Joshua and the Gibeonites

• Lesson 9 for the week of November 22 to November 29

Deuteronomy 20: 10 As you approach a town to attack it, you must first offer its people terms for peace. 11 If they accept your terms and open the gates to you, then all the...

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Giants of Faith: Joshua and Caleb

• Lesson 8 for the week of November 15 to November 22

Giants of Faith: Joshua and Caleb Moses sent 12 men, one from each tribe, to act as intelligence agents or spies, regarding the land that God had promised to Israel. Text: Numbers 13:17-20. 
17 Moses...

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Warfare, Land Division, and Zelophehad’s Daughters

• Lesson 7 for the week of November 8 to November 15

Introduction: As with the fictional milkman Tevye, from the village of Anatevka*, God chose to bless Zelophehad not with sons— but instead, with daughters—five of them!
 Unlike Caleb and Joshua, but like all other men...

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The Enemy Within

• Lesson 6 for the week of November 1 to November 8

Lesson Guide: Of the Israelites: “Their most dangerous enemy was not outside their camp but within their own rank and file.” [But we do not live in a camp, and we are not organized by...

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God Fights for You

• Lesson 5 for the week of October 25 to November 1

Lesson Guide: “The book of Joshua contains some disturbing scenes. Serious questions are raised by the concept of a divine or holy war portraying a group of people with a God-given mandate to destroy another...

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The Conflict Beyond All Conflicts

• Lesson 4 for the week of October 18 to October 25

Israel’s crossing of the Jordan in Lesson 3 was a miraculous success: We have tried to imagine the logistics of getting thousands of people of all ages, across a swollen river, together with their animals...

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Memorials of Grace

• Lesson 3 for the week of October 11 to October 18

Question: Nowadays the Jordan River has almost ceased to exist. What was so special about crossing this river in the time of Joshua? 
It was spring, when seasonal rains, plus melting snow from Mt. Hermon,...

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Surprised by Grace

• Lesson 2 for the week of October 4 to October 11

“Grace is simply receiving what we don’t deserve.” Question: Or perhaps is “grace” the usual, natural behavior of a gracious person?”Is it a difficult struggle for God to be gracious? Question: Do we get to...

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Recipe for Success

• Lesson 1 for the week of September 27 to October 4

We have recently studied the book of Exodus: Question:As God led Israel’s escape through the Red Sea, how many battles did Moses have to win against the Egyptians? Question:How did Moses respond to an unprovoked...

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Introduction

• Introduction

Last quarter’s study saw the people of Israel safely out of Egypt and to the borders of the land which God had promised. For the next three months we will discuss the book of Joshua....

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The Tabernacle

• Lesson 13 for the week of September 20 to September 27

Key Verses: Exodus 35-40 Key Questions
 Theological Insights
 “the completed Tabernacle is erected on New Year’s day, as Exodus 40:7 records. This underscores the idea that a new era in the life of the people...

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“Please, Show Me Your Glory”

• Lesson 12 for the week of September 13 to September 20

Key Verses: Exodus 32 Key Questions
 Theological Insights
 “While the core of this incident starkly portrays human weakness and sin, our gaze must not rest solely on shame. Notice where God is in the story....

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Apostasy and Intercession

• Lesson 11 for the week of September 6 to September 13

Key Verses: Exodus 32 Key Questions
 Theological Insights
 “Hebrew ‘egel is a young ox or bull… Throughout the Near East the bull was a symbol of lordship, leadership, strength, vital energy, and fertility. As such,...

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The Covenant and the Blueprint

• Lesson 10 for the week of August 30 to September 6

Key Verses: Exodus 24-31 Key Questions
 Theological Insights
 “[the presence of God] beyond Sinai, is to be accomplished by constructing a dwelling place for God… assuring God’s accessibility to the community. Virtually all of the...

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