January 14, 2018 – Moses and Jesus and Us – Not Heirs to Gold, but to Hope

Not Heirs to Gold, but to Hope

Exodus 32:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. ⁸ They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’

Who did the people gather around when Moses was a long time “in coming down from the mountain” (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what are they asking for when they say “make us gods who will go before us” (verse 1)?

What did Aaron ask for to make this god (verse 2)?

How did the people respond to the idol Aaron “cast in the shape of a calf” and fashioned with a tool (verse 4)?

What did Aaron build in front of the calf (verse 5)?

What did the people do before they “sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry” (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why does God tell Moses that the people “have become corrupt” (verse 7)?

What have the people turned away from (verse 8)?

Who have the people said brought them out of Egypt (verse 8)?

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

Luke 23:13-25 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶ Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.”

¹⁸ But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” ¹⁹ (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

²⁰ Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. ²¹ But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

²² For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”

²³ But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided to grant their demand. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

Who did Pilate call together (verse 13)?

What basis has Pilate found to charge Jesus (verse 14)?

Who sent Jesus back to Pilate because he did not find anything to charge him with (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why does Pilate indicate that he will punish and then release Jesus (verse 16)?

What did the crowd shout (verse 18)?

Why was Barabbas in prison (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why does Pilate want to release Jesus (verse 20)?

What did the chief priests, the rulers and the people shout (verse 21)?

What grounds did Pilate find for the death penalty (verse 22)?

What did the crowd insist on (verse 23)?

What did Pilate decide (verse 24)?

Who was released (verse 25)?

What happened to Jesus (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, how is demanding the crucifixion of Jesus in Luke 23:13-25 similar to creating and worshiping the golden calf in Exodus 32:1-8?

Galatians 4:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. ² The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. ³ So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. ⁴ But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. ⁶ Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

When is an heir like a slave (verse 1)?

How is the heir different from the slave (verse 1)?

Who is the heir subject to (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “when we were underage” (verse 3)?

Who did God send “when the time had fully come” (verse 4)?

What were the redeemed, who had been under the law, to receive (verse 5)?

Who has been sent into our hearts (verse 6)?

What has God made us (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, how do you feel when realize that the one Paul says in Galatians 4:1-7 was God’s Son who came to “redeem those under the law” was the one in Luke 23:13-25 about whom those who were slaves to the law and in need of redeeming were chanting “crucify him”?

In your opinion, what can we learn by knowing that the ones Paul says in Galatians 4:1-7 are “in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world” are the ones who also insisted in Exodus 32:1-8 that Aaron “make us gods who will go before us”?

1 Peter 1:13-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

What should our minds be like when we set our hope on the grace to be brought when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming (verse 13)?

How should we act as “obedient children” (verse 14)?

Who is holy (verse 15)?

What is written (verse 16)?

How are we to “live out your time as foreigners here” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why are silver or gold called “perishable things” (verse 18)?

What has the “precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” accomplished (verses 18 and 19)?

When was Christ chosen (verse 20)?

How do we believe in God (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what does 1 Peter 1:13-21 reveal about how God accomplished the process of redeeming slaves and making them heirs that Paul wrote about in Galatians 4:1-7?

In your opinion, how does Peter’s statement that we “believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” in 1 Peter 1:13-21 help us understand the victory that we the redeemed have over the same evil desires the chief priests, rulers and people of Luke 23:13-25 who shouted “crucify him” had?

In your opinion, how does the contrast between Aaron gathering the golden earrings to make the golden calf who “are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” in Exodus 32:1-8 and Peter explaining how Christians are redeemed from “the empty way of life” by the “precious blood of Christ” in 1 Peter 1:13-21 help us comprehend the magnitude of what God has accomplished?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Luke, Galatians, and 1 Peter reveal to us about our need for “the precious blood of Christ”?

In your opinion, how should each of us who have been redeemed from the “empty way of life” move forward with our faith and hope in God?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)