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| EXPLORE THE BIBLE: (15–20 minutes) Ask for a volunteer to read aloud Psalm 137. Do a mini- lecture and make the following points: • Through the prophets, God warned the people of Judah that if they didn’t repent of their injustice and their false idols, they would be conquered and exiled. • They didn’t repent and Babylon conquered them and exiled 99% of them. • The temple was completely destroyed as was most of the city—totally ruined. • They literally did go to the rivers of Babylon, the Tigris and Euphrates, and their captors probably did mock them, asking them to sing their Zion songs—Zion means Jerusalem. • The people of Judah connected land, and particularly Jerusalem, with the guarantee of God blessing them. They thought they would never be conquered because they had a king in the line of David (unconditional covenant with David) the temple, and priests in the line of Levi—and most of all their land. So to lose the land (and king, temple and priests) meant to lose their faith. • So the exiles were grief stricken and mad. Now ask, “Was their anger legit? What did they want to have happen to their enemies? Is this a proper response?” After an initial discussion over these questions, break the group up into 3 smaller groups and assign these psalms: • Psalm 58:6-11 • Psalm 94:1-3 • Psalm 109 (entire psalm). Continued... |
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