-
The
From Judgment to
Mercy
Jeremiah 25:4-14 - New International Version (NIV)
4 And though the Lord
has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not
listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, “Turn now,
each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in
the land the Lord gave to you and
your ancestors for ever and ever. 6 Do not follow other
gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands
have made. Then I will not harm you.”
7 “But you did not listen to me,” declares the Lord, “and you have aroused my anger
with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”
8 Therefore the Lord
Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I
will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of
Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and
I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the
surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an
object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I
will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and
bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This
whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve
the king of Babylon seventy years.
12 “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king
of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,”
declares the Lord, “and will make
it desolate forever. 13 I will bring on that land all
the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and
prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. 14 They
themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them
according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”
Who
had the people “not listened or paid any
attention” to (verse 4)?
What did the people have to do to “stay in the land the Lord gave to you and
your ancestors for ever and ever” (verse 5)?
In your opinion, what does God mean by the
instruction “do not arouse my anger with
what your hands have made” (verse 6)?
How did the people bring “harm to yourselves” (verse 7)?
Who will the Lord Almighty summon “against this land and its inhabitants and
against all the surrounding nations” (verses 8 and 9)?
What will the Lord banish from the lands (verse 10)?
How long will the country be a “desolate wasteland” (verse 11)?
What will happen “when the seventy years are fulfilled” (verse 12)?
How will the Babylonians be repaid (verse 14)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
Zechariah
1:7-14 - New International
Version (NIV)
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the month of
Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berekiah, the son
of Iddo.
8 During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man
mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine.
Behind him were red, brown and white horses.
9 I asked, “What are these, my lord?”
The angel who was talking
with me answered, “I will show you what they are.”
10 Then the man standing among the myrtle trees explained, “They are
the ones the Lord has sent to go
throughout the earth.”
11 And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone
throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord
said, “Lord Almighty, how long
will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you
have been angry with these seventy years?” 13 So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to
the angel who talked with me.
14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word:
This is what the Lord Almighty
says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, 15 and
I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry,
but they went too far with the punishment.’
16 “Therefore this is what the Lord
says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be
rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares
the Lord Almighty.
17 “Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity,
and the Lord will again comfort
Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”
What
happened “on the twenty-fourth day of the
eleventh month, the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius” (verse 7)?
Where was the “man mounted on a red horse” that Zechariah saw in the vision (verse
8)?
Who answered Zechariah’s question “What are these” by saying “I will show you what they are” (verse 9)?
Who explaind “they are the ones the Lord has sent to go throughout the earth” (verse
10)?
What did they report about the world (verse 11)?
How long had the Lord Almighty been angry with
Jerusalem and the towns of Judah (verse 12)?
How did the Lord speak to the angel who was
talking to Jeremiah (verse 13)?
What was Zechariah to say about how the Lord
Almighty felt about Jerusalem and Zion (verse 14)?
Why was the Lord Almighty angry with “the nations that feel secure” (verse
15)?
How will the Lord Almighty “return to Jerusalem” (verse 16)?
What does the Lord Almighty say will overflow
in “my towns” (verse 17)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, what has happened to the
prophcy of Jeremiah 25:4-14 by the time Zechariah receives the prophcy of
Zechariah 1:7-14?
John
12:31-36 – New International
Version (NIV)
31 Now is the time for
judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And
I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He
said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
34 The crowd spoke up, “We
have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you
say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
35 Then Jesus told them, “You
are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the
light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know
where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you
have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished
speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
What
time does Jesus say it is (verse 31)?
Who will be driven out (verse 31)?
In your opinion, what does Jesus mean
when He says “and I, when I am lifted up
from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (verse 32)?
Why did He say this (verse 33)?
What had the crowd “heard from the Law” (verse 34)?
In your opinion, what did Jesus mean
when He instructed “You are going to have
the light just a little while longer.
Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you.”
(verse 35)?
What happens if we “believe in the light while you have the light”
(verse 36)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is the judgment of the
Lord Almighty in Jeremiah 25:4-14 different from the judgment Jesus declares in
John 12:31-36?
In your opinion, how does the fact
that Zechariah had a vision in the night, or dark, in Zechariah 1:7-14 help us
understand about the statement that Jesus makes “walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you” in
John 12:31-36?
Ephesians
2:1-10 – New International
Version (NIV)
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in
which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the
ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one
time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires
and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But
because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made
us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace
you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ
and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in
order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his
grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For
it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from
yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so
that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us
to do.
What state were the Ephesian Christians in (verse
1)?
In your opinion, who is “the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in
those who are disobedient” (verse 2)?
What were we all “deserving of” (verse 3)?
What is God rich in (verse 4)?
How did God make us alive “when we were dead in transgressions” (verse 5)?
How did God raise us up (verse 6)?
What did God show through “his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (verse 7)?
How are we saved (verse 8)?
Why can no one boast (verse 9)?
What are we created to do (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, what does Ephesians 2:1-10
reveal about the Ephesian Christians (and Christians of today) that is in
common with the people who Jeremiah said God was angry with in Jeremiah 24:4-14?
In your opinion, what does Zechariah’s
predicted return of the Lord to Jerusalem in Zechariah 1:7-14 have in common
with explanation that Paul gives in Ephesians 2:1-10 about why God “made us alive with Christ even when we were
dead with transgressions”?
In your opinion, what does Paul reveal in
Ephesians 2:1-10 about how Jesus, who said in John 12:31-36 that “now is the time for judgment on this world”
makes people into “children of light”?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Jeremiah,
Zechariah, John and Ephesians teach us about the relationship of anger and
judgment to mercy and grace?
In your opinion, what has God prepared for you
to do?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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