August 4, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – Passed Over

-                        The

Passed Over


Leviticus 23:4-5 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ “‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: ⁵ The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Who appointed these festivals (verse 4)?

When are the “sacred assemblies” to be proclaimed (verse 4)?

Which festival begins “at twilight of the fourteenth day of the first month” (verse 5)?

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

Exodus 12:1-14 - New International Version (NIV) 

¹ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, ² “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. ³ Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. ⁴ If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. ⁵ The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. ⁶ Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. ⁷ Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. ⁸ That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. ⁹ Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. ¹⁰ Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. ¹¹ This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.

¹² “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. ¹³ The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

¹⁴ “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance.

Where were Moses and Aaron when the Lord spoke to them (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why was “this month” to be the “first month, the first month of your year” (verse 2)?

Who is to take “a lamb for his family, one for each household” (verse 3)?

Who is the household that “is too small for a whole lamb” to share with (verse 4)?

What type of sheep or goat is to be chosen (verse 5)?

When are the lambs to be slaughtered (verse 6)?

What is to be done with the blood (verse 7)?

What is the meal to be that night (verse 8)?

How is the meat to be cooked (verse 9)?

What is to be done with any meat that is left over (verse 10)?

Why are they to eat the meal “with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand” (verse 11)?

What will the Lord do that night (verse 12)?

What will be the sign that, when the Lord sees it, the house will be passed over (verse 13)?

How shall this day be celebrated (verse 14)?

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

Luke 22:7-20 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. ⁸ Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”

⁹ “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.

¹⁰ He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, ¹¹ and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹² He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”

¹³ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.

¹⁴ When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. ¹⁶ For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

²⁰ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

What day came up (verse 7)?

Who did Jesus send to prepare (verse 8)?

How were they to know where the preparation was to take place (verse 10)?

What were they to ask the owner of the house (verse 11)?

Where will they make preparations (verse 12)?

How did they find things (verse 13)?

When did “Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus eagerly desire to eat the Passover meal with the apostles (verse 15)?

When will Jesus eat the meal again (verse 16)?

What did Jesus give (verse 17)?

When will Jesus “drink again from the fruit of the vine” (verse 18)?

What did Jesus say when He had given the bread to the apostles (verse 19)?

What did Jesus say the cup was (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what is there about the first Passover in Exodus 12:1-14 that makes Jesus eager to share it with His apostles in Luke 22:7-20? 

In your opinion, did Jesus eat the Passover with His apostles with His cloak tucked in His belt, His sandals on His feet and His staff in His Hand?

Romans 3:20-26 – New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

²⁰ For “no human being will be justified in his sight” by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

²¹ But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, ²³ since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; ²⁴ they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; ²⁶ it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

What will “no human being will be justified in his sight” by (verse 20)?

Who attested to “the righteousness of God” that has been disclosed apart from the law (verse 21)?

What is this “righteousness of God” through (verse 22)?

Who has sinned and fallen “short of the glory of God” (verse 23)?

How are human beings “now justified by his grace as a gift” (verse 24)?

How is the “sacrifice of atonement by his blood” effective (verse 25)?

What had been done in “his divine forbearance” with sins (verse 25)?

Who does God justify (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, how is the effect of the blood of Lamb on the doorframes to the people inside the homes in Exodus 12:1-14 similar to the effect of the blood of Jesus on those who have faith in Romans 3:20-26?

In your opinion, what do we learn about Jesus’ statement in Luke 22:7-20 that “this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” from the statements about sin and righteousness that Paul makes in Romans 3:20-26?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Leviticus, Exodus, Luke and Romans teach us about how the festival of Passover is related to the Lord’s Supper?


In your opinion, how can we, as Christians, proclaim the Passover today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

July 28, 2019 – Learning from James – The Power of Prayer

-                        The

The Power of Prayer


1 Kings 16:31-17:1 and 1 Kings 18:41-46 - New International Version (NIV)

³¹ He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. ³² He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. ³³ Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.

³⁴ In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

¹ Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” ⁴² So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

⁴³ “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

“There is nothing there,” he said.

Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”

⁴⁴ The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”

⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

What did Ahab consider trivial (verse 31)?

Where did Ahab set up the alter to Baal (verse 32)?

Who did Ahab arouse the anger of more than “all the kings of Israel before him” (verse 33)?

Who told Ahab “as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (verse 1)?

What did Elijah tell Ahab to do (verse 41)?

Where did Elijah go to bend “down to the ground and put his face between his knees” (verse 42)?

How many times did Elijah tell his servant to “go and look toward the sea” (verse 43)?

What did Elijah tell his servant to do after the report of “a cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea” (verse 44)?

In your opinion, why is it significant that “the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling” (verse 45)?

What came upon Elijah (verse 46)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of these passages?

Mark 6:53-56 - New International Version (NIV)                

⁵³ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Where did Jesus and the disciples land and anchor (verse 53)?

Who did the people recognize (verse 54)?

Where were the sick of the region carried to (verse 55)?

What did they beg Jesus for (verse 56)?

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


In your opinion, how is the reaction of the people of Gennesaret to Jesus in Mark 6:53-56 different from Ahab’s reaction  in 1 Kings 18:41-46 to Elijah and God?


Ephesians 3:14-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Who does Paul kneel before (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name” (verse 15)?

Where does Paul pray for the faithful in Christ Jesus to be strengthened “out of his glorious riches . . . with power through his Spirit” (verse 16)?

How does Paul expect Christ to dwell in their hearts (verse 17)?

What does Paul pray for “all the Lord’s holy people” to have power to grasp (verse 18)?

In your opinion, how can believers “know this love that surpasses knowledge” (verse 19)?

How is God able to “do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (verse 20)?

Where should the Father have glory “throughout all generations, for ever and ever” (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, how are Elijah, who prays as he finds himself confronting Ahab in 1 Kings 16:21-17-1 and 1 Kings 18:41-46, and Paul, who prays for all the Lord’s holy people to know the love that surpasses knowledge in Ephesians 3:14-21, similar?  And how are their prayers different?

In your opinion, how does the healing of those who touch the edge of Jesus’ cloak in Mark 6:53-56 help us understand the love of Jesus that Paul prays for believers to be established in and know in Ephesians 3:14-21? 


James 5:13-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, ²⁰ remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

What is the person who is in trouble to do (verse 13)?

What should the person who is happy do (verse 13)?


How are the elders of the church to respond to the sick who call them (verse 14)?


What will the Lord do for the sick person who offers a prayer in faith (verse 15)?


In your opinion, why does James follow the discussion about the sick offering a prayer in faith with the statement that “if they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (verse 15)?


What are believers to do “to” and “for” each other (verse 16)?


Whose prayer is “powerful and effective” (verse 16)?


What happened when Elijah prayed for it not to rain (verse 17)?


What happened when “again he prayed” (verse 18)?


Who is supposed to remember that “whoever turns a sinner from the error or their way will save them from death and cover a multitude of sins” (verses 19 and 20)?


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


In your opinion, how does what Elijah was trying to accomplish with his prayers in 1 Kings 16:31 – 17:1 and 1 Kings 18:41-46 compare with James’ is instruction on prayer in James 5:13-20?


In your opinion, what can the people of Gennesaret in Mark 6:53-56 teach us as we try to understand James’ message about prayer in James 5:13-20?


In your opinion, what can Paul’s prayer that the Ephesians be “rooted and established in love” in Ephesians 3:14-21 teach us about the prayers offered for the sick and lost that James instructs us to make in James 5:13-20?


In your opinion, how do these passages from 1 Kings, Mark, Ephesians and James guide us in communicating with God?


In your opinion, what can we who are righteous only through the intervention of Jesus powerfully and effectively knell down and place at Jesus feet in celebration or petition today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

July 21, 2019 – Learning from James – Patient Confidence

Patient Confidence


Judges 11:29-40 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. ³⁰ And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, ³¹ whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.”

³² Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. ³³ He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

³⁴ When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. ³⁵ When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord that I cannot break.”

³⁶ “My father,” she replied, “you have given your word to the Lord. Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. ³⁷ But grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”

³⁸ “You may go,” he said. And he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. ³⁹ After the two months, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite tradition ⁴⁰ that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Who “came on Jephthah” (verse 29)?

What did Jephthah vow to do if God gave the Ammonites to him (verses 30 and 31)?

Who did the Lord give the Ammonites to (verse 32)?

How many towns did Jephthah devastate (verse 33)?

Who came out from his home in Mizpah to meet Jephthah (verse 34)?

In your opinion, whose fault was it that Jephthah was devastated (verse 35)?

What did Jephthah’s daughter tell her father to do (verse 36)?

What did Jephthah’s daughter ask for (verse 37)?

Why did Jephthah’s daughter and her friends weep (verse 38)?

What did Jephthah do when his daughter returned (verse 39)?

Who commemorate’s the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite (verse 40)?

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

Mark 4:35-41 - New International Version (NIV)                

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Where did Jesus say to the disciples to go (verse 35)?

Who did the disciples leave behind (verse 36)?

Why was the boat “nearly swamped” (verse 37)?

In your opinion, why did the disciples ask Jesus “don’t you care if we drown” (verse 38)?

Who did Jesus tell “Quiet! Be still!” (verse 39)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask the disciples “do you still have no faith” (verse 40)?


How did the disciples feel (verse 41)?


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


In your opinion, how is Jephthah making a vow to the Lord in Judges 11:29-40 similar to the disciples waking Jesus in the storm in Mark 4:35-41?


Hebrews 11:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

⁴ By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

⁷ By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

What is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (verse 1)?

What were the ancients “commended for” (verse 2)?

How do we “understand that the universe was formed at God’s command” (verse 3)?

How did Abel bring a better offering to God that Cain (verse 4)?

Who did not experience death (verse 5)?

Why is it impossible to please God without faith (verse 6)?

In your opinion, how did Noah’s faith condemn the world (verse 7)?

What did Abraham not know about the place where he was called to go (verse 8)?

Who were heirs with Abraham of the promise (verse 9)?

What did Abraham look forward to (verse 10)?

How was Sarah enabled to bear children (verse 11)?

How numerous are Abraham’s descendants (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, since Hebrews 11:1-12 describes faith as “confidence in what we hope for” what do can we understand about Jephthah since he said “if you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes . . . will be the Lord’s” in Judges 11:29-40?

In your opinion, since Hebrews 11:1-12 also describes faith as “assurance about what we do not see”, what does the disciples’ question “Teacher, don’t you care if  we drown” in Mark 4:35-41 help us understand about their faith? 


James 5:7-12 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. ⁸ You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. ⁹ Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

¹⁰ Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

¹² Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.

In your opinion, how does James using the example of the farmer “patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains” to help the land yield its crop as an illustration of the way we should wait for the Lord’s coming help us understand his instruction to “be patient” (verse 7)?

Why should Christians “be patient and stand firm” (verse 8)?


What will happen if Christians “grumble against one another” (verse 9)?


Who is an “example of patience in the face of suffering” (verse 10)?


What is the Lord full of (verse 11)?


What should Christians not swear by (verse 12)?


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


In your opinion, how does the story of Jephthah being filled with the Spirit of the Lord and then making a vow in Judges 11:29-40 help us understand why James would say that Christians should not swear “by heaven or by earth or by anything else” in James 5:7-12?


In your opinion, how are Christians who need the instruction of James 5:7-12 to be patient as we wait for the return of the Lord similar to the disciples who questioned Jesus’ love for them as the waves were breaking over the boat in Mark 4:35-41?


In your opinion, how can the “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” that is discussed in Hebrews 11:1-12 help Christains have the patience that James 5:7-12 instructs?


In your opinion, what do these passages from Judges, Mark, Hebrews and James teach us about the relationship between vows and impatience and the Lord’s coming and strength of faith?


In your opinion, what do we need to persevere in as Christians to increase our “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)