Umi Direction Bible Study Guide

The Umi Direction Bible study guide makes following Jesus even easier. They help you dig deeper in Scripture, ask powerful questions – and answer them. With this tool, you’ll be able to reach others with the power of God’s word in a way you never thought possible. The Umi Direction Bible Study Guide is a comprehensive and easy-to-use guide to studying the Bible, which has been designed for groups or individuals looking to delve deeper into the Word of God. The guide helps you get started with your study by giving you a basic understanding of what it means to study the Bible, why we do it, and why it’s important.

The guide then walks you through the process of choosing what part of the Bible you would like to study, how to go about doing so, and how to interpret what you find there. This section also contains some basic information on how to use this guide. After that, the guide breaks down each book of the Bible into chapters and verses so that you can easily find what you are looking for. There are also two appendices: one with an explanation of how this guide was created and another that lists some helpful resources for further study.

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Umi Direction Bible Study Guide

 Lesson Verses:

       John 12:44-50 (NRSV)
44Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me.
45And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.
46I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.
47I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge,
49For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak.
50And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

       John 12:44-50 (NKJV)
44Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me.
45And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me.
46I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.
47And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
48He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him–the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
49For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak.
50And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

       Background

Jesus gives His farewell sermon to the Jewish people six days before the Passover.  Jesus had returned to Bethany, where He had performed one of the greatest miracles: raising Lazarus from the death.  The chief priests had deep-seated issues with Jesus and because of that miracle.  Too many people had come to a believing faith in Jesus.  The Pharisees plotted to kill Jesus (John 11:45-48).  

Jesus laments over the unbelief in the land.  The people had witnessed Jesus perform countless miracles, yet they persisted in unbelief.  There were those who believed Jesus but would not confess their belief because of fear of the Pharisees; they loved the praises of men rather than God (John 12:42).  Jesus mourns within Himself over the rejection of the words He has spoken and their ultimate rejection of God.  He commends those that accept the light that He bears, and the redemption provided to them because they believe (John 12:44).

       Next Week Lesson:  24 July 2022

Conquering the Ultimate Enemy
(The Word Resurrects the Dead)

John 11:17-27, 38-44

Background: John 11:17-44

Devotional Reading: John 3:18-21

Daily Bible Readings

Monday: – Awake, O Dead, and Sing! – Isaiah 26:12-19
Tuesday: – The Dead Shall Be Raised – 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Wednesday: – In Christ, All Are Made Alive – 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Thursday: – Wake Up! – Daniel 12:1-4
Friday: – The Dead Will Hear Christ’s Voice – John 5:25-29
Saturday: – Jesus Travels to Lazarus
 – John 11:1, 3-16
Sunday: – The Raising of Lazarus – John 11:17-27, 38-44

umi sunday school lessons for adults

The Song of Moses
(Song of Deliverance)
Deuteronomy 32:3-6,10-14, 18
Background: Deuteronomy 31:30-32:47
Devotional Reading: Exodus 14:21-31

Keep in Mind
“he said to them: “Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you today; give them as a command to your children, so that they may diligently observe all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 32:46, NRSV)

Lesson Aim:

RECALL ways that the Lord had blessed His people;
IDENTIFY ways people can honor God as the source of provision; and
COMPOSE a personal song of thankfulness to the Lord

INTRODUCTION:

As the book of Deuteronomy draws to an end, Israel’s leader, Moses, was on the verge of death.  As a result of the impending change of leadership, Moses spoke publicly for the final time.  The result is several smaller speeches and songs (found in Deuteronomy 29:2-33:29) that serve as the dramatic conclusion to Moses’ ministry.

At first Moses reminded the Israelites. to remember and accept the stipulations of God’s covenant (Deuteronomy 29-30).  This covenant was based on God’s love for His people and their responding love and commitment to Him (see 4:37-40; 5:2-3; 6:5-6; 7:9; 11:1; 13:4).  A failure to adhere to God’s requirements would result in dramatic negative consequences for Israel (see 28:15-68).  In addition, Moses’ speech included a statement on his successor (31:1-8), a recitation of the law (31:9- 13), and a prediction of the future (31`:14-29).

In the midst of Moses’ speeches, he presented a song for the people (Deuteronomy 31:30-32:43).  The song is reminiscent of psalms that celebrate the people’s relationship with God (examples: Psalms 78; 105; 106).  Just as the psalms were meant for singing, so was this song of Moses (Deuteronomy 31:19, 21-22). 

The three divisions of the song speak to the scope of the Israelites’ relationship with God. God’s loyalty is contrasted with their sinfulness (Deuteronomy 32:1-14).  As a result, negative consequences are certain (32:15-35).  However, forgiveness, healing, and protection can still be attained (32:3 6-43).

God’s Faithfulness (Deuteronomy 32:3-6, NRSV)

3For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!
4The Rock, his work is perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God, without deceit, just and upright is he;
5yet his degenerate children have dealt falsely with him, a perverse and crooked generation.
6Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?

We know that Moses was sure that his song would serve its teaching purpose by producing fruit because he said, “I will publish the name of the LORD.”  In Scripture, the word name when used of God refers to all the attributes and characteristics that make up His Person.  When Jesus declared that He had manifested the Father’s name to His disciples (see John 17:6), He meant that He had revealed the Father’s nature (see John 14:9).  Therefore, Moses was using this song to proclaim God’s attributes.  Then he urged others to join him saying “ascribe ye greatness unto our God,” which has the idea of strength and magnificence.  To “ascribe…greatness” to God didn’t mean to think of Him as great in a hypothetical sense, but to recognize His “greatness” as having already been shown (see Deuteronomy 3:24; 5:24; 9:26; 11:2-7). 

“He is the Rock.”  What a history there is in this thought.  God is our Rock, the Rock of our salvation.  How wonderful to have an anchor in Him, when through our own personal problems, the billows threaten to overwhelm us.  Yet they cannot reach the throne of God nor change the settled purposes of His love when we are anchored to the Rock of Ages.  His work is perfect; He is a God of truth, just and right.  But what are the people who had acknowledged His name?  Moses uncovered their true nature and referred to them as being corrupt, perverse, crooked, foolish and unwise.  Their failure and need for discipline was expressed here by Moses.

To bring this more forcibly to them, Moses reminded them of what God was and had been to the nation.  He was their Father, and in His love had chosen them to be His people.  Moses told them to keep in remembrance their history and the wonderful providence of God.

God’s Goodness (Deuteronomy 32:10-14, NRSV)

10He sustained him in a desert land, in a howling wilderness waste; he shielded him, cared for him, guarded him as the apple of his eye.
11As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young; as it spreads its wings, takes them up, and bears them aloft on its pinions,
12the LORD alone guided him; no foreign god was with him.
13He set him atop the heights of the land and fed him with produce of the field; he nursed him with honey from the crags, with oil from flinty rock;
14curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs and rams; Bashan bulls and goats, together with the choicest wheat— you drank fine wine from the blood of grapes.

God led His people around in the wilderness and He instructed or taught them His laws.  He kept or protected them like “the apple of his eye.”  This refers to the pupil of one’s eye.  Just as the pupil of the eye is most important and closely guarded against harm, in the same way God protected Israel as if they were the pupil in His eye (see Psalms 17:8-9; Zechariah 2:8-9).  Describing Israel this way showed just how important they were to the LORD.

Still describing how the Father protected His people, Moses likened God’s care for Israel to the care “an eagle” shows for her young.  In essence, he said that God is like an eagle when she makes her young leave the nest to fly.  She stays close to them, ready to help, and spreads her wings to catch them when they fall, and carries them to a safe place; and so does the LORD for his people!  By using this imagery of an eagle teaching her young to fly, Moses’ song emphasized both God’s protection and guidance of His people.  The LORD had brought them out of Egypt and was now ready to send them out on their own into the Promised Land.

God had carried His people out of Egypt, led them into the wilderness, and now for forty years He had led them through it.  Therefore, Moses could confidently say “So the LORD alone did lead him.”  God didn’t need any assistance, nor did He take anyone to be partners with Him in this achievement.  This was a good reason why they should serve the LORD only, and no one or nothing else.  In addition, Moses said “and there was no strange god with him.”  In other words, God had “no strange god” or idol with Him to help with Israel’s deliverance, and therefore, there should be no one or nothing to share Israel’s honor and adoration for the LORD (see Psalms 81:9).

Moses’ song seems to speak about Israel’s future after they entered Canaan.  The phrase “He made him ride on the high places of the earth” could refer to the glorious victories they would have over their enemies and afterwards enjoy the safety of the high places” (see Isaiah 58:14) where they could “eat the increase of the fields” in peace.  The last part of this verse says, “and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock,” most likely refers to the abundance and satisfaction the land would provide for God’s people.  He promised to bring them into “a land flowing with milk and honey” see Exodus 13:5), a land full of agricultural blessings (see Deuteronomy 8:7-9).

Moses continued his song focusing more on the abundance of food the people would have in the land.  The livestock would produce enough milk to make butter and even cheese (see II Samuel 17:29).  God would provide His people with the best sheep, lambs, goats and rams from Bashan which was known for having the best rams.  It is believed that Bashan was located east of the Jordan River (see Deuteronomy 4:47).  God would also bless His people with the best wheat.

In a sense this portion of Scripture is what Israel owes to God.  From the very beginning of their existence God had set His watchfulness upon them.  He had guided the history of all other nations in a manner suited to their welfare, making them and their development the historic center of the ancient world.  God found them poor, wandering in the wilderness, formed them into a people—His own people—and at last brought them to the promised land.

Peoples’ Apostasy (Deuteronomy 32:18, NRSV)

18You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Our final verse says “Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.”  Again, speaking as if the children of Israel had already entered the Promised Land and were unfaithful to God, Moses said “Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.”  What a great affront this was to Jehovah their God!  Even after being faithful to His people by keeping His word to bring them into the Promised Land with all of its blessings, the people still found it easy to be “unmindful” or not to think about God.  Moses said that they had even “forgotten God that formed thee.”  Being reminded of God would prevent sin, but when the world is served and the flesh indulged, God is “forgotten,” and can anything be lower and more unworthy than to forget the God that is the author of our being by whom we exist and in whom we live and move (see Acts 17:28)?  Of course, there is not!  Being “unmindful” and forgetting God can lead to only one thing: “the day of grief and of desperate sorrow” (see Isaiah 17:10-11).  Israel would later learn this lesson.

Jewish people have always given an important place to music in their public worship just as Christians have.  For Jews, music has provided an emotional outlet for their praise to God.  It enables them to recall words to the long Scripture passages that were sung in the temple.  In addition, the message sung is seldom forgotten, so the music would continue to go through the minds of both singers and hearers for a long time to come, bringing the words of God to mind.  The song of Moses was intended for those reasons just as spiritual songs are today.  God commanded Moses to write the song (see Deuteronomy 31:19).  He was to teach it to the children of Israel because a song would tend to remain in their minds after God’s commandments had been forgotten.  Moses’ song was intended to remind the Israelites of God’s faithfulness and to call them back to their covenant commitments.  Our music today should serve the same purposes.

Lesson in Our Society

1.    When we are consumed with difficulties, we should recognize that God’s greatness is unlimited, and we should turn to Him before we do anything else (Deuteronomy 32:3).

2.    God always renders just judgment to everyone because He possesses the attributes of truth and justice (Deuteronomy 32:4).

3.    When believers stray from God, His concern for them is like the concern of a father for his children (Deuteronomy 32:5-6; Psalms 103:13-14).

4.    God’s people are so important to Him that He proves His faithfulness every time He cares for and protects His own just like an eagle cares for and protects her own (Deuteronomy 32:10-12).

5.    As believers, after God has truly blessed us, the worst thing we can do is forget about Him and all He has done for us (Deuteronomy 32:13-14, 18).

How to study the bible study guide

Begin your study with prayer

No matter when or where you study, it is always a good idea to begin your study with sincere prayer. Start by addressing God. Then ask Him for wisdom and understanding as you read. Ask for specific guidance to your life. When you’re done, end your prayer “in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.” Praying before we study shows God that we are humble and want His help and direction.

You don’t have to start at the beginning

The Bible is a very long book, but you can start nearly anywhere. For example, if you want to learn about Jesus, you can start with the gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—found in the New Testament. Or choose another person or a specific topic to study.

Choose a topic relevant to you

Is there a topic you’re curious about? Grace, repentance, forgiveness, or strength during trials? Look up specific verses on any topic you choose and study each of them. You can also start with the resources found on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, which list common topics and related scripture verses. You can then use the linked words to expand your study.

Get to know a character

Choose a character or group of people in the Bible and read every verse you can find about them. Try to understand the context of each verse. Ask yourself questions to help you get to know them better, such as: How does this person know Jesus? What is their relationship? What do I have in common with this person? What can I learn from their life?

Write down what you learn

Don’t forget the things you’ve learned from the Bible or the things that the Holy Spirit teaches you through your study. Use a journal or notebook to keep track of the insights you pick up as you read. The more respect we show for the things we learn, the more God will want to share with us.

Listen to the Bible online

Sometimes we all need a change of pace to help us see (or hear) from a different perspective. Consider listening to the Bible as you drive, exercise, or do chores around your home. A recorded reading of the Bible is available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. You can read or listen there and access helpful study guides. You can also download the Gospel Library mobile app that includes the Bible, plus a lot more.

Read or share with someone else

Family members and friends can enhance your study. We identify different meanings as we read the Bible from our unique point of view. When you have questions, you can discuss together. You can share verses with each other that are especially meaningful. You might even post what you’re learning on social media, and ask other’s ideas. If you’re looking for someone to study with, our missionaries are always available to study the Bible with you. 

Look up what you don’t understand

Chances are that as you study the Bible, you’ll come across terms that are confusing or that you simply don’t understand. Don’t hesitate to search the meaning of a particular word or phrase, or even a whole parable. The internet is home to millions of other people studying the Bible and many experts who can help your study.

Pause and listen

It is important to search and study the word of God, but it is equally important to slow down, quiet your mind, and listen. When we give ourselves time to meditate after studying the Bible, God can enlighten our minds through His Holy Spirit.  

Don’t get discouraged

Learning from the Bible is a lifelong pursuit. God is pleased with any effort we put forth to learn from His words, no matter how much we understand (or don’t understand) as we read. Greater understanding will come with time and consistent study.  

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