Study Guide #3:  12/9/11

Judges

1.  What are the steps in the Judges cycle?

2. How would you describe the office of the judgeship in Judges? What role does Judges play in the

                canon?

3.  How is the Judges cycle seen in the life of Ehud?  What was unique about Ehud?  How does

                the Bible relate violence in the Ehud story?

4. Why is the story of Deborah significant?  What does it tell us about the role of women in

                leadership roles?  How does that fit with Paul’s comments in 1 Cor 14 and 1 Tim. 2?  How does

                one handle tensions in Scripture itself (Judges/Paul)? 

5.  What do we learn about determining the will of God from the life of Gideon?  Why did God have
                 Gideon get rid of all his men except for a handful?

6. What is the difficulty in the story of Jephthah and what are two ways of looking at that difficulty?

7. Describe Samson’s vow from birth and the 3 women in Samson's life?  What is the relationship of love
                and lust? What archaeological evidence supports the final event in Samson’s life?

8. What is the canonical function of the Levite's concubine story?

9. What is the canonical function of the book of Ruth? What is a Levirate marriage?

10. What function do the names play in the story of Ruth?  What roles do men play early in the Ruth story?
                What is the role of the levirate and Boaz in Ruth?  How does Ruth relate to the larger canonical
                picture (David)?

1-2 Samuel

1. How is Samuel contrasted to Eli's sons? How was Eli as a man of God versus how he was as a father?
2. What was Eli’s relationship to Hannah like?

3. What mistake did Israel make by bringing the ark down to the fight against the Philistines?  When were
                other times when the ark was used in a war context? Why did the Philistines make golden rats?
                What are the Philistine Pentapolis cities and where are they located?

4. What do Ebenezer and Ichabod mean and how do they fit into the narrative of the capturing of the ark?

                How is Ebenezer at least in one instance an anachronism (what is an anachronism?)?

5. Why did Israel not accept Samuel's sons but rather asked for a king?  Was it wrong for Israel to ask for a

                king? Why/why not?  What was wrong in their asking for a king?

6.  What does 1 Sam. 9:9 suggest about the date of the writing of Samuel?

7.  What does 1 Sam 13:1 teach about the text of the Bible in terms of its inspiration and transmission?

8. In what ways was Saul the people's choice of a king?  Was Saul initially humble?  Why/why not?

9. What fatal problem was Saul’s at Gilgal with Samuel?

10. How did Jonathan manifest great faith in his defeat of the Philistines? After Jonathan's victory over
                the Philistines what do we learn about Saul?  How does that contrast with Saul's treatment of Agag? 

11.  How do you understand God’s telling Samuel to take an bullock to sacrifice so Saul would not kill him? 
                Was God involved in the deception of Saul? How did we look at that? What are other parallels to
                this?

12.  What does it mean that God was grieved he made Saul king (15:11, 35)?  How did David’s brothers

                misunderstand him? 

13. What do we learn about David and God at his anointing? What was the role of the prophet in selecting
                kings? What's the first thing that happens in the narrative after David is anointed? 
                Archaeologically what is interesting about the story about Goliath?
                How did Saul use his daughter Michal to attempt to kill David?

14. How did David manifest his honoring of the Lord's anointed? Give two examples.

15. What happened at Nob to David and what did Saul do there?

16. What does Keilah teach us about God's knowledge of the future? Are there possibilities with God?  How is
                David vindicated in the Nabal-Abigail story? What does Nabal mean? What role did Abigail play in
                the story?

17. What are some issues raised in Saul's use of the witch of Endor to raise Samuel?

18. How does David react to Saul and Jonathan's death?  What does that tell us about David's character?  Who

                killed Saul (options)? What do such passages suggest about suicide?

19. How do Abner and Mephibosheth manifest David's compassion?  How is David as a person after God’s

                own heart?

20.  What was the Davidic Covenant and when was it declared by God?  What word plays were involved
                in the statement of the covenant by God?

21. What character did Absalom manifest in David?  What mistakes did David  make with Absalom? 
                What was Absalom’s relationship like with his sister Tamar and brother Amnon?

                What statement by Joab showed David’s character after the death of Absalom which was like

                Christ’s?

22. What do we learn about David when he brings the ark to Jerusalem?  How do you understand the story of
                Uzzah and the ark? What did that event highlight in David's marriage with Michal? Why did David
                bring the arch to Jerusalem?

23. How does the text heighten the wrongness of David's relationship with Bathsheba (11:1)?  What processes

                did David go through in repenting (Ps. 51 model)? At what points do people blame Bathsheba?

                How did we respond to those criticisms?

24. How does God make David face his sin?  Nathan/child

25. How does David react before and after the child dies?  What implications for the death of children

                were found in that passage?

26. Who got involved in the transition of power from David to Solomon?  What happened?

1 & 2 Kings

1. Who's son was Solomon? How did he become king over Adonijah his brother?   

                Why did David give Solomon his hit list (Joab, Shimei)?  How did we prove Solomon had wisdom

                before he was gifted by God with it?

2. What was Solomon's dream at Gibeon?  What were the results (1 Kgs 3)?

3. How was Solomon's wisdom shown in the text? How did Solomon change the normal literary pattern of 1
                & 2 Samuel which had a victory right after being anointed?  What things manifested Solomon’s

                wisdom? What was the suggested role of the daughter of Pharaoh in the narrative and in Proverbs?
                What trouble to Marxist academics have with the story of Solomon and how does that impact how
                they read the story?

4. What did Solomon build?  Who helped him build it and how did he help? What manifested that Solomon

                was able to keep his greatest achievements in  proper perspective?  How did Solomon get the cedars

                of Lebanon to Jerusalem?

5. How did Solomon fall?  Is it possible for someone who knew God and served him to turn away? What are
                your thoughts on this? How and why was the kingdom of Israel split?  Into what two kingdoms was
                it divided?  What indication is there that Solomon married foreign women earlier in his life and not

                just at the end as recorded in 1 Kgs. 11?

6. What blunders did Rehoboam make that precipitated the splitting of the kingdom (young and elders)?

                Why was Adoniram one of Rehoboam’s blunders? Who were the united monarchy kings?

7. What was the sin of Jeroboam that he taught Israel?  Why did Jeroboam do that?

8.  What astonishing prophecy did the man of God out of Judah make to Jeroboam?  How did he/God verify
                it?  How do liberals handle such a spectacular prophecy? What is prophecy post eventu and why is
                it a wrong way of looking at predictive prophecy? How does this approach benefit critics?

9.  Who was Ahab's father?  What did Omri do with the capital of Israel? How do we know about Omri
                from ancient Near Eastern records outside the Bible?

10.  Who was the prophet that prophesied against Ahab? What was the typical relationship between the
                prophet and the kings?  What was the usual message of the true prophet (in one word) and what one

                word characterized the false prophets’ message?

11.  What kind of a god was Baal and how did that play into the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal?
                Where is Mount Carmel and how does its location/geography play into the story of Elijah and the
                prophets of Baal dual?

12. When Jezebel threatened to kill Elijah what do we learn about men of God and moods?
                How did Elijah react to Jezebel’s threat to kill him?

13.  What depressed Elijah besides the fact that Jezebel was trying  to kill him? What tasks did God give
                Elijah after their meeting at Mount Sinai/Horeb?

14.  Describe what religious evil is in relation to Naboth's vineyard?

                How did Ahab's life manifest God's grace?

15.  When was the Northern Kingdom carried away?  Who did it and how long was that exile? 

                When did Judah go into exile?  Who did it and for how long was that exile?

16.  4 DATES:   David,

                When was the Northern Kingdom carried away and to where? 

                When did Judah go into exile and to where? When was the temple destroyed?
                When does the OT end (Malachi)?
17. What three background texts two from Genesis and one from 2 Sam. that were used to point
                forward to Christ?
18.  What are several Messianic prophecies that directly connect with the life of Jesus (Isa.; Micah, Zechariah,
                Psalms)

19.  How does Isaiah’s Suffering Servant in Isa. 53 match up with Christ and what do we learn about

                Jesus from Isaiah 53?
What OT story had the most impact on you and your relationship with God and why?

Memory Verses:  Psalms 139:8, 23-24; Job 1:21; Isa 53:6; 40:31.