LHIM Weekly Bible Teaching

Exodus 32:9-10 Occasionally, God changed His mind, but when he cuts a covenant, He never changes His mind.

Isaiah 14:24, 27; 46:9-10; Psalm 33:11 He means what He says and says what He means, and we can be assured He will do what He promises to do.

God’s dream, His purpose for the ages, is a love relationship with you that is real, personal, and everlasting.

Ephesians is a brief, but full, view of Christianity. Our past, present, and future are laid out.

Ephesians 1:3-5 Predestined – He thought it through and planned it out. Our calling is not haphazard or a mistake; rather, it is according to the kind intention of His will.

9 according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him

11 having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

2:1 trespasses – crossing God’s line or boundaries. Dead – we had no spiritual consciousness, no connection with God, godliness, or spiritual awareness.

4-6 Our spiritual state today because God is rich in mercy and His great love

7 – Our future

8-10 God did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

11-12 – 1 separate from Christ; 2 excluded from the commonwealth; 3 strangers to the covenants; 4 no hope; 5 without God in the world

13-22 Our reality now – near, peace with God and man, reconciled, access to God, fellow citizens, God’s household, the habitation of God.

3:1-12 We are a part of God’s dream, the purpose of the ages.

Genesis 1:1-5 The first day, God created space, the heavens and earth, and time, day, and night. Since everything we know is within the scope of space and time, God is much bigger than anything we can comprehend.

Psalm 90:2 From everlasting to everlasting, He is the eternal one.

Revelation 4:8 He is the one who was, who is, and who is to come.

Exodus 3:14 “I am” the existent one. He is everywhere present all of the time.

Isaiah 55:8-9 God’s ways and thoughts are much greater than ours.

Romans 11:33

Psalm 139:1-6 “Wonderful” means incomprehensible.

7-16 God is with you everywhere you go, and He knows what is really happening even if no one else knows.

23 Why would the psalmist ask God to search him if he already acknowledged God is with him and knows what is going on?

Psalm 13:1-ff There are times it seems He is not present or He is not listening, but He is always with you, and He always hears.

Deuteronomy 4:29

Proverbs 8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

Romans 8:35-39 Nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Yahweh is a God of Salvation.

The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

God had a plan for salvation – to save humanity from sin and to provide eternal life in the age to come. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us. God is our savior because He put forth the plan of salvation. Jesus is our savior because he carried out God’s plan and saved us. (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

The name Jesus or Yeshua (Hebrew) means “Yahweh is Salvation.”

Luke 1:26-38

Luke 1:46-56

Luke 1:67-79

Luke 2:1-20 – The birth of Christ

Exodus 34:6-7 Compassion/mercy is the first of God’s attributes that He listed out when He revealed His glory to Moses.

Exodus 22:21-27 God cares about the sojourners, widows, and orphans. He hears their prayers and takes up their cause because He is compassionate.

Deuteronomy 24:10-22 God wanted His people never to forget that they were once slaves in Egypt. The benefit of that corporate memory was that they would have compassion on others in need like the poor, the sojourner, the orphan, and the widow.

Deuteronomy 25:5-10 God installed an automatic system to ensure that widows would have the chance to get remarried quickly.

Deuteronomy 26:12-13 The people’s tithes went to provide for the Levites, sojourners, orphans, and widows. It was important to God that His people not forget these categories of people.

Psalm 68:4-5

Zechariah 7:9-14 Sadly, God’s people did not act in compassion to the vulnerable members of their society. They took advantage of the weak and closed their ears to hear their cry. Other than idolatry, their lack of compassion was the chief reason God exiled them from their land.

Luke 6:30-36 Our Lord taught us that we too should be merciful just as God is. We too should be generous to the poor and kind to the undeserving.

Ignorance and wrong teaching are devasting to our understanding of Yahweh.

Leviticus 1:1-9 God explained precisely how He wanted His people to perform their sacrifices. Although this scene is foreign and perhaps repulsive to us, to them it would have been both obvious and accepted. Also, in their agrarian world, killing animals was completely commonplace. Since many more people raised livestock, they did not have our modern separation between packaged meat and living animals. Furthermore, their wealth was often tied up in their physical assets rather than currency, so offering a sheep or a bull was akin to a financial sacrifice. Even so, they had to be sure to choose an animal without blemish (22:21).

Movies, books, commentaries, and traditions should not be our primary source for understanding God. The Bible gives us the knowledge of God. God is who He says He is.

Many people have written about God. There are a lot of books. But God has given us His word — the Bible — to tell us who He is. He is who He says He is. Just because someone states, imagines, dreams, sings song lyrics, writes about Him, or makes a declaration about God’s nature and His attributes, it doesn’t mean it’s true. God is what He declares about Himself in Scripture.

Exodus 7:10-12 The serpent symbolized the beginning and end of time and fertility. (Genesis 3:1)

The golden cobra on Pharaoh’s headdress was a symbol of the supreme ruler and of his power.

Uroborus, a circular symbol of a serpent swallowing its own tail, was a symbol of rejuvenation and eternity, an endless cycle of beginning and ending.

“Pharaoh hardened his heart” 4:21; 7:3,13,14 (stubborn), 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 34, 35; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8 (18X). See Romans 9:17-23.

This event revealed that Yahweh is the only one true God:

“I am Yahweh” 6:2, 6, 7, 8, 29; 7:5, 17; 10:2; 12:12; 14:4, 8 (11X)

“Sacrifice” 3:18; 5:3, 8, 17; 8:8, 25, 26 (2), 27, 28, 29; 10:25; 12:27: 13:15 (14X)

Conclusion: God’s awesome power can eliminate anyone or anything that tries to prevent you from serving Him.