SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON - FEB 13TH

Week of February 13 - U-Turn Here—and Now!


LESSON PASSAGE OUTLINE
1. “Payday Someday” (2 Kings 17:5-9a)
2. “Turn or Burn” (2 Kings 17:13-15)
3. “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (2 Kings 17:18-20)

BIBLICAL TRUTH - Ignoring the Lord’s warnings about disobedience only invites the Lord’s judgment.

LIFE GOAL - To help adults repent without delay of any disobedient attitudes or actions

Bible Commentary - by John C. Crutchfield, Director of Middle Eastern Studies at Columbia International University in Columbia, SC. Dr. Crutchfield and his family worship and serve the Lord at First Baptist Church, Columbia, where he teaches and adult Sunday School Class
The biblical doctrine of providence affirms that God is involved in the daily lives of people, families, and nations. God didn’t simply wind up His creation, hit the start button, and then go off to do other things while the universe ticked away like a machine. Whether or not we’re able to rightly discern His involvement doesn’t change the fact that God actively guides His creation toward the goal He intends for it.
We live in an age in which many people deny the reality of divine providence, contending that the teaching is naïve, manipulative, and potentially dangerous. As followers of Jesus, however, we base our view of what is true and real on the Bible—God’s inerrant Word. No one who reads and studies the Bible honestly can deny that God interacts with His world.
One implication of the doctrine of providence is that God, according to His infinite wisdom, rewards obedience and punishes wickedness. We as Christians must humbly admit that our knowledge of how and when God acts in these ways is incomplete. Thus we should always be hesitant to pronounce this or that event is God’s judgment on the people involved. Nevertheless, in humility we still can believe and proclaim the biblical truth that God’s guiding hand is present in the events of our lives. We are right and wise to inquire, “Lord, what would you have me to learn in this situation?”

 Have you ever inquired if the Lord was trying to teach you something through a hard situation? Through a situation of blessing? If so, what did you learn?

We need emotional maturity, spiritual sensitivity, and a healthy dose of grace to think about our lives in these terms. We can be too quick to interpret all negative situations as proof positive of God’s displeasure and all positive situations as rewards we surely deserve. We need to open our hearts to God’s corrective grace as we study this lesson.