Bible Study Weekend

“Digging deeper into the man David!”

Friday 28th May—Sunday 30th May

Have you heard of the Biblical character, David? As a child you may have heard the exciting story of young David fighting with the giant, Goliath. Do you remember it? A young shepherd boy fought against the 3 metre giant clad in heavy armour, with a sword, spear and javelin. David only had a sling, and 5 smooth stones in his shepherd’s bag. Even if you don’t know the story, you can guess who won! With God’s help, David achieved what was completely impossible, and killed Goliath with a single stone.

Perhaps you know that this man David was a shepherd when he was young, who played the harp and wrote many songs (in the book of Psalms in the Bible) including a famous Psalm “The Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23).

David was a godly man, who became king over the nation of Israel about 3,000 years ago. When David was young, the existing king, Saul, was jealous of David’s popularity. He tried to kill him on a number of occasions. If God had not protected him, David would have been in danger of death many times before he became king.

What a wonderful man this David was—such a godly character, and with so many exciting events (good and bad) in his life! Now is the time to learn more about David, and to dig deeper into his character. In doing this, you can learn more about pleasing God in your life. Come along and join us for this Bible study weekend from Friday May 28 to Sunday May 30 at the Bible Education Centre.

Program for the weekend (God willing)

Friday 28th May

8:00pm Introductory talk: “I have found David”

This talk is to be followed by a light supper and some games for those who enjoy playing games, or chatting together if you prefer.

Saturday 29th May

5:00pm Talk: “Facing your giants”

6:30pm Dinner

8:00pm Talk: “Consistency and love for the Lord”

Supper and a time to chat follows the talk.

Sunday 30th May

9:30am service: “I did it before the Lord!”

11:00am Morning tea

11:30am New Life Class: “Forgiveness and peace”

1:00pm Lunch

Did you know?

• David is described as a man after God’s own heart.
• One of David’s sons was Solomon, who was famous for his great wisdom.
• God promised David that one of his descendants would reign as king for ever.
• Jesus is a direct descendant of king David.
• Jesus will reign as king forever on this earth when he returns to earth from heaven.

Ancient winepresses found in Israel

Information for this article is taken from www.BibleWalks.com and is used with permission.

Wine production was a popular industry in the Holy Land. Many winepresses are found in Biblical places and ancient sites. The Bible has dozens of references to wine, wine making and winepresses. The first reference in the Bible is to Noah, who planted a vineyard shortly after the flood and drank of the wine. (Genesis 9:21-22).

Initially the winepresses were small and installed in the fields near the vineyards, normally cut into the local stone. Later, some of the villages grew around the winepresses, and even became cities bearing the name of the winepress. The number of winepresses increased considerably during the Roman/Byzantine period. Hundreds of winepresses are found in the fields, villages and the cities of the Holy Land. Most of the vineyards and winepresses were located in the hills of the lower and upper Galilee, the Golan, the Sharon and the hills of Judea.

One of the reasons for the large demand was due to the Roman Legionnaires stationed in Israel. It is estimated that each Roman soldier consumed a litre per day. The wine has medical advantages - killing bacteria and making the drinking water safer. The wine was often diluted with an equal portion of water, and used as their drinking water, keeping the soldiers healthy (and happy). To supply this demand the wine was produced in a short period of a month or so, producing a low alcohol (4%) sour wine.

The typical ancient winepress consists of the following elements:

• Collection Area - where the grapes are brought from the vineyard- normally a large flat area near the winepress.
• Treading floor - a large area, normally covered by mosaics, where the grapes are crushed by the feet of the workers, extracting the juice.
• A small hole in the centre of the treading floor - for secondary crushing of the grapes, using a stone weight.
• Optional pole holes on the side of the floor - to provide a shade for the workers
• A pipe or canal for the grape juice to flow down to the pool through the filter
• A filter hole - to let only the juice flow through, while the grape shell and pits remain in the treading floor
• A collecting pool - where the juice is accumulated. It is usually covered by a mosaic floor. The pool is lower than the treading floor, so the juice flows down into the pool.
• Steps that lead to the bottom of the pool - used by the workers to collect the juice into jars, and clean the pool
• Jars - to store the juice for subsequent fermentation
• Cool storage area, such as a cave - to store the jars

Jesus told the following parable (a story with a message) which included a winepress. Can you work out what it means? If you need help, we invite you to come in to our shop and ask our attendants about it!

“There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Matthew 21:33-41 (ESV)

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