Saturday, October 29, 2022

November 6, 2022 – John’s Writings – Loving God Forever

 

Loving God Forever

Ezekiel 24:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)

In the ninth year, in the tenth month on the tenth day, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, record this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Put on the cooking pot; put it on
    and pour water into it.
Put into it the pieces of meat,
    all the choice pieces—the leg and the shoulder.
Fill it with the best of these bones;
    take the pick of the flock.
Pile wood beneath it for the bones;
    bring it to a boil
    and cook the bones in it.

“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Woe to the city of bloodshed,
    to the pot now encrusted,
    whose deposit will not go away!
Take the meat out piece by piece
    in whatever order it comes.

“‘For the blood she shed is in her midst:
    She poured it on the bare rock;
she did not pour it on the ground,
    where the dust would cover it.
To stir up wrath and take revenge
    I put her blood on the bare rock,
    so that it would not be covered.

“‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘Woe to the city of bloodshed!
    I, too, will pile the wood high.
10 So heap on the wood
    and kindle the fire.
Cook the meat well,
    mixing in the spices;
    and let the bones be charred.
11 Then set the empty pot on the coals
    till it becomes hot and its copper glows,
so that its impurities may be melted
    and its deposit burned away.
12 It has frustrated all efforts;
    its heavy deposit has not been removed,
    not even by fire.

13 “‘Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided.

14 “‘I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

When did the word of the Lord come to Ezekiel (verse 1)?

What else happened on “this very date” (verse 2)?

Who is Ezekiel to tell the parable to (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what is the meaning of the parable (verses 3 through 5)?

Where did the “city of bloodshed” pour the blood it shed (verse 7)?

Where will the Lord pour “her blood” (verse 8)?

How will the Lord pile the wood (verse 9)?

Why will the pot be put “on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows” (verse 11)?

When will Jerusalem “be clean again” (verse 13)?

How will Jerusalem be judged (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about the consequences of our choices in this passage?

John 6:53-58 - New International Version (NIV)

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

What were the Jews arguing sharply about (verse 52)?

What did Jesus say the Jews would not have if they did not “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood” (verse 53)?

Who has eternal life (verse 54)?

What will Jesus do for those who have eternal life on “the last day” (verse 54)?

In your opinion, why does Jesus say “for my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink” (verse 55)?

Where will the one who eats the flesh and drinks the blood of Jesus remain (verse 56)?

Where will Jesus remain (verse 56)?

Why does Jesus live (verse 57)?

Why will those who feed on Jesus live (verse 57)?

What is the difference between the “bread that came down from heaven” and the manna (verse 58)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about the consequences of our choices in this passage?

In your opinion, how are those who refused to be cleansed in Ezekiel 24:1-14 and those who refuse the bread from heaven similar?   

1 John 2:12-17 – New International Version (NIV)

12 I am writing to you, dear children,
    because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the evil one.

14 I write to you, dear children,
    because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God lives in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

Why is John writing to the “dear children” (verse 12)?

Who do the fathers know (verse 13)?

What have the young men done (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what is the same for the children, the fathers and the young men (verses 12 and 13)?

Who do the “dear children” now know (verse 14)?

Who do the fathers still know (verse 14)?

What is added to what the young men know (verse 14)?

What is not in the one who “loves the world” (verse 15)?

Where does “everything in the world” come from (verse 16)?

Who “lives forever” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about the consequences of our choices in this passage?

In your opinion, what does 1 John 2:12-17 help us understand about the people that Ezekiel is writing to in Ezekiel 24:1-14?

In your opinion, how is the transformation of the “dear children”, fathers and young men in 1 John 2:12-17 a result of the choice to eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus as presented in John 6:53-58?

Revelation 8:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— 11 the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.

13 As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”

What happened in heaven when the seventh seal was opened (verse 1)?

Who was given the “seven trumpets” (verse 2)?

What was the angel with the golden censer given to offer (verse 3)?

What went from the angel’s hand and up before God (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why are the “prayers of all God’s people” presented to God before the bad things started to happen on the earth?

What did the angel do with the censer after he filled it with fire from the alter (verse 5)?

Who prepared to sound the seven trumpets (verse 6)?

What happened when the first angel sounded the first trumpet (verse 7)?

Where was the “something like a huge mountain” thrown (verse 8)?

What was the name of the star that fell on “a third of the rivers and on the springs of water” (verse 10)?

When did a third of the day and a third of the night become “without light” (verse 12)?

Why did the eagle cry “Woe! Woe! Woe!” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about the consequences of our choices in this passage?

In your opinion, how are the woes to the “city of bloodshed” in Ezekiel 24:1-14 similar to the sounding of the trumpets in Revelation 8:1-13?

In your opinion, will the terrible things that happen when the trumpets sound in Revelation 8:1-13 have any effect on the promise of Jesus from John 6:53-58 that whoever feeds on His flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life” and that He “will raise them up at the last day”? 

In your opinion, how is the statement in 1 John 2:17 that “the world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” beginning to be fulfilled in heaven and on earth by what in revealed in Revelation 8:1-13?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezekiel, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about what is eternal and what is not?

In your opinion, how can we move from troubles to loving God forever?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

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