The Water of Life
Exodus 14:15-31 - New International Version (NIV)
15 Then the Lord said to
Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise
your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that
the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I
will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And
I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and
his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh,
his chariots and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s
army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in
front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the
armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to
the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all
night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night
the Lord drove the sea back with a
strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and
the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on
their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots
and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the
last watch of the night the Lord
looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it
into confusion. 25 He jammed the wheels of their
chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s
get away from the Israelites! The Lord
is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the Lord said to
Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back
over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses
stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its
place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The
water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of
Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them
survived.
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall
of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day
the Lord saved Israel from the
hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And
when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord
displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
What
was Moses to tell the Israelites (verse 15)?
Why was Moses to raise his staff and stretch out his hand over the sea (verse 16)?
In your opinion, what does God means when He says He will “harden the hearts of the Egyptians” (verse 17)?
How will the Egyptians know that God is Lord (verse 18)?
What did the “angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army” do (verse 19)?
When did the Lord drive “the sea back with a strong east wind” (verse 21)?
How did the Israelites go through the sea (verse 22)?
What did the Egyptians do (verse 23)?
When did the Lord look down and throw the Egyptian army into confusion (verse 24)?
In your opinion, what made the Egyptians think that the Lord was fighting for the Israelites against them (verse 25)?
Why was Moses to stretch out his hand (verse 26)?
What did the sea do (verse 27)?
How many Egyptians survived (verse 28)?
How did the Israelites go through the sea (verse 29)?
Who saved Israel (verse 30)?
Why did the Israelites fear the Lord and put their trust in the Lord and in Moses (verse 31)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
1 A day of the Lord
is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up
within your very walls.
2 I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it;
the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of
the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from
the city. 3 Then the Lord
will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. 4 On
that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the
Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley,
with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You
will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as
you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy
ones with him.
6 On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty
darkness. 7 It will be a unique day—a day known only to
the Lord—with no distinction
between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.
8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it
east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer
and in winter.
9 The Lord will be king
over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.
10 The whole land, from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem, will
become like the Arabah. But Jerusalem will be raised up high from the Benjamin
Gate to the site of the First Gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of
Hananel to the royal winepresses, and will remain in its place. 11 It
will be inhabited; never again will it be destroyed. Jerusalem will be secure.
12 This is the plague with which the Lord
will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot
while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their
sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. 13 On
that day people will be stricken by the Lord
with great panic. They will seize each other by the hand and attack one
another. 14 Judah too will fight at Jerusalem. The
wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected—great quantities of gold
and silver and clothing. 15 A similar plague will strike
the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those
camps.
16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked
Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the
Festival of Tabernacles. 17 If any of the peoples of the
earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain. 18 If
the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord will bring on them the
plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival
of Tabernacles. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt
and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the
Festival of Tabernacles.
20 On that day holy to the Lord
will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred
bowls in front of the altar. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem
and Judah will be holy to the Lord
Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in
them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the
house of the Lord Almighty.
When will Jerusalem’s possessions be plundered and divided (verse 1)?
Who will “gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it” (verse 2)?
Who will “go out and fight against those nations” (verse 3)?
What will happen to the Mount of Olives (verse 4)?
In your opinion, what does it mean that “you will flee by my mountain valley” (verse 5)?
When will there be light (verse 7)?
What will flow out of Jerusalem (verse 8)?
Who will be “king over the whole earth” (verse 9)?
In your opinion, what does it mean that “the whole land . . . will become like Arabah” (verse 10)?
Who will the plague strike (verse 12)?
How will the Lord stricken the people (verse 13)?
What will be collected (verse 14)?
What will the “survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem” do (verse 16)?
Who will “have no rain” (verse 17)?
In your opinion, what does it mean that the “cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar” (verse 20?
What will “every pot in Jerusalem and Judah” be (verse 21)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how are the Israelites going through the sea in Exodus 14:15-31 and the people of Jerusalem fleeing through the mountain valley in Zechariah 14:1-21 similar?
John 7:37-43 – New International Version (NIV)
37 On the last and greatest
day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is
thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me,
as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By
this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been
glorified.
40 On hearing his words, some
of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
41 Others said, “He is the
Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Does
not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from
Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 Thus the
people were divided because of Jesus.
When did
Jesus stand and say in a loud voice “let
anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink” (verse 37)?
Who will have “rivers of living water . . . flow from within them” (verse 38)?
What did Jesus mean by this (verse 39)?
Why had the Spirit not yet been given (verse 39)?
In your opinion, why did some people
say “surely this man is the Prophet” (verse
40)?
In your opinion, why did some people
say “He is the Messiah” (verse 41)?
In your opinion, why did some people
say “how can the Messiah come from
Galilee” (verse 41)?
Where was the Messiah to come from
(verse 42)?
Why were the people divided (verse 43)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, how
is the division of people because of Jesus in John 7:37-43 a reflection of the
events in Exodus 14:15-31?
In your opinion, how does water illustrate the hope in the midst of the crisis of Zechariah 14:1-21 and also in the midst of the divided opinion of the people in John 7:37-43?
Revelation 22:12-21 – New International Version (NIV)
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to
each person according to what they have done. 13 I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the
right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside
are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the
murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the
churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning
Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears
say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take
the free gift of the water of life.
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this
scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the
plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes
words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person
any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this
scroll.
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.
When
is Jesus coming (verse 12)?
In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says He is “the Alpha and the Omega” (verse 13)?
Who is blessed (verse 14)?
Who is outside (verse 15)?
Who did Jesus send this testimony for (verse 16)?
Who may partake of the “water of life” (verse 17)?
What will happen to those who add anything to the “words of the prophecy of this scroll” (verse 18)?
Who will have their “share in the tree of life and in the Holy City” taken away (verse 19)?
In your opinion, who is the one who says “yes, I am coming soon” (verse 20)?
What does John pray will be with the Lord’s people (verse 21)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how are the people of Israel fleeing through the sea in Exodus 14:15-31 similar to those who have washed their robes in Revelation 22:12-21?
In your opinion, is the coming of the Lord in Zechariah 14:1-21 the same as the coming of Jesus in Revelation 22:12-21? In your opinion, if it is the same then why is the tenor of the descriptions so different?
In your opinion, what does it mean to be “thirsty” in John 7:37-43 where Jesus invites the “thirsty” to come to Him and drink, and in Revelation 22:12-21 where the one who is “thirsty” is invited to come and drink?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Zechariah, John and Revelation help us understand about the difference between those who have hardened hearts and those who are thirsty?
In your opinion, how do we “take the free gift of the water of life”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment