Walking Humbly
Daniel 4:28-37 - New International Version (NIV)
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve
months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of
Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have
built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my
majesty?”
31 Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven,
“This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has
been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and
will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox. Seven times
will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over
all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled.
He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched
with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and
his nails like the claws of a bird.
34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward
heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and
glorified him who lives forever.
His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35 All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
35 All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: “What have you done?”
36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and
splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and
nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater
than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and
glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his
ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Where was King
Nebuchadnezzar when he said “is not this the great Babylon I have built as
the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty” (verses
28, 29 and 30)?
When did the
voice come from heaven (verse 31)?
What has been
taken away from King Nebuchadnezzar (verse 31)?
When was the
prophecy of verse 32 fulfilled (verse
33)?
What happened
when Nebuchadnezzar raised his “eyes toward heaven” (verse 34)?
Who did
Nebuchadnezzar praise, honor and glorify (verse 34)?
Why was
Nebuchadnezzar’s “honor and splendor” returned (verse 36)?
Who does
Nebuchadnezzar “praise and exalt and glorify” (verse 37)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 5:1-20 - New
International Version (NIV)
1 They went
across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus
got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet
him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him
anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained
hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No
one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the
tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in
front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do
you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture
me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you
impure spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And
he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The
demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He
gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs.
The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the
lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and
countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When
they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of
demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those
who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed
man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began
to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been
demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let
him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has
done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man
went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done
for him. And all the people were amazed.
When did the
man with the impure spirit come from the tombs and meet Jesus (verse 2)?
What happened
when the man was “chained hand and foot” (verse 4)?
In your
opinion, why would the man “cry out and cut himself with stones” (verse 5)?
What did the
man do “when he saw Jesus from a distance” (verse 6)?
How did he ask
Jesus “What do you want with me, Jesus” (verse 7)?
What had Jesus
said to him (verse 8)?
Why was the
name Legion (verse 9)?
What did
Legion beg for (verse 12)?
How many pigs “rushed
down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned” (verse 13)?
What did
people come out to see (verse 14)?
Why were the
people afraid (verse 15)?
What did
people plead for Jesus to do (verse 17)?
What did the
man who had been demon-possessed beg to do (verse 18)?
What did Jesus
tell the man to do (verse 19)?
How did the
people in the Decapolis respond to the man (verse 20)?
In your opinion, how are Nebuchadnezzar’s
actions in Daniel 4:28-37 when his sanity was restored and the actions of the
man from the tombs in Mark 5:1-20 after the demons were sent away similar?
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so
that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick,
and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke
the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say,
“In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven
sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 One
day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but
who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on
them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of
the house naked and bleeding.
17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus,
they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high
honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly
confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced
sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they
calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in
power.
Who “did
extraordinary miracles” (verse 11)?
What effect did the
handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul have on the sick (verse 12)?
In your opinion, why did some of the Jews try to “invoke
the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed” (verse 13)?
What position did Sceva have (verse 14)?
How did the evil spirit answer the seven sons of Sceva
(verse 15)?
Why did the seven sons of Sceva run “out of the house
naked and bleeding” (verse 16)?
What happened “when this became known to the Jews and
Greeks living in Ephesus” (verse 17)?
In your opinion, why did “many of those who believed now
came and openly confessed what they had done” (verse 18)?
What was valued at fifty thousand drachmas (verse 19)?
What “spread widely and grew in power” (verse 20)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is Nebuchadnezzar as he stood on the
roof of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted in Daniel 4:28-37 similar to
the seven sons of Sceva as they said “in the name of Jesus whom Paul
preaches, I command you to come out” in Acts 19:11-20?
In your opinion, what can we learn from the different
results of Jesus casting out the “Legion” of demons in Mark 5:1-20 and
the seven sons of Sceva being overpowered and beaten by the man possessed by an
evil spirit in Acts 19:11-20?
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 are the
results of the “desires that battle within you” (verse 1)?
Why do
Christians “quarrel and fight” (verse 2)?
What wrong
motives cause Christians to ask God but not receive (verse 3)?
In your
opinion, why is friendship with the world “enmity against God” (verse 4)?
What does
Scripture say that God jealously longs for (verse 5)?
Who does God
show favor to (verse 6)?
How should we
respond to God (verse 7)?
What happens
when we resist the devil (verse 7)?
When will God
come near to us (verse 8)?
What are the
double-minded to do (verse 8)?
In your
opinion, why is it important to “grieve, mourn and wail” (verse 9)?
When will the
Lord “lift you up” (verse 10)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does James 4:1-10 help us understand
about the motives of the people who pled for Jesus to “leave their region” in
Mark 5:1-20? How were their motives
similar to the motives of the “Legion” of impure spirits?
In your
opinion, what does James’s discussion in James 4:1-10 help us understand about
the difference in between Paul and the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19:11-20?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from Daniel, Mark, Acts and James reveal to us
about the difference between being self reliant with pride and being humble
while praising the King of heaven?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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