SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 16 January 16, 2005

Intercession
Theme: A Journey with Abraham
Theme Verse: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8 NIV
Readings: Genesis 18:16-33
Memory Verse: "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." (Ephesians 6:18)

      Our lesson continues after the visit of the three strangers (angels) and the LORD to Abraham and Sarah. One reason God chose Abraham to have a friendship (personal relationship) with him was so that Abraham would give a solemn charge to his children and household (to give a charge is to get a solemn promise from someone) to keep the way of the LORD. (This is both faith and behavior.) That is, he was to instruct them, to arrange the way he led and directed his household, to give a solemn command to his children and household "to keep the way of the LORD." Why? God wanted Abraham and his family to "do righteousness and justice" so that God could bring the blessings of Abraham and his descendents that he longed to bring and had spoken to Abraham about. Later when Abraham's descendents were rebellious and chose to live in ways that were against God's will God had to severely discipline them and would not bless that generation. God will eventually accomplish his purposes but in the short run people can spoil God's plan to bless them. David Duplessis, a twentieth century Christian from South Africa said, "God has no grandsons" meaning each generation has to come into a personal relationship of love and obedience for itself. A word received: I want the fathers and future fathers to heed my call to command [lead, instruct] their children and homes for my purposes as Abraham did.

       What is intercession? The root word in Hebrew means to impinge on another by accident or violence, by importunity (persistent pleading). It means to come between, to meet together. It is found a number of times in the Old Testament. It is something God desires. Isaiah 59:16 says, " He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intervene (come between intercede)." Ezekiel 22:30 makes a similar point, " So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." This is after a lengthy discussion of the horrible sins of God's people -- and because there was no one to intercede -- go between -- stand in the gap -- the people did not repent and God punished them with destruction and exile. Has God put you in a place of difficulty in order that you might intercede for that place, those people? (For us it was Liberia.) In Daniel, chapter 9, he confesses the sins of his people as he intercedes for them. Throughout the Old Testament there was a strong sense of community solidarity with a clear sense that a few "bad apples" could contaminate the many. Just as the few can contaminate the many, so the sense of communal solidarity is reversed in the Abraham story. the righteousness of a few can save the many. Jesus expressed it as his followers being like yeast in the society.

      God uses intercession to change things (Isaiah 58). Moses "came between" God's anger and his disobedient people a number of times. Moses is interceding for a sinful people. In Exodus 32:9ff during the incident of the people worshiping the golden calf God told Moses "to let me alone that my wrath may burn hot against them…but of you I will make a great nation," but Moses pled with God and reminded God of his promises. God knew how Moses would respond but Moses didn't know. It was a kind of test for Moses to see what his heart was like -- and it was the heart of an intercessor who pleaded God's own character to Him! Psalm 106:19-23 describes this as Moses standing in the breach before God on behalf of God's rebellious people.

      God does hear the outcry that rises because of sin, oppression and tragedy. In Exodus 3:7-9 God tells Moses he has heard the cries of pain from his people. The way he chose to answer is to empower and send a man, Moses. God hears us when we cry out to him!

      The same thing is happening in the Abraham story. God knows what He is going to do and how many righteous people actually live in Sodom -- Abraham doesn't. God tells Abraham what He plans to do and this reveals Abraham's heart. Abraham make a choice to intercede, to plead with God to save the city -- if only there are 50, then 45, 40, 30, 20, and finally 10 righteous people. Remember God wants to find intercessors and Abraham becomes one. [Note: this is probably the origin of the minyan, a requirement that there have to be 10 men to form a synagogue.]

      What Abraham does is to plead God's character. "Far be it from you to slay the righteous with the wicked…Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25) Ezekiel 33:11 tells us that God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked but he wants the wicked to turn from his way and live. "Turn back, turn back from you evil way, for why will you die, O house of Israel?" A word received: That is the core of intercession, trusting that I will do right when you cry out to me for my people. They are lost and straying for lack of shepherds to lead them. Pray for them, cry out for them and I will hear you. Jesus came to save the lost sheep. that's why he often ate with tax collectors and sinners.

      God not only seeks for intercessors, intercession is part of the character of God. Romans 8:34 and Hebrews 7:25 both emphasize that Jesus intercedes for us. One writer called him the "Go-between-God." Jesus came to earth as the mediator between God and man. Jesus and Stephen were interceding for those who killed them when they asked God to forgive them. Jesus stood between the woman about to be stoned for adultery and the men who wanted to kill her. He convicted them of their own sin and when they all left Jesus told the woman to go and sin no more. Paul talks about "life in Christ". That is something in the present tense. Intercession is what Jesus is doing NOW. If we have a present life in Christ, it will involve interceding for others as the Holy Spirit guides us.

      This lesson shows clearly that God listens to the prayers of his people and Abraham already had a close, personal relationship with God. (We too can have a close personal relationship with God through Jesus.) Because of that he felt free to cry out to God to have mercy even if only a handful were righteous. (We can be sure Abraham had Lot in mind!) "Abraham still stood before the LORD. Then Abraham drew near and said…" Abraham was humble before God but persistent in his pleading. A word received: Abraham was standing with me. Do you stand with me? (When Joshua saw the angel in front of Jericho he asked, "Are you with us or them?" The answer was neither, but rather whose side are you on, Joshua?) Jesus in the parable of the importunate widow and the unjust judge tells us to not give up in our prayers, to be persistent for God is full of mercy and not like the unjust judge. (Luke 18:1-7)

      Just as Abraham is persistent in his prayer, so God is patient in hearing him. God wants us to intercede for others. Our memory verse reminds us to "keep on praying." Part of praying without ceasing is to respond to every prompting to pray. A word received: Come to me with your concerns and hopes. I will listen to you. I will answer you because I love you. [This may raise hard questions about times when righteous people are killed along with the wicked.]

      Jonah was not a very good intercessor since he really wanted to see Nineveh destroyed but when Jonah obeyed God and delivered the message the people of that wicked city repented and the city was not destroyed. God wants intercessors so he can accomplish all his will. He has chosen to allow and ask us to participate in what he is doing.

      God chose not to hide anything from Abraham because of his relationship with God. Amos tells us that God reveals his plans to his prophets (Amos 3:7). A word received: If you seek me you will surely find me. Abraham sought after me -- I was able to be close to him. I want to be close to you too. Seek me. God is seeking for people, men and women, teens, and children to "stand in the gap" for him for others. Who is God calling you to intercede for?

      God is willing to change history when his people cry out to him. Isaiah 26:12 says "all that we have accomplished, you have done for us." What an intercessor is counting on is that God will accomplish his purposes through us. The other thing we count on is God's unfailing love, that he alone is our refuge and strength, even when "mountains shake in the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and are troubled." (Psalm 46:1-3)

Sodom and Gomorrah are now under-water just above Zoar at the southern end of the Dead Sea.

Teaching Ideas for Lesson 16
Please read Study Guide first.
Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.

Basic points of the lesson for little ones.
      1. God wants us to want to be closer to Him like Abraham did, so He can be close to us and bless us.

      God wanted Abraham to teach his children and their families to know Him, trust Him, believe, love and obey Him, SO THAT He could bless them.

      2. God wants us to talk to Him (pray) so He can talk to us about things and people we care about and hope for. He promises always to listen and answer--even though His answers will not always be what we wanted.

      3. Prayer is talking to God and God with us. Intercession is praying hard for other people and for situations. God wants to find people to intercede. Are you willing to be God's helper in doing this?

      4. When we pray for others (intercede), we have to trust that God will do the right thing. We don't need to be fancy. We can just cry out to Him. Examples: Jesus , I cry out to you for _______(name)_______. Or , I cry out to you for the children who lost their parents in the tsunami.