The Kingdom Foretold, Part Three

Week twenty-nine | july 21-27

Jeremiah was a prophet who gave messages to the people of Israel during the time when Babylon conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah and took many into exile. He is sometimes referred to as the “weeping prophet” due to his difficult life mirroring the difficult lives of God’s people who were facing the consequences of their sin. Jeremiah also wrote the book of Lamentations, a book of poems expressing the devastating consequences of sin. His messages, like the prophets before him, point out the unfaithfulness of Israel. But even greater than that is the message of another prophet, Ezekiel, reminding them of God’s steadfast character and faithfulness even in difficult times. God promises to restore Israel and to transform the sinful hearts of his people. This incredible promise will be fulfilled when God sends his Son, the Perfect King. Until that day comes, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets who follow, remind the people to remain faithful to God and wait on him to restore his kingdom, just as he designed it to be. 

Memory Verse

And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

Ezekiel 36:27

Worship

Day One

Read

Here are some verses for your family to read about how God’s people, who were once devoted to him like a lovely bride, have turned away and rejected him:

Jeremiah 2:1-8, 11-13, 17, 19 (ICB)

1 The Lord spoke this word to me: 2 “Go and speak to the people of Jerusalem. Say to them: This is what the Lord says:
‘When you were a young nation, you were faithful to me.
    You loved me like a young bride.
You followed me through the desert.
    It was a land that had never been planted.
3 The people of Israel were holy to the Lord.
    They were like the first fruits from his harvest.
Those who tried to hurt Israel were judged guilty.
    Disasters happened to them,’” says the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, family of Jacob.
    Hear the message, all you family groups of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
“I was fair to your ancestors.
    Why did they turn away from me?
Your ancestors worshiped useless idols.
    And they became useless themselves.
6 Your ancestors didn’t say,
    ‘The Lord brought us out of Egypt.
He led us through the desert.
    He led us through a dry and rocky land.
He led us through a dark and dangerous land.
    He led us where no one travels or lives.
But where is he now?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land.
    I did this so you could eat its fruit and produce.
But you came and made my land unclean.
    You made it a hated place.
8 The priests didn’t ask,
    ‘Where is the Lord?’
The people who know the teachings didn’t know me.
    The leaders turned against me.
The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal.
    They worshiped useless idols.

11 Has a nation ever exchanged their old gods for new ones?
(Of course, their gods are not really gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their glorious God
for idols worth nothing!
12 Skies, be shocked at the things that have happened.
Shake with great fear!” says the Lord.
13 “My people have done two sins.
They have turned away from me.
And I am the spring of living water.
And they have dug their own wells.
But they are broken wells that cannot hold water.

17 Have you not brought this upon yourself
    by forsaking the Lord your God,
    when he led you in the way?

 19 Your evil will bring punishment to you.
The wrong you have done will teach you a lesson.
Think about it and understand.
It is a terrible evil to turn away from the Lord your God.
It is wrong not to fear me,”
says the Lord, the Lord of heaven’s armies.

Pray

Lead your family in a time of prayer over what you read.

Consider the ACTS model:
A – Adoration/ praise God (remember that this is part of worshiping God)
C – Confession (confess sin and your need of God)
T – Thanksgiving (thank God)
S – Supplication (ask God to supply your needs) 

Lord, you are loving and kind. You deserve loyalty from us, but like Israel, we have turned away from you and forsaken our first love. Forgive us Lord! Thank you for making a way for us to return to you through faith in Jesus! You welcome us back with loving arms. Help us to never forget your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Day Two

Read

Here are some verses for your family to read about Jeremiah’s warning to the people to repent of their sins and turn back to God:

Jeremiah 7:1-15

Jeremiah 7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Stand in the gate of the Lord‘s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. 4 Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ 5 “For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. 8 “Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. 12 Go now to my place that was in Shiloh, where I made my name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these things, declares the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house that is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I cast out all your kinsmen, all the offspring of Ephraim.

Pray

Lead your family in a time of prayer over what you read.

Consider the ACTS model:
A – Adoration/ praise God (remember that this is part of worshiping God)
C – Confession (confess sin and your need of God)
T – Thanksgiving (thank God)
S – Supplication (ask God to supply your needs) 

Lord, you are right to punish sin. Even though it is hard to accept punishment, we know we too deserve it because we, like Israel, have sinned against you. Help us to grieve our sin and turn away so that we will not be cast out of your sight. Through Jesus, we draw near to you and worship you. Thank you for your mercy! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Day Three

Read

Here are some verses for your family to read about the message of hope Jeremiah gives to the people:

Jeremiah 31:1-3, 13-14, 23-24, 31-34

Jeremiah 31 “At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.”
2 Thus says the Lord:
“The people who survived the sword
    found grace in the wilderness;
when Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to him from far away.
I have loved you with an everlasting love;
    therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

13 “Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy;
I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
14 I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,
and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,
declares the Lord.”

23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: “Once more they shall use these words in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I restore their fortunes:
“‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of righteousness,
O holy hill!’
24 And Judah and all its cities shall dwell there together, and the farmers and those who wander with their flocks. 

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Pray

Lead your family in a time of prayer over what you read.

Consider the ACTS model:
A – Adoration/ praise God (remember that this is part of worshiping God)
C – Confession (confess sin and your need of God)
T – Thanksgiving (thank God)
S – Supplication (ask God to supply your needs) 

God, today we read “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” How wonderful to be loved by you! Thank you for your faithful, everlasting love. None compares to you. Amen.

Day Four

Read

Here are some verses for your family to read about the prophet Ezekiel’s words of hope for God’s coming mercy that will transform hearts:

Ezekiel 36:22-36

Ezekiel 36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. 33 “Thus says the Lord God: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. 35 And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the Lord; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.

Pray

Lead your family in a time of prayer over what you read.

Consider the ACTS model:
A – Adoration/ praise God (remember that this is part of worshiping God)
C – Confession (confess sin and your need of God)
T – Thanksgiving (thank God)
S – Supplication (ask God to supply your needs) 

Day Five: Family Sabbath

Be Present

Set aside distractions (electronics, work, chores, etc.) and spend time with God and each other. 

Pray

God, thank you for giving us rest. You created us with limitations and command us to rest to remember You and all You provide. Help us rest in You today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Play

Choose a fun activity to do together as your family rests from work. 

• Draw a map of your neighborhood or city
• Make up a song 
• Skip down the sidewalk

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