Weekly Guide：Week 92
October 27, 2019
Foreword
We continue to read the books of the Minor Prophets this week. The prophecy of God’s judgment and restoration of Israel and Judah are recorded in these books. While reading these books, I could not stop but thanking God for His grace that we are free because of Jesus’ salvation, the heavenly light that shines on us, the incomparable mercy and love that surround us, the justification of Jesus’ blood, and the shroud of the Lord God Almighty. Let’s be grateful and alert from studying these books and make them the source of the energy that enables us to run the race on path to heaven.
May you all be renewed each day from God’s word!
Question
Why God punishes Israelites of their sins?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
- God had chosen only Israel of all the families of the earth; therefore He will punish them for all their sins.
- The Sovereign Lord has spoken-who can but prophesy?
- The Lord warns the descendants of Jacob. On the day I punish Israel for her sins, I will destroy the altars of Bethel; the horns of the altar will be cut off and fall to the ground.
- You cows of Bashan, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy. The time will sure come when you will be taken away with hooks.
- Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more.
- God punished Israel with heavy penalties, and they still don’t turn back to Him.
Meditation: My Story
- Identity - Because God’s had chosen only Israel from all the families of the earth; He would punish them for all their sins. God loves His people so much that He put heavy emphasis on their cleanliness and holiness. How does this fact encourage and alert me?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Question
What were Israel’s sins?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
- Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again, deserted in her own land, with no one to lift her up.
- This is what the Lord says to Israel: Seek me and live.
- I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.
- Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!
- You will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.
- You rejoice in the conquest of Lo Debar and say: Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength?
- The Lord God Almighty declares, I will stir up a nation against you.
Meditation: My Story
- Identity - Israelites rejoiced in the conquest of Lo Debar and said: Did we not take Karnaim by our own strength? God hates the proud but is graceful to the humble. Am I leaning on my own strength over God’s?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Question
Why did Amos plead repeatedly for the Israelites to God?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
- The Lord was preparing swarms of locusts to strip the land clean. Amos cried out to the Lord so He relented.
- The Lord was calling for judgment by fire. Amos begged to the Lord so He relented.
- The Lord was setting a plumb line among His people and He will spare them no longer.
- Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: Amos is raising a conspiracy against you.
- Amos answered Amaziah, I was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but the Lord called me to prophesy to people of Israel.
- Amos prophesied against Amaziah that he would be punished.
Meditation: My Story
- Integrity - Why did Amaziah sent a message to Jeroboam that Amos was raising a conspiracy? What can I learn from this when facing false claims against me?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Question
How will Israel end?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
- Amos saw a basket of ripe fruit. The Lord said, the time is ripe for my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.
- Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land.
- I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your religious festivals into mourning and all your singing into weeping.
- I will send a famine through the land-a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
- The Lord standing by the altar, and he said: Strike the tops of the pillars so that the thresholds shake. Bring them down on the heads of all the people; those who are left I will kill with the sword.
- The Lord will restore David’s fallen shelter, so that they may possess all the nations that bear His name.
Meditation: My Story
- Identity - After judgment, the Lord will restore David’s fallen shelter, repair its broken walls, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as it used to be. God’s love to Israel is fully displayed here. It is not a hopeless destruction but a measured discipline. How does this promise help me to have total faith in Him?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Question
Why does God judge Edom?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
- The vision came to Obadiah from the Lord about Edom, I will make you small among the nations; you will be utterly despised.
- Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever.
- The day of the Lord is near for all nations. Your deeds will return upon your own head.
- But on Mount Zion will be deliverance; it will be holy, and Jacob will possess his inheritance.
Meditation: My Story
- Identity - The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord. Am I deceived by my pride? How does God’s judgment to Edom alert me?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Question
Why did Jonah run to Tarshish to hide from the Lord?
Scripture Reading
Meditation: God’s Story
- The word of the Lord came to Jonah to go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it.
- But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish.
- Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea. The sailor threw Jonah overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
- Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
- From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God and the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
- Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, commanded him to go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message the Lord gave him. Jonah obeyed.
- Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming: Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.
- The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
- But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. The Lord used a leafy plant as parable of His love for His people.
Meditation: My Story
- Identity - The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, the Lord relents and does not bring on His people the disaster. This is such a comforting truth because when we repent to the Lord, we have already pleased Him. Thank you Lord!
Prayer
Notes and Responses
Scripture Reading
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
What are the decrees for the princes and the people of Israel?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ Allot the land as an inheritance, present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, the entire area will be holy.
+ Give the city as its property an area adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.
+ The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city, running lengthwise parallel to one of the tribal portions.
+ The decrees for the princes.
+ The decrees for the people.
+ The decrees for the princes' inheritance.
+ The decrees for the priests to cook the offerings.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - The temple and holy city located in the center of Israel is central to Israelites' life, because it is the place where God lives. Is God living in my heart? How can it be seen?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
How are the lands allotted to the tribes of Israel?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ There is water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east.
+ The water becomes a river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river, their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.
+ Allot as inheritance the land according to the tribes of Israel.
+ Listed by tribes the land allotted to them.
+ The land to be used for city, for houses, and for pastureland.
+ What remains on both sides of the area formed by the sacred portion and the property of the city will belong to the prince.
+ The gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - What differences are there between the names of the gates listed here and in Revelation 21:12-13? How am I seeing God's faithfulness and love toward His people?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
What did Joel warn the Israelites about?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ A nation has invaded my land, a mighty army without number; behind them, a desert waste-nothing escapes them.
+ The people of Judah Mourn. The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the olive oil fails.
+ Put on sackcloth, you priests, and mourn. Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly, and cry out to the Lord.
+ The day of the Lord is coming, the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
+ Return to the Lord with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity.
+ Then the Lord was jealous for His land and took pity on His people.
+ The Lord will pour out His Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
+ Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, so when the Israelites return to Him with all their heart, he would be merciful to them. How am I experiencing His mercy?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
How would the Lord put the nations on trial?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ God will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There He will put them on trial.
+ In that day, all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord's house and will water the valley of acacias.
+ Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste.
+ Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem, the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. How am I experiencing God as my refuge and my stronghold?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
How was Daniel taken to Babylon?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it, and the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand.
+ The king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king's service some young Israelites from the royal family and the nobility, without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of Babylonians.
+ Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.
+ They ate and drink nothing but vegetables and water and they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.
+ God gave them knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - Daniel and his three companions separated themselves so they wouldn't be defiled by eating royal food. Was that necessary? How may I separate myself from the environment I live in?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
How did Daniel solve the mystery of the king's dream?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams and ordered his men to tell him what he had dreamed.
+ The astrologers answered the king, there is no one on earth who can do what king asks!
+ The king was so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.
+ Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
+ Daniel and his friends plead for mercy from the God concerning this mystery.
+ Daniel answered the king that God reveals mysteries and He has shown king Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come.
+ Daniel spoke of the king's dream, before the king stood a large statue.
+ Daniel explained the meaning of the dream.
+ The king Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrated before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him.
+ The king placed Daniel in a high position and made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - Daniel prayed to God with his friends when they faced life threatening danger. How does my knowledge of God affect my life?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
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Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
What areas of my life need to be renewed?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ Those who reconnect with God would have a life different from their former way of life. This is because the old self is corrupted by deceitful desires, but the new self is created to be like God.
+ We are children of light in the Lord and shall live in the light (goodness, righteousness, and truth) as well as to find out what pleases the Lord.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Integrity** - The Bible teaches us that connecting with God brings out a renewed life. Have I recently experienced a transformation of my life brought about by my renewed heart? We are often motivated by the decision to change and experience the joy of change. However, we sometimes forget the change and go back to business as usual. It is a long process to transform to the new life. How should I build a regular habit of devotion, immersion in God's word and His light to truly transform my life to have a God like character?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
How should Christians face the spiritual wars?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ Christians face many kinds of wars in their lives from earthly authorities, the spiritual forces of evil, and their own desires.
+ God gave every Christians a full armor that is sufficient to win any war, to stand up to anything, and that God's will may be accomplished through us.
+ To win in the spiritual wars, we need to rely on God's power and pray often for ourselves as well as all Christians.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Walking with God** - Let me read in depth this passage: The full armor for the spiritual war begins with dependence on His mighty power and completes with praying by the power of the Spirit at all time with all kinds of prayers. This emphasized the importance of reliance on God's power for the spiritual war.
+ **Integrity** - It is undeniable that we are facing wars in our life. What God has built up in us reflects in our reactions toward these wars. When our characters are more like God, we become more capable to face these wars in accordance to His will and liking. Thus, God can be glorified through His disciples. Let me pray to God to equip me with all His armors: truth, righteousness, good news of peace, faith, salvation, God's word.
+ **Fidelity** - To be a warrior of Christ, my service must go past benefiting myself. Pray to God to help me to serve in: 1. Prayer and support to all Christians; 2. All areas of society and culture not yet following God.
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
What is Christian value?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ Paul prayed and was grateful for all who had joined him in spreading the gospel.
+ Paul being chained in prison was made beknown to all as a witness for Christ and helped spread the gospel.
+ Paul's value: to live is Christ and to die is gain.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - Pray to God to help me root deeply in my heart that it is my connection with Christ and realization of my new life that I would find my life is Him and to die is also a gain.
+ **Community** - Paul was thankful every time he remembered those who joined him in spreading gospel and was always happy to pray for them. Pray to God to remind me to pray and be grateful for my fellow Christians often.
+ **Fidelity** - Paul had no reservation for everything thing happened to him had helped spread the gospel. Pray to God to help me know and understand that gospel is not just for my own benefit alone but for the benefit of God's kingdom.
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
How should Christians live?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ Christians shall live in a way that's worthy of the gospel of Christ. Stand firm in the one Spirit and striving together as one for the faith of the gospel.
+ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
+ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - Pray to God to help me connect with Christ and work together with my fellow Christians in one Spirit so that we may stand firm and, with my new life, being one body in Christ.
+ **Community** - What in my life is making me proud? Where in me do I see myself being above the others? Pray to God to help me worry less of myself but more of the others.
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
What are the characteristics of a Christian's identity?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ Rejoice in the Lord and pray often.
+ I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.
+ Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
+ My brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Identity** - How does it help me, knowing that I belong to the Kingdom of God and waiting for Christ's coming at any time? Where and how am I placing my hope, in the material world of today, or in the eternal transformation of my life?
+ **Integrity** - We are not being complacent because of the promises we've already gotten from God. Paul said it clearly, forget what's behind but push hard toward what's ahead toward the goal to win the prize that God had already promised. How am I being encouraged by this so that I would push hard to live my life to glorify God?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
### Question
How are we to rejoice always?
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### Meditation: God's Story
+ We shall rejoice in the Lord always.
+ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present our requests to God.
+ Paul was content in any and every situation for he leaned on the Lord for strength.
### Meditation: My Story
+ **Integrity** - Paul rejoiced not because of the situations, rather it was his leaning on the Lord for strength. Am I rejoicing? Am I presenting my requests to God by prayer and petition with thanksgiving instead of relying on my own strength?
+ **Fidelity** - Paul was content in any and every situation. Am I content when facing difficulties in my service? Why am I content or not content?
Prayer
Notes and Responses
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Prayer
Notes and Responses