Monday, September 29, 2014

On 10-5-14, Habakkuk 2:1-5; 3:17-19 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Rejoice Anyway or Yet I Will Rejoice

Rejoice Anyway
Or
Yet I Will Rejoice
 Habakkuk 2:1-5; 3:17-19
International Sunday School Lesson
October 5, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough

Let me begin by saying that the book of Habakkuk is very short and you must read all of it to take today’s scripture into context.  Additionally, you must know that Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah so what he has in his heart and mind are his current times and the Babylonians who were being used by God to punish Israel.
Having said that we can take today’s scripture three ways:
1.      God’s answer to Habakkuk was about the Babylonian king at that time.
2.      God’s answer was about the end times only.
3.      God’s answer was a double fulfillment and dealt with both.
My gut tells me God was speaking past Habakkuk and was referring to the time of the end but I have no trouble accepting other possibilities.
Last week I equated the warning that Jeremiah gave to the Israelites of their impending doom as serving as warning to us of the end times.  Certainly we are told twice in 1 Corinthians 10 about these examples including verse 11 which says, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.”  So I certainly have no trouble making that connection here when God says what He is about to say is a revelation that speaks of the end.
God is speaking of someone; He says that this individual will gather to himself all the nations and all people except earlier on to note that the righteous will live by his (their) faith.
As with this scripture we must be open to interpretation as prophesy is only fully understood in hindsight.  Having said that please be open as I say the issue of whether Christians will be taken away and not have to endure must be treated in the same way.
My goal is that whether you do or do not have to deal with the worst of times that Christ says will only be shortened for the sake of the elect (Matthew 24:21-22) that you be prepared to endure should you have to.  That way you will be righteous as He says and live by your faith.
Habakkuk said in verse 17 that he would endure and live by faith waiting patiently (verse 16) even “though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.”
God will enable us to endure if we live by faith even though times are the worst. Telling yourself you might have to endure or in fact being certain of it is a better defense than letting your guard down and insisting we won’t.  Don’t be mad if you think I’m wrong and I will hope you are right.  I will be glad to face God to “discuss” my stand for our preparedness.

For Discussion:
1.      Discuss that Habakkuk was complaining.
2.      Discuss your view of God’s answer.
3.      Discuss the righteous living by faith.
4.      Discuss verses 17-18.
5.      Discuss what you think it means to be prepared to endure.
6.      Discuss God’s use of Babylon.
7.      Read chapter 1 of Habakkuk and see if you think God would have answered this complaint or whether God was speaking past Habakkuk.

Upcoming Lessons
10-12-14   Even So, My Redeemer Lives or I Know That My Redeemer Liveth , Job 19:1-7, 23-29
10-19-14   Hope Complains or I Will Call on God, Job 24:1, 9-12, 19-25
10-26-14   Hope Satisfies or Things to Wonderful for Me, Job 42:1-10
11-2-14     God’s Divine Glory Returns or God’s Glory Fills the Temple, Ezekiel 43:1-12
11-9-14     The Altar, A Sign of Hope or The Altar Offers Hope, Ezekiel 43:13-21

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


Monday, September 22, 2014

On 9-28-14, Jeremiah 33:1-11 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Future Peace and Joy or Improbable Possibilities

Future Peace and Joy
Or
Improbable Possibilities
 Jeremiah 33:1-11
International Sunday School Lesson
September 28, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough

How many times did Jeremiah share what God had given him about the fate of Jerusalem and its people?  I haven’t gone back to add them up but this system of warning and encouraging must be important to God and therefore must be to us too as the tally we can add up not just in Jeremiah but throughout the Bible are beyond numerous.
Today we all love to revel in the fact that one day Christ will return and we will join Him forever and what a wondrous joy that will be but we seem to forget this other part that will happen also.
Matthew 24 tells us first how dreadful it will be.  That the distress will be unequaled from the beginning of the world and but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened or no one would survive.
God shows His consistency by revealing what will happen if we fall away and what the reward will be if we don’t.  He told the Israelites generations before as we can read in Leviticus 26 that if they failed to obey He would bring upon them this sudden terror, wasting, fever and destruction they were now experiencing in Jeremiah’s time.  The list of God’s hostility towards them takes many paragraphs so the seriousness is apparent.  But again, consistently, the reminder of the great rewards for obedience is in the same chapter.
For us these books like Jeremiah should be a reminder and an example not just of the rewards but the inevitable punishment that will come for disobedience as God will not tolerate sin.  Like Leviticus or today’s Jeremiah 33 show both the punishment and the rewards, the aforementioned Matthew 24 in Jesus’ words also tells us both.  Will we listen?  The difference is all the other examples such as Jeremiah lead up to this coming moment.   Last chance!

For Discussion:
1.      Discuss tearing down the city to fight the Babylonian invaders.
2.      Discuss God’s wrath.
3.      Discuss God’s turning His face towards them in forgiveness.
4.      Discuss those who follow God bring honor or dishonor to Him.
5.      Discuss examples such as these for us today.
6.      Discuss our warnings are for the last time.
7.      Discuss verse 8.

Upcoming Lessons
10-5-14    Rejoice Anyway or Yet I Will Rejoice, Habakkuk 2:1-5; 3:17-19
10-12-14   Even So, My Redeemer Lives or I Know That My Redeemer Liveth , Job 19:1-7, 23-29
10-19-14   Hope Complains or I Will Call on God, Job 24:1, 9-12, 19-25

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

Sunday, September 14, 2014

On 9-21-14, Jeremiah 32:1-9, 14, 15 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Anticipation of a New Future or A New Future

Anticipation of a New Future
Or
A New Future
 Jeremiah 32:1-9, 14, 15
International Sunday School Lesson
September 21, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough


Imagine asking a true prophet of the Lord why he prophesies the way he does! 
In another scenario imagine asking a similar question of a true Holy Spirit gifted teacher or preacher as to why they teach the way they do!
The first seems preposterous and the second happens all the time!  Why?
I would guess that if we were weak in our faith and didn’t like what we heard we might ask the question.  In fact a sign of the near End of Times is just that.

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.  2 Timothy 4:3
But maybe many question those who teach and preach because of how they live out, or don’t live out their lives.
I am sure that King Zedekiah did not like to hear the bad news that there was no hope in defeating the Babylonians thus the question of why he prophesied what he did.  Jeremiah didn’t cave to pressure to say what Zedekiah wanted to hear.  Jeremiah answered the question by demonstration by showing him how much he believed what he spoke.  He bought land that would be restored in the future even while the countryside was being destroyed and lost.
What he showed was pretty important; he had faith in what he spoke.  He said in essence that resistance was futile but he also said eventually after a period of punishment things would be restored.
Operating on faith; fairly easy to teach, preach and talk about but living it out—now that is another thing.
For Discussion:
1.      Discuss the pressures of teaching/preaching.
2.      Discuss what happens when those positions are filled by those who shouldn’t.
3.      Discuss the student’s role as a Christian.
4.      Read Jeremiah 52:1-11 to see if what Jeremiah said would happen did.
5.      It is interesting to read how many times Jeremiah made these prophesies especially directly concerning King Zedekiah.
6.      Discuss why we can have difficulty living out our faith.
7.      Discuss ways to improve the process.

Upcoming Lessons
9-28-14    Future Peace and Joy or Improbable Possibilities, Jeremiah 33:1-11
10-5-14    Rejoice Anyway or Yet I Will Rejoice, Habakkuk 2:1-5; 3:17-19
10-12-14   Even So, My Redeemer Lives or I Know That My Redeemer Liveth , Job 19:1-7, 23-29
10-19-14   Hope Complains or I Will Call on God, Job 24:1, 9-12, 19-25

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

Sunday, September 7, 2014

On 9-14-14, Jeremiah 31:31-37 will be our Adult Sunday School/Uniform Series/International Sunday School Lesson herein is my commentary. This lesson is known by some as Hope for the Future or Restoration

Hope for the Future
Or
Restoration
 Jeremiah 31:31-37
International Sunday School Lesson
September 14, 2014
                                                                                 


Commentary
By
Jed Greenough

More than last week this week we can very clearly point to the time yet to happen in Israel’s future and now much more near when we read today’s scripture’s words.  They took it to refer to the Messiah as can we.
The time had not existed when their old covenant with God had ceased to exist.  They had failed to hold up their end of the bargain but God had not.  We as Christians knew how this all pointed to the need for Christ and how and why He was a gift of Grace and was bringing about a new covenant but Israel doesn’t know it yet.  But they will!
God promises He will not reject them all in verse 37 and Paul tells us in Romans 11 how much we in sharing the gospel as Gentiles and Christians play a part.

I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited:  Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.  And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:  “The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob.  And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”  Romans 11:25-27
Those words stir me when I think of this reconciliation but no less that when I read this prophecy from Zechariah in a day when it seems like the end for Israel as a people.

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.  They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.  Zechariah 12:10
There are those who would rewrite God’s will and promises and say they take Israel’s place.  I would not be among those who would teach that God changes His mind or His word like some man!
I am thrilled for Israel and I grieve for what they must yet endure before they too call Jesus Lord and Master.

For Discussion:
1.      Pray for Israel.
2.      Discuss how we can contribute by our contributing to the fullness of the Gentiles that will come in as referenced in Romans 11.
3.      There are other scriptures that deal with this time find them and discuss.
4.      Discuss how there will be no need to teach someone to know the Lord.
5.      Read Romans 9-11.
Upcoming Lessons
9-21-14    Anticipation of a New Future or A New Future, Jeremiah 32:1-9, 14, 15
9-28-14    Future Peace and Joy or Improbable Possibilities, Jeremiah 33:1-11

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