Archive for October, 2009
November 1, 2009: Jonah
The text for this lesson is the book of Jonah.
Key Points
- Just as Jonah was swallowed up in the belly of the fish for three days, so Jesus, in His crucifixion, was baptized into the sea of death, drowned in our depravities, devoured by the grave, and spewed forth alive again after three days and nights that He might save us, the Assyrians, the Ninevites, and Jonah.
- Law: In my sin, I judge and condemn others. I am unforgiving because I am blind to my own sin and guilt.
- Gospel: God, who sees my sin, is rich in mercy and forgives me for Jesus’ sake.
Context
The Assyrians were the forerunners of the world’s Hitlers, Mussolinis, and their ilk. Icyblooded, tyrannical people were they, infamous for such crimes as impaling conquered peoples on tall poles. And, as if to boast to their posterity, they chiseled stones with pictures of such brutality! They were easy to hate, in other words. Jonah’s lack of love for them would have been shared by very many of his countrymen. Nineveh’s repentance and faith following Jonah’s preaching would not last forever. About a century later (around 650 BC), Nahum lambasted Nineveh for its evil ways, but his message went unheeded. This led to the city’s destruction by God, through the Babylonians, in 612 BC.
October 25, 2009: Naaman and Elisha
Key Points
- The Word of God spoken by the prophet was in and with the water of the Jordan to restore the flesh of Naaman; the Word of God spoken by the pastor is in and with the water of the baptismal font to cleanse us of our sin and restore us as children of the heavenly Father.
- Law: Sin and its effects slowly kill me, both in body and soul.
- Gospel: Jesus saves me, both in body and in soul. He cleanses me from sin and at the resurrection will heal my body and make it perfect, so it will be like His.
Context
Elisha, successor to Elijah, lived in the mid-to-late ninth century BC. His ministry was concentrated mainly in the Northern Kingdom during the reigns of four Israelite kings: Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, and Jehoash. There was bad blood aplenty between Israel and Syria—Naaman’s home turf—dating back to Solomon’s day and beyond (e.g., 1 Kings 11:23–25). In fact, the king before whom Naaman appears, Jehoram, lost his own father, Ahab, to the Syrians just a few years before (1 Kings 22:29–40).
Note that some English translations render “Syria” as “Aram” (e.g., NIV), but both names refer to the same country, located north and east of Israel. The Hebrew word usually translated as “leprosy” actually encompassed a variety of skin disorders. So whether Naaman actually had what we call leprosy (technically known as Hansen’s disease) cannot be proven. Either way, his skin disease was serious enough to prompt him to undertake a long and potentially dangerous journey.
October 18, 2009: Elijah Is Taken to Heaven
The text for this lesson is 2 Kings 2:1–15.
Key Points
- Enoch and Elijah were taken into heaven alive. Jesus, who is our Enoch and our great Elijah, ascended alive into heaven for us and our salvation.
- Law: Death overtakes me because I am permeated by sin and am subject to its penalty.
- Gospel: In the death of Jesus is the death of death itself, and I will be raised up with Christ and seated with Him in heaven.
Context
It’s time for the baton—or rather the mantle—of Elijah to pass to his vicar, Elisha. Cleaving to his master’s side, Elisha follows him on a somewhat circuitous route that ends east of the Jordan. In this same region centuries before, the baton had been passed from Moses to Joshua. Now it would go from Elijah to Elisha—same song, second verse. It is here, too, that the latter-day Elijah, that is, John the Baptist, would bow out so that the Elisha-like Jesus could move forward with His ministry— same song, final verse.
October 11, 2009: Elijah and the Prophets of Baal
The text for this lesson is 1 Kings 18:20–46.
Key Points
- Just as the true God revealed Himself on Mount Carmel’s altar, so on the cross-shaped altar of Mount Calvary, Jesus revealed once and for all that He alone is the real God who loves us enough to die for us.
- God demands that I fear, love, and trust in Him alone, yet I sinfully place my trust elsewhere.
- Jesus proved that He is the true Lord when on the altar of God He offered the sacrifice, Himself, that calls me back from my sin to His forgiving embrace.
Context
For three years, the skies above Israel had been sealed shut; not a raindrop fell on the parched land. This was God’s way of getting His nation’s attention, of throwing a bucket of cold water in His Bride’s sleeping face, so to speak, as she lay sprawled in bed with the false god Baal. Coming out of seclusion, Elijah commanded wicked King Ahab to “gather all Israel to [him] at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table” (1 Kings 18:19). It was time for what the Greeks called a theomachy, a God-fight.
October 4, 2009: God Provides for Elijah
The text for this lesson is 1 Kings 17.
Key Points
- Just as God provided food and life for Elijah, the widow, and her son, so He provides food, forgiveness, and life eternal for us in Christ.
- Law: In sin, I complain that God does not give me what I need or deserve.
- Gospel: God daily supplies me with those good gifts that sustain me in body and soul, giving each of them through His Son.
Context
In Elijah’s day (ninth century BC), Israel was divided into the Northern and Southern kingdoms. Each had its own king, military, and worship sites. Elijah preached in the north (usually called Israel, while the south was Judah). Here, each king seemed bent on outsinning his predecessor, beginning with the first, Jeroboam. The leader during Elijah’s ministry, Ahab, was quite successful at this contest of iniquity, for he “did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30). For instance, he chose as his queen Jezebel, from Sidon, who was a zealous devotee of the false god Baal. With her encouragement, Ahab built an altar and temple for this pseudo-deity in the capital city of Samaria. He also made an Asherah, an image of a popular goddess of the time. In short, Ahab won hell’s applause.
