College & Career: 2nd Quarter 2014

By Lee Hickson

College and Career is the young adult quarterly directed toward students ages 18–24. The lessons are designed to address the unique experiences of African- American young adults as they venture into the world of higher education and work.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Jan 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781589427884

Book preview

PRESERVING PLACES OF HERITAGE

Unifying Topic: Jesus Cleanses the Temple

ISAIAH 56:6-7; JEREMIAH 7:9-11; MARK 11:15-19

BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: ISAIAH 56:6-8; JEREMIAH 7:8-15; MARK 11:15-19

Isaiah 56:6-7; Jeremiah 7:9-11; Mark 11:15-19

RESOURCES

New National Baptist Hymnal 21st Century Edition #501 (NNBH #372); God’s Promises Bible, Isaiah 56:6-7; Jeremiah 7:9-11; Mark 11:15-19; Boyd’s Commentary for the Sunday School

Main.Thought

Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 7:11, KJV)

INTRODUCTION

It is easy to forget the reasons that we worship the Lord. We may not think about how worship shapes us because it is something we do at least once a week, every week. We tend to ignore the formative nature of our everyday activities. Throughout Israel’s history, the people often failed to practice worship in ways that would draw them closer to their God. God would then send prophets to call the people back to faithful living. Jesus recalled the messages of two of these prophets when He drove the buyers and sellers out of the temple.

Life.Point

We should come before the Lord in worship with pure motives, seeking to honor Him.

Lesson.Point

Despite His anger in the temple, Jesus desires to draw His people back to faithful worship.

In today’s lesson, we will look at God’s intentions for the temple and how the temple was misused over the course of its history by examining the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah. We will also engage the story of Jesus’ cleansing of the temple and His teaching concerning the temple. We begin with a brief introduction to the temple’s history. The temple was a source of contention throughout Israel’s history. When David first planned to build a temple for the Lord, the Lord told him through the prophet Nathan that he would not be the one to build the temple (see 2 Sam. 7:1-17). This was not necessarily a condemnation of the building of the temple, but it did serve to remind the kings of Israel that the Lord would not be bound by any symbolic marker. The Lord told David that his son, Solomon, would build the temple, but this was further evidence that the temple would be built according to God’s designs, not the plans of human rulers. Sadly, the temple quickly became what God did not intend for it to be. It became a place that people used to declare that the Lord would be with them regardless of how they lived. God’s presence with His people was never bound by the temple, however, and His judgment upon the people’s rebellious ways led to the destruction of the temple in 587 B.C. The temple that Jesus entered in Jerusalem a few days before His death was the temple that was rebuilt after the exile and expanded by Herod. Jesus saw that this temple was being misused in the same way that it had been before the exile.

Section I

What does it mean that the temple was to be a house of prayer for all nations?

Section II

What does it mean to faithfully worship the Lord?

Section