Wilderness In The Bible

The Book of Numbers is a story of identity, wilderness, and God. Numbers continues the historical narrative begun in Exodus, the story of God's people newly freed from Egypt's shackles and wandering toward the promised land. While Numbers accounts for the next 39 years of their wilderness wandering, it's also a story of God's presence among His beloved. Even when they rebelled--and this book tells of many rebellions--God's love and promises remained. It's in that love and those promises the children of Israel found their identity and where we must find ours today. (7 sessions) Features: Leader helps to guide questions and discussions within small groups Personal study segments to complete between 7 weeks of group sessions Interactive teaching videos, approximately 15 minutes per session, for purchase or rent Benefits: Leverage Old Testament truths for your life today. Recognize God's faithfulness in keeping His promises. Discover your identity as His beloved even in seasons of wilderness wandering.

Wilderness in many parts of the globe is under considerable threat from human development. This has important ramifications not only for fauna and flora but also for human well-being. Wilderness in the Bible addresses this ecological crisis from a biblical and theological perspective. It first establishes the context of a biblical study of wilderness and then passes to an analysis of the attitudes towards in the canonical biblical record. This provides the biblical basis for the development of a theology of wilderness for the twenty-first century. The Australian wilderness is taken as an illuminating case study.

From Moses to Jesus, so many heroes of the Bible had to endure some type of wilderness season in their life, a time of testing that was painful to endure but ultimately brought glory to God. In Wilderness Skills for Women, rising author/speaker Marian Jordan sees the same thing happening today as she and her friends still find themselves going through periods of isolation, temptation, sorrow, and waiting. Whether it’s relationship drama, the constant pull of our sinful nature, a health issue, or any variety of unmet dreams, Jordan turns readers to God’s Word as the ultimate wilderness survival guide. Conversational and self-deprecatingly confessional in her delivery, this young writer finds ways to have fun with delicate subject matters, using wilderness analogies to great effect in chapters titled "Drink Plenty of Water," "Seek Shelter," and "Don’t Eat the Red Berries."

How should Christian readers of scripture hold appropriate and constructive tensions between exegetical, critical, hermeneutical, and theological concerns? This book seeks to develop the current lively discussion of theological hermeneutics by taking an extended test case, the book of Numbers, and seeing what it means in practice to hold all these concerns together. In the process the book attempts to reconceive the genre of "commentary" by combining focused attention to the details of the text with particular engagement with theological and hermeneutical concerns arising in and through the interpretive work. The book focuses on the main narrative elements of Numbers 11–25, although other passages are included (Numbers 5, 6, 33). With its mix of genres and its challenging theological perspectives, Numbers offers a range of difficult cases for traditional Christian hermeneutics. Briggs argues that the Christian practice of reading scripture requires engagement with broad theological concerns, and brings into his discussion Frei, Auerbach, Barth, Ricoeur, Volf, and many other biblical scholars. The book highlights several key formational theological questions to which Numbers provides illuminating answers: What is the significance and nature of trust in God? How does holiness (mediated in Numbers through the priesthood) challenge and redefine our sense of what is right, or "fair"? To what extent is it helpful to conceptualize life with God as a journey through a wilderness, of whatever sort? Finally, short of whatever promised land we may be, what is the context and role of blessing?

'The Bible is not a sterile Book immaculately conceived in some sort of mystical, holy vacuum. Though God is the ultimate Author, He used human writers as His instruments. And to interpret properly His Word we must enter their world. The bleating of sheep on barren hills, the mournful wail of a ram's horn trumpet on the temple steps, the harsh clang of sword hitting sword in epic battle hang like tapestries in the background of every page.' - Excerpt from A Voice in the Wilderness. Life's struggles can make us feel as if we're wandering in the desert, thirsty for hope and healing. Using Isaiah 40 as a backdrop, best-selling author Charles Dyer takes us on a journey through ancient Judea for a vivid reminder that others before us have known suffering - and, just as God was present for them in their pain, He will walk with us through our wilderness.

A 7-session in-depth study for teen girls on the Book of Numbers.

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