Week of 4 Advent - Christmas - Even
This Bible
Study was
originally published at:
http://shepherdboy.journalspace.com/,
(now defunct).
It is based
on
the
Lutheran
Book
of
Worship two-year Daily
Lectionary for personal
devotions p.179-192, Augsburg
Publishing House, Minneapolis, 1978.
The daily
readings are according to a
Calendar
based on the Church Year, which
begins on the first Sunday of
Advent,
usually sometime at the end of
November in the year preceding the
secular calendar year.
Available at:
http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/
(Please bookmark this link).
This 'blog is mirrored at:
http://shepherdboy-mydailywalk.blogspot.com/
Shepherdboysmydailywalk’s
Blog
.mp3 Podcasts via Linux Festival
text-to-speech and Panopreter
Basic text-to-speech are available at:
http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/dw_bible/evenyear/wklx_even.html
http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/dw_bible/oddyear/Wklx_odd.html
Please Note:
This ‘blog is now available in mobile-optimized format:
http://winksite.mobi/shepherdboy/MyDailyWalk
Free to distribute; for personal use, Bible Study Groups, and Adult
Christian Education. Disk Image and/or .zip file to burn the complete
Bible Study to CD are available at:
http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/#Burn_Site_to_CD
Free to distribute; for personal use, Bible Study Groups, and Adult
Christian Education. Disk Image and/or .zip file to burn the complete
Bible Study to
CD are available at:
http://shepherdboy.byethost12.com/#Burn_Site_to_CD
To get the most from these studies, it is suggested that you first
read the scripture texts for the entry, and then the paraphrase and
commentary. It is also recommended that you look up the scripture
references, unless you recognize and recall them from memory.
I will post weekly by Saturday, noon, (God willing), Pacific time
(UTC-8:00) for the week of the Church Season which begins on Sunday.
Please scroll down for the desired day, or save the week to your
desktop/hard drive.
Podcast Download: Week of 4 Advent - Even
Sunday 4 Advent - Even
Use only until Christmas Day.
First posted
12/20/03;
Podcast: Sunday 4 Advent Even
Genesis 3:8-15 - The fall of mankind;
Revelation 12:1-10 - The woman, the child, and the dragon;
John 3:16-21 - “The Gospel in miniature;”
Genesis Summary:
After they had succumbed to temptation in the garden and had disobeyed
God’s command, Adam and Eve hid themselves from God. Their sin brought
awareness of their nakedness, which revealed their guilt. God called
them to account. The man blamed the woman, and the woman blamed the
serpent. God therefore cursed the serpent, saying, “I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall
bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15)
Revelation Summary:
The Revelator, the Apostle John, saw a vision of a woman, who represents
God’s people (initially Israel; then the Church), from whom the child,
Jesus Christ, was born, “who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron”
(Revelation 12:5b; see Psalm 2.9, “the Lord’s anointed”: Psalm 2:2), and
the dragon, “that ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world…” (Revelation 12:9; “the accuser”,
Revelation 12:10: see Job 1:9-11). The imagery of the description of the
dragon suggests his power. The dragon wanted to destroy the child (by
having him crucified), “but her child was caught up to God and to his
throne (by Jesus’ resurrection; Revelation 12:5c). Satan and his angels
(demons) have been defeated in heaven, but they are still temporarily in
power on the earth. Believers overcome Satan by “the blood of the Lamb”
(Revelation 12:11); by trusting in Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross for
our sins.
John Summary:
The Apostle John taught that God loved the world and he gave his only
Son, so that whoever believes in the Son will not be condemned to
eternal death with the wicked, but will have eternal life. God sent his
Son, not to condemn the world, but to save it through him. “He who
believes in him (Jesus Christ, God’s Son) is not condemned; he who does
not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name
of the only Son of God” (John 3:18). Jesus is the judge and judgment of
the world. Jesus is the light of the world, the light of life (John
8:12), but mankind loves darkness, because their deeds are evil. Those
who do evil hate the light, because the light exposes their evil, but
those who are righteous, who do what is right, come to the light so that
it may be clearly seen that their deeds are in accord with God’s will.
Commentary:
Mankind has been sinful from the beginning. All of us have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). God’s judgment on sin is
(eternal) death (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23) God has had a plan for the
redemption of creation from the beginning. The whole Bible, from
beginning to end, is the narrative record of God’s working out of that
plan for our redemption from sin and death. In the Garden, when the
first man and woman disobeyed God’s command and committed the first sin,
when God pronounced his judgment on sin, he announced that his
provision for our salvation would come from a child, born of a woman,
who would defeat the power of the serpent, Satan (Genesis 3:15).
Jesus defeated Satan on the Cross. Jesus’ resurrection is the proof that
Jesus is the Son of God, and that Satan could not destroy him. We can
be freed from Satan’s power to deceive and destroy by trusting and
obeying Jesus.
Only through Jesus are we able to be freed from our bondage to sin and
death. Jesus is God’s only plan for our salvation (Acts 4:12). We will
all have to give an accounting before the Lord (Matthew 25:31-46; John
5:28-29), as Adam and Eve had to in the Garden (Genesis 3:9, 11, 13). We
won’t be able to hide from that Day of Judgment even though many may
want to (Genesis 3:8; Revelation 6:15-16). Those who have trusted in
Jesus and have obeyed his teaching will not be condemned. Believers need
not fear examination; it will be clearly seen that we belong to Jesus.
Will you come to Jesus and receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life,
or will you try to hide in the darkness?
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple
(John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you
received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts
19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to
obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with
certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians
1:13-14)?
Monday 4 Advent - Even
Use only until Christmas Day.
First posted 12/21/03;
Podcast: Monday 4 Advent - Even
Zephaniah 3:14-20 - The glorious gospel of salvation;
Titus1:1-16 - Requirements for elders of the church;
Luke 1:1-25 - The birth of John the Baptizer;
Zephaniah Summary:
The prophet exhorts Israel to rejoice in her salvation. The Lord has
taken away the judgment against her. The Lord, who gives the victory
over sin and death, is in her midst. The Lord will remove disaster from
her, so that she will not bear reproach. At that time the Lord will
requite (retaliate against) the oppressors of his people, save the lame,
gather the outcast, and will change their shame into praise and renown
in all the earth. The Lord will restore the fortunes of his people.
Titus Summary
Paul declares that the purpose of his ministry is “to further the faith
of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth which accords with
godliness, in the hope of eternal life which God, who never lies,
promised ages ago, and at the proper time manifested ...” (Titus1:1-3).
Titus had been a partner in Paul’s missionary work, and was charged with
the organization of the church on the island of Crete.
Paul sets forth the standards for the office of elder or bishop, which
was that of a steward over God’s household: “… a bishop must be
blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered, or a drunkard, or
violent, or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness, master
of himself, upright, holy and self controlled; he must hold firm to the
sure word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in
sound doctrine and also to confute those who contradict it”
(Titus1:7-9).
There were false teachers in the church, which Paul instructed Titus to
rebuke sharply, so that the Cretan members might be strong in the faith,
rather than listening to Jewish myths and the teaching of those who
reject the truth. The pure see purity, but the corrupt cannot recognize
purity, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. The corrupt
profess to know God, but their deeds deny him. The corrupt are
“detestable, disobedient; unfit for any good deed” (Titus1:16).
Luke Summary:
The author, probably the physician, Luke, who also wrote the book of
Acts (see Acts 1:1) and was a Gentile convert and friend of Paul, wrote
to Theophilus (whose name means “lover of God,” an unknown Christian of
some social prominence, or generally, any lover of God. He begins his
Gospel with the prophecy of the birth of John the Baptist and its
fulfillment. When Herod the Great was King of Judea, (between 37-4 B.C.)
around 7-6 B.C.* the priest Zechariah (who’s wife, Elizabeth, was from
the line of Aaron, Moses’ spokesman/prophet and the patriarch of the
priesthood), was on duty in the Temple when he had an encounter with the
angel Gabriel.
Zechariah’s wife was barren and they were both advanced in years, but
the angel told Zechariah that his wife would bear a son, to be called
John, who would be filled with the Holy Spirit from his birth. John
would go before the Lord the God of Israel, “in the spirit and power of
Elijah” (Luke 1:17a), “to turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the
just” (i.e. to righteousness; Luke 1:17c) and “to make ready for the
Lord a people prepared” (Luke 1:17d).
Zechariah asked, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my
wife is advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). Because Zechariah had not
believed the angel Gabriel, he was rendered unable to speak, as a sign
of the truth of the prophecy, until the day that John was named (Luke
1:64). Elizabeth subsequently conceived, as the angel had said.
Commentary:
The prophet Zephaniah foresaw the redemption and salvation which the
Lord had prepared. That redemption and salvation is, as Paul declared,
the “hope of eternal life which God, who never lies, promised ages ago
and at the proper time manifested…” (Titus 1:2-3). Luke accurately (Luke
1:3 RSV see footnote a; the word means to follow closely; trace out,
know fully, i.e. “accurately”) reported what he learned from
eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2).
John the Baptizer was the “Elijah” who was to come (see Matthew
17:10-13; Mark 9:11-13; Luke 1:17, 76) to prepare the way for the coming
of the Messiah. Note that Christians are required to hold firm to the
sure Word (truth) as taught (Titus 1:9). God is Truth. Jesus is the way,
the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by him (John
14:6).
Truth is a Christian virtue; it is the corrupt and unbelieving who do
not know and cannot recognize truth. (Satan is a liar and the father of
lies; John 8:44d). The angel Gabriel had spoken truth to Zechariah, but
Zechariah doubted and asked for a sign (proof). Zechariah received his
“proof”; he was unable to speak until he named his son John, in
fulfillment of the prophecy. The Lord’s Word is truth; those who refuse
to believe will suffer the consequences.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple
(John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you
received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts
19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to
obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with
certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians
1:13-14)?
*The Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version, Ed. by Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, Luke 1:5n, p. 1239 , New York, Oxford University Press, 1962.
Tuesday 4 Advent - Even
Use only until Christmas Day.
First posted 12/22/03;
Podcast: Tuesday 4 Advent - Even
1 Samuel 2:1b-10 - The song of Hannah;
Titus 2:1-10 - Pastor and the flock;
Luke 1:26-38 - Jesus birth foretold;
1 Samuel Summary:
The song of Hannah is a poem commemorating the birth of Hannah’s son Samuel, in fulfillment of prayer. Hannah prayed to the Lord, exalting in his strength and rejoicing in his salvation. She acknowledges that there is none holy like the Lord, none to compare with him, no rock of security like our God. The Lord humbles the proud and arrogant by his wisdom and judgment.
The Lord works for justice and equality; he humbles the mighty and exalts the lowly. Those who thought they were rich will face want and hunger, while those who were needy will be satisfied. The barren will bring forth offspring, while those with abundant progeny will be forlorn. The Lord rules over all of life: birth and death, blessing and calamity. He raises up the poor and needy. “He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked will be cut off in darkness; not by might shall a man prevail” (1 Samuel 2:9). “The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces” (1 Samuel 2:10a). “The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed” (1 Samuel 2:10c, d).
Titus Summary:
Paul exhorts Titus to preach what befits sound doctrine, and to teach the members of his flock conduct befitting their circumstances. The older men are to practice and model behavior that is “temperate, serious, sensible, sound in faith, in love, and steadfastness” (Titus 2:2). Older women are to be reverent, temperate, and not slanderous (Titus 2: 3); to teach the young women "to love their husbands and children, to be sensible, chaste, domestic, kind, and submissive to their husbands..."(Titus 2: 4-5). Young men are urged to practice self-control. Slaves are to be submissive and to give satisfactory service to their masters; to not be uncooperative, nor pilfer, but to be faithful to their master, so that God might be glorified (Titus 2: 9-10).
Luke Summary:
In the sixth month (of Elizabeth’s pregnancy; see Luke 1:24, 36) the angel Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth in Galilee to a virgin named Mary, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. The angel told Mary that she had found favor with God, and that she would conceive and give birth to a son, to be called Jesus. The angel said that Jesus would be great, and would be called the Son of the Most High; the Lord would give him the throne of his forefather David, and that he would reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever. His Kingdom will be eternal.
Mary asked how this would be since she was not married. The angel replied that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit, and therefore the child “will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35c). The angel told Mary that her kinswoman Elizabeth, in her old age and considered barren, had also conceived. “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37). “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38).
Commentary:
Hannah was barren, but she prayed in faith, and the Lord heard and answered her prayer (1 Samuel 1:19-20). Hannah’s song is in response to God’s answer to her prayer and the birth of her son, Samuel. Hannah had endured discrimination and persecution because of her inability to bear children (1 Samuel 1:3-9). Her song declares what the Lord has done for her.
Hannah is a model of the virtues Paul urges Titus to encourage in the members of the church in Crete. When she was in the temple praying for conception, she was accused of being drunk by Eli the priest (1 Samuel 1:12-16), but she was not. She was not slanderous, but kind, loving, sensible, chaste, domestic, submissive to her husband. Hannah proved to be reverent, sound in faith, and steadfast; she fulfilled her promise to “lend” Samuel to the Lord (1 Samuel 1:27-28).
She was a faithful servant of the Lord, fulfilling the Christian virtues Paul urged Titus to teach to servants (slaves; see Titus 2:9-10). She was submissive; her goal was to serve her Lord to the best of her ability, to be entirely and truly faithful; not rebellious or untrustworthy. Her hope and trust was in the Lord. She foresaw the coming Messianic kingdom. In her words and her behavior she glorified the Lord.
Mary was chosen by the Lord to be the mother of Jesus. She had found favor with the Lord. She, like Hannah, modeled the Christian virtues Paul extolled to Titus, not only those for women, but as of a servant toward her Lord. Her behavior and her words glorified the Lord. She wasn’t old and barren, as Hannah and Elizabeth had been, and she hadn’t asked for this child. She was engaged to be married, but she and her husband had not yet come together (Matthew 1:18.
Being found to be pregnant in such circumstances was going to be difficult for her (Matthew 1:19), but she accepted the Lord’s will and was obedient to it. [Mary’s song (Luke 1:46-55), called the “Magnificat” from the first word of the Latin translation, is largely based on the song of Hannah.]. An obscure Jewish woman became known for all time as the Mother of Jesus, and became a key instrument in the establishment of the Eternal Kingdom of God.
Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Podcast Download: Week of Christmas
Wednesday Christmas Day - Even
First posted 12/24/03;
Podcast: Wednesday Christmas Day - Even
1 John 4:7-16 - God’s Love;
John 3:31-36 - Jesus’ authority;
The worship of the Lord will be established as the highest of mountains; many nations and people shall come to worship him. The Lord will judge the nations. He will establish lasting peace among nations. “…they will sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid…” (Micah 4:4). From Bethlehem… shall come forth for me (God) one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 4:2) “…when she who is in travail has brought forth…” (Micah 4:3b). [“…then the rest of his brethren shall return to the people of Israel” (Micah 5: 3)]. “And he (Messiah) shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he will be great to the ends of the earth.” (Micah 4:4).
God loved us and gave his only begotten (conceived by the Holy Spirit; passing on the very nature of God in procreation, as opposed to adoption) Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins as a free gift; not requiring anything as a condition but that we accept it. If we receive God’s gift, we will know that he loves us; and we will love others as he loves us. If we love others, others will know that we know the Lord, and we can be certain that we are in him and he is in us. Jesus said, “ He who has my commands and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest (reveal) myself to him” (John 14:21).
Jesus is God in human flesh. He was born of a woman, but he was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God. “…in him, the whole fullness of deity (God) dwells bodily…” (Colossians 2:9). “No one knows the Father but the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27c). Jesus said “All things have been delivered unto me by my Father” (Matthew 11:27a); “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto me” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus speaks the Word of God (John 3:34a). God is true (John 3:33).
Jesus is God’s gift of love to you. Have you received Jesus? Do you know for certain that you are in him and he is in you? Is Jesus your Lord (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46)? Are you Jesus' disciple (John 8:31)? Are you trusting and obeying Jesus (John 14:21)? Have you received the indwelling Holy Spirit since you first truly believed (Acts 19:2)? Are you making disciples of Jesus Christ and teaching them to obey all that Jesus commands (Matthew 28:18-20)? Do you know with certainty where you will spend eternity (1 John 5:11-13; Ephesians 1:13-14)?
Thursday December 26 Even
First posted 12/25/03;
Podcast: Thursday December 26 Even
Wisdom 4:7-15 - (apocrypha) The good (sometimes) die young;
2 Chronicles 24:17-22 - The stoning of Zechariah;
Acts 6:1-7 - Appointment of the seven deacons;
Acts 7:59-8:8 - Stoning of Stephen and martyrdom;
The life of the righteous may be cut short by death, but he will be at rest. Honor does not reside in long life or number of years; wisdom is worthy of veneration, and an unstained life is better than old age. He who loves and pleases God is better taken to heaven early, lest the wickedness and deceit around him should have time to corrupt him. Temptation obscures truth, and lust undermines the unwise. The Lord hastened to take away from among the wicked him whose soul pleased the Lord. The people saw but did not understand that God’s “grace and mercy are with his saints, and that he hath respect unto (honors) his chosen” (Wisdom 4:15).
The passage from the book of the Wisdom of Solomon (a non-canonical book included in the apocrypha, as found in Catholic Bibles), offers an explanation for why God allows the righteous to die young. It emphasizes that righteousness and a personal knowledge of the Lord is more important that long life. It expresses the faith that God will rectify injustice; that in his mercy and grace he will bless those who trust in him, and that there is hope beyond this present world.
After Jehoiada, the high priest, died, King Joash of Judah was influenced by his counselors to stray from the worship of the Lord and into idolatry. The Lord sent prophets to call the people to repent and return to the Lord, but the people wouldn’t listen to the prophets of the Lord. Then Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the high priest, was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of the Lord.
Stephen was the first martyr for the Gospel. Stephen was an exemplary disciple of Jesus: He was a servant (see Luke 22:27), teacher and preacher, “full of faith and the Holy Spirit” (Acts 7:5). He was obedient to Jesus’ ways. He was, like Jesus, falsely accused of preaching against the Temple, and like Jesus he forgave his executioners. Although his life was cut short, it was not in vain; he had a profound impact, even to this day, and he had the assurance of eternal life in heaven with God (Acts 7:55-56). God’s “grace and mercy are with his saints, and…he (God) honors his chosen” (Wisdom 4:15).
Don’t expect the world to honor and reward faith and obedience to Jesus. Jesus said, “for what does it profit (a person) to gain the whole world and forfeit his (eternal) life?” (Mark 8:36). Joash unjustly repaid the faithful service of Jehoiada the high priest by killing Jehoiada’s son Zechariah for speaking the truth. Believers have a faithful and just King who remembers and rewards faithfulness justly.
Friday December 27 Even
First posted 12/26/03;
Podcast: Friday December 27 Even
Proverbs 8:22-30 - Wisdom; first of God’s creations;
1 John 5:1-12 - Victorious faith;
Commentary:
Jesus is God’s wisdom. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to God except through faith in Jesus (John 14:6). Jesus is the Victory which overcomes the world. Jesus is God’s Love, poured out and made visible for us on the Cross. Do you know Jesus?
Saturday December 28 - Even
First posted 12/27/04;
Podcast: Saturday December 28 - Even
Isaiah 49:13-23 - Return and restoration;
Isaiah 54:1-13 - Song of assurance;
Matthew 18:1-14 - Humility and forgiveness;
Rejoice, for the Lord will comfort his people. Israel feels as though the Lord has forsaken her, but the Lord’s love is greater than a mother’s for her child. Zion will be rebuilt and will be greater than it was before. Israel will be repopulated by those born in exile. Although Israel felt bereaved and abandoned, children born during the exile will fill the land.
Apart from Jesus we are all citizens of “Babylon” because of sin, and destined to spend eternity in the “Babylon” of hell. When we become disciples of Jesus, we become God’s children, born in exile in the “Babylon” of this earth. Through Jesus we have forgiveness of sins. Through Jesus we have a covenant of peace with God.
