This lesson will cover what you read in the last month (July) and what you will read in the next month (August). I explain why in the video.
Print the mid-video exercise and discussion questions here.
Mid-video Exercise:
There will be a pause in the video. During the pause, work together to fill in this chart. You can print the chart out and fill it in, or you can copy it onto a dry erase board. If there are several of you, you can use these directions:
- Print out a copy of the chart and cut it up to make little slips of paper with a verse on each.
- Give each person 2 slips of blank paper.
- Have each person write “what God did” on the top of one slip of paper, and “what the people did” on the other.
- Read the examples that are on the chart. Have participants take verses from the table, read them, and write in their own words what the people did and what God did. Then attach all the papers to a wall or window. Put “what God did” on the left and “what the people did” on the right.
This exercise is a little tedious, but it is really helpful in challenging the “God is a bully” thinking. At the end, read the whole “people” column together, and then the whole “God” column. It’s okay if this takes most of your time. It is a good exercise.
Discussion Questions:
1. Manasseh was the worst king ever. He was cruel to the people and did every deplorable thing. Yet, God restored him to the throne when he humbled himself and cried out to God. What does this show us about what God is like?
2. When God told Hezekiah that he was going to die, Hezekiah cried out to God and asked for more time. God granted his request. While that doesn’t always happen, what does that show us about what God is like?
3. What do you think Daniel struggled with internally as he helped lead a nation that was in the process of destroying his home nation?
4. Jeremiah preached for about 40 years, and virtually no one listened to him, believed him, or followed his advice. How do you think he sustained his confidence that he was on the right track with no affirmation?
5. Have you ever felt like your work for the Lord was fruitless even though you know you were walking in obedience? How did you sustain your confidence?
To end the lesson, have everyone close their eyes and read the attached edited version of Ezekiel 16 out loud.
Ezekiel 16:1-22
Then another message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins. Give her this message from the Sovereign Lord: You are nothing but a Canaanite! Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.
“But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.
“Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and costly fabric and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.
“But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking. You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen? You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me! You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them. Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.
“Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough? Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols? In all your years of adultery and detestable sin, you have not once remembered the days long ago when you lay naked in a field, kicking about in your own blood.
Whole Bible Challenge 