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Study Guide
September 15- September 19
The biblical text abounds with a wide array of images of God. Both the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) and the New Testament include a variety of names for God. God is described, recognized, and even given human characteristics. As Christians, we find the most profound image and likeness of God in the incarnation – Jesus Christ. This study guide is designed to point you to various images and expressions used for representing God in the biblical text. This guide also points to the parables of Jesus – stories particularly designed to help us understand God through Jesus’ reference to the natural world and human relationships.
Monday, September 15 – What is God? In the book of Exodus, Moses is called, given instruction, guided and held accountable by God made manifest in specific images. Reading particularly through Exodus chapters 3, 13, 14, 33 and 34, how many different ways does Moses encounter God? What physical images are given to these encounters? What does God communicate to Moses through these images?
Tuesday – September 16 – Where is God? The activity of God is often represented in dramatic natural phenomena such as the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus 14:21; the cloud in II Chronicles 5:13-14; and the earthquake in Exodus 19:19 and Matthew 27:51. Yet, one of the most profound, and perhaps surprising, answers to the question, Where is God? appears as an expression of where God is not. Read I Kings 19:11-13. How would you answer the question: Where is God?
Wednesday – September 17 – Where is God? God’s own answer to this question is found in the naming of a newborn child. Matthew 1:21-23 restates God’s promise to be present among us. God’s presence becomes incarnate in Jesus Christ, uniquely divine and uniquely human. How do you experience God’s presence in and through Jesus Christ?
Thursday – September 18 – Who is God? Many references to human activity and relationships are used to teach us about God’s nature. Genesis 3:21 and Job 10:10-12 point to God as seamstress and clothier. In Isaiah 42:14, Deuteronomy 32:18 and Galatians 4:19 God is referred to as birthmother. Isaiah 49:15 and I Peter 2:23 image God as a nursing mother. God is midwife in Psalm 22:9. Have you ever thought of God in images such as these?
Friday – September 19 – What does God do? What does God expect of us? Jesus used parables to help us see God by comparing something we can see and touch with something we cannot see or touch. In the style of metaphor, Jesus used that which we can understand to teach us about that we have yet to understand. Consider the parables of the Samaritan (Luke 10:30-35), the banquet (Luke 14:15-24) and/or the sower (Luke 8:4-8). How do these parables answer the questions: What does God do? As those created in the image and likeness of God: What is expected of us?
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