Welcome

1. Adult II Couples Class Welcome discoverjoy.com

2. Where did you live before moving to Olive Branch, what brought you here, and where do you hope to live one day? Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

3. Prayer Requests -Tony: Cancer treatments -Cathy Laster: Cancer treatments -Abraham Garcia: Cancer treatments -William Stephenson: Biopsy -The Savages -Country Haven Church

4. Church Stuff Class Events Church Events • Benevolence Fund • R.E.A.P. (p-Team) • Scripture Readers Needed • Monthly Fellowships • August?? • September?? • October?? • Dinner Out Friday (31 Aug) • 5th Sunday Breakfast (30 Sept) • Quarterly Service Project • Samaria Project? • Teacher for Greg Hurtt • Olive Grove Terrace Visit (26 Aug) • Men’s Prayer Breakfast (1 Sept) • His Story-My Story (8 Sept) • DU Begins (9 Sept) • Business Mtg (12 Sept) • Missions Banquet (15 Sept) • Youth SNAC (16 Sept) • Men’s Camp Out (21-22 Sept)

5. Where did you live before moving to Olive Branch, what brought you here, and where do you hope to live one day? Adult II Couples Class Question of the day discoverjoy.com

6. Chronological Bible Discipleship Iva May and Dr. Stan May week thirty-four 2Kings/Jeremiah/ Ezekiel/2 Chronicles

7. Review Creation: God reveals His goodness through creation and His mercy in response to sin. Patriarchs: God reveals His response to the faithfulness 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.

8. Review Judges: Every man does what is right in his own eyes, and Israel falls into the sin cycle. Kingdom: Israel asks for a king and God raises up a succession of kings from Saul to Solomon who rule over a united Israel. Divided: Israel divides into the northern and southern kingdoms and each descends into rebellion and idolatry, inciting God’s judgment.

9. Captivity Era • Beginning in 605 B.C. the armies of Babylon invaded Judah (S. Kingdom) • After a political rebellion, Nebuchad-nezzar, King of Babylon, lays siege to Jerusalem until it falls in 597 B.C. • Another 10,000 captives are deported back to the city of Babylon • Installs Zedekiah as king • Judah rebels again in 594 B.C. • In 588 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar responds to Zedekiah’s trea-son by again laying siege to Jerusalem • Jerusalem falls after 18 months, and the city is destroyed along with the temple; the remaining inhabitants are killed or captured and taken to Babylon

10. Captivity Era

11. Context • Prior to entering the Promised Land, the LORD warned Israel of the danger of taking credit for their prosperity • “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God…otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deut 8:11-14) • He also warns that captivity by a foreign nation will follow continued disobedience • “It shall come about that as the Lord delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the Lord will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it” (Deut 28:63)

12. Context

13. Context • The Assyrians remove Israel in 722 B.C. • About 100 years later the Babylonians move in and begin to rule over Judah • 605 B.C. – Relocate many of Jerusalem’s elite, including a young priest named Ezekiel, to the banks of the Kebar River in Babylon • Ezekiel sees vision of God in His glory and begins to prophesy • The LORD shows Ezekiel the abominations of Jerusalem’s leaders • Ezekiel sees the glory of the LORD progressively depart the tem-ple, Jerusalem, and the land of Israel • Ezekiel is given three parables that illustrate God’s relationship with Jerusalem, their unfaithfulness and His judgment (15-17)

14. Overview • Ezekiel reminds the exiles from Jerusalem of their history with God through the parable of an adulterous woman • Parables mirror real life situations and expose the heart of man in a way direct confrontation does not • This graphic parable captures Israel’s relationship with God from His viewpoint • Verses 1-43 describe Jerusalem’s adulterous relationship with God from the beginning to the present day • Verses 44-59 compares Jerusalem’s adultery with that of Samaria and Sodom • Verses 60-63 conclude the parable by highlighting God’ covenant loyalty and His promise of atonement for Jerusalem’s sin • From the beginning of the parable, God makes clear His goal • To “make known to Jerusalem her abominations” by painting a vivid picture of how deplorably they have responded to His initiative of love

15. God’s people need to understand the natural tendency of the human heart toward wickedness and how God deals with wayward peoplein order to warn them of sin’s consequences. Key Truth

16. Captivity Era Ezekiel 16 A Kingdom Parable A Picture of Helplessness A Position of Honor A Portrait of Harlotry A Promise of Hope

17. A Picture of Helplessness Ezekiel 16

18. A Picture of Helplessness • Ezekiel begins by Describing Jerusalem’s Original Inhabitants • The Amorites and Hittites • Descendants of Noah’s son Ham (the cursed son) • Intermarrying with these Canaan-ites and Worshiping their gods Corrupted Israel • Israel revealed their nature of immorality and idol worship • They wind up being no different from the Canaanites

19. A Picture of Helplessness • Ezekiel Describes their Total Lack of Appeal • “No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born.” (16:5) • Like a newborn baby is totally dependent on others so was Israel (and every man in his natural state) like a helpless castaway

20. Discussion Do people today try to avoid acknowledging their true state of helplessness without God? Why?

21. A Position of HONOR Ezekiel 16:6-14

22. A Position of Honor • Only the LORD had Compassion and Intervened by Committing Himself to Israel • “…I spread my wing over you…” • A picture of bestowing all that one has • “…and covered your nakedness.” • Rescued from exposure and shame • “…I swore and oath to you and entered a covenant with you, you became Mine…” • God made the commitment and claimed Israel as HIS people • “I washed you with water…” • Israel was cleansed and set apart by the law God gave them • “…I anointed you with oil…” • A picture of imparting His Spirit among them

23. A Position of Honor • His Care for Israel Causes Her to Flourish • “I clothed you with embroidered cloth…adorned you with ornaments…with gold and silver…” • “Your fame went out among the nations…” • “…it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you.” • Israel would become a shining example of the blessings of the LORD on those who obeyed His commandments • All that Israel had, she received from the LORD • Probably refers to the period during the reigns of David and Solomon when the glory of the LORD occupied the temple

24. Discussion How does the picture of what God did for Israel parallel what God does for us through Jesus Christ? “…I spread my wing over you…” “…and covered your nakedness.” “…I swore and oath to you and entered a covenant with you, you became Mine…” “I washed you with water…” “…I anointed you with oil…” “I clothed you with embroidered cloth…adorned you with ornaments…with gold and silver…” “Your fame went out among the nations…” “…it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you.”

25. A Portrait of Harlotry Ezekiel 16:15-52

26. A Portrait of Harlotry • All the God Bestowed on Israel was Corrupted by her Harlotry • The things God has given her are used to make images of worship (15-19) • Turns God’s blessings into objects of idolatry • She offers the fruit of her womb to the deities of pagan nations (20-22) • Child sacrifice to Molech and other gods • Builds idols everywhere, enters into relations with the na-tions around her and falls under their influence (23-30) • Disregards holy calling as a light to the nations • Gives herself away cheaply to the nations around her (31-35) • Eagerly allows other nations to take advantage of her

27. A Portrait of Harlotry • All the God Bestowed on Israel was Corrupted by her Harlotry • She is betrayed by those she paid to protect her (36-41) • Suffers the consequences of swapping her trust in a faithful God for the promises of worldly neighbors • Experiences the outpouring of wrath from the One who had previously poured out love and blessing (42-43) • Exposes herself to God’s righteous anger • The LORD reveals the root of Samaria and Sodom’s sin and finds Jerusalem’s twice as bad (46-52) • Shows that sexual sin and idol worship are just symptoms of a root problem

28. A Portrait of Harlotry • The End Result of Israel’s Harlotry against the LORD • God permits the Assyrians to take Israel into captivity • Judah follows in their footsteps 140 years later in the Babylonian captivity • The Majority of Israel’s 345 year Existence is Marred by Sexual Sin, Idol Worship, and Alliances with the Pagan Nations around them

29. Discussion Do we see any parallels between God’s description of Israel before the judgment of captivity and our own nation? Turning God’s blessings into objects of idolatry Child sacrifice In trying to look like other nations, disregards holy calling as a light to the nations Allows other nations to take advantage of her Suffers the consequences of swapping her trust in a faithful God for the worldly wisdom of the day Exposes herself to God’s righteous anger and wrath On a scale of one to ten, (with ten being the extreme that Jerusalem represented) how would you rate sexual promiscuity in our nation? What might this imply about how God views our nation today? Read Ezekiel 16:49-50. What was Sodom’s root sin that led to God’s judgment?

30. A Promise of Hope Ezekiel 16:53-63

31. A Promise of Hope • God has presented an Airtight against Jerusalem and her People as Covenant Breakers • Yet God, the covenant maker, keeps His promises • Though His people are living in gross sin, God promises to renew the covenant • It will be an everlasting covenant (60) • It will be a covenant born out of repentance and conviction (61) • It will be a covenant based on intimate knowledge of the LORD (62) • It will serve to remind Israel of the seriousness of their sins and the depth of God’s forgiveness (63)

32. Conclusions • Sexual sin and idolatry are symptomatic of pride, prosperity, and idleness. • Before repenting of idolatry and sexual sin, God’s people must repent of their root causes. • The stories of the Bible equip God’s people today with powerful resources to confront the seriousness of sin and coming judgment. • Meditating on our history in light of Bible truth helps us under-stand who God is and warns of certain judgment for continued disobedience. • God is better to us than we deserve; we are worse than we think; therefore, we must be alert to the natural tendency to transfer our love for God to the blessings He gives.

33. Bible TRIViA QUIZ The Books of Jeremiah & Ezekiel(1pts) • What was the name of the king of Babylon that captured and burned Jerusalem? • “Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am about to give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it.” (Jeremiah 26:8) • Hebrews who sold themselves into slavery to another He-brew, were required to be set free after how long? • “At the end of seven years each of you shall set free his Hebrew brother who has been sold to you and has served you six years.” (Jer 34:14) • In Ezekiel’s prophecy against Tyre, who did he say would conquer and destroy that great city-state? • “For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, chariots, cavalry and a great army.” (Ezekiel 24:7)

34. BONUS ROUND Bonus Questions (2pts) • How much did Jeremiah pay for the field of his cousin at Anathoth in Benjamin? • “I bought the field which was at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle’s son, and I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver.” (Jeremiah 32:9) • To where did the remnant left in Judah decide to flee in fear after the assassina-tion of Gedaliah, Nebuchadnezzar’s appointed governor? • “And they went…in order to proceed into Egypt because of the Chaldeans; for they were afraid of them, since Ishmael…had struck down Gedaliah…whom the king of Babylon had ap-pointed over the land.” (Jeremiah 41:17-18)

35. Ezekiel 28 Isaiah 14 James 3 A King Overthrown Adult II Couples Class Next week….. discoverjoy.com