Seekers for Jesus: January- March 2023

By R.H. Boyd Publishing Corp.

Seekers for Jesus is a quarterly written especially for young people ages 12-14. In addition to introductory material and biblical exposition, each lesson contains a section to help students apply the lesson to life. Questions are interjected to gauge the student’s understanding of the presentation. It follows the International Uniform Sunday School Lesson Outline from the National Council of Churches.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Dec 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798886350524

Book preview

Lesson 1

01/01/23

Promises and Consequences

CHECK OUT TODAY’S LESSON

Today’s Scripture

2 Chronicles 7:12–22

Background Scripture

2 Chronicles 7:1–22

NRSV

THEN the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: "I have heard 0 Scripture your prayer, copy. and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.

13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people,

14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time.

17 As for you, if you walk before me, as your father David walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances,

18 then I will establish your royal throne, as I made covenant with your father David saying, ‘You shall never lack a successor to rule over Israel.’

19 "But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,

20 then I will pluck you up from the land that I have given you; and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

21 And regarding this house, now exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished, and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this house?’

22 Then they will say, ‘Because they abandoned the LORD the God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore he has brought all this calamity upon them.’"

Key Verse:

If my people . . . humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I . . . will forgive their sin and heal their land.

(2 Chronicles 7:14, NRSV)

Today’s Word

We may understand that our relationships involve blessings, expectations, and consequences. What can we do to honor and maintain good relationships with other people? "By declaring that Solomon’s temple would be his home, God’s honor came with obligations and promises for the people. They could not expect to be blessed without doing anything in return.

By all accounts, Solomon was considered a wise ruler because he was filled with the wisdom of God. Solomon prayed to God and asked for wisdom. Today’s lesson examines God’s second appearance to Solomon. God previously appeared to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 1:7 where Solomon asked God to bless him with wisdom.

This was the wisdom that Solomon was known to possess. In 2 Chronicles 6:14–42, Solomon had prayed and expressed his wishes to build a temple for the Lord. Solomon’s petitions were answered when the Lord responded with I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself. This was showing that the temple was being built at God’s will, not just as an answer to a prayer. This temple would be a special holy place where God would live among His favored people.

This was a tough time for the people, they thought that God had abandoned them because of their wicked, sinful actions. They had suffered and had been reduced from a mighty nation when King David led them. They were now a small remnant of the people they once were, and they were also in exile in Babylon.

The people were desperate, but they had hope through God’s responses to Solomon’s prayers. God answered Solomon’s prayers, but His continued blessings to the people would come with a price. God would bless them, but there were conditions attached.

God Appears to Solomon

The Lord appeared to Solomon during the night and told Solomon that He had heard his prayers. The Lord assured him that his prayers would be answered. He told Solomon I have heard your prayer and I have chosen this place for myself as a temple or holy place for sacrifices. The Lord was answering Solomon’s prayers, but there were conditions attached.

The Lord told Solomon that He may stop the rain from falling, or He may send locusts to destroy the land and eat all of the crops they had planted. The Lord may even send a plague or other sickness to fall on the people. The Lord told Solomon that if the people who are called my people would feel sorry for what they have done wrong and they stop doing what is evil and pray and ask for my forgiveness, then I will hear their prayers. I will forgive their sins and I will heal their land. The Lord promised that His eyes would be opened, and His ears would hear their prayers that were being offered in that holy place. The Lord told Solomon that He had chosen and made the temple holy so that His name would live there forever. The Lord’s eyes and His heart would always be there. God’s people had to do three things. They had to become humble, that means they had to confess that they had done wrong. They had to pray, and they had to turn from the evil they were doing and return to the Lord. When the people had done those three things, the Lord would hear them, forgive them, and would heal them. The Lord had chosen the temple and had made it holy so that He would be worshiped there forever. He would always watch over the temple and would love it.

Visit us at www.rhboyd.comfor Bible Quiz

The temple may not have been God’s actual dwelling place, but it was a holy place where the people could go to pray and be in close contact with God. It could be considered a connecting place with God, a place where God would always be accessible to hear the petitions and prayers of His people.

The Lord challenged Solomon to walk before Him faithfully just as Solomon’s father, David, had done. Solomon was challenged to do everything that the Lord commanded and to continue to observe all of the Lord’s decrees and laws. The Lord promised Solomon that He would establish Solomon’s royal throne forever. It would be the same agreement that the Lord had made with David. The Lord agreed to make certain that a descendant of David’s would always rule over Israel. By remaining faithful to the Lord’s laws, Solomon would enjoy the same covenant or agreement with the Lord. By agreeing, Solomon would enjoy the full benefit of God’s blessings. God was challenging Solomon by telling