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Book 2, Lesson 1: Isaac and Rebekah
Genesis 23-26

Teacher's Comments:
Prayer is having a conversation with God. But, who or what is God? Good question! At this point in your study, He is the Creator. According to the Bible, He is a spirit. He is well and alive. There are three words to describe him:

Omnipresent -- meaning all present or he is everywhere.
Omnipotent -- meaning all powerful. Potent means powerful.
Omniscient -- meaning all knowing. Part of the word is "science."

Humans are created in his image meaning that we too have a spirit. It is the spirit of mankind that can talk with God in prayer. We are more than just an animal. We have a soul. Someone said that "When my dog died, he is dead all over." Soul means life, a being inside our fleshly body. When a human dies, his soul returns to the one who gave it -- to God.

Prayer takes the form of meditation or internalization. We can "go inside" and think about thinking. We can reflect upon where we came from, who we are, and where we are going. We think, feel, and do (or act). In this, when we acknowledge that the Spirit of our Creator is omnipresent, we can recognize that he can live within us. We often say that he lives in our hearts. This means that he lives in our thinking, our feeling, and causes us to act. We think the thoughts of God. We learned them from his written word, the Bible. In prayer, we commune. In prayer, we communicate with Him. Prayer is talking with God. It is personal and private. Saying words out loud for the purpose of getting attention of others is not prayer. For prayer to be effective, we must believe in God and trust him like Abraham did.

God is omnipotent; so, he can respond to our request as he did in the story of Abraham's servant. The Bible says, "The prayer of a righteous man makes things happen." There are many stories of prayer in the Bible, and miraculous things happened, things outside what we know as the laws of physics. Prayer is powerful because God is omnipotent. He answers the prayer of a righteous man.

God is omniscient -- He knows all. We can pray for wisdom and He will give it to us.

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Book 2, Lesson 1: Isaac and Rebekah

Thought Question No. 1. Do you think that God answers the prayers of his people prayer
today?

Student Answer: Yes, but His thoughts are not ours. Often I need to let myself and my thinking be changed before He answers. For sure His way is the one that makes me happiest.

Thought Question No. 2. Has God ever answered your prayers?
Student Answer: Yes, I talk with God very often. When we prayed for our aunt to get healed of a tumor He didn't answer.

Thought Question No. 3. What have you learned in Lesson One that has been helpful and meaningful to you?

That it is so important to ask God, to do something, like Abraham's servant asked for God's help.

Student Answer: Question: Why was this curse of not being able to have children over the life of Rebecca?

Teacher's Comments:
PRAYER:
In question No. 2, you prayed for your aunt's healing and you said that God did not answer. Let me suggest some things for you to consider.

We read in the Old Testament about God and God answering prayer. We read that God is love and also about God's wrath and his anger. At times, prayer was answered, but in a special way that took a long time to answer. For example, David cried out to God, thinking that he was rejected by God. In time, we find that God's plan was fulfilled when Jesus came to be a King like David was a king.

Psalms  88:13-14
13 But I cry to you for help, O LORD; in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me?

The prophet Habakkuk cried out for God to save Judah. But, God's wrath came upon Judah because of their disobedience. In time, God's will was fulfilled. Habakkuk's plight was that the disobedient ones were being destroyed by way of the Chaldaens of Babylonia. The disobedient were taken into captivity as part of God's plan which unfolded over centuries. When we read scripture must read the context of the passage. The words "you will not listen" and "you will not save us" are in the context of strife and do not mean that God's purpose is not to listen nor to save; but, these words are telling us of the terrible strife that prevailed in the time of Judah being taken into captivity.

Habakkuk 1:2-3
2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, "Violence!" but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.

God's justice depends upon faith.
Luke 18:7-8
7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?
8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

God does some awesome things in answer to prayer.
In many other Old Testament scriptures, we see God doing some awesome things in answer to prayer. One of those answered prayers was that of Elijah in a contest with Baal worshipers.

I Kings 18:24
24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire-- he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."

The priests of Baal called upon their god to set fire to the altar. Their god could not set fire to the altar. So, Elijah poured water on the alter until it was too wet to burn. Then, when Elijah prayed to God, the altar was burned up entirely. This is only one of many examples of God answering prayer.

I Kings 18:37-38
37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When we pray, we learn from scripture to pray according to God's will and to pray in faith, believing God will prevail in our favor.
When Jesus prayed, many miracles were done including healing of the blind, the lame and the sick. Jesus promised us that if we will ask anything of him, he will answer it. But, the prayer must be asked in faith and in accordance to God's will.

Please note, Jesus prayed and his request was denied. This is because it was God's will that Jesus die. So, God answered Jesus' prayer with a "no!"

Matthew 26:39
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

Psalms 9:10
10 Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

James 1:5
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

I John 3:21-24
21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.
23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

I John 5:14-15
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us-- whatever we ask-- we know that we have what we asked of him.

One important thing to remember about prayer is that God's will prevails over us. If we pray for healing, we must understand what God wants regarding healing -- life and death.

One important scripture tells us that miracles, required for some healing situations like cancer, were for a special purpose. That purpose may not be the purpose for today, even though it was a long time ago. Consider Hebrews 2:4.

Hebrews 2:3-4
3 how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

From this scripture, we learn that miracles of healing and others were to confirm that what was being preached by Jesus and by the apostles was truly from God. Miracles had the special purpose of proving that the speaker was from God and the speaker was speaking God's will. Such is not the case today. We do not need miraculous divine healing to prove that Jesus is Lord. We now know that Jesus came out of the grave, the most important miracle ever, and this proves that he is the Son of God. Also, we now have the Bible, the written word of God. With proof being before us, we no longer need miracles to prove that Jesus is God's son.

When we read about miracle done in the early church, we need to remember that there was no written Bible to turn to and show the truth. We need to remember that the miracle workers went about into the Gentile nations such as Europe and even your country where the story of Jesus' resurrection was not know. (No Internet in those days.)

So, it is not to our surprise that when we pray over a severely ill person, that that illness is not healed, as in the case of those you know.

When we pray, powerful things can and do happen. Perhaps today, God does miracles if he so chooses. I see no harm in asking him to heal us of our cancer. But, it may not be his will. I do know that prayer has brought about miraculous things in our lives, today. Yet, they are not always to be so.

Question: Why does God allow so much suffering?
Answer: God has a purpose and he is bringing about in our lives. But, he has set into place the laws of our universe and does not override them unless it accomplishes his divine purpose. He simply has limited himself in imposing supernatural laws over natural laws.

Question: Why was this curse of not being able to have children over the life of Rebecca?
Teacher's Comments:
The story in Book 2 tells us that "God heard Isaac's prayer, and Rebekah became a mother. God did something for her that nature had failed to do. Rebecca's pregnancy was supernatural."

Genesis 25:21
21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebecca became pregnant.

The best way to answer questions about the special cases like this told in the Old Testament is to see what Jesus or the apostles thought about it. In the Apostle Paul's letter to the church in Rome, he tells the story of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, and Jacob and Esau. The point of Paul's message is that our salvation is by God's will and his doing rather than by anything we can do to save ourselves. The story tells us Rebecca's children were born as an illustration of how God made the decision about Rebecca being barren so as to show that God himself is in charge and in control. It is His will, His salvation, His grace by which we are saved.

Isn't it amazing how God made things happen to reveal Jesus to us? I think so. The Bible stories are not just stories. They are to give us a message. Here, the message is that we cannot save ourselves. Not even Rebecca could just have another child because she wanted to. She had to wait 25 years. This reminds me of Abram waiting until he was Abraham and an old man before Isaac was born thus teaching us to trust God.

Romans 9:7-16
7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."
8 In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.
9 For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."
10 Not only that, but Rebecca's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac.
11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad-- in order that God's purpose in election might stand:
12 not by works but by him who calls-- she was told, "The older will serve the younger."
13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!
15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
16 It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.

What do your think?

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Book 2, Lesson 2: Jacob and Esau
Genesis 25-35; Romans 9:6-21

Teacher's Comments:
This lesson tells the story of Jacob's ladder.

Jacob saw the angels of God going up and down the ladder, and then he saw the Lord standing by the ladder. This is a prophesy in a dream. Compare the dream with John 1:51.
John 1:49-51
49    Then Nathaniel declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
50    Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."
51    He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

The dream's meaning
Jesus is the ladder. It is upon him that all communication with God takes place. Angels ascending represent the work of the priest, who expresses man to God - "angels ascending" upward. The angels descending represent the work of the prophet, expressing God to man, downward. A prophet is a spokesman for God. Jesus is both our High Priest and our Prophet. Jesus communicates from God to man and from man to God.
Hebrews 8:1
1    The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
John 6:14
14    After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."

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Book 2, Lesson 3: Joseph in Egypt
Genesis 37-50

Teacher's Comment:
The Old Testament stories reveal the nature of God and how he works in our lives. The Old Testament stories tell about Jesus, who is coming. The New Testament tells of Jesus, who has come. And, The New Testament tells us that Jesus will come again.

THE BIBLE
Old Testament, 39 Books > Someone is coming!
New Testament, 27 Books > Someone has come!
New Testament, tells us that the "Someone" is Jesus and that this "Someone" is coming again!

SUMMARY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT (to Joseph)
Acts 7:2-18
2    To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran.
3    'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.'
4    "So he left the land of the Chaldaens and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living.
5    He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.
6    God spoke to him in this way: 'Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years.
7    But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,' God said, 'and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.'
8    Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9    "Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
10    and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11    "Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food.
12    When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit.
13    On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family.
14    After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all.
15    Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died.
16    Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17    "As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased.
18    Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt.

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Book 2, Lesson 4: Moses and the Exodus
Exodus 1-15; 1 Corinthians 5:7

Teacher's Comment:
In the Bible, typology is where an Old Testament event has meaning for us in the New Testament times.  In the Old Testament, the Passover Lamb that was offered in Egypt saved those who obeyed by applying the blood of a pure lamb to their doorpost. In the New Testament, Jesus is our Passover Lamb. His blood saves us when applied to our lives. Moses' 10th terrible disaster, the sacrificial lamb is a type of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Yeast, in the Old Testament represented impurity. During the Feast of Weeks the Israelites purged their houses of yeast. During communion in our worship today, we break bread made without leaven remembering that Jesus was without sin. This is another example of typology.
1 Corinthians 5:7
7    Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast-- as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

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Book 2, Lesson 5: Moses in the Wilderness
Exodus 15-40; Numbers 20:1-12; Deuteronomy 18 and 34

Teacher's Comment:
Jesus was a prophet like Moses. This prophecy made 1200 years before Jesus came is proof that the Bible is true.

COMPARE MOSES AND JESUS
Acts 3:22
22    For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you.

1. Deliverer - Exodus 20:2 Vs Hebrews 2:15
2. Provider - Exodus 20:20 Vs John 6:31
3. Mediator of a covenant - Exodus 24:1-8 Vs Hebrews 8:6, 9;15, 12:24

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Book 2, Lesson 6: David, the Shepherd King
1 Samuel 17-18; 2 Samuel 1-5; 6:12; 23:2; Psalms 2:7; 16:10; 22:1, 7-8, 16-18; 24:7-10; 34:21: 110:1; 118:22; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Zechariah 6:12-13; Matthew 21:42: 22:44; 27:35, 39, 43, 46; Luke 1:30-33; John 19:23; Acts 1:9-10; 2:22-36; 4:11; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 2:20; and 1 Peter 2:4,7

Teacher's Comment: 
The coming King will be a descendant of David and will sit on David's throne as ruler of the Kingdom

Acts 2:25-36
25    David said about him: "'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
26    Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope,
27    because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
28    You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.'
29    "Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.
30    But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne.
31    Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.
32    God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.
33    Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
34    For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand
35    until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." '
36    "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

Point: The point to remember is that Jesus will not sit on the furniture of David's throne. He sits now in the office of David as King.

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Book 2, Lesson 7: Isaiah, the Prophet
1 Kings 12-14; 2 Kings 17-19; Isaiah 2:2-4; 6:1-13; 9:6-7; 11:1-2, 10; 40:3, 11; 53:3-12; 61:1-2; Daniel 7:12-14; Micah 5:2; Zechariah 9:9-12; 11:12; Acts 13:23; Romans 15:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Revelations 22:16

Teacher's Comment:
The detailed prophecies of the Prophet Isaiah all came true, proving Isaiah was a true prophet and that the Bible is true.

Isaiah 53:12
12    Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Author: Bob Patterson, weibp@aol.com

Book 1  / Book 3 / New Birth / New Life / The Church

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