Old Testament 150 Reading Challenge week 20

Old Testament 150 Reading Challenge 5 May 2014 to 28th November 2014 Week 20: Bible Reading Plan and Discussion Starters

Welcome to The Salvation Army's Challenge to read
150 popular chapters from the Old Testament within 7 months,

reading just 5 chapters per week.  

 

Monday, September 15 , 2014 --- Esther 4 --- Mordecai tells Esther about Haman’s evil plan  

-        v1, do you think Mordecai regretted not paying honour to Haman now that he saw the conseq uences? …or do you think his thoughts turned to God and how these things could be allowed to happen?

 

-        v8, why do you think Mordecai came up with this plan to try and save the Jews rather than simply rely on God to save them?

 

-        v14, 'for such a time as this'...do we ever consider that God may have placed us in the situation we are presently in, in order to fulfil a specific part of his plan?  

 

Tuesday, September 16 , 2014 --- Esther 5 --- Queen Esther invites the King and Haman to a banquet  

-        v1-8, why do you think Esther asked the King and Haman to yet another banquet rather than take the opportunity to tell the King her concerns at this time?

-        v9, why do you think Mordecai did not even rise as Haman passed by? Was this considerate of all other Jews? Or was there a higher principle at stake? 

 

Wednesday, September 17 , 2014 --- Esther 6 --- King Xerxes honours Mordecai according to Haman’s suggestion!  

-        V10, the King is evidently aware that Mordecai is a Jew, do you think this is why he phrased his question in such a way to Haman in v6  

 

Thursday, September 18 , 2014 --- Esther 7 --- Haman is identified as the villain by Queen Esther  

-        Good triumphed over evil in this story, and the wicked were judged. But throughout history we can see that it doesn’t always seem to end this way does it?...Do you believe that justice will eventually be implemented by the perfect Judge?  

 

Friday, September 19 , 2014 --- Esther 8 --- The Jews overcome their enemies  

-        V16-17, the Jews seem to have been better off at the end of the story than they were at the start, and good has arisen out of what was a potential disaster. What other examples can you think of when God brought a good outcome from a bad situation?...what can we learn from this and apply to our own lives?