Hi, everybody: This morning as I was starting to work on the lesson for this coming Sunday, "O, the joy of the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy", Matt. 5;7, I was looking at some verses that show us God's mercy to get started on the subject. I found two "stories" in the O.T. which are wonderful examples of God's mercy. I am sending them on to you to please read before next Sunday morning and come prepared to tell us what you learned from these stories and how it fits in with us today. How do they help us to learn what it means to be merciful? The two passages to read are Deuteronomy 4 and Nehemiah 9. The Deut. passage is at the end of the Israelites 40 years of wandering in the wilderness just before crossing into the Promised Land. Moses is basically reciting the history, to those ready to cross over, of what happened to their parents and grandparents as they left Egypt and why they were in the wilderness for 40 years when it really only needed to take them perhaps two weeks!!
The events in the book of Nehemiah take place hundreds of years later and after the Israelites had been captives in Babylon for 70 years but are now back in Israel, their homeland again. The walls are rebuilt and in chap 8, Ezra is reading the Law to the people, (read that chapter as background for chap 9, if you have time - let this be part of your hungering and thirsting for righteousness this week!!). Chap. 9 gives the response of the people as they heard the law. How does this chapter fit in with the idea of being merciful, especially showing God's mercy?
I just love these 2 chapters and hope you get as thrilled as I did when I read them again this morning!!
In case, you are wondering, I never promised NOT to give assignments for S.S.!
God bless you as you hunger and thirst for Him this week! Come prepared to talk about being merciful, maybe with an example of how you were merciful this week!
With love because of Jesus
Meredyth
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