Names
and New Names
Genesis 32:22-31 –
New International Version (NIV)
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two
female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After
he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So
Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When
the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s
hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then
the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But
Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,”
he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but
Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”
But
he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.
30 So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I
saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was
limping because of his hip.
Where did Jacob’s
two wives, two female servants and eleven sons go (verse 22)?
What did Jacob do
with his possessions (verse 23)?
When did Jacob
stop wrestling with “a man” (verse 24)?
Why was Jacob’s
hip wrenched (verse 25)?
In your opinion,
why did Jacob want the man to bless him (verse 26)?
What did the man
ask Jacob (verse 27)?
Why did the man
change Jacob’s name to Israel (verse 28)?
What did Jacob
want to know (verse 29)?
Why did Jacob call
the place Peniel (verse 30)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
John 19:6-16 - New
International Version (NIV)
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him,
they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But
Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for
a charge against him.”
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according
to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and
he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but
Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?”
Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify
you?”
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.
How did Pilate
reply to the chief priests shout “Crucify!
Crucify!” (verse 6)?
Why did the Jewish leaders say that Jesus
must die (verse 7)?
In your opinion,
why did Pilate become afraid (verse 8)?
How did Jesus respond
to Pilate’s question (verse 9)?
What power did
Pilate claim (verse 10)?
Who is guilty of “a greater sin” (verse 11)?
What did Pilate
try to do (verse 12)?
Where did Pilate
sit (verse 13)?
What did Pilate tell the Jews (verse 14)?
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, what can we learn from
the different reactions of Jacob, who ask to be blessed after he had wrestled
with God all night in Genesis 32:22-31, and of the chief priests, who after
watching and confronting Jesus for three years said “we have no king but Caesar” in John 19:6-16?
Romans 8:18-28 - New
International Version (NIV)
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth
comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For
the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its
own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that
the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought
into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the
pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only
so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as
we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For
in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes
for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do
not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do
not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us
through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts
knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in
accordance with the will of God.
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
What is not worth comparing “with the glory that will be revealed in us” (verse 18)?
What does the creation wait in eager
expectation for (verse 19)?
In your opinion,
who subjected the creation to frustration (verse 20)?
Who has freedom
and glory (verse 21)?
How is the groaning of the creation
described (verse 22)?
What are “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit” eagerly
waiting for (verse 23)?
In your opinion, who hopes for what they
already have (verse 24)?
How do we wait for what we do not yet have
if we have hope (verse 25)?
Who helps us (verse 26)?
How does the Spirit intercede for us
(verse 26)?
How does the Spirit intercede for God’s
people (verse 27)?
In what things does God work for the good
of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (verse
28)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how is Paul’s statement
in Romans 8:18-28 that “we know that in
all things God works for the good of those who love him” demonstrated by
the anger of the chief priests shown in their words in John 19:6-16?
In
your opinion, how is God struggling with Jacob in Genesis 32:22-31 similar to
the Holy Spirit interceding for the children of God in their prayers as
described by Paul in Romans 8:18-28?
Revelation 2:12-17
– New International Version (NIV)
12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These
are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I
know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name.
You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my
faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are
some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice
the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed
sexual immorality. 15 Likewise, you also have those who hold to
the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore!
Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword
of my mouth.
17 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I
will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known
only to the one who receives it.
Who is sending words to the “angel of the church in Pergamum” (verse 12)?
Where does the church of Pergamum live (verse
13)?
What did the church of Pergamum not do “in the days of Antipas, my faithful
witness, who was put to death in your city” (verse 13)?
Who “taught
Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols
and committed sexual immorality” (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to “hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans”
(verse 15)?
What is the church of Pergamum to do
(verse 16)?
How will Jesus come and fight with “them” (verse 16)?
Who will receive some of the hidden manna
and a white stone with a new name on it (verse 17)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how
could the teaching of Paul in Romans 8:18-28 that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose” have helped the members of the church
of Pergamum to refuse to renounce their faith in Jesus in the time when Antipas
was put to death in Revelation 2:12-17?
In your opinion, how is the choice of the
chief priests in John 19:6-16 who stated that they “have no king but Caesar” and the choice of those who hold to the
teaching of Balaam and to the teaching of the Nicolaitans in Revelation 2:12-17
similar?
In your opinion, what
does the renaming of Jacob in Genesis 32:22-31 help us to understand about the significance
of the victorious Christian in Revelation 2:12-17 receiving a “white stone with a new name written on it,
known only to the one who receives it”?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Genesis, John, Romans and Revelation help us to understand how victory is
found in wrestling God, when God wins?
In your opinion, how
can these passages help us to remain true to Christ in our struggles?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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