Sunday, June 30, 2013

On 7-7-13, Ezra 3:8-13 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Restoring the Temple aka Temple Restored

Restoring the Temple aka Temple Restored
Ezra 3:8-13
International Sunday School Lesson
July 7, 2013



Commentary
By
Jed Greenough



I wonder how many of you that read today’s simple scripture came up with the same thought as I that drew parallels with the church of today?
In this scripture the people are following order by choosing men of a certain age and of a certain tribe in the Levites to do the work.  We see that joyously the people are praising God and doing what all want in rebuilding the temple.
But…there is weeping by some because they remember the old temple.  We aren’t told if they are weeping because the new won’t measure up to the old, because of lost time since the temple was destroyed or because they just fear change or for some other reason.
The parallel I draw with today are the changes that occur in our churches today when they change.  All involved with a growing church can be joyous if the church is Biblical in its offices.  All involved can be joyous when God is being praised and all can be joyous when the church is being built up.
But amongst all of that there can be “weeping” and like in today’s scripture no one notices for all the joy of everyone else.  I have a problem with that.
I have heard those who weep over the change being criticized from the pulpit for not getting on board wholeheartedly with regard to these changes and that is about as much consideration as they receive. 
Of course that isn’t consideration at all is it?                                                                                    
These people who weep over change should be considered with love and given help to feel that the church is still their church.  Do you understand why that is important?  They may have been among the group that built the church, nurtured it and kept it alive to bring it to this point of change.  I feel that they deserve in fact special consideration and the older they are the more consideration that should be.
All too often we seek out the way of youth in how we can build something in the church to appeal to them but we forget that someone older shared their faith either directly or in a chain of witnessing that led to our faith.   Like the temple had to be built we didn’t spontaneously turn in to Christians someone laid a foundation let’s remember that. 
In praising God as we grow as a church let’s not forget our neighbor.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
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.” 
Matthew 22:36-40

For Discussion

1.      Discuss why you think there was weeping
2.      Discuss 20 year olds then versus now
3.      Discuss why it took so long after their arrival to begin the work
4.      Discuss how age changes us in all ways
5.      Discuss not being aware of weeping in our midst
6.      Discuss the differences that we are aware of between the temples

Upcoming Lessons
7-14-13:  Dedicating the Temple aka Dedication of the Temple Ezra 6:13-22
7-21-13:  Fasting and Praying Ezra 7:6-10; 8:21-23 or 8:21-23
7-28-13:  Giving Gifts for the Temple aka Gifts for the Temple Ezra 8:24-35 or 8:24-30
8-4-13:    Feast of Tabernacles aka Festival of Booths Nehemiah 8:2, 3, 13-18 or 8:13-18



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

Sunday, June 23, 2013

On 6-30-13, Ezra 3:1-7 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Restoring Joyful Worship aka Joyful Worship Restored

Restoring Joyful Worship aka Joyful Worship Restored
Ezra 3:1-7
International Sunday School Lesson
June 30, 2013

 Commentary
by
Jed Greenough
                                                                


The will and purpose of God is all according to His plan and cannot be denied and for the most part He makes it known in advance and I am instantly reminded of this when I read today’s scripture.
Jeremiah mad this advance announcement that we see concerns todays scipture on behalf of “the Lord Almighty”, “I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, declares the Lord, and I will bring them against this land (Israel) and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations….This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.  But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt, declares the Lord, and will make it desolate forever.”  Jeremiah 25:9 and 11-12.
And if that were not enough He said this through Isaiah in 44:28, “who says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, Let it be rebuilt, and of the temple, Let its foundations be laid.”!!! (My exclamation marks of course).
Truly, all should pay attention when He says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”  Isaiah 46:10
Clearly the Bible has much more to say regarding Israel that is yet to be fulfilled but has been likewise revealed.  What else does God foretell us?  Some things are heavily cloaked in prophecy but those matters dealing with a person’s salvation or the opposite are straight up literal.  I think more than what had been fore told about Israel, the temple and Cyrus we should come away from today’s lesson with that!
“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind.  Does He speak and then not act”  Numbers 22:19
God makes things plain really.  He doesn’t hide what He wants nor what He will do and His word is true.

For Discussion:
1.      Study other scriptures dealing with God using Cyrus against Babylon
2.      Discuss how God uses even those who do not worship Him
3.      Discuss the use of the prophecies dealing with Israel and Cyrus as a method of witnessing to those who doubt
4.      Note that God evidently only wanted some to be motivated to make this important return in rebuilding the temple
5.      Discuss who all God might have moved to make this happen
6.      How many years prior to Cyrus did Isaiah make that prophecy?

Upcoming Lessons
7-7-13:    Restoring the Temple aka Temple Restored Ezra 3:8-13
7-14-13:  Dedicating the Temple aka Dedication of the Temple Ezra 6:13-22
7-21-13:  Fasting and Praying Ezra 7:6-10; 8:21-23 or 8:21-23
7-28-13:  Giving Gifts for the Temple aka Gifts for the Temple Ezra 8:24-35 or 8:24-30




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

Sunday, June 16, 2013

On 6-23-13, Isaiah 65:17-25 or 65:17-21, 23-25 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Worship in the New Creation aka The Glorious New Creation

Worship in the New Creation aka The Glorious New Creation
Isaiah 65:17-25 or 65:17-21, 23-25
International Sunday School Lesson
June 23, 2013



 Commentary
by
Jed Greenough
Please be aware that this is the commentary I have made for the 6-23 scripture and you will find 6-16 commentary elsewhere on the page!

I admit to confusion with regard to Isaiah 65 but hey, it is prophecy and one never knows where the literal and figurative stop and begin!
When I read verse 1 I am confident that this is literal that the former things will not be remembered about the old world when we are in glory.  That makes me feel glad on many different levels not the least of which are when I think of the beauty and wonders that God has already wrought in the present world.  But we know, don’t we, that our minds haven’t imagined what God has in store for us?  1 Corinthians 2:9  Not the least of which is that God will be with us.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  Revelation 21:1-4 
Yes, I don’t think we can imagine how wonderful and happy a place this will be!
That scripture from Revelation also helps us to understand some of the literal/figurative questions from today’s scripture from Isaiah by eliminating the confusion of the figurative language concerning our immortality.
If one were to only look at the description in today’s scripture here at face value you would think that people were going to live very long healthy lives which would contradict things we have read about being immortal such as 1 Thessalonians 4.  Revelation in tandem with that one example clearly shows that you have to be careful what you read into prophecy by showing us in that 21:4 that there will be no more death because the old order of things will be no more.
When we read Isaiah 65 we can get the sense therefore that the things that have pained mankind since the fall are a part of that old order.  Death, disease, hunger, childbirth, missed opportunities injustice—anything bad you can imagine happen will not.  There will only be good and light.  I wouldn’t get hung up on the lion eating straw and serpent eating dust literally.


For Discussion:
1.      Discuss the things you enjoy now in this world and how it makes you feel to know that they will be no more
2.      Discuss how you won’t remember those things in the new order
3.      Discuss whether you think there will be labor literally in the new order
4.      Discuss verse 24
5.      Discuss the need to interpret scripture by using other scripture

Upcoming Lessons
6-30-13:  Restoring Joyful Worship aka Joyful Worship Restored Ezra 3:1-7
7-7-13:    Restoring the Temple aka Temple Restored Ezra 3:8-13
7-14-13:  Dedicating the Temple aka Dedication of the Temple Ezra 6:13-22
7-21-13:  Fasting and Praying Ezra 7:6-10; 8:21-23 or 8:21-23




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


Sunday, June 9, 2013

On 6-16-13, Isaiah 29:9-16 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Worship with Meaning aka Meaningless Worship

Worship with Meaning aka Meaningless Worship
Isaiah 29:9-16
International Sunday School Lesson
June 16, 2013


 Commentary
by
Jed Greenough


If I were to come to the scripture today cold I might not have come to the same conclusions as I did today but for the scriptures that we have had over the last several weeks.  We have had all manner of reminders in those scriptures of how we are to be and how things will be.  And tying it all together is our responsibility as Christians to share the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Eventually as we know God’s patience reaches its limit as we saw last week when we read a song of praise from Israel who was enduring their punishment after God’s limit had been reached and we read about it again in today’s scripture that draws parallels with our present.
For Israel the Lord as we read in verse 10has brought over you a deep sleep:  He has sealed your eyes; He has covered your heads.”
Paul says this about them, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.” From Romans 11:8
Verse 13 from today says, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.”
In 2 Timothy 4:3 we read, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
Sounds the same as what we read in today’s scripture doesn’t it?  But we aren’t talking about Israel now.  No we are talking about the church but it is eerily the same.  God sent a spirit of stupor when the patience ran out, eyes that could no longer see and ears that could no longer hear.  But as we read in 2 Thessalonians 2 when the patience runs out for the final time, “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie.” 
For Israel however there is one final bright spot after suffering so much once the fullness of the Gentiles has been reached all of Israel will be saved.  Romans 11 
But the similarity part ends.  There isn’t a reprise for everyone else once the fullness of the Gentiles will have been reached and God is fulfilling His promise to them. Romans 11:29
Truly the pot has no say in the matter.
For Discussion:
1.      Discuss God’s ability to help us see
2.      Discuss the frightening realities this scripture raises
3.      Discuss ways that Jesus talked about those who talk the talk but do not walk the walk or in other words “worship in spirit and in truth.
4.      Give examples of the “pot” saying, “He knows nothing.”
5.      Discuss ways of worship that is simply “rules taught by men” similarly taught “what their itching ears want to hear”
Upcoming Lessons
6-23-13:   Worship in the New Creation aka The Glorious New Creation Isaiah 65:17-25 or 65:17-21, 23-25
6-30-13:  Restoring Joyful Worship aka Joyful Worship Restored Ezra 3:1-7
7-7-13:    Restoring the Temple aka Temple Restored Ezra 3:8-13
7-14-13:  Dedicating the Temple aka Dedication of the Temple Ezra 6:13-22




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


Sunday, June 2, 2013

On 6-9-13, Isaiah 12 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Worship with Thanksgiving aka Give Thanks

Worship with Thanksgiving aka Give Thanks
Isaiah 12
International Sunday School Lesson
June 9, 2013



Commentary
by
Jed Greenough
Again, like last week and probably for awhile I am having to post the commentary early so be careful which week you are looking for as this is the commentary for 6-9.  Thanks 

God promises and then of course He follows through on the promise.  He promised Israel that if they failed to keep His commands they would suffer the consequences and no longer be protected by Him (see Deuteronomy 28-30).
In view today is this song of praise found in Isaiah 12 where though Israel is being punished God’s anger will abate and He will once again comfort the nation. 
We don’t know if this is referring to the very end times for Israel or the multiple fulfillments in which the ever obstinate nation was punished and then returned to God’s favor.
Better today I think to apply it to ourselves.  We know that as it says in verse 2 that God is our salvation and because of Jesus sacrifice His anger has been turned away from us.  Like Israel the nation, we rebel by nature, their example from the Bible shows us this.  Unlike Israel we don’t have to wait to the very end for His comfort to come.  And unlike Israel we this day can, “Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations (through the gospel message) what He has done (for mankind), and proclaim that His name is exalted (now, not in the end when it is too late!).  Yep, I can find the gospel message everywhere because it is!  That’s the beauty of God’s word, “shout aloud and sing for joy”!
For Discussion:
1.      Discuss the joy and the sadness that can be seen by the words, “In that day you will say: ‘I will praise you, O Lord.”.
2.      Underline in your Bible verse 2 in part or in whole
3.      Look at John 4:10 and Jeremiah 2:13 for today’s verse 3
4.      Discuss the idea of joy that is so front and forward
5.      Discuss glorifying God
6.      Discuss how clear this praising of God is for all the world to see and relate it to Christians and the present
7.      Discuss the example of Israel
Upcoming Lessons
6-9-13:     Worship with Thanksgiving aka Give Thanks Isaiah 12
6-16-13:   Worship with Meaning aka Meaningless Worship Isaiah 29:9-16
6-23-13:   Worship in the New Creation aka The Glorious New Creation Isaiah 65:17-25 or 65:17-21, 23-25
6-30-13:  Restoring Joyful Worship aka Joyful Worship Restored Ezra 3:1-7




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