Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

Hosea was a prophet of Jehovah for 65 years. He was a prophet to the northern kingdom of Israel. Judah was the southern kingdom.  Israel, as a unified nation, split into two parts after Solomon's son Rehoboam, became king.  The capital of Israel was Samaria and they built their own temple so that they did not have to travel to Jerusalem to worship, as God commanded.  Israel at that time had their own ideas about worship, that did not align with the revealed will of God. They worshiped Baal instead of Jehovah, and fell into idolatry and immorality.  It is worth noting that out of all Israel's kings in the historical narratives (Kings and  Chronicles) that there was not one good king. The Bible records that all the northern kings were evil ones. Politically, Israel was stable with no pressing enemies and the economy was fairly prosperous.  Historically, such conditions lead a people to spiritual complacency and living independently of God, as the case is in o...

The prayer of Jesus Christ, our High Priest.  John 17:1-2  These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:  2)  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.  John 17 brings us to the longest prayer of Jesus that is recorded in the Bible. This  prayer follows Christ's careful teaching of His disciples, found in John 13-16. This prayer of Jesus falls into 3 sections.  In John 17:1-5 Jesus prays to the Father for His own needs. In John17:6-19, Jesus prayed for His disciples. In John 17:20-26, Jesus prayed for all believers of all generations.   "These words" refers to Jesus teaching in the previous chapters. When His example of demonstrating servant leadership (foot washing) and all of His teaching was complete, Jesus was ready to pray.  From the troubles of earth and time, ...

I will continue to post an occasional reminder as to where you can find the index to the archived lessons from the inception of this Bible study blog. The index for years 2019, 2020, and 2021 was posted September 7, 2022.  The index for 2022 was posted on January 24, 2023. The index will show you what topic or series of lessons we studied, along with the dates they were posted. You simply click on the Archive tab, find the month and year, and then search for the lesson. God has been so good to us, blessing our efforts to share His truth with other people. The Father said His word would not return void. We must sow the good seed of God's Word, and trust Him for the results. God has propelled this Bible study blog into more than 140 nations and we just passed 150,000 total views. This is all of God and He receives all honor and glory for these milestones.  I hope that each of you are richly blessed as you read God's Word in each post. Please remember to share these pos...

The prophet Daniel figures prominently in "eschatology" , the study of end times. He was carried off into Babylonian captivity in the first wave of deportees, that also included his Hebrew companions.  He was a contemporary of the prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It is noteworthy that the Bible contains no negative references to Daniel. Joseph is the only other Biblical character of whom no negative things are recorded.  The prophet Ezekiel mentions Daniel three times as separated from evil and dedicated to Jehovah (See Ezekiel 14:14; 14:20; 28:3). The overall theme of Daniel is the providence of God in history. God's purposes have always been moving forward unhindered.  God's providence oversees all that happens as He works all things out according to His perfect plan.  A corollary to this theme is that God saves people because that reflects who He is. He is not willing that any person should die in their sins. He wants all people to be saved (2 Peter ...