Interlocked Amos and Jen Kwok

We conclude Lesson 27 at 36:50 by examining how believing parents can prepare their children for living and thriving in non-biblical culture. Then we move on to Lesson 28 where we begin to examine the end of the exile. We start by looking at Daniel 9, how Daniel was reading from the prophet Jeremiah and he realised that Yahweh had said the exile would last 70 years. Those years were almost up but Daniel didn’t see national repentance from the Jews and he didn’t understand how the vision of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue fit with Jeremiah’s prophecy. So he prayed for God’s mercy and Yahweh responded by sending the angel Gabriel to tell him that it wouldn’t just be 70 years, but 70 sets of seven years! Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/28-Partial-Return-of-Judah.pdf

In this lesson, we take a look at the lives of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. These Jewish teens were exiled to Babylon as part of Yahweh’s judgment on Judah. Though they had to undergo a Babylonian education and training programme and were inducted into service in the Babylonian government, these young men remained steadfast in their faith and loyalty to Yahweh. How did they thrive in a very anti-God, pagan environment? How they lived provides important lessons and principles that we can emulate. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/27-Living-as-Believers-in-a-Pagan-Culture.pdf

We conclude Lesson 26 by looking at a different type of writing that Yahweh was giving the Jews during the period of the exile: apocalyptic writings. Through these special writings, God revealed a summary of the future, describing world affairs that will happen. We’ll examine the features of real, biblical apocalyptic writings and how these writings are different from what the prophets usually wrote about. These apocalyptic writings were to give the people long-range hope and the understanding that God was still at work in the world even though He was lifting His hand of restrain on the Gentile nations of the world. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/26-Sent-into-Exile.pdf

We conclude Lesson 25 at 36:26. Then we continue with Lesson 26: Sent into Exile. Despite God’s faithful love and care for His people, both Israel and Judah rebelled and became paganised. So Yahweh started the fifth and final stage of discipline that He promised under the Sinaitic Covenant: exile. Also at this time, God handed political power of the world over to the Gentiles. He first exiled the northern kingdom of Israel to Assyria and then the southern kingdom of Judah to Babylon. Yahweh also gave the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, a vision of a statue of a man that represented five pagan kingdoms because God wanted to make it clear that He was still directing history, now through Gentile kingdoms. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/26-Sent-into-Exile.pdf

Because King Solomon, the last king of the unified kingdom, rebelled against Yahweh, God tore the kingdom into two: the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Both kingdoms were supposed to worship Yahweh as God. But instead, they had more bad than good kings in their history, leading both Israel and Judah to become paganised. Whether it was the common man or kings and leaders, the Bible records that most were rebellious towards God. So both kingdoms went into decline. During this period, God did not leave the people alone. God used prophets to speak to them to encourage change. But what was the job that God gave them? The prophets had three main roles: they were God’s historians; they were God’s prosecuting attorneys; and they were God’s Scripture writers. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/25-Decline-of-the-Kingdom.pdf

We conclude Lesson 24, looking at how King Ahab changed the god of Israel from Yahweh to Baal. This was when God sent the prophets Elijah and Elisha to demonstrate to the people who the true Creator-God really is. We then take a look at a summary of the kings of Israel and Judah and draw several important sanctification lessons for ourselves. Access the notes at: https://interlocked.online/s/24-The-Kingdom-Divided.pdf