Bible Study With Jairus

Numbers 26 tells the story of the second generation of Israelites being counted. After the counting, God divided the Promised Land by lot. Why had the land already been divided when they hadn’t entered the Promised Land yet? God’s planned time had come and the Israelites had already been wandering in the wilderness for forty years. The first generation of Israelites had already been judged, so the second generation was tired and discouraged. God‘s grace and mercy were manifested at this time. He led them into the land He had promised. Although they had not yet entered the Promised Land, there is no concept of time to God. Thus, God divided the land by lot before they entered the Promised Land. Also, this time was a great encouragement to their faith, helping them have more faith in fighting against the evil spirits that occupied the Promised Land. Today, we will discuss God‘s perfect timing and sovereignty in the lives of both generations of Israel and in our own lives today.

While preparing for tonight’s bible study, the Holy Spirit suddenly highlighted Numbers 25:4 (ESV) to me. I was drawn to the part where the Lord asked Moses to kill all the chiefs, but Moses asked the judges to kill all the idolaters instead. The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”

The verses that inspired us after reading Numbers 24 were verses 15-16. What particularly caught our attention is the description of the prophet Balaam. We realized the need for the Church and Christians to be people who replicate these verses: ”whose eye is opened, who hears the words of God, knows the knowledge of the Most High, and who sees the vision of the Almighty, falling down with his eyes uncovered” (ESV, Numbers 24:15-16). If we become such people, we will also prophesy and help others to hear and see God. We would see Christ in everything and everyone, preach the gospel confidently, and bring people from the kingdom of darkness into God‘s Kingdom of light.

Our discussion in Romans 12 begins with a focus on verse 3. This verse says, ”For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” A man asked me a question about this. He said, “What is the direct relationship between this verse and the previous verses? Why does Paul mention this here? What does it mean to think with ‘sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned’?”

Romans 7 is a very relatable chapter for many Christians, especially verse 24 (ESV), where Paul sighed and said, ”Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” This type of expression is familiar to many Christians while they are in the process of pursuing spiritual life.

1 Corinthians 6 contains three distinct paragraphs. The first paragraph is about lawsuits among Christian believers. A man in our Bible study inquired whether Paul’s perspective on lawsuits between believers is still relevant today, especially given the increasing number of lawsuits between believers in the United States. It is, in my opinion, highly controversial. Some people believe that Christians should not sue one another even if they are wronged. Others use Paul’s appeal to Caesar as an example, believing that we can make an appeal to Caesar too or, in other words to go to court. They believe Christians can file an appeal in a court of law to resolve issues of unfair treatment. We always thought about cases of lawsuits between Christians when we read this chapter in the past. Should we sue to protect our benefits, or should we accept being wronged?

In Acts 10, the Lord gave Peter a fascinating vision. God showed Peter all kinds of unclean animals and asked him to kill and eat them. He refused, saying that he had never eaten anything unclean. Nevertheless, God gave him permission to eat, saying he should not call anything unclean which God has made clean. God’s words were not merely referring to unclean animals; God was guiding Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, whom the Jews deemed impure.

During exhausting and depleting times, we all yearn for rest, refreshment, restoration, and hope. Acts 3:19 promises a wonderful blessing to God’s people: “times of refreshing” which come straight “from the presence of the Lord.” (NASB)

One of the ways the Holy Spirit speaks to us is by highlighting. Whether we’re reading the Bible or using prophetic gifts to prophesy, the Holy Spirit often points out something important that we should pay attention to. This is called highlighting.

Acts 15 tells us three stories. The first story is about Paul and Barnabas getting into a fierce argument with people about the need to circumcise the Gentiles. Peter and James responded saying that God had chosen the Gentiles. The second story is the sending of Judas and Silas to Antioch to comfort the brothers and sisters of Gentiles. The third story is about Paul and Barnabas getting into a disagreement whether or not they should take Mark to Pamphylia.