-
The
Resting in God’s Service
Joshua 22:1-8 - New
International Version (NIV)
1 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the
Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and said to
them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and you have obeyed me in everything I
commanded. 3 For a long time now—to this very day—you
have not deserted your fellow Israelites but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you. 4 Now
that the Lord your God has given
them rest as he promised, return to your homes in the land that Moses the
servant of the Lord gave you on
the other side of the Jordan. 5 But be very careful to
keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to
him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your
heart and with all your soul.”
6 Then Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to
their homes. 7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had
given land in Bashan, and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on
the west side of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua
sent them home, he blessed them, 8 saying, “Return to
your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock, with silver,
gold, bronze and iron, and a great quantity of clothing—and divide the plunder
from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”
Who
did Joshua summon (verse 1)?
What did he say they had done (verse 2)?
Who had they not deserted (verse 3)?
In your opinion, what did Joshua mean by “the Lord your God has given them rest” (verse
4)?
What are the commandments and laws are the
Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh to be careful to keep (verse
5)?
What did Joshua do before he sent them away (verse 6)?
Who were those that Joshua blessed and sent
home to divide their great wealth with (verse 8)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
Mark
9:33-37 - New International
Version (NIV)
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them,
“What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they
kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants
to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
36 He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child
in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one
of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does
not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
What
did Jesus ask His disciples when they were in the house in Capernaum (verse 33)?
Why did the disciples keep quiet (verse 34)?
In your opinion, why does the person who wants
to be first need to be “the very last,
and the servant of all” (verse 35)?
Who did Jesus place among them (verse 36)?
Who does the person who “welcomes one of these little children in my name” welcome (verse 37)?
Who does the person who “welcomes me” welcome (verse 37)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, how is Jesus’s command in
Mark 9:33-37 to welcome “one of these
little children in my name” an example of how to follow the command of
Joshua to the “Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh” in Joshua 22:1-9 to “love the Lord
your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to
him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul”
?
Acts
12:19b-25 – New
International Version (NIV)
21 On the appointed day
Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public
address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the
voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because
Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he
was eaten by worms and died.
24 But the word of God
continued to spread and flourish.
25 When Barnabas and Saul had
finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John,
also called Mark.
Where
did King Herod go and stay (verse 19b)?
Who had King Herod been quarreling
with (verse 20)?
Why did they ask for peace (verse 20)?
What did King Herod do while he was
wearing his royal robes and sitting on his throne (verse 21)?
In your opinion, why did the people
shout “this is the voice of a god, not of
a man” (verse 22)?
Why did the Lord strike Herod down
(verse 23)?
What “continued to spread and flourish” (verse 24)?
What did Barnabas and Saul finish
(verse 25)?
Who did they take with them to
Jerusalem (verse 25)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does Herod in Acts
12:19b-25 violate the command that Joshua gave to”the Reubenites, the
Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh” in Joshua 22:1-9?
In your opinion, how does Herod’s
attitude in Acts 12:19b-25 and the instructions of Jesus in Mark 9:33-37 conflict?
Hebrews
4:6-16 – New
International Version (NIV)
6 Therefore since it still remains for some to enter that rest, and
since those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in
because of their disobedience, 7 God again set a certain
day, calling it “Today.” This he did when a long time later he spoke through
David, as in the passage already quoted:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts.”
do not harden your hearts.”
8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later
about another day. 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest
for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s
rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let
us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish
by following their example of disobedience.
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any
double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing
in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid
bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into
heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For
we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses,
but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did
not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace
with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our
time of need.
What remains for some to do (verse 6)?
What should people not do when hearing God’s
voice (verse 7)?
In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he
says “if Joshua had given them rest”
(verse 8)?
Who does the Sabbath-rest remain for (verse 9)?
What does the person who enters God’s rest
also do (verse 10)?
What should we make every effort to do (verse 11)?
What does the word of God judge (verse 12)?
How much is “uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give
account” (verse 13)?
In your opinion, why should we “hold firmly to the faith we profess” (verse
14)?
Why can Jesus empathize with our weaknesses
(verse 15)?
How is Jesus different from us (verse 16)?
How can we “approach
Good’s throne of grace” (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, how is the rest that Joshua
said that the Israelite people had in Joshua 22:1-9 different than the rest
that Paul talks about in Hebrews 4:6-16?
In your opinion, how would you explain the
difference between Jesus’s instruction to welcome “one of these little children in my name” in Mark 9:33-37 and
Paul’s warning not to “harden your
hearts” in Hebrews 4:6-16?
In your opinion, what is the difference
between the confidence that Herod had in Acts 12:19b-25 and the confidence that
Paul says that we can have in approaching God’s throne in Hebrews 4:6-16?
In your opinion, how can we welcome little
children in Jesus’s name today?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua,
Mark, Acts, and Hebrews teach us about resting confidently in God’s presence
today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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