April 14, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Dispersed and Saved

Dispersed and Saved


Deuteronomy 30:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, ² and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, ³ then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. ⁴ Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. ⁵ He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. ⁶ The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

What are the Israelite people to take to heart (verse 1)?

Where will the Lord disperse the Israelite people (verse 1)?


Who will return to the “Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul” (verse 2)?


From where will the Lord gather the people (verse 3)?


What will the people of Israel do when they are brought back (verse 5)?


Why will God “circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants” (verse 6)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Zechariah 13:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)           

¹ “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

² “On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. ³ And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies.

⁴ “On that day every prophet will be ashamed of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive. ⁵ Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.’ ⁶ If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’

⁷ “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
    against the man who is close to me!”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,
    and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
⁸ In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.
⁹ This third I will put into the fire;
    I will refine them like silver
    and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
    and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

What will the fountain that is opened to “the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem” do (verse 1)?

When will God “banish the names of the idols from the land” (verse 2)?


Who will tell anyone who prophesies “you must die” (verse 3)?


In your opinion, why will every prophet be “ashamed of their prophetic vision” (verse 4)?


Who calls for the sword to awake “against my shepherd” (verse 7)?


How many will be left (verse 8)?


Who will call on God’s name (verse 9)?


What will God say (verse 9)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, how are the striking of the shepherd in Zechariah 13:1-9 and the circumcision of the heart that Moses promises in Deuteronomy 30:1-6 related?


John 19:11-16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

¹³ When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

What does Pilate not have over Jesus “if it were not given to you from above” (verse 11)?

Who kept shouting “if you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar” (verse 12)?

Where did Pilate sit (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why did Pilate tell the Jews “here is your king” (verse 14)?

What did the Jews shout (verse 15)?

How did the Jews respond to Pilate’s question,  “shall I crucify your king” (verse 15)?

What did Pilate do (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does the chanting of the Israelites to crucify Jesus in John 19:11-16 help us understand why the nation might need to be disbursed by God as Moses prophesied in Deuteronomy 30:1-6?

In your opinion, how is what happened to Jesus in John 19:11-16 related to the prophecy about striking the shepherd in Zechariah 13:1-9?


1 Corinthians 1:18-25 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

²⁰ Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

What is the message of the cross to “those who are perishing” (verse 18)?

What is the message of the cross to “us who are being saved” (verse 18)?


Who will “destroy the wisdom of the wise” (verse 19)?


In your opinion, “where is the wise person” (verse 20)?


What was God pleased to do “through the foolishness of what was preached” (verse 21)?


Who looks for wisdom (verse 22)?


In your opinion, why is Christ crucified a “foolishness to Gentiles” (verse 23)?


For whom is “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (verse 24)?


How does the foolishness of God compare to human wisdom (verse 25)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 reveal about how those who in Deuteronomy 30:1-6 have been “banished to the most distant land under the heavens” will be brought back to God?


In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 help us understand about the fountain that Zechariah sees cleansing from “sin and impurity” in Zechariah 13:1-9?


In your opinion, how is the wisdom that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 will be destroyed by God exhibited in John 19:11-16?


In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Zechariah, John and 1 Corinthians teach 
us about God’s perfect answer to worldly wisdom?


In your opinion, how can we who have been dispersed learn to look to the “foolishness of the cross” instead of signs or the world’s wisdom?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 7, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – From Cursed to Rejoicing

From Cursed to Rejoicing


Deuteronomy 28:15-25 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

¹⁶ You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.

¹⁷ Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.

¹⁸ The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.

¹⁹ You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.

²⁰ The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him.  ²¹ The Lord will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. ²² The Lord will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish. ²³ The sky over your head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron. ²⁴ The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder; it will come down from the skies until you are destroyed.

²⁵ The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth.

When will curses come and overtake Israel (verse 15)?

Where will Israel be cursed (verse 16)?


What will happen to the basket, kneading trough, fruit of the womb, crops, calves and lambs (verses 17 and18)?


In your opinion, what does it mean to be “cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out” (verse 19)?


Why will the Lord send “curses, confusion and rebuke” until Israel is destroyed (verse 20)?


How will the Lord plague the Israelites (verse 21)?


When will the “wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew” end (verse 22)?


In your opinion, what does it mean for “the sky over you head will be bronze, the ground beneath you iron” (verse 23)?


What will come down from the skies until Israel is destroyed (verse 24)?


How will Israel flee from their enemies after coming at them “from one direction” (verse 25)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Zechariah 12:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)         

¹ A prophecy: The word of the Lord concerning Israel.

The Lord, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person, declares: ² “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. ³ On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. ⁴ On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the Lord. “I will keep a watchful eye over Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. ⁵ Then the clans of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the Lord Almighty is their God.’

⁶ “On that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot in a woodpile, like a flaming torch among sheaves. They will consume all the surrounding peoples right and left, but Jerusalem will remain intact in her place.

⁷ “The Lord will save the dwellings of Judah first, so that the honor of the house of David and of Jerusalem’s inhabitants may not be greater than that of Judah. ⁸ On that day the Lord will shield those who live in Jerusalem, so that the feeblest among them will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord going before them. ⁹ On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ¹¹ On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. ¹² The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, ¹³ the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, ¹⁴ and all the rest of the clans and their wives.

How does Zechariah describe the Lord (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the Lord will “make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling” (verse 2)?


What will the Lord make Jerusalem into “when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her” (verse 3)?


How will the Lord treat Judah (verse 4)?


Why will the clans of Judah say in their hearts that “the people of Jerusalem are strong” (verse 5)?


When will the clans of Judah “consume all the surrounding peoples” (verse 6)?


Why will the Lord “save the dwellings of Judah first” (verse 7)?


Who will the “feeblest among them” be like (verse 8)?


What will the Lord do to “all the nations that attack Jerusalem” (verse 9)?


In your opinion, why does Zechariah link pouring out “a spirit of grace and supplication” with looking on “the one they have pierced” (verse 10)?


What will there be “on that day” (verse 11)?


What will the land, each clan and their wives, the house of David and their wives, the house of Nathan and their wives, the house of Levi and their wives the clan of Shimei and their wives and the rest of the clans and their wives do (verses 12, 13 and 14)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, what changed in Israel that caused them to move from being defeated by enemies in Deuteronomy 28:15-25 to being the “immoveable rock” that mourns in Zechariah 12:1-14?


John 19:28-37 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. ³⁵ The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”  ³⁷ and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

Who knew that everything was finished and that the “Scripture would be fulfilled” (verse 28)?

What did they lift to Jesus’ lips (verse 29)?

When did Jesus bow His head and give up His spirit (verse 30)?

What day was it (verse 31)?

Why did the Jewish leaders ask Pilate “to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down” (verse 31)?

Whose legs were broken (verse 32)?

Why did they not break Jesus’ legs (verse 33)?

What happened when Jesus’ side was pierced (verse 34)?

Why does the man who saw this testify (verse 35)?

What scripture was fulfilled (verse 36)?

Who does the other scripture say they will look at (verse 37)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the cursing of Israel in Deuteronomy 28:15-25 related to Jesus saying “it is finished” in John 19:28-37?

In your opinion, how is the “spirit of grace and supplication” along with the mourning for the one they have pierced in Zechariah 12:1-14 related to the death of Jesus in John 19:28-37?


1 Peter 1:3-9 – New International Version (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

What has “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” given us (verse 3)?

Where is the inheritance that God has given us kept (verse 4)?


How are Christians shielded “until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (verse 5)?


In your opinion, why can Christians “greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6)?


What will the trials result in (verse 7)?


Why are Christians “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (verse 8)?


What are Christians receiving as “the end result of your faith” (verse 9)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, how are the people who are suffering as a result of the curses in Deuteronomy 28:15-25 different from those who rejoice in the midst of trials in 1 Peter 1:3-9?


In your opinion, how is God making Jerusalem into “an immovable rock for all the nations” in 
Zechariah 12:1-14 and the shielding of Christians though faith by God’s power in 1 Peter 1:3-9 related?


In your opinion, how does what Jesus finished in John 19:28-37 lead to the “new birth into a living hope” that 1 Peter 1:3-9 proclaims?


In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Zechariah, John and 1 Peter teach us about the cursing, mourning, finishing and rejoicing of Christians?


In your opinion, how is it possible to rejoice in God’s shielding while still being subject to the trails of this world?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

March 24, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Sold for Silver, Bought by Blood

-            The

Sold for Silver, Bought by Blood


Genesis 15:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
    I am your shield,
    your very great reward.”

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Who is Abram’s shield and “very great reward” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why does Abram say “what can you give me since I remain childless” (verse 2)?


Why does Abram say “a servant in my household will be my heir” (verse 3)?


How does the Lord reassure Abram (verse 4)?


What does the Lord compare Abram’s offspring to (verse 5)?


Why was it credited to Abram “as righteousness” (verse 6)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Zechariah 11:1-17 - New International Version (NIV)         

¹ Open your doors, Lebanon,
    so that fire may devour your cedars!
² Wail, you juniper, for the cedar has fallen;
    the stately trees are ruined!
Wail, oaks of Bashan;
    the dense forest has been cut down!
³ Listen to the wail of the shepherds;
    their rich pastures are destroyed!
Listen to the roar of the lions;
    the lush thicket of the Jordan is ruined!

⁴ This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter. ⁵ Their buyers slaughter them and go unpunished. Those who sell them say, ‘Praise the Lord, I am rich!’ Their own shepherds do not spare them. ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the Lord. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”

⁷ So I shepherded the flock marked for slaughter, particularly the oppressed of the flock. Then I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I shepherded the flock. ⁸ In one month I got rid of the three shepherds.

The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them ⁹ and said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”

¹⁰ Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the nations. ¹¹ It was revoked on that day, and so the oppressed of the flock who were watching me knew it was the word of the Lord.

¹² I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

¹³ And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.

¹⁴ Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the equipment of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For I am going to raise up a shepherd over the land who will not care for the lost, or seek the young, or heal the injured, or feed the healthy, but will eat the meat of the choice sheep, tearing off their hooves.

¹⁷ “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
    who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm and his right eye!
    May his arm be completely withered,
    his right eye totally blinded!”

Why is it significant that the cedars and the oaks will be devoured and ruined (verses 1 through 3)?

What flock is Zechariah to shepherd (verse 4)?


Who goes “unpunished” (verse 5)?


In your opinion, what does it mean that the Lord “will no longer have pity on the people of the Land” (verse 6)?


What did Zechariah call the two staffs he took to shepherd the flock (verse 7)?


How did the flock feel about Zechariah (verse 8)?


In your opinion, why did Zechariah say “I will not be your shepherd” (verse 9)?


What did breaking the staff called Favor revoke (verse 10)?


How much did they pay Zechariah (verse 12)?


What did the Lord tell Zechariah to do with the pay (verse 13)?


What did breaking the staff called Union break (verse 14)?


What kind of equipment is Zechariah to “take again” (verse 15)?


Who will the not be cared for (verse 16)?


Who is the “woe” for (verse 17)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, how are the offspring of Abram from Genesis 15:1-6 related to the sheep being shepherded in Zechariah 11:1-17?


Matthew 27:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people made their plans how to have Jesus executed. ² So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. ⁴ “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

“What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

⁵ So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁶ The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” ⁷ So they decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. ⁸ That is why it has been called the Field of Blood to this day. ⁹ Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel, ¹⁰ and they used them to buy the potter’s field, as the Lord commanded me.”

Who made plans to have Jesus executed (verse 1)?

What did they do to Jesus (verse 2)?

How did Judas feel when Jesus was condemned (verse 3)?

What did Judas do with the thirty pieces of silver he had received (verse 3)?

How had Judas sinned (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the chief priests and elders say “that’s your responsibility” (verse 4)?

What did Judas do with the money (verse 5)?

What did Judas do to himself (verse 5)?

Why could the money not be put in the treasury (verse 6)?

What did they do with the money (verse 7)?

Why is the potter’s field called the “Field of Blood” (verse 8)?

Whose prophecy was fulfilled (verses 9 and 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what is the biggest difference between Abram in Genesis 15:1-6 and the chief priests and elders of the people in Matthew 27:1-10?

In your opinion, how is the way that Zechariah was treated by the flock in Zechariah 11:1-17 and the way Jesus was treated by the chief priests and elders in Matthew 27:1-10 similar?

Ephesians 1:3-10 – New International Version (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Who has blessed us “with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (verse 3)?

When were we chosen to “be holy and blamelsss in his sight” (verse 4)?


How are we adopted “to sonship” (verse 5)?


What has God “freely given us in the One he loves” (verse 6)?


How do we have redemption  (verse 7)?


What has God done with the riches of His grace (verses 7 and 8)?


What has God “made known to us” (verse 9)?


Who will “all things in heaven and on earth” be brought to unity in (verse 10)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, how is the righteousness Abram received when he “believed the Lord” in Genesis 15:1-6 related to the redemption and forgiveness of sins that Paul talks about in Ephesians 1:3-10?


In your opinion, how does Zechariah breaking the staffs of Favor and Union in Zecahariah 11:1-17 help us understand how amazing it is that God offers glorious grace according to Paul in Ephesians 1:3-10?


In your opinion, what part does the remorse that Judas felt about his sin in Matthew 27:1-10 play in the forgiveness of sins that Paul talks about in Ephesians 1:3-10?


In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, Zechariah, Matthew and Ephesians teach us about responsibility and righteousness?


In your opinion, how do we move from responsibility and remorse to redemption and righteousness?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)