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Let's Get Started!
Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
– Deuteronomy 8:1-2 (NIV) |
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Session One: The Way of the Essenes |
About 150 years before the birth of Jesus, some of God’s people – the Essenes – established a community in the Judea Wilderness near the northwest end of the Dead Sea, known as Qumran. This lesson will focus on the role the Essenes played in God’s great story of redemption and show how the desert is the perfect place for God’s people (including us today) to learn to be his people.
In the desert, the diversions of a comfortable lifestyle fade into silence, and God’s powerful whisper can be heard. In the desert, we can survive — and even thrive — but only by God’s faithful provision. In the desert, we learn that it is better to be in the arms of God during tough circumstances than to rest in paradise and forget about him. In the desert, the influence of gods of our own making lose their power, and we are drawn into intimate relationship with the one true God.
Writers of the ancient Hebrew text frequently used the words for “walk” and “path” to describe a person’s relationship with God, as in “walk in the path.” If you’re a Bible Gateway Plus member (if you’re not, learn more), you’ll see, according to the NIV First-Century Bible how Isaiah 40:3 is a precursor to Mark 1:3 describing the work of John the Baptist.
Let’s dive into the study |
What to Expect • Get your Downloads 
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Welcome to this Bible Gateway Online Bible Study (OBS)! We’ll walk you through each week step-by-step and you'll get an email from us every Monday. If you're using the companion Discovery Guide, you'll maximize your learning with the personal lessons provided for each session.
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This Week in Your Study
1. Watch the Session One Video, "The Way of the Essenes"
The study dates are March 9 – April 12. A new video will release each Monday of Lent in the preceding five weeks leading to Easter. Watch the Session One teaching with Ray either on DVD or here on Bible Gateway and take notes in your Discovery Guide on pages 15-31.
**This video will only be available free online until March 15!
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2. Personal Study
Enjoy your personal study this week on pages 32-72 of your Discovery Guide.
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Prayer for the Week |
Heavenly Father, the Essenes’ commitment to the Scriptures is astounding. They left comfortable lives to live in difficult conditions in order to copy, study, interpret, and seek to obey your Word and prepare the way for the coming of Messiah. Their devotion to your ways and words are an example to us all. Just as the Essenes had a role in preparing the way for the Messiah because they obediently lived for you, may we be fully committed to walking your path so that we can fulfill our role in your unfolding story of redemption. Amen.
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