Rooting Path · Old Testament Survey · Lesson 6: A Divided Kingdom, the Prophets’ Call, and Exile
This lesson in one sentence: Again and again God sent prophets to call people back; in judgment there is hope: a new covenant, a new heart, a suffering servant.
Timing (about 60 minutes)
- Opening5 min
- Read Together10 min
- Practice Together15 min
- Discussion20 min
- This Week5 min
- Pray for One Another5 min
Opening
Has anyone ever urged you about something again and again, and only later did you realize they were right?
Read Together
13Yet the LORD testified to Israel and to Judah, by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” 14Notwithstanding, they would not listen, but hardened their neck like the neck of their fathers who didn’t believe in the LORD their God.
2 Kgs 17:13–14 · WEB
31“Behold, the days come,” says the LORD, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah, 32not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which covenant of mine they broke, although I was a husband to them,” says the LORD. 33“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” says the LORD: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jer 31:31–33 · WEB
5But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:5–6 · WEB
I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart.
Jer 31:33 · WEB
Practice Together
Split into three small groups, each taking one section of the timeline—‘The Divided Kingdom’, ‘Judah Alone’, ‘The Exile’—and put its events, written on slips of paper, in order. After five minutes, come back together and answer two things as a group: how did the north and the south each come to an end? Whom did God send to speak, and what did they say?
Discussion
- “they would not listen, but hardened their neck” (2 Kgs 17:14)—God sent people again and again; why did the people not listen? And what about us?
- “I will put my law in their inward parts, and I will write it in their heart” (Jer 31:33)—what is the difference between writing on stone tablets and writing on the heart?
- “All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way” (Isa 53:6)—reading this line, whom do you think of?
This Week
This week read 1 Kings 18 (Elijah on Mount Carmel), or read the whole book of Jonah in one sitting (four chapters). Afterward write one sentence: what kind of God is God here?
Each person says which passage they will read this week: 1 Kings 18, or Jonah.
Closing
Read Isa 53:5–6 together, and the leader gives thanks in prayer for the whole group.
Tips for the leader
- When reading Isaiah 53, follow the lesson’s order: first read Isaiah itself, then see how the New Testament names this one (Acts 8:32–35). There is no need to rush to a conclusion in the group.
- The prophets’ words about the future are understood differently by different churches; as the lesson says, ask your own church, and don’t debate it in the group.
- When talking about ‘not listening’, talk only about yourself; don’t name any person or church.
General principles for leaders
- The leader is not a teacher but someone who walks alongside everyone.
- Give everyone a chance to speak; with someone who talks a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s also hear from friends who haven’t spoken yet.’
- Don’t rush to give answers. If someone is silent, wait a few more seconds.
- For a question you can’t answer, you can say, ‘I don’t know either; let’s look it up together,’ and note it down for next time.
- What is said in the group stays in the group.
- At the opening, the leader can give their own answer first, showing that it can be simple and honest.