The BibleProject is a non profit animation studio that produces short-form, fully animated Bible videos and other Bible resources to make the biblical story accessible to everyone, everywhere. They create 100% free Bible videos, podcasts, and Bible resources to help people experience the story of the Bible.
In this season of distant learning it is important to include BIBLE LEARNING. Each week we will upload a weekly bible study. It will include a video from the catalog of The Bible Project, a message from Pastor Rob Bennett and other guests, bible readings, prayer and discussion questions.
- Set aside time to watch the 15 minute Bible Study presentation
- Download the bible readings and discussion questions
- Throughout the week spend time reading the bible entries and answer the questions. (feel free to discuss the questions with family and friends)
CURRENT LESSON
Ahavah (Love)
QUESTION 1
The video talked about Yahweh’s love being both a feeling and an action. How do you feel when you think about the fact that God feels love toward you? Name a few specific ways God has acted out his love for you.
DEUTERONOMY 4:32-40 NAS
32 “Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? 34 Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him. 36 Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. 39 Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
“Here Moses asks the Israelites what other deity has done something like what Yahweh did for Israel. Yahweh rescued them out of slavery in Egypt and then gave them his own divine wisdom and justice in the laws of the Torah. Why did he do it? The passage makes it clear that it is because Yahweh loved Israel’s ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Question 1
No other power can rescue like Yahweh, but we can sometimes forget this. We can then try to remedy painful feelings or hard situations apart from Yahweh. Do you find yourself doing this? What are some practical ways you can commit to rely on Yahweh instead?
Question 2
God loves us because it’s central to who he is. But we can struggle to really believe this. Why do you think that is? What would it look like to receive and respond to his love instead? Take a moment to remember that God loves you and the people around you. Pray for new strength to receive and respond to his love.
DEUTERONOMY 10:12-22NAS
12 “Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it. 15 Yet on your fathers did the Lord set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, even you above all peoples, as it is this day. 16 So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. 17 For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. 18 He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. 19 So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name. 21 He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Moses agrees that Israel exists because of Yahweh’s love for Israel’s ancestors. But this time he concludes that because Israel’s rescue from Egypt was an act of Yahweh’s love, the most consistent way to return love for Yahweh would be to turn one’s affection to the orphans, widows, and immigrants in the community. Do you see the mirror effect? Yahweh’s love is Exodus-shaped in Deuteronomy. In other words, it is an active love expressed toward the oppressed and hurting. So Israel’s love for God and neighbor is also meant to reflect that same pattern.
Question 1
Orphans, widows, and immigrants have a couple things in common. They are loved by God but are usually unloved by their neighbors. Do you know someone specific in your community who might be overlooked or unloved by those around them? Take a moment to think about how much God loves them. What is a practical way you can step outside of your comfort zone to reflect God’s love to them this week?