December 9, 2018 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Burning Bushes for the Spiritually Blind

Burning Bushes for the Spiritually Blind

Exodus 3:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)                 

¹ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Where did Moses lead his father-in-law’s flock (verse 1)?

Who appeared to Moses in the “flames of fire from within a bush” (verse 2)?

What did Moses want to know (verse 3)?

When did God call to Moses (verse 4)?

How did Moses answer God’s call (verse 4)?

Why was Moses to remove his sandals (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did God identify Himself as “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (verse 6)?

Why did Moses hide his face (verse 6)?

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

Zechariah 2:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. ² I asked, “Where are you going?”

He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”

³ While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him ⁴ and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. ⁵ And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’

⁶ “Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,” declares the Lord.

⁷ “Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!” ⁸ For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye— ⁹ I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.

¹⁰ “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. ¹¹ “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. ¹² The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. ¹³ Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”

Who did Zechariah see when he looked up (verse 1)?

What was the man going to do (verse 2)?

Who came to meet the angel who was speaking to Zechariah (verse 3)?

Why will Jerusalem “be a city without walls” (verse 4)?

What will God be to Jerusalem (verse 5)?

Where were the people to flee from (verse 6)?

Where were the people who ”live in  Daughter Babylon” to come (verse 7)?

What will the Lord do the those who touch “the apple of his eye” (verses 8 and 9)?

Where is the Lord Almighty going to live (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day” (verse 11)?

What will the Lord inherit (verse 12)?

Where will the Lord choose (verse 12)?

How is all mankind to respond to the Lord (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the place that Moses stood in Exodus 3:1-6 and the city of Jerusalem that Zechariah sees in Zechariah 2:1-13?

John 9:35-41 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

³⁹ Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

⁴¹ Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

What had Jesus heard about the man He ask “do you believe in the Son of Man” (verse 35)?

How did the man respond to Jesus’s question “do you believe in the Son of Man” (verses 35 and 36)?

In your opinion, why is the quote “you have now seen him” significant (verse 37)?

What did the man do after saying, “Lord, I believe” (verse 38)?

How does Jesus define judgment after He says “for judgment I have come into this world” (verse 39)?

Who said “are we blind too” (verse 40)?

Why does their guilt remain (verse 41)?

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

In your opinion, how is the response of Moses to God in Exodus 3:1-6 similar to the response of the man who was blind from birth in John 9:35-41 to Jesus?

In your opinion, what does John 9:35-41 teach us about how to respond to God’s command issued through Zechariah in Zecharian 2:1-13 to “escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon” if we consider the world of today the “Daughter Babylon”?

Romans 10:5-17 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”  ⁶ But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

¹⁶ But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

What does Moses say about the “righteousness that is by the law” (verse 5)?

What does not say “in your heart, ‘who will ascend into heaven” (verse 6)?

What says “the word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart” (verses 6 and 8)?

In your opinion, why does Paul connect the declaring “Jesus is Lord” with the mouth and belief in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead with salvation (verses 9 and 10)?

Who will “never be put to shame” (verse 11)?

Why is there “no difference between Jew and Gentile” (verse 12)?

Who will be saved (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what is Paul trying to get us to understand with his questions in verses 14 and 15?

“Not all the Israelites” have accepted what (verse 16)?

Where does faith come from (verse 17)?

How is the message heard (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does Moses’s reaction to God in Exodus 3:1-6 tell us about the man who Paul quotes in Romans 10:5-17 as saying “the person who does these things will live by them”?

In your opinion, what does Paul in Romans 10:5-17 help us understand about the people who will live in the Jerusalem that a “man with a measuring line in his hand” is going out to measure in Zechariah 2:1-13?

In your opinion, how does the reaction of the man who had been born blind to Jesus in John 9:35-41 help us understand the miracle of salvation that Paul is explaining in Romans 10:5-17?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Zechariah, John and Romans teach us about what the “blind” who see understand about God?

In your opinion, how can we be a bush on fire but that does not burn up for those who are spiritually blind?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)