First Day
Read the Lesson 18 Notes
Second Day
Read Romans 11:1-6
Romans 11:1-6
[1] So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? [3] “Lord, they have killed your prophets; they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life!” [4] But what was the divine response to him? “I have kept for myself 7,000 people who have not bent the knee to Baal.”
[5] So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. [6] And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (NET)
Question 3a
Acts 9:1-19
[1] Meanwhile Saul, still breathing out threats to murder the Lord’s disciples, went to the high priest [2] and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, either men or women, he could bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. [3] As he was going along, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. [4] He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” [5] So he said, “Who are you, Lord?” He replied, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting! [6] But stand up and enter the city, and you will be told what you must do.” [7] (Now the men who were traveling with him stood there speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.) [8] So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, he could see nothing. Leading him by the hand, his companions brought him into Damascus. [9] For three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything.
[10] Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias,” and he replied, “Here I am, Lord.” [11] Then the Lord told him, “Get up and go to the street called ‘Straight,’ and at Judas’ house look for a man from Tarsus named Saul. For he is praying, [12] and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and place his hands on him so that he may see again.” [13] But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, [14] and here he has authority from the chief priests to imprison all who call on your name!” [15] But the Lord said to him, “Go, because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles and kings and the people of Israel. [16] For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” [17] So Ananias departed and entered the house, placed his hands on Saul and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” [18] Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
[19] and after taking some food, his strength returned.For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, (NET)
Question 3b
1 Kings 19:1-18
[1] Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, including a detailed account of how he killed all the prophets with the sword. [2] Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this warning, “May the gods judge me severely if by this time tomorrow I do not take your life as you did theirs!”
[3] Elijah was afraid, so he got up and fled for his life to Beer Sheba in Judah. He left his servant there, [4] while he went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He went and sat down under a shrub and asked the Lord to take his life: “I’ve had enough! Now, O Lord, take my life. After all, I’m no better than my ancestors.” [5] He stretched out and fell asleep under the shrub. Suddenly an angelic messenger touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” [6] He looked and right there by his head was a cake baking on hot coals and a jug of water. He ate and drank and then slept some more. [7] The angel of the Lord came back again, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, for otherwise you won’t be able to make the journey.” [8] So he got up and ate and drank. That meal gave him the strength to travel 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
[9] He went into a cave there and spent the night. Suddenly the Lord’s message came to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” [10] He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal to the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, even though the Israelites have abandoned the covenant they made with you, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.”
[11] The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord. Look, the Lord is ready to pass by.”A very powerful wind went before the Lord, digging into the mountain and causing landslides, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the windstorm there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. [12] After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a soft whisper. [13] When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his robe and went out and stood at the entrance to the cave. Suddenly a voice asked him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” [14] He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal to the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, even though the Israelites have abandoned the covenant they made with you, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” [15] The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came and then head for the wilderness of Damascus. Go and anoint Hazael king over Syria. [16] You must anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to take your place as prophet. [17] Jehu will kill anyone who escapes Hazael’s sword, and Elisha will kill anyone who escapes Jehu’s sword. [18] I still have left in Israel 7,000 followers who have not bowed their knees to Baal or kissed the images of him.” (NET)
Question 5
Romans 9:15-16
[15] For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” [16] So then, it does not depend on human desire or exertion, but on God who shows mercy. (NET)
Third Day
Read Romans 11:7-10
Romans 11:7-10
[7] What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The rest were hardened,
[8] as it is written,“God gave them a spirit of stupor,eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very day.”
[9] And David says,“Let their table become a snare and trap,a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
[10] let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,and make their backs bend continually.” (NET)
Question 6
Romans 9:31-33
[31] but Israel even though pursuing a law of righteousness did not attain it. [32] Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but (as if it were possible) by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,
[33] just as it is written, “Look, I am laying in Zion a stone that will cause people to stumbleand a rock that will make them fall, yet the one who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (NET)
Fourth Day
Read Romans 11:11-24
Romans 11:11-24
[11] I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous. [12] Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration bring?
[13] Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, [14] if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. [15] For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? [16] If the first portion of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches.
[17] Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in the richness of the olive root, [18] do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. [19] Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” [20] Granted! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! [21] For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. [22] Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God—harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. [23] And even they—if they do not continue in their unbelief—will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. [24] For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree? (NET)
Fifth Day
Read Romans 11:25-32
Romans 11:25-32
[25] For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
[26] And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
[27] And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
[28] In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. [29] For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. [30] Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, [31] so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. [32] For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all. (NET)
Question 12b
Isaiah 27:9
[9] So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: They will make all the stones of the altars like crushed limestone,and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. (NET)
Isaiah 59:20-21
[20] “A protector comes to Zion,to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,” says the Lord.
[21] “As for me, this is my promise to them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” says the Lord. (NET)
Jeremiah 31:33-34
[33] “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land,” says the Lord. “I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
[34] “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.” (NET)
Zechariah 12:10
[10] “I will pour out on the kingship of David and the population of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication so that they will look to me, the one they have pierced. They will lament for him as one laments for an only son, and there will be a bitter cry for him like the bitter cry for a firstborn. (NET)
Zechariah 13:1
[1] “In that day there will be a fountain opened up for the dynasty of David and the people of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity. (NET)
Sixth Day
Review Romans 11:1-32
Romans 11:1-32
[1] So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? [3] “Lord, they have killed your prophets; they have demolished your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life!” [4] But what was the divine response to him? “I have kept for myself 7,000 people who have not bent the knee to Baal.”
[5] So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. [6] And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. [7] What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The rest were hardened,
[8] as it is written,“God gave them a spirit of stupor,eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very day.”
[9] And David says,“Let their table become a snare and trap,a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
[10] let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,and make their backs bend continually.”
[11] I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous. [12] Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration bring?
[13] Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, [14] if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. [15] For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? [16] If the first portion of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches.
[17] Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in the richness of the olive root, [18] do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. [19] Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” [20] Granted! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear! [21] For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. [22] Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God—harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. [23] And even they—if they do not continue in their unbelief—will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. [24] For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree?
[25] For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
[26] And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
[27] And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
[28] In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. [29] For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. [30] Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, [31] so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. [32] For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all. (NET)