1. powerpoint presentation designed by claro ruiz vicente http://clarovicente.weebly.com Adult Bible Study Guide Oct Nov Dec 2010 Adult Bible Study Guide Oct Nov Dec 2010

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4. Background Characters in the Old Testament Contents 1. Story and History 2. Caleb: Living With the Wait 3. Hannah: Learning to Be Someone 4. Jonathan: Born for Greatness 5. Abigail: No Victim of Circumstances 6. Uriah: Faith of a Foreigner 7. Abiathar: The Priest 8. Joab: David’s Weak Strongman 9. Rizpah: The Influence of Faithfulness 10. The Man of God: Obedience is Not Optional 11. The Widow of Zarephath: The Leap of Faith 12. Gehazi: Missing the Mark 13. Baruch: Building a Legacy in a Crumbling World

5. Background Characters in the Old Testament Our Goals {181} T o “learn things that can help us to write a different and better story for ourselves.” To “read Scripture afresh, looking beyond the obvious to discover the joy of learning new truths from God’s Word.” To “remember the power of our own lives and examples.”

6. Background Characters in the Old Testament Lesson 7, November 13 Background Characters in the Old Testament Lesson 7, November 13 Abiathar: The Priest

7. Abiathar: the Priest Key Text 1 Peter 2:9 NIV B ut you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

8. Abiathar: the Priest Initial Words {261} A biathar’s story gives us some important glimpses into the Old Testament priesthood and tells us that priesthood is not based just on pedigree or education but on personal commitment to the Lord. As in the case of Abiathar, wrong choices can disqualify a member of the priesthood.

9. Abiathar: the Priest Quick Look 1. Abiathar’s CALLING (1 Samuel 22:11, 18-20) 2. Abiathar’s CHOICE (1 Kings 1:5-7) 3. Abiathar’s CULMINATION (1 Kings 2:26-27)

10. Abiathar: the Priest 1. Abiathar’s Calling 1 Samuel 22:11, 18-20 NKJV T hen the king [Saul] sent to call Ahimelech the priest…and said to Doeg, ‘You turn and kill the priests!’ So Doeg the Edomite…killed on that day eighty-five men who wore a linen ephod. Now one of the sons of Ahimelech…named Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.”

11. 1.Abiathar’s Calling The Priest {264} A biathar escaped the slaughter of his family and made his way to David. However, before fleeing, Abiathar managed to save the ephod (see 1 Samuel 23:6), one of the most important objects of priesthood (a sacred vestment worn by the priests), which was used to seek God’s will when making decisions.

12. The people in Abiathar’s days had little access to God’s Written Word. There were only a few handwritten copies of the Book of the Law (the Pentateuch), so most people had little opportunity to study the Word of God for themselves. Most of us are privileged to have access to the Bible for ourselves. 1.Abiathar’s Calling The Priest {264}

13. Abiathar had experienced personal trauma and, like David, was a homeless refugee. He could understand the frustrations, fears, and betrayals that David and his men must have often felt. 1.Abiathar’s Calling The Priest {264} This motif of personal identification with a person or a group of people is important in the New Testament’s concept of priesthood. Jesus can be our High Priest because He fully can empathize with us.

14. Abiathar: the Priest 2. Abiathar’s Choice 1 Kings 1:5-7 NKJV A donijah…exalted himself, saying, ‘I will be king’…. Then he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah.”

15. 2. Abiathar’s Choice Once Loyal to David {268} W e have no record of Abiathar’s personal opinions, politics, or religious views. But his actions speak louder than words. In the time of David, the firstborn son was traditionally considered his father’s main heir. God is, however, never bound by tradition. As a matter of fact, during the history of Israel He often overlooked firstborns to call others.

16. The oldest son, Amnon, had been killed by his brother Absalom. Absalom, in turn, had been killed during his unsuccessful coup attempt. And now the fourth-oldest son, Adonijah, felt that the throne was rightfully his. Adonijah conferred with Joab and Abiathar, and they gave him their support. 2. Abiathar’s Choice Once Loyal to David {268}

17. Solomon was loved by God and it was clear that God had chosen him to be David’s successor. In the face of this uncomfortable choice, it may be that Abiathar could not reconcile himself with the public scandal that the choice would cause, and so he resorted to tradition as opposed to God’s revealed will. 2. Abiathar’s Choice Once Loyal to David {268}

18. 1 Kings 2:26-27 NKJV A nd to Abiathar the priest the king said, ‘Go to Anathoth, to your own fields, for you are worthy of death; but I will not put you to death at this time.’ So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest.” Abiathar: the Priest 3. Abiathar’s Culmination

19. Disqualified Self {270} A superficial reading of the verse may give the impression that Abiathar is dismissed because of a prophecy made to Eli more than a hundred years before (1 Samuel 2:30–36). God knows what free choices we and our descendants will make, and so He is able to prophesy the future.

20. 3. Abiathar’s Culmination Disqualified Self {270} God knew that just as Eli’s sons disqualified themselves from the priestly office by their behavior, their descendant, Abiathar, also would disqualify himself from the priestly office by being unwilling to accept God’s choices.

21. Divine foreknowledge does not automatically translate into divine predestination. People have choices, as did Abiathar. God’s foreknowledge of these choices doesn’t limit our freedom in making them. 3. Abiathar’s Culmination Disqualified Self {270}

22. Selected Messages 2:167 Final Words {272} G od has chosen you for a great and solemn work. He has been seeking to discipline, to test, to prove you, to refine and ennoble you, that this sacred work may be done with a single eye to His glory which belongs wholly to God. What a thought that God chooses a man and brings him into close connection with Himself, and gives him a mission to

23. Selected Messages 2:167 Final Words {272} undertake, a work to do, for Him. A weak man is made strong, a timid man is made brave, the irresolute becomes a man of firm and quick decision. What! is it possible that man is of so much consequence as to receive a commission from the King of kings! Shall worldly ambition allure from the sacred trust, the holy commission?”