Friday, January 8, 2016

The Empty Garden: A Woman's Heart Bible Study Series by Beth Moore

Image Credit: SerKuch - CCO Public Domain Image - via Pixabay

The Empty Garden

Last night, I started attending a new Beth Moore Bible Study, A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place. Our first lesson is titled An Empty Garden. Beth takes us to a place in Genesis where God first introduces his desire to meet personally with His children. In Genesis, that place was in the Garden of Eden.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called the man, and said to him, “Where are you?’ – Genesis 3:8-9

We learn in Exodus 25 that God instructed the sons of Israel to build a tabernacle. The purpose of the tabernacle was to provide a place for God to meet with His people – to dwell among them.

Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. – Exodus 25:8

God’s desire from the very beginning was to meet personally and intimately with His children. Sin separated man from God, breaking personal communication, personal meetings between man and God. As I read Genesis 3 again, for the purpose of this study, I read it from a different perspective. I had already been through the introduction to A Woman’s Heart so I knew Beth’s goal is to teach us the purpose of the tabernacle – a place for God to meet and dwell with His people. As I read verses 8 and 9, it hit me – God was going to meet with Adam and Eve. I knew it before, but I suppose it never hit me the way it did tonight. I realized that this was a natural and normal event in the Garden of Eden. God must have frequently walked through the garden in the cool of the day to enjoy personal fellowship with Adam and Eve. I can’t begin to imagine what that must have been like.

Beth goes on to teach us that God still seeks our fellowship. He still values time with us. He still pursues us. Through Jesus, God has given us the gift of reconciliation with Him. Much like God covered Adam and Eve’s nakedness with the skin of animals (animals die when they are skinned), God has covered our sin with the blood of Jesus (who died to cover our sin).

Tomorrow’s lesson is titled A Perfect Heart. I look forward to sharing what I learn with you.

When I share what I learn, I’m careful not to plagiarize Beth’s work. I encourage you to support Beth’s ministry by purchasing her materials and personally going through her Bible studies yourself. When you do, you will reap the full benefit of her studies and experience God’s full blessings through your journey.

Read all posts in this series here.

You can purchase the study book only here, but if you are doing this study alone or if you are planning to host a study in your home, you'll need the complete leader kit below.