Simon Wallace - I went through Confirmation classes to "confirm my faith in God" and become a member of the church. I don't remember the Bible being opened during these classes to have God's way of salvation explained. I had been baptised as a child and after these sessions was now a member of the church, and yet I remained ignorant as to the very reason for which Christ came into the world...
Memory Verse: Proverbs 4:26 Memory Verse Text: Ponder the path of thy feet.
Attention Getter: Where can a bad decision take you?
Point 1: Rehoboam was a man whose heart was in Egypt, a land characterized by worldliness. Even though he was Solomon's son and reigned in the place of his father, Rehoboam was very unwise. He received good counsel from the old wise men about Israel, but disregarded it all and took the counsel of younger men. As a result, he added to the tax burden the Israelites had to pay. His decision eventually caused Israel to separate from Judah and started endless trouble between the ten tribes of Israel and the two tribes of Judah. Point 2: Jeroboam, the new king of Israel, caused even more departure by building another place of sacrifice at Penuel. His choices resulted in a lot of confusion and the further destruction of unity, causing the nation to be weaker than it ever had been before. Point 3: Jeroboam continued to make bad choices and led Israel into idol worship by setting up two golden calves, which were an abomination to God. Next, he made some of the lowest of the people to be priests, thus forsaking the Divine standard altogether. Point 4: Heaven looked on and apparently did nothing. Nevertheless, the full harvest or outcome of this departure from God's standards was going to mean many deaths and much sorrow in both Israel and Judah.
Notes: When a nation or an individual begins to stray, there is no telling how many steps downward they will take.
This Sunday School Curriculum guide is part of a 254 Sunday School Lesson Book available at www.gospelhall.org. See the Downloads Section of the site for a complete copy.
Simon Wallace
