Welcome

WELCOMEAdult II Couples Class

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QUESTION OF THE DAY

Adult II Couples Class

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What is your

father’s name and how old was he

when you were born?

Physical Spiritual Practical Church Misc

PRAYER REQUESTS-The Savages

-Brittany’s mission trip to Russia

-Tony: Cancer treatments

-Cathy Laster: Cancer treatments

-Construction

-VBS

-Walgenbach’s traveling

CHURCH STUFFClass Events Church Events

Benevolence Fund R.E.A.P. (A-Team) Monthly Fellowships

June (Farrars) July (Woffords) August??

Dinner Out Friday (NA) 5th Sunday Breakfast (29

July) Quarterly Service Project

Ends-of-the-earth project update

Country Haven Chapel Judea project (see next slide)

Phase Three Construction Kid’s Kamp (11–14 June) Qtrly Business Mtg (13 June) Ladies’ Prayer Breakfast (23

June) Hawaiian Shirt Sunday (1 July) Party in the Park (4 July) Special Prayer Service (18 July) Vacation Bible School (9-13

July)

JUDEA PROJECT Country Haven Hispanic Chapel (NWA

need)

JUDEA PROJECT Country Haven Hispanic Chapel needs list

Wipe pews/pulpit furniture with Murphy’s Oil Soap Shake out pew cushions Wipe down wood paneling Replace toilet flush kit Install toilet paper holder and paper towel dispenser Finish crown molding in restroom Cut/trim grass Repair light fixture in closet Blinds for window Replace A/C unit 2 medium size trash containers Clean glass door 1 floor fan (20” or better) Small desk for laptop and media display Repair closet door Paint wood paneling in sanctuary (bone) Spanish Bibles (OT and NT)

Planned July 14th cookout to draw attention community

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Adult II Couples Class

discoverjoy.com

What is your

father’s name and how old was he

when you were born?

Chronological Bible

Discipleshipweek twenty-four

1Kings/2 Chronicles

Iva May and Dr. Stan May

ReviewCreation: God reveals His goodness through creation and His mercy in response to sin.

Patriarchs: God reveals His response to the faithful-ness of men (Job, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph).

Exodus: God liberates Israel, and leads them to the Promised Land and shapes them into a nation holy to Himself.Conquest: Joshua, relying on God’s presence and power, leads Israel to possess and settle the Promised Land.Judges: Every man does what is right in his own eyes, and Israel falls into a cycle of disobedience, judgment, oppression and deliverance (the sin cycle).Kingdom: Israel asks for a king and God raises up a succes-sion of kings who rule over a united Israel, beginning with Saul and ending with Solomon.

Divided Kingdom Era

Context• In his later years, Solomon

marries many foreign women• They turn his heart away

from God• God appears to him and

informs him that the kingdom will be torn away from his son

• God raises up an adversary against Solomon; his servant Jeroboam

• Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, succeeds him as king

• Rehoboam, favoring the foolish counsel of his peers, acts out of arrogant pride, inciting a rebellion

• Jeroboam leads ten tribes of Israel to follow him and establish their own nation

Overview• Jeroboam’s leadership

becomes the metric by which all his successors are measured• “He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and

walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin by which he made Israel sin.“ (1 Kings 15:26,34)

• Jeroboam establishes a new syncretistic religion (one which blends God-established practices with those of pagan religions)

• The ongoing practice of this new religion invites God’s judgment• Eventual captivity by the

Assyrians

Key TruthPeople will embrace leaders

who give permission to follow the dictates of their own

heart, despising the ways of God.

BEWARE OF SUCH LEADERS!

Divided Kingdom Era

A Kingdom Divided, Israel• God Defines His Worship• Jeroboam Redefines Worship• God Rebukes Jeroboam

1 Kings 12

God Defines His Worship

Deuteronomy 12:1-14

God Defines His WorshipGod Prepares Israel to Enter the Promised Land Gives them specific guidelines

regarding worship

Sets aside the Levites as priests to minister to the people and present the sacrifices

God Defines His WorshipHis Commands are Specific and

Clear, Applying to the Places and Prescribed Methods of Worship in the Kingdom Era Regarding places of worship (5)

• God emphasizes a specific place of worship six times in these 14 verses

Regarding prescriptions of worship (8)• God’s word clearly establishes a divine standard of

worship

Jeroboam Redefines Worship

1 Kings 12:25-33

Jeroboam Redefines Worship

Jeroboam’s Motive for Redefining Worship Fear of losing the allegiance of the people(27a) Fear of being killed by a people who would see him as

a traitor(27b) Fear of losing his throne to another king(27c)

Jeroboam’s Method of Redefining Worship Since the people might balk at an entirely pagan

religion, he offers a blended religion (syncretism) Syncretism – the merging of two or more religious

belief systems to form a new system

Jeroboam Redefines WorshipJeroboam uses a Predictable Pattern which

Char-acterizes all Syncretistic Religions Redefines the Holy One – two calves of gold become the pedestal

on which Israel props up their worship• Promoted another path that leads to God (Universalism)• Syncretism is a religion of “tolerance”

Redefines the Holy Place – other places of worship are construct-ed in the north (Dan) and south (Bethel)• Offers a more convenient worship than Jerusalem• Syncretism is a religion of “convenience”

Jeroboam Redefines WorshipJeroboam uses a Predictable Pattern which

Char-acterizes all Syncretistic Religions Redefines the holy servants – opens up the office of the priest-

hood to anyone who desires to serve in this capacity• Diminishes the requirements of the priesthood and standards of holiness• Syncretism is a religion without “conviction”

Redefines the holy days – gives Israel's holy days new meaning• Assigns dates and purposes of his own choosing for celebration and wor-

ship (different from those prescribed in the law) • Syncretism is a religion of the human imagination

Redefines the holy offerings – offers sacrifices and burns incense in the same manner as Jerusalem’s temple• Jeroboam personally inaugurated this new form of worship• Syncretism is a religion of casual indifference

God Rebukes Jeroboam

1 Kings 13:1-3

God Rebukes Jeroboam Jeroboam had Conveniently

Omitted any Reference to, or Reading from the Book of the Law in any of his Pre-scribed Worship

Tolerance (everyone doing what is right in their own eyes) becomes the National Religion of the Northern Kingdom of Israel

God Sends an Unnamed Prophet to Rebuke Jeroboam Prophesies that Josiah (Judah’s future king)

would burn the bodies of the priests on his altar Jeroboam’s altar would be destroyed

ConclusionsAll worship forms are not acceptable

worship to God.

When Bible literacy grows dim in the hearts of lead-ers, they develop false practices and justify their new ways by making them sound acceptably religious.

Syncretistic religion appeals to those who desire ritual without responsibility, religion without moral-ity, and form without power or the presence of God.

All cults and liberal religions redefine key biblical/religious terms so as to twist them to serve their own goals and ends.

• What does God’s clear and specific commands to Israel about worship say about God’s expectations of how His people are to approach Him in worship?

• Jeroboam syncretized the belief systems of Israel’s pagan neighbors with the God-given belief system of the Mosaic Law. What components make-up modern syncretism?

• What are some red flags in Jeroboam’s new religious practices that indicate its unacceptability to God?

• Uses images to represent God• Sets up an un-ordained location for worship• Its goal was to control the people; channel their loyalty to a man, not God• Avoids referring holy scripture for its source of truth

• Can the modern Christian church be culturally relevant while still clinging to Biblical truth?

BIBLE TRIVIA QUIZThe Book 1 Kings(1pt)

How was the man of God who prophesied against Jeroboam killed? “It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had

drunk….when he had gone, a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road...” (1 Kings 13:23-24)

What famous wife did Ahab marry while he was king of Israel, and what country did she come from? “Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel...it came

about…that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him.’”(1 Kings 16:29-31)

How many prophets did Obadiah, Ahab’s chief of the palace, hide to protect them from Jezebel? “…for when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah

took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water.” (1 Kings 18:3-4))

BONUS ROUNDBonus Question (2pts)

Why did Asa, king of Judah, remove his grandmother Maacah from the throne? “Asa did what was right in the sight of the Lord, like

David his father. He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen mother, because she had made a horrid image as an Asherah.” (1Kings 15:11-13)

What curse, invoked by Joshua, did Hiel of Bethel suffer after rebuilding the founda-tions and the gates of Jericho? “In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid

its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.” (1 Kgs 12:25)

NEXT WEEK…..Adult II Couples Class

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1 Kings 122 Chronicles 17-20

A Kingdom Divided, Judah