The Beginning of Wisdom: Your personal character counts - Leader Guide

Book Description Book 6 in the OBSCURE Bible Study Series follows eight interesting people in the Bible who exhibit outstanding personal characteristics like courage, forgiveness, humility, and more. The book begins, however, with an example of poor character: the pride and hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were experts in the Jewish law, but they were more interested in following their own man-made rules and then making their compliance a matter of public record. But what they said in public did not match their performance in private.The second character in this study is Benaiah who on a snowy day followed a lion into a pit and killed him. Why would anyone do such a thing? What kind of courage and mental strength must one have to engage a lion in a pit? Just as one might be stunned by the courage of Benaiah, we are stunned by the lack of thankfulness of nine lepers who are healed of their terrible disease. Can you imagine being healed of such a horrible ailment and not saying, "Thank you?"The story of Stephen reminds us to stand firm in our faith. It certainly brings to mind the question of how we would act in similar circumstances. What if the end times were upon us and we were required to accept or reject the mark of the beast? What would we do? Stephen held fast to his faith and did not waver. But his godly character does not end with his stalwart faith. He also asked God to forgive those who were stoning him to death.The next subject of our study is a contrast to Stephen's standing firm. It's about Demas, who deserted Paul to pursue the values of the world. He abandoned Paul and the ministry to chase the values, pleasures, and rewards of the secular world. There are certainly some similarities to the story of the Prodigal son, but Demas does not return.The book then tackles the very challenging subject of our speech as we examine the words and actions of Rabshakeh, an Assyrian official. Words are essential in order to communicate and engage in fellowship or relationship with other people. Speech is a very powerful tool and characteristic of the human condition. We can both heal and hurt with our words. We can both praise and slander God with our speech. Interestingly, there is no real way to physically constrain the tongue without some form of torture. Its importance and impact is out of proportion to its size.Finally the book examines Elihu, Job's young friend. Elihu waited to speak until after Job's three close friends tried to convince Job to repent for the sin in his life that must be the cause of all his problems. Job claimed to be innocent and refused to follow the advice of his friends. Elihu, in all humility waited to speak until it was obvious the friends were unsuccessful. Elihu's words and actions provide a foundation for investigating Biblical humility.