Saturday, April 6, 2019

April 14, 2019 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Dispersed and Saved

Dispersed and Saved


Deuteronomy 30:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

What are the Israelite people to take to heart (verse 1)?

Where will the Lord disperse the Israelite people (verse 1)?


Who will return to the “Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul” (verse 2)?


From where will the Lord gather the people (verse 3)?


What will the people of Israel do when they are brought back (verse 5)?


Why will God “circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants” (verse 6)?


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


Zechariah 13:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)           

1 “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

“On that day, I will banish the names of the idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will remove both the prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land. And if anyone still prophesies, their father and mother, to whom they were born, will say to them, ‘You must die, because you have told lies in the Lord’s name.’ Then their own parents will stab the one who prophesies.

“On that day every prophet will be ashamed of their prophetic vision. They will not put on a prophet’s garment of hair in order to deceive. Each will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer; the land has been my livelihood since my youth.’ If someone asks, ‘What are these wounds on your body?’ they will answer, ‘The wounds I was given at the house of my friends.’

“Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
    against the man who is close to me!”
    declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
    and the sheep will be scattered,
    and I will turn my hand against the little ones.
In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
    “two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
    yet one-third will be left in it.
This third I will put into the fire;
    I will refine them like silver
    and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
    and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
    and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”

What will the fountain that is opened to “the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem” do (verse 1)?

When will God “banish the names of the idols from the land” (verse 2)?


Who will tell anyone who prophesies “you must die” (verse 3)?


In your opinion, why will every prophet be “ashamed of their prophetic vision” (verse 4)?


Who calls for the sword to awake “against my shepherd” (verse 7)?


How many will be left (verse 8)?


Who will call on God’s name (verse 9)?


What will God say (verse 9)?


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


In your opinion, how are the striking of the shepherd in Zechariah 13:1-9 and the circumcision of the heart that Moses promises in Deuteronomy 30:1-6 related?


John 19:11-16 – New International Version (NIV)

11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

What does Pilate not have over Jesus “if it were not given to you from above” (verse 11)?

Who kept shouting “if you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar” (verse 12)?

Where did Pilate sit (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why did Pilate tell the Jews “here is your king” (verse 14)?

What did the Jews shout (verse 15)?

How did the Jews respond to Pilate’s question,  “shall I crucify your king” (verse 15)?

What did Pilate do (verse 16)?

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


In your opinion, how is what happened to Jesus in John 19:11-16 related to the prophecy about striking the shepherd in Zechariah 13:1-9?


1 Corinthians 1:18-25 – New International Version (NIV)

18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

What is the message of the cross to “those who are perishing” (verse 18)?

What is the message of the cross to “us who are being saved” (verse 18)?


Who will “destroy the wisdom of the wise” (verse 19)?


In your opinion, “where is the wise person” (verse 20)?


What was God pleased to do “through the foolishness of what was preached” (verse 21)?


Who looks for wisdom (verse 22)?


In your opinion, why is Christ crucified a “foolishness to Gentiles” (verse 23)?


For whom is “Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (verse 24)?


How does the foolishness of God compare to human wisdom (verse 25)?


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


In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 reveal about how those who in Deuteronomy 30:1-6 have been “banished to the most distant land under the heavens” will be brought back to God?


In your opinion, what does 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 help us understand about the fountain that Zechariah sees cleansing from “sin and impurity” in Zechariah 13:1-9?


In your opinion, how is the wisdom that Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 will be destroyed by God exhibited in John 19:11-16?


In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Zechariah, John and 1 Corinthians teach 
us about God’s perfect answer to worldly wisdom?


In your opinion, how can we who have been dispersed learn to look to the “foolishness of the cross” instead of signs or the world’s wisdom?



(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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