Victory in Small and All Things
Zechariah 4:1-14 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 Then the angel who talked with me
returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. 2 He
asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a
solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it,
with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two
olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I
replied.
6 So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to
Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says
the Lord Almighty.
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become
level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of
‘God bless it! God bless it!’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came
to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the
foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you
will know that the Lord Almighty
has sent me to you.
10 “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the
seven eyes of the Lord that
range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen
capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”
11 Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on
the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the
two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
13 He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I said.
14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve
the Lord of all the earth.”
Who returned and woke Zechariah up (verse 1)?
What did Zechariah see (verse 2)?
Where were the two olive trees (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why did Zechariah ask “what
are these” (verse 4)?
What is the word of the Lord Almighty to
Zerubbabel (verse 6)?
What will happen to the “mighty mountain”
before Zerubbabel (verse 7)?
Whose hands will complete the temple (verse 9)?
In your opinion, what does the question “who
dares despise the day of small things” mean (verse 10)?
What is Zachariah asking about in verse 11?
What is Zachariah asking about in verse 12?
What are the two olive branches (verse 14)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
John
7:25-34 - New
International Version (NIV)
25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t
this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is,
speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really
concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where
this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is
from.”
28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried
out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here
on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know
him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he
sent me.”
30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on
him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still,
many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes,
will he perform more signs than this man?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him.
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and
then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look
for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”
What did some of the people of Jerusalem begin to ask
(verse 25)?
How did the people think the authorities dealing were
with Jesus (verse 26)?
Why did some of the people in Jerusalem conclude that
Jesus was not the Messiah (verse 27)?
In your opinion, why does Jesus say that “I am not
here on my own authority” (verse 28)?
Why does Jesus know the One who sent Him (verse 29)?
What “had not yet come” (verse 30)?
Who said “when the Messiah comes, will he perform
more signs than this man” (verse 31)?
What did the chief priests and the Pharisees do (verse
32)?
How long will Jesus be with them (verse 33)?
What will happen when they look for Jesus (verse 34)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what
does this passage teach us about how followers of God have victory even when
confronted by the world?
In
your opinion, how is the obstruction by the enemies of Israel to the completion
of the temple in Zechariah 4:1-14 similar to the obstruction that Jesus faced
from those who did not believe He was the Messiah in John 7:25-36?
1 John 4:1-6 – New International Version (NIV)
1 Dear friends, do not believe every
spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because
many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This
is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but
every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the
spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is
already in the world.
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome
them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in
the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore
speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We
are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God
does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of
truth and the spirit of falsehood.
How
should Christians react to “spirits” (verse 1)?
What
have “many false prophets” done (verse 1)?
How
can you “recognize the Spirit of God” (verse 2)?
Who
is not from God (verse 3)?
Where
is the “spirit of the antichrist” (verse 3)?
How have Christians overcome the false prophets (verse 4)?
Why does the world
listen to false prophets (verse 5)?
Who listens to John and
others from God (verse 6)?
In your opinion, what
is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is
the prophecy of Zechariah that Zerubbabel would complete the temple in
Zechariah 4:1-14 similar to John’s reassurance to the Christians that they “are from God and have overcome them, because the one
who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world”?
In
your opinion, is there anything we can learn about the actions of the
antichrists we are warned about in 1 John 4:1-6 from the reactions of those who
did not believe Jesus was the Messiah in John 7:25-36?
Revelation 11:1-10 – New International
Version (NIV)
1 I was given
a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of
God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the
outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They
will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I
will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260
days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two
olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of
the earth.” 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes
from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants
to harm them must die. 6 They have power to shut up the
heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are
prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to
strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that
comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill
them. 8 Their bodies will lie in the public square of the
great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt—where also their
Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from
every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and
refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the
earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other
gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the
earth.
What was
John to do with the reed (verse 1)?
Why
was John to “exclude the outer court” (verse 2)?
What
will happen to the “holy city” for 42 months (verse 2)?
Who
will “prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth” (verse 3)?
Where
do the two olive trees stand (verse 4)?
What
happens when people try to harm them (verse 5)?
How
long will the two witnesses have the power to “shut up the heavens so that
it will not rain” (verse 6)?
What
will the two witnesses have the power to do to the waters (verse 6)?
Who
will attack and kill the two witnesses (verse 7)?
In
your opinion, where will all this happen (verse 8)?
How
long will “some from every people, tribe, language and nation” refuse to
allow the witnesses to be buried (verse 9)?
What
will the “inhabitants of the earth” do (verse 10)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage
teach us about how followers of God have victory even when confronted by the
world?
In your opinion, how are the purposes of
the two olive trees of Zechariah 4:1-14 similar to the purposes of the two
olive trees of Revelation 11:1-10?
In your opinion, how is the desire of
people to kill Jesus in John 7:25-36 similar to desire of the nations to kill
the two witnesses in Revelation 11:1-10?
In your opinion, what part of the temple
that John is measuring in Revelation 11:1-10 would the people who 1 John 4:1-6
says “are from God and have overcome” be in?
In
your opinion, what do these passages from Zechariah, John, 1 John and Revelation
teach us about who has the ultimate power over today, tomorrow, and eternity?
In
your opinion, as Christians what is our responsibility in the conflict between
the world and God?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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