January 20, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Resting in Jesus

Resting in Jesus

Exodus 33:12-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

What Has the Lord been telling Moses (verse 12)?

Why did the Moses want to be taught the Lord’s ways (verse 13)?

How does the Lord promise to bless Moses (verse 14)?

Where does Moses want to go “if your Presence does not go with us” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what else will distinguish Moses and the Israelit people “from all the other people on the face of the earth” (verse 16)?

How does the Lord know Moses (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why does Moses say “now show me your glory” (verse 18)?

What will the Lord proclaim in Moses’s presence (verse 19)?

Who will the Lord have mercy and compassion on (verse 19)?

Why can’t Moses see God’s face (verse 20)?

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

Zechariah 6:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)             

¹ I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. ² The first chariot had red horses, the second black, ³ the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. ⁴ I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. ⁶ The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

⁷ When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

⁸ Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north.”

Where were the four chariots “coming out from” (verse 1)?

How were the horses that pulled the chariots described (verses 2 and 3)?

Who did Zechariah ask “what are these” (verse 4)?

Who are the “four spirits of heaven” going out from (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what do the “four spirits of heaven” represent (verse 5)?

Where were the horses, that are the four spirits of heaven, “straining to go” (verse 7)?

What had the horse going to the north country accomplished (verse 8)?

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

In your opinion, how is God’s Presence going with Moses and giving Moses rest in Exodus 33:12-20 different from the four chariots representing the four spirits of heaven going forth and giving God’s Spirit rest in Zechariah 6:1-8?

John 10:1-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹  “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” ⁶ Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.

Who does not “enter the sheep pen by the gate” (verse 1)?

How does the “shepherd of the sheep” enter (verse 2)?

How does the shepherd gather his sheep (verse 3)?

Why do the shepherd’s sheep follow the shepherd (verse 4)?

How do the sheep react to the stranger’s voice (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did the Pharisees “not understand what he was telling them” (verse 6)?

What does Jesus say He is (verse 7)?

What are those who came before Jesus (verse 8)?

Who will be saved (verse 9)?

Why has Jesus come (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why does the good shepherd lay “down his life for the sheep” (verse 11)?

What does the hired hand do when he sees the wolf coming (verse 12)?

Who does the good shepherd know (verse 14)?

What does the good shepherd do (verse 15)?

How many flocks and shepherds will there be (verse 16)?

Why does the Father love Jesus (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus’s discussion about knowing the names of His sheep in John 10:1-17 enrich God telling Moses in Exodus 33:12-20 “I am very pleased with you and I know you by name”?

In your opinion, how is it better to be one of the sheep who hears Jesus voice and follows Him as Jesus described in John 10:1-17 than to be one of the people out in the world that the chariots with the powerful horses go out to see that Zechariah describes in Zechariah 6:1-8?

Hebrews 4:4-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: “On the seventh day God rested from all his works.” ⁵ And again in the passage above he says, “They shall never enter my rest.”

⁶ Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience, ⁷ God again set a certain day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through David, as in the passage already quoted:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts.”

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. ⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

What did God do on the seventh day (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what does the passage “they shall never enter my rest” mean (verse 5)?

What remains for “some” to do (verse 6)?

When should hearts not be hardened (verse 7)?

What would God not have done If “Joshua had given them rest” what would God not have done (verse 8)?

Who does a “Sabbath-rest” remain for (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean by “anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his” (verse 10)?

What does Paul tell us to “make every effort to” do (verse 11)?

What judges “the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (verse 12)?

How much is “uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does knowing that Moses heard the voice of the Lord and went forth with the Presence of the Lord in Exodus 33:12-20 but was not able to go into the promised land help us understand about the “rest” and the “Sabbath-rest” that Paul talks about in Hebrews 4:4-13?

In your opinion, how is the Spirit of the Lord resting in Zechariah 6:1-8 related to the rest and the Sabbath-rest that Paul is calling for people to enter in Hebrews 4:4-13?

In your opinion, what do the words of Jesus recorded in John 10:1-17 help us understand about how we enter the rest and the Sabbath-rest as Paul instructs in Hebrews 4:4-13?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Zechariah, John and Hebrews teach us about finding rest?

In your opinion, what must we do to follow instead of hardening out hearts when we hear the voice of Jesus?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

January 13, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Making a Name or Patiently Enduring

-            The

Making a Name or Patiently Enduring

 Genesis 11:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

What did the “whole world” have (verse 1)?

Where did people settle (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why did they say “let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly” (verse 3)?

Why did the people want “a tower that reaches to the heavens” (verse 4)?

Who came “to see the city and the tower the people were building” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why would it be bad for the world to have one people for whom “nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (verse 6)?

How did the Lord propose to keep the world from being one people for whom “nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” (verse 7)?

Where did the Lord scatter the people (verse 8)?

Why was the city called Babel (verse 9)?

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

Zechariah 5:5-11 - New International Version (NIV)           

⁵ Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”

⁶ I asked, “What is it?”

He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”

⁷ Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! ⁸ He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.

⁹ Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

¹⁰ “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.

¹¹ He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”

Who told Zechariah to “look up and see what is appearing” (verse 5)?

What is the basket (verse 6)?

Who was in the basket (verse 7)?

About whom did the angel say “this is wickedness” (verse 8)?

What did the two women with wings “like those of a stork” do (verse 9)?

What did Zechariah ask the angel (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why is the woman being taken to “the country of Babylonia” (verse 11)?

When will the basket be set “there in its place” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, is there a connection between the city of Babel of Genesis 11:1-9 and the country of Babylonia of Zechariah 5:5-11, and if so what is the connection?

John 12:20-29 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. ²¹ They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

²³ Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ²⁵ Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

²⁷ “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. ²⁸ Father, glorify your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” ²⁹ The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

Who “went up to worship at the festival” (verse 20)?

What did they request of Philip (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (verse 23)?

What must happen for a single seed to produce many seeds (verse 24)?

Who will keep their life in the world “for eternal life” (verse 25)?

What must the one who serves Jesus do (verse 26)?

In your opinion, why had Jesus come (verse 27)?

Whose name did Jesus ask the Father to glorify (verse 28)?

Where did the voice come from that said “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again” (verse 28)?

What did the crowd say they heard (verse 29)?

What did the others hear (verse 29)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the motivation of the people who plan to build and tower in Genesis 11:1-9 and Jesus in John 12:20-29?

In your opinion, why wasn’t taking wickedness to Babylonia in Zechariah 5:5-11 effective in removing all wickedness and how might the hour in which the Son of Man is glorfiedin John 12:20-29 lead to a different outcome?

Revelation 14:6-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people. ⁷ He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”

⁸ A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”

⁹ A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, ¹⁰ they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. ¹¹ And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” ¹² This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

¹³ Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

What did the angel have to proclaim “to every nation, tribe, language and people” (verse 6)?

Who does the angel say is to be worshiped (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say that Babylon the Great “made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries” (verse 8)?

What will anyone who “worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on the forehead or on their hand” drink (verses 9 and 10)?

How long will the “smoke of their torment” rise (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to have “patient endurance” (verse 12)?

Who does the voice from heaven say is blessed (verse 13)?

Why does the Spirit say they “will rest from their labor” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does Babylon the Great’s “maddening wine of her adulteries” that is discussed in Revelation 14:6-13 have in common with the desire to “make a name for ourselves” that the people from Babel had in Genesis 11:1-9?

In your opinion, what is the significance that in Zechariah 5:5-11 we see “wickedness” being taken to the country of Babylonia where a house will be built for it and in that Revelation 14:6-13 we are told that “Babylon the Great” who had made the nations drink the “maddening wine of her adulteries” has fallen?

In your opinion, how is hour that Jesus came for, the hour in which the Son of Man was “to be glorified”, in John 12:20-29, related to the “eternal gospel” the angel was proclaiming to all who live on the earth in Revelation 14:6-13?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, Zechariah, John and Revelation teach us about the conflict that each of us have between making “a name for ourselves” and remaining faithful to Jesus?

In your opinion, how can we live in “patient endurance” today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

January 6, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Cursed or Equipped

-            The

Cursed or Equipped

Joshua 1:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

⁷ “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

When did the Lord talk to Joshua (verse 1)?

What are Joshua and “all these people” to get ready to do (verse 2)?

Who did God promise to “give you every place where you set your foot” (verse 3)?

What will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates-all the Hittite country-to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (verse 4)?

How will the Lord be with Joshua (verse 5)?

Why did Joshua need to “be strong and courageous” (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why does the command to “be strong and very courageous” appear right before the instruction to “be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you” (verse 7)?

Where was the Book of the Law always to be (verse 8)?

What was Joshua to “be careful to do” (verse 8)?

Why should Joshua not be afraid or discouraged (verse 9)?

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

Zechariah 5:1-4 - New International Version (NIV)             

¹ I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.

² He asked me, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”

³ And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. ⁴ The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’”

What was before Zechariah (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why is it important to know that the scroll was “twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide” (verse 2)?

Where is the curse going (verse 3)?

What will happen to “every thief” and “everyone who swears falsely” (verse 3)?

What will happen to the houses of every theif and everyone who swears falsely by God’s name (verse 4)?

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

In your opinion, how is God’s promise regarding the Book of the Law in Joshua 1:1-9 related to the curse from Zechariah 5:1-4?

John 12:44-50 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

⁴⁷ “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. ⁵⁰ I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

Who cried out “whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me” (verse 44)?

Who sees the One who sent Jesus (verse 45)?

Why did Jesus come into the world as a light (verse 46)?

What won’t Jesus do to the person who “hears my words but does not keep them” (verse 47)?

Why did Jesus come into the world (verse 47)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean by saying “the very words I have spoken” will condemn those who don’t accept them (verse 48)?

Who commanded Jesus to speak (verse 49)?

What leads to eternal life (verse 50)?

What does Jesus say (verse 50)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the Book of the Law that Joshua was commanded to follow in Joshua 1:1-9 and the Words of Jesus that will condemn those who reject Jesus in John 12:44-50?

In your opinion, how are the ones who are cursed for swearing falsely by God’s name by the scoll in Zechariah 5:1-4 and those who are condemned by the Words of Jesus for rejecting Him in John 12:44-50 similar?

2 Timothy 3:12-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, ¹³ while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, ¹⁵ and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Who will be persecuted (verse 12)?

What will “evildoers and impostors” do (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he instructs Timothy to “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of” (verse 14)?

How long has Timothy “known the Holy Scriptures” (verse 15)?

What are the “Holy Scriptures” able to do for Timothy (verse 15)?

What is “God-breathed” (verse 16)?

How is the “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” provided by Scripture beneficial to the “servant of God” (verses 16 and 17)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the promise to Joshua in Joshua 1:1-9 to “ Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” and Paul’s instruction to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12-17 that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”?

In your opinion, how are the people who are recipients of the curse that goes out in Zechariah 5:1-4 and those who are blessed by the “teaching, rebuking, correcting and training” of the Scripture in 2 Timothy 3:12-17 similar?  How are they different?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:12-17 that Scripture is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” but Jesus in John 12:44-50 said they are the judge for those who reject Him and “will condemn them at the last day”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Zechariah, John and 2 Timothy teach us about the Holy Scriptures?

In your opinion, how can we move from a fear of being cursed because of what is in the Scriptures to utilizing the Scriptures to become “thoroughly equipped for every good work”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

December 30, 2018 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Temple Building Then and Now

Temple Building Then and Now

Ezra 3:8-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. ⁹ Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

¹⁰ When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. ¹¹ With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;
    his love toward Israel endures forever.”

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. ¹³ No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

In your opinion, who are Zerubbabel and Joshua (verse 8)?

Who supervised “those working on the house of God” (verse 9)?

Who gave the priests and Levites “their places to praise the Lord” (verse 10)?

What did they sing about the Lord (verse 11)?

Why did the people give “a great shout of praise” (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why did “many of the older priests and Levites and family heads” weep aloud when they saw the foundation of the temple being laid (verse 12)?

What could not be destinguished (verse 13)?

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

Zechariah 4:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)           

¹ Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. ² He asked me, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. ³ Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

⁴ I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.

⁶ So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

⁷ “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.

¹⁰ “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”

¹¹ Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”

¹² Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”

¹³ He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I said.

¹⁴ So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”

Who woke Zechariah up (verse 1)?

How does Zechariah describe the lampstand he sees (verse 2)?

What does Zechariah see on the the right and the left of the lampstand (verse 3)?

What does Zechariah ask the angel (verse 4)?

What message does the angel have for Zerubbabel (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why will there be shouts of “God bless it” when Zerubbabel brings out the capstone (verse 7)?

How will Zechariah know that the Lord Almighty sent the angel (verse 9)?

In your opinion, who does date “to despise the day of small things” (verse 10)?

Who do the two “olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand” represent (verses 11, 12, 13 and 14)?

In your opinion, who are the “two olive trees” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, why does something as wonderful as building a temple to the Lord create weeping in Ezra 3:8-13 and cause some to despise it in Zechariah 4:1-14?

John 2:13-25 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.  ²⁴ But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

When did Jesus go to Jerusalem (verse 13)?

What did Jesus find in the temple (verse 14)?

How did Jesus react to what He found in the temple (verse 15)?

What did Jesus say they were turning His Father’s house into (verse 16)?

Who remembered that it was written “zeal for your house will consume me” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did the Jews ask “what sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this” (verse 18)?

How long did Jesus say it would take Him to rainse the temple again (verse 19)?

How long had it taken to build the temple (verse 20)?

What temple was Jesus speaking of (verse 21)?

When did the disciples recall what Jesus had said  (verse 22)?

Why did “many people” believe (verse 23)?

Who would Jesus not entrust himself to (verse 24)?

What did Jesus not need (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, what caused the temple that was so important to people at its beginning that the sounds of joy and weeping were heard “far away” in Ezra 3:8-13 to become a place that was used for the sale of cattle,  sheep and doves in John 2:13-25?

In your opinion, how are Zerubabbel from Zechariah 4:1-14 and Jesus from John 2:13-25 related, by family and position, and how are their positions different?

1 Corinthians 3:9-17 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

What are we (verse 9)?

What did Paul lay (verse 10)?

How should each on build (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why can no one “lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (verse 11)?

What does Paul say people can build on the foundation with (verse 12)?

How will their work “be shown for what it is” (verse 13)?

What will fire test (verse 14)?

Who will receive a reward (verse 15)?

How will the person whose work is burned up be saved (verse 15)?

What are Christians (verse 16)?

Where does God’s Spirit dwell (verse 16)?

What is sacred (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how are the foundation of Zerubbabel’s temple which was being laid in Ezra 3:8-13 and the foundation of “God’s building” which was described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 similar?

In your opinion, what can God’s statement “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” from Zechariah 4:1-14 teach us about building on the foundation of Jesus Christ with “gold, silver, costly stones, wood hay or straw” from 1 Corinthians 3:9-17?

In your opinion, how is the temple that Jesus talks about in John 2:13-25 different from “God’s building” that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, Zechariah, John and 1 Corinthians teach us about the building of God’s temple, from Zerubabbel’s time and our time?

In your opinion, how can we who build God’s temple today build with gold, silver and costly stones instead of wood, hay or straw?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)