-
The
Making a Name or
Patiently Enduring
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common
speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in
Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them
thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then
they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to
the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be
scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came
down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The
Lord said, “If as one people
speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan
to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go
down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered
them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That
is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord
confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the
whole earth.
What
did the “whole world” have (verse 1)?
Where did people settle (verse 2)?
In your opinion, why did they say “let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly”
(verse 3)?
Why did the people want “a tower that reaches to the heavens” (verse 4)?
Who came “to
see the city and the tower the people were building” (verse 5)?
In your opinion, why would it be bad for the
world to have one people for whom “nothing
they plan to do will be impossible for them” (verse 6)?
How did the Lord propose to keep the world
from being one people for whom “nothing
they plan to do will be impossible for them” (verse 7)?
Where did the Lord scatter the people (verse
8)?
Why was the city called Babel (verse 9)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me,
“Look up and see what is appearing.”
6 I asked, “What is it?”
He replied, “It is a
basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the
land.”
7 Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a
woman! 8 He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed
her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.
9 Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind
in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the
basket between heaven and earth.
10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was
speaking to me.
11 He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it.
When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”
Who
told Zechariah to “look up and see what
is appearing” (verse 5)?
What is the basket (verse 6)?
Who was in the basket (verse 7)?
About whom did the angel say “this is wickedness” (verse 8)?
What did the two women with wings “like those of a stork” do (verse 9)?
What did Zechariah ask the angel (verse 10)?
In your opinion, why is the woman being taken
to “the country of Babylonia” (verse
11)?
When will the basket be set “there in its place” (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, is there a connection between
the city of Babel of Genesis 11:1-9 and the country of Babylonia of Zechariah
5:5-11, and if so what is the connection?
John 12:20-29 – New International Version (NIV)
20 Now there were some Greeks
among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they
said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to
tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The hour
has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very
truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it
remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone
who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this
world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves
me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will
honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled,
and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this
very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your
name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will
glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard
it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
Who
“went up to worship at the festival” (verse
20)?
What did they request of Philip (verse
21)?
In your opinion, what does Jesus mean
when He says “the hour has come for the
Son of Man to be glorified” (verse 23)?
What must happen for a single seed to
produce many seeds (verse 24)?
Who will keep their life in the world “for eternal life” (verse 25)?
What must the one who serves Jesus do (verse
26)?
In your opinion, why had Jesus come
(verse 27)?
Whose name did Jesus ask the Father to
glorify (verse 28)?
Where did the voice come from that
said “I have glorified it, and will
glorify it again” (verse 28)?
What did the crowd say they heard
(verse 29)?
What did the others hear (verse 29)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, what is the difference
between the motivation of the people who plan to build and tower in Genesis
11:1-9 and Jesus in John 12:20-29?
In your opinion, why wasn’t taking wickedness
to Babylonia in Zechariah 5:5-11 effective in removing all wickedness and how
might the hour in which the Son of Man is glorfiedin John 12:20-29 lead to a
different outcome?
Revelation 14:6-13 – New International Version (NIV)
6 Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal
gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe,
language and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear
God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him
who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
8 A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the
Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her
adulteries.”
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone
worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on
their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s
fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will
be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the
Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for
ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the
beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This
calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his
commands and remain faithful to Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit,
“they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
What
did the angel have to proclaim “to every
nation, tribe, language and people” (verse 6)?
Who does the angel say is to be worshiped (verse
7)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to say that
Babylon the Great “made all the nations
drink the maddening wine of her adulteries” (verse 8)?
What will anyone who “worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on the forehead
or on their hand” drink (verses 9 and 10)?
How long will the “smoke of their torment” rise (verse 11)?
In your opinion, what does it mean to have “patient endurance” (verse 12)?
Who does the voice from heaven say is blessed (verse
13)?
Why does the Spirit say they “will rest from their labor” (verse 13)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, what does Babylon the Great’s
“maddening wine of her adulteries” that
is discussed in Revelation 14:6-13 have in common with the desire to “make a name for ourselves” that the
people from Babel had in Genesis 11:1-9?
In your opinion, what is the significance that
in Zechariah 5:5-11 we see “wickedness” being
taken to the country of Babylonia where a house will be built for it and in that
Revelation 14:6-13 we are told that “Babylon
the Great” who had made the nations drink the “maddening wine of her adulteries” has fallen?
In your opinion, how is hour that Jesus came
for, the hour in which the Son of Man was “to
be glorified”, in John 12:20-29, related to the “eternal gospel” the angel was proclaiming to all who live on the
earth in Revelation 14:6-13?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis,
Zechariah, John and Revelation teach us about the conflict that each of us have
between making “a name for ourselves” and
remaining faithful to Jesus?
In your opinion, how can we live in “patient endurance” today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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