Upcoming Lessons

Summer Quarter

About These Lessons

We see calls and promises all the time. For example, TV commercials call us to buy something, while promising certain benefits if we do. We hear so many of these that we get numb to them. God’s calls and promises do the opposite: they refresh our spirit. That’s what will happen as we study these lessons.

Obeying God’s Calls

by Walter D. Zorn

Peter wrote “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2 Peter 1:10). The implications of this thought are twofold: first, being called as God’s people requires obedience as a response to God’s grace; second, the possibility of falling away from God’s purposes presents itself when rebellion and disobedience start to infect God’s people.

Our lessons for summer 2009 concentrate on how God’s call was sealed with a promise for the ancient Israelites. Essentially, the promise said that God would be faithful to His people. God makes a similar promise today to the church. We can learn much by observing the interactions of God’s call and the responses of His Old Testament covenant community.

Unit 1: June
Called Out of Egypt

Lesson 1 (June 7 Hearing Requires Listening Exodus 3:1–12) examines God’s call to Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. God had prepared Moses for this call by his first 40 years of life in Egypt and then through 40 years in the desert (Midian) leading sheep. At 80 years of age, however, Moses was reluctant to accept the task. God promised to be with Moses during this ordeal. With the call of Moses, God was fulfilling His promises to the patriarchs. God’s concern for His people who were suffering from oppression and slavery shows us God’s mercy.

Lesson 2 (June 14 Accepting Responsibility Exodus 4:10–16, 27–31) looks closely at Moses’ reluctance to say yes to God’s call. He resisted with several excuses. He had to be shown miracles in order to be convinced of his call, and even then he continued to try to avoid the call. God then promised that Moses would have the help of Aaron in the task of delivering the people from Egyptian bondage. Moses finally accepted the call.

Lesson 3 (June 21 Recognizing True Authority Exodus 5:1–9, 22- 6:1) is about recognizing God’s authority. Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh had to learn this lesson. Moses and Aaron questioned God’s way of doing things because of the increasing hardship imposed by Pharaoh on the people. Pharaoh himself questioned the Lord’s authority because he refused to “know” Him. Like Pharaoh, many people today fail (or refuse) to recognize authority outside of themselves. When Pharaoh refused to obey God’s command to release the Israelites, God promised to force obedience with a mighty hand. Moses and Aaron struggled to recognize God’s strategy. Things didn’t seem to be happening as fast as the two brothers would have liked. We still struggle in this regard today.

A picture of redemption is found in Lesson 4 (June 28 Finding and Giving Protection Exodus 14:15–25, 30). Here we observe how God protected the Israelites by parting the waters, leading them out of slavery, and destroying their enemies. The triumph of the power of God over the power of Pharaoh, Egypt, and Egypt’s supposed gods could hardly have been more dramatic. Israel’s faith was tested to the fullest as the Egyptian army came within striking distance. Yet God was faithful to His promise; Israelites lived, Egyptians died.

Unit 2: July
Called to Be God’s People

While a covenant creates a relationship with God, obedience to His laws maintains that relationship. Lesson 5 (July 5 Accepting God’s Rules for Living Deuteronomy 5:1–9a, 11–13, 16–21) explores the importance of accepting God’s rules for life.

The Ten Commandments begin by recognizing God as the source of life and the source of the law. When these laws are obeyed, they create a just and merciful community. They also create a deeper relationship with the lawgiver. Understanding the original purposes of the Ten Commandments helps Christians see how the laws relate to them in the New Testament era of grace.

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Lesson 6 (July 12 Remembering and Celebrating Deuteronomy 16:1–8) recounts the institution of the Passover festival. God designed this annual observance to help Israel remember and celebrate the exodus from Egyptian bondage. The celebration of Passover was to bind the past with the present, thus unifying the people with a common heritage and memory. This celebration was a command, not a social development.

Christians understand that the Passover was a type of Christ, pointing forward to the deliverance from sin He would provide by becoming the ultimate sacrificial lamb. It was during a Passover meal that Jesus took the bread and the cup and instituted the Lord’s Supper. Christians remember and celebrate the Lord’s death whenever they observe the Lord’s Supper (Communion).

Sometimes God calls individuals for special types of service. Lesson 7 (July 19 Commissioning for Service Leviticus 8:1–13) reveals how God commanded Aaron and his sons to be set apart for priestly functions. The people needed go-betweens or mediators to represent them to God and to represent God to them. That was a function of the priesthood. So important was this concept that God gave very exacting instructions regarding Aaron’s clothing.

Lesson 8 (July 26 Spreading the Wealth Leviticus 25:8–21, 23, 24) teaches us that God’s call to be God’s people brings with it issues of economic justice. The accumulation of property in the hands of a few people means that some would be permanently wealthy while others would have little or no chance to escape poverty. As a result, God’s jubilee laws were designed to prevent potential land barons from accumulating vast amounts of property and inflicting economic slavery on those who had been compelled to sell the property. Jubilee promised the destitute a new start.

Jesus projected His ministry as a “spiritual jubilee” (see Isaiah 61:1, 2; Luke 4:18, 19). Concern for the poor and destitute is still to be a hallmark of God’s people.

Unit 3: August
Called to Obey

Lesson 9 (August 2 Complaints and Cravings Numbers 11:1–6, 10–15) gives us a negative example of disobedience and its consequences. The Israelites were not far into the wilderness when they began to grumble and complain. While God provided their needs with manna and water, the people wanted more. There was talk of returning to Egypt. Even Moses became discouraged by the complaints. He felt the full burden of the people as he attempted to lead them to the promised land. The grumbling and complaining caused some to suffer the fiery wrath of God. But none of us ever grumble and complain about our situations, do we?

Lesson 10 (August 9 Dissatisfaction and Rebellion Numbers 14:1–12) continues the negative theme of rebellion. The discouraging report of the 10 faithless spies sent a terrifying fear among the people, causing them to reject the call of God to conquer the promised land.

Joshua and Caleb had a different spirit. They fully expected God to lead them to victory over the Canaanites. Joshua and Caleb saw Canaan as an opportunity for success while the other 10 spies saw it as a threat of annihilation. God judged the people by prolonging their stay in the wilderness until a whole generation perished. Only Joshua and Caleb experienced God’s promise and blessing of entering the promised land. But none of us have ever been as faithless as the 10 spies, have we?

The constant grumbling and complaining of the people finally had its effect on Moses, their leader. Lesson 11 (August 16 Disregarding God's Directive Numbers 20:1–13) delves into the disobedience of Moses as he twice struck a rock, rather than speak to it, in order to cause water to gush out. That happened at Kadesh, the very place where the people had rebelled and chosen not to enter Canaan some 38 years previous. Thus Moses and Aaron forfeited their hopes of entering the promised land. While we may be sympathetic toward Moses and his burden, God holds leaders to a high standard. A leader’s disobedience has dire consequences.

Lesson 12 (August 23 Obeying God's Commands Deuteronomy 6:1–9, 20–24) teaches us about the Shema (“hear”) and the Great Commandment (“Love the Lord thy God with all thine heart”). To love God is to obey God. Because the love we are to have for God can be commanded, it is not primarily a feeling (which cannot be commanded). Rather, it is a willingness to revere God that takes the form of obedience. The commandments of God are to be taught by word and lifestyle to children. Blessings will result.

Lesson 13 (August 30 The Promise of Life Deuteronomy 30:1–10) draws the quarter’s lessons to a conclusion with one of the greatest chapters in the Old Testament: Deuteronomy 30. It is an invitation to obey God’s call to be His people, set against the backdrop of the curses and blessings in Deuteronomy 28. Only a “circumcised heart” can love, and only a loving heart will obey. Israel had to decide. So must we.

Calls of God’s People

The calls of God’s people are always sealed with the promise “I will be with you!” The great rescue from Egypt began a covenant community. This redemption was celebrated every Passover festival. Obedience to law, the intercessory work of a priesthood, and proper stewardship of the land by the ideal of jubilee were some of the hallmarks of this community. Today as then, God is faithful to His promises. He stands ready to restore the blessings of His wayward people. We must choose. “Therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).