Adult Teching Resources November 22, 2015 A Time for Grtitude You re All I Hve Ruth 1:1-2:23 An Odd Rod to Hppy Ending Ruth 3:1-4:21 Trnsformtionl Ters 1 Smuel 1:1-28 Thnks for the Promises 2 Smuel 23:1-7 Hope Wits A Time for Anticiption 1 Thesslonins 3:6-13 www.bptiststody.org Subscribe to Bptists Tody to ccess the core Bible content for this lesson. www.nurturingfith.net Find links nd videos relted to this lesson. 1 Nurturing Fith November 22, 2015
Thnks for the Promises 2 Smuel 23:1-7 FIT Teching Guide by Rick Jordn This dult teching outline is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Before the Lesson: Collect enough rocks so ech clss member cn hve one. Hve index crds nd pens for ech clss member. Fellowship Question Use one of the following to brek the ice, to begin discussion, nd led into the study: Where hve you seen rocks tht hve impressed you? ( brook full of rocks, wterfll over rocks, the Grnd Cnyon, mountins, etc.) Wht rock re you wering tody? (gold necklce, dimond ring, metl belt buckle, etc.) Informtion [Distribute rocks, index crds nd pens.] Now tht everyone hs rock, I would like for you to study it for minute. Then, on your index crd, jot down three words tht describe your rock. [After minute for silence nd writing, sk clss members to shre their words s you write them on the bord. Put check mrks by words tht hve lredy been sid.] Do we see ny common threds here? [Hve clss member red II Smuel 23:1-4.] Rocks re lifeless nd innimte. They do not communicte with us, do not hve emotion for us, nd do not mke commitments with us. Why do you think Dvid compres God to rock? Biblicl scholrs hve severl suggestions. Rock my refer to Mt. Sini where the Ten Commndments were delivered to Moses. So, rock = Lw or rule of life. Rock my refer to n ltr where nimls re scrificed. So, rock = plce of forgiveness nd reconcilition. Rock my refer to plce where we find protection. So, rock = shelter from dnger. Do you recll story bout Dvid nd some rocks he picked up long strem? How might tht memory hve shped Dvid s metphor for God s rock? Dvid uses nother imge from nture, this time not referring to God, but to the leder of 2 Nurturing Fith November 22, 2015
Informtion continued God s people. The just ruler is like sunrise fter riny night. Wht do you think Dvid hd in mind with this metphor? Dvid ws politicl leder the second king of Isrel nd he ws reflecting on politicl leder s role. Mny yers lter, the prophet Mich summed up the lw. As you listen to this, consider wht it would be like to hve ntionl leder tht took this s mndte. [Hve clss member red Mich 6:8.] Wht would it be like to hve leder who insisted on justice, who cted kindly, nd who hd humble reltionship with God? Wouldn t tht be refreshing, like sunrise fter stormy night? Mny leders do the opposite. They scrifice justice for personl welth nd their welthy benefctors. They consider kindness to be form of nïve wekness. They use God lnguge to secure more votes nd to prove tht God is on their side of the issues. But, there re others who do look out for the interests of those being treted unjustly, who spek well of others with whom they disgree, nd who do not use their reltionship with God for politicl points. This is still true in the Middle Est (where Dvid ruled). Is it true in our own ntion? Is it true in ll ntions? Our ntion is entering nother yer s worth of politicl cmpigning for ntionl leders. How could we use Mich s words s yrdstick to mesure politicin s promises (nd records)? [Wht do they sy bout welth nd poverty? Wht do they sy bout violence the opposite of kindness? How do they use or not use God-tlk? etc.] Dvid uses lnguge bout nture to describe God nd God s leders. Dvid continues to use metphors from nture to describe God s judgment on unjust, unkind, God-ferless leders. [Hve clss member red II Smuel 23:5-7.] These leders re thorns. Wht do you think Dvid ws sying with tht metphor? Dvid offers picture of judgment s roring, consuming fire. The Bible Lesson writer notes, Wicked leders do not spontneously combust. Nevertheless, the principle is tht good leders who prctice justice bring order, beuty, nd prosperity to their people, while evil or selfish leders bring ruin to their countries nd, ultimtely, to themselves. If this is true, how hve you seen this ply out? 3 Nurturing Fith November 22, 2015
Trnsformtionl Exercise [Red this prgrph.] The evidence for Dvid s pervsive, sturted wreness of God is in his profusion of metphors Dvid ws immersed in God. Every visibility reveled for him n invisibility. Dvid nmed God by metphors. There is n orgnic interconnectedness in the comprehensive totlity of cretion, visible nd invisible by mens of which everything seen nd herd, tsted, touched nd experienced, if only followed fr enough, brings us into the presence of God. Even rocks. Is there nything lower on the scle of cretion thn rock? Yet the extreme unlikeliness provoked in Dvid n wreness of likeness. [Eugene H. Peterson. Lep Over A Wll: Erthy Spiritulity for Everydy Christins. HrperSnFrncisco. 1997. p. 206f.] Tke nother look t your rock. In the next few minutes of silence, use the other side of your crd to write sentence or two of metphor bout God. God is my rock, becuse God... You re not limited to this rock, however. Use ny imge from nture. Dvid used sunset nd roring fire in this pssge. Wht in cretion reminds you of God? God is my, becuse God After time of silence, I ll sk those who would to shre your metphor with us. [After reflection, writing, nd shring, close in pryer something like this: God of cretion, So much of your cretion cn drw us bck to thoughts of you. Even lowly rocks. Help us to hve the wreness of you tht Dvid hd. We pry for our ntion s leders. We pry they will hve the spirit tht Mich preches bout. We pry for leders who love justice, prctice kindness, nd who wlk humbly with you. Amen. ] Comments or Questions for Rick Jordn? You my send comments to the lesson pln uthor t rjordn@cbfnc.org. Rick is lso vilble to led workshops nd conferences on Christin Eduction, with prticulr emphsis on how best to use the FIT Fith model. 4 Nurturing Fith November 22, 2015
Digging Deeper by Tony Crtlege Digging Deeper is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. Wtch for the shovel icon in the The Bible Lesson, nd then reference tht item in this Digging Deeper resource. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Stories tht didn t fit At the end of 2 Smuel is collection of trditions ttched to Dvid tht didn t fit well into the nrrtive but were considered too importnt to leve out. The primry nrrtive ends with chpter 20, nd doesn t pick up gin until 1 Kings 1. Chpter 21 of 2 Smuel describes events from erly in Dvid s reign in which Dvid ppers in rther negtive light, such s when he surrendered seven of Sul s sons to the Gibeonites for execution (21:1-14), nd series of bttles with the Philistines in which someone nmed Elhnn son of Jre-oregim, not Dvid, killed Golith the Gittite, the shft of whose sper ws like wever s bem (compre 1 Smuel 17, especilly v. 7). Putting these stories in chronologicl order would hve cst shdow over Dvid s rise to power, in which the nrrtor stressed only positive spects of Dvid s chrcter nd decision mking. Chpter 22 purports to be pslm of Dvid celebrting God s choice of Dvid nd the divine id tht enbled him to be victorious in wr. It is virtully identicl to Pslm 18. Chpter 23 contins tody s text, known s the lst words of Dvid (23:1-7), long with list of heroic exploits crried out by Dvid s most vlint wrriors (23:8-39). The lst wrrior nmed is Urih the Hittite, whose betryl nd deth Dvid hd engineered in 2 Smuel 11. Chpter 24 is the story of census, prlleled with significnt differences in 1 Chronicles 21, in which Dvid s numbering of the people led to divine punishment nd Dvid s purchse of Arunh s threshing floor to build n ltr spot tht lter becme the site of the temple. Lst words? The lst words of Dvid s recorded in the Deuteronomistic History re found in 1 Kings 2:1-9, nd they contin both blessing nd bitterness. In tht text, Dvid first blesses Solomon s his successor, then orders him to use his wisdom to contrive n excuse to execute Job nd Shimei. Dvid bore grudges ginst both of them, but politicl expediency did not llow him to kill them during his own reign. It is likely tht the uthor/editors of the Deuteronomistic History (Joshu 2 Kings, with the exception of Ruth) wnted Dvid to be remembered more fvorbly, nd so they either preserved or begn trdition identifying this more ffirmtive poem s The Lst Words of Dvid. The Chronicler s history of Dvid is deletes ll references to wrongdoing nd presents Dvid s the idel king. In 1 Chronicles, Dvid s lst recorded words re in public speech in which he nnounced plns for the temple nd endorsed Solomon s his successor (1 5 Nurturing Fith November 22, 2015
Digging Deeper continued Chronicles 29). A surprising prllel The introduction to the orcle ttributed to Dvid in tody s text is surprisingly similr to n ncient orcle ttribute to the pgn prophet Blm, who ws moved by God to bless Isrel. Both Num. 24:3 nd 24:15 begin The orcle of Blm, the son of Beor, The orcle of mn whose eye is cler. 2 Sm. 23:1 includes: The orcle of Dvid, son of Jesse, The orcle of the mn whom God exlted. Some scholrs note this similrity s evidence of the orcle s ntiquity, suggesting tht it ws longstnding trdition rther thn lte composition. The prophet Dvid? In Peter s sermon on the dy of Pentecost, he mde reference to Dvid s the ncestor of Jesus the Messih, sying: Since he ws prophet, he knew tht God hd sworn with n oth to him tht he would put one of his descendnts on the throne (Acts 2:30). Peter s clim tht Dvid hd predicted Jesus resurrection is n exmple of very loose quottion nd exegesis of Ps. 16:10 tht would not pss muster in seminry clssroom, but it ws common prctice during the first century. Pslm 16, while ttributed to Dvid, is clerly personl pryer for protection nd delivernce. In v. 10, the pslmist prys For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your fithful one see the Pit. Peter chnged the text from first person to third ( I to he ) nd shifted its mening from personl pryer to prediction bout the coming Messih: Foreseeing this, Dvid spoke of the resurrection of the Messih, sying, He ws not bndoned to Hdes, nor did his flesh experience corruption (Acts 2:31). A lter insertion? Mny scholrs regrd v. 2 s lter ddition designed to bolster Dvid s prophetic imge, in prt becuse the term trnslted s word is not the expected dbr, but millto, word tht is chrcteristic of lte Hebrew. Another rgument for v. 2 being lter insertion is tht v. 3 lredy includes n introduction to the orcle: The God of Isrel hs spoken, the Rock of Isrel hs sid to me. It seems unlikely tht the originl writer would introduce the orcle multiple times. God s rock The use of rock s metphor for God s protection (v. 3) is common in the pslms. Pslm 18, for exmple, uses it three times: my God is my rock, in whom I tke refuge (v. 2), And who is the Rock except our God? (v. 31), nd The LORD lives! Prise be to my Rock! (v. 46). 6 Nurturing Fith November 22, 2015
Digging Deeper continued A contemporry song written by Michel O shields nd mde populr by Petr employs the imge in its chorus, frequently repeting: The Lord liveth, nd blessed be the Rock nd my the God of my slvtion be exlted. Poetry in motion Hebrew poetry is chrcterized by rhythm of sense, rther thn sound. Rther thn hving lines tht end with the sme sound, Hebrew poetry usully consists of couplets or triplets of lines tht repet, reverse, or expnd upon the sme thought. Prophetic orcles were typiclly couched in poetry, nd the pssge ttributed to Dvid in 2 Sm. 23:3b-4 is no exception. It consists of two prllel lines tht set up the condition of just king, followed by two extended couplets elborting on metphoricl description of wht such king s rule is like. Obedience nd blessing The books of Smuel, prt of the Deuteronomistic History, include one illustrtion fter nother of how Isrel or its leders prosper when they re obedient, but suffer when they turn wy from God. Even Dvid is not immune to trouble: the Deuteronomistic uthor shows tht God prospered Dvid nd gve him success s long s he ws obedient nd sought God s wy (1 Smuel 16 2 Smuel 10). Once Dvid fell off the wgon through his ffir with Bthsheb nd his resultnt betryl of Urih, however, his rule ws trnished nd his kingdom ws troubled. The book of 1 Chronicles lso recounts Dvid s rise nd reign, but deletes ll references to his shortcomings nd presents him s the idel king, without spot or blemish. It s surprising, then, tht the present text ppers in 2 Smuel rther thn 1 Chronicles. Perhps it is n erlier ttempt to rebuild Dvid s reputtion, similr to the Chronicler s lter nd more thoroughgoing revision of his legcy. 7 Nurturing Fith November 22, 2015
The Hrdest Question by Tony Crtlege The Hrdest Question is designed to support The Bible Lesson by Tony Crtlege, printed in Bptists Tody. You cn subscribe to either the digitl or print edition of Bptists Tody to ccess the lessons. Plese lso ensure tht ech person in your clss hs copy of Bptists Tody so they cn prepre before the lesson. Should modern governments be theocrcies? Isrel, idelly, ws theocrcy in which God ws the ntion s true king while the mn on the throne ws to ct s God s representtive. There ws no seprtion of church nd stte in Isrel, s we know tody: the Isrelites very identity nd existence ws centered on their specil reltionship with God. This mde it pproprite for Isrel to hve stte in which divine nd humn lws were one nd the sme, so long s the rulers rightly interpreted God s teching nd showed justice to ll, including liens in the lnd. Should such government exist tody? While some extremely conservtive citizens hold to the myth tht Americ ws founded s Christin ntion nd is God s new Isrel, the truth is tht Americ hs been plurlistic from the beginning. While we my drw on biblicl principles s exmples of just lws, nd our culture is no doubt strongly influenced by the Judeo- Christin trdition, most of us know tht it would not be right or fir to drw up lws bsed entirely on one leder or one prty s prticulr interprettion of wht God expects. Even the modern stte of Isrel is seculr country. Despite efforts by the minority ultr- Orthodox to impose their own interprettions of scripture s the lw of the lnd, the founders of Isrel recognized tht government should not force sectrin lws on plurlistic society. The closest thing we hve to theocrcy tody is the rule imposed by orgniztions such s the so-clled Islmic Stte or Tlibn strongholds, in which rigid interprettion of shri lw is forced on ll residents regrdless of their fith. Tht lone should be exmple enough to wrn us ginst the dngers of combining politics, power, nd religion. Tht does not men tht modern presidents, legisltors, nd court officils cnnot lern from this text nd led the country in wy tht respects humn rights nd trets ll people firly. They my do so in prt due to personl respect for God nd for biblicl teching, or out of n innte sense of wht is right nd good. The importnt thing is tht those who led should led rightly: those who hve power should use their power for the common good. 8 Nurturing Fith November 22, 2015