Malachi 4:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)
1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the
arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will
set them on fire,” says the Lord
Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But
for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in
its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. 3 Then
you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet
on the day when I act,” says the Lord
Almighty.
4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave
him at Horeb for all Israel.
5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and
dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He
will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the
children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total
destruction.”
What will the day that is coming do to the “arrogant
and every evildoer” (verse 1)?
Who says “not a root or a branch will be
left to them” (verse 1)?
How will the rays of “the sun of
righteousness” effect those who revere the Lord’s name (verse 2)?
Who will act on that day (verse 3)?
In
your opinion, why does the Lord tell the Israelites through Malachi to remember
“the law of my servant Moses” (verse 4)?
When
will the Lord send “the prophet Elijah” (verse 5)?
What
will Elijah do “or else I will come and strike the land with total
destruction” (verse 6)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 8:27-30 - New
International Version (NIV)
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea
Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and
still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
Where did
Jesus and His disciples go (verse 27)?
What did Jesus
ask the disciples (verse 27)?
Who did the
people say Jesus was (verse 28)?
In your
opinion, why did Jesus ask the disciples “who do you say that I am” (verse
29)?
How did Peter
answer the question for the disciples (verse 29)?
In your
opinion, how is Peter’s answer different from the people’s answer (verses 28
and 29)?
What did Jesus
warn the disciples (verse 30)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what would the people who had
studied the promise in Malachi 4:1-6 have been expecting if Peter shared his
statement in Mark 8:27-30 that Jesus was the Messiah?
Acts
26:15-23 –
New International Version (NIV)
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the
Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have
appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have
seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own
people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to
open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of
Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among
those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from
heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in
Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they
should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. 21 That
is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But
God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and
great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would
happen— 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to
rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to
the Gentiles.”
What was Paul’s question (verse 15)?
How did Jesus identify
Himself to Paul (verse 15)?
Why did Jesus say He appeared to Paul (verse 16)?
In your opinion, why did Jesus tell Paul that He would “rescue
you from your own people and from the Gentiles” (verse 17)?
Who is Jesus sending Paul to (verse 17)?
Why was Jesus sending Paul to “open their eyes and turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God” (verse 18)?
In your opinion, why did Paul tell King Agrippa that he was “not
disobedient to the vision from heaven” (verse 19)?
What did Paul preach “to those in Damascus, then to those
in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles” (verse 20)?
Who seized Paul in the temple courts and tried to kill him
(verse 21)?
Who helped Paul (verse 22)?
What did the prophets and Moses say would happen (verses 22
and 23)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does Acts 26:15-23 reveal about how Paul’s
thoughts about the prophecy in Malachi 4:1-6 may have changed when he met Jesus
on the road to Damascus? What may have
remained the same?
In your opinion, what can be learned by the difference
between Jesus asking the disciples “who do you say I am” in Mark 8:27-30
and Paul asking “who are you, Lord” in Acts 26:15-23?
Revelation
11:15-19 –
New International Version (NIV)
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices
in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones
before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and have begun to reign.
18 The nations were angry,
and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was
seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings,
peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.
What did the seventh angel do (verse 15)?
What has the “kingdom
of the world” become (verse 15)?
Who “fell
on their faces and worshiped God” (verse 16)?
Why did they
give thanks to the “Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was” (verse
17)?
Who was angry
(verse 18)?
Who will be
judged (verse 18)?
Who will be
rewarded (verse 18)?
Who will be
destroyed (verse 18)?
What was
opened (verse 19)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is the insufficiency of who the “people”
thought Jesus was in Mark 8:27-30 revealed in the way the Messiah is
revealed in Revelation 11:15-19?
In your
opinion, what has changed between the time Jesus sent Paul to “open their
eyes and turn them from darkness to light” in Acts 26:15-23 and when the
twenty-four elders tell their Lord and Messiah “the time has come for
judging the dead” in Revelation 11:15-19?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from Malachi, Mark, Acts and Revelation teach
us about the difference between John the Baptist, Elijah, or the other prophets,
and Jesus?
In your
opinion, what are each of us called by Jesus to do in a world that is
approaching the time for judging and rewarding?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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