week of 11/30

 Unit 15  Session 5

GOD'S REVIVAL PROMISED

EZEKIEL 37:1-14

 

Key Concept:

God revives His people when hope seems lost.

Ezekiel was brought up to be a priest in Jerusalem, but he was carried away to Babylon during the first wave of the Babylonian exile. Yet even there, the Lord's hand was on him, and he was called by the Lord as a prophet. Ezekiel prophesied to the people who remained in Judah that their hardheartedness and sin would result in the Lord's abandonment of the temple and the total destruction of Jerusalem. When God's judgment came to pass, the people understandably lost all hope. They had earned their punishment. But God still had a plan for His people, and Ezekiel prophesied their revival and spiritual new birth.

As you examine Ezekiel 37:1-14:

 

✞   Visualize Ezekiel's experience of God commanding him to 

    tell dry bones to come to life and them obeying.

     

✞   Reflect upon the role of the Holy Spirit in transforming us 

    and drawing us out of hopelessness.

week of 11/23

Unit 15  Session 4

GOD'S NATION FELL

2 CHRONICLES 36:11-21

 

Key Concept:

God warns people with compassion but will also judge evil.

Josiah was a good king over Judah who followed in the ways of his ancestor David, and he obeyed the Lord in almost all that he did. Josiah's faithfulness brought restoration to God's people. But after Josiah's death, his successors - three sons and a grandson - did not follow in his faithful footsteps. Each one did what was evil in the Lord's eyes. They did not obey God but pursued wickedness and rebelled against His ways and His punishments. Their continual disobedience brought about God's judgment that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple and exile from the promised land for God's people.

As you examine 2 Chronicles 36:11-21:

 

✞   Recognize the compassion of God in sending messengers 

    to warn and call His people to repentance.

     

✞   Understand that apart from Christ, everyone will reach a

    point of no remedy from the just wrath of God against sin.

week of 11/16

Unit 15  Session 3

GOD'S COVENANT RENEWED

JEREMIAH 17:5-8 ; 31:31-37

 

Key Concept:

A new covenant will establish followers of Jesus.

Jeremiah was called to speak for the Lord in the waning days of the kingdom of Judah. Most of his messages warned of the coming judgment, which he witnessed with his own eyes, but a few promised hope for a ruined people. For a time, Judah was looking to put their trust in Egypt to fight the Babylonians, but Jeremiah's warning was to put their trust in God alone. In Jeremiah 17:5-8, which sounds like a psalm or proverb, the prophet addressed Judah's misplaced trust. And in Jeremiah 31:31-37, the prophet foretold the new covenant that God would make with His people to deal with their sin and ours once and for all.

As you examine Jeremiah 17:5-8 ; 31:31-37:

 

✞   Understand that trusting in humankind leads to desert places without life.

     

✞   Dwell upon the promise that God will write His law on His people's hearts,

    call us His people, and forgive our sins.

week of 11/8

Unit 15  Session 2

GOD'S PROPHETS WARNED

mICAH 5:1-5 ; 6:6-8 ; 7:8-9, 18-20

 

Key Concept:

Though there is a future judgment, there is also a future hope.

During the reigns of Judah's kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, God sent the prophet Micah with a message for both Israel and Judah. Micah spoke the word of the Lord and foretold the judgment, destruction, and exile that was coming for both Israel and Judah. Both kingdoms had failed to keep the Lord's covenant and would continue to do so, with a few exceptions from Judah's kings, such as Hezekiah and Josiah. But Micah also had a message for the future, a message of hope and restoration. Micah prophesied that the Messiah-King would come to shepherd God's people in righteousness forever.

As you examine Micah 5:1-5 ; 6:6-8 ; 7:8-9, 18-20:

 

✞   Emphasize God's desire for His people to act justly, to love 

    faithfulness, and to walk humbly with Him.

     

✞   Recognize that disobedience results in judgment, but God's

    grace and mercy abound as well.

week of 11/2

Unit 15  Session 1

GOD'S PEOPLE WORSHIPED

2 KINGS 18:1-6 ;  22:1-2 ; 23:1-3

 

Key Concept:

Worship of God includes following Him and His Word.

Throughout most of the history of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, God's people did not follow His ways. Often they chose to worship the idols of the nations around them. In His mercy, the Lord sent prophets to call His people to repentance, but God's message often fell on deaf ears. As a result, God sent the Assyrians to attack, conquer, and exile the Israelites in the Northern Kingdom. The Assyrians also threatened the Southern Kingdom of Judah, but the Lord rescued them through a much-needed God-fearing leader. In the declining years of Judah, the Lord gave them two faithful kings who worshiped the Lord alone.

As you examine 2 Kings 18:1-6 ; 22:1-2 ; 23:1-3

 

✞   Recognize that both Hezekiah and Josiah relied on God's Word 

    to lead the people of Judah.

     

✞   Consider how the Word of God convicts us of our sin and leads 

    us to humble ourselves before the Lord.

 

week of 10/26

Unit 14  Session 4

RETRIBUTION

2 KINGS 17:6-15 ; 18-20

 

Key Concept:

Though  God is merciful, sin has dreadful consequences.

The books of 1 and 2 Kings record the history of the kings of Israel over approximately four hundred years. Beginning with the death of King David and the start of Solomon's reign, through the split of the kingdom into Israel and Judah, and ending with  the destruction of Jerusalem, the author documented each king in both the north and the south in light of their faithfulness to the Lord. While Judah enjoyed a few faithful kings, Israel's kings consistently followed a path away from the Lord, in spite of the warnings from the Lord's prophets. This led to their destruction and exile at the hands of the Assyrians.

As you examine 2 Kings 17:6-15 ; 18-20:

 

✞   Recognize that Israel sinned against God, and God allowed 

    them to be conquered by Assyria.

     

✞   Recall how God used prophets to warn the people, but they

    still disobeyed.

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.