Destroy to Build
2 Chronicles 36:15-23 - New International Version (NIV)
15 The Lord, the God of
their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again,
because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But
they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets
until the wrath of the Lord was
aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He
brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men
with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women,
the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He
carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and
small, and the treasures of the Lord’s
temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They
set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all
the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the
sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of
Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath
rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were
completed in fulfillment of the word of the Lord
spoken by Jeremiah.
22 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the
word of the Lord spoken by
Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart
of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to
put it in writing:
23 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me
all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him
at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”
Why
did the “Lord, the God of their ancestors”
send word through his messengers “again
and again” (verse 15)?
How did the people respond to God’s messengers
(verse 16)?
Into whose hands did God give the people (verse
17)?
What was carried into Babylon (verse 18)?
What happened to the temple and the wall of
Jerusalem (verse 19)?
Who was carried “into exile to Babylon” (verse 20)?
In your opinion, what does “the land enjoyed its sabbath rests” mean
(verse 21)?
Why did “Cyrus
king of Persia” make a proclamation (verse 22)?
What had the Lord appointed Cyrus to do (verse
23)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
Zechariah
1:18-21 - New International
Version (NIV)
18 Then I looked up, and there before me were four horns. 19 I
asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these?”
He answered me, “These are
the horns that scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.”
20 Then the Lord showed
me four craftsmen. 21 I asked, “What are these coming to
do?”
He answered, “These are
the horns that scattered Judah so that no one could raise their head, but the
craftsmen have come to terrify them and throw down these horns of the nations
who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter its people.”
What
did Zechariah see when he looked up (verse 18)?
Who did he ask “what are these” (verse 19)?
How was his question answered (verse 19)?
Then what did the Lord show Zechariah (verse 20)?
In your opinion, why did Zechariah ask “What are these coming to do” (verse 21)?
What had the horns done (verse 21)?
What were the craftsmen going to do (verse 21)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, do you think Zechariah could
have anticipated that the one of the craftsmen from Zecharian 1:18-21 would be
the mighty king of Persia, who would claim that the Lord “has appointed me to to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah” in
2 Chronicles 36:15-23?
John
2:18-25 – New
International Version (NIV)
18 The Jews then responded to
him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
19 Jesus answered them,
“Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
20 They replied, “It has
taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in
three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his
body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his
disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the
words that Jesus had spoken.
23 Now while he was in
Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing
and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust
himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not
need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
What
did the Jews ask Jesus (verse 18)?
How did Jesus answer (verse 19)?
In your opinion, why did the Jews
misunderstand His answer (verse 20)?
What temple had Jesus spoken of (verse 21)?
When did the disciples recall what
Jesus had said (verse 22)?
When did the disciples believe “the scripture and the words that Jesus had
spoken” (verse 22)?
What happened when Jesus was “in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival”
(verse 23)?
Why did Jesus not “entrust himself to them” (verse 24)?
What did Jesus know (verse 25)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, why did Jesus, who used
Nebuchadnezzer and Cyrus to accomplish His purposes in 2 Chronicles 36:15-23
not only prophsy in John 2:18-25 that the Jews would “destroy this temple” but then later allow them to do exactly that?
In your opinion, what does the Lord
being able to control the nations in Zechariah 1:18-21 and the disciples
remembering that Jesus promised to raise the temple, His body, “in three days” after He was raised from
the dead in John 2:18-25 help you understand about Jesus?
1
Peter 2:4-10 – New
International Version (NIV)
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen
by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living
stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy
priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who
do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
has become the cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they
disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once
you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received
mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Who rejected the “living stone” (verse 4)?
Who chose the “living stone” (verse 4)?
What does Peter say that God’s elect, who he
wrote 1 Peter 2:4-10 to, are and are being built into (verse 5)?
Who “will
never be put to shame” (verse 6)?
What is precious “to you who believe” (verse 7)?
Why do people stumble over the stone (verse 8)?
In your opinion, what does Peter mean by “him who called you out of darkness into his
wonderful light” (verse 9)?
What are God’s elect (verse 10)?
What have God’s elect received (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, which is the greater
accomplishment of God, the controlling of the kings and the nations that we see
in 2 Chronicles 36:15-23 or the creation of a spiritual house made up of living
stones that Peter proclaims in 1 Peter 2:4-10?
Why do you think it is greater?
In your opinion, what has changed the course
of human history the most, the horns and craftsmen of Zechariah 1:18-21 or the
stone of 1 Peter 2:4-10? How do you
explain why you answered this way?
In your opinion, how is Jesus’s fulfillmet of
the promise to rebuild the temple that is His body in John 2:18-25 similar to
those who come to Jesus, the living Stone, being built into a “spiritual house” in 1 Peter 2:4-10?
In your opinion, what do these passages from 2
Chronicles, Zechariah, John and 1 Peter show us about God’s sovereignty over
those who come to Him and also those who reject Him?
In your opinion, what does it take to be part
of building the “spiritual house” that
God is building?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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