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- Even though many years had passed since God promised to send the Savior, did God forget His promise?
-No.
- To whom did God give His message about the coming Savior?
-To the prophets.
- Where are these messages written about the coming Savior that God gave the prophets?
-In God’s Book, the Bible.
- Did most of the Israelites listen to the prophets of God?
-No.
- What did the Israelites do to God’s prophets?
-They killed them.
- Instead of listening to the prophets of God, to whom did the Israelites listen?
-False prophets.
- The false prophets said that they were telling the truths of God, but what were they telling?
-The lies of Satan.
- Did God accept the worship of the Israelites who worshipped the images they had made, and also worshipped God in the temple?
-No.
- Why did God not accept the worship of the Israelites who worshipped the images they made, and also worshipped God in the temple?
-Because God knew that they were only worshipping Him with their lips.
-Because God knew that they were worshipping the images in their hearts.
- Who knows all about our hearts?
-God.
- What does God say about all of our hearts?
-God says that all of our hearts are full of sin.
- Even though most of the Israelites were worshipping images, were there any Israelites who were worshipping only God?
-Yes. There were a few.
- For whom were the Israelites who worshipped only God waiting?
-They were waiting for God to send the Savior.
-God is patient.
-God waits for people to turn from the path of sin and follow
the path of God.
-God waited 120 years for the people of Noah’s time to turn from the path of sin and follow the path of God.
-God also waited more than 200 years for the Israelites to turn from the path of sin and follow the path of God.
-But the Israelites did not turn from the path of sin.
-The Israelites thought that God would forget about their sin.
-Did God forget about their sin?
-No.
-The Israelites thought that God would not punish their sin.
-Does God punish all sin?
-Yes.
-Just like God punished the sin of the people of Noah’s day, God also punished the sin of the Israelites.
-How did God punish the ten tribes of Israel?
-God sent the Assyrians to conquer the ten tribes of Israel, and the Assyrians made them their slaves.
Let’s read 2 Kings 17:5-8
5-The king of Assyria invaded the entire land, marched against Samaria and laid siege to it for three years.
6-In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gosan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.
7-All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshipped other gods
8-and followed the practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced.
-The Assyrians conquered the ten tribes of Israel, and took many of them to Assyria to make them their slaves.
-The Assyrians also brought in people from other countries to live with the Israelites who remained in the land of Israel.
-The people who were brought in from other countries did not believe in God, but worshipped images which they made.
-These people married the Israelites who remained in the land of Israel, and a new people were begun.
-These new people were called Samaritans.
-The Samaritans worshipped God according to their own way, and not according to the way of God.
-After God punished the ten tribes of Israel, how did God punish the two tribes of Judah?
-God sent the Babylonians to conquer the two tribes of Judah, and the Babylonians made them their slaves.
Let’s read 2 Kings 25:1-7
1-So in the ninth year of Zedekiah’s reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all around it.
2-The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.
3-By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat.
4-Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,
5-but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered,
6-and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him.
7-They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
-The Babylonians conquered the two tribes of Judah, and took many of them to Babylon to make them their slaves.
-The Babylonians also destroyed the city of Jerusalem.
Let’s read 2 Kings 25:9-12 & 21
9-The Babylonians set fire to the temple of the LORD, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down.
10-The whole Babylonian army, under the commander of the imperial guard, broke down the walls around Jerusalem.
11-Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had gone over to the king of Babylon.
12-But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields.
21-So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.
-How did the Babylonians destroy the city of Jerusalem?
-They set fire to the temple.
-They burned down all of Jerusalem.
-They broke down the wall surrounding the city.
-God punished the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah because they did not turn from the path of sin.
-After many years, the people of Judah who were living in Babylon cried out to God.
-They cried out to God, confessed their sins to Him, and asked Him to forgive them.
-Because God is merciful, God allowed many of them to return to Jerusalem.
-What did the people of Judah do when they returned to Jerusalem?
-They rebuilt the temple.
-They rebuilt the city of Jerusalem.
-They rebuilt the wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem.
-The people of Judah who returned to Jerusalem were called by a new name.
-What was the new name for the people of Judah who returned to Jerusalem?
-The Jews.
-Although the Jews worshipped God, they also continued to worship the images they had made.
-Therefore, God sent two more peoples to conquer the Jews.
-What two other peoples did God send to conquer the Jews?
-The Greeks and the Romans.
-First, God sent the Greeks to conquer the Jews.
-The Greeks defeated the Jews, and conquered their land.
-The Greeks also taught the Jews the Greek language.
-After the Greeks, God sent the Romans to conquer the Jews.
-The Romans defeated the Jews, and also conquered their land.
-The Romans made the Jews pay taxes.
-The Romans also crucified many Jews by nailing them to a cross of wood.
-The name of the Roman king was Caesar.
-Caesar lived in the city of Rome.
-Who did Romans worship?
-The Romans worshipped many images.
-The Romans also worshipped their king, Caesar.
-Living in Jerusalem at that time were three groups of Jewish leaders.
-They were the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees.
-Some of the leaders of the Jews were called scribes.
-Who were the scribes?
-The scribes were the Jewish leaders who wrote down God’s words.
-A long time ago, there were no books like we have today.
-When the people wanted to write something, they wrote on a long piece of paper that was rolled up from both ends.
-Moses wrote God’s words on a long piece of paper that was rolled up from both ends.
-Because more and more people wanted to read God’s words, it became necessary to write God’s words on new pieces of paper.
-All day long, the scribes would write on new papers the same words of God that were on the old papers.
-Because the scribes were always writing down God’s words, they were very proud.
-Because the scribes were always writing down God’s words, they believed that they understood them.
-Does just writing down God’s words make you to understand them?
-No.
-Because the scribes were always writing down God’s words, they believed that they were without sin.
-Does just writing down God’s words make you to be without sin?
-No.
-Most of the scribes did not believe in God.
-Some of the other leaders of the Jews were called Pharisees.
-Who were the Pharisees?
-The Pharisees were the Jewish leaders who taught God’s words.
-The Pharisees also taught God’s rules to the Jews.
-In addition, the Pharisees also made their own rules which they taught to the Jews.
-The Pharisees believed that they obeyed all of God’s rules.
-Can anyone obey all of God’s rules?
-No.
-Because the Pharisees were always teaching God’s words, they were very proud.
-Because the Pharisees were always teaching God’s words, they believed that they understood them.
-Does just teaching God’s words make you to understand them?
-No.
-Because the Pharisees were always teaching God’s words, they believed that they were without sin.
-Does just teaching God’s words make you to be without sin?
-No.
-Most of the Pharisees did not believe in God.
-Some of the other leaders of the Jews were called Sadducees.
-Who were the Sadducees?
-The Sadducees were the Jewish leaders who were rich and guarded the temple.
-Because the Sadducees were rich and guarded the temple, they were very proud.
-Because the Sadducees had lots of money, they believed that they were without sin.
-Does just having lots of money make you to be without sin?
-No.
-Most of the Sadducees did not believe in God.
-During these times, the Jews built houses which were called synagogues.
-What were the synagogues?
-The synagogues were the houses where the Jews met to read and discuss the writings of Moses.
-The Jews built synagogues in every one of their towns.
-On the last day of the week, the Jews would go to their synagogues, and listen to the writings of Moses.
-Many times, the people would explain the writings of Moses.
-But because the people did not believe in God, their explanations of the writings of Moses were wrong.
-At that time, most of the Jews did not believe in God.
-At that time, were there any Jews who believed in God?
-Yes.
-There were a few who did believe in God.
-These Jews were waiting for God to send the Savior.