January 1, 2023 – John’s Writings – Filled with the Word

Filled with the Word

Ezekiel 3:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” ² So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

³ Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

⁴ He then said to me: “Son of man, go now to the people of Israel and speak my words to them. ⁵ You are not being sent to a people of obscure speech and strange language, but to the people of Israel— ⁶ not to many peoples of obscure speech and strange language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely if I had sent you to them, they would have listened to you. ⁷ But the people of Israel are not willing to listen to you because they are not willing to listen to me, for all the Israelites are hardened and obstinate. ⁸ But I will make you as unyielding and hardened as they are. ⁹ I will make your forehead like the hardest stone, harder than flint. Do not be afraid of them or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.”

What is Ezekiel to do before he goes to “speak to the people of Israel” (verse 1)?

What did Ezekiel open (verse 2)?

How did the scroll taste (verse 3)?

Who was Ezekiel to “speak my words to” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, what does God mean by “a people of obscure speech and strange language” (verses 5 and 6)?

Why will the people of Israel not listen to Ezekiel (verse 7)?

How will God change Ezekiel (verse 8)?

Who is Ezekiel not be afraid of or “terrified by” (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how those who have the Word of God are to react to people hardened by the world?

John 14:8-21 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

What did Philip say would be enough (verse 8)?

Who has seen the Father (verse 9)?

Where is the Father living (verse 10)?

What does Jesus ask Philip to believe (verse 11)?

Who will do greater works than Jesus (verse 12)?

Why will Jesus do what is ask in His name (verse 13)?

What are those who love Jesus to do (verse 15)?

What is Jesus going to ask the Father for (verse 16)?

Why can’t the world accept the Spirit of truth (verse 17)?

What will Jesus not do (verse 18)?

Why will Christians live (verse 19)?

What will Christians realize (verse 20)?

Who will Jesus show Himself to (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how those who have the Word of God are to react to people hardened by the world?

In your opinion, how is Philip in John 14:8-21 like the hardened and obstinate Israelites of Ezekiel 3:1-9?  How is he different from them?

1 John 3:13-24 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

What should the “brothers and sisters” that John is writing to not be surprised by (verse 13)?

How do we know that we have “passed from death to life” (verse 14)?

Who is a murderer (verse 15)?

How do we know what love is (verse 16)?

In your opinion, why does the “love of God” allow Christians to feel pity for others (verse 17)?

How are we to love (verse 18)?

Who is greater than our hearts (verse 20)?

When do we “have confidence before God” (verse 21)?

What is God’s command (verse 23)?

How do we “know that he lives in us” (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how those who have the Word of God are to react to people hardened by the world?

In your opinion, what does 1 John 3:13-24 show that God has done to allow the transformation of those He said in Ezekiel 3:1-9 were “hardened and obstinate”?

In your opinion, how does reading Jesus promise in John 14:8-21 that “on that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you” effect your view of the message of 1 John 3:13-24?

Revelation 10:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. ² He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. ⁴ And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

⁵ Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. ⁶ And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! ⁷ But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

⁸ Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

⁹ So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but ‘in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” ¹⁰ I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. ¹¹ Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.”

Who was “robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars” (verse 1)?

What was he holding (verse 2)?

When did the “voices of the seven thunders” speak (verse 3)?

Why did John not write down what the seven thunders said (verse 4)?

Who did the angel “standing on the sea and on the land” swear by (verses 5 and 6)?

What did the angel say (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what is the “mystery of God” that will be accomplished (verse 7)? (I am hoping for thought and discussion, not necessarily a confidently accurate answer.)

What did the voice from heaven tell John (verse 8)?

What will the scroll do to John’s stomach (verse 9)?

How will the scroll taste (verse 9)?

What happened when John ate the scroll (verse 10)?

Who is John to prophesy about (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how those who have the Word of God are to react to people hardened by the world?

In your opinion, how is the scroll given to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:1-9 similar to the scroll given to John in Revelation 10:1-11?

In your opinion, how is Jesus’ message in John 14:8-21 related to the message that John is commanded to prophesy about “many peoples, nations, languages and kings” in Revelation 10:1-11? 

In your opinion, does the message of the angel in Revelation 10:1-11 that there “will be no more delay” alter the message of 1 John 3:13-24 that “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezekiel, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how those who have accepted Jesus are different from those who have not accepted Jesus?

In your opinion, if there is no more delay then what are we, who know that “Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” and are one with Jesus and the Father, to do now?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)