Teller or Troubler
1
Kings 18:8-18 - New International Version (NIV)
8 “Yes,” he replied. “Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’”
9 “What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing
your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? 10 As
surely as the Lord your
God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent
someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were
not there, he made them swear they could not find you. 11 But
now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ 12 I
don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may
carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he
will kill me. Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth. 13 Haven’t
you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of
the Lord? I hid a hundred of
the Lord’s prophets in two
caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. 14 And
now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”
15 Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty
lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When
he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But
you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the
Baals.
What is Obadiah to tell his master (verse 8)?
In your opinion, why did Obadiah think that
Elijah is “handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death” (verse 9)?
Where has Ahab had people looking for Elijah (verse
10)?
What will happen to Obadiah if he tells Ahab
where Elijah is and then Elijah is not there (verse 12)?
Who
has Obadiah worshipped (verse 12)?
What
did Obadiah do when “Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord” (verse
13)?
What
does Elijah say he will do “today” (verse 15)?
What
did Ahab say when he saw Elijah (verse 17)?
How
did Elijah say that Ahab and his father’s family have made trouble for Israel
(verse 18)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 9:2-13 - New
International Version (NIV)
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and
John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone.
There he was transfigured before them. 3 His
clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could
bleach them. 4 And there appeared before them
Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for
us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one
for Elijah.” 6 (He did not know what to say, they
were so frightened.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a
voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no
longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus
gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of
Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the
matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.
11 And they asked him, “Why do the teachers of the
law say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah does
come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of
Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13 But
I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they
wished, just as it is written about him.”
What happened
when Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a high mountain to where they were
all alone (verse 2)?
Who appeared
before them (verse 4)?
Why did Peter
not know what to say (verse 6)?
What did the
voice from the cloud say (verse 7)?
When did Jesus
tell Peter, James, and John that they could tell people what they had seen (verse
9)?
In your
opinion, why did Peter, James, and John discuss what ““rising from the dead”
meant” (verse 10)?
What did they
ask Jesus (verse 11)?
What does
Jesus say Elijah does when he comes first (verse 12)?
Who does Jesus
say “must suffer much and be rejected” (verse 12)?
Who does Jesus
say has come and that “they have done to him everything they wished” (verse
13)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how do Elijah and Obadiah
being faithful to God in the time of Ahab in 1 Kings 18:8-18 help us understand
the reason that Peter, James, and John needed to hear the voice from the cloud
saying “This is my Son, whom I love.
Listen to him!” in the time of the Sanhedrin and the kingdom of Rome
in Mark 9:2-13?
Acts
4:13-22 –
New International Version (NIV)
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that
they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took
note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But
since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there
was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them
to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What
are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in
Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny
it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any
further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in
this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or
teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and
John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to
him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we
cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how
to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had
happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously
healed was over forty years old.
Why did the courage of Peter and John astonish
the Sanhedrin (verse 13)?
Who was standing with
Peter and John that made it hard for the Sanhedrin to say anything (verse 14)?
What could the Sanhedrin not deny (verse 16)?
In your opinion, why did they want to “stop this thing
from spreading any further among the people” (verse 17)?
What did they command Peter and John not to do (verse 18)?
What did Peter and John want the Sanhedrin to judge (verse
19)?
What can Peter and John not help (verse 20)?
When did the Sanhedrin let Peter and John go (verse 21)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is the confrontation of Elijah and Ahab
in 1 Kings 18:8-18 similar to the confrontation of Peter and John with the
Sanhedrin in Acts 4:13-22?
In your opinion, how do the event and comments of Jesus in
Mark 9:2-12 help us understand the source of the courage that Peter and John
had in Acts 4:13-22 when they faced the Sanhedrin, who had conspired to have
Jesus killed?
1 John 1:1-4 – New International Version (NIV)
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands
have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The
life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to
you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to
us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and
heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is
with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We
write this to make our joy complete.
What does John say that he proclaims, “concerning
the Word of life” (verse 1)?
What did John
see and testify to (verse 2)?
Where was “the
eternal life” (verse 2)?
Why does John
proclaim what he had seen and heard (verse 3)?
Who is John’s
fellowship with (verse 3)?
Why does John
write (verse 4)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how has the fear and confusion that Peter,
James, and John felt in Mark 9:2-13 been transformed into the joy that John
expresses in 1 John 1:1-4?
In your
opinion, how does John’s testimony in 1 John 1:1-4 explain how “unschooled,
ordinary men” were able to astonish the Sanhedrin in Acts 4:13-22?
In your
opinion, how do these passages from 1 Kings, Mark, Acts and 1 John challenge us
to choose between being a “troubler” for the world, like Ahab and
the Sanhedrin, or a troubler of the world, like Elijah, Peter, and John? How do we demonstrate our choice?
In your
opinion, how do we as “ordinary” believers astonish people today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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