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Today we conclude our study by answering the question, WILL WE OBEY OR TURN AWAY from God's Word?

Who or what is this serpent? Interpreters have several different views:

1. Is this a fable intended to communicate a real truth? Adam is referenced in the New Testament as a real individual (e.g. Rm 5:12-15, 1 Tim 2:13, 1 Cor 15:21-22, 45-49; 2 Cor 11:3). Adam & Eve have children mentioned in family lineages. Where does the ‘fable’ stop and the history begin?
2. Did animals God make desire to disobey God and lead humans to do the same…before the fall of man?
3. This is more than a snake, a clever & conniving being later referred to as, “the ancient serpent, who is called the devil & Satan” (Rev. 12:9; 20:2). 

LIE #1 You won’t die. This is the oldest trick in the BOOK.. The devil prompts people created in the image of God to doubt the goodness and truthfulness of God. “You won’t die. God is trying to keep you from something good.” That’s why we disobey, isn’t it? We doubt the goodness and truthfulness of God.

LIE #2 “You will be like God.” The serpent says, “You don’t have to submit to HIS authority. You rule over ever other animal. YOU should rule over YOU too!”

It tasted good. It looked good. It was going to make her feel good. Adam & Eve questioned God’s goodness & bought into the lie that they could become like God, the authority of their own lives…and the consequence followed quickly…

Suddenly there’s a sense of shame that they needed to cover up. Before their disobedience the Scriptures note they had a very different outlook.

Genesis 2:25 (CSB) Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.

Sin’s immediate price tag is SEPARATION from the God they once walked and talked with. Instead of fearlessness there was fearFULness. Instead of enjoying God’s Presence, they were hiding from Him. 

“Where are you?” was NOT a geographical question, it was a spiritual question. God is essentially wanting Adam to answer this question: “Where are you WITHOUT Me?”

We sin too. We HIDE too. We wonder why we can’t find lasting purpose in possessions, trophies, or human relationships.

• We are created to KNOW God and make Him KNOWN. 
• We are created to WALK with Him, not HIDE from Him.

Had Cain OBEYED rather than TURN AWAY from God’s word, his life would have been very different.

Write in front of Bible: “Sin will keep me from this book and this book will keep me from sin.”

Baal was a fertility god who had a lover - Asherah - a Canaanite fertility goddess of whose images are highly sexual. Remember the battle between Yahweh and the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah (1 Kings 18:19) at Mount Carmel? Those were the ‘gods’ Manasseh built altars for INSIDE the temple of Yahweh!

Amon’s servants assassinated him. Josiah became king in his father’s place. 

Josiah was trying to repair the damage to the temple (2 Kgs 22:3-7). While cleaning up the temple, a book was found. Josiah wanted to hear what it said. Scholars think this is likely Deuteronomy (2nd Law) - Moses is reminding the Jewish people of all God said and expected.

Josiah is distraught. His ancestors have disobeyed God and led the people of Judah to disobey God. God will delay his destruction of Judah because until AFTER the reign of Josiah - because…

Josiah responds to God’s correction from the Scriptures, no longer IGNORANT - he refuses to IGNORE what God said. So…

2 KINGS 23:4-7

Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah and the priests of the second rank and the doorkeepers to bring out of the Lord’s sanctuary all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the stars in the sky. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel. Then he did away with the idolatrous priests the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense at the high places in the cities of Judah and in the areas surrounding Jerusalem. They had burned incense to Baal, and to the sun, moon, constellations, and all the stars in the sky. He brought out the Asherah pole from the Lord’s temple to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem. He burned it at the Kidron Valley, beat it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. He also tore down the houses of the male cult prostitutes that were in the Lord’s temple, in which the women were weaving tapestries for Asherah.

Josiah heard what God said & bent His beliefs to fit what the Bible said. He would not TURN AWAY, but chose to OBEY.

• Anything in YOUR life you need to DESTROY and REMOVE from your life?

Josiah’s Son, Jehoiakim, was king during the ministry of Jeremiah the prophet. God told Jeremiah to write a word of warning to Jehoiakim. He sent his servant to read the scroll to the people inside Jerusalem, and when many of the officials heard what he said, and concerned about how the king would respond - they told the servant and Jeremiah to hide and took the scroll to the king.

God brings judgement on King Jehoiakim, kills him, and makes sure his name is forever hated while his father’s name (Josiah) is forever honored.

Josiah WANTED to hear what God said. He chose to OEBY rather than IGNORE and TURN AWAY from what God said.

Jehoiakim chose to IGNORE and TURN AWAY from what God said, and God punished him.

WHICH EXAMPLE WILL YOU FOLLOW?

• Will you explore what the Scriptures say and then OBEY what God says?
• Or when confronted with the correction of God's Scriptures, will you respond like Jehoiakim - TURNING AWAY and IGNORING what God says? 

Read & heed Psalm 119 - the importance and knowing and obeying God’s Word.

discussionquestions

Take some time to discuss these questions with your family, friends, or group.

1. What challenged or encouraged you most from today’s teaching? You might need to look back in your notes to help explain your answer.
2. The Bible gives us real life examples. Some of these are examples we SHOULD follow, while others are examples for us NOT to follow. Name a few we SHOULD follow and some we SHOULD NOT follow.
3. How does reading what is CLEAR help us with passages that are UNCLEAR? (Remember our example of John 14;12). How does asking whether this is DESCRIBED or PRESCRIBED help us with difficult passages?
4. Have you ever heard someone say, “The Old Testament God is a vengeful God, but the New Testament God is a loving God”? Discuss some of the examples of JUDGEMENT & GRACE in the Old and New Testament, and how these might help you point others to the character of our Creator? 
5. Restate the 3 Rules of Interpretation. Which one of these benefits you the most in interpreting Scriptures? Give your reasons.
6. Read John 9-10:21, Ezekiel 34:23-24, & Galatians 3:36-38. How do the 3 rules of interpretation help you to better appreciate what Jesus was saying to his audience and claiming about Himself?
7. Share prayer needs and pray for one another.