey of Joseph's brothers from famine-stricken Canaan to Egypt in search of food (see Gen. 42-44). While we do not have the space to describe those events in detail here, they center upon Joseph's recognition of and enduring love for his brother Benjamin (the other son of Joseph's mother Rachel) and his father Jacob. As today's text opens, Judah has just made an impassioned plea that his brother Benjamin not be imprisoned, offering himself in Benjamin's place (see Gen. 44:18-34). Hearing this, Joseph was no longer able to contain himself and keep his identity a secret.
LIVING THE LESSON
It is almost impossible to predict the events of life. But we can rely on God to work it all out on our behalf (see Rom. 8:28). The more a person is willing to forgive others, the more one gains appreciation of the power of forgiveness. Joseph was able to forgive his brothers and this made it possible for them to be reunited as a family. God's providence extends far beyond the scope of our own understanding of life. God used Joseph's brothers, Potiphar's wife, the butler dream, and Pharaoh to further His purposes. We must continue to serve God, even when others seek to do us harm.
Bible Study For Week Of January 22, 2012
THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS
Unifying Topic:Joseph Transmits Abraham's Promise
Genesis 50:15-26
MAIN THOUGHT
Genesis 50:20 (KJV)
20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
LESSON SETTING
Jacob was overjoyed when his sons returned to him and reported that Joseph was alive. He and his entire family, totaling some 70 people ( Gen. 46:27), went down into Egypt and settled in the land of Goshen. Once there, they were provided with plentiful food and other provisions by Pharaoh (see Gen. 47:1-12). Much of the rest of the Genesis narrative focuses on the last days of Jacob. During that time, he blessed Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (see Gen. 48), as well as each of his own sons (see Gen. 49:1-28), before his own death (see Gen. 49:29-33). As today's text opens, the rituals surrounding the burial of Jacob have just been concluded.
LIVING THE LESSON
The issues raised in today's lesson can speak to us very directly. It is no secret that, in our day, traditional notions of family in America are in tatters. One could point to many explanations for this: the rise in divorce rates, especially since the advent of no-fault divorce in the 1970s; the rise, particularly in the last twenty years, of cohabitation rates; the delay of marriage among the young; the distance and sense of disconnection between members of an extended family; and so forth. Whatever the most appropriate explanation(s) might be, Christians must still deal the realities of estrangement and hyper-individualism. In our lives as Christians-and particularly in our communal life, embodied in the Church, the body of Christ-we are called to the work of reconciliation, knowing that forgiveness and reconciliation are signs of God's kingdom.
Bible Study For Week Of January 29, 2012
FOLLOWING A TRUSTED LEADER
Unifying Topic: Out of Egypt
Exodus 15:1-3, 19, 22-26
MAIN THOUGHT
Exodus 15:19 (KJV)
19 For the horse of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and the LORD brought again the waters of the sea upon them; but the children of Israel went on dry land in the midst of the sea.
WHY IS CONTINUAL BIBLE STUDY SO IMPORTANT?
The Bible is first of all God's message to us. The mere fact that it is God's Word makes it worthy of continual study. Second, the Bible addresses a variety of topics that are important for us today.
There is so much in Scripture worthy of study that many people have devoted their life to its study. In the 1,900 plus years since the Bible was completed, people have wrote books about what is found in the Bible. No one can know all that God's Word has to offer, but one can get a lot out of God's Word by a continual study. The lives of people in the pages of the Bible provide good and bad examples of behavior and belief.
A careful and continuing study of the Bible will produce many great rewards. We will find truths and promises that will encourage us and give us strength, we will find instructions
to correct wrong thinking and conduct. We will find comfort and joy in knowing true fellowship with God. If we are in need of restoring our relationship with the Lord, all we have to do is walk thought the pages of the Bible and the Holy Spirit will show us the way and we find that the God of the Bible is willing and ready to restore us to his loving arms. Why should we Study the Bible? To ready us to commit to obey and give God the Praise and Worship that He deserves.
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