We started in Beersheva and then made our way to the east to Tel Arad, which is located in the eastern Negev. Its location is strategically located on the route which led to both Sinai and Transjordan. Tel Arad was the site of a Canaanite city from the early Bronze Age. The city was a as large as 10 hectares at its peak. The Israelites occupied the site during the Iron Age, building a fortress on the northern portion of the city. Within the fortress, the excavators found a Judahite temple (a cultic site) with two standing stones and two incense altars. The fortress and the lower city both have water systems to collect rain water run off.
tel Arad – the Israelite fortresstel Arad – the rampart and glacisWall structurecasemate walls of tel Arad fortressJudahite temple – standing stones/incense altartsJudahite temple – evidence of cultic worshipFortress – tel Aradruins tel Aradview of the lower city from fortress at tel Aradview of lower city and surrounding area from tel Aradtel Arad
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Every time I go back to Israel, I get comments and questions, e.g. Is it safe? Aren’t you afraid? Why would you want to go to Israel? The questions are legitimate. Israel is situated in an area of the world in which there always seems to be a conflict occurring or at least one brewing. It has been that way since the Israelites came into the land more than 3,000 years ago. But I digress.
Going to Israel is essential, in my opinion, to knowing God better and more experientially. It is not a substitute for daily study of the scriptures, but rather it enhances and enriches the devotional life of the student of the Word. This is true whether you are a Jew or a Christian–Protestant or Catholic. Coming to the land where most of the events in your Bible took place changes how you see God, how you experience Him. For the Christian it is also important in coming to a better understanding of the Jews, their customs, their culture and their faith.
In Israel, it is possible to stand where Jesus stood–on the Southern Steps of the Temple mount or perhaps in the synagogue in Magdala. One can see where Elijah challenged the prophets of Ba’al near Mt. Carmel or over look the valley where David took on Goliath or visit the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the lame man. So much of the history of God’s people can be anchored to physical geography of the land of Israel, i.e. the feasts, the worship, the battles, the births, and even the deaths.
But the most significant thing about the land of Israel of me is the close presence of God. God hovers over Jerusalem. Despite the religious diversity, the tension, the rituals, the shrines, and all manner of religiosity, God set His name upon and made promises about Jerusalem. He cannot lie, and so the land emanates the fragrance of God. That is what draws me back–and the chance to learn even more about Him and His people, and the chance to draw ever closer to Him.
It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page.
Read Acts Chapter 3
1.What facts about Yeshua does Peter recite in his sermon in the following verses?
Acts 3:13
Acts 3:14
Acts 3:15
Acts 3:16
Acts 3:18
2. How does Peter respond in Acts 3:12-26?
3. Copy Exodus 3:6. What is the connection Peter is making?
4. Copy Isaiah 52:13-15. What is the connection Peter wants them to make by quoting Isaiah 52:13?
5. What do you learn from the following verses?
Isaiah 50:6
Isaiah 53:4-6
Daniel 9:26
6. What exhortations does he give the people in Acts 3:19-20?
7. What prophecy about Yeshua does Peter refer to in Acts 3:20-21?
8. What does Peter say of Moshe in Acts 3:22?
9. Copy Deuteronomy 18:15-17 here. Meditate on this. Can you identify the prophet of whom Moses is speaking?
10. What does Peter tell them in Acts 3:24?
11. What truth does Peter remind them of in Acts 3:25?
12. What do you learn from the following passages?
Genesis 12:1-3
Genesis 22:18
Genesis 26:4
Genesis 28:14
13. Copy Acts 3:26 here. Meditate on this. What is the response of your heart when you read that Yeshua was sent by the Father to bless us by turning us back from our wickedness? Ask the Father to open your understanding to the significance of this in your life and the lives of those believers around you.
It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page.
Read Acts Chapter 3
1. Where were Peter and John going in Acts 3? At what time?
Going deeper: When is the 9th hour? What would have been going on at the temple at that time?
2. Why would they be at the Temple at that time?
Going deeper: Where in the temple complex was the Beautiful gate located?
3. Who was being carried according to Acts 3:2? Why?
4. What does the lame man ask of Peter and John in Acts 3:3?
5. What do Peter and John say to him in John 3:4?
6. How does the man respond in Acts 3:5? Why?
7. What does Peter say to him in Acts 3:6?
8. What happens in Acts 3:7-8?
9. What is the reaction of the people who saw him in Acts 3:9-10?
Prayer prompt: Review Acts 3:1-10. For 10 minutes, meditate on the images from the story, the place–Herod’s Temple. The people, Peter, John, the lame man, and the crowd at the temple complex. What do you see? How are these events impacting people witnessing them? For the next 10 minutes, reflect on the lame man. What is his life as a beggar? What would he be thinking about Peter and John? What might he have been expecting from them? How would the healing have changed his life? His ideas about God? As you think through this, how does your soul react? Does it believe God is capable of such miracles? Do you believe God is doing this type of miracle today? What healing do you need in your life? Do you believe God wants to do that work? How does your heart feel? Tell God the healing you desire. Listen to what He says.
It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page.
As we celebrate Christmas, we are celebrating the coming of Jesus. But Jesus, the child born in the manger, the man nailed to a cross and risen from the dead, already came. So whose coming are we anticipating?
What do the following scriptures tell us about the story of Jesus yet to come?
Colossians 3:4
What will you do with Jesus? Will you set up your fine nativity, place the baby Jesus in sit back and watch His angelic face vaguely staring back at you?
What will you do with Jesus this year, will you put Him in a box gently wrapped in tissue paper on the highest shelf atop?
Take Jesus out of storage. Praise Him as the King of Kings! Pay homage at the manager and with the angels sing “Hallelujah! Hallelujah! He is Emmanuel! God who dwelt among us Your worship He compels.
For who else can offer eternal life? Who can break the seven seals? Who can pay the sin offering for all mankind with blood shed sacrificially?
We’ve all a debt for sin we owe. The wages for sin is death. Jesus is the way, the truth, the life. There is no other way.
What will you do with Jesus the babe who in the manager lay? His salvation is with in your grasp the ransom has been paid.
Just believe on Him, that He is the Son of God and that He died upon the cross the lamb unblemished by one sin
for you He paid the price. He bought our wretched, sinful souls in exchange His righteousness.
The baby Jesus is not an ornament, an accessory to your manger scene. He is the promised Messiah. The Prophets told of Him. Isaiah said, “Unto us a Child is born,” seven hundred years before His name would be “Emmanuel” His kingdom without end.
God has had this plan for you a life He wants to give not the fading, temporal kind that rots with death and sin but life with Him eternal reigning with Him in His realm.
What will you do with Jesus this year? Will you take the life He gives or will you settle for dear Santa and his busy little elves?
Merry Christmas!
May the love of Christ be poured out on your family this Christmas. May the God of all Creation reveal His glory to you that you might enjoy the comfort and security of knowing how much He loves and cares about every detail of your life.
Consider Emmanuel–God with us. Compare this name for God to the names of God from the Old Testament and record your observations. El Roi Jehovah Shalom Jehovah Rapha Elohim Adonai
Read Matthew 1
Note all the names that you recognize in the genealogy of Christ. Make a note of what you know about them.
What does Joseph learn about Mary? What is his initial response? Why?
What prophecy is given to Joseph in Matthew 1:18? Who delivers it?
Consider Joseph. What would it feel like to find your fiancee is already pregnant and you have never been intimate with her? What would it take for you to be on board with God’s plan? Sometimes God asks us to trust Him–He doesn’t always send angels to convince us. Have you ever had a situation when God wanted you to believe Him and disregard everything and everyone else? Explain.
It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page.
Read Luke 1:39-80 1. Who does Mary go to visit? What happens when she gets there?
2. What prophetic statement does Elizabeth make about the baby Mary is carrying?
3. Verses 46 to 55 of Luke 1 are often referred to as the Magnificat (also known as Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary) What strikes you in this section of scripture?
4. How does Zechariah come to speak again? What is the first thing he says?
5. What does Zechariah say in his prophecy about the Coming One (Messiah)?
6. Imagine that you were Mary, a young woman somewhere between the ages of 14 and 18 living in a small town with your parents. You are visited by an angel and told that you will have a child who sit on the throne of David, fulfilling all the prophecies of Messiah. What would you be thinking? Feeling? Consider the favor shown to Mary. The favor shown to you, a child of God, is much greater than even that shown to Mary. How does that impact you as you prepare for Christmas?
7. Read Luke 1:39-56. Verses 46-55 are known as The Magnificat, and they represent some of what Mary was feeling spoken out in praise to her God. Write out your pray of praise to God for all that He has done for you in and through Christmas.
It is our desire to help you grow in your knowledge of Adonai and His Word. If you are looking for additional information and/or materials, please visit our website at RootedinHisWord.org and our Facebook page.
Rooted and Grounded 