International Sunday School November 6 2022 Fall Quarter #10

Ephesians 1:1-14 ESV  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:  (2)  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  (3)  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,  (4)  even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love  (5)  he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,  (6)  to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  (7)  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,  (8)  which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight  (9)  making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  (10)  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.  (11)  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,  (12)  so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.  (13)  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,  (14)  who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

International Sunday School Lesson October 23 2022 Fall #8

1 Samuel 8:4-7 ESV  Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah  (5)  and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”  (6)  But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.  (7)  And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

1 Samuel 8:4-7 ESV 

1 Samuel 10:17-24 ESV  Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah.  (18)  And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’  (19)  But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”  (20)  Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot.  (21)  He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.  (22)  So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”  (23)  Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.  (24)  And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

1 Samuel 8:4-7 ESV 

Notes

Background

• JFB when Samuel was old — He was now about fifty-four years of age, having discharged the office of sole judge for twelve years. Unable, from growing infirmities, to prosecute his circuit journeys through the country, he at length confined his magisterial duties to Ramah and its neighborhood (1Sa 7:15), delegating to his sons as his deputies the administration of justice in the southern districts of Palestine, their provincial court being held at Beer-sheba. The young men, however, did not inherit the high qualities of their father. Having corrupted the fountains of justice for their own private aggrandizement, a deputation of the leading men in the country lodged a complaint against them in headquarters, accompanied with a formal demand for a change in the government. The limited and occasional authority of the judges, the disunion and jealousy of the tribes under the administration of those rulers, had been creating a desire for a united and permanent form of government; while the advanced age of Samuel, together with the risk of his death happening in the then unsettled state of the people, was the occasion of calling forth an expression of this desire now.

We Want a King — 1 Samuel 8:4-5

• 1 Samuel 8:1-3 (ESV) When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel. [2] The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. [3] Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.

Samuel Upset — 1 Samuel 8:6

• Philippians 4:6 (ESV) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Samuel Wise — 1 Samuel 8:7

• Deuteronomy 17:14-17 (ESV) “When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ [15] you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. [16] Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ [17] And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.

Remember — 1 Samuel 10:17-18

Theocracy Ended — 1 Samuel 10:19

• Note Samuel had already anointed Saul
• Matt Henry He reproves them for casting off the government of a prophet, and desiring that of a captain.

Saul Not Found — 1 Samuel 10:20-21

• K&D If we bear in mind the ordinary use made of the sacred lot at that time, we shall find that there is nothing but the simple truth in the whole course of the narrative. The secret meeting of the seer with Saul was not sufficient to secure a complete and satisfactory recognition of him as king; it was also necessary that the Spirit of Jehovah should single him out publicly in a solemn assembly of the nation, and point him out as the man of Jehovah.

Saul Impressive — 1 Samuel 10:22-23

• FB Meyer Saul’s modesty was very commendable. There were many beautiful traits in his character in those early days, but, as we shall see, all the music was finally silenced when that terrible monster jealousy stole into his heart. Among other evidences of a naturally noble disposition was his determination not to heed the detracting voices which challenged his elevation to the throne.

Long Live the King — 1 Samuel 10:24

• Romans 13:1-7 (ESV) Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. [2] Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. [3] For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, [4] for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. [5] Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. [6] For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. [7] Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

International Sunday School October 16 2022 Fall Quarter #7

Judges 6:1-2 ESV  The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.  (2)  And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

Judges 6:1-2 ESV

Judges 6:7-16 ESV  When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites,  (8)  the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery.  (9)  And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land.  (10)  And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”  (11)  Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.  (12)  And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”  (13)  And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”  (14)  And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”  (15)  And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”  (16)  And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Judges 6:7-16 ESV

Notes

Flaking Out — Judges 6:1

• Keil & Delitzsch — Midian had shown hostility to Israel even in the time of Moses, and had been defeated in a war of retaliation on the part of the Israelites (Num 31). But they had afterwards recovered their strength, so that now, after an interval of 200 years, the Lord used them as a rod of chastisement for His rebellious people.

Hiding Out — Judges 6:2

• Barnes — The word rendered “dens” is only found in this passage. It is best explained of ravines hollowed out by torrents, which the Israelites made into hiding-places.
• Deuteronomy 28:47-48 ESV  Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,  (48)  therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you.

Crying Out — Judges 6:7

• 2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV  if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Finding Out — Judges 6:8-9

• John Gill — And the Lord sent a prophet unto the children of Israel,…. “A man, a prophet” (f), as in the Hebrew text, not an angel, but a man; and this not Phinehas, as say some Jewish writers (g); for it is not probable he should live so long as more than two hundred years; and had he been living, it is very much he should not have been heard of in the times of the preceding judges, and that he was not made use of before now to reprove the people for their sins; but who the prophet was we have no account now nor hereafter, here or elsewhere. Abarbinel supposes he was raised up for a short time:

Bringing Out — Judges 6:10

• Barnes — A similar use of the name Amorite, instead of the more usual name Canaanite, occurs in Jos_24:15, Jos_24:18. Perhaps a special reason may be found for the use of Amorite, if the prophet was addressing those who dwelt in the mountains, where the Amorites chiefly dwelt. The idolatries of the Amorites seem, too, to have been preeminently abominable (see 2Ki_21:11; 1Ki_21:26).

Calling Out — Judges 6:11-12

• Barnes — There was another Ophrah in Benjamin Jos_18:23. This Ophrah was in Manasseh, and was the village of Joash, the head, apparently, of the family of Abiezer, which was one of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh Num_26:30.

Sound Out — Judges 6:13-14

• Sound Out – seek someone’s opinions by asking questions
• Gideon was strong and handsome — Judges 8:18 ESV  Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, “Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?” They answered, “As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king.”

Punching Out — Judges 6:15-16

• 1 Corinthians 15:9 ESV  For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

International Sunday School October 9 2022 Fall Quarter # 6

Deuteronomy 32:3-6 ESV  For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!  (4)  “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.  (5)  They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation.  (6)  Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?

Deuteronomy 32:3-6 ESV 

Deuteronomy 32:10-14 ESV  “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.  (11)  Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,  (12)  the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.  (13)  He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock.  (14)  Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

Deuteronomy 32:10-14 ESV

Deuteronomy 32:18 ESV  You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Deuteronomy 32:18 ESV

Notes

Background

• The children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt
• God called Moses to lead the children of Israel
• Pharaoh resisted, letting the children of Israel go
• Egypt was struck with the plagues
• Pharaoh agrees to let them go
• But chases them, and is drowned in the Red Sea
• The children of Israel, when they get close to the promised land, send spies to look at the land
• They are afraid and complain, and God says none of the adults will come to the promised land, except for the two spies who are not afraid
• The children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years
• Moses is told he will not go to the promised land. Joshua will lead the children of Israel.

God is Good — Deu 32:3

• Psa 150:2 (ESV)Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!
• Eph 1:19 (ESV)and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

The Rock — Deu 32:4

• 1Co 10:4 (ESV)and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.

Backsliding — Deu 32:5-6

• Jdg 2:19 (ESV)But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.
• Gal 4:6 (ESV)And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

A Desert Land — Deu 32:10

Like an Eagle — Deu 32:11-12

• Isa 31:5 (ESV)Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it.”

• Gill As an eagle stirreth up her nest,…. Her young ones in it, to get them out of it: Jarchi says the eagle is merciful to its young, and does not go into its nest suddenly, but first makes a noise, and disturbs them with her wings, striking them against a tree or its branches, that so they being awakened may be fitter to receive her: with respect to literal Israel, Egypt was their nest, where they were who were then in their infant state, lay like young birds in a nest; and though it was a filthy one and where they were confined, yet they seemed sometimes as if they did not care to come out of it; until the Lord made use of means to get them out, by the ministry of Moses and Aaron, by suffering their taskmasters to make their bondage heavier, and by judgments inflicted on the Egyptians, which made them urgent upon them to depart: with respect to spiritual Israel, their nest is a state of unregeneracy, in which they are at ease, and do not care to be awakened and stirred out of it; but the Lord, in love to them, awakens them, stirs them up, and gets them out, by sending his ministers to arouse them, by letting in the law into their consciences, which works a sense of wrath, by convincing them by his Spirit of their sin and danger, opening their eyes to see their wretched and miserable estate and condition, and by exerting his almighty power, plucking them as brands out of the burning:

Blessings — Deu 32:13-14

• NICOT The blood of grapes (Deu 32:14)—the idiom means wine and it is known in both Hebrew and Ugaritic poetry.

Forgot God — Deu 32:18

Conclusion

• Praise God in song every chance you get
• God is the source of all good