01: From Reading to Understanding – Teaching Plan

Key Thought: God gave to man the sure word of prophecy. These important matters were not left in mystery. “Write the vision and make it plain…that he may run that reads it.”
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January 4, 2020

1. Have a volunteer read Luke 24:25-27.

Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
In what ways is Christ the center of all the Scriptures?
Personal Application: In the middle of trials and struggles and even prosperity and happiness, how can we learn to keep Christ at the center of our lives? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your relatives states: “Why couldn’t the apostles and people during Christ’s time see the application of the prophecies to His coming, life, and ministry? If I were living then, it would’ve been easy for me to see and understand.” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Ezekiel 4:5,6; Numbers 14:34.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
What does this tell us about what a day represents in prophetic time in the Bible?
How do we know when to use a day for a year and when a day just means a day?
Personal Application: Since some of these prophecies cover hundreds, even thousands of years, how can we learn to be patient in waiting for fulfillment and completion of God’s work in the world and in our lives? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your friends states, “Doesn’t the Bible say somewhere that a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day? Does this mean a day represents a thousand years? Like in Creation when God created in six days. Couldn’t that have been six thousand years?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Daniel 7:1-6.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
Is this vision speaking of contemporary events in Daniel’s day, or of apocalyptic prophecies of future events?
Personal Application: How does it make you feel to know God is so close that He knows your every thoughts and can plant dreams in our minds while we sleep to encourage, comfort, and guide us? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “How do we knoe Daniel is speaking of future events to come? How can we see any consistency in Daniel’s prophecies found in Daniel2,7,8,9,10, and 11?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Daniel 2:44.

Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
How does knowing what God has said about the end times and the rise and fall of nations influence your response to the political events between nations in our day?
Personal Application: How much should we be involved inn the politics and workings of government in our day as we wait for the return of Jesus to destroy all those nations and set up His own? Share your thoughts.
Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!