Bible – international bible society(2011).

An academic study bible: international bible society(2011). NIV study bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [ISBN: 978-0310437338] Activity 2.1 Believers and Experiences on the Old Testament Attachment COLLAPSE This activity delves into another aspect of the Old Testament. Some of the Old Testament is narrative reading, like that we have covered already. Some is Hebrew poetry, like the psalms we read for last week. However, a majority of the content of the Old Testament is prophetic writing which speaks a message from God to some audience, either believers or non-believers. Many of the prophets and characters interacted with God, and their lives were influenced by their faith and their relationship with God. The readings this week all reflect a message from God that is drawn from the character’s experience. Job’s experience teaches believers how to deal with significant personal loss; Hosea’s experience reflects God’s faithful love for the world in a manner similar to a faithful lover in an unfaithful situation; Daniel’s experience was as a believer captured and told to serve a foreign king that worshiped other gods, and how Daniel responded. Isaiah, on the other hand, received verbal messages from God that pointed to a far distant Savior, the Messiah who we recognize as Jesus. Read Job 1-7, 38-42; Isaiah 1-11; 40-41; 52:13-53:12; Hosea 1, 3, 11-14; and Daniel 1-6. In the first paragraph, describe in detail the experiences, good and bad, of one of the four characters in the Bible reading. Try to ensure that all four characters are represented among members of the cohort. Describe the way in which experience shaped that character, and how God uses suffering and other experiences for His almighty purpose. What did each person learn from suffering or difficulty? In the second paragraph, compare the Biblical readings with one of the Basic Human Questions, possibly but not necessarily the one on suffering. In the third paragraph, describe what you have learned from challenges in your own life or those of someone close to you. In the fourth paragraph, based upon your readings, discuss/react to the idea that God isn’t the source of evil and doesn’t send suffering, sickness, or evil (but does allow it to touch the lives of believers – a subtle but distinct nuance). The Bible indicates that God only does good; but that all forms of difficulty in life come as a result of living in a sinful world. What is God’s role? Discuss why Job and others might say that suffering is understandable because of our sin, but the fact that we don’t suffer more is a sign of God’s mercy and grace.