Intermediate Lesson 17 -Book of 2 Samuel

MESSAGE FOR PEOPLE TODAY FROM THE BOOK OF 2 SAMUEL

Church: Thyatira                                      Lesson 22 of 39                                       Theme: Covenant

Background Information:

ü  The church of Pergamos taught us how we are to pray for our enemy with love.

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

I can be faithful to the new covenant relationship that Jesus established with covenant forgiveness.

Essential Question:

Can I be in a covenant relationship if I am unfaithful?

2 Samuel

Have students read pages 98-103 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:

Does the world teach us to love the covenant of marriage between one man and one woman that God has blessed? How does the world get us to build our foundation of faith on sinking sand instead of The Rock of Faith?

The world is trying to separate God from His creation with a worldview that teaches God’s anointed ones to tolerate covenant unfaithfulness. We need to know the truth to combat the enemy’s lies.

Remember the Truth Jesus Brought:

When the world teaches us to tolerate covenant unfaithfulness, we can look at the sacrifice that Jesus made and connect it to how Jesus poured out a cup of wine at the Last Supper and said, “This is the new covenant which my blood is shed for the remission of sins.” Jesus then broke bread and said, “I am the bread of life.” Jesus gave a command to, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Now we are to eat the living bread which includes aligning our behaviors with building an internal temple. Through His sacrifice, we can now receive a new heart. Jesus' teachings on the new covenant can be misunderstood because Satan, the father of lies, teaches us to tolerate unfaithfulness by treating a covenant like a dissolvable contract. In 2 Samuel, God established a covenant with King David that his kingdom would not last for a few generations but forever. God’s promise is true because Jesus does reign and will reign on David’s throne forever. Jesus said in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world.” We are to build our internal temple (church) by looking to the kingdom of heaven and not the world.

The Old Testament has a message for people today. In the book of 2 Samuel, there is an account given of King Saul’s death when a man walked into David’s camp and told him that Saul and two of his sons were dead. The man said, “King Saul laid on his sword, and he asked me who I was. I said an Amalekite. Saul then asked me to finish killing him.” The Amalekite told David that he finished killing Saul. David then asked the Amalekite why he was not afraid to kill the Lord’s anointed one. David said that the Amalekite had witnessed against himself when he said that he killed the Lord’s anointed one. There is a covenant between the Lord and his anointed one. The Amalekite came between the covenant that was established with Saul and the Lord. The lesson: Do not interrupt a covenant relationship because through sacrificing to God a personal relationship was established with God that included protection. The Amalekites were sacrificing to a false god, their god did not establish a covenant relationship that included protecting the people who were sacrificing to a false god. The world was teaching a sacrifice that was more like a contract because it was not relational.

David mourned over Saul and Saul’s son, Johnathan. While mourning, David referred to the book of Jasher. David instructed the tribe of Judah that in the book of Jasher there is a blessing. While living in Egypt, Jacob gave a blessing to his son Judah that Judah would reign over his eleven brothers forever. The blessing had instructions that Judah would teach his eleven brothers (eleven tribes) how to use a bow and weapons of war so they would be able to fight battles for Judah. Judah would be the ruler. David then referred to Johnathan and Saul as being stronger than lions. This was inferring that Saul had been trained by Judah to be a lion. David was from the tribe of Judah, and he remembered that it was his responsibility to train the other eleven tribes to use the weapons of war and the bow.

Remember the Rock God Established:

Jacob had blessed Judah, and the covenant that was established in the book of Genesis said that when Judah taught the other tribes the ways of war, Judah would be blessed. Does that mean if the tribe of Judah fails to teach the other eleven tribes how to use the weapons of war that they would have a curse fall on them? This question will be answered at the end of the book of 2 Samuel when David takes a census. At the end of the book of 2 Samuel, Satan stood witness against Israel. David told Joab to take a census, and Joab told David not to do it. The problem with taking a census is that David was in the tribe of Judah, and he was supposed to be training the other eleven tribes to use the bow and the weapons of war. Joab reported the numbers from the census to David: 800,000 men from the twelve tribes were trained for war. Of the 800,000 men, 500,000 men were from the tribe of Judah. The other eleven tribes only had 300,000 trained for war. David realized that if he wanted the blessing where he was to rule over the enemies forever, he had to teach the other tribes to use the bow and war weapons.

Because David took a census, a curse fell upon Israel. A plague then began to kill many people in Israel. David produced a plan to stop the plague. David went to the threshing floor of Ornan and purchased it. Then he offered burnt offerings of the kidneys of animals and peace offerings. The kidneys were considered to be the fleshy organs of the animal. The peace offering was the smoke that went up to God. A peace offering is supposed to satisfy the Lord. When David burnt the offering, the smoke went up to the Lord as fragrance, and the Lord forgave David for what he did because God does not treat a covenant as a contract. The plague stopped. David understood how to repent with a true heart and he received forgiveness when he made a mistake. This is an example of how God’s servant of righteousness can receive a new heart in a covenant relationship by being faithful to the new covenant relationship. When we break a binding covenant of love with God, Satan will stand against us. When we remain faithful to the new covenant relationship with love we can receive a new heart. Satan wants to destroy our binding with Jesus, so we will be his slaves to sinful behaviors.

Activity:

The activity directions are located in Appendix 1 – Step 3.

Students will take on the role of a creator in this activity to understand how difficult it would be to have the creation understand the plan of the creator.

Next Lesson:

In the next lesson, Nehemiah was awakened to the importance of covenant faithfulness. Nehemiah understood through the miracles of God that there was a blessing and a curse with the covenant, and if the Israelites were not faithful, they would not be saved. Now we are awakened to build an internal temple that is faithful to the new covenant. Just as Satan stood as a witness against Israel when they were unfaithful, Satan will stand as a witness against new covenant unfaithfulness with a curse.