week of 10/18

Unit 14  Session 3

RECONCILIATION

HOSEA 1:2-3 ; 2:19-20, 23 ; 3:1-5 ; 14:1-4

 

Key Concept:

God in His grace reconciles with His sinful people.

Though he is often listed as a minor prophet in the Bible based on the length of his book, Hosea was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah for many decades. Through Hosea's life and message, God presented His case against Israel, stating, "There is no truth, no faithful love, and no knowledge of God in the land! Cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another" (Hos. 4:1-2). God used Hosea's family as a picture of Israel's unfaithfulness to Himself, comparing their relationship with that of a husband and an unfaithful wife.

As you read Hosea 1:1-2 ; 2:19-20, 23 ; 3:1-5 ; 14:1-4:

 

✞   Contemplate the difficult call of God upon Hosea to marry a 

    promiscuous woman and his willingness to obey.

     

✞   Rejoice in the example of Hosea and the greater reality of the

    faithful love and reconciliation found in Christ.

week of 10/12

Unit 14  Session 2

REPENTANCE

jonah 3:4-10 ; 4:1-2, 6-11

 

Key Concept:

God is merciful to forgive when people repent, and He desires His people to be merciful as well.

Jonah, a contemporary of Amos and Hosea, was a prophet of Israel during the reign of King Jeroboam II, who did evil in the Lord's eyes. Yet the Lord spoke graciously to Israel through Jonah in order to help them (2 Kings 14:25-27). God also commanded Jonah to go and proclaim judgment against Ninevah, the capital city of Assyria. But Jonah fled in the opposite direction. Through a series of circumstances orchestrated by God, Jonah found himself in the belly of a large fish and then back on dry land. God gave Jonah a second chance, and this time Jonah obeyed, going to Ninevah to preach the message the Lord gave him.

As you read Jonah 34-10 ; 4:1-2, 6-11:

 

✞   Recognize that because the Ninevites fasted and repented, God relented 

    in His judgment and spared the city.

     

✞   Contemplate Jonah's reason for fleeing from the Lord's mission - he knew

    the Lord is gracious and compassionate.

week of 10/5

Unit 14  Session 1

RESURRECTION

2 KINGS 4:18-22 ; 24-25 ; 28-37

 

Key Concept:

God has the power to overcome death.

The prophet Elijah's ministry ended when he was taken up into heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha, his successor, wen to Shunem, where he met " a prominent woman" who fed him and provided him a place to stay whenever he came that way. In response, Elisha desired to help her in some way. He learned she had no offspring and her husband was aging. Aside from the general desire to bear children, if she were to become a widow with no offspring, the Shunammite woman would be vulnerable and likely oppressed. Therefore, Elisha prophesied that in one year she would have a son, and it came to pass, just as Elisha had promised.

As you read 2 Kings 4:18-22; 24-25; 28-37:

✞   Recognize that when her son died, the Shunammite woman 

    knew to seek God through His prophet.

     

✞   Consider that both the woman and Elisha needed to persist 

    in their hope in the resurrection.

week of 9/28

Unit 13  Session 4

A DIVIDED RESPONSE

1 KINGS 21:17-29

 

Key Concept:

God will not ignore injustice among His people, but He is merciful.

After Elijah's victorious showdown on Mount Carmel with the 450 prophets of Baal, whom Elijah executed, the Lord sent torrential rain on Israel for the first time in three years. The drought was over. Ahab told his wife, Jezebel, what Elijah had done, and she swore an oath that she would kill Elijah. Some time later, Jezebel found Ahab pouting because his neighbor Naboth would not let Ahab buy his family's vineyard. So she hatched a plot to bring false accusations against Naboth that led to his execution. Then she told Ahab to take what he had wanted. All this incurred the wrath of the Lord against Ahab and Jezebel.

As you read 1 Kings 21:17-29:

✞   Recognize that Ahab and Jezebel thought they could get away with 

    false witness, murder, and theft.

     

✞   Marvel at the mercy God showed to Ahab because of his humble 

    response to Elijah's proclamation of judgment.

week of 9/21

Unit 13  Session 3

A DIVIDED PEOPLE

1 KINGS 18:20-2630-39

 

Key Concept:

The Lord alone is the true God and worthy of worship.

Following the pattern of Jeroboam, every king in the Northern Kingdom of Israel did what was evil in the Lord's eyes. The worst was Ahab, who set up a temple for the false god Baal in the capital city of Samaria and made an Asherah pole, leading Israel further into idolatry. The Lord sent Elijah to Ahab to prophesy about a three-year drought throughout Israel as a punishment against the wicked rule of Ahab and his father, Omri (1 Kings 17:1; 18:18). With no rain in the land and the famine affecting their food, the time had come for Elijah to present the question to the people of Israel: Who is the true God, Baal or the Lord?

As you read 1 Kings 18:20-26, 30-39:

✞   Recognize that Elijah demanded that the people stop trying to worship 

    both God and Baal.

     

✞   Dwell on the fact that a true, living God will act and respond to His people.

week of 9/14

Unit 13  Session 2

DIVIDED KINGS

1 KINGS 12:25-32 ; 14:21-26

 

Key Concept:

Our sin and false worship anger God.

After King Rehoboam's disastrous start, the northern tribes united under Jeroboam and made him their king. Rehoboam mustered 180,000 troops from his tribes of Judah and Benjamin to fight against the rebel Israelite tribes. The prophet Shemaiah brought Rehoboam a message from the Lord: "You are not to march up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you return home, for this situation is from me" (1 Kings 12:24). Judah listened to the Lord and went home, but both kingdoms were at odds with each other for several decades.

As you read 1 Kings 12:25-32 ; 14:21-26:

✞   Reflect on how Jeroboam's worry caused him to lead Israel into idolatry.

     

✞   Consider how Rehoboam allowed Judah's idolatry to run rampant, and that 

    God subsequently allowed enemies to seize treasure from the temple and palace.

week of 9/7

Unit 13  Session 1

A KINGDOM DIVIDED

1 KINGS 12:1-8 ; 10-17

 

Key Concept:

Division occurs when wisdom is ignored.

Solomon had been made the wisest man on earth by God, and his reign as king brought prosperity to Israel and glory to God as people came from all over to hear Solomon's godly wisdom. But Solomon married foreign wives who worshiped other gods that he eventually worshiped as well (1 Kings 11:4-8). Because of this evil, God told Solomon that He would tear the kingdom from him during his son Rehoboam's reign, leaving only one tribe for his son's rule. At his coronation, Rehoboam was presented with a choice of what kind of king he would be. His unwise decision fulfilled the Lord's judgment.

As you read 1 Kings 12:1-8 ; 10-17:

✞   Note the differences between Rehoboam's advisors and the advice they 

    gave to their king.

     

✞   Recognize that God's sovereign will as prophesied to Solomon was being 

    fulfilled through Rehoboam's actions.