{"id":766718,"date":"2016-07-24T00:57:46","date_gmt":"2016-07-24T04:57:46","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-23T19:03:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T23:03:28","slug":"bible-study-proper-12-c-2016","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-proper-12-c-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Proper 12 (C) &#8211; 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hosea 1:2-10<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These verses from the first chapter of Hosea present an affronted YHWH who seems at once both vindictive and indecisive. Israel has betrayed God, the people of the divided kingdoms have broken their covenant promise to worship YHWH alone. Consequences will follow: God\u2019s punishment is coming, God\u2019s pity and forgiveness are ending, and God\u2019s people are disowned. YHWH alone speaks in these verses, and in YHWH\u2019s words we hear hurt, anger, and perhaps most dramatically, the pain of estrangement. Despite the betrayals, despite Israel\u2019s unfaithfulness, God cannot help but to do what God does \u2013 peace-making, saving, and reconciling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The marriage metaphor employed here may be both illuminating and confusing \u2013 the extreme power difference&nbsp;between the husband (Hosea, representing God) and the wife (Gomer, representing God\u2019s people) is disturbing for those who understand marriage as an equal partnership. Yet in the Ancient Near Eastern context, Israel\u2019s lack of faithfulness impacted YHWH\u2019s status and reputation relative to other deities, just as a wife\u2019s behavior would have been perceived to impact her husband\u2019s prominence and honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Is there anything we can do to separate ourselves fully and permanently from God\u2019s love?&nbsp; And what does that answer say about the nature of God?<\/li><li>What meaning(s) might we draw from the marriage metaphor by focusing alternately on the characters of Hosea and Gomer?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Psalm 85<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Phrases from Psalm 85 are among the most well-known of all Psalmody; the language of restoration, peace, and righteousness comforts and reassures today\u2019s audience just as it did in its Ancient Near Eastern context. The different verb tenses employed by the Psalmist throughout these 13 verses speak to a profound eschatological vision. God\u2019s people rejoice at having been restored and forgiven, even as they anticipate fulfillment of prophecy and promised salvation. The Psalmist\u2019s duty, as declared in vs. 8, is to listen to God \u2013 not only through the stories and prophecies of the past, but through the movements and miracles of the present day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>How might we understand ourselves to be living in an eschatological \u201cin between\u201d time, and what is our role\/responsibility as God\u2019s people in such a time?<\/li><li>The entreaties of vs. 5 and 6 are spoken with confidence.&nbsp; Do we have this kind of faithful trust in God\u2019s promises?&nbsp; If not, how might we cultivate it?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These verses from the second chapter of Paul\u2019s letter to the Colossians might sound to our ears like an artfully-worded early Christian version of that popular 1970s slogan \u201cKeep on keepin\u2019 on.\u201d&nbsp; Paul describes the path of discipleship as a flourishing plant, with its roots in the reality of the Gospel Truth that Jesus Christ is Lord and messiah.&nbsp; Thanksgiving is the fruit Christ\u2019s disciples bear as they continually grow in faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Paul\u2019s concern here is that some church members may be lured away from the path of discipleship by false teachings \u2013 promises that someone or something other than Jesus of Nazareth represents a complete manifestation of God among humanity. Paul reminds his readers of the singular uniqueness of Jesus as the Christ, the only one who saves humanity from its own evils and liberates his followers from the accusations and oppressions of all earthly systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What are the false teachings and traditions that deceive American Christians generally and the people in our faith communities&nbsp;today?<\/li><li>Does Paul\u2019s language of being \u2018taken captive,\u2019 and of earthly captors being \u2018disarmed\u2019 by Jesus, erase or minimize our human agency? What is our responsibility and our duty regarding our own faithful conduct?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Luke 11:1-13<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The unnamed disciple comes to Jesus with a simple yet profound request \u2013 \u201cLord, teach us to pray.\u201d &nbsp;This request implies deep trust and a recognition that this teacher\u2019s instruction is uniquely precious and imbued with holiness.&nbsp; Jesus responds by offering to his disciples (and to us) that perfect prayer that is so familiar, having been recorded in the Gospels and included in our historic liturgies.&nbsp; He also articulates a link between prayer and persistence, a link which may challenge us to think differently about the practice and purpose of prayer. God will not give us snakes or scorpions, but neither do we always receive that thing for which we have asked. Jesus uses a parent\/child metaphor to help the disciples understand his message about asking, searching, and knocking. The greatest gift we can hope to receive, the gift God provides to those who pray with persistence and faithfulness, is the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Do we actually understand the words of the Lord\u2019s Prayer, words that we know by heart?&nbsp; What is \u201cour daily bread?\u201d &nbsp;Do we really \u201cforgive everyone indebted to us?\u201d &nbsp;And what is \u201cthe time of trial?\u201d<\/li><li>Verses 9 and 10 are often cited as reassurance that God will give us whatever we desire, as long as we pray hard enough.&nbsp; But how does the rest of the parent\/child gift-giving metaphor inform our understanding of this prayerful asking and receiving?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Bible-Study-English-Proper-12C-2016.pdf\"><strong>Bible-Study-English-Proper-12C-2016<\/strong><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.episcopalchurch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Bible-Study-English-Proper-12C-2016.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button\" download>Download<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hosea 1:2-10 These verses from the first chapter of Hosea present an affronted YHWH who seems at once both vindictive and indecisive. Israel has betrayed God, the people of the divided kingdoms have broken their covenant promise to worship YHWH alone. Consequences will follow: God\u2019s punishment is coming, God\u2019s pity and forgiveness are ending, and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,52,33,3],"tags":[334],"class_list":["post-766718","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-12c"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":334,"label":"Proper 12C"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":952094,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766718\/revisions\/952094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}