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)