Persecution
and Victory
Genesis 37:14-28 –
New International Version (NIV)
14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your
brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off
from the Valley of Hebron.
When
Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around
in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me
where they are grazing their flocks?”
17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard
them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”
So
Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But
they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill
him.
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come
now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a
ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their
hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any
blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand
on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his
father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of
his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him
and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in
it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a
caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with
spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill
our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to
the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our
own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled
Joseph up out of the cistern
and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the
Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
What did Jacob ask
Joseph to do (verse 14)?
Where was Joseph
when the man ask him “what are you
looking for” (verse 15)?
Who was Joseph
looking for (verse 16)?
Where did Joseph
find his brothers (verse 17)?
In your opinion,
why did Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him (verse 18)?
What did they call
Joseph (verse 19)?
How did they plan
to get away with killing Joseph (verse 20)?
Who tried to
rescue Joseph (verse 21)?
Why did Reuben say
not to shed any blood (verse 22)?
In your opinion,
why did they strip off the ornate robe that Joseph was wearing (verse 23)?
Where did they
throw Joseph (verse 24)?
Who did they see
coming from Gilead (verse 25)?
Who spoke up and
suggested that the brothers could gain if the sold their brother (verses 26 and
27)?
How much did they
sell Joseph for (verse 28)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
John 18:1-13 - New
International Version (NIV)
1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples
and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and
his disciples went into it.
2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus
had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the
garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief
priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.
4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out
and asked them, “Who is it you want?”
5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I
am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When
Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”
“Jesus
of Nazareth,” they said.
8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking
for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the
words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave
me.”
10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the
high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was
Malchus.)
11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not
drink the cup the Father has given me?”
12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the
Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought
him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that
year.
When did Jesus and
the disciples cross the Kidron Valley (verse 1)?
How did Judas know the place (verse 2)?
Who did Judas
guide into the garden (verse 3)?
What did Jesus
know about what was going to happen (verse 4)?
Where was Judas
when Jesus said “I am he” (verse 5)?
How did the people
respond when Jesus said “I am he”
(verse 6)?
What did Jesus
request (verse 8)?
Why did “this” happen (verse 9)?
In your opinion,
why did Simon Peter strike the servant of the high priest (verse 10)?
What command did
Jesus give to Peter (verse 11)?
Who arrested Jesus (verse 12)?
Where did they take Jesus (verse 13)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, what is similar between
the brothers who put Joseph into the cistern in Genesis 37:14-28 and Judas, who
guided the detachment of soldiers and the officials to Jesus in John 18:1-13?
Romans 8:31-39 - New
International Version (NIV)
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God
is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his
own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him,
graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge
against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who
then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who
was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or
persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it
is written:
“For
your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through
him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
In your opinion, “if
God is for us” can anyone be against us (verse 31)?
What did God give up for us (verse 32)?
Who justifies
(verse 33)?
Who condemns (verse
34)?
Where is Christ Jesus (verse 34)?
What is Christ Jesus doing (verse 34)?
In your opinion, can “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or
sword” actually separate us from the love of Christ (verse 35)?
What is it written that we will face “all day long” (verse 36)?
How are we “more than conquerors” (verse 37)?
What does Paul think that “neither death nor live, neither angel nor
demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation” will be un able to do (verses 38
and 39)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, what does Romans 8:31-39
help us understand about why Jesus, in John 18:1-13, repeatedly ask “who is it you want” and commanded Peter
to put away his sword?
In
your opinion, how would Joseph, when he was being led off by the Ishmaelites in
Genesis 37:14-28, have answered Paul’s question in Romans 8:31-39 “if God is for us, who can be against us”
and how would he have answered the question years later when his brothers came
to him for food?
Revelation 2:8-11 –
New International Version (NIV)
8 “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These
are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life
again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are
rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but
are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are
about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test
you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the
point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.
11 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the
churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second
death.
How did Jesus describe Himself (verse 8)?
In your opinion, how can Jesus know “your afflictions and your poverty” and
still say that the Christians of Smyrna are rich (verse 9)?
What are the Christians in Smyrna not to
be afraid of (verse 10)?
Who will put some of the Christians in
Smyrna into prison (verse 10)?
How long are the Christians in Smyrna to “be faithful” (verse 10)?
What will Jesus give the ones who remain
faithful (verse 10)?
Who will not be hurt “at all by the second death” (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message
of this passage?
In your opinion, how
does Jesus in Revelation 2:8-11 answer the question that Paul asks in Romans
8:31-39, “if God is for us, who could be
against us”?
In your opinion, how does the promise of
Jesus “be faithful, even to the point of
death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown” to the Christians
of Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11 help support the statement “I have not lost one of those you gave me” that John attributes to
Jesus in John 18:1-13?
In your opinion, how
would Jesus’ statement in Revelation 2:8-11 to the Christians of Smyrna “Do not be afraid of what you are about to
suffer. I tell you, the devil will put
some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten
days” also have been appropriate for Joseph prior to what happens to him in
Genesis 37:14-28?
In your opinion, what do these passages
from Genesis, John, Romans and Revelation help us understand about persecution?
In your opinion, how
can these passages help us overcome the fear of suffering?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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