Youth Teacher: 4th Quarter 2017

By R.H. Boyd

Youth Teacher is a quarterly publication used to help the Sunday school teacher discuss issues pertaining to youth ages 12-17. Sections such as Biblical Emphases give background knowledge of the lesson. All lessons include relevant life concerns and lesson applications to help the teacher relate the Bible to the lives of young people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: May 5, 2017
• ISBN: 9781681672915

Book preview

GENESIS 15:1–6, 17–21

RESOURCES NEEDED

• New National Baptist Hymnal, 21st Century Edition, #361 (NNBH, #374)

• God’s Promises Bible

• Boyd’s Commentary for the Sunday School

UNIFYING PRINCIPLE

Desperate from past disappointments and failures, people fear a continued downward spiral of unfulfilled dreams and goals. How can people find hope to reach fulfillment in life? Although childless, Abram based his hope for descendants on the promises of his covenant with the eternally faithful God.

BIBLICAL EMPHASES:

1. God reassured Abram of the promise He had given him in Genesis 12:2.

2. The only response required of Abram was to believe God’s promise even though he could not see it.

3. God used the smoking fire pot and the flaming torch to symbolize His presence.

4. Faith in God is something everyone in the Bible is expected to exercise.

TARGET EMPHASIS

SEEKERS FOR JESUS: Younger teens should believe that all things are possible with God.

TEEN SCENE: Older teens must live by faith in God, trusting that God’s promises will be fulfilled.

LESSON OVERVIEW

In Genesis 12, God promised Abram that he would be the father of a great nation and that his name would be blessed. At the time of the promise, Abram was 75 years old, and he had no children because his wife, Sarai, was unable to conceive. Can you imagine how Abram and Sarai must have felt when given this promise? Perhaps excitement filled them or maybe they waited patiently with great joy. They might have hoped that God would fulfill this promise immediately. Abram and Sarai’s only response to God’s promise was to believe in His words, even though they could not see how the promise would be fulfilled. This type of belief required great faith because they had no time table on which to depend; they didn’t know when God would decide to bless them with children. They couldn’t see into the future, which might have given them comfort, and prove that God would truly keep His promise. They simply had to trust that God would keep His word.

Many years passed, however, and the couple still did not have a child. Youth might not yet understand the desire to have a legacy, but most of them will have experienced disappointments and failures. They likely may place hope in a future or goal and not see success right away, if at all. Often, successes or goals may take many years to accomplish; we do not always see positive results instantly.

It can be difficult to wait for anything (especially for big life changes or dreams to be fulfilled), and sometimes when we grow weary waiting, we may allow disappointment to settle into our hearts and minds. We may even begin to doubt that God is going to fulfill His promise. This is when it’s most important to put complete trust in God and faith in His promises. Believers can have hope and confidence that God will always keep His word, and we can see evidence of this in the Bible. It’s also important to remember that God’s timing is not our timing; His perfect plan will be fulfilled in a way and in a time that we won’t expect or imagine.

I. God Reassures Abram (Genesis 15:1–6)

Nearly ten years had passed since God promised Abram that he would be the father of a great nation. At 85 years old, Abram still had no heirs. In fact, the man who possibly would be his heir was a slave born in Abram’s house, Eliezer of Damascus (v. 3, NRSV). Imagine if all of your acquired wealth and all of your property went to someone who was not part of your bloodline. Legacies were very important to Jewish families at the time, as they are very important to many people today. Most people desire to have progeny who can carry on their name long after they are gone. Leaving the earth without starting a family likely filled Abram with sadness and disappointment. The Lord had promised that He would make Abram the father of many nations, but how could that be possible if Abram was still childless? Abram said, ‘You have given me no offspring’ (v. 3, NRSV). The Lord told Abram that Eliezer would not be Abram’s heir; his own offspring would be his heir. The Lord told Abram, ‘Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them. . . . So shall your descendants be’ (v. 5, NRSV). And once again, Abram believed the Lord. He trusted in His word and that if the Lord said it was so, then it would be so. Because of his trust and faith, the Lord blessed Abram because of his righteousness.

It could have been easy for Abram to complain about his situation to anyone who would listen. God had told Abram that he would have a family, and one decade after the first promise, Abram was still childless. Some people might have lost faith in God’s promise, believing it should have happened sooner. Instead, Abram continued to have faith in God. However, Abram did go to God with his concerns and his worries. He brought his questions to God about how it would be possible for him to be the father of a great nation if he were childless. Talking to God about our concerns does not mean we don’t have faith or that we don’t trust what God is planning. Going to God with your troubles and concerns can ease your burdens as you talk with a faithful, compassionate Friend. Praying to God and talking with Him can increase our hope and our faith; it can reassure us that we can trust God to keep His promises and that He is always working (oftentimes behind the scenes) in our lives.

II. God’s Covenant with Abram (Genesis 15:17–21)

Abram not only had questions regarding his future family, but he also had questions about how he would know that he would possess the land of Canaan. God told Abram to bring Him ‘a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon’ (v. 9, NRSV). Abram obeyed, and he cut all of the animals in two, except for the birds, and he laid the halves over each other. During the night, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and the Lord told Abram of what was to come of His people and of Abram (see vv. 13–16). In the darkness, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces, and the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying He would give the land of Canaan to Abram’s descendants (v. 17, NRSV).

The smoking fire pot represented tribulation and suffering, which the people of Israel would experience when they were taken into slavery and oppressed for 400 years. The flaming torch represented God and had shown that He would be the Light and Salvation of His people. God would avenge His people and bring them out of bondage. When His light passed between the pieces of the sacrificed animals, He established His covenant with Abram. God would give Abram’s descendants the land of Canaan.

When youth see that God kept His promises to Abram, their faith in God can grow too. Youth see that God’s promises will go beyond anything His people could ever imagine or expect. Abram is an excellent example of having faith even when the future is unclear. When youth trust in God, and as their faith in Him grows, they will share their faith with others. Inviting others into their faith grows the Kingdom of God. From that perspective, our spiritual family and generations are expanding, just as the physical family from Abram’s line was expanded. Just as God promised that Abram’s descendants would be too numerous to count, so are the spiritual descendants of our Christian faith.

HOME DAILY DEVOTIONAL READINGS

OCTOBER 2–8, 2017

SEEKERS FOR JESUS

STEP 1

Begin class with prayer. Write the word covenant on the board or on a sheet of paper. Ask