What shows that God's word had been neglected at some time?
What did the king do when he learned that a new book of God's word existed?
What did the king do after he heard what the book said? What was the king's emotional state?
After listening to the book, who did the king believe was the source of the message?
Do you think that Josiah knew how to read?
What concerned him about the message?
What did the king do to verify that the contents of the book were from God, and that the message applied to the king and his people?
Did God intend to keep the promises and threats he wrote in the book?
What words of comfort were given to the king?
What attitude of the king did God find honorable?
How did the common people find out the message of the book?
Was the Bible available to the average Jew in Israel at this time?
What was the response of the people to the message of the book?
Who did the king and the people make an agreement (covenent) with?
What events in the life of this king show how this book affected him?
Why do you think that the king ordered the worship of idols to be removed from the temple?
When Josiah ordered the Jews to celebrate the Passover, what did he use to determine how it was celebrated? Had previous kings done what Josiah did?
Was God pleased or displeased with Josiah's attitude?
From God's summary of Josiah's life (23:25), do you think that Josiah viewed the Law of Moses as simply a collection of
rituals, or did he believe that it was it designed to affect the core of who a person is and how he relates to God?
Read: Acts 2:42-47
Who provided much of the teaching in the early days of the church?
How often did the Christians spend time together?
How did the apostle's teaching, and their time together, affect the lives of the Christians?
Read: Acts 10:1-7, 23-48
Cornelius was likely a Roman. Would the Jews normally have considered a Roman to be acceptable to God?
What showed Cornelius' faith in God?
What showed that God liked what he saw in Cornelius?
How did Cornelius act when he first met Peter?
Why had Cornelius gathered a group of people together?
What was Cornelius' attitude toward the word of God?
What did Peter say were key things that God looks for in people?
Who was the main subject of Peter's message to the crowd?
What was Peter's attitude about the reliability of the Jewish prophets?
How did God show his acceptance of Cornelius' faith? Did the Jews expect this?
Read: Acts 8:26-40
How was the Ethiopian official spending his time during a long journey?
Was he understanding what he was reading?
How did the eunuch find out what the Bible said?
What role did God play in this process of Bible study? What does that indicate about God's desire for us to understand his message, and his willingness to aid us?
From the fact that the Spirit sent Philip to the eunuch, and the timing of their meeting, what attitudes toward learning does God seem to respect in the eunuch?
Who did Philip talk about? Was that related to what the eunuch was studying?
What was the eunuch's attitude when he learned about Jesus?
Read: Acts 17:10-12
How often were the Bereans studying their Bible?
What were the Berean's attitude toward someone who taught God's word?
Did the Bereans blindly accept anything that Paul said?
What did the Bereans use to validate Paul's message? If they had found a conflict, which one do you think they would have accepted as being correct?
Were the Bereans criticised for not trusting an apostle?
Read: Jeremiah 36:1-32
What was the source of Jeremiah's message?
What was the God's purpose in informing people about what he was going to do?
Who physically wrote the message on the scroll?
Why did Jeremiah refuse to personally deliver the message?
Who initially heard the message from the scroll?
How did the officials initially respond to the message?
Did the king listen to the message?
How did the king respond when he heard the message?
What does vs. 24 indicate that the proper response should have been?
What type of influence did the king have over the people who were his close attendents?
How successful was the king in destroying the word of God?
How did God react to the king's response to his message?
What does this section tell you about how parts of the Bible came to be recorded?
From this example, what should we avoid in our Bible study?