Intermediate lesson eight - book 2 Chronicles

MESSAGE FOR PEOPLE TODAY FROM THE BOOK OF 2 CHRONICLES

Please watch the Video Before Reading the Lesson Plan

Church: Smyrna                                     13 of 39 lessons                      Theme: Mercy

Background Information:

ü  We asked in the book of Ruth, “How can the creation know how to share God’s mercy?"

Statement of Faith to Say Amen to for the Book of 2 Chronicles:

I can be awakened to build an internal temple that shares God’s mercy.

Essential Question:

How can I live among people in peace who are excluding the message of fearing the Lord from the message of the mercy that Jesus brought when he made the sacrifice?

Book of 2 Chronicles:

Have students read pages 39-43 in the book, The Pattern of Sound Teaching.

After students read the information ask them, "What do you want to talk about?"

Remember the Issue:

Remembering to love our neighbor is important. When the world lies to us to get us to celebrate pride, God will “stir up” our spirit to awaken us to turn to God and away from the world. When we turn to God, this is how we accept spiritual gifts from God.

The people who are celebrating pride do not fear the Lord, and they will try to influence people who are focusing on God’s mercy and fearing the Lord to live in fear of the worldview and stop sharing God’s mercy. In the book of 2 Chronicles, the people were awakened to realize that they needed to build a temple, so they could go learn about how to share God’s mercy because they were only focusing on fearing the Lord. The people worshipping false gods were teaching a message about how “god” did not share mercy. Just as the world excluded mercy from the message in the Old Testament, the world today is excluding fearing the Lord from the message of mercy that Jesus taught. The Israelites were looking for a place where they could go and learn about God’s mercy. Just as they were looking for a temple to be built that would teach them about God’s mercy, believers today are looking for a temple to be built. The world is not telling people that we are to be building an internal temple that is a place where God's presence comes to visit. We are to be building our temple with mercy and fear of the Lord. The world will not tell people that fear of the Lord and mercy are both to be used when building our internal temple.

Remember the Truth Jesus Brought:

People who have pride will try to teach a world view of how to behave. In 2 Chronicles, we learn how God only accepts the sacrifice of people who fear the Lord and share mercy with their neighbor. In the story of 2 Chronicles the Israelites were awakened to remember that faith includes a sacrifice. They came to this awareness because of the miracles of God. In 2 Chronicles, an actual cloud filled the temple with the glory of God. Fire also came down directly from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings inside the temple. The glory of God was in the temple. The people were now saying that the Lord has mercy forever. This was taught through the miracles of God. That is why they were saved by faith. They had faith that the miracles of God could protect them. Today, we need to awaken to remember that mercy includes a living sacrifice. God has shared His mercy with us by sending His Son, Jesus, to make a sacrifice that forgives all sin. We are to be awakened to build our internal temple by being a witness who shares God’s mercy with our neighbor. When we only include the mercy of Jesus and exclude fearing the Lord, we will allow pride to tell us that we are better than our neighbor. However, when we fear the Lord, this is a way to be able to share mercy with annoying neighbors. There are some neighbors that we will only share mercy with because we will fear the wrath of God. That is why it is important to pray for wisdom when sharing mercy.

Remember the Rock God Established:

Before King Solomon built the temple, he asked God for wisdom so he could rule God’s people with mercy. God granted King Solomon what he asked for because he had a pure heart. King Solomon was responsible to humble himself and build his life on the mercies of God. However, King Solomon's perspectives changed. Just as love can change someone’s perspective to share mercy with a neighbor, power and pride can change someone’s perspective to deny a neighbor mercy. Solomon was not sharing mercy with his 1,000 wives, and some citizens were given higher taxes.

The book of 2 Chronicles begins with King Solomon building the temple, and it explains how people began to perform abominations in the temple. At the conclusion, the chronicler gave an account of all the kings who ruled after Solomon, ending with the last King Jehoiakim. The people he ruled were not willing to show God’s prophet, Jeremiah, any mercy. The Chaldees came and killed the people with no compassion. Then the Babylonians came and raided what was left of the city and burned the temple to the ground. When the people began to perform abominations in the temple, the temple was burned to the ground. The temple was left in desolation. Anyone found alive was taken to Babylon to serve the king of Babylon. Just as Jeremiah had written and spoken, there would be mercy for a remnant saved, and they would be in captivity for 70 years. Jeremiah also stated and wrote that a man named Cyrus would send a remnant back after seventy years to rebuild the house of the Lord. Cyrus was not even born when Jeremiah spoke this prophesy, and Jeremiah’s prophesy was fulfilled at the end of seventy years. The people were released from Babylon to rebuild the temple. The book of 2 Chronicles begins and ends with building the temple of the Lord. When people in the Old Testament were loving their neighbors as they loved themselves, their worship was real. When they stopped sharing the mercy of God, the temple was torn down.

In the next lesson, a wise man warns us that people who do not fear God will try to annoy people who do fear the Lord, so they will take their eyes off the mercy that Jesus brought. When we take our eyes off the mercy or stop fearing the Lord, we will fight against our neighbor. We are to remember that now the kingdom of God is within us. The world will not teach us that we are to build our temple with the message that Jesus came and taught, so we can be a witness of God’s mercy to the world.

Activity:

The activity directions are located in Appendix 2 – Step 3.

Students will perform a simulation that builds a temple by sharing God’s mercy and not pride. When students stop fearing the Lord and sharing mercy, students will simulate an earthquake.

Conclusion:

God offers the spiritual gift of mercy.

Next Lesson:

After God reminds us, “stirs up,” and awakens a person’s heart with the spiritual gift of mercy, they are to be like a wise man and bear witness to the world. This is a witness testimony that aligns with the Chief Cornerstone to increase your faith in God. In 2 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul of Tarsus gives a specific description that is specific to the church of Smyrna in how we are to run a race and obtain a crown. The crown will be given to us by Jesus Christ. In the next lesson, a wise man teaches us how to be a witness who keeps our eye on the Savior, Jesus Christ.