285.3: Boundaries (OT Gospel Doctrine Lesson 16, Study Notes)

“I Cannot Go Beyond the Word of the Lord”

 

This portion covers:

1. Scholarship
   1. Balaam in and out of the Bible (including a literary history of Balaam stories)
   2. Prophecy in the Ancient Near East
2. Study Notes
   1. Return to the reading
   2. Decision making and “hesitation”. Healthy and unhealthy hesitation.
   3. In order to act without hesitation, how can we be sure what God is telling us to do?

 

Recurring Donation:

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One Time Donation:

$25      $50      $100

 

Class Member Reading: Numbers 22; 23; 24; 25:1-3; 31:1-16

Additional Reading: 2 Peter 2:15-16; Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14

Other Reading: the rest of Numbers 25

 

Fiona Givens and Adam Fisher continue a valuable discussion.

 

You can access the Annotated Reading here (or PDF)

You can access the Lesson Notes here (or PDF)

 

Timeline

Lesson Part 2: Scholarship

0:00        Overview

1:15        Different Portrayals of Balaam

Lesson Part 3: Study Notes

11:20     Return to the reading
17:40     Acting without (or with) Hesitation
19:30     Deep Message Independent of Historicity

Discussion Part 2

23:23     Decision Making and Hesitation

35:41     How can we be certain?

38:40     Follow without Hesitation?

47:00     Prophets Inside and Out of the Church

 

Resources

Animal Minds, RadioLab

Oaks, Dating vs. Hanging Out

Oaks, Two Lines of Communication

Discerning the Spirit, one of my favorite Sunday School episodes

Recognizing the Spirit, Mormon Matters

Kugel, How to Read the Bible

McKenzie, How to Read the Bible (about genre)

Haidt, Happiness Hypothesis

Ariely, Are We in Control of Our Decisions? TED

 

Thanks to Nathan Jones for postproduction, and as always to Steven Nelson for the beautiful bumper music.