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A Pilgrimage Through the Old Testament

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A Pilgrimage Through the Old Testament A PILGRIMAGE THROUGH THE OLD TESTAMENT ** Year 3 of 3 ** (Part 2 of 2) Cold Harbor Road Church Of Christ Mechanicsville, Virginia Old Testament Curriculum TABLE OF CONTENTS Lesson 131: JEREMIAH’S MISSION Jeremiah 1-25 .................................................................................................4 Lesson 132: A YOKE FOR JEREMIAH Jeremiah 26-45 ...............................................................................................9 Lesson 133: PROPHESIES OF DOOM Jeremiah 46-52 ...............................................................................................15 Lesson 134: SIN, SUFFERING, AND SORROW Lamentations 1-5 ...........................................................................................18 Lesson 135: LIFE AND TIMES OF EZEKIEL Ezekiel 1-11 ....................................................................................................23 Lesson 136: THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW I AM THE LORD Ezekiel 12-32 ..................................................................................................29 Lesson 137: RATTLE MY BONES Ezekiel 33-48 ..................................................................................................35 Lesson 138: DANIEL AND FRIEINDS ARE FAITHFUL TO GOD Daniel 1 ..........................................................................................................41 Lesson 139: FOUR IN A FURNACE Daniel 2,3........................................................................................................44 Lesson 140: THE WRITING ON THE WALL Daniel 4,5........................................................................................................47 Lesson 141: DANIEL MEETS THE LIONS Daniel 6-12 .....................................................................................................50 Lesson 142: REVIEW OF MAJOR PROPHETS Isaiah - Daniel................................................................................................55 Lesson 143: A BROKEN HEART Hosea 1-14......................................................................................................60 Lesson 144: THE DAY OF THE LORD COMETH AS A THIEF Joel 1-3 ............................................................................................................65 Lesson 145: IS YOUR PLUMBLINE STRAIGHT? Amos 1-9 ........................................................................................................70 Lesson 146: AS THOU HAST DONE, IT SHALL BE DONE TO THEE Obadiah 1.......................................................................................................75 Lesson 147: I WON’T GO! Jonah 1-4.........................................................................................................79 Lesson 148: ISRAEL UNDER FIRE Micah 1-7........................................................................................................84 Lesson 149: WHO CAN STAND BEFORE GOD? Nahum 1-3 .....................................................................................................89 Lesson 150: I KNOW THE LORD WILL MAKE A WAY FOR ME Habakkuk 1-3.................................................................................................94 Lesson 151: ZEPHANIAH MAKES A DIFFERENCE Zephaniah 1-3 ................................................................................................99 Lesson 152: SHINING SIGNET/ZERUBBABEL Haggai 1,2 ......................................................................................................103 Lesson 153: THE BRANCH AND CHIEF CORNERSTONE Zechariah 1-8 .................................................................................................107 Lesson 154: FUTURE PROPHESIES Zechariah 9-14 ...............................................................................................111 Lesson 155: GET SERIOUS! Malachi 1-4.....................................................................................................114 Lesson 156: REVIEW OF MINOR PROPHETS Hosea - Malachi.............................................................................................119 Page 4 Old Testament Lesson 131: Jeremiah’s Mission Text: Jeremiah 1-25 Memory Verses: Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 10:23 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Jeremiah 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 23:5,6 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Goals: Student will learn: • we receive warnings from God’s messengers today to avoid sin so we will be pleasing to God. We must heed these warnings. • God can mold our lives if we allow Him to do so. • we must follow God’s word even when it is unpopular with the world. Outline: I. Jeremiah’s mission. Jeremiah 1 II. Prophesies to Judah. A. Willful sin and its consequences. Jeremiah 2-6 B. Hypocritical worship. Jeremiah 7-10 C. Breaking a covenant to God. Jeremiah 11-13 D. Jeremiah’s inability to stop God’s judgment. Jeremiah 14-17 E. Absolute power of the Potter. Jeremiah 18-20 F. Evil kings. Jeremiah 21,22 G. The Messiah – a righteous Branch. Jeremiah 23 H. Two baskets of figs. Jeremiah 24 I. Captivity foretold. Jeremiah 25 OT-Lesson 131 Page 5 Jeremiah 1-25 Facts: 1. Jeremiah, the prophet, was the son of Hilkiah, with a God-ordained mission to preach to Judah. Jeremiah was chosen by God at an early age. He had been raised in a religious environment in Anathoth (a priest city), two miles north of Jerusalem, of the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 21:18). For forty years, he preached a message of doom to the stubborn people of Judah (627-580 B.C.). Numerous false prophets telling the people what they wanted to hear made his job more difficult. He was despised and persecuted even imprisoned for his unpopular message. Jeremiah had to prepare them, as Isaiah did, for their destruction by the “foe from the north” (Babylon) if they did not turn from their sins and repent (Deuteronomy 28-30). He pleaded with them to surrender to God’s will to avoid the coming judgment, but they did not listen. 2. Jeremiah survived five kings: Josiah, Jehohaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachim, and Zedekiah. After King Josiah, were Judah’s most desperate times. Jeremiah lived through Babylonian captivity and was later forced to go to Egypt where he died. He was not allowed to marry (Jeremiah 16:2). He dictated his writings to Barach (Jeremiah 45:1) before, during, and after their exile. Jeremiah was known as the “weeping prophet” because of his deep grief and concern for his people. Often, Jeremiah wanted to resign his position because it was so difficult, but God promised He would protect Jeremiah, so Jeremiah stuck with his assigned task. 3. Jeremiah’s contemporaries include the prophets Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Daniel, and Ezekiel. God’s people were taking their heritage for granted and felt God would tolerate them in spite of their political, moral, and religious decline. Jeremiah and the other prophets had to tell them God’s covenant mandated punishment for such sin. There were two parties in Jerusalem, those lobbying for an alliance with Babylon and those lobbying for an alliance with Egypt. Jeremiah tried to convince them they needed an alliance with Jehovah! 4. Jeremiah also prophesied of the new covenant (New Testament) to come, written on the “hearts of men.” During King Jehoiakim’s reign, the king disliked hearing the truth so much he destroyed Jeremiah’s writings (Jeremiah 36). Zedekiah sought to protect Jeremiah from nobles that wanted to kill him. Sadly, over his lifetime, Jeremiah saw God’s nation go from happiness and prosperity to a state of godlessness, yet faithfully and fearlessly, he proclaimed God’s message. 5. The book of Jeremiah is written much like Isaiah, as a series of his sermons to God’s people. Chapters 36-45 give events of Jeremiah’s life. Chapter 1 gives us God’s call of Jeremiah to be His spokesman. He expressed feelings of inadequacy, but God enabled him to overcome his fears and to speak God’s message. He relayed two visions of an almond tree and of a seething pot representative of Judah’s impending doom. God encouraged Jeremiah to gather himself together and be about the mission at hand, fearing no man. 6. Chapters 2-25 are sermons preached by Jeremiah condemning Judah for their willful sin and neglect toward Jehovah. He pleaded with them to repent for God’s punishment awaited them if they refused. God had been patient, but Judah had treated Jehovah like an unfaithful wife. Cult prostitution with Baal worship was commonplace, thus the analogy. He compared them to animals in heat (Isaiah 54:4; Hosea 2:2-20; Ezekiel 16; Exodus 19:4). He warned them to learn from Israel’s (northern kingdom) collapse 100 years prior. (Sihor (2:18) is the Nile River and “the river” refers to the Euphrates River.) God imposed a OT-Lesson 131 Page 6 Jeremiah 1-25 drought on them. Yet Judah continued a careless and casual attitude toward God. God was insulted at their lack of respect. Jeremiah pleaded with them to cleanse their hearts
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