Adult Bible Studies Summer 2024 Teacher/Commentary Kit

By Gregory M. Weeks

Grow your faith. Transform your life.

Cultivate a deeper relationship with God through Adult Bible Studies. This resource, endorsed by the Curriculum Resources Committee of The United Methodist Church, offers a year-round, weekly Bible study plan for Sunday school classes and other small groups.

Each weekly lesson offers background and focal Scriptures, key verses, and doctrinally sound and relevant biblical interpretation and application in a readable font size. Annual plans provide comprehensive coverage of the Bible, special lessons during the church seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter, and suggestions for developing spiritual practices such as prayer, worship, community, and service, among many others. Adult Bible Studies is a reliable companion and guide for learning and growing in Christian faith.

The Kit includes a teacher’s book and a Concise Commentary that are supplementary and complementary to the Adult Bible Studies student book.

The teacher’s book provides biblical background, exposition, and suggestions for leading weekly group discussions and nurturing spiritual practices among class members. Small group leaders, teachers, and facilitators—both seasoned and just starting out—love the easy-to-use format and the wealth of information provided to prepare for each week’s discussion.

Based on the trusted Abingdon Basic Bible Commentary, the Concise Commentary provides expert biblical Commentary for the focal Bible passages used in Adult Bible Studies. The Commentary includes each Sunday’s focal Bible passages, unit introductions, and expert Commentary on each passage. Plus, you can pronounce everything correctly with the included pronunciation guide for Bible names and places.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to enhance your preparation and teaching with the help of the Adult Bible Studies Teacher Book and Concise Commentary!

With the help of the Adult Bibles Studies Student Book, and DVD, your group will embrace that it’s not just about learning - it’s about living out biblical teachings.

Summer 2024 Theme: Finding Balance
This summer, our Bible lessons follow the theme “Finding Balance.” They look at the concepts of work, rest, and celebration from a theological and biblical perspective and challenge us to find a balance among the three. The teacher book writer is Greg Weeks.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Cokesbury
• Release date: Apr 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9781791027711

Book preview

Adult Bible Studies

Summer 2024 • Vol. 32, No. 4

Teacher

To the Teacher

The Spiritual Practice of Service

The Wisdom of Proverbs

The Wisdom of Ecclesiastes

God’s Servants: Who Are We?

The Unity of Faith and Knowledge

The Spiritual Practice of Solitude and Silence

What Does Day of Rest Mean?

On Reading Leviticus

How Jesus Referred to Himself

The Spiritual Practice of Worship

Musical Instruments in the Bible

Harvesting, Sacrificing, Celebrating

Parables in the Synoptic Gospels

Editorial and Design Team

Jan Turrentine, Editor

Tonya Williams, Production Editor

Keitha Vincent, Designer

Administrative Team

Rev. Brian K. Milford, President and Publisher

Marjorie M. Pon, Associate Publisher and Editor, Church School Publications

ADULT BIBLE STUDIES TEACHER (ISSN 1059-9118). An official resource for The United Methodist Church approved by the General Board of Discipleship and published quarterly by Cokesbury, The United Methodist Publishing House, 810 12th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37203. Copyright © 2023 by Cokesbury. Send address changes to Adult Bible Studies Teacher, 810 12th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37203.

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For permission to reproduce any material in this publication, call 615-749-6268, or write to Permissions Office, 810 12th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37203.

Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Common English Bible, copyright 2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ are used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scriptures quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission (www.Lockman.org). Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 (Second edition, 1971) by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. Scripture taken from the Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version–Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California 90631. All rights reserved.

Adult Bible Studies is available to readers with visual challenges through BookShare.org. To use BookShare.org, persons must have certified disabilities and must become members of the site. Churches can purchase memberships on behalf of their member(s) who need the service. There is a small one-time setup fee, plus a modest annual membership fee. At the website, files are converted to computerized audio for download to CD or iPod, as well as to other audio devices (such as DAISY format). Braille is also available, as are other options. Once individuals have a membership, they have access to thousands of titles in addition to ABS. Live-narrated audio for persons with certified disabilities is available from AUDIOBOOK MINISTRIES at http://www.audiobookministries.org/.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Meet the Writer

Gregory M. Weeks is a retired elder in The United Methodist Church. He pastored congregations in the Missouri area before retiring in 2019 after 43 years of service. An important part of his ministry was writing curriculum and other material for The United Methodist Publishing House. He is the author of the Job volume for the Abingdon Basic Bible Commentary series.

Greg lives in the St. Louis area with his wife, Barbara. They have two young adult children, Cameron and Emma. He continues writing in retirement, penning a blog titled Being Christian Without Losing Your Mind. He has also served as a Faith Perspectives columnist for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

To the Teacher

Recently, I began receiving emails from various companies saying something like, Your home is X years old. Now’s the time to consider some of these home improvement projects. The emails then list several replacements, repairs, and renovations I should seriously consider. The associated costs are astounding. But failure to do these things, these companies warn, is even more costly.

Automakers do the same thing. When your car reaches this many miles, they say, it needs this. And this. In addition to friendly email reminders from the dealership, cars are equipped with notification features that tell us what we need to do and when. And they won’t stop reminding us until we’ve done them. Disregard the reminders, and we could be stranded.

Nurturing a life of faith requires just such diligence: regular heart and soul examinations that reveal attitudes and habits we need to eliminate; character traits we need to develop; relationships we should mend; spiritual practices and disciplines we ought to embrace; and acts of mercy, love, and service we should extend. Unlike the home improvement projects every five or so years or the car maintenance jobs every five or ten thousand miles, sustaining and growing our faith is a daily discipline. If we’re not careful, though, it can get pushed aside for a day and then another, neglected for a few weeks, and eventually ignored so that it falls off our radar completely.

If we’re observant, we notice that God has from the beginning modeled for us what we need to do and woven into the faith community the opportunities to do it. Framed broadly, the life of faith is nurtured within the cycle of work, rest/sabbath, and celebration/worship. God did the work of creation, and then on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done (Genesis 2:2). Following Creation, God celebrated, calling it good.

God gave humans the mandate to work and a world full of opportunities to fulfill it. Through work, we can discover things about ourselves, others, and God we would not otherwise know. We can contribute to God’s work in the world, but work can also occupy such space in our lives that it crowds out everything else, including God.

Since creation, work followed by rest is the biblical pattern. The Hebrew word from which we get our English word sabbath means to cease, to stop. Sabbath rest stills the busyness and noise of six days of work. Participating in the goodness of work and rest in the presence of God and the community of faith results in celebration, often in the context of worship that recalls God’s gracious acts of salvation on our behalf.

Our lessons this quarter, written in the student book by Sue Mink and this teacher book by Greg Weeks, invite us to explore this faith rhythm of work, rest, and celebration and embrace and embody it in ways that nurture our faith. Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint (Isaiah 40:31, NRSVUE).

Jan Turrentine

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Unit 1: Introduction

Work

The passages we will study in this unit of lessons encourage us to frame work from a biblical standpoint. If we were created with a divine purpose in mind, then our day labor is just part of the larger work we are called to do. Living into that perspective may enable our jobs to be less stressful and more fulfilling.

Lesson 1 provides the testimony of the ancient Hebrew community regarding the nature of work and its importance to society. Even though Proverbs was written centuries ago and we no longer live in an agrarian culture, some things are basic and unchanging. The proverbs we will study emphasize the absolute importance of people laboring not only for themselves but for the sake of the community. In the process, this industriousness will be rewarded by prosperity and social status.

Lesson 2 focuses on the reflections of the Teacher, the writer of Ecclesiastes. As we will see, while Proverbs sounds like a father lecturing a child, Ecclesiastes sounds like an old man looking back on his life and wondering if it was all worth it. While some may have a mid-life crisis, he was having an elderly-life crisis: This too is pointless is a common phrase he repeated.

One thing to be aware of in approaching Genesis 1–2 in Lesson 3 is that it is easy to get distracted. From odd-sounding terms to conflicting views about how to interpret them, we can lose sight of the most important element. While both stories have different characteristics, they share the central theme: We were created for an intimate relationship with our Creator and entrusted with special labor because of it. This lesson will help us define that vocation in modern terms.

Moving from the opening chapters of Genesis, Lesson 4 presents a journey through the Book of Exodus. Central to that journey is the conflict between Pharaoh and Yahweh. The Egyptian king symbolizes ruthlessness, and his oppression of the Hebrew people provides a surprisingly modern image. In your working life, have you ever felt valued more for what you could produce and less for who you were? Conversely, as you received promotions, were you ever tempted to serve the bottom line at the expense of your workers’ welfare?

Lesson 5 extends our work of serving/worshiping God to the Christian community. Just as the Hebrews devoted their labor to building the tent of dwelling, how do we as Christians devote ourselves to building up Christ’s body?

Viewing work from a faith perspective, ultimately, breaks down the modern tendency to compartmentalize our lives. If we are called to serve and worship God, then we do so with our whole life. All things are united by our understanding of who we are and who we are meant to be. We honor God equally at home, in the office, on vacation—wherever. As Paul succinctly put it, Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger (Philippians 1:21, The Message). That is the overarching task we share, proclaiming that message wherever, whenever, and however.

June 2 | Lesson 1

Work: More Than a Paycheck

Focal Passages

Proverbs 10:4-5; 12:11, 14, 24; 13:11; 14:23; 16:3, 26; 18:9; 21:25; 22:29; 24:27; 28:19

Background Texts

Genesis 2:4-25; Proverbs 8:22-30; 31:10-31

Purpose

To understand Proverbs’ classic wisdom teaching on the value and meaning of work

Proverbs 10:4-5

⁴Laziness brings poverty; hard work makes one rich. ⁵A wise son harvests in the summer; a disgraceful son sleeps right through the harvest.

Proverbs 12:11, 14, 24

¹¹Those who work their land will have plenty to eat, but those who engage in empty pursuits have no sense….

¹⁴From the fruit of their speech, people are well satisfied; their work results in reward….

²⁴A hard worker is in charge, while a lazy one will be sentenced to hard labor.

Proverbs 13:11

¹¹Riches gotten quickly will dwindle, but those who acquire them gradually become wealthy.

Proverbs 14:23

²³There is profit in hard work, but mere talk leads to poverty.

Proverbs 16:3, 26

³Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will succeed….

²⁶The appetite of workers labors for them, for their hunger presses them on.

Proverbs 18:9

⁹Those who are lazy in their work are brothers to thugs.

Proverbs 21:25

²⁵The desires of the lazy will kill them, because their hands refuse to do anything.

Proverbs 22:29

²⁹Do you see people who work skillfully? They will work for kings but not work for lowly people.

Proverbs 24:27

²⁷Get your outside work done; make preparations in the field; then you can build your house.

Proverbs 28:19

¹⁹Those who work the land will have plenty to eat, but those with worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.

Key Verse: "Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will succeed" (Proverbs 16:3).

Connect

As I’m writing this, the Missouri Powerball Lottery is worth $36 million. Since United Methodists do not approve of gambling, playing this lottery isn’t something you would do, of course. But for a moment, imagine that you had a temporary lapse. You played and, against the odds, won. Millions of dollars suddenly flood into your bank account. What would you do?

We assume it would bring unbridled joy. Some who have won the lottery, though, report that in the long run, such wealth became more of a burden than a blessing. A few winners have even expressed regret at having such a windfall of cash. Why?

A term describing this paradox is Sudden Wealth Syndrome. It can afflict not just lottery winners but those who inherit fortunes. The suddenly rich tell of people relating to them differently. Who they are isn’t as important as what they now have; consequently, invitations to parties and dinners choke their inbox and voicemail. As one winner said, I never knew I had so many friends! Relationships with others may be strained by sudden wealth. However, a bigger strain is the struggle the rich person faces internally.

What to do with so much money challenges a Christian’s values. For example, Jesus told a rich young man to give away his fortune in order to help the poor (Matthew 19:16-22). Without a fortune ourselves, we may agree with that command. But when we have wealth, we may look for excuses to avoid such an ultimatum. The confrontation of serving God or riches (Matthew 6:24) becomes real when the bank account swells.

One of the most practical implications of sudden wealth is that it forces us to consider our relationship to work. Some lottery players have said that the first thing they would do if they were rich is quit their jobs. The rationale is that since they don’t need a paycheck anymore, they don’t need to endure the pressures and struggles that come with it. What does that say about the enjoyment people have in their labor? Such a feeling pushes us to ask deeper questions:

Do I work only to make money?

What value do I see in it if it’s only for the paycheck?

Is the importance of my work proportional to the salary?

Do I have to enjoy my work to find it meaningful?

How does my faith inform what I do with my life?

What is the relationship between my job and my calling, and how do I discern the difference?

What other questions come to your mind regarding the nature of work? Sudden wealth might force a person to look deeper, but such introspection is the Christian’s responsibility, regardless. Struggling with questions expands our thinking and ultimately deepens our faith.

The Bible provides fertile soil for such examination. The five lessons in this unit lead us on this journey. This lesson focuses on the reflections of Hebrew philosophers, people who looked back on their lives and discerned God’s wisdom. We will discover that Proverbs speaks to us today as clearly as it did to the Hebrews millennia ago.

Inspect

This lesson centers on several sections from Proverbs. This book is part of the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament. Wisdom writings reveal the reflections of people struggling with eternal issues, such as why there is suffering and what is life’s purpose. They also deal with the topic we are considering: What is the meaning of work?

King Solomon is often regarded as the author of many of these reflections. He is lauded in 1 Kings 4:29-34 as having wisdom and very great understanding (1 Kings 4:29), which was reflected in his writing of 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32). Although others contributed to what we find in the Book of Proverbs, the overall tone is that of fatherly instruction; the reader is addressed as my son throughout the book. A modern parallel is that of a parent giving practical advice to a young person about to leave home.

The Background Texts from this book set up this lesson by emphasizing the importance of wisdom and the priority of seeking it.

Proverbs 8:22-31

These verses form part of a section (Proverbs 8:1–9:6) where wisdom is personified as Woman Wisdom. They continue a speech she made in Proverbs 1:20-33.

Such personification conveys that the pursuit of wisdom isn’t just a hobby. Rather, one must seek a living, vital relationship with her: Happy are those who find wisdom and those who gain understanding (Proverbs 3:13).

The writer poetically described wisdom being created before the earth was (8:23). By listing the meticulous steps of Creation in Proverbs 8:24-29, he conveyed that there was no place where her fingerprints could not be found. A companion passage, detailing Yahweh’s wisdom in specific acts of Creation, is found in Job 38:4–39:30. The created world, along with human life, is the arena where we will discover God’s mind and heart.

Proverbs 8:30-31 adds a surprising twist. Wisdom was having fun (8:30) throughout the act of Creation. Could this convey that seeking understanding, immersing ourselves in nature as well as reflecting on daily life experiences, can be intensely enjoyable?

Proverbs 31:10-31

The book concludes with another female figure, the competent wife. In one sense, she emerges as the ideal mate for the son to whom the writer was trying to give wise counsel. In a larger context, though, she reflects the fruits of living a life grounded in the pursuit of wisdom.

We can discern how a wise person should live by carefully reading the actions attributed to her. Such a person will ensure that the household is managed. There will be clothes, food, money, and furnishings. She will also, though, be attentive to her faith. She will be compassionate, honorable, confident, wise, disciplined, humble, and respectful to God.

It is surprising that, against the backdrop of a patriarchal society, some of the things she did clearly lay in the realm of men’s responsibilities for that time: buying a field, initiating trades, and instructing wisely. Could an underlying message be that in seeking wisdom, conventional stereotypes and restrictions are transcended? She could not accomplish what she did, though, without a strong, tireless work ethic.

Genesis 2:4-25

The writers of the proverbs would have been familiar with this Background Text. Perhaps they had this Creation story in mind in describing Woman Wisdom’s work. We will study these verses in more detail in Lesson 3; however, some things need to be highlighted.

Humans were created to work for God (Genesis 2:4-8). We weren’t created to be served but to serve. Remembering our mandate keeps us from excessive self-indulgence.

Humans were created to care for creation (verses 15-17). Each act of creation in the first account (1:1–2:4) was blessed by God as good. It is our task to maintain that goodness.

Humans were created to work and live together (2:18-23). There was to be a relationship of mutual help between them and the animals. There was also to be diversity and equality with other humans from the beginning.

This Creation story provides needed perspective. While we were given Eden, that gift came with restrictions as well as expectations. It’s important to realize that God creates a paradise, not a static state of affairs, but a highly dynamic situation in which the future lies open to various possibilities.¹ Our task is to work so that those possibilities align with Jesus’ vision for his Father’s kingdom.

Proverbs 10:4-5

Our Focal Passages present a distinct and timeless perspective from which to view the purpose and nature of human work. This is where we see the sharing of wisdom that had been accumulated through years of experience. This parent wanted the child to be industrious, for personal and family happiness as well as for communal well-being.

In these two verses, the parental perspective is clearly evident. That authority figure casts two stark blessing and punishment scenarios.

The first sounds like an oversimplification. Does hard work necessarily make a person rich? Contrasting the opposite of poverty in such terms, though, gets the point across. A proverb uses such exaggeration to cause us to stop and think, similar to the exaggeration in some of Jesus’ parables.

The second implication of laziness and industriousness centers around relationships. A wise son honors the work of the parents, the same point made in Proverbs 10:1. However, if the boy ignores contributing his labor at the critical harvest time, it reflects a flagrant disregard for his parents and his family’s welfare. (Sleep is viewed as the antithesis of work, as in Proverbs 6:9-11.)

These verses emphasize a foundational theme that is repeated throughout the book. The hard worker will not lack the necessities of life while contributing to the well-being of others.

Proverbs 12:11, 14, 24

There’s an interesting connection between verses 11 and 14. Empty pursuits (Proverbs 12:11) reflect activities that are worthless in terms of contributing to the good of the family and community. They are vain and self-centered.

Whether or not a person is a hard worker will be seen in what they talk about. Verse 14 asserts a link between words and actions. It mirrors Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 15:18: What goes out of the mouth comes from the heart. A godly heart will result in conversations that produce a rich harvest so that all benefit. A few verses later the writer summarized this: People eat well from the fruit of their words (Proverbs 13:2).

Proverbs 12:24 portrays another benefit of hard work. Like the competent wife in Chapter 31, this person is not reactive but proactive. Such a worker is admired and praised by others because he or she is not afraid to take the initiative and bear the consequences. The parallel in the New Testament is the servants the master praises in Jesus’ parable of the valuable coins (Matthew 25:14-30).

Proverbs 13:11; 14:23

The opposite of rewards from industriousness is riches gotten quickly (Proverbs 13:11) from seeking shortcuts. The alternate translation of riches gotten from meaninglessness underscores this. The suggestion is that such quick gains are obtained through lazy and deceitful ways, possibly harming the family and community in the process. An example from the Gospels is the prodigal son gaining sudden wealth and then squandering it (Luke 15:11-13).

By contrast, true treasure is gained slowly through hard work (Proverbs 14:23) that is honest, respectful, and beneficial to all. Those who merely talk are more likely to use those words deviously, seeking to get rich quickly. A connection to the New Testament comes from the Sermon on the Mount: Not everybody who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will get into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21).

Proverbs 16:3

The Hebrew word for commit means to roll. The sense is that we are transferring the burden of our work onto the Lord. Our labor isn’t done alone but in connection with God. As opposed to being self-serving, we carry out our labor in ways pleasing to Yahweh: that which will respect relationships and promote prosperity for all. Failure to do this results in injustice and oppression, sins condemned by the prophets.

Proverbs 16:26

The writer blessed the experience of hunger as a driving force for hard work. Human need can lead to an investment of time, energy, and discernment in labor that meets those needs.

Later, though, he warned of the excesses that can result from such appetite (Proverbs 23:2). Paul would instruct the early Christians to meet their needs properly without being driven to do whatever you want to do (Galatians 5:17).

Proverbs 18:9

There are two ways to interpret this proverb. Stating that those who are lazy are brothers to thugs may mean that they attract such undesirable people as companions, as in Proverbs 28:24. Another understanding is that such people resemble these evildoers, perhaps not so much in their actions but in the ultimate consequences of those actions.

The Hebrew word for thug means destroyer. The sense is that, like murderers or thieves, lazy people tear down their own lives as well as the lives of those around them. We saw earlier that the consequences of laziness include poverty, hunger, and disgrace. Now the penalties broaden. What is destroyed by a person’s refusal to engage in productive work? Relationships? self-dignity and respect? trust?

Again, the prodigal son comes to mind. In taking his inheritance and spending it selfishly, he no doubt found companions who shared his lifestyle and selfishness. Similarly, he destroyed the relationships he had with his family and household.

Proverbs 21:25

This saying prompts us to ask what the writer had in mind regarding the desires of the lazy. One way of understanding it is that the person seeks a life of ease while viewing work as something bad. Another interpretation is that the person wants such things as wealth, pleasure, power, and recognition but isn’t willing to invest the energy necessary to attain them.

The following verse, where the lazy desire things constantly, would point to the latter meaning. Such selfishness will promote death, in contrast to the hard-working person who has control over their desires. They are able to give without holding back (verse 26), with the result of labor benefiting the worker and the community.

Paul would hold the early Christians to the same standard: Each person should test their own work and be happy with doing a good job and not compare themselves with others. Each person will have to carry their own load (Galatians 6:4-5).

Proverbs 22:29

Reading The Message translation of this verse along with the CEB’s is helpful: Observe people who are good at their work—skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a backseat to anyone. The wish for honor that a lazy person desires but doesn’t attain is earned by the hard worker; even kings take note of such a person and bestow honor. Jesus expressed this in his parable of the valuable coins. The master praised the industrious servant with, You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me (Matthew 25:23).

Proverbs 24:27

This verse conveys that work must be done in an orderly, planned manner. If Solomon had written this moral, he may have been thinking of the extensive preparation needed (plans and materials) before building the Temple.

Specific to this proverb, build your house probably referred to establishing a family. Lineage in the Old Testament was traced through the man’s name as designated as the house of (1 Kings 2:33 gives an example). The Hebrew custom was that when a man wanted to marry a woman, he gave a betrothal gift to her father,