Category: Lessons

Prayers of Penitence: David

• Lesson 5 for the week of January 27 to February 3

Relevant Passages: Psalms 32, 51, 130; 2 Samuel 11, 12 1. David King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a loyal soldier away at battle. When she tells David she is pregnant,...

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Prayers of Triumph: Hannah and Mary

• Lesson 4 for the week of January 20 to January 27

Relevant Passages: 1 Samuel 1-2; Luke 1 1. Hannah Hannah was praying for a son in the sacred tent at Shiloh. Because she was childless, she lived under constant ridicule from her husband’s other wife....

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A Prayer of Supplication: Moses

• Lesson 3 for the week of January 13 to January 20

Relevant Passages: Psalm 90 Psalm 90, a somber and elegant psalm directed towards God consists of three parts: (1) The contrast between “You,” the eternal God, and “we”, his ephemeral creatures, vs. 1-6; (2) Our...

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Prayers of Despair: Job

• Lesson 2 for the week of January 6 to January 13

To embrace the vast book of Job in one study is impossible. So we limit ourselves to Job’s words directed to God, and to a final prayer Job offered on behalf of his accusers. You...

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The Model Pray-er and the Model Prayer

• Lesson 1 for the week of December 30 to January 6

1. Jesus’ Practice of Prayer Among the Gospels, Luke gives the most sustained attention to the praying Jesus. Only Luke records the story Jesus told to urge his disciples to always pray and not lose...

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Restoration

• Lesson 13 for the week of December 23 to December 30

Background and Literary Considerations The verses we study this week have occasioned significant debate as to their authorship. Some have argued that everything belongs to the eighth-century prophet who finally got around to some positive...

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Vision Five-No Escape

• Lesson 12 for the week of December 16 to December 23

Background and Literary Considerations Having come now to the last of the five vision reports, we need to ask how they connect with each other and the impact of the whole collection. What is the...

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Vision Four-Summer Fruit

• Lesson 11 for the week of December 9 to December 16

Background and Literary Considerations The fourth vision report in Amos brings us to another literary feature of the prophet’s preaching: puns. While we miss most of these in English translations, the Bible is replete with...

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Vision Three-The Plumb Line

• Lesson 10 for the week of December 2 to December 9

Background and Literary Considerations Again, we come in this lesson to a “vision report,” the third in a series of five. Given Amos’ penchant for surprising us with reversals of expectations, how should we prepare...

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Vision Two-Judgement by Fire

• Lesson 9 for the week of November 25 to December 2

Background and Literary Considerations Review the comments in the previous lesson about “vision reports.” What was the main purpose of these in general and how specifically does Amos use them–individually and the five of them...

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Vision One-Locusts and Prayer

• Lesson 8 for the week of November 18 to November 25

Background and Literary Considerations We are introduced in this lesson to “vision reports,” another in the vast repertoire of Amos’ speech forms. These appear throughout the Bible and are typically introduced in the Old Testament...

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At Ease in Zion

• Lesson 7 for the week of November 11 to November 18

Background and Literary Considerations The nature of “Woe!” oracles is to startle and call for change. Of the three such speeches in Amos, two appear in chapter 6 and form the basis of our lesson...

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Pass Over or Pass Through?

• Lesson 6 for the week of November 4 to November 11

Background and Literary Considerations Whereas Judgment Speeches are typically announcements of doom, almost as if there is no turning back, no chance for reversing the inevitable slide toward punishment, “Woe!” speeches or oracles are set...

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Seek the Lord

• Lesson 5 for the week of October 28 to November 4

Background and Literary Considerations Amos provides us with a fascinating blend of guidelines regarding worship and those having to do with social justice, the latter predominating by far. Chapter 5 is no exception. It speaks...

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