Posts Tagged ‘bible stories for kid’

Into the Lesson

Read the following accounts to your class, afterwards discuss them with the aid of the questions that follow.

In the early seventeenth century, a certain Marjorie Elphinstone died and was buried. When grave robbers attempted to steal her jewelry, she shocked them by groaning. The robbers fled, and she revived. She walked home under her own power and outlived her husband by six years! Marjorie Halcrow Erskine died in 1674 and was buried. The church officer (called a sexton) who buried her returned to the grave later to steal her jewelry. While the thieving sexton was trying to cut off her finger to get her ring, Erskine awoke, she lived many more years.

1.         What was the mind-set of the robbers just before their intended victims awoke?

2.         If you were a family member of one of these women, what would have been on your mind just before she walked through the door?

Tell your class that today’s lesson deals with the reactions of loved ones to Lazarus’s death and to Jesus’ presence after that death.

Into the Word

Read aloud John 11:1-7, 17-27. After you have read, divide your class into groups of four. Each group will choose one of three activities described below. Provide pens and paper for their work, or direct them to the student books for the exercises.

Group Activity A: Your group is the staff of a newspaper, the Jerusalem Post, covering the events surrounding the death of Lazarus. Write an article based on imaginary interviews with at least two of the following: Jesus, one of His disciples, or Mary. Using information from today’s text, describe the state of mind each would have had before the resurrection.

Group Activity B: Your group is the reporting staff for Jerusalem television stations WWJD. Write and present to the class an on-the-scene interview with at least two of the following: Jesus, one of His disciples, or Mary. Using information from today’s text, describe the reaction each would have had before the resurrection.

Group Activity C: Your group is the editorial staff for a monthly religious magazine, Judaism Today. You’ve decided to do a story on Martha, a true believer in Jesus and the sister of Lazarus. Using information from John 11:20-27, describe Martha’s strong faith as well as her spiritual doubts during the time of her brother’s sickness and death.

Allow groups sufficient time to complete their activities. Then ask a volunteer “reporter” from each group to share that group’s project with the entire class.

Into Life

Read the hypothetical situations described below. Ask your class to suggest scriptural answers, based on the principles Jesus expressed in His teaching before the raising of Lazarus. (This activity can also be found in the student book, ifyou are using that optional resource.)

1.         A member of your congregation has just learned that he has inoperable cancer in an advanced stage. His doctors give him no hope of recovery. How do you help him and his family deal with this crisis?

2.         A coworker has lost her teenage son in an auto accident. She and her husband are not Christians, and they are torn between seeking God and blaming Him for their son’s death. What would be an appropriate way to minister to them in their time of grief?

3.         Your friend’s mother, a Christian, is approaching the end of her long life due to deteriorating health. She longs to go home to be wills the Lord and end her suffering. How can you comfort both your friend and her mother?

4.         Your neighbor, a long time Christian has been stricken by a mysterious disease that has left his doctors baffled and his faith shaken. He lies in a hospital bed, uncertain of his recovery and doubtful of his eternal destination. How do you reassure his faith?

Into the Lesson

Display an outline of a person (on roll paper or poster board) as your class assembles. Have the following heading over the drawing: “The Ideal Leader.” As students arrive, hand them a marker and say, “Go up to the drawing and write in a characteristic you think is important in the ideal leader.” (Make sure the marker won’t bleed through the paper and damage the wall.)

As class begins, point to the list and ask, “Are there other qualities you want to add, now that you have had more time to think?” Then intro-duce Deborah as a judge of Old Testament Israel.

Into the Word

Before class recruit a volunteer to be inter-viewed as the Israelite judge Deborah. Encourage your volunteer to be well studied on the time period of the judges generally and on the life and work of Deborah specifically. Provide your volunteer a copy of the lesson writer’s commentary and the questions that you (or a class member) are going to ask. Be sure to allow some spontaneity from your class and from your interviewee. Interview questions are provided Isere, but you may choose to write your own questions to match your class’s level of biblical maturity. Of course some answers may be speculative; be sure your students understand that. You should discuss the reasonableness of answers that are not directly revealed in Scripture. Related verse numbers from today’s text its Judges 4 are given after each question.

(1) “Deborah, what did your husband think about your work on behalf of God’s people?” (v.4); (2) “What was the nature of your prophesying? How did you receive the Spirit’s Word?” (v.4); (3) “Why was your work done under a tree by the side of the road?” (v. 5);

(4) “What sort of cases did you handle?” (v. 5);

5) “How did you know of Barak, who lived so far away?” (v. 6);

(6)”What would Barak have known of the Canaanite oppressors?” (v. 8);

(7) “How could Barak raise an army of 10,000 men from only two tribal groups?” (v. 7);

(8) “Where exactly is this Kishon River, and why would God want the battle to take place there?” (v. 7);

(9) “Why do you think Barak refused to go to war without you?” (vv. 8-10);

(10) “Why did you caution Barak that the honor of victory would come to a woman and not to him?” (vv. 8-10);

(11) What is significant about the fact that your army was to face 900iron chariots? Didn’t your 10,000 men seem to be the stronger army?” (vv. 12, 13);

(12) When you assumed command of Barak’s army and gave the command to charge, how did Barak respond?” (v.14);

(13) “From Mount Tabor you had a good view of the battle. Exactly what happened?” (vv.15, 16 and Judges 5:18-22);

(14) “Your poem of victory that we have recorded in Judges 5 is a beautiful expression. How do you account for such a response to the defeat of God’s enemies?”As your “Deborah” responds, stop to discuss key elements of the text. Allow students to inter-act with her assumptions and conclusions.

Into Life

Give each student an index card. Display a list of the primary leaders of your congregation: ministers, elders, deacons, and others. Pair up each student with a leader’s name. If your class is not large enough to cover pairing up all the names, ask for volunteers to take two or more names. If there are more class members than leaders, have more than one student responsible for each leader.

Have students make the following commitment: on one side of their cards, write out a plan for how they will offer prayer support for their chosen leader. On the other side of their cards, write a commitment to visiting with their chosen leader. This visitation may be at the leader’s home, by going out for coffee, etc. By participating in this activity, students will have an opportunity to express appreciation for their leaders and enjoy being in their presence. This will reflect Barak’s appreciation and reliance on Deborah’s leadership.

Introduction

A. The Dream Team

The film The Dream Team is a 1989 comedy about mental patients who meet for group therapy. When their psychiatrist takes them on an outing, he witnesses a slaying and is nearly killed by the perpetrators. The group, not knowing what happened to their doctor, is left in New York City alone. They soon learn they are wanted both for the slaying and for the attempted murder of their doctor, who has ended up in a hospital.

The humor results from the need of this “dream team” to grapple with reality. How will they find their way out of the trouble they are in? In our days of psychiatrists and psychologists, support groups, and abundance of self-help books, it sometimes makes us wonder where previous generations got mental and emotional help. What did Christians do in all those centuries before professional Christian counselors came along?

Once I came across an ancient work entitled Conferences. It was written by John Cassian, a monk who lived about AD 365-433. In this book, monastery leaders are portrayed as meeting with Cassian in groups to discuss issues of how to live the Christian life. In other words, they would counsel together for the spiritual benefit of themselves and for those to whom they ministered. Those with greater spiritual maturity could help guide others.

Today’s lesson also offers us a picture of members of a group coming together for counseling. Chief among the group members are the future Jewish exiles. The prophet Isaiah writes 100years before the Babylonian exile, but Isaiah knows that the Judeans will find themselves in deep trouble. They will not know where to turn. The counselor, however, is the Lord himself. His wisdom and knowledge are infallible. We often wonder, as though in a dream, where to turn in times of trouble. God often uses our Christian friends who are wise enough to help us deal with reality. At other times He provides those with professional training to help. But behind any of these counselors must be the wisdom of the Lord, who alone can bring hope from despair.

B. Lesson Background

In last week’s text, the Lord sought to shock Judah into repentance. Their acts of worship were in vain unless their lives demonstrated inward purity and outward righteousness. Isaiah’s ministry was a call to repentance. Failure to repent meant destruction. Isaiah was told two things about Judah. First, since his preaching would fall on deaf ears, destruction would occur.(In fact, it did in 586 tic.) Second, in order to keep His covenant, the Lord would preserve a remnant of faithful people in spite of this destruction (Isaiah 6:8-13). This remnant was the exiles surviving the Babylonian captivity, which ended in 539 BC. This week’s lesson stresses that message again.

The first section of Isaiah, chapters 1-39, is mostly judgment. The second section, chapters40-66, is mostly blessing; almost all of it is poetry (except for 66:17-24), which means there is To spend money or exert one’s own labor summarizes the human pursuit for happiness. The Lord uses a rhetorical question to stress that these yield what is not really bread. Whatever the Judeans are striving for is not food that truly nourishes. It satisfieth not the deepest human need.

The command to hearken diligently means to understand and heed. The structure of the He-brew indicates that both of the next two statements will be the results of obeying Him. First, the readers will eat that which is good. Second, they will experience delight in the plenty(fatness) of the land.

These images may be taken in a physical sense, since the future exiles will return physically to “the land of milk and honey” that the Lord provides. But as figures of speech the implications are much more profound: godly living will bring great spiritual blessings. To take the promise merely in a physical sense would be to miss the main message.

B. Benefits (v. 3)

3. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

Every parent knows the frustration of giving instructions and warnings to a child, only to have the child blithely skip off to do whatever he or she wants to do anyway. That must be how God feels on occasion. His prophets must feel the same way as well (compare Ezekiel 33:31, 32).The people will behave sinfully right in the midst of the exile itself! Yet the result of their coming back to the Lord will be that He will make an everlasting covenant.

The please the sure mercies of David is quoted in Acts 13:34. There the phrase is applied to the resurrection of the Messiah. The name David usually refers to the human king in historical writings. David may also stand for his royal descendant. However, David is sometimes used by the prophets in an ultimate sense as a title for the Messiah (see Jeremiah 30:9; Ezekiel 34:23, 24;37:24, 25; Hosea 3:5). The next two verses offer clues as to which the Lord intends here.

C. Agent (vv. 4, 5)

4.Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. The tense of have given does not rule out an event later than the time of writing; the context is future. Therefore the historical King David cannot be in view. A strictly human king of the line of David could be possible, except that no such ruler is ever the cause of the actions inverse 5, below.

Therefore, the name David as used in verse 3(him here in v. 4) seems to refer to the ideal, ultimate one: the Messiah. As witness to the love of God, the Messiah will make plain God’s love to His people. As leader and commander, the Messiah is qualified to rule the people.

5.Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of the Lamp thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.

As we work through our lesson text, remember that we are trying to figure out who is speaking and who is being spoken to at every point. Here the words thou and thee may refer to Zion being spoken to. If so, then the Lord’s future kingdom, redeemed Zion, will call a nation it previously did not know. This seems to look forward to the time when redeemed Zion is the church.

If thee and then refer ultimately to die church, then shalt call refers to the preaching of the gospelto the world by the church, and shall run refers to the Gentiles’ inclusion into the church. From Isa-iah’s perspective, this will happen because of the Lord thy God. From our perspective, this has in-deed happened and continues to happen.

The phrase for he hath glorified thee probably also refers to redeemed Zion and to the church. Isaiah 46:13 predicts the glorification of redeemed Zion (Israel; see also Isaiah 61:3). Romans 11:11-24 describes the glorification of the church in terms of a restored relationship between God and all believers, both Jewish and Gentile.

We should realize, however, that it is also attractive to understand thou as indicating that the Lord now turns to speak to “David,” meaning the Messiah, while in the presence of Zion. If this is the case, then it is the Messiah who will call nations to the Lord; the nations will run to the Lord because He will have glorified His Son (see Acts3:13; Hebrews 1:1-3).

Hebrews 5:5 implies that the Son was glorified by the Father. Under this idea, the divine Messiah calls a nation that thou knowest not and nations that knew not thee in the sense of establishing relationships.

The Messiah will indeed have that relation-ship with the Gentiles under the new covenant. That relationship was not really a part of the old covenant (Hosea 1:10; 2:23; both quoted in Ro-mans 9:25, 26; see also 1 Peter 2:10).

11. Acceptance Urged(Isaiah 55:6, 7)

A. Seeking Required (v. 6)

6. Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.

The speaker is now the prophet Isaiah. This is indicated in verse 7 (below), where he refers to “our God.” The idea in the verse before us is not that the readers should seek God before God moves away and becomes distant. Rather, the idea is for the readers to seek God while their hearts are soft and willing to believe. They need to seek Him and grow in their faith.

In Hebrew poetry, the center of a poem often is the main point. Isaiah’s urge to Zion is the center of the chapter. Therefore, this appeal to seek the Lord is the main point.

B. Forsaking Required (v. 7)

7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lou, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah tells Zion that two things are involved n seeking the Lord. First, the wicked must for-sake his way; that means that unrighteous lifestyles are to be left behind. Second, the un-righteous man must forsake his thoughts: this is a challenge to abandon the internal sins of the heart. These are summarized with the challenge to return unto the Lard. . . and to our God. The results of returning to the Lord are twofold: first, the Lord will have mercy upon the one who does so. Second, the Lord will abundantly pardon. What comfort this must bring the exiles while they are suffering! They will be in exile some 70years, without temple or homeland. When that time comes (in about 100 years from Isaiah’s perspective), many will see no hope of restoration. The years will drag on and on. Well may they wonder, “Has the Lord rejected us forever?”The Lord affirms that there is abundant forgiveness. Even so, every individual outside of Christ today is God’s enemy. Once one learns the reality and depth of the life of sin—a life governed by self without God—one asks the samequestion, “Is there no hope for what I have done in rejecting God?” The good news is that there is the “wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin.” IS. question #3, page 374.1

III. Unfailing Word Affirmed(Isaiah 55:8-11)A. Thoughts and Ways (vv. 8, 9)

8, 9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Clearly the Lord has resumed as speaker be-cause it is the Lord’s thoughts that are unsurpassed. That He is speaking to Zion is clear because the pronoun your in Hebrew is plural. The fact that God’s thoughts are so far beyond ours has at least two applications. First, this fact can give us hope when we see no way out of trouble. God can see a way out when we can’t. Second, this fact should make us humble about our own ability to know. When we are “sure” that we know the motives of others who have hurt us, we ought to remember that only God truly knows the human heart (Jeremiah 17:9, 10).(See question #4. page 374.(

HIS THOUGHTS, AND OURS

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) was an Italian immigrant and nuclear physicist who played an important role in building America’s atomic bomb His brilliance was evident early in his career. He received his PhD in 1922 at the age of 21. At his graduation ceremony he gave a lecture that put some of his professors to sleep; it was more intricate than they could follow.

He was present at the explosion of the first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945. Wills others, he was safely some distance away at the moment of explosion. Most of the witnesses were transfixed by the nature of the explosion itself. But Fermi was focused on determining the amount of power that the explosion released. Fermi dropped pieces of paper before, during, and after the passage of the blast wave. By measuring the displacement of lire pieces, he was able to estimate the strength of the blast.

We can see the grandeur of God’s creation, and that is well and good as far as it goes (Psalm19:1). Yet we can miss the power and force of His values if we’re not careful. His thoughts and ways are indeed far beyond our OW11, and one of His highest values is the repentance of the sinner and the power of forgiveness. Though none of or saw the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, the immeasurable power of the cross still reaches us.—J. B. N.

B. Intent and Outcome (vv. 10, 11)10, 11. For as the rain commeth down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto or void. but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

The Lord illustrates the certainty of His word by referring to ruin and snow from heaven in relationship to what gives life on earth. Returned)not thither brings out the point that the precipitation does not go back into heavers without having a useful effect.

Verse 11 is the lesson to be learned from the illustration. Precipitation Irons above corresponds with the Lord’s Word that goeth forth out of His mouth. He sends it down to earth through His prophets, but His Word does not return to Him without effect. Rather, it accomplishes what He intends. (See question #5, page 3741

Conclusion

A. “You Can’t Miss It”

I do not have a reputation in my family for al-ways being able instinctively to find my way around while traveling. Since I know this, I (un-like many men) do not have any qualms about stopping to ask directions.

However, some people are better at giving directions than others. Upon finishing the description, he or she may utter those often heard words, “You can’t miss it.” Since on occasion I have indeed “missed it,” those words do not offer me much comfort!

However, the Lord is saying to the exiles who will experience His punishment, “If you listen to what I say, if you give up trusting in your own ways, and if you seek me, then restoration will occur. Its scope will be beyond anything you can imagine. And this restoration is as certain as my Word: you can’t miss it.”

His directions are clear: seek Him. This always leads home. This was comfort to the faithful remnant. It is comfort to all who seek the Lord today. No one is too far away to come to the Lord. One does not have to be free from sin to do this (otherwise no one would come). One has to be willing only to stop demanding to be the boss of one’s life and let the Lord be the boss.

B. Prayer

Dear Father, We thank You for being absolutely trustworthy and effective. For all the times we still struggle wills wanting to run our own lives apart from You, we ask Your forgiveness. We, the most defiled, thank You for the relationship You have built with us through Christ, the Messiah, in whose name we pray, amen.

C. Thought to Remember

“Behold, what summer of love the Father bath bestowed upon us” (1 John 3:1).

1.How has God quenched your own spiritual hunger and thirst? Did you find this surprising? Explain.

Our generous God indeed pours His grace upon us! He satisfies our spiritual thirst as we heed His Word. This Word is strong meat for our spiritual nourishment (Hebrews 5:12, 14). Jesus, the Word in the flesh (John 1:14), is also our spiritual bread as well as the water of life (John 6:35).God provides for us as well through the promises of the spiritual drink and spiritual manna for those who overcome (Revelation 2:7,17). The gift of salvation sustains our souls (John4:10). The promise of Heaven does so as well. There we will drink freely of the water of life(Revelation 22:17).

2.What are some ways that people today spend money fur that which does nut satisfy? How can we guard ourselves against stumbling into such foolishness?

We know all too well that people are guilty of accumulating “treasures of wickedness” (Proverbs 10:2). But even people who accumulate money honestly can trap themselves into thinking that possessions will bring happiness. We can make the mistake of doing much the same thing spiritually. Some Christians spend money attending seminar after seminar or going to numerous conferences on spiritual growth. They pay for “knowledge” of how to grow spiritually, but fail to practice basic disciplines for spiritual growth such as Bible reading and prayer. Churches, for their part, may spend lots of money on feel-good activities, such as taking trips to theme parks, while at the same time failing to invest money in evangelistic activities or benevolent ministries. The former are not bad as long as the latter are not neglected.

3. Was there a time when God restored you after you returned to Him? Explain. Estrangement from God may lead to sinful practices such as alcohol and drug abuse, which harm the body. As we come back to God and leave these practices behind, we are restored. There is restoration even though we may still carry some of the marks of those sins in our lives.

At other times, our problem may be financial. Neglecting our stewardship to God may be part of this. Returning to God and becoming good stewards will bring blessings from Him. We can sin against one another, hold grudges, and refuse to forgive. When we are convicted of those sins and return to God, He restores relationships.

4.What are some specific areas in which you have had to admit that God’s thoughts and ways surpass those of your own? What happened when you finally made that admission?

Admitting that God is superior to us in thinking and acting should be a given. But sometimes we still believe that we should be able to provide a sound answer to all issues of existence. For ex-ample, some try to explain exactly how creation occurred. Some even set a date for when it occurred. Other times we try to explain the concept of the Trinity even though full explanation eludes us; all of our analogies break down at some point. We stumble as we try to explain why bad things happen to good people, or why good things happen to bad people.

At the tragic death of a small child we may say that God just wanted another little voice in His heavenly chorus; that runs the risk of assigning blame to God. Sometimes the best thing to do is to say that we don’t know the answer to a question, and yet, by faith, we still believe that God is good and His plans cannot be undermined.

5.What purposes of God’s Word are being accomplished right now in your life? in your church?

Sometimes we may live our lives as if God were not really doing much of anything through us or through the church. We may place blame on a world that is hostile to Christianity, on the busyness of people and lack of concern about the things of God, or on Satan.

It is important to see in Isaiah 55:11 that for God to accomplish His purpose, His Word goes forth. When God’s Word does go forth, faithfully proclaimed by His people, souls come to Jesus and lives are renewed. When we live out God’s Word to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, our needs are supplied (Matthew 6:33).

A. Singing, Exercise, and Doctrine

We used to call them action choruses. Young people of varying ages were encouraged to use
their arms and hands to simulate motions for the fountain that flowed deep and wide, the little light that shined, or the rains that threatened the houses of the wise and foolish builders. The choruses taught spiritual truths, helped the youngsters expend pent-up energy, and enabled youth workers to fill prolonged periods of time.

In recent years another such chorus was very popular with young people. The opening phrase affirms that Abraham had many sons. That is biblically true, for Paul says the same thing—that Abraham is the father of all who believe (Ro-mans 4:11, 16; compare Galatians 3:7). As the lyrics reacts the refrain, the words prompt several physical exercises that require agility, balance, and much energy. Most youngsters love to sing this exhilarating chorus, but it is doubtful that they realize the doctrinal implications of the opening words. That initial affirmation is a part of the lesson today.

Abraham is the great example of faith for all who believe in Christ. Abraham is the first per-son in the Bible of whom it is said that his belief was reckoned for righteousness (Genesis 15:6).He has more verses about him in the Faith Chapter (Hebrews 11) than any other Old Testament saint. His name appears more than 200 times in the New Testament. So the next time you hear young people singing the chorus about Abraham having many sons, remember that that really is profound truth (with or without the suggested athletic movements!).

B. Lesson Background

The lesson last week was about the covenant that God made with Noah. Using the Genesis chronology, there are hundreds of years between Noah and Abraham. The Bible is silent about any direct communication from God to humankind during that period of time.

After the flood the sons of Noah and their descendants did well in obeying the command to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1, 7). The “table of nations” in Genesis 10 gives the names of individuals who were the founders of nations or tribal groups. The incident at the tower of Babel (Gene-sis 11:1-9) served to separate people by language, which God devised and assigned to the families of humankind. It is said that language, more than any other difference, serves to divide people yet today.

God’s first message to Abraham occurred while he was still in Ur of the Chaldees. There are several sites named Ur, with the traditional site of Abraham being the one in southern Mesopotamia (Acts 7:2). It was a city with sanitary sewers, schools, and the worship of a noon god and goddess. This was a very modern city in the twenty-first century BC when Abraham left to be-come a sojourner.

Abraham’s obedient response to leave with his family is a positive example of faith, for he did not know where God was leading hint (Hebrews 11:8). The family traveled toward northwestern Mesopotamia, finally stopping in Haran (Genesis11:31).

It is interesting that both Ur and Haran are known as centers of worship for a moon god and goddess. Idolatry eventually was common after the flood, and it was even practiced by Abraham’s father and brother (Joshua 24:2). Some, however, did maintain a genuine faith. (It is often assumed that Job lived during this time, and his faith is highly exemplary.)

When God selected Abraham, He chose a man without children, land, or reputation. To such a person God is ready to promise a son, a land, and greatness!

I. Promises to Abraham(Genesis 17:1-8, 15, 16)

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, patriarchs in the book of Genesis, receive promises by God on different occasions. God gives messages to Abraham several times in Genesis (12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15:4, 5, 13-18; 17:1-22; 18:17-33; 22:15-18).

Acts 7:2 indicates an earlier contact before the family leaves Ur.
Similar promises are given twice to Isaac(Genesis 26:4, 24) and Jacob (Genesis 28:14, 15;35:9-12). As we open our lesson, we remember that Abraham’s name originally was Abram(Genesis 17:5, below).

A. Name for God (vv. 1, 2)

1. And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lox appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be than perfect.

The factor of Abram’s age is of interest. He was75 when he, Lot (his nephew), and others de-parted from Haran to go to the land of Canaan(Genesis 12:4, 5). When Abraham was 85, his wife suggested that perhaps she could have children through Hagar, her handmaid (16:2, 3).Abraham accepted the proposal, which was contemporary practice for a wife who was barren. Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 (16:16).Such statistics interest some people, but the message underneath them is very important: God keeps His promises, but the time of waiting maybe a testing of the patience and faith of those who are the recipients of the promises. In this case Abram and his wife Sarai were “running ahead” of God instead of waiting for His time.

The Lord identifies himself with His first words to Abram. He is not just God, but He is Almighty. (See question #3. page 241 This God is one who can accomplish things that are considered impossible. Over 1,400 years later Jeremiah will echo the same thought when he writes that nothing is too difficult for God (Jeremiah 32:17).Two imperatives are used by the Lord to ex-press His expectations. First, Abram is to walk before God. Second, his walk must be unblemished; Abram is to do his best in meeting his obligations to God.

“WHAT’S IN A NAME?”

In the early 1960s General Motors tried unsuccessfully to sell its new, economical compact model the Nova in Latin America. The problem, it seems, was that the name Nova means “no go” in Spanish. After GM changed the car’s name to Caribe, sales took off at least so the story goes. Actually, this is one of those urban legends we hear from time to time. For one thing, sales weren’t really that bad, and the Caribe was sold by Volkswagen. However, this story has gained lots of “mileage” (pardon the pun) by being repeated many times in marketing textbooks and business seminars.

Let’s try another one. When Coca-Cola entered the Chinese market, it had to find Mandarin characters that sounded like “Coca-Cola.” The characters they chose could mean “to allow the mouth to be able to rejoice” but could also be translated “bite the wax tadpole.” Hmmm. Whether or not either story is true, in the final analysis their very existence points to the fact that names are important. So it was with the name by which God revealed himself to Abram. Abram’s culture believed in many gods, but the God who spoke to Abram was the Almighty God!

He was significantly different from the fictitious gods that people worshiped. He was and is the God who has power and who makes covenants with those who believe Him.

2. And 1 will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. This is the first of 13 uses of the word covenant in this chapter. It is used only once with Abram prior to this chapter, in Genesis 15:18. In that chapter God specifically promises that Abram will have a son and that his descendants will he as numerous as the stars (Genesis 15:5).The words will accompany many of God’s blessings as given in this chapter. This construction shows that the fulfillments are in the future, but God will keep His promises.

B. Nations to Result (vv. 3, 4)

3, 4. And Abram tell on his face: and God talked with bins, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

Abram’s immediate response is to fall and assume a position of utmost respect. The implications of what the Lord has just said are racing through his mind, and heir overwhelmed! God’s next words reinforce the thought that Abram is to have many descendants.

An excellent commentary on Abrams thoughts can be found in Romans 4:19, 20. In these verses Paul stales that Abraham was not weak in faith, even as Ire considered his own body and his wife’s womb tube dead. The God who created life in the beginning could do the same again for this elderly couple!

In verse 4 God states that the covenant being made is with Abram, and one outcome is that many notions will result. The factor of notions(plural) is a new concept. The singular form of the word is used in Genesis 12:2, so this adds a dimension to the promises that God is making. Of course, living in the twenty-first century so means that we are aware of the historical fulfillment of this prophecy. But it must be a staggering thought for Abram in the twenty-first century! Some; of the descendants of Abram who will produce marry sons include Ishmael and the six sons that Abraham had by his second wife, Keturah (Genesis 25:1, 2).

C. New Nattre for Abram (v. 5a)

5a. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham. A new name is given to Abram, and it is very meaningful as a part of this covenant. Whereas Abram means “exalted father,” the name Abraham means “father of a multitude.” This new name itself is a challenging part of this expanded covenant.

The exact nature of this exchange between God and Abraham is not given; it may have been personal, private event. One can only wonder at the responses of others when Abraham tells them that his name is now “father of a multitude.” Abraham has a private army (Genesis14:14); when those men think of Abraham as childless, elderly man, how can they use his new name without a snicker?

D.Nations and the Kings (vv. 5b, 6)5b, 6. For a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
The thought that Abraham will be a father of many nations is repeated from verse 4. This time the concept is amplified: Abraham’s descendants will be exceeding fruitful.

Abraham’s offspring will also include kings. This is a new factor, not mentioned previously. Moses (the author of Genesis) will later record the names of several kings who are descendants of Ahraham’s grandson Esau (Genesis 36:31-39). Stu-dents of biblical history are aware of Saul, David, Solomon, and other kings who trace their lineage In Abraham (Matthew 1:2-11). God’s promises do come to pass!

E.People of the Covenant (v. 7)

7. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed otter thee in their generations, fur an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. This special covenant relationship will continue into the future for the children of Abraham, for it is an everlasting covenant. It must first be noted that the applications of these phrases are restricted: in this same chapter the descendants of Ishmael are excluded, in spite of Abraham’s expressed thought that the covenant could be fulfilled in him (vv. 18-21, below).This verse also allows us to compare the use the word seed in the King James Version with the word descendants in the New International Version. The selection of the word seed seems to begetter, for Paul uses the fact that it is singular to show that the ultimate fulfillment is a spiritual one in Christ, that He is the promised seed (Galatians 3:16; compare Acts 3:25).

The same word occurs again in Genesis 22:18.There the promise takes a phrase from Genesis
12:3 and states that it is through Abraham’s seed that all the families of the earth will be blessed. The beauty of the apostles’ argument is that all people now have access to the spiritual blessings that the redemptive work of the Messiah makes available.

F. Place Assigned (v.

8. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

The land of Canaan had been promised to Abraham previously (Genesis 12:5, 7; 15:18). These words from God provide a further confirmation of that promise. There is a certain irony here: it has been 24 years since Abraham entered Canaan (compare Genesis 12:4, 5; 17:1), and so far Abraham does not possess any of it. God told Abraham previously that his descendants would be oppressed 400 years in another land, and in the fourth generation they would occupy Canaan when the iniquity of the inhabitants was full
(Genesis 15:13, 16)!

G. Position for Sarai (vv. 15, 16)

15, 16. And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.

The intervening verses record the establishment of circumcision as a sign of the covenant for Abraham’s male descendants. Now the role of Sarai in the promises is expressed for the first time. God begins by changing her name for the role that she will have in redemptive history: to become the mother of nations and kings. This will have its beginning in her own son, Isaac.

The meanings of the names Sarai and Sarah seem to be the same, but there is the difference in spelling. Both names mean “princess.”

II. Perplexities of Abraham (Genesis 17:17-22)

Abraham finally has an opportunity to express his reactions. Those reactions concern two people: Sarah and Ishmael.

A. Problems Stated (vv. 17, 18)

17. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Keep this map posted throughout the quarter to help set the geographical context.
Abraham’s emotional response is laughter. The fact that Sarah is to become a mother goes beyond what is humanly reasonable. If God is in it, however, then it becomes reasonable!
Abraham projects the promises a year into the future, the earliest time for a son to be born. Abraham will then be 100 and Sarah will be 90, and he inwardly wonders about what he has just heard. Could it possibly be true?

18. And Abraham said unto God, 0 that Ishmael might live before thee!

At this time Ishmael is 13 years old (compare Abraham’s age in Genesis 16:16 and 17:1). Abraham loves this young teenager and states that he is willing to accept him as the child of promise. In his humility he does not demand that God go to any special trouble.

B. Problems Solved (vv. 19-22)

19. And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
God speaks and assures Abraham that Sarah is the one who will bear the son who will fulfill the promise. In addition, God continues to provide names for the people involved, and He states that the son is to be called Isaac. The name Isaac means “laugh,” and it will ever serve as a reminder of Abraham’s reaction when he heard the prediction.

The I will statements of this section continue. God asserts that it is through Isaac that the everlasting covenant is to be established and that it will continue for generations after him.

20.And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

God assures Abraham that his concerns for Ishmael have been heard and that blessings are included for him. They are similar in nature to the promises of the covenant. But limitations are set concerning the number of future leaders among his descendants (twelve princes). The final promise is that Ishmael’s descendants will become o great nation.

21.But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.

The closing words of God in this account re-state the factors that are to have imminent fulfillments: that the covenant is to be continued through Isaac, that Sarah is to be the mother, and that these things will occur the next year. One can only wonder concerning Abraham’s final reflections and actions: will they be outwardly exuberant and joyful, silent and profound contemplation, or overwhelming gratitude? It will take time for the reality of the promises to be grasped fully.

UNINTENTIONAL FRAUDALANCE

Dossena (1878-1937) was a stonemason from northern Italy. He became skilled at carving reproductions of sculptures from ancient times, and his work was so good that others began selling his carvings as genuine antiques. Despite Dossena’ best efforts to spread the truth of the matter, dealers in antiquities continued the fraud since they were reaping handsome profits. So many pieces of his work were in circulation as genuine that it became impossible to trace the mall. It is said that some of Dossena’s copies are accepted as genuine antiquities yet today.

With the best of motives, Abraham and Sarah also perpetrated an unintentional fraud. They had received God’s promise of a son as a sign of God’s covenant with them. Time went by, and still there was no pregnancy. Their solution was for Abraham to have a son by Sarah’s servant girl, Hagar.

The consequences of their decision were far-reaching. We see the effects today in strife in the Middle East, as some elements of religious extremism claim covenantal blessings through Ishmael. Although the child Ishmael would be blessed by God, he was not the “genuine article” the son of the covenantal promise. We al-ways get into trouble when we try to push God’s timetable!

22. And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

God departs from Abraham, and this brings to a conclusion this stage of Abraham’s developing role in the covenant. There are more interactions to follow, but the new factors are overwhelming.
Conclusion A. If It Sounds Too Good.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is—unless God is in it. The covenant that God made with Abraham offered promises that another human could not deliver. It is comforting to know that God did not hold the negative reactions of Abraham and Sarah against them. Their reservations did not thwart God’s redemptive plan. It is God’s plan to provide Heaven for all the redeemed. That’s something that sounds just too good to be true, but it is true. It sounds too good to be true that God forgives and forgets the sins of the redeemed, but God does that—even though we tend to burden ourselves with memories of our failures.
God offers Heaven to sinners who believe on His Son and follow His plan of salvation. That sounds too good to be true—but it is true!

B. Prayer

Thank You, Lord, for the trials of life that develop patience. Forgive my lack of trust in those times. In the name of Your Son, amen.

C. Thought to Remember

Trust God despite your doubts

Introduction

A. The God Who Rebuilds

Most of us have watched a small child play with building blocks. He or she takes great de-light in stacking a certain number, and then with one gleeful swipe scatters the blocks everywhere. Then the child gathers the blocks together and does it again—each time squealing with delight until boredom sets in. Then it becomes time to move on to some other form of entertainment. Rebuilding scattered building blocks is one thing; rebuilding a place of worship is quite an-other matter. Solomon’s temple had been constructed with great care and much effort. I Kings 6:38 records that this magnificent structure took seven years to build. Yet once the Babylonian army had entered Jerusalem (following a siege of about 18 months), it required far less time to demolish what had been so carefully erected and so prayerfully dedicated (1 Kings 8:22-61). Tearing down always takes much less time than building.

But God had other plans for the temple; destruction would not be the final word. The same prophets who spoke so passionately of God’s coming judgment on His people and His temple were just as passionate about the promise that a remnant would return and rebuild.

On one occasion, Jesus used the language of destroying and rebuilding to describe what would eventually happen to Him: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John2:19). The text later notes, “But he spoke of the temple of his body” (v. 21). The same language can be applied to what God can do with our bro-ken, sin-ravaged lives. What we have ruined He can rebuild, restore, and renew. Paul writes of our bodies as a temple in which God’s Spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). We are not our own; we are under new management.

Whether the damage has been done to sacred structures or to sin-marred souls, God is in the business of rebuilding and restoring.

B. The Chronicles Factor

At first glance the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles may seem to be unnecessary additions to the Old Testament. After all, don’t they cover the same period of history covered by much of 1 and2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings? And why the extensive genealogies that take up the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles? (Those aren’t exactly the most thrilling portions of the Bible to read!)Most students of the Bible believe that the books of Chronicles were written after the Babylonian captivity and after God’s people had re-turned home to rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. (Their return is the topic of today’s lesson.) It is worth noting that the final two verses of 2 Chronicles and the first three verses of the book of Ezra are virtually the same. Be-cause of this, some have proposed that Ezra may have been the author of the books of Chronicles as well as the book that bears his name. Certainly Ezra was well qualified for such a task (see Ezra 7:6, 10).

Why would Ezra (assuming him to be the author) compose such a record as that found in the books of Chronicles? Consider the following hypothetical situation: A congregation experiences an especially trying set of circumstances, such as a fire that destroys its sanctuary, a split of some kind, or a crisis within the leadership. The result would likely be a keen sense of loss of purpose and direction within the congregation. Questions would surface, such as, “Where do we go from here?” and “What is God’s will for us now?” How would a church in such a situation get the people back on track and restore a sense of direction and purpose?

One answer might be to call attention to the history of the congregation and review God’s faithfulness over the years in preserving the people through other difficult times. By considering such examples from the congregation’s history, the people may be encouraged to continue to “fight the good fight.” They would do what was necessary to see themselves through the current series of events.

A similar scenario confronted God’s people following the crisis of the Babylonian captivity and the return to their homeland. They too must have wondered, “Where do we go from here? Does God still have a purpose for us?” For God’s covenant people, them were other burning issues as well:-Is God’s covenant still intact? Are the promises made to Abraham and David still binding?”The material found in 1 and 2 Chronicles seems especially intended (through the guidance of the Holy Spirit) to address these and other crucial issues in the minds of those who were part of the rebuilding effort in Judah. The genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1-9 would not have been dull or boring to the original readers; they would have given the postexilic generation a sense of identity with their past. They would have been encouraged by realizing that the link with the individuals and tribes mentioned in these chapters had not been severed by the captivity and exile.

There is a special emphasis in 1 and 2 Chronicles on the reigns of David and Solomon and all their achievements. This let the postexilic com-munity know that this was still a part of their history and their identity. God was not finished with them yet!

C. Lesson Background

The conclusion of 2 Chronicles, from which our text for today is taken, is a key part of the previously mentioned encouragement to the postexilic community. As we learned from last week’s text, God’s people had repeatedly spurned the appeals of His prophets to turn from their sins. Eventually, His judgment fell. God used the Babylonians to destroy the temple—believed by some

in Jerusalem and Judah to be indestructible. That belief was based on a theory that God would never allow His people to be overtaken by pagans(compare Jeremiah 7:4).

I. Decree Ordained(2 Chronicles 36:22, 23)

Did the destruction of the temple mean that God had turned His back completely on His chosen people? The end of 2 Chronicles provides the answer, and it is a resounding nu! That the temple will be rebuilt indicates that God still has a purpose for His people.

A. God’s Working (v. 22)

22. Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Loan stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and to put it also in writing, saying.

Cyrus king of Persia is the human instrument whom God uses to keep His promise to bring His people home. Second Chronicles 36:20 records that Nebuchadnezzar exiled the remnant of God’s people to Babylon “where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia.” Persia came to power in 539Bc through the series of events described in Daniel 5.

King Cyrus possesses a discernment and fair-mindedness that many rulers in the ancient world lack. He understands that it will enhance his reputation and get his reign started on a positive note if he provides some measure of relief from the cruel tactics of the Babylonians.

Thus Cyrus demonstrates an attitude of diplomacy and tolerance in his dealings with conquered peoples. He gives these peoples a wide latitude in allowing them to practice their religions. Thus it should be noted that what the Scriptures describe Cyrus as doing for the Jews, he does also for other peoples: permitting them to return to their respective homelands. There they may reestablish themselves and be free to practice their religious beliefs.

Secular historians may view Cyrus’s actions as simply the exercise of capable and discerning leadership. The Scripture, however, is clear in emphasizing that the Lord uses this policy of Cyrus to accomplish His own purpose. This is all part of His plan as announced by the word of the Loon spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah. That Word, mentioned in the previous verse (v. 21, not in today’s text), describes the captivity as lasting70 years (also Jeremiah 29:10). Cyrus is not acting alone; the Lord, the heavenly king, has moved the heart of the earthly king to implement a program of restoration for the Lord’s people.

It is noteworthy that another prophet gave Spirit-inspired insight into the Lord’s master plan some 100 years before Jeremiah uttered his prophecy. Isaiah prophesied not only before Persia became a dominant force, but also he prophesied even before Babylon gained such a stature! Yet Isaiah gave a message from the Lord that specifically named Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1).Thus, some 160 years before Cyrus conquered Babylon and issued his decree, Isaiah’s prophetic perspective named that ruler as the man whom God would use to fulfill His own plan.

B. Cyrus’s Words (v. 23)

23. Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

As noted previously, Cyrus allows other captive peoples to return to their homelands—not just the Jews. Thus the acknowledgment of the Lord as the God of heaven, etc., should not be considered as a sign of any kind of conversion to the God of Israel on Cyrus’s part. That ruler uses equally grand language of other deities. For ex-ample, on the famous Cyrus Cylinder, unearthed by archaeologists, are inscribed these words:”Marduk, king of the gods [the leading deity of the Babylonian gods] . . . designated use to rule over all the lands.” [See (111t.5150: /12, page 112.)

Nevertheless, it is clear that Cyrus is indeed God’s instrument to carry out His purpose. This is also true of Caesar Augustus, a later ruler whom God will use to issue a decree that results in Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem. Them Jesus will be born in fulfillment of prophecy (Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:6).

Following the claim to be authorized by the Lord, Cyrus’s decree continues by granting per-mission to any of the Lord’s people to go up to Jerusalem. There they can participate in the re-building effort. The Hebrew word translated as go up occurs elsewhere in the Old Testament in the context of another significant movement of God’s people: the exodus from bondage in Egypt(see Exodus 3:8, 17; 33:1).

To go up thus has a special meaning for God’s people and gives them a sense of kinship with the exodus event that established them as a “holy nation” (Exodus 19:5, 6). In a sense they can consider themselves reborn as a nation. for they are coming out of bondage in Babylon much as they had come out of Egypt under Moses. The promise of God’s presence (the Lord his God be with him) was also a key source of encouragement during the exodus and subsequent events(Exodus 3:11, 12; 33:14-17; Numbers 14:9).

II. Decree Obeyed(Ezra 1:5-7)

The remainder of our printed text describes the compliance of God’s people with the decree of Cyrus.

A. God’s Action (v. 5)

5. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

This verse lists those who prepare to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem (just as the decree had stated). The chief of the fathers are probably the leaders of the various tribal clans, or extended families, within the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. These two tribes provide the primary makeup of the southern kingdom of Judah, which the Babylonians had conquered and taken captive.

Included in those who return are the priests and Levites. Their spiritual leadership will be necessary in guiding and mentoring those who choose to return. Sadly, some of these priests

Levites eventually commit sin by marrying women from outside the covenant people. This muses great distress to Ezra and others among those who return (Ezra 9:1-4).

In this verse it is also important to note the guidance of the Lord’s hand in this series of events. Those who choose to return include everyone whose spirit God had raised. The same God who has “stirred up the spirit” of a pagan king (Ezra 1:1) now moves among His people to stir them to action. This also means that the..me God who had brought the king of Babylon against His people (2 Chronicles 36:17) is now working for His people. He is fulfilling His promise to bring them home.

B. Neighbors’ Assistance (v. 6)

6. And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with told, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.

Here one sees another parallel to the events surrounding the exodus of some 900 years be-fore. Exodus 11:2 records these instructions given by the Lord to Moses: “Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.” And now, as a kind of “second exodus” unfolds for God’s people, all their neighbors assist them with numerous contributions and offerings. The beasts that are provided most likely include animals that can be used for the various sacrifices required by the law of Moses.

SKIPPING CHRISTMAS

Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, recently took a different approach to Christmas: they encouraged skipping it (the bad parts. that is). What triggered the new thinking was that the church staff was hearing people say such things as “I wish we didn’t spend so much on gifts” or “I feel like I have to buy gifts for some people even though I don’t want to.” So they took a page from John Grisham’s recent book, Skipping Christmas. (The book was made into the 2004movie Christmas with the Kranks.)

Crossroads’s response to the laments was not to tell people that they shouldn’t give gifts or put up Christmas trees. Instead, the church leader-ship decided that what it really needed to do was to help people change their focus. The fivefold emphasis was skip excess, find simplicity; skip obligations, find joy; skip rush, find rest; skip loneliness, find belonging; skip Christmas, find Christ. The foundational idea was to bring back the joy that should be in a season that celebrates giving ).

When the leaders of Judah and Benjamin began the task of rebuilding the temple, all whose hearts were moved by God’s gift of freedom caught the spirit of the occasion and freely gave to the cause. They had found the true focus of giving: gratitude for what God had done. We detect no sense of “Aw, do I have to?”

Christmas is right around the corner. How many of us have that same mind-set?

C. Cyrus’s Assistance (v. 7)

7. Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods.

Furthermore, Cyrus brings out the articles that rightfully belong to the temple of the Lord. This shows his personal support for the return home.(See question #4, page 112.) Second Chronicles36:18, part of last week’s printed text, describes how Nebuchadnezzar carried these items to Babylon. That king’s successor had used some of those vessels in a most unholy way (Daniel 5:1-4).Now these actions are reversed, as the temple articles are removed from Babylon and taken to their original, rightful home in Jerusalem. This will give the returning captives some sense of continuity with the past when they are in a position to place the items in the new temple. The removal of articles from a conquered people’s place of worship is a significant religious statement in the ancient world. It is interpreted as a sign of the superiority of the conqueror’s gods. In this case the Lord God of Israel, who had allowed the Babylonians to remove the articles from His temple, now allows the Persians to send them back!

REBOOTING

One of the most famous lines in English literature was uttered in Macbeth, which is one of Shakespeare’s darker works. Evil piles upon evil throughout the play. At one point Lady Macbeth pushes her husband to kill King Duncan of Scot-land so that Macbeth might be king. With Dun-can dead Lady Macbeth goes back to the scene of the assassination and smears blood on guards(who had been drugged). This implicates them in the crime.

But then her conscience begins to work. She starts sleepwalking, rubbing her hands as if trying to wash away the blood that remains. In this state she admits her part in the murder and utters the famous words, “Out, (foul) spot! out, I say!” Guilt over the murder is driving her insane as her fevered mind tells her that there is no atoning for the evil she has done. In computer terminology her mind is desperately trying to “reboot,” to no avail.

Many atrocities had been committed against the people of Judah by the Babylonians. Now, many decades later, Cyrus performs an act of atonement for what his predecessor had done.

Does he feel a sense of shared guilt? We don’t know. For whatever reason seems best to him personally, Cyrus is trying to “reboot” the situation as he gives back the sacred vessels that had been looted.

Perhaps we may be tempted to say “Not my fault” or “Not my problem” when confronted with the need to clean up someone else’s mess. When that happens, stop to consider if God needs to “reboot” your thinking! .

Conclusion

A. “It’s in There!”

A few years ago, a certain brand of spaghetti sauce advertised its product by making the claim, “Homemade taste—it’s in there!” The same can be said of the idea of grace in the Old Testament. Most Christians associate that concept with the New Testament. And while the doctrine of grace is most clearly expressed through the coming of Jesus, grace is not absent from the Old Testament. It is most definitely “in there.” A powerful example comes from today’s lesson.

As noted earlier, the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles were most likely written to encourage the re-turning exiles that God still had a purpose for them and that the captivity did not spell “the end.” Both the conclusion of 2 Chronicles and the beginning of Ezra highlight the fact that God took the initiative in fulfilling His promise. He did that by moving the heart of Cyrus and then moving His people to take the necessary steps to return to Judah and rebuild. If ever there were doubts in the minds of those who returned from captivity concerning God’s intentions, they needed only to look back and remember God’s grace in using the right man at the right time to achieve His holy purpose.

Christians have a similar perspective, based on what Jesus Christ has done for us through His death and resurrection. Sometimes circum-stances we encounter may cause us to doubt the validity of our faith. In those situations we can remind ourselves, as Paul did the Roman Christians, that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).

That love—and that grace—were also revealed during the Old Testament era. It was revealed from the time of Adam and Eve receiving the promise of what the woman’s seed would accomplish (Genesis 3:15). Is grace found within the pages of the Old Testament? Make no mistake—it’s in there!

B. Prayer

Father, where would we be without Your grace? We would be hopelessly lost. May whenever forget the difference that Your grace through Jesus Christ has made in our lives. It is a difference for eternity. Remind us of our responsibility to share that grace with others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

C. Thought to Remember

God is still in the business of rebuilding

I. What are some things that can be rebuilt only by the power of God? How are humans sometimes arrogant in thinking that such power belongs to them?
Given the power of our technology, it is tempting to assume that nothing is beyond building or repairing—eventually. Think of all the wonder medications we have today! They hold out the tantalizing promise of repairing human emotions and bodies. Some people have their bodies cryogenically frozen at death, hoping for the day when ultramodern science will resurrect them. But human arrogance is nothing new—see Daniel 4:28-33; Acts 12:21-23. Only God can reclaim sinners and save them for eternity.
2.Cyrus said that God had given him a mission to rebuild the temple, but other decrees from Cyrus gave equal credence to other deities. Is this an early form of “political correctness”?Why, or why not?
Unfortunately, political leaders will refer occasionally to God in more of a manipulative or pandering fashion rather than as an expression of genuine, personal faith. The goal of gaining political support from religious people sometimes is more important than the goal of attaining God’s support. In such cases God may be referred to in a bland, generic way in order to include as many religions as possible and to offend as few as possible. This is sometimes called ceremonial theism. For a politician to attune his or her policies to God’s will and fight the prevailing political winds is a big challenge. But God can ensure that even a politician who isn’t particularly interested in Him will carry out God’s will regardless. There may be no obvious way to know when that is happening at the time—it may take hindsight to tell.
3.Material support for this “second exodus” came from the gifts of fellow Jews. Support for the original exodus came from non-Jews (Exodus12:36).
When should a church rely on support from the world to accomplish a ministry, if ever? Some churches feel very strongly that ministries must be supported only from the offerings of the members. We need to acknowledge, though, that outside support is essential for some ministries to happen.

Church building projects require support from zoning boards and neighbors. After-school programs may require at least tacit support from teachers and school officials. Your church’s reputation within the town can influence how effective it is for ministry in areas like these. But expecting the community to sup-port the church by participating in church fundraisers involving pancake breakfasts, the sale of Christmas trees, etc., may be going too far. The apostle John notes that “because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles” (3 John 7).
4.In what ways can a non-Christian ruler become an agent for God?
Ideally, of course, we would love to see every non-Christian ruler come to Christ. Yet God can use even the most unholy ruler to be His unwilling agent. Pharaoh from the book of Exodus maybe the most obvious example.

Even outside the testimony of Scripture, we can see examples of rulers who seem to be acting as agents for God in at least one area of their leadership. (To avoid politicizing these observations, we won’t suggest names here!) This maybe done actively, with a politician promoting pro-Christian policies intentionally—though per-haps from less-than-holy motives. Other times it can be done unintentionally, through policies enacted for reasons that God uses to achieve His purposes.
5.What special items from your church’s past are worth holding on to because of their legacy value? What things are best discarded as point-less relics of a bygone era? How do you decide which is which?
Symbolically, the temple objects connected the Jews to both the lost glory of Solomon’s temple and God’s favor that allowed that temple to be built in the first place (1 Kings 5:5). The articles reminded the Jews that the God of Solomon was the same God leading them back to the promised land. Objects from your church’s past that serve as reminders of the .changing God in the midst of an ever-changing world may well be worth keeping.

Introduction
Trusting in Lies
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”This was the strategy of Adolf Hitler’s minister of propaganda. Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels and the Nazis perfected the modern art of misinformation, the concept of the big lie. Goebbels thought that the more outrageous the lie, the better, because the populace would think it was too extreme to be false.

As strange as that theory may seem to us, the Nazi propaganda machine successfully deceived the German people for over a decade. Yet the big lie technique did not originate with the Nazis. The history of human governments is littered

with examples of lying kings and conquerors. Jeremiah the prophet was incensed by the ongoing deception of God’s people by the leaders of Judah.

Jeremiah was particularly enraged by the deceptions of those who claimed to be speaking for God. He denounced this as villainy. As a true prophet of God, Jeremiah revealed God’s displeasure: they “have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them” (Jeremiah29:23). Jeremiah also castigated the people who trusted “in lying words, that cannot profit” Jeremiah 7:8).

We as believers are called to be discerning of the truth. We have confidence that the Word of God is truth (John 17:17). Scripture is given to uses a measuring stick for all ‘natters in life. Scripture is “the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).While some leaders in government are more truthful than others, history promises that the future holds more lying leaders. Today’s Honest Abe may be replaced by tomorrow’s Deceiver. The unfailing Word of God stands above all of this. God is the God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4).God’s Word is not a mixture of truth. opinion, and falsehood. It is all truth, and it has the power to transform and change us (2 Corinthians 6:7).The more we study God’s Word and incorporate its teachings into our lives, the less likely we are to trust in lies.
Lesson Background
The writings contained in the book of Jeremiah are drawn from his four-decade ministry as a prophet of God to the nation of Judah. The book opens with prophecies from the thirteenth year of Josiah’s reign, approximately 627 BC (Jeremiah 1:2). The book closes with events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC (39:2). The book is some-what unusual for the prophets, for it contains both oracles (the words of the prophet delivered to the people) and narrative (accounts of historical events during this period).

The book of Jeremiah bears testimony that that prophet suffered a great deal for his prophetic ministry. Although he was assured by God that he was chosen even before birth, he protested about his inadequacy (Jeremiah 1:5, 6). Later he complained that his prophecies had made him an object of derision in public (20:7, 8).

Yet when Jeremiah tried to ignore God’s prophetic voice in his life, it was as if his bones were on fire and he could not hold the words in(Jeremiah 20:9). This prophet’s words caused him to be beaten and thrown into prison (37:15).

Later he was thrown into a dungeon-like cistern, where he wallowed in the smelly mire (38:6).Most of Jeremiah’s words are sharp and condemning. This has caused him to be seen as the prophet of doom and gloom. Because of this, we have adopted the English word jeremiad, meaning an angry tirade. In English literature, a Jeremiah is symbolic of a person who is a persistent and vocal pessimist.

Yet Jeremiah also has a hopeful side. One of the most stirring passages in all the Old Testament is Jeremiah’s vision of the new covenant. He foresaw this as a time when the law of God would be a matter of the heart, not just observance (Jeremiah 31:33), and that the sin of the people would no longer be remembered by God(Jeremiah 31:34). Jeremiah’s vision of fresh, new beginnings was adopted by the author of He-brews to explain the new covenant that has been given to the church as the people of God (see He-brews 8).

This week’s lesson is drawn from one of the prophet’s warnings against evil among the people of Judah. It is a biting condemnation of hypocrisy, particularly in worship.
False Security (Jeremiah 7:1-4)
the True Word (vv. 1, 2)
1, 2. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lotto, saying, Stand in the gate of the LORD’S house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lam all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.

Routines and habits provide a sense of security. We put out the trash on Wednesday, mow the grass on Friday, do laundry on Saturday, and go to church on Sunday. We work the same job and live in the same house for many years. What happens when the routine is disrupted—our trash day is changed to Monday, the washing machine breaks down, and we lose our job? Such changes can make us feel insecure.

Jeremiah wants his people to know that routine does not equal a strong, secure relationship with God. We may appear religious because we do certain things on a regular basis, yet be far from the will of God. Our relationship may be empty and false. This is as true today as it was in Jeremiah’s time.

God does not call Jeremiah to evangelize the pagan masses of the ancient world. His message is for the (supposed) people of God, the citizens of Jerusalem. His target audience is even more selective as shown by the location for preaching given to him: he is to stand at the gate of the Lord’s house, meaning the main entry point of the temple in Jerusalem. Those he is to address are not coming for business, education, or meetings. They are coming to worship in the house of the Lord. They are following their routine, just as many attend church services each Sunday without much thought.

The gale is more than a doorway into the temple. It is an impressive structure that is more like a pass-through building than a simple wall opening. Gates in the ancient world can have rooms and open areas. They serve as gathering places.In the cities of ancient Israel, gates are placeswhere judges dispense justice to the public (seeAmos 5:15). Jeremiah’s cry at the gate of the tem-ple is to be a call for justice and righteousnessand truth in worship.
Rejecting Soothing Lies (vv. 3, 4)
3. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God ofIsrael, Amend your ways and your doings, and Iwill cause you to dwell in this place.

Jeremiah’s message is a warning with apromise: Quit sinning and God will let you con-tinue to live in the land of tome). Jeremiah is call-ing for a change in hearts and in practices.Empty ritual is not acceptable worship. Idola-trous practices are not tolerable for God (see Jere-miah 8:19).

Some of the hearers must wonder what is sowrong. Aren’t they being faithful to worship at the house of the Lord? Aren’t they wearing their best temple-go-to-meeting clothes? Don’t they bring their offerings? Don’t they sing the temple praise songs? Haven’t they repealed the proper prayers? Why is this prophet haranguing them?4. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.

Jeremiah’s prophecy of doom for Judah is not new. It has been preached since the time of Isaiah. Yet through decades of national crisis and foreign threat, the southern kingdom of Judah has survived. The temple is some 300 years old by this time. It has survived threats from enemies such as the Assyrians, the Egyptians, and the Chaldeans (Babylonians).

But that is exactly the point for Jeremiah: the presence of this house of worship has given the people a false sense of security! They believe that the temple is a sign of God’s continued favor and protection. Jeremiah mocks the temple worshipers by repeating their falsely confident refrain, “This is The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord.” Tradition, history, and edifices count for nothing when hearts are false.
Delusional Duplicity (Jeremiah 7:8-15)
Double Life of Worship (vv. 8-10)
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Trusting in a lie does not make it the truth, for a lie will always be a lie. False security is just that: false. There is no value in accepting un-truth, no matter how sincere and passionate the liar may be. Lies will always fail. They cannot protect us.

There is a story about Diogenes of Sinope, who comes along some 200 years after Jeremiah. The story pictures him as wandering around ancient Greece with a lantern in daylight, unsuccessfully searching for an honest man. Earlier in his book, Jeremiah also had searched Jerusalem for a person who was on the side of truth and justice (Jeremiah 5:1). God hoped for such a per-son, for this would be reason to spare Jerusalem. But Jeremiah’s quest was as futile as that of Diogenes. How sad it is when truth is seen as optional, and we find ourselves loving lies!

9, 10. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Jeremiah’s complaint now gets very specific. He charges that the people of Judah have violated six of the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:7-21). They are thieves (Commandment Eight). They have committed murder (Commandment Six). They are adulterers (Commandment Seven). They have given false witness (Commandment Nine). They have worshiped other gods and made idols of them (Commandments One and Two).

Jeremiah warns that God knows of these abominations. God does not overlook them just because the people are going through the motions of worship at the temple. Most offensive to God is the mix of His worship with the worship of false gods like Baal of the Canaanites. This false worship is a sure way to bring about the wrath of the Lord (see Judges 2:13, 14).
PROBABILISM
A theory of moral theology known as probabilism came into being in the seventeenth century AD. The main idea is that if you can find a good ethical motive behind an action, even if it is highly improbable, then the action can be de-fended as allowable.

For example, if a merchant cannot sell his wine at a fair profit, he can add water to it and sell it as pure in order to snake the profit. If servants are not being paid a proper wage by their master, they may take property from the master that will make up the difference. If necessity forces a person to take wood from someone else’s pile, he is not obligated to restore it. If someone has committed a crime, he may swear in a loud voice, “I have not done this crime” and then in a subdued voice add, “today.” Thus the total statement is true, and he is exonerated from falsehood.

The result of probabilism is to take moral laws and turn them inside out. Jeremiah condemned this kind of thinking centuries before Christ. This condemnation still stands. .
Den of Robbers (v. 11)
11.Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Logo.

Jeremiah now brings a devastating charge against Judah: the hypocritical dishonesty of the leaders has found a home within the temple precincts. This has made the house of the Lord a den of robbers.

This charge likely has to do with the commerce going on in the temple courts, the location of a financial center for the nation. Rather than conduct business with integrity and truth, dealing is clone with deception and greediness. This will also be a problem during the time of Jesus several centuries later. He will cleanse the temple of His day by running out the money changers and merchants (see Mark 11:15-17).
Disaster of Shiloh (vv. 12-15)
12.But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

Shiloh was the original location in the promised land of the house of the Lord. This was the tabernacle transported by Israel through the wilderness. The tabernacle at Shiloh had become a more permanent structure than the tent of the exodus and was sometimes referred to as the temple (see 1 Samuel 1:9).

Although we do not have details, the Old Testament hints in several places that God allowed this former sanctuary to be destroyed, perhaps by the Philistines (see Psalm 78:60). The ruins of this temple are still around in Jeremiah’s day. Those ruins should serve as a warning that building a house for God does not guarantee God’s favor.

13. And now, because ye have done all these works. saith the Lou), and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not.

Jeremiah’s final accusation at this point is that the people of the temple repeatedly have turned a deaf ear to God’s pleas for change. Although they are regular worshipers, they have forgotten the one whom they worship.

What we call worship time can easily become a noisy series of presentations designed to please the audience. We should remember that God is present at our worship efforts, and He may be speaking to us. By this we do not mean that we should expect an audible voice coming from Heaven. Rather, the idea is to expect our hearts to be touched through Scripture and prayer and praise. When God’s Holy Spirit is prompting us to change our lives, to admit and abandon the love of sinful practices, then we should listen.

14, 15. Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. History has a habit of repeating itself, even in tragic ways. Jeremiah reminds the hearers that God had cast out all their brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim (signifying the northern kingdom of Israel) on account of persistent sin and rebellion.

God also has abandoned an earlier temple of Israel, the sanctuary at Shiloh. God will do it again with the southern kingdom of Judah and the Jerusalem temple. And, let us be forewarned, God can do it with any church that tolerates and grows comfortable with a hypocritical lifestyle and empty, meaningless worship practices. The warnings in Revelation 2 and 3 are important to heed!
TRANQUILITY?
In Hebrew, the word Shiloh means “tranquility, rest.” When the Israelites conquered the land of Canaan, they set up the tabernacle at Shiloh. This remained the seat of worship for some time. The tabernacle was still there in the early years of Samuel.

When the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant after its capture, it was not returned to Shiloh. Instead, it ultimately was sent to Jerusalem. The town of Shiloh began to decline; this continued into the days of Jeremiah. How interesting that a place named tranquility would come to represent desolation.

Because of its positive Old Testament connotations, many churches have been named Shiloh. One of the most interesting was a small country Methodist church in southern Tennessee near a spot on the Tennessee River called Pittsburgh Landing. A major battle of the American Civil War was fought there on April 6 and 7, 1862.Much of the battle swirled around the church building itself. Some 100,000 soldiers fought

there, suffering over 23,000 casualties. How ironic that a place whose name means “tranquility” would be the scene of such horrible violence and death.

Yet that is a message of Jeremiah. God has hero patient, but ultimately He will wreak vengeance upon the faithlessness of His people. Shiloh was desolate, and Jerusalem would be destroyed. Such is eventually the case with all who abandon God’s paths to seek their own way.
Failed Leadership(2 Kings 23:36, 37)
36, 37. Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Zebudah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done.

The historical record of the Old Testament shows that Judah did not heed Jeremiah’s dire warnings. King Jehoiakim began to reign in 609BC, and he was the son of the reformer King Josiah (Jeremiah 22:18). But the son did not continue his father’s efforts to bring Israel back to an obedient relationship with the Lord. Instead, he chose the path of Manasseh and did evil. Jeremiah tells us that Jehoiakim went so far as to burn, out of contempt, a scroll of prophetic warnings (36:22, 23, 28).

In 2 Kings 24:1-5 (which may have been writ-ten by Jeremiah) we learn that Jehoiakim arrogantly rebelled against Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. The result was disaster, for that king hart been sent by God.

looted the temple and physically humiliated Jehoiakim (2 Chronicles 36:6, 7). God’s will, as proclaimed by Jeremiah, was accomplished. God’s will shall always be accomplished
Conclusion
Hypocrites I Have Known
We do not live in ancient Jerusalem. We do not worship at Solomon’s temple. We need not fear Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army. But Jeremiah’s word should still be heard in our churches today. Are our efforts to worship God motivated by a true heart, or are they the empty acts of self-serving hypocrites?

As one who has ministered in many different churches for several decades, I have observed various hypocrites in action: the church staff member who complained about the miserly giving of the congregation, yet didn’t give proportionately himself; the elder who griped about the rambunctious behavior of the youth group while having an affair with his secretary; the worship leader who focused the singing time on herself, then grumbled that the people weren’t singing; the Sunday school teacher who carried the biggest Bible I’ve ever seen, yet was so dishonest in his business dealings that no one in the church would patronize his store; the committee member who had just paid cash for a new SUV, yet moaned when a missionary asked for funds to replace his 10-year-old van, which had in excess of 300,000 miles on it.

But I know the biggest hypocrite even more intimately. He is one who wants Sunday worship only according to his tastes, not for God’s glory. He is the one who gives far less than he could because he spends so much on his own whims. He is the one who looks down on those who don’t know the Bible as well as he, but often turns a deaf ear to Scripture that confronts his life. That hypocrite is me.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, God of ancient Israel and of the church, have patience with us. Please don’t give up on reminding us of our hypocrisy and sin. Give on the spiritual strength to change and the joy that comes from serving You with clean hands and a pure heart. We pray this in the name of the one who never acted with hypocrisy, Jesus Christ Your Son, amen.
Thought to Remember
God holds us accountable to serve Him without hypocrisy.

What are some innovations in the activities or schedules of your church that would be valuable in helping people hear God’s messages? If your students need something to jumpstart their thinking on this question, ask them what has been helpful from the past in allowing a Freshlook at the depths of God’s Word (examples: lake-side services, conferences, retreats). Some ideas they may suggest include moving the place or time of worship once a month, having the minister preaching on the steps of the church as people arrive, or showing appropriate clips of movies that illustrate secret sins.

2.What misconceptions. routines, slogans, and habits do people hold onto today that parallel the comfortable lies and behavior of the Jewish people in the text? How do today’s lies hamper the effectiveness of the church? What do we do to expose those lies?

As the church builds bridges into the surrounding culture, secular thinking can get into the church as a result. A two-way street is in-evitable in this regard. It is not uncommon to hear people at church repeating slogans they heard from movies and to see those slogans be-come part of their lives. The primary difficulty arises when these snippets of pop psychology lead people to trust in something other than God. Certain church traditions, which may have served valid purposes in the past, can become pointless routines at best and delusions at worst. People who find undue comfort in a saying, set-ting, or tradition place themselves in danger. Discuss how individuals as well as entire congregations can be lulled into spiritual sleep through false trust in these areas.

3. If God sent a specific message to Christians today, what list of sins do you think He would give to expose how people act one way in worship and another way the rest of the week? Put your students’ answers into two lists: a list of sins of commission (lying, stealing, murder, etc.) and the sins of omission (failing to help those in need, neglecting use of spiritual gifts, etc.). Include both the spiritual and social consequences in the discussion.

For those who live in consumer-driven democracies, a pointed discussion on covetousness (the Tenth Commandment) will be in order. Bring in some glossy ads from the Sunday paper and discuss how these entice people to want more. Discuss how covetousness ties with idolatry (Colossians 3:5).

4.In what ways could God refer to today’s church as a “den of robbers”? What can the church do to rectify this situation?

Methods of corruption exist today that did not exist in the first century AD. One example is a person who hands to the church treasurer a check made out to the church, then asks for a lesser amount in change-in order to claim on his or her income tax return the full amount of the check as an offering.

A second situations would be shady business leaders who attend church to give themselves an aura of respectability and to make business contacts. The result is to use the church in a way that God does not intend. A third possibility could be a church’s decision to pour its funds overwhelmingly into buildings and stained glass while the physical needs of the community’s poor are ignored. (There is nothing wrong with stained glass, but a certain balance is called for!)There are many other examples.

5.If you were asked to be a spiritual account-ability partner by another Christian, what steps would you take to help your friend ensure that his or her worship does not become an empty ritual?

An accountability partner should be good at both gentle encouragement and the ability to ask pointed questions. Some examples are, “How is your prayer life?” “How are you really doing in your private worship?” “What did you do yesterday to draw closer to God?” “In your responses, have you been less than fully open and honest on any of your answers?”

The accountability partner’s goals include celebrating growth, inquiring about weak spots, and helping one’s friend find ways to enhance his or her walk wills the Lord. Every class and church can encourage members to have such partners.

Into the Lesson
Say, “Sometimes we can get a false sense of security about our daily environment.” To illustrate this point, ask your students to rank order these creatures according to how many people they kill each year in the United States: bears; cougars; dogs; insects and spiders; sharks: and snakes. (This activity is also in the student book.)Answers are: 1. insects and spiders (50 to 150deaths per year, not counting deaths from ill-nesses borne by mosquitoes); 2. dogs (about 15deaths per year); 3. snakes (10 to 12); 4. sharks (2);5. bears (fewer than 1); 6. cougars (fewer than 0.5).After you have discussed their answers, say, “Sometimes the things we may fear the most, such as sharks and bears, are far less dangerous to us than things we take for granted, such as in-sects or dogs. Today’s lesson deals with Judah’s failure to realize the danger of their shallow religious routines.”
Into the Word
Deliver a brief introductory lecture from the Lesson Background to help your students under-stand Jeremiah’s ministry. This will set the stage for the passages they will be studying.

Next, distribute copies of the following true-false statements (or direct your students to their student books, where this quiz is also found).Tell your students to read Jeremiah 7:1-4, 8-15,and 2 Kings 23:36, 37 to find the answers to this quiz. (Answers are provided in parentheses, but don’t distribute those.)

1. God told Jeremiah to preach in the gate of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem (true, Jeremiah7:1); 2. God ordered the Jews to amend their ways (true, v. 3); 3. Jeremiah instructed the Jews to chant the phrase “the temple of the Lord”(false, v. 4); 4. Jeremiah accused the Jews of

burning incense to the false god Dagon (false, v.9); 5. God accused the Jews of making the temple a den of robbers (true, v. 11); 6. God said that He had set His name (located His tabernacle) first at Shiloh (true, v. 12); 7. God warned Judah that He would destroy the temple, just as He had destroyed the tabernacle at Shiloh (true, v. 14); 8.God also warned that He would remove Judah from the land, just as He had removed Ephraim(true, v. 15); 9. Jehoiakim was 30 years old when he became king of Judah (false, 2 Kings 23:36);10. Jehoiakim was a great religious reformer like his father, Josiah (false, v. 37).

When your students have completed the quiz, review the correct answers and discuss the meaning of the text. Use the following questions for discussion:

1. Why would Jeremiah stand in the gate of the temple to deliver his message? 2. What offer did God make to the Jews if they changed their ways? 3. How were the people given a false sense of security by the existence of the temple? 4. Of what specific sins were the Jews guilty? 5. Hose had the Jews made the temple a den of robbers?(Remember that Jesus leveled the same charge; Mark 11:15-17.) 6. What punishment did God threaten against Judah? 7. How would they know God’s threat was genuine? 8. Who was Jehoiakim? What happened to him?
Into Life
Reproduce this chart to give to your students: Judah’s Sins Our Sins

1. Trust in the temple
2. Theft
3. Murder
4. Adultery
5. False gods

Ask your students to note one or two sins common today that are comparable to the sins of Judah. For example, they could list tax fraud in place of theft or abortion in place of murder. Next, instruct your students to turn to 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and 1 John 1:8-2:2 to see what God expects as to do about such sins today. Ask them to write a brief summary of God’s instructions. Discuss the fact that God still offers forgiveness for people who return to Him through Christ.