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ScriptureStream episodes
- Q & AIntroduction
- Joshua 4:4-7
Who were the Nephilim?- Numbers 13:33; Genesis 6:4
- Genesis 6:1-4 – Descendants of men and angels?
- Matthew 22:29 – No. Angels don’t marry!
- Who were the sons of God? Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7
- They were not necessarily referring to celestial angels. In this context, the phrase probably means, “godly men.”
- Numbers 13:32
- II Samuel 21:20-22 – There are several mentions of physically unusual people in the Bible.
- We aren’t told much about the Nephilim in particular. We do know that the Bible is reliable. It is not a book of fairytales!
Does it matter what order you partake in the bread and fruit of the vine?- Matthew 26:22-29; Mark 14:22-24; I Corinthians 11:23-26; Luke 22:14-20
- Luke 22:17 – The “cup” could simply be the Passover Feast. Luke could also be mentioning the cup of the Lord’s Supper before it actually happened chronologically.
- General rule: Always interpret difficult passages in light of easier ones.
- Do we have to follow every detail in spiritual examples?
- No. We must follow the parts othe example that are significant to God.
30 min - Job and Ecclesiastes, Part 2Eliphaz (Job 4:1-5:27)
- Teman was a city in Edom known for its wisdom (Jeremiah 49:7).
- Job 4:6-8 – Eliphaz implies that Job is in the wrong.
- Job’s friends don’t know what they are talking about. They don’t know about God and Satan’s conversations. These speeches are a small sample of the ignorant words that God has to listen to from humans every day!
- Job 4:12-21 – Eliphaz claims to have had a dream or vision.
- Job 5:8-16 – Eliphaz advises Job to seek God.
- Job 5:17 – Eliphaz says Job should appreciate God’s discipline.
Job (Job 6:1-7:21)- Job 6:9-10 – Even though Job still wishes for death, he is still thankful that he did not forsake God.
- Job 6:11; 7:6-10 – Job saw no hope in his future.
- Job 6:24; 7:20 – Job doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong. He’s confused about why he is suffering. This confusion also contributes to his suffering.
- Job 7:11-21 – Job expresses his frustration to God.
Bildad (Job 8:1-22)- Job 8:3-6 – Bildad has similar advise to Eliphaz – somehow Job is at fault.
Job (Job 9:1-10:22)- Job 9:1-13 – God is powerful and sovereign!
- Job 9:13 – What does Rahab mean here?
- Job 9:32-10:2 – Job wished to have a dialogue with God. He wanted answers!
Zophar (Job 11:1-20)- Job 11:13-20 – Zophar tells Job to put away his sins.
Job (Job 12:1-14:22)- Job 12:1-3; 13:4-5, 12 – Job thought the words of Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar were useless. He responds with sarcasm.
- Job 13:3, 22 – Job wants to speak with God.
- Job 13:15 – Job trusted in God despite his troubles.
- Job 14:1-2 – Job was quite pessimistic at this point.
30 min - WorryIntroduction
- Jeremiah 8:11 – There are some spiritual things we need to worry about.
- Revelation 3:17
- II Corinthians 2:4
- II Corinthians 11:28 – Paul’s daily concern for all the churches.
Matthew 6:19-25 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth.”- If my focus is on physical things rather than spiritual, I will always be plagued with worry!
- We must fix our hope on God.
- Matthew 6:24 – A divided allegiance is impossible!
- Matthew 13:22
- Luke 10:40-42 – We are like Martha too often – caught up in mundane things of the world.
Matthew 6:25-30 – “You of little faith!”- God provides for us!
- Mark 14:7
- Luke 12:31-32
- Philippians 4:6 – Don’t let anxiety consume you!
- Philippians 1:12-14 – Paul was in jail and could have worried endlessly, but instead he worked for Christ. People took courage because of his imprisonment!
Matthew 6:31-34 – “So do not worry about tomorrow.”- Matthew 6:27 – Worry doesn’t fix things!
- Matthew 23:37 – Even Jesus could only do His part and leave the rest. We still have the final decision to obey or not.
30 min - “He Who Has Ears to Hear, Let Him Hear”
Matthew 11:15
Luke 8:18 – Take heed how you hear.
Acts 2:11
Acts 2:32-33, 36 – They could know for certain that God made Jesus Lord and Christ because of what they had seen and heard.
Acts 2:37 – See Romans 10:14.
Hebrews 4:2
Hebrews 3:7 – Hardening of heart will cause us not to hear.
Zechariah 7:11
Hearing involves:
Listening carefully with an open and honest heart.
Comprehending
Being prompted to action
Mark 4:24 – Take heed what you hear.
Romans 10:17 – Hear the word of God
Matthew 17:5
Hebrews 1:1; 2:1
Matthew 15:10
Luke 15:1; 5:1
We need to discern what we hear.
Hearing prompts a response.
The word of God is a great blessing!
- Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:27-28; Luke 10:23-24
Hearing involves reading and understanding.
Galatians 4:21
Ephesians 3:1-4 – When we read, we can understand.
Seeing also helps us hear and understand.
- Romans 1:20
John 9:31
John 8:47
Matthew 6:7 – Speaking many words to God doesn’t necessarily mean you will be heard.
Zechariah 7:13
Matthew 13:1-8 – Parable of the sower. People have different responses when hearing the gospel.
I Timothy 4:!6
30 min - Job and Ecclesiastes, Part 1Job 1
- Job 1:1-5 – See Ezekiel 14:12-16, 18-20. Job was doing everything he could to make sure he and his family were on good terms and God. Ezekiel references Job as a faithful man.
- Job 1:6-12 – Who were the sons of God? Compare Job 38:7.
- Job 1:13-22 – Immediately after all the bad news, Job worshipped God.
Job 2- Job 2:1-10 – Satan brings physical misery on Job. Job still refuses to curse God. See Job 38:1; 40:1-4; 42:6-7
- Job 2:6 – Note that Satan is neither omniscient nor omnipotent.
- Job 2:11-13 – Job’s three friends arrive and sit with him. See John 9:1-3; Luke 13:1-5. We can’t presume to know why God does various things or allows them to happen.
Job 3- Job 3:1-26 – Job is in anguish, wishing he’d never been born.
30 min - Developing Spiritual LoveIntroduction
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
Love the Lord- Luke 9:57-62 – Jesus can tell the difference between reasons and excuses!
- Luke 5:27-28 – Levi got up and left when called! He did not make excuses.
- We probably wouldn’t say we don’t love God, but we would make excuses and procrastinate in serving God.
- Luke 9:23 – We must deny ourselves to serve God!
- Don’t lie to yourself and say you love God if you are not serving Him now!
Love the brethren- Acts 16:1 – Timothy went all over with Paul.
- II Timothy 3:10-11 – Timothy had seen persecution.
- I Timothy 5:1-4; 6:17 – Timothy would be dealing with all sorts of people. He was to love and serve all of them.
- II Timothy 2:23 – Timothy’s role – love.
- We need to develop a sincere love for all the brethren.
- We should focus on what unites us – our faith in Jesus.
Love the truth- II Corinthians 10:1, 11, 2-6 – Verse 1 might be sarcasm from Paul. He certainly was not timid in person when it came to defending God’s word!
- I Corinthians 2:1-5 – Paul came not with wisdom of men.
- Romans 1:!6
- II Thessalonians 3:10
30 min - Preventing “Another” GenerationIntroduction
- Judges 2:6-10 – “know” means to regard or esteem God. They knew of God, but did not esteem Him.
- Apostasy doesn’t happen overnight. It often happens after years of unaddressed spiritual problems.
- Apostasy often has outside help. Possibly even parents and elders.
Things that can produce “another” generationYoung people not encouraged to ask “why”Acts 17:11 – This advice is good for others and for us.
John 20:24-25
There are two kinds of doubt:
“I doubt it!” – refusal to budge from a position
“I doubt it?” – honest doubt seeking answers
Thomas had the right kind of doubt. He was willing to believe, but wanted reason to.
Paul Little, paraphrased – Children who ask questions to adults with a high shock index are quickly taken aback by their reaction and switch to towing the party line. They quietly wait until the pressure to conform is reduced and then leave a faith that was never really their own.
Pressure to become a Christian- Galatians 4:19
- We can’t force people to be Christians. We should be leading people to Christ.
- Even after people are baptized, don’t leave them. Help them grow.
- I Peter 3:15
- We need more real disciples of Christ!
- Luke 17:20-21 – The kingdom of God is within you! Kingdom here means the rule of God in your heart.
Self-righteous people- Luke 18:9
- II Corinthians 10:12
Hypocrites- Romans 2:17-24 – The name of the Lord was blasphemed because of their hypocrisy!
- Little eyes and ears pick up on hypocrisy and it can stay with them for years.
- Galatians 5:13-15 – Don’t bite and devour each other!
30 min - 30 min
- Evidence from Jesus That the Old Testament is God’s WordIntroduction
I Peter 3:15-16 – “to give an answer” – apologia – “verbal defense, a speech in defense”
Jesus was an actual historical being.
Jesus is the reason …
I believe in God.
I believe the Old Testament is a revelation from God.
Three things make the Old Testament unique.
Claims of inspiration
Claims of prophecy
Claims of miraculous historical events
What is the best evidence that these claims are valid?
Jesus and Old Testament inspirationII Peter 1:20-21
Luke 24:44-45 – “Scriptures” here refers to the Old Testament
The Old Testament was viewed as three parts:
The Law of Moses – Genesis through Deuteronomy
The Prophets – Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 minor prophets
The Psalms – Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentation, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles
Claims of inspiration in the law- Exodus 24:4; Leviticus 1:1; Numbers 1:1; Deuteronomy 4:2
Claims of inspiration in the prophets- “Thus says the Lord” – 3,308 times!
- Zechariah 7:12; Nehemiah 9:30
Claims of inspiration in the psalms- Acts 1:!6 – the Holy Spirit spoke by David
- Psalms 95:7, referenced in Hebrews 3:7
- Psalms 45:6, referenced in Hebrews 1:8
- Psalms 102:23, 27, referenced in Hebrews 1:10-12
- Spoken to you by God – Matthew 27:31-32 refers to Exodus 3:6
- The scripture says
- John 6:42 is the same as “God says,” Micah 5:2; 1:1
- David in the Spirit
- Jesus quotes David, Psalms 110:1, and says he was “in the spirit,” Matthew 22:43
- Jesus quoted from each of the three sections.
Jesus and Old Testament prophecy- Matthew 24:15 – Daniel the prophet
Prophet
Fulfillment
Date B.C.
David – Psalms 41:9
John 13:18
1,000
Isaiah – Isaiah 61:1; 6:9-10
Luke 4:16-21; Matthew 13:14-15
750
Daniel – Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11
Matthew 24:15
605-530
Zechariah – Zechariah 13:7
Matthew 26:31
520
Malachi – Malachi 3:1
Matthew 11:10
445-432
Prophecies in the book of Daniel605 B.C
549 B.C.
547 B.C.
506 B.C.
Daniel 2:36
Daniel 7:4
Babylon, 626-539 B.C.
Daniel 2:39
Daniel 7:5
Daniel 8:3, 4, 20
Daniel 11:1-2
Media-Persia, 5390330 B.C.
Daniel 2:39
Daniel 7:6
Daniel 8:5, 21-22
Daniel 11:3-4
Greece, 330-63 B.C.
Alexander the Great
Daniel 11:5
Egypt, 323 B.C.
Daniel 11:6
Syria, 204 B.C.
Daniel 8:23-25
Daniel 11:21-35
Antiochus Epiphanes, 175 B.C.
Daniel 11:32-35
Maccabees, 168 B.C.
Daniel 2:40
Daniel 7:7-8, 24-25
Daniel 11:36-45
Rome, 63 B.C.
Daniel 2:44
God’s kingdom, 33 A.D.
Media-Persia- Daniel’s first prophecy of Media-Persia – 605 B.C.
- Media-Persia ascended to prominence – 539 B.C.
- 605-539: 66 years prior to fulfillment
Greece- Daniel’s first prophecy of Greece – 605 B.C.
- Greece ascended to prominence – 330 B.C.
- 605-330: 275 years prior to fulfillment
Alexander the Great- Daniel’s first prophecy of Alexander the Great – 547 B.C.
- Alexander the Great ascended to prominence – 330 B.C.
- 547-330: 217 years prior to fulfillment
Rome- Daniel’s first prophecy of Rome – 605 B.C.
- Rome ascended to prominence – 27 B.C.
- 605-27: 578 years prior to fulfillment
Jesus and Old Testament historical events- The preaching of Jonah – Luke 11:32
Old Testament events
Jesus’ reference
Creation – Genesis 1-2
Mark 13:19
Ark and flood – Genesis 6-8
Matthew 24:37-39
Sodom/Gomorrah – Genesis 19
Luke 17:29
Lot’s wife – Genesis 19
Luke 17:32
Manna – Exodus 16
John 6:31-32
Brazen serpent – Numbers 21
John 3:14
Jonah and fish – Jonah 1-2
Matthew 12:39-41
ConclusionWas Jesus wrong about
Old Testament claims of inspiration?
Old Testament claims of prophetic messages?
Old Testament claims of miraculous historical events?
Did He know better and was lying?
Did He think they were true and was a fool?
Was He sane and telling the truth?
To believe in the sanity and veracity of Jesus is to believe God is the Divine author of the Old Testament.
30 min - Evidence from Jesus That There Is a GodIntroduction
I Peter 3:15-16 – “to give an answer” – apologia – “verbal defense, a speech in defense”
Why do you believe in …
In God?
In the Old Testament?
In the New Testament?
Jesus is the reason!
Jesus really lived- Secular documents – Josephus
- New Testament documents
Does God exist? The best evidence.Subjective evidence- “You ask me how I know he lives, He lives within my heart.” – This is not a good reason to believe in Jesus!
- The atheist simply responds that he knows Jesus does not live because Jesus does not live in his heart.
Objective evidence- Cosmological evidence – cause and effect
- Hebrews 3:4
- Teleological – design and designer
- Romans 1:19-20
- Empirical – an appeal to the five senses
The importance of empirical evidence – John- John 1:1-3, 14 – God became flesh. We have empirical evidence!
- I John 1:1-3
The importance of empirical evidence – Jesus- John 12:44-45 – When one looks at Jesus, he sees empirical evidence of God the Father.
- John 14:8-10 – Seeing Jesus = seeing the Father
Jesus is the reason I believe in GodJesus’ claimsI John 1:3
“I AM” – John 6:35, 48, 51; 7:29; 8:12, 23-24, 28, 58; 9:5; 10:7, 11, 36; 11:25; 14:6, 10-11, 20; 15:1
The light of the world – John 8:12
From above, not of this world – Hebrews 9:23-24, 28
I AM, John 8:58 (“I AM” is the root of the word Jehovah)
Equality with God – John 5:17-18; 14:9
Sinlessness – John 8:46
Eternal – John 8:58; 17:5
Miracles – Matthew 11:26; John 5:36; 10:25
Forgive sins – Mark 2:5
Accepted worship – Matthew 8:2
Come to Father by Him – John 14:6
Eternal life through Him – John 3:15
Resurrection
Would be the sign that would validate all His claims and deeds. Matthew 12:38-40; John 2:18-22
Repeatedly said He would arise from the grave. Matthew 12:38-40; 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:19; 26:32; Mark 8:31; 9:9, 31; 10:34; 14:28; Luke 9:22; 18:33; John 2:18-22; 10:18
He claimed that He had arisen. Luke 24:46; Revelation 1:18; 2:8
Jesus’ miracles- I John 1:3
- “The only way we can know whether an event can occur is to see whether in fact it has occurred. The problem of ‘miracles’ then, must be solved in the realm of historical investigation, not in the realm of philosophical speculation.” – John Warwick Montgomery, History and Christianity
- Water to wine – John 2:1-11
- Healing lame man – John 5:1-9
- Healing nobleman’s sons – John 4:46-54
- Feeding five thousand – John 6:1-14
- Walking on water – John 6:16-21
- Healing blind man – John 9:1-12
- Raising Lazarus – John 11:39-44
If claims and miracles were false- Did Jesus know they were false? Then He was a liar.
- Did Jesus sincerely believe them to be true? Then He was mentally disturbed.
If claims and miracles were true- John 20:27-28 – Empirical evidence! Thomas believed. “My Lord and my God!”
If Lord and God- Luke 6:46
Conclusion- Major premise: If God has been seen, God is.
- Minor premise: God has been seen in the person of the historical Jesus.
- Conclusion: Therefore, God is.
30 min
About ScriptureStream
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Just the gospel, plainly spoken. ScriptureStream compiles lessons presented at the Benchley church of Christ, located just north of Bryan, TX. Visit ScriptureStream.com for full notes on each lesson…
and additional resources for Bible study.