BibleSF

In life, we are so busy and misdirected, we don’t take time: To Pause, Ponder, Look Back, and Look Forward Because over this past year, we haven’t just studied a series of books—we’ve walked through a story. Ezekiel… Daniel… Ezra… Nehemiah… Esther… Haggai… Zechariah… Malachi. Different leaders. Different situations. Exile… return… rebuilding… opposition… drift… restoration. And if we’re honest, it...

God's Final Words to Israel before the Messiah enters the world BSF Global Lesson 28 Malachi invited God’s people to return to Him before the Messiah came. Malachi’s name means “my messenger.” The book’s opening verse emphasizes Malachi’s God-given message. Malachi aimed to stir God’s apathetic people to seek His tender love and honor His majestic holiness. Malachi brought God’s words of judgm...

Lesson 27: Dedication and Renewal The leaders and the people knew that rebuilding Jerusalem was central to God’s future plans for His people. And accordingly, it was His intention for Jerusalem to ultimately be inhabited by those ready to reinstitute spiritual elements that all pointed to God's picture for redemption through the Messiah. It started with the re-building of the temple, then re-e...

In Nehemiah 9-10, the people read the Word of God and remembered the goodness of the Lord. Sometimes, we just don't realize how really good our lives are by God's gracious hand, because we're so busy thinking about what we don't have or how much more we still want. Instead of entitlement and dissatisfaction, God calls us to remember the very goodness of God's heart to us. In th...

BSF Lesson 25 Learning to notice what God is telling us through the Levitical Law and Festivals In most protestant churches, the eucharist is once a month. When the communion is not given explicitly, it is given implicitly with the pastor giving a altar call, which is the sacrifice of our Decision and Devotion in thanksgiving for Christ's ultimate sacrifice. So in this study, it's all abou...

Lesson 24 is called Encountering the Opposition because fighting and weathering the opposition is vital foramtive training and one of your most formative spiritual education. We grow the most and the fastest and with deeper understanding when facing opposition. It's so undesirable but so useful. And many Christians unfortunately don't face it head on, but have learn strategies to hide.......

The Call to the Wall Nehemiah 1-3 (lecture talk to accompany Lesson 23) In ancient times, the wall symbolized ordering governance. Without a wall, there was no way to structure a city and give it shape. Imagine your body without your outer skin to give you shape and order. A wall was often the place where city economic policy and direction was managed. Traders and commerce occurred by the dictates...

God preserves the Testimony of His Gospel that each one of us has to bear into the world.  Collectively, we bear the testimony of the faithfulness of God in building His Kingdom on this earth as He had promised even at the enormous resistance of the world’s empires, institutions, and people’s seeking to stop it from coming about. The overall aim of the lesson this week is this: Jesus Christ will e...

Click on the play button to begin the audio lecture. People of the Promise: Exile & Return Lesson 21 - The Promise of the Coming King, ZECHARIAH 9-11 God calls us to be leaders as stewards of His righteousness, but human leaders are egotistical, selfish, greedy, self-serving, and opportunistic. We care less for others than we care for ourselves and our tribe. False leadership has a trickle dow...

When faith becomes hollow — when practice replaces attentive devotion. Zechariah 7-8 In Zechariah 7, the leaders ask whether they should continue fasting — something they’ve faithfully done for decades. On the surface, it sounds commendable. Disciplined. Devout. Consistent. But instead of applauding their commitment, God asks a confronting question:  “Who was this really for?” Were these fasts abo...

BSF GLOBAL LECTURE Complete Resolution; Perfect Justice The final three visions and the symbolic coronation don’t just comfort—they confront. God shows His people that He sees sin clearly, that He will not coexist with evil forever, and that His rule will not be challenged indefinitely. These visions answer the unspoken fear: Does God really act, or does He just observe? What’s striking is how com...

Zechariah's Night Visions Part 1 covering Vision 1-5 Zechariah’s name means “God remembers” after the Hebrew word Zachar -which means to remember. God is not remembering something He forgot. It’s we who forgot. No, here, God is reassuring us that He has never forgotten His promises and is undertaking every detail of His plan to show us our Redeemer and our Rescue from the human condition of da...

Lesson 17: Zechariah: A Call to Return to the Lord Repentance is a attitude of humility and contriteness of heart to accept the truth that God says about our sinful condition, behavior, and ways. Without repentance, we cannot change. Repentance is an ongoing education about ourselves transforming us toward the likeness of the Messiah our Lord Jesus. The mind and heart of repentance depends on subm...

Lesson 16 Lecture: God is not our side project: Transforming Frustration to Focus Haggai 1-2 In Haggai, the the Prophet is telling the people they are not ready for what God has brought them back into the land for. It was not to have fine houses and fabulous lives. Their purpose was far greater than their creaturely comforts - they were getting Israel prepared for the prophetic fulfillment in the...

God's Grace Abundant Even as We Ignore It By God’s grace, sin’s deadly edict over God's people was reversed through the blood of Jesus Christ. God’s grace not only provides salvation for those who trust in Christ but also sustains them through this life and into eternity. The air we breathe, the guidance we experience, and the strength we need to live our lives all represent God’s undeserv...

Lesson 14: Esther 3-7. Spiritual subversions and God's Reversals In the Old Testament, we see satanic spirits in hiding behind disguises, as idols and enemies, working through surrogate pawns and puppets, rulers, nations, and empire systems, always acting to shape dark and ruinous cultures, and dehumanize and degrade people and their minds. One of the key identifiers of those who work against...

BSF Global Lecture provided by BSF HQ on Esther 1-2 Seeing all things within God's Providence and Sovereignty. People explain their lives in different ways. One of the most powerful differences in telling the story is when one includes God vs not including God. Remember that most of the Bible were written by God’s prophets. But here’s one of the few books not written by prophets but by an unkn...

Why does God use Marriage as a metaphor for a relationship with Him? When a good marriage is very good and shining. But when we enter into a sacred trust and life-alignment with those who do not love nor care for God, we can jeopardize our own faith. Does it really matter? Is it a big deal? What should be done? Those are the questions asked by the people who didn't think too deeply about this...

GIFTS TO BSF: Dear BSF Members, As we approach the end of the year, please remember BSF International in your end-of-year giving. BSF Headquarters is expanding and recently moved to a new location in Dallas right at the International Airport as part of addressing a greater need for deep Bible study training all around the world in multiple different languages. Even the smallest amount, goes a long...

(This lesson is a re-upload from last week which was deleted in error by the podcast manager) Lesson 9 - The Exile Ends and God’s People Return, EZRA 1 –2 Outline The Historical Context of Ezra The Return to Jerusalem – Ezra 1–2 God activates every detail within His sovereign plan. Focus Verse “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah,...

WHAT DOES WORSHIP MEAN TO YOU? In this lesson, we see the faithful people of God place worship above anything else they commit themselves to in rebuilding their lives on their return. The faithful know that looking to God through Worship and Praise must take precedence over the wrangling efforts that we make to build and secure life by our own strength and power. God is the Source and Purpose for...

In this lesson, Daniel receives prophecy regarding the immediate and distant future. He's lived through three different kingdoms rising and toppling: Israel, Babylon, and the Medo-Persians. He has seen his share of nation rising up against nation, the excesses of the rich and powerful and their unrepentant, haughty attitudes, and the dreaded feeling of not knowing what the point of it all real...

Here is Daniel, having lived through three different kingdoms rising and toppling: Israel, Babylon, and the Medo-Persians. He has seen his share of nation rising up against nation, the excesses of the rich and powerful and their unrepentant, haughty attitudes, and the dreaded feeling of not knowing what the point of it all really is. He’s around 85 years old, and have lived most of his life in a p...

Do our Prayers matter? In Revelations, we get repeated glimpses into the great value of our prayers which the elders hold in golden cisterns around the Throne of God. They bring instruments of praise in the other hand. With Praise and Prayer they enjoin in Worship in God's Presence (Rev 5:8). Prayer is an important aspect of Worship. Worship is a kind of mental framework of our mind and heart...

Can humans ever devise a social system that dignifies the value of all people, allow for their flourishing, and promote justice and righteousness in the way we interaction with one another? The lesson study for this week explains in more detail the hidden entrapments and aggressions of the world's most glorious empires in Nebuchadnezzar's dream of the towering statue. For 600 years before...