Adult Bible Class - Union Gospel Press

ADULT
Bible Class
June, July, August 2015
SUMMER QUARTER
Vol. CI
No. 3
Adult
Bible Class
SUMMER QUARTER
June, July, August 2015
Editorial.................................................................................................................
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God Demands Justice
UNIT I: Indictments Against Injustice
June 7—Judgment on Israel and Judah—Amos 2:4-8.................................................... 4
June 14—God Is Not Fooled—Amos 5:14-15, 18-27 ......................................................... 9
June 21—Rebuked for Selfishness—Amos 6:4-8, 11-14................................................... 14
June 28—God Will Not Delay Justice—Amos 8:1-6, 9-10 ................................................. 19
UNIT II: Appeals to the Unjust for Justice
July 5—No Rest for the Wicked—Mic. 2:4-11.................................................................
July 12—Condemnation of Corruption—Mic. 3:5-12 .......................................................
July 19—Justice, Love, and Humility—Mic. 6:3-8 ............................................................
July 26—God Shows Mercy—Mic. 7:14-20 .......................................................................
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UNIT III: Advocates of Justice for All
Aug. 2—Our Redeemer Comes—Isa. 59:15-21 ...............................................................
Aug. 9—Mend Your Ways!—Jer. 7:1-15 ............................................................................
Aug. 16—A Call for Repentance—Ezek. 18:1-13, 31-32 ...................................................
Aug. 23—God Demands Justice—Zech. 7:8-14 ................................................................
Aug. 30—Return to a Just God—Mal. 3:1-10.....................................................................
Paragraphs on Places and People .....................................................................
Daily Bible Readings............................................................................................
Editor in Chief: Grace M. Todd
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Edited and published quarterly by
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Lessons based on International Sunday School Lessons; the International Bible Lessons
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with permission. Edited and published quarterly by The Incorporated Trustees of the Gospel
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EDITORIAL
Genuine Justice
J.A. LITTLER
It is entirely natural for people to demand justice. When some evil is committed against us, we usually experience an emotional response, feeling
sad or angry that we were violated in
some way. Whether it is as simple as
being cut off in traffic or as horrific as
being the victim of a serious crime, experiencing sin causes us to demand
justice for ourselves or the person who
was hurt.
Believers can respond to injustice in
a number of ways. Perhaps the first
step prescribed by Scripture is that we
should know with confidence that our
God is a just God. He demands that sin
be punished, and He commands His
people to exercise a sense of fairness
and equality.
This quarter of study will help us develop a holistic understanding of how
the Bible addresses the concept of justice and in what ways God demands
justice. The first unit, titled “Indictments Against Injustice,” takes us to
the book of Amos. Speaking to the
kingdom of Judah in lesson 1 (2:4-8),
the Lord’s prophet warned the people
that the Lord was sorely displeased
with the rank injustice He saw among
His people.
In lesson 2 (Amos 5:14-15, 18-27),
the prophet teaches us that God is not
fooled by false worship. His people
were living lives contrary to the lives
God had called them to, even to the
point of trying to worship both the Lord
and pagan gods at the same time. Instead of worship that was void of genuine praise, God ordered His people to
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offer up to Him worship characterized
by obedience to His commands.
Lesson 3 (Amos 6:4-8, 11-14) expresses how much the Lord abhorred
Israel and Judah’s gross lack of justice.
Amos continued his proclamation of
God’s message by comparing the people’s attempts to please God and be
successful through unrighteousness to
a horse trying to climb a mountain and
a farmer attempting to plow a field of
rocks.
Lesson 4 (Amos 8:1-6, 9-10) features Amos’s vision of a basket of ripe,
fresh fruit. Just as the fruit was ripe, so
too it was time for God’s people to be
judged for their disastrous lack of genuine justice among themselves. The
songs of false praise that the people
presented to God would eventually be
drowned out by the cries of people
mourning the death and destruction
brought on by a powerful pagan empire.
The second unit begins a series of
lessons specifically focused on God’s
appeals to the unjust of the land as
communicated through His prophet
Micah. The fifth lesson (Mic. 2:4-11)
sees Micah warning the people not to
silence the Lord’s prophets. Sadly,
many in Judah were so consumed by
life’s pleasures that they gave audience exclusively to false prophets,
who spoke only of pleasant things to
come. Micah reminded them that the
Lord was indeed watching and that He
was calling them to repentance.
In lesson 6 (Mic. 3:5-12), we will
delve into Micah’s plea for God’s peo-
ple to evaluate false prophets according to God’s will and His definition of
obedience. A day would come when
the false prophets and those who paid
them to preach only messages of prosperity would come to the sober realization that God was utterly displeased
with them.
Lesson 7 (Mic. 6:3-8) demonstrates
the Lord’s great mercy offered to His
people through Micah’s prophetic ministry. After reminding Judah of how He
had saved them and provided for them
throughout their history, the Lord responded to the people’s hypothetical
suggestions for sacrifices that would
appease Him. In the end, God laid out
His requirements—namely, to simply
believe His promises and naturally respond with justice, mercy, and humility.
The eighth lesson of study (Mic.
7:14-20) features the conclusion to the
book of Micah. In this last section of
Micah’s prophecy, the prophet extolled
the Lord for the forgiveness and mercy
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He freely offers His people, as well as
for the hope of future restoration promised to Israel. Modern believers will be
encouraged and edified as they ponder this promise of forgiveness, as fully accomplished through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, as well as Israel’s
restoration and the fulfillment of the
Abrahamic covenant, which is yet to
take place.
The name of our third unit of study is
“Advocates of Justice for All.” We will
examine five other prophets who, like
Amos and Micah, urged their listeners
to repent of the injustices they were
committing and live out their identity as
people of God.
Lesson 9 (Isa. 59:15-21) sees Isaiah
speak of future events while admonishing his audience to immediately reform their present attitudes and actions. In particular, the people were
commanded to repent of injustice so
that they might meet their coming Lord
as Redeemer rather than as Judge.
The tenth lesson (Jer. 7:1-15) describes the Lord’s message through
Jeremiah regarding the people’s
hypocrisy. The Lord warned them to
stop thinking that simply having God’s
temple in their midst would save them
from destruction.
Lesson 11 (Ezek. 18:1-13, 31-32)
concentrates on a portion of Ezekiel’s
prophecy, specifically, the need for
God’s people to punish only those who
have committed sins, not the innocent.
Our twelfth lesson (Zech. 7:8-14)
features the Prophet Zechariah confronting those among God’s people
who were abusive and took advantage
of others.
Our thirteenth and final lesson (Mal.
3:1-10) comes from the last book of the
Old Testament. Here we see Malachi
announcing the Lord’s invitation for His
people to return to Him. Like the Israelites, we have an invitation to reflect
God’s justice in our lives and live out
our identity as people of God.
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LESSON 1
JUNE 7, 2015
Scripture Lesson Text
AMOS 2:4 Thus saith the LORD; For
three transgressions of Ju⬘dah, and
for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have
despised the law of the LORD, and
have not kept his commandments,
and their lies caused them to err, after
the which their fathers have walked:
5 But I will send a fire upon Ju⬘dah, and it shall devour the
palaces of Je-ru⬘sa-lem.
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three
transgressions of Is⬘ra-el, and for
four, I will not turn away the punish-
ment thereof; because they sold the
righteous for silver, and the poor for
a pair of shoes;
7 That pant after the dust of the
earth on the head of the poor, and
turn aside the way of the meek:
and a man and his father will go in
unto the same maid, to profane my
holy name:
8 And they lay themselves down
upon clothes laid to pledge by every
altar, and they drink the wine of the
condemned in the house of their
god.
NOTES
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Judgment on Israel and Judah
Lesson: Amos 2:4-8
Read: Amos 2:4-16
TIME: about 762 B.C.
PLACE: Beth-el
GOLDEN TEXT—“Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I
will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the
Lord, and have not kept his commandments” (Amos 2:4).
Lesson Exposition
We know very little about the man
Amos, a farmer who became a prophet
at God’s command. He was a sheepherder—perhaps more than a shepherd—possibly a breeder of several
flocks of sheep and goats. He lived
near the town of Tekoa, which was located about five miles southeast of
Bethlehem. He also described himself
as one who tended sycamore trees.
JUDGMENT COMING UPON
JUDAH—Amos 2:4-5
An indictment against Judah (Amos
2:4). A glance at chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2 shows a series of
judgments pronounced against several cities and nations: Damascus and all
Syria (1:3-5); Gaza, Ashdod, Ekron, and
all Philistia (vss. 6-8); Tyre and all Phoenicia (vss. 9-10); Teman and Bozrah and
all Edom (vss. 11-12); Rabbah and all
Ammon (vss. 13-15); and Kerioth and all
Moab (2:1-3). Now Amos turned his attention to the two nations of Israelites,
beginning with Judah and followed by
Israel, where God had sent him.
Amos’s announcements of judgment had circled Israel, but when he
got to Judah, he was zeroing in on the
kingdom just south of where God had
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sent him. In each declaration, Amos
used the God-given formula “For three
transgressions of . . . and for four, I will
not turn away the punishment thereof.”
The use of two numbers in such a formula is common in Scripture and was
used for emphasis. Here it indicated
that God’s patience had come to an
end, and He was going to act. Judah’s
iniquity had reached its completion,
and God could no longer ignore it.
Charles Feinberg pointed out that “the
nations are punished for sins against the
laws of nature, conscience, and natural
feeling; Judah and Israel are visited because they sinned against the revealed
will of God” (The Minor Prophets,
Moody). The first part of God’s indictment against Judah says that very thing:
“they have despised the law of the
Lord, and have not kept his commandments” (Amos 2:4). God had a unique
relationship with His chosen people,
and this relationship included multiple
instructions on how they were to live.
The covenant relationship between
God and His people meant there were
higher expectations of them than of
other nations. But Judah had come to
the point of ignoring these expectations. They lived according to whatev5