Interactions
Genesis 31:1-13 –
New International Version (NIV)
1 Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken
everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged
to our father.” 2 And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude
toward him was not what it had been.
3 Then the Lord
said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and
I will be with you.”
4 So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the
fields where his flocks were. 5 He said to them, “I see that
your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my
father has been with me. 6 You know that I’ve worked for your
father with all my strength, 7 yet your father has cheated me
by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. 8 If
he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth
to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then
all the flocks bore streaked young. 9 So God has taken away
your father’s livestock and has given them to me.
10 “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up
and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or
spotted. 11 The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’
I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 12 And he said, ‘Look up and see that
all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for
I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. 13 I am the
God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now
leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”
Who was saying “Jacob has taken everything our father owned
and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father” (verse 1)?
What was “not what it had been” (verse 2)?
Where did the Lord
tell Jacob to go (verse 3)?
In your opinion,
why did Jacob ask for Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his
flocks were (verse 4)?
Whose God has been
with Jacob (verse 5)?
How does Jacob say
he worked for Laban (verse 6)?
How has Laban
cheated Jacob (verse 7)?
Who has taken away
Laban’s livestock and given them to Jacob (verse 9)?
Where did Jacob
see the streaked, speckled or spotted male goats (verse 10)?
Who spoke to Jacob
(verse 11)?
What did Jacob say
that God had seen (verse 12)?
What does God
remind Jacob that he did at Bethel (verse 13)?
Where is Jacob to
go (verse 13)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
John 5:1-10 - New
International Version (NIV)
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the
Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep
Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by
five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled
people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been
an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying
there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked
him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into
the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else
goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The
day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the
Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law
forbids you to carry your mat.”
Why did Jesus go
to Jerusalem (verse 1)?
Where is the pool called Bethesda (verse 2)?
Who was beside the
pool (verse 3)?
How old was the
invalid who was there (verse 5)?
What did Jesus ask
the invalid (verse 6)?
In your opinion,
why did the invalid answer with “sir, I
have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred” instead of “yes” (verse 7)?
Does Jesus tell
the man he will be cured (verse 8)?
What does Jesus
tell the man to do (verse 8)?
When is the man cured (verse 9)?
What does the man do (verse 9)?
When did this healing happen (verse 9)?
Who tells the man “it is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat” (verse
10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, what is similar about God
telling Jacob to “go back to your native
land” in Genesis 31:1-13 and Jesus telling the invalid to “pick up you mat and walk” in John
5:1-10?
Romans 12:9-18 - New
International Version (NIV)
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is
good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another
above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your
spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope,
patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the
Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice
with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in
harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with
people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is
right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as
it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
What must be sincere (verse 9)?
How should we respond to evil (verse 9)?
How should we
respond to good (verse 9)?
Who should we “be devoted to” in love (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when
he says to “keep your spiritual fervor”
(verse 11)?
How should we hope (verse 12)?
How should we respond to affliction (verse
12)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to be “faithful in prayer” (verse 12)?
Who should we share with (verse 13)?
What should we do for those who persecute
us (verse 14)?
How should we act when we are with those
who mourn (verse 15)?
Who should we “be willing to associate with” (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when
he says “do not repay anyone evil for
evil” (verse 17)?
When are we to “live at peace with everyone” (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how would Paul who said to
“rejoice with those who rejoice” in
Romans 12:9-18 react to the Pharisees who criticize the invalid carrying has
mat on the Sabbath in John 5:1-10?
In
your opinion, how does the relationship of Jacob and Laban in Genesis 31:1-13
demonstrate what happens when you don’t follow Paul’s instruction in Romans
12:9-18 “do not repay anyone evil for
evil”?
Revelation 11:15-19
– New International Version (NIV)
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud
voices in heaven, which said:
“The
kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones
before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:
“We
give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his
temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
Who sounded his trumpet (verse 15)?
What has become the “kingdom of our Lord and or his Messiah” (verse 15)?
How did the twenty-four elders respond (verse
16)?
Why are they giving thanks to the Lord God
Almighty (verse 17)?
Who were angry (verse 18)?
What will happen to the dead (verse 18)?
What will happen to the prophets and the
people who revere God’s name (verse 18)?
Who will be destroyed (verse 18)?
What was opened (verse 19)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, what
do Paul’s instructions in Romans 12:9-18 show us about the people that are
described in Revelation 11:15-19 as “your
people who revere your name”?
In your opinion, how does the invalid’s
response to Jesus question “do you want
to get well” and his reaction to Jesus instruction to “get up” in John 5:1-10 help us to understand the difference
between those who belong to the “kingdom
of the world” and to the “kingdom of
our Lord and of his Messiah” in Revelation 11:15-19?
In your opinion, why
does God who in Revelation 11:15-19 is identified as the one who has caused the
“kingdom of the world” to become His
kingdom identify Himself to Jacob in Genesis 31:1-13 as the “God of Bethel”?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Genesis, John, Romans and Revelation help us understand about how God
changed everything by breaking the cycle of responding to evil with evil by
sending Christ as our Savior?
In your opinion, how
do these passages guide our reaction to God and to each other?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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