4ExplorE)))the)))Bible$ SUMMER 2011 Bible studies for the deaf JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS Anchored in Faith
4Exploring)))the)))Bible$ Bible studies for the Deaf SUMMER 2011 Volume 20 Number 4 Production & Ministry Team Oscar Fernandez Editorial Project Leader Laura Allison Production Editor ASHLEY KRULIKOWSKI Graphic Designer ALAN RAUGHTON Lead Adult Ministry Specialist DAVID APPLE Adult Ministry Specialist MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL Bret Robbe, Director, Leadership and Adult Publishing Ken Braddy, Debbie Johnson, Ron Keck Managing Directors, Leadership and Adult Publishing David Francis, Director, Sunday School Bill Craig, Director, Leadership and Adult Ministry Gary Hauk, Director, Publishing LifeWay Christian Resources Printed in the United States of America Send questions/comments to Editorial Project Leader, Explore the Bible: Bible Studies for the DEAF One LifeWay Plaza Nashville, TN 37234-0175 Or make comments on the Web at www.lifeway.com Exploring the BIble: Bible STUDIES for the Deaf (ISSN 0748-5360) is published quarterly by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234, Thom S. Rainer, President, LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Copyright 2011 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. if you need help with an order, WRITE LifeWay Church Resources Customer Service, One LifeWay Plaza, Nashville, TN 37234-0113. For subscriptions, FAX (615) 251-5818 or E-MAIL subscribe@lifeway.com. For bulk shipments mailed quarterly to one address, FAX (615) 251-5933 or E-MAIL CustomerService@lifeway.com. Order ONLINE www.lifeway. com. Mail address changes to Exploring the Bible, Bible studies for the Deaf, same address. We believe the Bible has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter and that all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. The 2000 statement of The Baptist Faith and Message is our doctrinal guideline. Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures are quoted from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW CENTURY VERSION, Copyright 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, Dallas, Texas 75039. Used by permission.
Contents JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS: ANCHORED IN FAITH Introduction... 6 Unit 1 - Navigating Life s Storms (Jeremiah 1:1 25:38).. 8 June 5 Accept Your Commission (Jeremiah 1:1-19)... 10 June 12 Get Back on Track (Jeremiah 2:1 6:30)... 17 June 19 Live Above Board (Jeremiah 7:1 10:25)... 24 June 26 Rise Above the Tide (Jeremiah 11:1 15:21)... 31 July 3 Never Say It s Hopeless (Jeremiah 16:1 18:23)... 38 July 10 submit to Divine Discipline (Jeremiah 19:1 21:14)... 45 July 17 Keep Your Behavior in Line (Jeremiah 22:1 25:38).... 52 Unit 2 - Staying on Course (Jeremiah 26:1 45:5)... 59 July 24 Settle Down (Jeremiah 26:1 29:32)... 61 July 31 Check Your Direction (Jeremiah 30:1 33:26)*... 68 Aug. 7 Stay True (Jeremiah 34:1 39:18)... 75 Aug. 14 Follow Orders (Jeremiah 40:1 45:5)... 82 Unit 3 - Serving the Commander (Jeremiah 46:1 52:34; Lamentations 1:1 5:2).. 89 Aug. 21 Aug. 28 recognize the Lord s Authority (Jeremiah 46:1 52:34)... 91 rely on the Lord s Love (Lamentations 1:1 5:22)... 98 FEATURES Accepting Christ?... 4 How to Use the Lessons?.................................. 5 Answers to Study Questions...105 Vocabulary Guide...108 Daily Bible Readings...111 Leader Guide...114 * Evangelistic Lesson
Week of June 5, 2011 Accept Your Commission Background Study Verses: Jeremiah 1:1-19 Lesson Verses: Jeremiah 1:4-14,17-19 Bible Truth Believers can know God s presence in any responsibility He gives them. 10 Accept Your Commission
What These Verses Tell Us 1. Recognize Your Commission (1:4-6) - God had plans for Jeremiah before he was born. 2. Receive the Lord s Power (1:7-10) - God promised Jeremiah power to do the mission God gave him. 3. Realize the Lord s Reassurance (1:11-14) - God gave Jeremiah needed reassurance. 4. Rely on the Lord s Resources (1:17-19) - God assured Jeremiah he would be successful. Study Questions 1. When did God choose Jeremiah to be a prophet? (verse 5) 2. how old was Jeremiah when God spoke to him? (verse 7) 3. What did Jeremiah see in his first vision? (verse 11) 4. What did the first vision mean? (verse 12) 5. What did the second vision mean? (verse 14) Introduction God touched Severa Trevino s heart. He wanted her to be a missionary to Deaf people. She wrote her testimony for a publication of the International Mission Board. I am Deaf, and I know most Deaf people in the world have never heard the story of Jesus. I wanted to tell the story, but I did not have a college education or Bible training. Through the International Mission Board s International Service Corps program, I was able to go and tell! I received training from the IMB about evangelism, church planting, and story telling. I used the Bible stories I learned to plant Deaf churches in Eastern Europe. Then in 2007, I was appointed as a career missionary in Eastern Europe! My friends asked, When are you moving back to the United States? I answered, When every Deaf person has heard the gospel in their heart language sign language! ¹ ¹Adapted from PrayerPoints, Global Deaf Affinity Group (March 2009 issue) International Mission Board. To subscribe to PrayerPoints go to http://imbresources.org/ Week of June 5, 2011 11
Today s Lesson 1. Recognize Your Commission (1:4-6) A commission means a responsibility to do something. It is an assignment or a job you must do. In this lesson, it is God s commission. God gave Jeremiah a commission or a job to do. God told Jeremiah about his assignment. God has a plan for everyone. We need to recognize (understand) God s plan for our life. Verses 4-5. Jeremiah wrote his life story. First, he told about how God called him to be a prophet. God chose him before he was born. God set him apart for special service. Jeremiah became a prophet to the nations. God carefully chose Jeremiah s parents. Jeremiah was the son of Hilkiah, a priest. Because he was a priest s son, Jeremiah learned about God. He had a good education. He knew the Scriptures. Jeremiah learned how God led the Jewish people out of Egypt and into Canaan, the promised land. He studied about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jeremiah lived in the city of Anathoth, in Judah. Jerusalem was only a few miles away. Jerusalem was the religious capital of Judah. Solomon s temple was in Jerusalem. A few years after the Israelites came to Canaan, they split into two nations Israel in the north and Judah in the south (1 Kings 12:1-17 and 2 Chronicles 10:1-16). In 722 B.C., the king of Assyria conquered Israel and took the people to Assyria (2 Kings 17:1-6). The fall of Israel happened because the people did not follow God. Jeremiah lived nearly one hundred years after the kingdoms were divided. Josiah was king when Jeremiah was young. Manasseh was Josiah s grandfather. Manasseh was an evil king and killed innocent people. You can read in 2 Kings 21:1-17 about all the evil things King Manasseh did. God became very angry with the people in Judah. They no longer worshiped one God. They worshiped idols. God s judgment against Judah is reported in 2 Kings 21:12-15. Manasseh s son, Amon, became king. He lived the same way his father lived. He rejected God. He was king for only two years. Josiah was king of Judah after Amon. He was only eight years old when he became king. The people in Judah were far away from God. They did not worship the God who brought them out of Egypt. They forgot how King David worshiped God. They worshiped the idols of the Canaanites who lived around them. 12 Accept Your Commission
Josiah was a good king. He instructed the Jews to worship the one true God. He reminded them how they made an agreement with God to follow His rules and laws and obey Him in all things. Josiah tore down the places for idol worship and burned the idols. There was no king like Josiah before or after him. He obeyed the LORD with all his heart, soul, and strength, following all the teachings of Moses (2 Kings 23:25). God was still angry with Judah God calls people of because of the evil things King Manasseh did. Jeremiah wrote, Even so, the LORD did not stop his strong and terrible anger. His anger burned against Judah because of all Manasseh had done to make him angry (2 Kings 23:26). King Josiah died in battle. Josiah s son Jehoahaz became king. He was king for only three months, and Jehoiakim became king of Judah. Another of Josiah s sons, Zedekiah, was the last king of Judah. The sons were not men of God like their father. They let the nation of Judah go back to worshiping idols. all ages TO serve Him....Think about the great men and women of the Bible. We don t remember their AGES. We only remember WHAT they did for God. Verse 6. A prophet tells people what will happen in the future. Jeremiah said God would not always be patient with the people in Judah. They would be punished for their sins if they did not change. Jeremiah knew he must tell the people about God s punishment. We do not know how old Jeremiah was when God called him. He may have been a young boy or about twenty years old. God calls people of all ages to serve Him. Samuel was a young boy when God called him. He grew to be a fine man of God. Moses was a grown man when God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Think about the great men and women of the Bible. We don t remember their ages. We only remember what they did for God. Jeremiah made excuses to God. He said he was not ready to be a prophet. He told God he was only a boy. Jeremiah thought people would not listen to him because he was young. Have you ever made an excuse to God? We must not make excuses. God has a plan for every person. God created us to serve Him. We should accept God s plan. It is OK to ask God for guidance. It is OK to say, God, I can t do this without your help. Accept God s plan for your life. God will give you strength to do His will. Week of June 5, 2011 13
2. Receive the Lord s Power (1:7-10) Verse 7. Jeremiah received encouragement and power from God. God gave Jeremiah difficult instructions: 1. Do not make excuses. 2. Go everywhere I send you. 3. Say everything I tell you to say. 4. Do not be afraid. Jeremiah felt safe in his small hometown of Anathoth. Everyone knew him there. It was a town where priests lived. They would not harm him when he spoke about God. Anathoth was only a few miles from Jerusalem. Jeremiah traveled the streets of Jerusalem and saw the sinful things people did. He must have felt fear when he realized God wanted him to stand up and preach to people in Jerusalem. He realized people would not accept him. Maybe they would not want to hear God s message. Would anyone listen? Maybe they might laugh at him. They may put him in jail. Verse 8. Jeremiah knew about people who spoke out for God. They were ignored, persecuted, and even killed. God knew Jeremiah was afraid. God promised to protect Jeremiah. Verses 9-10. God said He gave Jeremiah the right words to say. It was Jeremiah s responsibility to preach to the people in Judah. He must tell them about the destruction of their city and nation. He must also tell them about the hope they had as the chosen children of God. God touches the hearts of people today for His work. He has a plan for every Christian. When God gives us a responsibility, He gives us the ability and strength to do His will. Paul is an example of someone who faced hard jobs for God. Paul never gave up, even when he was persecuted. Paul said, I can do all things through Christ, because He gives me strength (Philippians 4:13). We serve the same God Jeremiah and Paul served. We have the same promise of power and strength through Jesus as they did. We also have the Holy Spirit to help us. God did not force Jeremiah to obey. Jeremiah could have said no to God. We are not forced to do what God tells us to do. We can say no. Often God does not let His people rest until they obey Him. 3. Realize the Lord s Reassurance (1:11-14) Verses 11-12. The title of this section means we must know how God gives us encouragement. In Bible times, God sometimes spoke to people in visions. Jeremiah had a vision about a branch of an almond tree. The almond tree is called the awake tree because it blossoms in the early spring. People watch it to know 14 Accept Your Commission
when spring has begun. God said the almond branch in Jeremiah s vision meant God is watching. God was watching because Jeremiah s prophecy would come true. Verses 13-14. Jeremiah had another vision. He saw a pot of boiling water tipping over from the north. The boiling water in the pot ran all over Judah. Years ago people heated water in large pots to wash clothes. Children knew never to go near the boiling water. They would be burned badly. God said Jeremiah s vision meant trouble would come from the north to Judah. Disaster would strike. All people in Judah would have pain and trouble. This was the message Jeremiah must tell the people in Judah. God explained the reason for His harsh judgment in verse 16. The people in Judah turned away from God. They worshiped idols and made sacrifices to them. 4. Rely on the Lord s Resources (1:17-19) Verse 17. The title of this section means we must depend on God s strength, not our weakness. God told Jeremiah he must hurry and get ready. He must tell the people in Judah the prophecy just as God showed him. Time was short for the nation of Judah. Jeremiah must speak against everyone including the king, his officers, and the priests. Priests were supposed to lead God s people in worship. Priests in the temple in Jerusalem no longer worshiped God. They made His temple a place for idols. No one in Judah wanted to hear about the coming war. They did not want to know their country was about to be destroyed. Jeremiah must be brave. People would not like him. God did not promise Jeremiah would not be beaten or put in prison. Verses 18-19. God promised to make Jeremiah strong. He would be like an iron pillar (large post) or a bronze wall. Iron and bronze were the strongest metals at that time. Jeremiah would be strong against all opposition. Important people in Judah would oppose Jeremiah, but with God s help, he would tell God s words. Week of June 5, 2011 15
What About You? God made you. No other person on earth is like you. You are special because God made you for a purpose. He has a job for you to do for Him. Remember, He gives strength and helps His people when they obey Him in the job He has chosen for them. What job has God given you to do in this world? Will you be like Jeremiah and tell people about God and how to obey Him? Maybe you are chosen to be a good mother or father. Perhaps your job in the world is to pray for others. There are many jobs in God s kingdom. He has one for you. Pray for God to show you the job He has for you. Obey Him and let Him lead you in His work. Applying the Lesson Find God s promise to Jeremiah in verse 19. Fill in the blanks: They will against you, but they will not you, because am with you to you! says the Lord. Another promise from God is in Philippians 4:13. Fill in the blanks. I do all through, because he gives me. List some ways you can use what you have learned in this lesson. How can this lesson help you grow in Christ? A Verse to Remember: The Lord spoke His word to me, saying, Before I made you in your mother s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work (Jeremiah 1:4-5). 16 Accept Your Commission
4ExplorE)))the)))Bible$ Bible studies for the Deaf Leader summer 2011 JEREMIAH, LAMENTATIONS
Summer 2011 Bible Studies for the Deaf Contents Introduction...116 Unit 1 - Navigating Life s Storms (Jeremiah 1:1 25:38)...118 Week of June 5 Accept Your Commission (Jeremiah 1:1-19)...119 June 12 Get Back on Track (Jeremiah 2:1 6:30)...121 June 19 Live Above Board (Jeremiah 7:1 10:25)...123 June 26 Rise Above the Tide (Jeremiah 11:1 15:21)...125 July 3 Never Say It s Hopeless (Jeremiah 16:1 18:23)...127 July 10 Submit to Divine Discipline (Jeremiah 19:1 21:14)...129 July 17 Keep Your Behavior in Line (Jeremiah 22:1 25:38)...131 Unit 2 - Staying on Course (Jeremiah 26:1 45:5)...133 Week of July 24 Settle Down (Jeremiah 26:1 29:32)...134 July 31 Check Your Direction (Jeremiah 30:1 33:26)*...136 Aug. 7 Stay True (Jeremiah 34:1 39:18)...138 Aug. 14 Follow Orders (Jeremiah 40:1 45:5)...140 Unit 3 - Serving the Commander (Jeremiah 46:1 52:34; Lamentations 1:1 5:22)...142 Week of Aug. 21 Recognize the Lord s Authority (Jeremiah 46:1 52:34)....143 Aug. 28 Rely on the Lord s Love (Lamentations 1:1 5:22)...145 * Easter Evangelistic Lesson
Week of June 5, 2011 Accept Your Commission Background Study Outline 1. divine Commission (Jeremiah 1:1-10) 2. divine Confirmation (1:11-16) 3. divine Challenge (1:17-19) Lesson Material 1. recognize Your Commission (Jeremiah 1:4-6) 2. receive the Lord s Power (1:7-10) 3. realize the Lord s Reassurance (1:11-14) 4. rely on the Lord s Resources (1:17-19) Bible Truth Deaf believers can know God s presence in any responsibility He gives them. The Bible in Context (Jeremiah 1:1) Jeremiah came from a family of priests. The priests were descendants of Aaron and were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of Israel. They were in charge of the sacrifices and offerings in the tabernacle and temple. They were supported by special offerings and the Levites were supported by tithes (Numbers 18:20-32). They were the scribes or teachers of the Law (Deuteronomy 31:9-13). They also became the ones to interpret the Law. They became a very powerful influence in the nation. Explore Anathoth (Jeremiah 1:1) Anathoth was a city about three miles northeast of Jerusalem. It was one of thirteen towns set aside for the priests who were descendants of Aaron (Joshua 21:19; 1 Chronicles 6:54-60). In addition to Jeremiah, two other men in the Bible were from Anathoth. Abiezer was one of David s thirty chief soldiers (2 Samuel 23:27). Jehu was one of the kings of Judah (1 Chronicles 12:3). One of Jeremiah s prophecies was demonstrated in Anathoth (Jeremiah 32:6-42). The city was resettled when the Jews returned from Babylon (Nehemiah 7:27; 11:31-35). Week of June 5, 2011 119
Step One Overview Today begins a series of lessons from the Book of Jeremiah. Encourage your class members to read the entire book, not just the verses selected for each lesson. Help them keep up with the chronology of these lessons. Ask someone to tell about Jeremiah s home town, Anathoth, from Explore, above and other resources. Explain the meaning of the word commission as a special responsibility given to someone by the government, or in this case, by God. Our missionaries are commissioned by the International Mission Board. Make the lesson come alive! Print out the Great Commission from Matthew 28:19-20, and give a copy to each class member. At the top of the paper write, Your Commission as a Christian. Step TWO Recognize Your Commission (Jeremiah 1:4-6) Use the discussion in the Pupil material to tell about Jeremiah s background, his call, and his response. Emphasize how God called and prepared Jeremiah. Jeremiah learned about God while he grew up in the home of a priest. God always gives us an opportunity to prepare for the work He calls us to do. Step Three Receive the Lord s Power (1:7-10) Review the instructions given to Jeremiah in verse 7. (See the discussion in the Pupil material.) Step Four Realize the Lord s Reassurance (1:11-14) Discuss how God often used dreams and visions in the Old Testament. Today we have the Bible to tell us His truths. Step Five - rely on the Lord s Resources (1:17-19) Emphasize how we must always depend on God s strength and not focus on our weakness. Step Six - Conclusion Review the lesson using What These Verses Tell Us in the Pupil material. Call attention to the significant information between this lesson and next week s lesson from chapters 3 and 4. Close with prayer that each class member will be ready to hear and answer God s call. 120 Accept Your Commission