1. Hope for the Hopeless

2. Question #1 What were the names of the two idols worshipped by the Jews?

3. Baal & Asherah

4. Question #2 What is the name of the empire that destroyed Judah?

5. Question #3 What was the last king of Judah’s name?

6. Question #4 What year was Jerusalem destroyed?

7. Answers 1. Baal & Asherah 2.Babylon 3.Zedekiah Bonus 4.587 BC

9. Lamentations 1 (NIV) How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! How like a widow is she… bitterly she weeps at night, tears are upon her cheeks… all her gateways are desolate… all her people groan as they search for bread; they barter their treasures for food… all who honored her despise her.

10. Psalm 137:1-4 (NIV) By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?

11. Lamentations 3:19-23 (NASB) The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall! My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

12. Isaiah 51:11 (NIV) The ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

14. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

15. Jeremiah 33:10-11 (NIV) "This is what the Lord says:… in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither men nor animals, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying,

16. Jeremiah 33:10-11 (NIV) “Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever.” For I will restore the fortunes of the land.

18. Hope for the Hopeless