-
The
Jealousy
and Grace
3 So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the
Lord with all your hearts, then
rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to
the Lord and serve him only, and
he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So
the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
5 Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will
intercede with the Lord for you.” 6 When
they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there
they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.”
Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah.
7 When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah,
the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard
of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. 8 They
said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord
our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 Then
Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
10 While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines
drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and
threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. 11 The
men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering
them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He
named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord
has helped us.”
What
did Samuel tell the Israelites they needed to get rid of if they were “returning to the Lord with all your hearts”
(verse 3)?
Who were the Israelites to serve (verse 3)?
What did the Israelites do with their Baals
and Ashtoreths (verse 4)?
Where were the Israelites to assemble (verse 5)?
What did the Israelites do before confessing “we have sinned against the Lord” (verse
6)?
In your opinion, why did the Philistines come
to attack the Israelites (verse 7)?
Why did the Israelites want Samuel to keep
crying out to the Lord (verse 8)?
How did the Lord respond to Samuel’s crying
out (verse 9)?
How did the Philistines respond to the Lord’s
loud thunder (verse 10)?
What did the men of Israel do (verse 11)?
Why did Samuel name the stone Ebenezer (verse
12)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
1 The word of the Lord
Almighty came to me.
2 This is what the Lord
Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for
her.”
3 This is what the Lord
says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be
called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.”
4 This is what the Lord
Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the
streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. 5 The
city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”
6 This is what the Lord
Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that
time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” declares the Lord Almighty.
7 This is what the Lord
Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the
west. 8 I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem;
they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their
God.”
9 This is what the Lord
Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong so that the
temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophets said who were present when
the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord
Almighty. 10 Before that time there were no wages for
people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because
of their enemies, since I had turned everyone against their neighbor. 11 But
now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,”
declares the Lord Almighty.
12 “The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the
ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give
all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. 13 Just
as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save
you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be
strong.”
14 This is what the Lord
Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster on you and showed no
pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the Lord
Almighty, 15 “so now I have determined to do good again
to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid. 16 These are
the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and
sound judgment in your courts; 17 do not plot evil
against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,”
declares the Lord.
How did the Lord feel about Zion (verse 2)?
What does the Lord say He will do (verse 3)?
In your opinion, what is significant about the
promise that “men and women of ripe old
age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem” (verse 4)?
Who will fill the city streets (verse 5)?
In your opinion, why would something seem
marvelous to the people but not to God (verse
6)?
Who will the Lord Almighty save (verse 7)?
Who said “let
your hands be strong so that the temple may be built” (verse 9)?
Why could no one “go about their business safely” (verse 10)?
Who will the Lord not deal with as He did in
the past (verse 11)?
What will the Lord give “as an inheritance to the remnant of this people” (verse 12)?
How are Judah and Israel to respond to the
salvation and blessing of the Lord (verse
13)?
When did the Lord determine to “bring disaster on you and showed no pity” (verse
14)?
What has the Lord determined to do (verse 15)?
What are the Israelites do do (verse 16)?
What does the Lord hate (verse 17)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, what did the Israelites that
Samuel was speaking to in 1 Samuel 7:3-12 and the Israelites that Zechariah was
speaking to in Zechariah 8:1-17 have in common?
John 1:9-18 – New International Version (NIV)
9 The true light that gives
light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was
in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but
his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did
receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God— 13 children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and
made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and
only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning
him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who
comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out
of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For
the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No
one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in
closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
Who was
coming into the world (verse 9)?
In your opinion, why could the world
that was made through Him not recognize Him (verse 10)?
How did “his own” respond to Him (verse 11)?
Who did He give the “right to become children of God” (verse
12)?
How were these children born (verse 13)?
Who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (verse 14)?
Who “came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (verse 14)?
Why had John said “He who comes after me has surpassed me” (verse 15)?
From where have we “all received grace in place of grace
already given” (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what is the “grace already given” (verse 16)?
Where do “grace and truth” come through (verse 17)?
Who has made God known (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how
does the Israelites returning to God with all their hearts and getting rid “of the foreign
gods and the Ashtoreths” in 1 Samuel
7:3-12 help us understand what the people did
“to become children of God” in John
1:9-18?
In your opinion, how do we reconcile the
promise of Zechariah 8:1-17 that God will “return
to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem” with John 1:9-18’s statement that “He came to that which was his own, but his
own did not receive him”?
James 4:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they
come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but
do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you
quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When
you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may
spend what you get on your pleasures.
4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the
world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of
the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think
Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has
caused to dwell in us? 6 But he gives us more grace.
That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”
but shows favor to the humble.”
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near
to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you
double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your
laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
“What causes fights and quarrels among
you” (verse 1)?
Why do people “quarrel and fight” (verse 2)?
What wrong motives do people have when they
ask God (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why does “friendship with the world” mean “enmity against God” (verse 4)?
What does God jealously long for (verse
5)?
What does God give us (verse 6)?
In your opinion, why does God oppose the proud
and “show favor to the humble” (verse
6)?
When does the devil flee (verse 7)?
When will God come near to us (verse 8)?
In your opinion, how can the double-minded
purify their hearts (verse 8)?
In your opinion, why should laughter change to
mourning and joy to gloom (verse 9)?
When will the Lord lift us up (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of
this passage?
In your opinion, how is the action that Samuel ask the
Israelites to take in 1 Samuel 7:3-12 similar to the
action that James instructs us to take in James 4:1-10?
In your opinion, how are the jealousy that the
Lord Almighty had for Zion in Zechariah 8:1-17 and the jealous longing the
Spirit has to dwell in us according to James 4:1-10 similar?
In your opinion, what does James 4:1-10 help
us understand about those who received the one who “came from the Father, full of grace and truth” and “believed in his name” in John 1:9-18?
In your opinion, what do these passages from 1
Samuel, Zechariah, John and James teach us about the choice that every person
has to make?
In your opinion, how can we, who have our own
idols, put them aside and welcome God’s jealousy and grace today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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