November 17, 2024 – Advent 2024 – Promises

Promises

Ezekiel 34:23-31 – New International Version (NIV)

²³ I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.

²⁵ “‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of savage beasts so that they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the forests in safety. ²⁶ I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. ²⁷ The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. They will know that I am the Lord, when I break the bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations. ³⁰ Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them and that they, the Israelites, are my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ³¹ You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Who is the “one shepherd” that the Lord will place over “them” (verse 23)?

Who will “the Lord” be (verse 24)?

What covenant will the Lord make with “them” (verse 25)?

What kind of showers will there be (verse 26)?

When will they “know that I am the Lord” (verse 27)?

Who will make them afraid (verse 28)?

What kind of land will be provided (verse 29)?

Where will they know God is (verse 30)?

What kind of sheep are they (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, what promise for the future does this passage give us?

Luke 1:26-38 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³ and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

³⁴ “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

³⁵ The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For no word from God will ever fail.”

³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

When did God “send the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee” (verse 26)?

Who was Gabriel sent to (verse 27)?

How did Gabriel greet her (verse 28)?

In your opinion, why was “Mary greatly troubled at his words” (verse 29)?

What had Mary found with God (verse 30)?

What is Mary to call her son (verse 31)?

What will “the Lord God” give Him (verse 32)?

When will “his kingdom” end (verse 33)?

What did Mary ask Gabriel (verse 34)?

What will “the holy one to be born” be called (verse 35)?

What is significant about Elizabeth being “in her sixth month” (verse 36)?

What will never fail (verse 37)?

How did Mary answer (verse 38)?

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

In your opinion, what promise for the future does this passage give us?

In your opinion, how does Mary’s statement “I am the Lord’s servant” set the tone for the reaction of all who look to Jesus as the fulfillment of Gabriel’s promises in Luke 1:26-38 and Ezekiel’s prophecies in Ezekiel 34:23-31?

Hebrews 1:5-14 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵ For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;
    today I have become your Father”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father,
    and he will be my Son”?

⁶ And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

⁷ In speaking of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels spirits,
    and his servants flames of fire.”

⁸ But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
    a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
⁹ You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
    therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
    by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

¹⁰ He also says,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
¹¹ They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
¹² You will roll them up like a robe;
    like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
    and your years will never end.”

¹³ To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand
    until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet”?

¹⁴ Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

To who did God not say “you are my Son” (verse 5)?

When does God say “let all God’s angels worship him” (verse 6)?

Who does God make “flames of fire” (verse 7)?

Who does God say “your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever” about (verse 8)?

What did God’s Son lay “in the beginning” (verse 10)?

When will the Son’s years end (verse 12)?

What are angels (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, what promise for the future does this passage give us?

In your opinion, how do both Ezekiel 34:23-31 and Hebrews 1:5-14 establish the position and uniqueness of Jesus?

In your opinion, how does Hebrews 1:5-14 ending with “are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” important in understanding the throne that Gabriel promised Mary her Son would have in Luke 1:26-38 and what Paul also refers to in Hebrews?

Revelation 11:15-19 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

“The kingdom of the world has become
    the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
    and he will reign for ever and ever.”

¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying:

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
    the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
    and have begun to reign.
¹⁸ The nations were angry,
    and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
    and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
    both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.

When did the “loud voices in heaven” say “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom or our Lord and of his Messiah” (verse 15)?

Who “fell on their faces and worshiped God” (verse 16)?

Why did they “give thanks” to Lord God Almighty (verse 17)?

Who will be rewarded (verse 18)?

Who will be destroyed (verse 18)?

What was opened (verse 19)?

What was seen (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, what promise for the future does this passage give us?

In your opinion, how does the kingdom that Ezekiel 34:23-31 described fit into the kingdom that the seventh angel announces in Revelation 11:15-19?

In your opinion, how does Revelation 11:15-19 show God’s answer to Mary’s prayer, “may your word to me be fulfilled” in Luke 1:26-38?

In your opinion, how do both Hebrews 1:5-14 and Revelation 11:15-19 help us understand where those who “revere” God’s name will fit into the amazing kingdom that both passages anticipate?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezekiel, Luke, Hebrews, and Revelation teach us about God’s promises?

In your opinion, how should we respond to God’s promises today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)