This year, I re-enrolled in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) for People of the Promise: Kingdom Divided. I wasn’t able to attend the first part which was called People of the Promised Land held in 2020-2021 but was able to join the study of Matthew from 2021-2022. I have been attending BSF since 2011 (we were studying Acts then), was called to join the BSF leadership in the same year and things just haven’t been the same for my spiritual life. Back then, I’ve been a believer for more than a decade but it was my first time to go through an in-depth, inductive Bible study method that just made me crave for the Bible so much more. Those years were also my peak single life years — though I didn’t get into any relationships then, I experienced the Lord in a manner that made me just want to be single for life. Studying the Bible through BSF made me want to visit the Holy Land and the other places mentioned in the Bible, and the Lord has just been so faithful to give me enough resources to travel to Israel, Egypt and Jordan in 2014, and join Paul’s Missionary Tour (Greece and Turkey) in 2017.
If this is the first time you’re hearing about BSF, this is a program that takes you through a structured, inductive study of different books in the Bible using the four-fold approach of listening to a weekly lecture, studying lesson notes, answering study and reflection questions, and discussing your discoveries with a small group led by a BSF group discussion leader. Enrollment is absolutely free, it’s open to everyone (BSF is non-denominational) and each season runs for 30 weeks. We just started our Kingdom Divided season in the Philippines, so if you’d like to join, you can visit https://join.bsfinternational.org/ and find the best class schedule that works for you. Group discussions are held once a week via Zoom for 40 minutes, then you can listen to the lecture, and go through the lesson notes and daily questions throughout the week.
For this BSF season, we will be covering 1 and 2 Kings, Chronicles, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations. Although we call our meeting sessions “class night,” it doesn’t mean that you sit in class, review and have a quiz or recitation, so don’t be intimidated by it and feel like you’re back in school.
The Kingdom Divided study starts from Israel’s split into two kingdoms: Rehoboam being king of Judah, and Jeroboam king over Israel. Rehoboam was King Solomon’s son, whose 17-year reign was marked with arrogance, idolatry, and rebellion against the Lord. Jeroboam was no different, as he too, relied on his own wisdom and strategy, and strayed from the Lord. Due to his fear that the people of Israel would go to the temple in Jerusalem (where Rehoboam was reigning) he set up golden calves, two satellite altars and appointed men who were not of Levite lineage as priests.
For more information on Bible Study Fellowship at classes in your region and timezone, you may visit www.bsfinternational.org.
Ingrid Nieto-Pagulayan 
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