Sunday, June 24, 2012

On 7-1-12 1 Samuel 7:3-11, 15-17 or 1 Samuel 7:3-17 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Samuel Administers Justice.

Samuel Administers Justice
1 Samuel 7:3-11, 15-17
 Or
 1 Samuel 7:3-17
International Sunday School Lesson
July 1, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough





Individuals and nations they seem quite separate because with the numbers involved the human factor becomes blurred.  The impact that leaders have on the nations and on the individual though perhaps imperceptible to some is nevertheless huge.  The leaders we choose matter; choosing a leader that is a “good man” or the best among the group to choose from will change the nation and the individual but not for the good if they do not worship the only God.  For Israel their leader in Samuel was a man of God and the impact on Israel was clear.  For us today the impact on our nations and on us is not always distinct but what is distinct and what we can draw from today’s scripture with confidence is this:

1.      If you realize you need to turn or return to the Lord you can draw from today as an example.  Verse 2 says that, “all the people of Israel mourned and sought after the LORD.”  Last week for the benefit of individuals who need to seek God I quoted Deuteronomy 4:29, “you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”  God will hear you and you will find Him if you similarly mournfully seek Him.
2.      You must associate yourself with a discerning, Biblically sound and strong leader.  In verse 3 from today we see that Samuel advised the people of Israel what they needed to do.  They not only had to act they had to react.  They had to do more than show up, they need to do more than talk, they needed to serve Him exclusively.  How badly do you want the relief that only God can provide you?  Are you ready yet to serve Him?
3.      Do you have a leader who can with confidence intercede on your behalf?  Yes, we can all approach God in prayer but with the strains of guilt and the weakness that exists within those who have been “away” there is an issue of faith that must grow.  James 5:13-16 “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”
4.      Like the water that was poured out the people of Israel were pouring out their hearts in a penitent nature.  We must pour out ourselves; empty ourselves of the sins that have separated us from Him.  Yes, the pouring out of the water was a symbolic act but it symbolized the substantive nature of their confessing hearts.
5.      Though they had turned to the Lord, this faith issue again shows the need for the strong Godly leader.  We/they are not without faith but weak from our sins and need the Godly who can cry out with fervor to God on his people’s behalf.
6.      As demonstrated by Israel in today’s scripture the once fearful or panicked can be emboldened by their leader and the effectiveness of prayer.
7.      As a monument or memorial Samuel set up a reminder that the Lord had helped the people of Israel.  The people did not worship this stone but whenever they would have passed by they would have recalled the victory God had provided.  What reminders should we have in place to recall the victories provided by God for us?
8.      Because of Samuel, God’s hand was against the enemies of Israel.  Consider what a leader that is pleasing to God can do for your church, for your country.


Yes, even today an individual can change a nation or a church when the mournful recognize the need to return to God.

For Discussion:

1.      Discuss the idea that the Philistines came to attack, not because Israel had gathered but because they had gathered to return to the Lord.  Satan works in ways we often don’t consider.
2.      Discuss that you might be able to converse about the country’s need to return to God but if there is an issue with your church it might not be so easy.  What can you do to tackle this issue if it exists?
3.      Should we set up reminders in some fashion like the stone named Ebenezer?  Has time caused you to forget God given healing or victories?
4.      Find a map that shows the towns mentioned in verse 16 from Samuel’s circuit.  I think you will be surprised.
5.      To know Samuel a bit more read chapters 1-3 and 8.
6.      Sometimes it is too late for earthly leaders to intercede, read Jeremiah 15:1.


Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


7-8-12:    David Embodies God’s Justice 2 Samuel 23:1-7; 1 Chronicles 18:14
7-15-12:  Solomon Judges With Wisdom and Justice 1 Kings 3:16-28; 2 Chronicles 9:8
7-22-12:  A King Acts on a Widow’s Behalf 2 Kings 8:1-6
7-29-12:  Jehoshaphat Makes Judicial Reforms 2 Chronicles 19:4-11





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

Sunday, June 17, 2012

On 6-24-12 Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 16:18-20 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as The Heart of the Law aka Love God; Love People.

The Heart of the Law
Or
Love God; Love People
Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 16:18-20
International Sunday School Lesson
June 24, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough




I know that some of you who read my words are like me but that most are not and at times the thought consumes me.  Your initial thought to that must be something like, “we are all different” or “that is a little conceited don’t you think?”  But take it from me, I don’t want you to be like me, like me, but rather I am consumed with the desire that everyone have a similar characteristic.  This is summed up in the first two verses from today.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

Again, before you think I am holding myself up to be more than I should, let me say I mess up daily, but I get up again and I know that what God is asking of Israel here in today’s scripture is something He shouldn’t have to ask of us.

I often wonder how many visit this blog as they prepare for Sunday School not out of a passion for Him but for a variety of reasons that might range from obligation, to habit, to create false appearances, even because of a certain man or woman that attends your class.  I hope that in the end for you that don’t have the need “to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” that eventually that will come, that your heart will be circumcised and that you will be then consumed to help others feel as you do.

I almost said it literally breaks my heart but that would be impossible wouldn’t it but you get what I mean don’t you, to read the first verse?  But a literal tear did come to my eye and I am not an overly emotional person but it really touches my heart to see that Moses must explain to His people that God is asking these things.

After he does that, it doesn’t get any easier to read as Moses feels he must lay out some reasons they should fear, love, serve, and honor and obey God.

For one thing, he says that it is for their own good but in case self-preservation isn’t enough Moses goes on.  Last week we touched a bit on one of the reasons for God’s Sabbath was so that Israel recognized God’s mastery over all creation and here we see it mentioned again in verse 14.  In pointing that out it serves to show how special the place is that God has put the people of Israel in by choosing them.  Moses says circumcise your hearts, which means just as the literal act of circumcision set apart those from Abraham forward (Genesis 17) as being His so would this figurative cutting of the heart show that Israel was God’s.  Having one’s heart in this manner shows the rest of the world that they were His.

As Moses continues, he reminds them that their God is the only god just as he did in Deuteronomy 6:4.  They didn’t need to make a god for rain and a god for harvest or a god for fertility, no they had in Him the only real God.

Their God, Moses reminds them is a fearsome God with mighty and awesome ways but He is also their God who is one of love.  In verse 15 I like how Moses words it, “the Lord set His affection on your forefathers and loved them…”  The God of love who defends widows and orphans and takes care of the aliens, and so Moses in this way reminds them that they should act as well.  Which we see again in the verses covered by 16:18-20. 

For us as Christians we always have to ask how the Old Testament lessons apply.  Last week I told you that the three parts of the Sabbath did not apply to you but I said that the principles and the character as they deal with God still do apply.  And today if Moses were here he would still be able to apply these words from Deuteronomy to you.



For Discussion:

1.      Have people share with the group what they think when they read, “fear the LORD your God.”
2.      For those who don’t currently passionately act as it says in verse 12, “to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul” but want to have that passion please do as advised elsewhere in Deuteronomy, “you will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Deuteronomy 4:29
3.      Are those where you worship encouraged regularly that they should seek, serve and love God in this manner?
4.      If you care to address this matter, we talked about having a sense of urgency for this back on 10-16-11 when we looked at Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:7, 13.
5.      Concerning 10:20, discuss how we can hold fast to God.
6.      Do a concordance search and study on God and the alien or foreigner, God and fatherless, God and the widow, God and justice.
7.      Today’s 16:18-20 has reminded me of a time when Moses took on too much.  Is too much expected of your Minister/Pastor/Preacher similar to Moses?  Read Exodus 18:13-26.




Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


7-1-12:    Samuel Administers Justice 1 Samuel 7:3-11, 15-17 or 1 Samuel 7:3-17
7-8-12:    David Embodies God’s Justice 2 Samuel 23:1-7; 1 Chronicles 18:14
7-15-12:  Solomon Judges With Wisdom and Justice 1 Kings 3:16-28; 2 Chronicles 9:8
7-22-12:  A King Acts on a Widow’s Behalf 2 Kings 8:1-6






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


Sunday, June 10, 2012

On 6-17-12 Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-36, 39-40, 47-48, 55 or Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-40, 47-48, 55 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Celebrate the Jubilee.

Celebrate the Jubilee
Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-36, 39-40, 47-48, 55
 Or
 Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-40, 47-48, 55
International Sunday School Lesson
June 17, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough



Do you consider yourself a devout Christian?  Assuming a positive answer I know you observe the ordinances of water baptism and communion but those things that applied to Israel of a legalistic nature no longer apply.  But what if the Sabbath still applied to you, not just on one day a week, such as on Saturday as some still believe?  The Sabbath, to oversimplify, is a three part observance: the one day in every seven, the one entire year in every seven and the one we are reading about today with the Jubilee.  How would you do with that and how are those doing who still believe the Saturday Sabbath applies, in observing the other two aspects that complete the Sabbath?
Without taking into consideration the over complicated maze of changes that the rabbis applied to the Sabbath, God made clear what He expected and how He expected that these Sabbaths be observed.  The people of Israel failed in those observances as the history of the Bible reveals and in so recording helps point the way to how we can only enter that Sabbath rest of God through Christ.
One of the things that remain in the past that still applies though is the character of God but let’s first look at a couple scenarios.
Let’s say you have a home that was built in 1962 and you have lived in it for 35 years having paid for it over the course of a 30 year mortgage but the rules of Jubilee are in affect and you must return it to the original owner’s family next year.  Hope you have a plan!

For most of us this idea of the Jubilee and giving back things that we have called our own is foreign.  Obviously to God whose ways were not and are not our ways He looks at these things we call ours differently.

Let’s look at homeownership from another viewpoint.  Let’s say that the economy around the world is very bad and grows worse.  People with money continue to grow in wealth but those that are without sink ever deeper into a developing pit, threatening to swallow them up with the cost of living.

In order to pay insurance, gasoline, and groceries the average person can no longer even aspire to homeownership but instead assumes they will have to rent.  As people die and homes come on the market or as people lose them in foreclosure those with wealth buy them up and rent them out.

Let’s say that one person has built up a veritable empire of homes that they rent out spending years amassing them but then suddenly they must turn over a majority of those homes all at once with the remainder going back over the next few years.  Once again the home has an owner who is not enslaved to anyone, they have been redeemed, and they have received liberty.

In today’s 24:9 and 10 we read in part, “Then have the trumpets sounded everywhere…Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.”  Liberty is something that God obviously holds of great importance and as a result men benefit.  He is not against success and He understands obviously in a fallen world that some succeed and others fall but He demonstrates to Israel that just as they were liberated from Pharaoh no man should permanently be without liberty because of any other man or misfortune.

For much of us the idea that “greed is good”, to quote Gordon Gekko of Wall Street fame, rules how we operate causing us to think that if we acquire much over the course of our working lives that someone who doesn’t do the same is somehow less and not our concern.  This year of Jubilee idea given to Israel serves to remind us even now that this is not the case.  The idea of Jubilee serves rather to show that everything is God’s (verse 23) and demonstrates what a holy God thinks of things tangible such as land and homes and things more intangible such as liberty.

Because of God’s grace and Christ’s sacrifice, the year of Jubilee may not apply to us any more than the other remaining “three parts” of the Sabbath but the principles which make up the Sabbath remain because God remains unchanged.

Based on what Christ and the Apostles revealed, does anyone think that God would have us take advantage of each other?  How about that we should not take care of the poor?  So much of what is described in the requirements of the Jubilee year speaks to fresh starts for those who had been unfortunate.  Do you suppose God would still want that?  God is not against success but rather permanent elevation over another and against any hope for a new beginning.

Just as God’s gift of grace through Christ came for our benefit so did these Sabbath rules benefit Israel.  Whether they were the more commonly familiar weekly one, the Sabbath year every 7 or the one in sight today, all of them benefited Israel but they were not Israel’s Sabbaths but God’s.

Exodus 35, Leviticus 23, 25 and Deuteronomy 5 all say that the Sabbath is to the Lord.  Leviticus 19:3, 30 and 26:2 say they are His Sabbaths.  In Ezekiel 22, 23 and 44 we see that God calls them my Sabbaths.

Exodus 31:13-14a

 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.  “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you…”

Exodus 31:16-17

The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.’”


These Sabbaths were not done for Israel and Christ’s sacrifice was not simply done for men but rather for God to glorify Himself, to make it known to them that He is God, the God that created everything, the God that is holy, the God that provides both for slave and free, hunger and for rest.

The Israelites didn’t do well at remembering why the Sabbath rest was to be observed, how are we doing at remembering the sacrifice that gives us rest?






For Discussion:

1.      Discuss how we think that we have earned things but that in fact God provides things and that all things are His.
2.      The NIV notes in IS 20:12 that Israel’s observance of the Sabbath served as a sign that they were the Lord’s (note possessive) holy people.
3.      Read and discuss Isaiah 58 concerning the Sabbath rules.  By honoring the Sabbath the people did not go their own way and do as they pleased.
4.      Discuss two things that Israel recognized in observing the different Sabbaths.  One that God initially shows His mastery over all creation and two that God freed them from slavery.  Discuss also how in “recognizing Christ we as Christians have done likewise in that Christ created us all and freed us from the ultimate slavery which is death.
5.      Discuss how the world might say that a day of rest or a year of rest is the creation of man but that it would have a difficult time doing the same with regard to the rules of the Year of Jubilee.
6.      Deuteronomy 5:14-15 talks of God’s mighty hand and an outstretched arm that delivered Israel from slavery, that they, their children, their slaves, their visiting foreigners and even their animals should observe the Sabbath because of this deliverance.  Considering that and considering our deliverance through Christ compare our example.
7.      Have people discuss aspects of the Sabbath that they admire.
8.      After researching the requirements of Sabbath observance, discuss some of them such as debt forgiveness, resting of the land and observance among visiting foreigners. 
9.      What aspects of the Sabbath would complement worshiping Him in spirit and in truth?


Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


6-24-12:  The Heart of the Law (Love God; Love People) Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 16:18-20
7-1-12:    Samuel Administers Justice 1 Samuel 7:3-11, 15-17 or 1 Samuel 7:3-17
7-8-12:    David Embodies God’s Justice 2 Samuel 23:1-7; 1 Chronicles 18:14
7-15-12:  Solomon Judges With Wisdom and Justice 1 Kings 3:16-28; 2 Chronicles 9:8





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

Sunday, June 3, 2012

On 6-10-12 Leviticus 19:9-18, 33-37 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson, herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Living as God’s Just People.

Living as God’s Just People
Leviticus 19:9-18, 33-37
International Sunday School Lesson
June 10, 2012



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough



Brush your teeth, pick up your toys, don’t slam the door, clean your room.  Do you hear yourself saying those things or something similar if you are a parent?  How many times did you say them and if the kids are still at home, how many more times will you say something like them?  When you came upon the dirty towels or the unused toothbrush the next day you didn’t say, “Alright that’s it, I told you yesterday to do this and today you aren’t doing what I said.  I won’t tell you again and you are out of here!”  Of course you didn’t do that and God didn’t either.

I know that today is very similar to last week but just like you and your kids, you have to repeat your expectations if you expect them to become a part of them because they aren’t naturally.  By nature kids and people in general will do as little as possible of the things that they don’t want to do.  But like a parent, God knows that without this structure chaos is the result.  Have you ever left your kids to their own devices?

There is also something important in these instructions that we can find in the first verse of this chapter when God told Moses to tell all of Israel to be holy because He was holy.  God wanted them to act in matters as He would act.  God would not be unjust or unfair; He would not be disrespectful or deceitful.  As parents or as Christian examples we want to make sure that we can say as the Apostle Paul did “be like me”.

I mentioned the similarity to last week’s lesson but there is also an additional item that wasn’t readily apparent in the similar scripture we had, it is verse 9 from today.  Not too long ago, well last summer, we saw this charity played out as we read how Ruth picked up the leftover grain from the field of Boaz so that she and Naomi would have food to eat.  Living in an agricultural area I have seen how efficient our agricultural harvesting has become but the reminder remains to give of our excess to those that are in need.  The reminder is a good one because often the practice of charity isn’t as visible as some of the other instructions that we give our children because the giving is done in an anonymous or quiet fashion.

I bet if we took a poll of everyone and asked them what else leaps out from today’s scripture if we applied it to all of the issues that arise in our life so that we wouldn’t need the other rules we would all come up with the same answer.  That answer would be to display the type of treatment that both a neighbor and an alien should receive from the 18th and 33rd verses: love him as yourself.

Christ when asked by a testing Pharisee about which of the commands was the greatest said this to seal up the impact that this could have in man’s life:

Matthew 22:37-40

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I know that you are not all parents but I think we can all get the picture that this behavior is learned and the best way is through repetition.  Unfortunately, again God knew just as a parent knows that he or she will not always get the reciprocal love, respect and honor back that they deserve.  In the end you pray to God that you have raised them up in the proper way that they should go and that there will be enough time for them to make the right choice.

The great thing, and it is a bit shameful to say it, but the reward for those times when the kids didn’t do as they should have is this.  Your kids are going to repeat these same things to their kids; they won’t be able to help themselves!  They will become like you in most cases whether they want to or not!  God wants that for us also, generation after generation needed to hear then and still needs to hear today and tomorrow how to live as God’s just people.



For Discussion:

1.      You may prefer that your charitable activities be quieter but get creative at involving the youth so that they can see the benefits of giving.
2.      Does your class have a charitable cause all its own?
3.      Did you have a parent who had an effective way of leading you in the way you should go?  Discuss.
4.      Ask people for one word that identifies the person who follows these laws of God.
5.      Sometimes people don’t learn by listening, they have to learn things the hard way.  Discuss.
6.      These things in today’s scripture seem rather extreme for the mature Christian to violate.  Is there a danger in our being complacent about our behavior?  Discuss.


Upcoming Adult Sunday School Class Commentaries


6-17-12: Celebrate Jubilee Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-36, 39-40, 47-48, 55 or Leviticus 25:8-12, 25, 35-40, 47-48, 55
6-24-12:  The Heart of the Law (Love God; Love People) Deuteronomy 10:12-22; 16:18-20
7-1-12:    Samuel Administers Justice 1 Samuel 7:3-11, 15-17 or 1 Samuel 7:3-17
7-8-12:    David Embodies God’s Justice 2 Samuel 23:1-7; 1 Chronicles 18:14





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