Week 2: The Son of God

God is with us!

During week 2, Beth Moore takes us on a journey through the childhood of Christ, being raised in the Jewish faith and prepared for his ministry to the world.

This childhood journey began with his circumcision and presentation at the temple. The website Judaism 101 provides insight into the heritage of circumcision and redemption of the first born. See the Catholic Encyclopedia, for a more historical discussion of circumcision.

Being raised in a Jewish home, Joseph taught Jesus his trade, the trade of a carpenter. Raymond Exum has published a sermon on the role of carpentry in Jesus’ ministry: Jesus Christ, the Carpenter.

Before beginning his public ministry, Jesus went into the wilderness to pray and meditate on his mission. This was probably the wilderness near Bethany. For a video interpretation of the temptation of Christ, see the YouTube video “The Temptation of Jesus by the Devil in the Wilderness.” Please note that this video is an artists interpretation and not a strict representation of the scriptures. For an animated version of the Matthew text (4:1-11), see The Temptation of Jesus. Jesus described his time of temptation thus:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has annointed me to preach good news to the poor. (Luke 4:18)

Worship in Concert

I had a very enjoyable worship experience Friday evening as my husband and I attended a Phillips Craig & Dean concert in Omaha. They approached the evening as worship leaders — leading us in a songfest of praise and worship. As stated in Under the Radar, an interview with Christian Music Today, Randy Phillips describes their roll:

“For that two-hour window, we see ourselves as ministers who can bring people into the presence of God through music and help them put their burdens aside.”

From the crowd in attendance, it was obvious that their music reaches the young and old alike.

The concert was hosted in the Bellevue Christian Center. Although we had never been there before, it was easy to find and their staff of volunteers was very helpful.

Week 1: Word Made Flesh

 But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah
though you are small among the
clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel
whose origins are from of old
from ancient times.
Micah 5:2

Listed below are some on-line resources to help visualize the Biblical times and events leading up to the birth of Christ.

• Map of 1st Century Israel
• Historic Sites- index of web links to various Biblical places that discusses the geography of the region and the archaeological finds
• Todd Agnew discussing his song Magnificat on YouTube 
• Heaven in a Manger – Scenes from Nativity Story
• Jerusalem’s Temple Mount — video clips showing model reconstruction
• Path of  the Messiah Part 1 — produced by EWTN
• Todd Agnew’s Magnificat – requires Rhapsody’s player
• Judaism 101 – Circumcision
• Nativity Story – trailer

     “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. … The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only.”

John 1:1, 14

Dead Sea Scrolls

Today, I had the chance to view some of the Dead Sea Scrolls on display at Union Station in Kansas City. The exhibit was well done and very informative. As a former science teacher, I enjoyed the discussion of how the scrolls were dated and the work to preserve the fragments. The historical time line and displays about the 2nd temple period help me understand the Essene sect. However, my favorite part of the exhibit was the displays regarding the text of the scrolls and their comparison with Biblical texts. The correlation of the texts the Essenes selected to place in the caves and the Biblical texts quoted in the New Testament was most impressive.

After lunch on the Plaza, we took a short drive south to view a sculpture of the Last Supper on display at the Country Club Christian Church (61st and Ward Parkway). The sculpture is magnificent! The detail and artistry of the carvings can only be appreciated by a personal viewing.

Introductory Session

As I watched the video, one of the things that struck me was the number 70 — the translators of the Septuagint. I vaguely remembered that there was a significance to that number in Exodus. Searching the Bible (with eSword), I found the passages:

• Exodus 1:5 – And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls
• Numbers 11:16 — And Jehovah said to Moses, Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and the officers over them

To me, it appears that the number 70 is important to God. The Bible Study.org site says that 70 represents perfect spiritual order. A more detailed explanation can be found in Kent Brown’s paper The Seventy in Scripture.

Until starting this study, I never mapped the Bible on a time line to be able to recognize the missing 400 years. Ray Stedman provides further insight into this period of silence from God in his work, The 400 Years between the Old and New Testaments.

We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,^[a] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14, NIV)

Beth Moore Study to Begin

On March 20th, we will begin a journey of faith as Beth Moore leads us in a quest to develop a more intimate relationship with Jesus.

Facilitating the need for a participant (possibly including the leader) to miss a session due to other obligations is a challenge that must be faced with this study. A group has been created on Google Groups to provide a forum for members to share comments and resources as well as prayer concerns. Hopefully, everyone will feel comfortable participating in the group.

Each Tuesday evening will begin with prayer requests and a time of prayer. A discussion of the week’s homework will follow. According to the leader’s guide we probably won’t discuss every question since it specifies which questions should be discussed. Of course, we can discuss any question a member wishes to have discussed. This portion of the evening is scheudled to last approximately 40 min. The last half of the evening will be viewing the video for that lesson.

So far, I have only watched the introductory video. During that video, I not only learned a little about Biblical history but was challenged to reflect on that history and its importance to Christ. The video was shot in Jerusalem so I’m expecting to actually see the sights of the Bible in future videos. I feel Beth will be an excellent teacher.

The study involves daily “homework.” It’s taking me between 30 and 45 minutes to complete a day’s lesson — partly because I’m stopping to use other resources to gain further insight into the topic. It also doesn’t help when I don’t know how to answer a question and spend quite a bit of time pondering an answer. Like the video’s, Beth’s teaching shines thru the text.

For those of you who enjoy searching for further information, there are a couple of sources that I would recommend. One is a piece of free software called eSword. This software contains a searchable Bible (in multiple translations) and commentary written by several theologians, including John Wesley. The second is The Catholic Encyclopedia. I like the Catholic Encyclopedia since it provides a lot of historical information on a person and/or topic.

Come along on this journey!