Lesson 7.4

Jesus told His disciples that anyone who wished to follow Him would have to take up his own cross. Many of the early believers did just that, willingly following in their rabbi's footsteps even when it meant certain death. Count their cost as you ...

Lesson 8.4

As God's plan of deliverance from Egypt for the Israelites unfolded, He began their "basic training," cultivating for Himself a people marked by shalom through obedience to His kingship. The very route they took out of Egypt illustrates ...

Lesson 9.4

Over and over in the Bible, God used the image of fire to illustrate His power, holiness, and passionate love for His people. The fire on Mount Sinai when Moses received the Ten Commandments was just such a display of power, highlighting the holin...

Lesson 10.4

Interestingly, when God chose a person to lead His people out of Egypt by the power of His word, He chose Moses, a man with a speech impediment. In this lesson, consider the implications of allowing His strength to work in weakness as you discover...

Lesson 11.4

In the story of God making Himself known to His people, Passover is a foundational element. As the continuation of this redemptive process, the Lord's Supper finds its most profound meaning when taken in the context of Passover imagery. In this le...

Lesson 12.4

Some of the dangers in the desert are slow to develop: the build-up of scorching heat from the sun, the slow evaporation of streams, the depletion of food supplies. Others are more sudden; the flash floods of desert wadis can come out of nowhere, ...

Lesson 13.4

Of all the parables Jesus told, the one we call "The Prodigal Son" is possibly the most famous. In the story, a younger son demands his inheritance from his father and leaves the family behind, taking his riches to a far country. The imp...

Lesson 14.4

It was customary in the Roman world to consider the emperor a divine being. New emperors would claim this status because they believed that when the previous ruler died, he would ascend to heaven to be seated among the gods, making ...

15.4

At one point during his ministry, the Apostle Paul was at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. He was accused by some Jews of bringing a Gentile into the courts where only Jews were allowed. He hadn’t, but they thought he did and a riot started. W...

16.4

The Jews of Jesus’ day lived together as extended families, sharing the family resources. The task of the father was to use those resources to care for everyone who lived in “the father’s house,” as they called it – r...

Lesson 1.5

Lesson 2.5

Lesson 3.5

Lesson 4.5

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Lesson 5.5

Lesson 6.5

In ancient times, people craved words of counsel and knowledge from their gods. The city of Didyma in what is now modern-day Turkey functioned as one of three main oracles, places where ordinary people would travel to hear advice and predictions o...

Lesson 7.5

In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul wrote that the body of Christ is a unit made up of many parts and when one part suffers, the whole body suffers along with it. Are you aware of the suffering of brothers and sisters, both in your own ex...

Lesson 8.5

The themes of the exodus experience look forward to the good news of God's kingdom, which Jesus would later proclaim. In this lesson, journey beyond the Red Sea and into the desert with the Israelites as you explore the gospel in this context, cel...

Lesson 9.5

The covenant at Sinai is often thought of as a wedding between God and His people, between God and the bride He chose for Himself. This became the picture of God's redemptive plan for humankind, fully realized in Jesus' death and resurrection. In ...

Lesson 10.5

The blessings of a good land can often obscure the hard-learned lessons of the desert. In a sense, the real test for the Israelites came after they had crossed into the Promised Land, when their need for God was less obvious throughout daily life....

Lesson 11.5

The Passover Sedar employs four symbolic cups to help the Jews remember the miraculous ways that God delivered His people from the hand of Pharaoh. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked the Father to take away the cup placed before Him, a "...

Lesson 12.5

After their escape from the might of Egypt, the Israelites spent forty years wandering in the desert of Sinai. But were they really wandering? The Bible says that God led them like a flock, like sheep through the desert with a pillar of cloud by d...

Lesson 13.5

Throughout His ministry, Jesus' compassion for sinners and those considered unclean raised the eyebrows of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. God's word warned His people not to touch any unclean thing, and they could not understand why Je...

Lesson 14.5

After His resurrection, Jesus spent about 40 days with His followers in Jerusalem and back in the Galilee region, where they had received much of their training. He explained that after His ascension to heaven, He would send them a ...

Offering Definition

Something given to God to worship him. In the Old Testament, God's people offered food and animals to God. In the New Testament, Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice to God for us. Followers of Jesus serve God with their whole lives as an offering...

Oholah Definition

Nickname given by Ezekiel to the northern kingdom. It means "her tent" and probably refers to the Baal high places the northern kingdom built.

Oholibah Definition

Nickname given by Ezekiel to the southern kingdom. It means "tent worshiper," a reference to the Baal worship of Judah.

Olive Crusher

This olive installation is located at the modern-day city of Maresha in southern Judea. Its appearance and location in a cave are typical of ancient presses. Oil installations were commonly placed in caves because the more moderate temperatures im...

Olive Crusher Definition

The stone basin used to crush olives into pulp. A donkey pushed on a horizontal beam, which in turn rolled a millstone that crushed into a pulp ripe olives placed in a large, round basin. An olive crusher was often placed in a cave, where the mode...

Olive Grove

Olive trees rarely reach 20 feet high. This ancient tree, with is gnarled trunk, is still very productive after 100 or more years of bearing olives. The root system of olive trees spreads wide to obtain the necessary moisture in Israel's relativel...

Olive Oil

Olive oil was highly valued by the people of first-century Israel. They used it in food preparation and preservation, in medicine, and in cosmetics. Olive oil was also used to lubricate wheels and hinges. Its most important use, however, was proba...

Olive Oil (Olive Farming)

Olive oil was a significant part of the daily lives of the Israelites in the first century. It was eaten in or with other food, used for skin care, used to fuel lamps, taken as medicine, and widely used in trade. It may also have been used as a lu...

Olive Oil Processing

The cultivation and harvesting of olives was essential to Galilee's first-century economy. A community olive processing installation included an olive crusher, which cracked the olives in order to produce an initial flow of oil, and an olive press...

Olive Tree Imagery

The olive tree is one of the plants most frequently mentioned in the Bible. Scripture writers used olive tree imagery to describe Jesus' Jewish roots and the relationship of Jews and Gentiles.When an olive tree gets very old (often hundreds of yea...

Olive Trees

The olive tree is known for its beauty (Hosea 14:6) partially because its large ancient trunk often has the look of a productive past. Furthermore, one side of the tree's leaves are light green and the other, a much lighter green, give the leaves ...

Olives

This bowl contains both ripe and unripe olives. The green olives, pickled or salted, are an important part of the daily diet. The black ones may be salted or pickled for eating; or more likely, they may be crushed and pressed for oil.

Orchestra Definition

Large circular space in Greek theater used for chorus and actors.

Orthodox Triangle Area

Certainly not all people who lived in this fertile area were religious or even Jewish. But it is clear that most inhabitants of the sea's northwestern side were very religious;a fact supported by the many synagogues discovered there.Jesus conducte...

Ossuaries

Ossuaries Beginning shortly before Jesus' time, Jewish people began to practice reburials. After the flesh had decayed from the bones of a person who was buried, the bones were collected and placed in a small box, an ossuary, like the one shown he...

Our First Love

Called to Pursue Our First LoveAccording to Matthew 22:37-38, believers in Jesus the Messiah are to love the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind (strength). Yet, according to Romans 13:8-10, 1 John 2:9-11, 3:10-11, and other biblical passages...

Pagan Gods and Beliefs

Pagan GodsSurrounded by pagan neighbors, God's people often encountered people who worshiped other gods. Baal, Asherah, and other fertility gods played a significant role during Old Testament times.By Jesus' day, the baals were replaced by Greek a...

Paidagogos Definition

A slave attendant who accompanied students from wealthy families to school in order to tutor them in the lessons they received from the teacher in the gymnasium. (See Gal. 3:24).

Palace of a Great King

Palace of a Great KingTHE ASSYRIAN EMPIREAssyria, located in Mesopotamia near the Euphrates River, was one of the great empires of the ancient world. Its history parallels much of the Old Testament. Known for their ruthlessness in battle and horri...

Palaestra Definition

Courtyard of gymnasium used for exercise, wrestling, and boxing.

Palestine Definition

Name given to the Promised Land after the Second Jewish Revolt (AD 132-235). It is derived from the word Philistia and was used by the Romans to denigrate the Jews.

Palm Sunday

The Passover For the Jewish people, Passover was more than a religious observance. It was the time of year when they celebrated liberation from Egyptian bondage.During Jesus' time, they also used this opportunity to express their longing for polit...

Pan Definition

Greek and Roman god of the shepherds and goatherds, associated with fertility. Son of Hermes.' 

Parable Definition

A short story that is told to show how one thing is like another. Most of the parables in the Bible are stories used by Jesus. These parables teach us what the kingdom of God is like.