Evers Bible Class - A Gentle Ramble through the Bible

                                              2 Kings 15 and 2 Chron 26 and Amos   Amos: The "Not A Prophet" Amos isn’t a prophet--nobody in his family is a prophet--but the Lord takes him from Judah and sends him to Israel to proclaim the coming disasters about to overtake Israel, Judah, and all the surrounding nations.  As long as he speaks against Israel’s enemies he is welcome company, but as soon as he starts calling Israel out, he is quickly given the boot.  In this revealing class, we’ll look at the difference between the Lord’s grievances against the foreign nations and his grievances against Israel and Judah. We’ll think about what the Lord says he wants instead of sacrifices and praise songs. And we’ll consider the “plumb line” Amos saw. What might that be, and does it have significance for us today? A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                             2 Kings 14 and 2 Chron 25 and Jonah   Israel's on the Brink so God sends Jonah Israel gets Jeroboam version 2, and he's as bad as his namesake. You'd think the Lord would come down hard, right? The problem is--Israel's borders have shrunk so much it's in danger of disappearing altogether. So either the Lord will let Israel be wiped out or he'll have to let this wicked king be a victor in battle. What will the Lord choose? We know one thing for sure--the Lord's gonna send a prophet. And guess who it is this week? Jonah! Yay! This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Jonah is sent to both Jeroboam and to Assyria. Crazy! This week is a ton of fun. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube. More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                            2 Kings 11-13 and 2 Chron 23-24 and Joel   Here Come the Prophets--but no one listens Athaliah seizes power in Judah and kills all her own grandchildren. True story. She misses one though, due to some heroics by a gal named Jehosheba. That boy, Joash, eventually becomes king. He starts well but ends very poorly. Even Jesus calls him out 800 years later! We say goodbye to Elisha and hello to the books of the prophets. This takes to a whole new level of understanding Scripture. You don’t want to miss this. We start with the book of Joel. He introduces the concept of “The Day of the Lord” and provides a thumbnail sketch we can use as a template to understand all the rest of the prophets. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.   More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                           2 Kings 8-10 and 2 Chron 22   Jezebel Gets What's Coming to Her As do her son, the King of Judah, and her grandson, the King of Israel. It's a complete rout and lots of old prophecies get fulfilled--as the story says, "Not a word the Lord speaks falls to the ground." The thing is, though, those prophecies were like 12-14 years old. God told Elijah to do them, but he dies and apparently passes the work to Elisha, who then dawdles around before suddenly doing it all. Why is that? What does that say to us about how WE are to understand when and how to do what the Lord tells us to do? Here's the link to the TED talk about Liquid Lead that I reference during class.   A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.   More info at EversBibleClass.com .

                                          2 Kings 2, 6-7 and 2 Chron 21   Elijah Makes a Dramatic Exit Elijah goes out with a quite literal bang, and Elisha gets a double portion of his spirit (Elijah told him to be careful what he wished for!). Elisha gives the King of Aram fits in a hilarious story that results in the Arameans slinking away with their tails between their legs. Meanwhile in Judah, sixty years of being governed by relatively good kings comes to an abrupt end. The bloodlines of the royal families of Israel and Judah are joined, and we witness the beginning of the end of the nations. We don't do separate breakout groups this time. Instead we stay together and use our backpack tools to figure out why a crazy story about bald heads and bears is in the Bible. A free Study Guide is available. A video version of the class is available on YouTube.   More info at EversBibleClass.com .