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Sonrise Bible Study - Audio
Crossroads of the World
Posted by Rev. Jeff Dixon, Senior Equipping Minister, CCC Ministries on Nov 26, 2006, 08:25
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Crossroads of the World
Have you ever wondered what God chose the land of Israel as the Promised Land? Have you ever wondered why the land of Israel became the place that God would unfold His plan of salvation? Have you ever taken the time to wonder about what we should know about what happened years ago so that we might better follow Him today?
This Sonrise Bible Study series is designed to help you answer all of the questions above and more. Get ready to sit back, listen, open your Bibles, and engage God, history, and the cultural impact that YOU are called and destined to have!
Session One: Crossroads
In this session Jeff Dixon takes you into the Bible and introduces some often overlooked or long forgotten events surrounding the place known as Gezer. While it is easy to miss the importance of this seemingly small and out of the way place...you will discover that it is a place of great importance then and now.
Here is what you need to do....
First, open up your Bible
Second, review this session
Third, look at the maps
Fourth, take a look at the study questions
Fifth, refer back to them as you listen to the audio teaching
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The map gives you an idea of the area we are talking about. Notice the strategic location of the city as Jeff explains it in the study.
Solomon's Gate at Gezer is pictured here. The gate played an important role in the culture and was important in the life of any city. In this case Gezer. Imagine what this would have been like in the hustle and bustle of a busy city as you listen to Jeff explain this.
Standing Stones was an important part of ancient civilizations and the nation of Israel were no exception. This discovery at Gezer is a powerful reminder of some lessons we need to learn about the way God works in our lives.
Take this study a step beyond
Read Genesis 1:9, Genesis 28:10-22, Deuteronomy 21:18-21, and Joshua 4:1-9. Based upon your reading and the audio teaching answer the following questions....
1) Why do you think God chose Israel as the land where the plan of salvation would be unpacked and unfold?
2) How is God's intent for followers today similar to God's choice of Israel?
3) In what ways does God want His people to influence the world?
4) How is your life like a standing stone?
5) How does it tell others what God has done for you?
6) How do you as a follower "sit in the gate" of the culture today?
7) Why don't we as followers have the influence we should have?
8) How will you as a follower make sure you DO influence those around you...even this week?
Session Two: Getting Your
Feet Wet
In this session Jeff Dixon leads us in thinking about what it means to "cross the Jordon" or move past the barriers between where we are and where God has called us to be. For many Followers of Jesus they are always waiting for "everything" to fall into place before they move...perhaps this session will be a powerful reminder that we need to get our feet wet and get moving!
Here is what you need to do....
First, open up your Bible
Second, review this session
Third, look at the map and pictures
Fourth, take a look at the study questions
Fifth, refer back to them as you listen to the audio teaching
Listen to Audio
Click Here
Download Audio
Right-click here and select Save As
As a prominent feature in ancient Israel, the Jordan River was mentioned nearly 200 times in the Bible.
Beginning at the foot of Mount Hermon, the Jordan travels about twenty-five miles before emptying into the Sea of Galilee. It continues to flow from the southern end of the Sea and winds its way to the Dead Sea, about sixty-five miles away.
The famous river is surprisingly narrow—only fifty to seventy-five feet wide in most places
Many ancient people considered their homeland rivers sacred.
For the pagans who lived in Canaan, the Jordan River symbolized the power and protection of their fertility gods, the baals.
By contrast, the Israelites never worshipped the Jordan River.
They saw it as a barrier to overcome.
As they gazed into Canaan from the eastern side, the Jordan stood as an obstacle to their entry into the Promised Land.
Take This Study A Step Beyond
Read Joshua 3 and Matthew 3:13-17 and then answer the following questions based upon what you have read, looked at, and listened to in the second session of this study.
1) In the Bible the Jordan River represents a barrier to be crossed both literally and figuratively. Think about your life right now, what barriers are preventing you from working toward fulfilling the purpose that God has for you in your life?
2) What barriers has God helped you to overcome in the past? Have you taken the time to thank Him for that help? Perhaps you should spend some time in prayer today doing just that.
3) Remember that the Jordan River parted only after the people made the first move and stepped out in faith. Can you think of a time in your life where you stepped out in faith and amazing things began to happen?
4) If the answer to the question above was NO, then maybe you need to take the time to start being willing to step out in faith and trust God to do what He promised He would do. Ask the Father during your time of conversation with Him to unleash and untamed your faith.
5) If we, as Followers, take seriously our responsibility to be a shaper of the culture then what is something specific that you will do over the next few days to live out that responsibility?
Session Three:
Face to Face with Evil
In this session once again Jeff helps us make an old world discovery with real life, real world, real time implications. The Shephelah valleys became the crossroads for commerce and culture in the ancient world. They formed natural trade routes linking the major powers of Rome and Egypt with the empires of Persia, Babylon, and Assyria. Whoever controlled the foothills could dominate the relationship between these powers. As a result, ancient people frequently clashed for control of these strategic valleys.
Built by the people of the coastal plain, Beth Shemesh stood like a guardhouse over the Sorek Valley. According to Joshua 19, the Beth Shemesh region was given to the small tribe of Dan for its inheritance. However, despite frequent fighting between the Israelites and pagans, the pagans were not driven out of the area
You know the routine, here is what you do....
First, open up your Bible
Second, review this session
Third, look at the maps
Fourth, take a look at the study questions
Fifth, refer back to them as you listen to the audio teaching
Listen to Audio
Click Here
Download Audio
Right-click here and select Save As
Beth Shemesh stands in Israel’s Shephelah—foothills lying between the coastal plain and Judea Mountains. Several broad valleys extend up from
the coastal plain, through the Shephelah, and into the mountains beyond.
The sophistication and technology of the Philistines became attractive to God’s people, and they began to adopt pagan Philistine values.
During the time of the judges in ancient Israel, the sophisticated Philistines dominated cities along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Israelites lived in more primitive settings among the Shephelah hills and Judea Mountains.
The Israelites lived simply and were attracted to the Philistines’ advanced culture.
They had all they needed and wanted more!
Instead of using their strategic position in the Shephelah to confront pagan culture, they allowed the ungodly values to influence them. They failed to drive the Philistines out of their land.
First Samuel 4 reveals how ineffective the Israelites became. In an effort to defeat the Philistines, who were invading their mountain dwellings, the Israelites took the ark of the covenant in battle. They had wandered from God, but at the last minute, they desperately turned to him for help.
But the Israelites’ last-ditch effort did not work.
Make sure you listen closely to the audio study and discover why their plan didn't work. Why God allowed the things that happened to take place and then what He did for them in the aftermath.
There are great lessons to be learned as once again Followers must understand they stand at the Crossroads of the World.
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Take This Study A Step Beyond
Read Judges 13-14 (yes that is 2 entire chapters!) and
Numbers 6:1-21. Then answer the following questions based upon what you have read, looked at, and listened to in the second session of this study.
1) What is the significance, both culturally and spritually of the region known as the Shephlah?
2) What is the Shephlah of our culture today?
3) How does the Israelites inability to control the coastal plain relate to the Christian community in culture today?
4) The Nazarite call was one of a unique lifestyle and a distance between them and the culture. How does that relate to our call as Followers today? (Listen closely in the study and ponder why Jeff suggests that what Followers initially think is not really the cultural application most in churches make today?
5) Samson failed...but still God used it. How does God work through your weakness today and think back to a time when God used a failure to His Glory!
Session Four
Out with the Iron and
Into the Fire
This last session takes one more attempt and helping you to understand how it is that we must, can, should, and desire to impact the culture we live and minister in. This is the final session of this series so there are no supplemental materials that go with it...simply grab your Bible, sit back,
and get ready to explore.
Listen to Audio
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Download Audio
Right-click here and select Save As
This study uses as a starting point the That the World May Know Series featuring Ray Vander Laan. It is a DVD series that is filmed on location and takes viewers to the places of the Bible and makes them come alive. The series shown in this study specifically are portions of the Faith Lessons on the Promised Land. It is available from Zondervan. Visit their website at www.zondervan.com
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