Archive for June, 2009
July 5, 2009: Workers Build the Temple
The text for this lesson is 1 Kings 5:1–6:28.
Key Points
- The temple was a magnificent structure that symbolized God’s even more magnificent dwelling with His people: Christ Jesus.
- Law: The temple was a constant reminder of God’s presence with Israel, but we often forget that God is with us.
- Gospel: In Holy Communion, Christ is with us personally in His body and blood.
- Law: We take for granted that God is with us when we avoid coming to His house.
- Gospel: Each time His Word speaks to us and His Sacraments are given to us, He forgives us for our indifference.
Context
Solomon succeeded David as king of Israel (1 Kings 1:1–2:46) and continued the Messianic line (Matthew 1:6–7). He asked for and received a special gift of wisdom from God and Israel prospered in unprecedented ways (1 Kings 3:1–4:34). Solomon’s glory provided a point of comparison for Jesus’ teaching on God’s generous provision for His creatures, which offers Christians a life without anxiety (Matthew 6:25–34). Solomon’s proverbial wisdom set the stage for “something greater than Solomon” (Matthew 12:42), namely, Jesus, “whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Though Solomon’s reign was initially characterized by peace and prosperity, his personal sins later cast a dark cloud over his reign. His decadence and intermarriages with pagans brought outright idolatry into Israel and invoked God’s anger and judgment (1 Kings 11:1-43).
June 28, 2009: The Friendship of David and Jonathan
The text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 18:1–4; 19:1–7; 20:1–42; 2 Samuel 1:17–27.
Key Points
- Rather than being jealous that God had chosen David to be king and ancestor of the Messiah, Jonathan accepted God’s plan and befriended David.
- Law: When we see others being honored, we often become jealous.
- Gospel: In our Baptism into Christ Jesus, God has chosen and honored each of us beyond any human accolades.
Context
The Lord chose David to replace disobedient King Saul (1 Samuel 13:1–14; 15:23; 16:12). After David was anointed king, “The Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him” (1 Samuel 16:14). David was called to play the lyre for Saul, which relieved his spiritual torment. Saul became even more dependent on David after he killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17) and was set over Israel’s army (1 Samuel 18:5). Almost immediately, Saul became extremely jealous of David’s successes, began to view David as a threat to his throne, and attempted to kill David (1 Samuel 18:5–27). Saul realized that the Lord was with David and became even more afraid of him; thus, “Saul was David’s enemy continually” (1 Samuel 18:29).
1 Samuel 18–31 recounts the drama of Saul’s efforts to secure his throne by killing David. Though David was anointed king by the Lord in 1025 BC, he did not become king of Judah (the southern kingdom) until 1010 (2 Samuel 2), after Saul and his son Jonathan died (1 Samuel 31). David became king of Israel (the northern kingdom) in 1003 (2 Samuel 5).
June 21, 2009: David, the Shepherd Boy
The text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 16:11; 17:32–35; Psalm 23.
Key Points
- While David tended his flock, the Lord was David’s shepherd—protecting him, leading him, and providing for him.
- Law: Many jobs involve real danger, and though we are often unaware of it, Satan has the power to do us harm at any moment.
- Gospel: Our Good Shepherd walks with us even through the valley of the shadow of death, assuring us that no matter what evil we encounter, He will defend us into eternal life.
- Law: As we handle the tasks assigned to us, we may rely on ourselves and wrongly think we are the ones doing great things.
- Gospel: God accomplishes great things and honors us by using us.
Context
The Lord delivered Israel out of Egyptian slavery in 1446 BC and led them into the Promised Land in 1406. After the deaths of Moses and Joshua, various judges exercised leadership in Israel, from about 1380–1050 BC. Israel, however, wanted a king; they foolishly rejected the Lord’s kingship over them (1 Samuel 8:1–9).
Saul reigned from 1050 until 1010. He wickedly disobeyed the Lord’s Word (1 Samuel 13:1–14; 15:23), and so the Lord rejected him and chose “a man after His own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) to replace him. In about 1025 David was anointed to succeed Saul as king (1 Samuel 16:1–13) and took the throne in 1010.
June 14, 2009: Jacob’s Death and Burial
The text for this lesson is Genesis 49:29–50:14.
Key Points
- Jacob requested burial in Canaan, rather than in Egypt, because Canaan was the land to which God had promised to send the One through whom all the families of the earth would be blessed—Jesus (Genesis 12:1–3; 46:2–4).
- Law: Death is a time of tremendous grief.
- Gospel: We do not grieve as those who have no hope, because Jesus has overcome death and the grave.
- Law: We ourselves must also face death. Gospel: Because Jesus died in our place, we can look ahead to God’s promised land of heaven.
- Law: How we deal with death—our own and that of a loved one—can sometimes give a witness of doubt, worry, and fear.
- Gospel: By God’s grace, comforted with the assurance of our resurrection in Christ, we are able to testify to the hope that is in us.
Context
After Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, their father Jacob presumed him dead (Genesis 37). However, the Lord preserved and prospered Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 39–41). After Joseph helped his brothers during a famine (Genesis 42–45), Jacob came to settle in Egypt (Genesis 46). Joseph and Jacob were happily reunited. Before Jacob died, he blessed his sons (Genesis 49:1–28).
The Messiah first promised to Eve (Genesis 3:15), then to Abraham (Genesis 12:7; Galatians 3:16), Isaac (Genesis 26:3), and Jacob—renamed Israel (Genesis 35:9–12), would come through Judah (Genesis 49:8–12). Matthew 1:1–2 traces Jesus’ lineage from Abraham to Judah. Matthew 1:17 presents Jesus as the promised Christ, “who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
June 7, 2009: Rebekah Serves at the Well
The text for this lesson is Genesis 24:10–28.
Key Points
- By moving Rebekah to selfless service (drawing countless gallons of water for a man and his camels), God identified an ancestor of the One who would serve us by His suffering and death.
- Law: In our sinfulness, we think only of our own convenience and pleasure.
- Gospel: Jesus’ selfless sacrifice of His life and death (Romans 8:32) gives us all we need and frees us to serve others gladly.
- Law: As sinful people, we labor only for the value or compensation it brings us.
- Gospel: God uses even our seemingly insignificant chores to accomplish His perfect will for the world.
Context
Genesis 12:1–9 sets the stage for the entire history of Israel—and of the Christian Church! God called Abram to leave his homeland and become “a great nation” (Genesis 12:2) and the one in whom “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). The Messiah (Christ), first promised to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15), would come from Abraham’s offspring (Genesis 12:7; Galatians 3:16). His son Isaac would need a wife to continue the Messianic blood line. Isaac had to remain in the Promised Land but not intermarry with the local Canaanites, so Abraham commissioned his chief servant to go find a wife for Isaac among Abraham’s kin in Mesopotamia (Genesis 24:1–9). Abraham promised that the Lord would send an angel ahead the servant (Genesis 24:7).
