Creation To Christ- Week 11 Bible Study

Youth Devotional Creation to Christ- Week 11

©Tad Wychopen 2009 Day 1 Daily Reading: Joshua 1; Psalm 95 Let’s think of some of the things we have studied in this Creation to Christ series. 1.) What God says always comes true! 2.) God made man to rule and have dominion over the earth. 3.) Every man up to this point has sinned. 4.) The result of sin (disobedience to God’s commands) is death. 5.) A perfect lamb is needed as a sacrifice for sin. 6.) God told Adam and Eve that a “Promised One” would come to crush the head of Satan. Keep these things in mind as you continue this study. Do you remember what we last learned from the book of Numbers? We learned that the Children of Israel that left Egypt did not obey the Lord and enter the Promised Land. God told these people that they could not enter the Promised Land. In fact, they had to wander around in the wilderness for 40 years; only the children of those people would be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Moses could not enter the Promised Land because he disobeyed the Lord by striking the rock instead of speaking to it. Even though Moses was a great servant of the Lord, he was not able to enter the Promised Land of Canaan because of his willful disobedience. We will resume our study in Joshua 1. 1.) After Moses’ death, what did the Lord tell Joshua and the Children of Israel to do? (1:1-2) Who are the people in this passage that are about to enter the Promised Land? They are the children of the people that left Egypt and rejected the first opportunity to enter the Promise Land. Remember, God is faithful and He never changes! He always keeps His promises. He promised the Children of Israel that they would be able to enter the Promised Land. This promise is finally going to be fulfilled. 2.) What promise did God give to them in Joshua 1:5? 3.) In verse six, seven, and nine, God said, “Be strong and courageous.” What other command was given in verse 7? 4.) According to verse 8, what should a person do so God will make their way prosperous and give them success? 5.) According to verse 9, why should a follower of God not be afraid or worried? 6.) Read what Joshua says in verses 10-15. What was the response of the people in verse 16? 7.) According to verse 18, what would happen to a person that rebels against the commands of God? Only be strong and of good courage! When you completely trust God and fully obey His promises, then you can have complete strength and courage. Imagine that your teacher or your parent gives you a job with 10 tasks to accomplish. They want you to have everything accomplished by the time they return home from work. If you have completed all your tasks by the time that they return home, you have absolutely no reason to fear! When we completely follow the Word of God, we can have complete courage and can be strong and bold for God! The children of Israel were able to be the strongest and the most courageous when they fully obeyed the commands of God. Write down areas of your life where you struggle to obey and trust God completely. Day 2 Daily Reading: Joshua 6:1-27; Proverbs 12

God told the children of Israel to go into the Promised Land and conquer the nations in the land. God wanted the idolatrous people out of the land of Canaan. Some of the cities in Canaan were very well fortified. They could withstand an attack from a very strong army. The city that you will read about today is named Jericho. Jericho was a city built up on a hill with two huge walls that protected the city. The walls of Jericho were so big that there were houses built upon the walls! God did an amazing miracle so that the Children of Israel could conquer this city. Israel did not have the capability itself to conquer Jericho, but God supplied the plan and the ability to conquer this city. 1.) In Joshua 6:2-3, what did God tell Joshua and the children of Israel to do? 2.) On the seventh day, how many times were the people to march around the city? (Joshua 6:4) 3.) What would happen after the horns and trumpets were blown and the people shouted? (6:5) This is a strange strategy for an army! This seems crazy! No general would ever come up with a strategy such as this one. However, God can use whatever means necessary to accomplish His goal. Remember, God always keeps His promises. Even though God’s method may seem strange or hard to trust, we must always believe that God will keep His promise. 4.) Read verses 6-15. Up to this point, did the children of Israel obey God’s commands? 5.) What command did Joshua give to the people in verse 18-19? 6.) Did God’s plans work? (20-21) 7.) Look at verse 24. What did they do with the silver, gold, bronze, and iron? How could such a strange plan work? To the children of Israel, this city probably looked impossible to conquer. Man looks at things much differently than God does. God can use any method He wants to accomplish His goal. God has a plan for your life. You need to trust Him with all your heart, soul, and mind. No matter how hard things get, continue to trust God because His plan is perfect. To know that God can do the impossible, look up Matthew 17:20, Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37, and Luke 18:27. Day 3 Daily Reading: Joshua 7:1-26; Psalm 96 Have you ever been so excited and joyful one day, but then the next day you are completely sad, irritated, and tired? Joshua and the children of Israel had just experienced a HUGE victory over Jericho! They must have been so excited! However, sin can kill excitement and joy quicker than anything else can. Sin turns victory into immediate defeat. The children of Israel struggled with sin in their camp. Do you remember the punishment for sin? ______ If you don’t know, then you will at the end of this lesson. 1.) Read Joshua 6:18-19 and 7:1. What sin or trespass was committed against the Lord? At this point, Joshua did not know about the sin of Achan. The next city that the children of Israel were to conquer was Ai. Joshua did not consult the Lord before going to Ai, but instead told some men to look at the city to see what it was like. They assumed that they only needed a few thousand men to defeat Ai. 2.) Read Joshua 7:2-5. What happened to the children of Israel when they attacked Ai? 3.) After the defeat, what did Joshua do? (7:6-9) 4.) What was the response of the Lord to Joshua? (7:10-11) 5.) What did God want Joshua to do because of the sin? (7:12-15- Especially verse 15)

6.) When Joshua found out that Achan had sinned, he asked him to confess. What did Achan say that he did? (7:20-21) Notice the progression of sin. Achan first saw the things, then he coveted, then he took, and then hid the forbidden things. Achan was tempted and then he sinned by coveting. He sinned by stealing, and then he sinned by hiding and concealing the items. Achan was the main conspirator in this sin, but his family was also guilty. His family covered up the sin and guilt of Achan, and they did not tell others about this sin. Therefore, the family of Achan also had to bear the punishment of sin. 7.) According to Joshua 7:22-25, what was the punishment of Achan and his family’s sin? 8.) Read Joshua 7:26-8:2. What was the response of the Lord after Achan was punished? Achan only stole a few small things! It wasn’t as if he took everything in the city! There were still plenty of things for Joshua to put in the treasury of the Lord. --Can you imagine Achan and his family thinking this way? Often, people think this way about sin. We think that disobedience to God is not THAT big of a deal! Sometimes people think that they can sin and not deserve the punishment. Remember, the punishment of sin is death! God was completely just to have Achan killed. What sins do you allow into your life that you try to “justify” before God? Write them out or think of them and then ask the Lord to forgive you of your rebellion. Day 4 Daily Reading: Joshua 24:1-33; Proverbs 13 Through the Lord’s power, the children of Israel conquered Jericho and Ai. They continued through the Promised Land and conquered many of the other wicked cities. From Joshua 11:23, it is clear that God’s promise was fulfilled. God gave them their own nation and land. Joshua was a great leader for the children of Israel. In Joshua 23-24, we read some of the final words of Joshua to the children of Israel. From this chapter, we will see that Israel promised to obey God completely and only to worship Him! 1.) Joshua gathered the people together before God. In Joshua 24:2, on whose behalf did Joshua speak? 2.) In verses 2-5, Joshua recalls some of the history that is recorded from Genesis 11 to Exodus 15. Write down a few of the things that Joshua said the Lord did.

3.) Read Joshua 24:6-12. In these verses Joshua recalls some of the history of the children of Israel from Exodus 12 to Joshua 22. Write down a few of the things that God did for the children of Israel.

4.) List what the Lord gave to the children of Israel in verse 13. What God did for the children of Israel is astonishing. These accomplishments all came from the hand of God. God was very good and faithful to keep His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and all the children of Israel. What an awesome God! God was loving, giving, faithful, and forgiving to the children of Israel. 5.) In Joshua 24:14-15, Joshua gives the people a choice. What does he tell them to choose? 6.) Whom does Joshua say that he will serve?

7.) Whom did the people choose to serve? (24:16-19) 8.) What warning did Joshua give the people in verse 20? 9.) Read Joshua 24:21-24. Did the people promise to serve the Lord or to serve the foreign gods? After all that God did for the children of Israel, they understood that they should serve the Lord God! Turning to foreign gods would be complete foolishness. To worship an idol or statue would be as foolish as worshiping an umbrella! From Joshua 24:2-14, we see all that God did for the children of Israel. It would be foolish for us to want to worship another god or to ignore the commands of God. It is obvious that God ALWAYS keeps His promises. God’s Word ALWAYS comes true. Do you believe that? Tomorrow we will see if the children of Israel can keep their promise to serve only Jehovah God. Day 5 Daily Reading: Judges 2:7-23; Psalm 97 Some people really love studying history, but others think it is boring and has no importance for today. The truth is that history is very important. If we look back on history, we can see mistakes that others made and avoid doing the same thing. We can also look back in history to see how people did well and prospered. Let’s see how quickly the children of Israel forgot their own history. 1.) Read Judges 2:7-9. How old did Joshua live to be? 2.) Read Judges 2:10. The first generation that came into the Promised Land remembered the mighty works of the Lord. What happened after that generation died? 3.) What wicked sin did the children of Israel do according to Judges 2:11-13? The children of Israel did not remember the history of their ancestors. Joshua even wrote down the mighty works of God for people to remember (see Joshua 24:26), but the children of Israel still left Jehovah God. As the Lord had promised, if the children of Israel worshipped other gods, they would be punished. 4.) According to Judges 2:14-15, how did the Lord punish Israel? 5.) How did God show them that He still loved them and cared for them? (Read Judges 2:16) 6.) Did the children of Israel listen to and obey the judges that God provided? (Judges 2:17-18) 7.) When the judges died, what did the children of Israel do? (2:19) The children of Israel quickly forgot the magnificent history of their ancestors. They quickly forgot how good God was to them! When people love sin more than they love God, they will quickly try to remove God from their life. They will even try to remove God from their history! God was very good to the children of Israel, but they continually disobeyed Him! We can look back at the history of the children of Israel and learn from their mistakes. What have you learned from their history? Will you make the same mistakes and ignore God’s commands? Remember, God’s Word always comes true. God is faithful and He never changes. We can trust Him with our life! Day 6 Daily reading: Romans 5-6; Proverbs 14 Write a brief 2-3 sentence summary of Romans 5-6.

Day 7 Daily Reading: Psalm 98; Proverbs 15 Write down at least 2-3 sentences about what you learned from these passages. Add one sentence telling how you can personally apply today’s reading.