Homeschool Bible Study

I love my kids and I want them to love Jesus and God's Word. For so very many reasons.

This year, my teenager is getting a lot of my focus for Bible study because in a couple of short years he will be on his own and I want him to have a great foundation!

I wrote this Bible study for him this morning  to do this week. Maybe you will find it helpful:

Prophetic Words

11/16/15 Dalyn Weller

Day 1

Read Ezekiel 13: 1-10

Israel had utterly turned away from Yahweh and was doing everything He had instructed them NOT to do. God gives us boundaries and guidelines for our protection, and the protection of others. He is not whimsical and He is not arbitrary. He is precise and He is methodical and purposeful. The instructions He gave them, and those He gives us are for our own good. We also live in wicked and dangerous times, just like the Hebrews. The Israelites faced the danger of a powerful and ruthless enemy as a wake-up call to repent from their sins. The Chaldeans (Babylonians)were an unglodly nation bent on the destruction of all other nations in order to dominate their world. Ezekiel was called by God to proclaim a warning of future events should they continue to ignore His call to repent from their sins and idol worship: : “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant” (verses 9-10).

God, in great love and kindness  sent prophets to warn the Israelites. Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Habakkuk,Nahum, Daniel, Zephaniah all were called by God during the same generation to warn His people of their sin and the consequences, and call them to repentance so He could relent from their destruction. If they wouldn’t listen, He would have to destroy them and rebuild them, as He had had to do with His people before. Remember if you have a thorough knowledge of the Bible you can see that life works in cycles- our generations are not linear. We have been given similar warnings in the Bible- not the least of which is the book of Revelation.

Day 2

Read Ezekial 13:16-23

As you can see the warnings that God had assigned His prophets to give the people were being rejected in favor of the soft and comforting messages of the many false prophets. This passage of Ezekiel is God’s warning to the false prophets themselves.

What does He say to the false prophets?

All of the warnings were largely ignored by the general public against their sin because there were so many trusted “counselors” giving them “feel good” messages. The false prophets themselves  even believed their own prophesies for good over the prophets that God has chosen. They were deceived by their own hearts into believing God had spoken through them. They believed their own nonsense. But God had a specific message for them too. Because they convinced the people of things God never said, He said He was against them.

He sent Ezekiel to deliver this message. Ezekiel was not a popular guy among His people. He gave up a lot to be a servant of Elohim.

Read Ezekiel 11:114, 13:2, Micah 2:6,

25 men were named by the Lord as giving the people “wicked counsel”. I don’t know about you, but that gives me the shivers. I don’t want to be on a list like that! I don’t want God to write something like that about me in His books.

The Lord does keep books of records in Heaven. It’s my belief that He likes to keep positive ones. However, His conversation in Ezekiel 11 plainly tells us He had a list of names of men who were leading others astray.

Look up:

Malachi 3:16, Exodus 32:32, Psalm 56:8

Day 3

Why is it important to really know that what you believe to be a prophetic word is really from the Lord?

Look up Ezekiel 14:10- what does it say?

Jeremiah, a contemporary of Ezekiel, as noted before, also received warning messages to give to the many false advisors.

Jeremiah 23:15
Therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says concerning the prophets: "I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water, because from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has spread throughout the land."

1 Kings 22:8

2 Chronicles 18:7

While we know God does speak to His children, (John 10:27)there are guidelines for being as sure as you are able that you are not being a false prophet.

Ask yourself some questions before you share what you think you might have heard the Lord say to you, especially if you believe the message if for someone else.

1. Is there active sin in my life that I need to repent of? Because if there is, I’m not a clean vessel for God to use. I’m not likely to hear a clear message from God if I’m actively participating in sin.
   Ezekiel 14:3
   "Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all?
   God didn’t even want them to inquire of Him for prophesies when they were in sin!
   
   
2. Does what I’m hearing line up with scripture? If it doesn’t it’s not from God. There are 3 primary voices we can hear: God’s, our own self, and satan.
   God doesn’t lie and He doesn’t contradict His written word: look up Psalm 138:2 and record it below:
   
   
   
   
   Satan lies and comes to kill, steal and destroy.
   Our own self talk can be a lie as well we know.  Jer.17:9 says: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
   
   
3. Am I willing to wait and have God confirm it?
   God often uses His written word, a word from someone else (through a sermon or Bibles study teacher, or many others) through circumstances and even dreams and visions.
   
   
4. Does it line up with God’s character? He hates sin. God will never instruct someone to sin. For instance people have said they were sure God wanted them to be happy and gave them permission to divorce their spouse. Some have even believed that God told them their true love was someone else’s spouse.
   "The man who hates and divorces his wife," says the LORD, the God of Israel, "does violence to the one he should protect," says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful. Malachi 2:16
   
   

John 10:4
When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.
John 10:14
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--
John 10:16
I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd

Day 4

Look up the following verses:

John 10:4,8,16

John 5:25

John 8:43

Matthew 17:5

Acts 3:23

Hebrews 3:7 Why

Amos 17:5

Revelation 3:20

John 10:3,14

Matthew 7:23

Matthew 25:12

We see clearly that God speaks to His people. We also see clearly that sometimes people either think God is speaking to them when He isn’t or they are liars. We need to be discerning about what we hear and what we think it means, and who it is for. We need to know God’s word and His character very well.

The prophet Habakkuk loved God dearly. His name means” hugger of God, clinger, embracer of God” One who is Gripping God extremely. He believed God was embracing him that tightly too, that’s why he had the courage to prophesy the “burden” God showed him even though it made him very unpopular. All of the prophets God called to rebuke the people were persecuted. People don’t like to hear hard things.

Whatever God may speak to us, or assign to us, we must be prepared to embrace. Because we know He loves us and He loves others. He calls us to love and says we will be known by our love. Sometimes the most loving thing to do for someone is warn them of danger. Warn them of sin and error, so they can repent. These aren’t popular words in the American cultural church. But they are biblical and that’s what we need to value and believe above all else. We must guard our hearts for our sakes as well as the sake of others. If our hearts can be deceived we must remember someone else’s heart can be too. Even people we love and trust. God’s word is the final authority, but if we don’t know what it says we will be led astray, and possibly lead others astray. We want to avoid that at all costs.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

Look up 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20

We see prophesies are real. God has ordained them, we are not to despise them. So the key is to respect them, but test them.

What are your thoughts? Please summarize in at least 2 paragraphs what you have learned from this study.

Lord, please protect me (and others) from saying things that are not true about You and Your nature. Guard my mouth from speaking things in Your name that You have not really spoken. If You do give me a word to speak, whether it be a word of encouragement, warning, or instruction, let me be bold to speak truth no matter what others may think.

In the powerful Name of Jesus, Amen.