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Friday, June 14, 2013

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (6/16/13)

Please Read Chapter 15, God's Messengers and 1 Kings 17-19, 2 Kings 2, 4, 6, Hosea 4-5, 8-9, 14, and Amos 1, 3-5, 9

Timeless Truth:   God speaks through His people.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does.  Israel sunk deeper and deeper into the cesspool of idolatry under the royal wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel.  They led the people further into idolatry and disregarded the God who had made them a nation. The people of promise had broken their promises.  But YHWH is a jealous God who would not sit idly on His heavenly throne and allow worthless non-gods and their followers to go unchecked.  So He called prophets who would speak on His behalf and demonstrate that there is no God but Himself.  Sounding the alarm, these prophets warned faithless Israel that her unbelief would march her right into captivity.
 
Elijah warned Ahab that Israel would experience a 3-year drought because of their worship of the pagan god, Baal.  The shriveled up land seemed a fitting picture of Israel’s desiccated hearts and shrunken worship. Ahab had gone so far as to build a temple for Baal in the capital city of Samaria.  Then, atop Mount Carmel, the supposed sacred dwelling place of Baal, Elijah challenged the idolaters to the ultimate smackdown—YHWH vs. Baal.  Baal failed to show up but the LORD made a dramatic statement when He consumed the water-logged sacrifice with fire.  Elijah then put to death the 450 prophets of Baal.  Ahab' wife Jezebel, the Queen of Mean, threatened to kill him so Elijah fled into the desert.  Fatalistic, fearful and not without some Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Mount Horeb.  God revealed Himself there to Elijah, much like He had done nearly 600 years earlier to Moses at Sinai.  He told Elijah that he had kings and prophets to anoint – one of whom was his successor, Elisha.   Once again, as with Moses and Joshua, God was passing the baton to the next generation of leaders who would speak for Him.
 
While the two prophets were traveling together, Elijah parted the Jordan by striking the water with his cloak – another throwback to Moses.  As they continued on, a whirlwind took Elijah up to heaven in a chariot of fire.  The cloak fell to Elisha whose authority was confirmed when he too divided the Jordan.  Similar to Elijah before him, Elisha performed many miraculous feats for the benefit of the faithful remnant in Israel.  He promised a barren Shunammite woman a son. When the boy suddenly died years later, Elisha brought him back to life. When the Aramean king sent his troops to capture the man of God, Elisha prayed.  He asked God to open his servant’s eyes so he could see the angels who were standing guard around them, and to blind the Arameans.  The prophet then led his captives to Samaria where he asked the king of Israel to prepare a feast of friendship in lieu of execution. This unconventional act of grace established peace between Israel and Aram.
 
Even with the powerful ministries of Elijah and Elisha, the deeply embedded idolaters remained powerful, numerous and unrepentant in Israel.  God sent Amos, a herdsman from the southern kingdom of Judah, to warn the northern kingdom of Israel that her prosperity, injustice and sinful ways would soon be judged.  He promised them that if Israel did not repent, they would be taken captive. God also sent Hosea to Israel as a living object lesson of His faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness.  Israel refused to hear the pleas of God to return to Him.  
 
God’s holiness demands judgment against rebellious men, but His redemptive love always provides a way of escape.  Whether it’s a mountaintop showdown, a boy raised from the dead, a vision of guardian angels, or a prophet commanded to marry a woman who would become unfaithful, God is always telling His Upper Story of redemption and compassion through His messengers.
 
When you were growing up how did your parents warn you that you were in trouble?  Was there a special word or phrase that they used?
  1. What is it about Ahab and Jezebel that provoked unprecedented anger from the LORD?  How does this relate to the first two commandments?
  2. Look up Deut. 13:1-5.   Was Elijah correct or too brutal in slaughtering all the prophets of Baal?  Why does God take idolatry so seriously?
  3. Baal worshipers believed their god made rain and storms, and during the dry season he needed to be brought back to life.  Mount Carmel was his supposed sacred dwelling place. What was the point in God taking the battle to enemy territory?
  4. Despite a recent, dramatic victory, Elijah was scared and depressed when he ran from Jezebel.  Why do the deepest doubts often come on the heels of great triumphs or strong spiritual advancement?
  5. Elijah ended up at Mount Horeb, the same mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God (p. 170).  What other parallels do you discover between Elijah and Moses?
  6. Elisha’s spiritual insight allowed him to know the plans of the king of Aram, and to see God’s angelic armies. Are there forces at work in our world today that we cannot see? (p. 174-175). What did this episode teach you about spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:12)?
  7. What is the role of the prophets in this chapter? Was their role predicting the future or calling the people to repentance? Does God still send prophets today?
  8. Do you see any similarities between the prophecies of Amos and Hosea and our world today?  What do you think they would say to America?  Our church?  
  9. Evaluate the prophets’ ministries. On what basis would you judge whether or not they were successful? How should we evaluate success in our work for God?  How should we evaluate our own success for the kingdom?

Friday, June 7, 2013

Scripture & Questions for Sunday (6/9/13)

Please Read: Chapter 14, A Kingdom Torn in Two  Rehoboam/Jeroboam and also read 1 Kings 12-16

Timeless Truth:  Leadership always has its consequences.                     
Solomon, whose name means peace, found peace slipping away during the final years of his reign.  His son Rehoboam was to take his place as ruler over the 12 tribes of Israel. A large party of disgruntled leaders led by Jeroboam showed up at Rehoboam’s coronation ceremony requesting that he grant relief from the heavy burden of taxation and forced labor that Solomon had placed on them. Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the experienced elders and took the advice of his immature peers who theorized that bullying and intimidation were better leadership tactics than servanthood.  Rehoboam promised even heavier taxation and more forced labor. With one decision, the nation divided and its fate was sealed.  
 
Only Rehoboam’s tribe of Judah remained loyal to him.  The other 10 tribes to the north seceded, took the name of Israel and made Jeroboam their king.  Instead of appreciating the gracious gift of God, Jeroboam, like Aaron centuries before, set up idols of counterfeit worship, leading Israel into idolatry.  God sent a prophet who warned of judgment for their idolatry and predicted that someday a king named Josiah, a descendant of David, would destroy their pagan worship sites (this was fulfilled 290 years later.) As a sign to authenticate his message, the pagan altar split in two and Jeroboam’s outstretched hand turned leprous. 
 
This did little to curb Jeroboam’s pagan practices.  When his son became ill he sent his wife in disguise to the prophet Ahijah to inquire about their son’s fate. Though blind, Ahijah’s spiritual sight was 20-20.  He not only saw through the charade, but gave Jeroboam’s wife a message of doom predicting that her husband’s dynasty would soon end and Israel would one day be carried away into captivity. The message of doom was to be authenticated with the death of their son as soon as her footsteps crossed the entrance to the palace.  And so it came to pass. 
 
God’s chosen people were now committing the same idolatrous and immoral practices that compelled God to purge the land of its Canaanite inhabitants in the first place.  God’s righteousness and covenant loyalty moved Him to jealous anger. Rehoboam allowed Judah to fall into the same idolatry as the North.  The golden years of peace faded further when God judged Judah by using Shishak king of Egypt.  He attacked Judah and carried off the all of the gold and silver treasures. Rehoboam replaced them with bronze, but the decline in moral and spiritual values was even sharper than the drop in value from gold to bronze.   
 
The Lower Story is primarily a list of idolatrous kings who lead both Judah and Israel further and further way from God. Abijah son of Rehoboam became the next king of Judah.  His tenure was short and sinful like his father’s.  No good kings reigned in Israel after the split of the kingdom. Things went from bad to worse with the house of Omri.  His evil son King Ahab and her royal wickedness Queen Jezebel drove Israel to new lows in idolatry.
 
But in the Upper Story, we see two things:  First, those who reject the LORD will reap His grim judgment.  But second, this judgment is always designed to redirect His people and produce repentance back toward the God who still relentlessly pursues His people, through prophets like Ahijah and kings like Asa who forged a path for people to find their way back to Him.  The era of the kings, despite their terrible freedom, inaugurates a path to the King of Kings, who would redeem not just this era of division and strife, but every age from everlasting to everlasting.
  1. Rehoboam sought counsel to make an important decision (p. 160) and so did Jeroboam (p. 161).   What criteria did each seem to use in evaluating the counsel of others?  What makes for wise counsel?  What kind of counsel does or should your small group provide for each other?
  2. Jeroboam “counterfeited worship” by redirect Israel’s attention away from the temple in Judah to local idols.  What did he gain from this? 
  3. The split of Israel and Judah led to continual warfare for hundreds of years.  What issues divide God’s people today?  Share with your group practical ways to promote unity at our church and unity with believers from other churches.
  4. Does the prophecy from the man of God, the sign of the altar, and the leprous hand represent acts of grace or acts of judgment toward Jeroboam (p. 162)?  What should Jeroboam’s response have been? 
  5. Jeroboam recognized that Ahijah spoke the truth, even when he did not like it.  How do you respond when you hear a truth you do not like?  How can you be different from Jeroboam, and use these as opportunities to change?
  6. Have you had an occasion when someone asked you for advice and counsel because he or she respected your integrity and truthfulness?  What happened?
  7. Under King Rehoboam, the people of Judah “engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.”  The idolatry in the culture had become the idolatry of God’s people.  In what ways are God’s people today similar to the non-Christian culture all around us?  How are we different?  
  8. Why did the sons of Hiel die during the rebuilding of Jericho?  Consult p. 77 of The Story or Josh. 6:26.  What does this incident teach you about the character of God?
  9.  Why would God allow such evil kings to rule over His people?  How do the tragedies in this chapter fit into God’s Upper Story?
  10. What is the standard used in this chapter for a good king?  What kind of standards are you setting for the generations that will follow you?