December 10, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Fed and Proclaiming

-            The

Fed and Proclaiming

Exodus 16:2-15 - New International Version (NIV)

² In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. ³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” ⁸ Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”

⁹ Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”

¹⁰ While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”

¹³ That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

Who did “the whole community” grumble against (verse 2)?

What did the Israelites claim they had in Egypt (verse 3)?

How did the Lord test the people (verse 4)?

What is to be different about the sixth day (verse 5)?

When will the Israelites know that the Lord brought them out of Egypt (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why does the Lord react to the Israelites grumbling by displaying His glory (verse 7)?

Who are the Israelites grumbling against (verse 8)?

Why is the “entire Israelite community” supposed to “come before the Lord” (verse 9)?

What appeared in the cloud (verse 10)?

When will they eat meat (verse 12)?

What will fill them in the morning (verse 12)?

Where was the layer of dew in the morning (verse 13)?

What appeared when the dew was gone (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did the Israelites ask “what is it” (verse 15)?

Who did Moses say gave them the bread to eat (verse 15)?

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

Luke 9:12-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹² Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”

¹³ He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” ¹⁴ (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. ¹⁶ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. ¹⁷ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

When did the Twelve come to Jesus (verse 12)?

Why did they want Jesus to “send the crowd away” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus say “you give them something to eat” (verse 13)?

What did the Twelve have (verse 13)?

How many men were there (verse 14)?

What did everyone do (verse 15)?

Where did Jesus look when He “gave thanks and broke them” (verse 16)?

Who distributed the bread and fish to the people (verse 16)?

What did the disciples do after the people ate enough to be satisfied (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, does the fact that in Exodus 16:2-15 the Lord provided quail and manna to the grumbling Israelites in the desert and in Luke 9:12-17 Jesus and the disciples provided bread and fish to the five thousand in the remote area teach us?

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – New International Version (NIV)

²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

What has Paul passed on (verse 23)?

When did the Lord Jesus take the bread (verse 23)?

What did Jesus do before He broke the bread (verse 24)?

In your opinion, what did Jesus mean by “this is my body, which is for you” (verse 24)?

When did Jesus take the cup (verse 25)?

What is the cup (verse 25)?

When do we “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, why does Jesus tell the Twelve to give the crowd something to eat in Luke 9:12-17 but Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 that Jesus instructs us to eat the bread “in remembrance of me”?

In your opinion, how are the bread that Moses says the people are to eat in Exodus 16:2-15 and the bread that Jesus instructs us to eat through Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 similar?

2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. ⁷ For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, ⁸ nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. ⁹ We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. ¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

¹¹ We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. ¹² Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. ¹³ And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.

In whose name does Paul command believers to “keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive” (verse 6)?

When was Paul not idle (verse 7)?

Why did Paul work “night and day, laboring and toiling” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why would Paul have had “the right to such help” (verse 9)?

What rule did Paul have when he was with the Thessalonians (verse 10)?

What are the ones who are not busy (verse 11)?

Who is urged to “settle down and earn the food they eat” (verses 11 and 12)?

What are the “brothers and sisters” never to tire of (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what is the difference between the believer of 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 who is proclaiming the “Lord’s death until he comes” and the believer in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 that Paul gives the rule “the one who is unwilling to work shall not eat”?

In your opinion, how is Paul’s instruction in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 to “never tire of doing what is good” demonstrated in the story of the bread and fish found in Luke 9:12-17?

In your opinion, how does the Lord’s statement that He will “test them and see whether they will follow my instructions” prior to covering the ground with manna in Exodus 16:2-15 support Paul’s instruction in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12 that the idle and disruptive are to “settle down and earn the food they eat”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, 1 Corinthians, and 2 Thessalonians teach us about proclaiming “the Lord’s death until he comes”?

In your opinion, what could those who Paul said weren’t to eat if they didn’t work, including us today, learn from the Lord’s example of giving thanks before breaking bread?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

December 3, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Salvations and Transformations

Salvations and Transformations

Exodus 14:21-31 - New International Version (NIV)

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, ²² and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

²³ The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. ²⁴ During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. ²⁵ He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”

²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. ²⁸ The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

²⁹ But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. ³⁰ That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. ³¹ And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

What did the Lord do when Moses “stretched out his hand over the sea” (verse 21)?

Where did the Israelites go (verse 22)?

In your opinion, how would the individual Egyptian soldier have felt about pursuing the Israelites through the sea (verse 23)?

Who threw the Egyptian army into confusion (verse 24)?

How did the Lord make it difficult for the Egyptian chariots (verse 25)?

What did the Lord tell Moses to do to cause the waters flow back over “the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen” (verse 26)?

When did the sea go “back to its place” (verse 27)?

How many of the Egyptian army survived (verse 28)?

What was the sea like when the Israelites went through (verse 29)?

Who saved Israel from the Egyptians (verse 30)?

How did the Israelites react to the Lord (verse 31)?

How did the Israelites react to Moses (verse 31)?

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

Luke 7:11-17 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. ¹² As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

¹⁴ Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵ The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶ They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” ¹⁷ This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

Who went to Nain (verse 11)?

What was happening when they approached the town gate (verse 12)?

How did Jesus react to the widow (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why would Jesus tell the widow “don’t cry” (verse 13)?

What did Jesus touch (verse 14)?

What did Jesus tell the dead man (verse 14)?

What did the dead man do (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus give the dead man back to his mother (verse 15)?

Who did the people think had come (verse 16)?

What spread “throughout Judea and the surrounding country” (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how is God jamming the wheels of the chariots and then destroying them in Exodus 14:21-31 similar to Jesus confronting the death of the young man from Nain and then restoring him to his mother in Luke 7:11-17?

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

What “cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (verse 50)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says the perishable does not “inherit the imperishable” (verse 50)?

Who will “be changed” (verse 51)?

When will the dead be raised imperishable (verse 52)?

What must the mortal clothe itself with (verse 53)?

What saying will come true when “the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable” (verse 54)?

In your opinion, where is death’s victory (verse 55)?

What is the power of sin (verse 56)?

How does God give us the victory (verse 57)?

How should “brothers and sisters” stand (verse 58)?

Why should we always give ourselves “fully to the work of the Lord” (verse 58)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus victory over the death of the young man in Luke 7:11-17 differ from the victory through Jesus over death that Paul proclaims in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58?

In your opinion, how is God saving the people of Israel by parting the sea and bringing them through on dry land in Exodus 14:21-31 a foreshadowing of what will happen when the trumpet sounds and “the dead will be raised imperishable” as proclaimed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Why does Paul not want the Thessalonians to “be uninformed about those who sleep in death” (verse 13)?

What do we believe about Jesus (verse 14)?

Who will God bring with Jesus (verse 14)?

What will those who are still alive at the “coming of the Lord” not do (verse 15)?

When will the dead in Christ rise (verse 16)?

Who will be caught up together (verse 17)?

What should Christians do “with these words” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what do 1 Corinthians 15:50-58 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 teach us about what happens for Christians after the trumpet sounds and the Lord comes down?

In your opinion, how do Paul’s instructions in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 allow Christians to react differently to the death of a loved one than the widow from Nain who had lost her only son in Luke 7:11-17?

In your opinion, how will the power that the Lord displayed in saving the Israelites from the Egyptians in Exodus 14:21-31 compare to the power that will be displayed when the trumpet sounds and Christians are called to meet the Lord in the air as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians demonstrate about the Lord’s ability to save?

In your opinion, how should understanding salvation, the future transformation, and ascension of Christians change our attitudes today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 26, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Philosophy and Worship

-            The

Philosophy and Worship

Exodus 12:31-39 - New International Version (NIV)

³¹ During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. ³² Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”

³³ The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” ³⁴ So the people took their dough before the yeast was added, and carried it on their shoulders in kneading troughs wrapped in clothing. ³⁵ The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. ³⁶ The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

³⁷ The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. ³⁸ Many other people went up with them, and also large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. ³⁹ With the dough the Israelites had brought from Egypt, they baked loaves of unleavened bread. The dough was without yeast because they had been driven out of Egypt and did not have time to prepare food for themselves.

Who tells Moses to leave and “worship the Lord as you have requested” (verse 31)?

What are the Israelites to take with them (verse 32)?

In your opinion, why does the Pharaoh ask Moses to bless him (verse 32)?

Why did the Egyptians urge the people to “hurry and leave the country” (verse 33)?

How did the Israelites carry their dough (verse 34)?

What did the Israelites ask the Egyptians for (verse 35)?

Who made the Egyptians “favorably disposed” to the Israelites (verse 36)?

How many Israelite men were there (verse 37)?

In your opinion, who were the “many other people” who left with the Israelites (verse 38)?

What did they use to bake their “loaves of unleavened bread” (verse 39)?

Why was the dough without yeast (verse 39)?

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

Luke 6:17-23 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, ¹⁹ and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

²⁰ Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
²¹ Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
²² Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.

Who was with Jesus (verse 17)?

Why had they come (verse 18)?

Why did people try to touch Jesus (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus look at the disciples when He said “blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (verse 20)?

What will disciples “who weep now” do (verse 21)?

What will disciples be “when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man” (verse 22)?

How should disciples behave when they are hated, excluded and rejected (verse 23)?

How were the prophets treated (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that when the Israelite people left their slavery in Egypt to begin the process of becoming a nation in Exodus 12:31-39 there were “many other people” with them; and that after all the disciples were gathered, in Luke 6:17-23, and Jesus began teaching there were people from Jerusalem and Judea and “the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon” with Him?

Colossians 2:6-15 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

How are the Colossians to “continue to live” (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be “rooted and built up in” Jesus (verse 7)?

What does the “hollow and deceptive philosophy” that can take Christians captive depend on (verse 8)?

Where does the “fullness of the Deity” live (verse 9)?

What are Colossian Christians (and Christians today) brought to “in Christ” (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the circumcision that is “not performed by human hands” (verse 11)?

What happens to the “whole self ruled by the flesh” in baptism (verses 11 and 12)?

How is the Christian who has been baptized “raised with him” (verse 12)?

What does God do for those who were dead in sins when He makes them “alive with Christ” (verse 13)?

What has God done with our “legal indebtedness” (verse 14)?

Who has God made a “public spectacle” of (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, how are Paul’s instructions in Colossians 2:6-15 to “continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” connected to the blessings that Jesus proclaimed in Luke 6:17-23 to the poor, hungry, weeping and hated?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the Israelite people in Exodus 12:31-39 who left in a hurry with the unbaked bread dough about how Christian’s should follow Paul’s command in Colossians 2:6-15 to “just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him”?

1 Timothy 6:11-16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

What does Paul tell Timothy, who he calls “man of God”, to pursue (verse 11)?

When was Timothy called to eternal life (verse 12)?

Who gives life to everything (verse 13)?

How long is Timothy to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (verse 14)?

What will God “bring about in his own time” (verses 14 and 15)?

Who “lives in unapproachable light” (verses 15 and 16)?

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

In your opinion, how do Paul’s instructions to Timothy to “flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 help us understand how to follow his instruction in Colossians 2:6-11 to “see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world”?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s instruction to Timothy to “take hold of the eternal life to which you were called” in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 help us to understand how Jesus’s promise to the poor, hungry, weeping and hated in Luke 6:17-23 is fulfilled?

In your opinion, how are the Israelites leaving Egypt in Exodus 12:31-39 an example for those us when we try to obey Paul’s instructions in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 to flee and pursue?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, Colossians, and 1 Timothy teach us about leaving slavery and taking hold of eternal life today?

In your opinion, how can we truly leave behind “hollow and deceptive philosophy” and “worship the Lord”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

November 19, 2017 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Hard Hearts or New Attitudes

Hard Hearts or New Attitudes

Exodus 7:14-24 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. ¹⁶ Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.

²² But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. ²³ Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.

What does the Pharaoh’s refusal to let the people go show about his heart (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why is it significant that Moses was to confront the Pharaoh at the Nile (verse 15)?

Who has the Pharaoh not listened to (verse 16)?

What will the Pharaoh know when the water turns to blood after Moses strikes it with his staff (verse 17)?

How will things change when the water in the Nile turns to blood (verse 18)?

What will happen when Aaron takes his staff and stretches his hand over the waters of Egypt (verse 19)?

How did Moses and Aaron react to the Lord’s command (verse 20)?

What happened when the water changed into blood (verse 21)?

What did the Egyptian magicians do (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why did the Pharaoh “not take even this to heart” (verse 23)?

How did the Egyptians get drinking water (verse 24)?

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

Luke 5:17-26 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick. ¹⁸ Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹ When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

²⁰ When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

²² Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” ²⁵ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. ²⁶ Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, “We have seen remarkable things today.”

Who was listening to Jesus teach (verse 17)?

What power of the Lord was with Jesus (verse 17)?

What did the men carrying the paralyzed man on the mat try to do (verse 18)?

Why did the men take the paralyzed man up on the roof (verse 19)?

How did Jesus respond to the faith of those who carried the paralyzed man (verse 20)?

In your opinion, were the Pharisees and teachers of the law right when they thought “who can forgive sins but God alone” (verse 21)?

What did Jesus know (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask “which is easier: to say, ‘your sins are forgiven,” or to say ‘get up and walk’?” (verse 23)?

How does Jesus prove to the Pharisees and teachers of the law that He has the “authority on earth to forgive sins” (verse 24)?

What did the paralyzed man do on his way home (verse 25)?

Who was amazed and praised God (verse 26)?

With what were they filled (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, why is the Pharaoh’s reaction to God demonstrating that He is Lord by turning the water to blood in Exodus 7:14-24 different than the people who heard Jesus forgive sins and then prove His authority to do so by healing the paralyzed man in Luke 5:17-26?

Ephesians 4:17-24 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

How does Paul say the Gentiles live (verse 17)?

Why are the Gentiles “separated from the life of God” (verse 18)?

What caused the Gentiles to give “themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity” (verse 19)?

When did the Ephesian Christians learn a new way of life (verses 20 and 21)?

What were the Ephesian Christians taught about their “former way of life” (verse 22)?

How are the Ephesian Christians to “be made new” (verse 23)?

Who is the new self to be created like (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, how does the man who was paralyzed before the forgiveness of his sins and the picks up his mat and carries it home after the forgiveness of his sins in Luke 5:17-26 help illustrate Paul’s discussion of the ‘old self’ and the ‘new self’ in Ephesians 4:17-24?

In your opinion, how is the loss of sensitivity that leads to the hardening of the heart that Paul warns against in Ephesians 4:17-24 demonstrated by Pharaoh’s reaction to the confrontation he had with God at the Nile in Exodus 7:14-24?

1 John 1:5-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

What message does John declare (verse 5)?

When do we lie and “not live out the truth” (verse 6)?

How are we purified if we walk in the light (verse 7)?

In your opinion, how is claiming to be without sin deceiving ourselves (verse 8)?

What will the One who is “faithful and just” do if we confess our sins (verse 9)?

What is not in us if we claim we have not sinned (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, what does 1 John 1:5-10 reveal about the difference between sinfulness in the old and new selves that Paul talked about in Ephesians 4:17-24?

In your opinion, how is the forgiveness of the paralyzed man by Jesus, which was proven by his picking up his mat and walking home praising God in Luke 5:17-26, similar to the change in one who, according to 1 John 1:5-10, confesses their sins, is purified by the blood of Jesus, and walks in the light?

In your opinion, how are those who John says deceive themselves because they claim to be without sin in 1 John 1:5-10 similar to the Pharaoh who would not listen to God in Exodus 7:14-24?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, Ephesians, and 1 John teach us about walking in the darkness and walking in the light?

In your opinion, how can we avoid the hard heart of the old self and have a new attitude and a new self?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)