Today's class began with a special teaching segment in honor of this Thanksgiving Holiday weekend (which is summarized below). Then there was a brief review of the last two weeks’ lessons, and also some brief comments about S.I.D.S. - Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, which will come up in the introduction to today’s lesson. The review covered Abram, his family, including reintroducing Lot, and tracing Abram’s travels starting in Ur of the Chaldees, then Haran, and finally to Canaan, which was the land that God promised would be an inheritance forever, to Abram’s descendants. Abram’s name is changed by God, to Abraham, and from now on, in class he will be referred to as Abraham, the “father of many”.
The Thanksgiving teaching involved having students find and then read six Bible passages -- from Psalms: Ps. 95:2, 100:4-5, 106:1, 136:1, and also 1 Chronicles 16:34, and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Comments were made on each passage. The emphasis was on this theme repeated in each of the passages, “Give thanks to the Lord, His mercy endures forever, and on 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - “this is the will of God, in Christ, for you.” There are many things that the students can be thankful for, but this teaching was that they should remember both to be thankful for things and also thankful to God Almighty for His mercy. Using the John 3:16 poster, the students were reminded about the great gift from God they can be thankful for -- eternal life.
This lesson has a Sunday School that Clicks video, used as an introduction, that was produced by ABC News. The video tells the story of Duke, the family dog of a couple from Connecticut. Duke sensed that their 9-month old baby daughter was under distress and had stopped breathing, in the middle of the night, while the parents were asleep. Duke, who is described as being very well-behaved, became very anxious, burst into the parents bedroom, jumping on the bed and rousing them, then while he was trembling and showing distress himself, got the parents to go to the baby’s room. They found the child cold and not breathing. Calling 9-1-1, they summoned paramedics, who were able to revive the baby, and the child has recovered.
In our class discussion of the video, I stated that when Duke sensed that there was a critical problem, he couldn’t call 9-1-1 himself. The best thing Duke could do is to get the attention of people he trusted -- he knew they can make a real difference. Today, Lesson 10 of Bible Adventures will cover a time when Abraham knew his nephew, Lot, was in big trouble. Asking God for help was the best thing he could do in a tough situation. Abraham knew that God Almighty, Yahweh, could be trusted, and His mercy endures forever.
The lesson covered selected portions of the last half of Genesis 18. The Lord and two angels came to Abraham, appearing to him in a form that looked human. Abraham welcomed them, shared a meal with them, then was given a revelation of their purpose for being there (divine judgment that would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah). Realizing that he was speaking to the Lord, and knowing that Lot and his family live in Sodom, Abraham begins his so-called “bargaining with God” as a way to save Lot’s life.
Discussion during this part of the lesson included how prayer is the way we can communicate with God, and talking about Abraham’s boldness, a sense of urgency, while still showing respect (knowing that he is the “lesser” of the two partners in his covenant with God). One student asked for clarification about Abraham’s knowing that he was dealing with God Almighty, not with a man. The answer was that Abraham probably did not know, at first, who the men were that he invited to his tent for a meal. But Abraham did receive revelation and perceive that he was talking to God Almighty during the time he was interceding to avoid the destruction of Sodom.
The lesson concludes with comments that are a brief summary of some of the events in Genesis 19 -- noting that the angels went to Sodom, found and rescued Lot and his family, and then destroyed the city. As a result, God delivered His final judgment on the wickedness happening in Sodom, since there were not 10 righteous people there. However, the intent of Abraham’s speaking in intercession was to save the righteous (including his nephew), and the four righteous people who were found were saved from destruction.
It was explained that this destruction, by fire, was not a small fire that started in one place but spread to the entire city. That could have given time for some people to escape. This was an intense fire started over the entire city at the same time, started by fire falling from the sky combined with a hot lava-like rock called brimstone -- described as “raining down fire and brimstone.”
The teaching focus of this was that, like Abraham, we can speak to God, making our requests. Also, like Abraham, we can trust God and be confident that God hears us.
The Memory Verse for this week is Ephesians 6: 18, this week, and Isalah 60: 1. is the Emphasis Memory Verse that is re-assigned for the first two weeks of the month of December.
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