Mar 17 2008
Bible Study Week 3 - How Do You Relate With The World Part 2?
Purpose of This Bible Study Lesson::
The purpose of this lesson is to understand the consequences and rewards of our relationship with the world.
Lesson’s Objective::
This lesson will help you:
- Discover the consequences of a relationship with the world.
- Discover the rewards that follow the believer who remains separated.
- Discover ways to remain pure and steadfast in a dark and evil world.
Introduction::
Last week, we learnt that God has called us and separated us from the world in the same way that He separated the children of Israel from the pagan nations. We learnt that friendship with the world means becoming God’s enemy (James 4:4James 4:4
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
4 Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.
). Today, we continue with this series by looking at the consequences and rewards of walking with God. In this lesson, we will compare and contrast the lives of two young men, Samson and Daniel who had the same choices that we face today and how their decisions influenced their lives and their ultimate destiny.
Today’s Lesson: A Godly Assignment
Begin today’s lesson by reading Judges 16:1-5Judges 16:1-5
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
16
1 And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her.
2 [And it was told] the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, [Let be] till morning light, then we will kill him.
3 And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
4 And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah.
5 And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred [pieces] of silver.
and Daniel 1:3-8Daniel 1:3-8
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring in [certain] of the children of Israel, even of the seed royal and of the nobles;
4 youths in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and endued with knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability to stand in the king's palace; and that he should teach them the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
5 And the king appointed for them a daily portion of the king's dainties, and of the wine which he drank, and that they should be nourished three years; that at the end thereof they should stand before the king.
6 Now among these were, of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
7 And the prince of the eunuchs gave names unto them: unto Daniel he gave [the name of] Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, [of] Shadrach; and to Mishael, [of] Meshach; and to Azariah, [of] Abed-nego.
8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
The Power of Choice::
Every Christian has a godly assignment to accomplish according to Hebrews 12:1Hebrews 12:1
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
12
1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
which says that “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”. In our Bible study today, we will examine the lives of two young men who had a race to run against the evil and wickedness of their day and how their choices influenced their destiny.
Our first candidate is Samson, son of Manoah who was born as a Nazirite. Before his birth, his mother was visited by an angel and told that “…the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth…” (Judges 13: 5Judges 13: 5
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
5 for, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come upon his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
). Nazirites were a special people who were separated and consecrated for the work of God; (for more information on the qualities of a Nazirite refer to Numbers 6:1-21Numbers 6:1-21
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
6
1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto Jehovah,
3 he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
4 All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of the grape-vine, from the kernels even to the husk.
5 All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separateth himself unto Jehovah, he shall be holy; he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
6 All the days that he separateth himself unto Jehovah he shall not come near to a dead body.
7 He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation unto God is upon his head.
8 All the days of his separation he is holy unto Jehovah.
9 And if any man die very suddenly beside him, and he defile the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing, on the seventh day shall he shave it.
10 And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting:
11 and the priest shall offer one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, and make atonement for him, for that he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall hallow his head that same day.
12 And he shall separate unto Jehovah the days of his separation, and shall bring a he-lamb a year old for a trespass-offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
13 And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be brought unto the door of the tent of meeting:
14 and he shall offer his oblation unto Jehovah, one he-lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for peace-offerings,
15 and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings.
16 And the priest shall present them before Jehovah, and shall offer his sin-offering, and his burnt-offering:
17 and he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace-offerings unto Jehovah, with the basket of unleavened bread: the priest shall offer also the meal-offering thereof, and the drink-offering thereof.
18 And the Nazrite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace-offerings.
19 And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite, after he hath shaven [the head of] his separation;
20 and the priest shall wave them for a wave-offering before Jehovah; this is holy for the priest, together with the wave-breast and heave-thigh: and after that the Nazirite may drink wine.
21 This is the law of the Nazirite who voweth, [and of] his oblation unto Jehovah for his separation, besides that which he is able to get: according to his vow which he voweth, so he must do after the law of his separation.
). Although Samson was supposed to lead a separated life of holiness so that God’s power would work through him, he soon entangled himself with a philistine prostitute and ended up marrying a philistine woman against his father’s wish. Samson had the power to choose to live a holy life and obey God, but he chose the path of destruction by befriending God’s enemies and thereby sealed his destiny of defeat. Samson therefore suffered the consequences of disobedience by dying blind, in chains and failed to fulfill his godly assignment.
Our second candidate is Daniel who was forced into exile to a land of his enemies in Babylon, but Daniel made choices that influenced his destiny for good in a foreign land, because he found favor both with God and the king in Babylon. Daniel had two outstanding qualities that stood out in his life and these are prayer and denial. First he denied himself of the King’s delicacies and instead opted for water and vegetables because he did not want to defile himself. Again he went into fasting and prayer for 21 days for the release of his fellow Israelites.
Daniel understood his assignment very well, and never allowed Babylon to influence him; and Daniel was therefore able to fulfill his God given assignment and God remained faithful to him in times of great adversity. Babylon is a type of the world and we therefore have to be in the world but not of the world just like Daniel was in Babylon but refused to adapt to the ways of Babylon.
Week 3: Bible Study Questions For Discussion
- What do you think the Christian life is compared with in Hebrews 12:1Hebrews 12:1
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
12 1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, ? - What quality is mentioned in Hebrews 12:1Hebrews 12:1
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
12 1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, that will help us win our race of faith? - What do you understand by the term “Nazirite” in Judges 13:7Judges 13:7
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
7 but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazirite unto God from the womb to the day of his death. ? - What do you think brought about Samson’s downfall according to Judges 16:1Judges 16:1
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
16 1 And Samson went to Gaza, and saw there a harlot, and went in unto her. ? - How can you relate Samson’s general behavior with the Christians today?
- Do you think it is possible to entangle oneself with the world and still remain righteous and fulfill one’s destiny?
- When you compare the life of Samson and the life of Daniel what do you learn as a Christian?
- How then can we as Christians fulfill our God given assignment in the world today if we use Daniel’s life as our example?
Please explain……………………………………………………………
Please explain……………………………………………………………………………..
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Use James 4:4James 4:4
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
4 Ye adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore would be a friend of the world maketh himself an enemy of God.
to explain……………………………………………………………………………….
Please use Judges 16:20Judges 16:20
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
20 And she said, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times, and shake myself free. But he knew not that Jehovah was departed from him.
to explain………………………………………………………………….
Please explain ………………………………………………………..
Please explain……………………
For Meditation: 2 Tim 4:72 Tim 4:7
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith:
Just Do It
“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith”
May God help us to make choices that will help us fulfill our God given assignments and finish the race of faith.
