Friday, June 24, 2011

God Responds to Disobedience aka God Reacts to Disobedience Joshua 7:1, 10-12, 22-26; The Adult Sunday School Lesson for 7-3-11

ATTENTION:  Please note that this is The Adult Sunday School Lesson, God Responds to Disobedience aka God Reacts to Disobedience, on Joshua 7:1, 10-12, 22- 26 for the 7-03-11 International Sunday School Lesson.  You will find the 6-26-11 lesson, God Is Victorious aka God Gives Victory directly beneath this message and on the right side.


Jed




God Responds to Disobedience
or
God Reacts to Disobedience
Joshua 7:1, 10-12, 22-26
International Sunday School Lesson
July 3, 2011



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough




What follows is a scripture that I pray concerning frequently.  It is my fervent prayer that though I may not understand His ways perhaps He will help me to understand His words for these lessons. 

Isaiah 55:8-11

 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
   neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
   so are my ways higher than your ways
   and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
   come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
   without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
   so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
   It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
   and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.



If you read the scripture found in Joshua 7 today and are troubled and if the scripture above from Isaiah 55 cannot  give you some measure of relief from that trouble than I have not accomplished a little of what I hope to do for you.

I have come to accept that I will not understand His ways in total as long as I am on this earth.  I have however accepted that those ways are best.

Last week we saw how Rahab had come to faith because of what she had heard about the Lord and she and all of her household were spared when Israel attacked Jericho.  This week we see an Israelite who was a part of those things that caused Rahab to be saved.  This Israelite named Achan sins and as a result he and his entire household are stoned to death.

One in their midst causes the rest to be saved.  One in their midst causes all to be in peril.  You may not understand God’s thoughts, but do God’s words concerning this event accomplish what He desired?

What can we see from God’s word?  In Joshua 6 we saw that the people of Israel were warned against taking any of these things themselves or they would bring about their destruction and make the whole of Israel liable as well.  God forewarned, and these verses let us know that when He speaks, He acts.  Today’s chapter 7 shows that things in fact turned out exactly as He said they would if they failed to listen to Him.

By His word He desired them to act in a certain way and by His word he desired to warn them.  But by His word one amongst them put the rest in peril.  And by His word the one who sinned and His household paid the price.

But it wasn’t just that household but also the people as a whole, all of Israel, that paid a price.  They still had the painful duty of carrying out God’s punishment.  But how does God’s word concerning this still apply to us today?  In what way does God’s word going out as the International Sunday School Lesson/Uniform Series Lesson accomplish His will now?

The answer to that will play itself out in your class room and in others all over the world.  In this one, The Adult Sunday School blog, I would say the following:

We likewise have received warnings and instructions.

We likewise can be in peril from those in our midst even if all the rest follow His instructions.

We can know that there are consequences for our actions and for disobedience.

We can know that God will respond to that disobedience.

We can still know that the consequences of our actions can affect not just ourselves but those close to us.

We can still know that the whole of us must carry out God’s will as instructed against those who disobey and a failure to do so will cause all to share in God’s judgment.





For Discussion:

1.     Discuss this idea that God’s anger can burn against a group because of an individual.
2.     In what ways are there individuals within your midst causing this anger and risking this punishment?
3.     Discuss the ways to combat this risk.
4.     Discuss the consequences if warnings go unheeded by those among you.
5.     What forms of action is the church of today to take?
6.     What does God want to say with His word regarding Joshua that relates to our leaders today?
7.     Discuss the consistency of God:  Last week He used Israel to bring judgment against a people and this week He uses another people to bring judgment against Israel.

7-10-11:   Listen to God’s Judges; Judges 2:11-19
7-17-11:   Use God’s Strength Judges 3:15-25, 29-30
7-24-11:   Let God Rule Judges 7:2-4, 13-15; 8:22-26a or Judges 7:2-4, 13-15; 8:22-25
7-31-11:   Return to Obedience (Return to God’s Ways) Judges 10:10-18 or Judges 10:10-18; 11:4-6, 32-33




Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved


Friday, June 17, 2011

God is Victorious aka God Gives Victory, Joshua 6:2-4, 12-20; The Adult Sunday School Lesson for 6-26-11

ATTENTION:  Please note that this is The Adult Sunday School Lesson, God Is Victorious aka God Gives Victory, on Joshua 6:2-3, 4b, 12-20 or Joshua 6:2-4, 12-20 for the 6-26-11 International Sunday School Lesson.  You will find the 6-19-11 lesson, God Protects aka God Protects His People directly beneath this message and on the right side.


Jed




God Is Victorious
or
God Gives Victory
Joshua 6:2-4, 12-20
International Sunday School Lesson
June 26, 2011



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough





What comes to your mind when you read today’s scripture?  Do you picture what this vast army of Israel’s must have looked like to the people of Jericho as it marched around their city?  Can you see and smell the dust; hear the footfalls, the blast of the trumpets?  How about the eerie quiet of no war cries, no threats and no taunts?

For myself, I can see the Ark of the Covenant showing to all that God was present.  I can imagine the terror of a people within the walls of Jericho too petrified to flee or fight.  I can sense the confidence that Joshua exudes that is then carried over to his unquestioning people.

As a child I loved the simple story that I heard and read time and time again of God allowing the people to play a part in the taking of this city.  They marched faithfully around the city, they blew their ram’s horn trumpets, they shouted as the final long trumpet blast blew and the walls came tumbling down.

Like the faith that can move a mountain here was a faith where a shout could tumble a fortified city’s walls.  But God is in that faith and He makes these things happen according to His holy will.

Just like today’s scripture selection when I was a child, we never covered the verses that follow.  But I know that unlike when we were children we won’t just think about those images we started out with.  No, we adults know that what followed was the annihilation of every living thing behind those fallen walls.  It is important that we not be like children or we will come away with an incomplete picture of what our holy God is like.  Remember from last week, that “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

This aspect of Joshua 6 and other scriptures that do not fit the image that some want to have of God do not hide anything and we should not hide from them.  Some would say as Israel later did that, “The way of the Lord is not just.”  But God’s reply is, “I will judge each of you according to his own ways.” Ezekiel 33:20a.

God knew what He was doing and he let the people of Israel and us in on it if we read Deuteronomy 20: 16-18


16 However, in the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 Completely destroy them—the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites—as the LORD your God has commanded you. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.



For Discussion:

1.      Read Joshua 6:26 and 1 Kings 16:34.
2.      Discuss thoughts concerning Joshua 6:1 in that no one came in or out of Jericho.
3.      It is hard to know, but discuss whether all of Israel was included in those that marched around the city or just the fighting men.
4.      Be prepared to explain the repetition found in 12-14 if people read outside the assignment verses 5-11.
5.      Discuss the significance of the number 7.
6.      What do you think happened to the Ark of the Covenant?  Have you ever done a study on the Ark?  Do you have an image in your mind of its appearance?  Read Exodus 25:10-22
7.      Discuss how we can be like Joshua, like the people who followed Joshua and follow God’s will without question.  What victories could you and your church have as a result?
8.      Review Deuteronomy 20:16-18 and ask, perhaps not even discuss, but ask, “What things have we allowed ourselves to be exposed to that have taught us to follow detestable things and thus sin against the Lord?”





7-03-11:   God Responds to Disobedience (God Reacts to Disobedience) Joshua 7:1, 10-12, 22-26
7-10-11:   Listen to God’s Judges; Judges 2:11-19
7-17-11:   Use God’s Strength Judges 3:15-25, 29-30
7-24-11:   Let God Rule Judges 7:2-4, 13-15; 8:22-26a or Judges 7:2-4, 13-15; 8:22-25




Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved

Friday, June 10, 2011

God Protects aka God Protects His People, Joshua 2:2-9, 15-16, 22-24; The Adult Sunday School Lesson for 6-19-11

ATTENTION:  Please note that this is The Adult Sunday School Lesson, God Protects aka God Protects His People, on Joshua 2:2-9, 15-16, 22-24 for the 6-19-11 International Sunday School Lesson.  You will find the 6-12-11 lesson, God Has Expectations aka God Expects Obedience directly beneath this message and on the right side.


Jed




God Protects
or
God Protects His People
Joshua 2:2-9, 15-16, 22-24
International Sunday School Lesson
June 19, 2011



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough





If after reading this week’s scripture you think about this week’s title, who is it that you think that God is protecting?  Certainly the spies are being protected, after someone saw them entering the city the authorities were notified but God gave them entry into the right household.  When the authorities arrived Rahab the prostitute whose home they had entered said that the spies had left.

It seems pretty hard to believe that without God’s assistance that this woman, given her status, would have been believed.  It further seems that even the inept would have taken a quick look in the house.  But no, that evidently was something God didn’t want to have happen.

But was it really the men who God wanted to protect?  Maybe, but in the long run, it was Rahab the prostitute who was protected when as we read in Joshua 6 the Israelites took the city of Jericho.

Joshua 6:21, 25
21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.
25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho—and she lives among the Israelites to this day.


In today’s scripture we learn just as the spies did that the people of Jericho were in fear of the Israelites.  Rahab told them that she and her people were aware of the complete victories that the Israelites had east of the Jordan and now they were at the threshold of Jericho.  The courage of the people of Jericho failed because of all these things that they had heard.

From Rahab though we see something, we realize that she saw that God was giving these victories to the Israelites and from her we see a confession of faith.  This faith is recognized among the greats listed in Hebrews 11 (11:31) and her righteousness in James 2:25.

Just as it says many times in the Bible, with Rahab we can appreciate that, “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”  Do we hear that often enough?  I don’t think so obviously and that is why I ask the question.  Too many students don’t want to fear God they  only want to hear about God's love and teachers accommodate them.

God knew this would happen and that is why we read this pronouncement to all of Israel in Deuteronomy 4:

“Teach them to your children and their children after them…that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.”


There were 14 different versions of the Bible that I checked in doing this lesson and all use the word fear, but you won’t find it in the NIV.  In that version of the Bible they have chosen to translate the word as revere.

A simple concordance search shows that fear of God is Biblical and I would highly encourage you to undertake this simple exercise to grow in your understanding of God.  Without fear of God there will never be the reverence He is due and love alone will never motivate right behavior any more than it does with our children.

Moses feared God, he said, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”  Exodus 20:20a

It was known that Abraham feared God,  elsewhere we see that God is called the Fear of Isaac; Joseph tells us that he feared God (Genesis 22, 31 and 41).

Of course there were others you know such as Job, Paul and the growing early Christian church, but what about Christ?
Isaiah 11:1-3
The Branch From Jesse
   A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
   from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
   The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
   the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
   the Spirit of counsel and of power,
   the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD—
   and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.


Psalm 34:7, among others, tells us that God delivers and protects those that fear Him, just as He did for Rahab who became the ancestor of Christ!



For Discussion:
1.      Matthew 1 the genealogy of Jesus.
2.      I am sure you know, that in order to understand the scripture for this lesson you must read all of chapter 2.
3.      Do some research on the city of Jericho.
4.      Discuss the efficacy of the two spies.
5.      All Jericho melted in fear at the news of God’s workings on Israel’s behalf.  There are many different ways and on many different levels to consider the “why onlys” with regard to Rahab.
6.      Can we react today to these workings of God just as Rahab did?  Are there things going on in our world today that are just as worthy of our consideration?
7.      Spend time this week studying the fear of the Lord.


6-26-11:   God is Victorious (God Gives Victory) Joshua 6:2-3, 4b, 12-20 or Joshua 6:2-4, 12-20
7-03-11:   God Responds to Disobedience (God Reacts to Disobedience) Joshua 7:1, 10-12, 22-26
7-10-11:   Listen to God’s Judges; Judges 2:11-19
7-17-11:   Use God’s Strength Judges 3:15-25, 29-30




Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved


Friday, June 3, 2011

God Has Expectations aka God Expects Obedience, Joshua 1:7-16 or 1:7-18; The Adult Sunday School Lesson for 6-12-11

ATTENTION:  Please note that this is The Adult Sunday School Lesson, God Has Expectations aka God Expects Obedience, on Joshua 1:7-16 or Joshua 1:7-18 for the 6-12-11 International Sunday School Lesson.  You will find the 6-05-11 lesson, God’s Promises Fulfilled aka God Keeps His Promises directly beneath this message and on the right side.


Jed




God Has Expectations
or
God Expects Obedience
Joshua 1:7-16 or 1:7-18
International Sunday School Lesson
June 12, 2011



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough




“Because you will lead”, that is how we start out with today’s lesson.  Leadership is clearly something God doesn’t take lightly; He has expectations for all of us and especially for those who lead us.

Go through today’s scripture verse by verse and you will see an actual formula for what He expects:

Strength
Courage
Careful
Obedient
True
Studious

Not all the words are exactly perfect matches, but you get the idea.  God knew that for Joshua to lead these people just as Moses did, he would need to have similar traits, traits that anyone who wishes to lead would be wise to emulate.

Clearly we can see the advantage of strength over weakness, courage over fear, carefulness versus reckless, obedience as opposed to disobedience, straight and true over one who strays.

These things all sort of fit into a circle of leadership traits that God expects of leaders.  I think about the circle rolling along like a wheel with these characteristics being wedge shaped pieces joined together to make the whole.  Take one wedge out and ca-chunk the wheel falls over. 

Strength and courage evidently have a special significance if you notice how these traits are repeated 3 times from verse 6 through today’s verse 18.  What does courage have to do with it?  Without courage you cannot stand your ground, and if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything, to borrow the idea of a country song.  And the leader without strength will never be able to withstand the arrows and sling stones that come their way.

Obedience to His will means following that will and not the will of the individual.  Following the will of the leader causes the leader to stray from the narrow path, the true path.  This leader who goes all over the compass to the left and to the right will never arrive at the destination that God would desire.

By being studious, by never letting the word depart from their mouth, by immersing themselves in His word they will have the most important trait that will enable them to know God as opposed to the Biblically illiterate who will never truly understand.

The leader that possesses all of these characteristics will have the Lord their God with them wherever they go as it says in verse 9.  And as we read in the Israelite’s case the leader will have the people as well.  Just as in Joshua’s case the people want their leader to be strong, to be courageous.  Just as in Joshua’s case our leaders must meet the expectations of God.





For Discussion:
1.      Discuss whether you think these traits should apply to all of our Christian leaders.
2.      Discuss verse 18
3.      The words of Joshua in farewell at the end of his life, “Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses without turning aside to the right or to the left.”  Joshua 23:6
4.      It seems simple, “do not turn from it to the right or to the left”, but consider it anyway!  How do we turn, why do we turn, is it ever okay?  If not what can/should be done?
5.      Consider the “rest” that Joshua is referring to in verse 13; don’t forget to include verse 15 in your consideration.
6.      Are we willing to say to Christ what the people said to Joshua in verse 16?
7.      Read Deuteronomy 31:1-8
8.      In reading today’s scripture, consider and discuss the transition of power from Moses to Joshua including its application to our world today.


6-19-11:   God Protects (God Protects His People) Joshua 2:2-9, 15-16, 22-24
6-26-11:   God is Victorious (God Gives Victory) Joshua 6:2-3, 4b, 12-20 or Joshua 6:2-4, 12-20
7-03-11:   God Responds to Disobedience (God Reacts to Disobedience) Joshua 7:1, 10-12, 22-            26
7-10-11:   Listen to God’s Judges; Judges 2:11-19












Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved