Oh I Get It!

Why did Absalom, who was totally two-faced, try to steal the people's hearts from his father King David?

Start by reading 2 Samuel 15:5

Absalom definitely told the people whatever they wanted to hear so they would like him, which is what being two-faced means. Worse than that, he used God's name when it was convenient for him, telling David he had to go to Hebron to "make good on a vow." What a liar. Read on, though, because Absalom got what he deserved in the end. And no matter how bad things got, David knew God was with him. That's the real point.

 

More To Get You Thinking

Followers of Christ in the New Testament were Christians, so were their churches like ours?

Start by reading Acts 11:19-30

The churches themselves were different: • They met in people’s homes. • They often had to meet in hiding. • Everyone in the group was involved; nobody just “went to church.” • Everyone shared their meals and stuff with each other. Just like in our churches, they came together to pray, worship and learn how to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole world.

Methuselah lived to be 969 years old? There is no way!

Start by reading Genesis 5

There are different ways to think about those impossibly old ages: 1. They might be different ways to say “he lived a very long life.” 2. The world was cleaner and fresher back then, so people could have stayed healthy longer. 3. Only the really godly guys are listed—maybe the ones God wanted to keep around longer. The important thing is that these men lived long enough to pass down all that they knew first-hand about God. There was no writing then, so what they told their kids and their kids’ kids was the start of this Bible.

Why did God let Satan do all sorts of stuff to Job when he was such a good guy?

Start by reading Job 1:6–12

Satan dared God to take away Job's perfect life. Satan was sure Job would then curse God. God knew Satan was going to lose that bet because he knew Job. Warning Satan not to kill Job, God let him mess up Job's life, but God won the bet. Job showed Satan up and showed us we can still love God even when life gets ugly and everyone else tells us we must have done something wrong to deserve it.

We have God, Jesus AND the Holy Spirit? That's confusing!

Start by reading Romans 8:1–17

Jesus told his disciples (and us) that they (and we) would never be alone. He, God, would come to them as a spirit, someone they would be able to feel inside, like the way we feel anger or happiness. The Holy Spirit: Helps us be strong. Helps us know what to pray about. Prays for us when we're too confused to do it ourselves. It's a three-in-one God-package.

When God called Gideon to lead Israel, Gideon was acting like a wimp. Why did God use him?

Start by reading Judges 6:15

Gideon reacted to God's call just like Moses did: "Why me? I can't do this!" God often calls on people we consider "wimps" to do his mighty work. These people with self-doubts had to listen to God and obey him because they didn't have plans of their own getting in the way. Full of God's power, Gideon brought down a false religion and then took out the Midianites with only 300 men, restoring peace to the land for 40 years. But he was so humble he wouldn't let the people make him king. Only the Lord was king, he said. And that's exactly why God chose him.