Preparing
Malachi 3:1-4 – New International Version (NIV)
1 “I will send my
messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the
Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the
covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
2 But who can endure the
day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like
a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like
gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in
righteousness, 4 and the offerings of
Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.
What will the messenger do (verse 1)?
Who will “come to
his temple” (verse 1)?
Who is desired (verse
1)?
How will the Lord
come (verse 2)?
Who will be purified
and refined (verse 3)?
What “will be
acceptable to the Lord” (verse 4)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what
do we learn about how the way is prepared for the Lord in this passage?
Luke 1:67-80 - New International Version (NIV)
67 His
father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “Praise
be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72 to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father
Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and
righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you,
my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way
for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from
heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80 And the
child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness
until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Who “was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied”
(verse 67)?
What has
the Lord, the God of Israel” done (verse 68)?
What has the Lord raised (verse 69)?
What has the Lord remembered (verse 72)?
How will people be able to serve the Lord (verse 74)?
What will Zechariah’s child do for the Lord (verse 76)?
How will Zechariah’s child “give his people the knowledge of
salvation” (verse 77)?
Who will “the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on”
(verses 78 and 79)?
Where will the “rising sun” “guide our feet into” (verses 78 and
79)?
What did the child do (verse 80)?
Where did the child live (verse 80)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what do we learn about how the way is prepared for the
Lord in this passage?
In your opinion, how does the prophecy of Zechariah in Luke 1:68-79 help
us understand the way the Lord would accomplish the refining promised in
Malachi 3:1-4?
Luke 2:8-12 - New International Version (NIV)
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch
over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord
appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
terrified. 10 But the angel said
to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great
joy for all the people. 11 Today
in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the
Messiah, the Lord. 12 This
will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in
a manger.”
Where were the shepherds (verse 8)?
What were they doing (verse 8)?
Who “appeared
to them” (verse 9)?
What “shone around them” (verse 9)?
How did they feel (verse 9)?
What did the angel say he brought (verse 10)?
Where had “a Savior” been born (verse 11)?
Who is the “Savior” (verse 11)?
What was their sign (verse 12)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what do we learn about how the way is prepared
for the Lord in this passage?
In your opinion, how does what happens in Luke 2:8-12
fulfill the prophecy that Malachi 3:1-4 anticipates?
In your
opinion, how are Zechariah’s celebration of the birth of John in Luke 1:68-79 and
the proclamation of the angel to the shepherds in Luke 2:8-12 similar?
Luke 3:1-6 – New International Version
(NIV)
1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius
Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of
Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias
tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas
and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in
the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the
Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As
it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the
wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”
Who was Caesar (verse 1)?
Who was governor of Judea (verse 1)?
Who was tetrarch of Galilee (verse 1)?
Who were the high priests (verse 2)?
What “came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (verse
2)?
Where did John go (verse 3)?
What did John preach (verse 3)?
Who wrote “a voice of one calling in the wilderness”
(verse 4)?
What will happen to “rough ways” (verse 5)?
Who will see “God’s salvation” (verse 6)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what
do we learn about how the way is prepared for the Lord in this passage?
In your opinion, how does Luke 3:1-6 show the fulfillment of the prophecy in
Malachi 3:1-4?
In
your opinion, how does Luke 3:1-6 also show the amazing fulfillment of
Zechariah’s prophecy in Luke 1:68-79?
In your opinion, how
would you describe the contrast between the baby in the manager in Luke 2:8-12
and the powerful government officials of Luke 3:1-6? Which would change the world?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Malachi, Luke,
Luke and Luke teach us about refining and salvation?
In your
opinion, how should we “prepare the way” today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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