October 8, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Suffering People, Burning Bushes and Snatching from the Fire

-            The

Suffering People, Burning Bushes and Snatching from the Fire

Exodus 3:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

⁷ The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. ⁸ So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. ⁹ And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

Whose flock was Moses tending (verse 1)?

Where did Moses take the flock (verse 1)?

How did the angel of the Lord appear to Moses (verse 2)?

What did Moses think he would go and see (verse 3)?

Who called Moses from “within the bush” (verse 4)?

How did Moses answer (verse 4)?

Why was Moses to take off his sandals (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why was Moses afraid to look at God (verse 6)?

What has God seen (verse 7)?

What has God heard (verse 7)?

What is God concerned about (verse 7)?

Who will God rescue them from (verse 8)?

Where will God bring them to (verse 8)?

What has reached God (verse 9)?

What is God sending Moses to do (verse 10)?

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

Luke 3:21-23a - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

²³ Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry.

When was Jesus baptized (verse 21)?

What was Jesus doing when “heaven was opened” (verse 21)?

How did the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus (verse 22)?

What did the Voice from Heaven say (verse 22)?

What did Jesus do when He was “about thirty years old” (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, how are the burning bush in Exodus 3:1-10 and the dove descending in Luke 3:21-23a similar?

Romans 1:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— ² the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures ³ regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, ⁴ and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. ⁵ Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. ⁶ And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who is “called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God” (verse 1)?

What was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures” (verse 2)?

What was Jesus in “his earthly life” (verse 3)?

Who was “appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says he has received “grace and apostleship” through Jesus (verse 5)?

What are the people that Paul is writing called to (verse 6)?

How does Paul bless those in Rome who are “loved by God and called to be his holy people” (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, since we are like the ones in Rome that Paul said were “loved by God and called to be his holy people” in Romans 1:1-7, what can we learn from what the Voice from Heaven said to Jesus “you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” in Luke 3:21-23a?

In your opinion, what can the calling of Moses in Exodus 3:1-10 to “bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt” and the calling of Paul in Romans 1:1-7 to “call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake” teach we who are called to holiness today?

Jude 1:1-4; 17-25 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,

To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

² Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

³ Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. ⁴ For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

²⁴ To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Who is Jude (verse 1)?

Who is Jude writing to (verse 1)?

What does Jude pray for his readers to have “in abundance” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what does Jude mean when he urges his readers to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (verse 3)?

What do the “certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago” do after they slip in among Christians (verse 4)?

Whose words are the friends to remember (verse 17)?

When will scoffers “follow their own ungodly desires” (verse 18)?

What do people who “follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit” do to Christians (verse 19)?

How do Christians “keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ” (verses 20 and 21)?

How should Christians treat those who doubt (verse 22)?

What should Christians hate while showing “mercy, mixed with fear” (verse 23)?

How will Christians be presented “to the only God our Savior” (verses 24 and 25)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jude, who urges in Jude 1:1-4; 17-25 that we “contend for the faith”, help us to understand what it must have been like for Paul who says in Romans 1:1-7 that he was “called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God”?

In your opinion, how does it humble and empower you to be linked to what the Father told Jesus in Luke 3:21-23a “you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” by Jude who says in 1:1-4; 17-25 “to those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ”?

In your opinion, how does Moses who went to the burning bush only to see why it did not burn up and received instructions from God in Exodus 3:1-10 illustrate for us what Jude meant in Jude 1:1-4; 17-25 when he told us to “be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, Romans and Jude teach us about God’s call and our reaction to it?

In your opinion, who are the suffering people, what are our burning bushes, and how does God expect us to “save others by snatching them from the fire” today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)