Deuteronomy 23:21–24:5
– New International
Version (NIV)
21 If you make
a vow to the Lord your
God, do not be slow to pay it, for the Lord your
God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. 22 But if you
refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. 23 Whatever
your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to
the Lord your
God with your own mouth.
24 If you enter
your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat all the grapes you want, but do not put
any in your basket. 25 If you enter
your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick kernels with your hands, but you must
not put a sickle to their standing grain.
1 If a man marries a woman who
becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her,
and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her
from his house, 2 and if after she leaves his
house she becomes the wife of another man, 3 and her second husband
dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends
her from his house, or if he dies, 4 then her first husband, who
divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled.
That would be detestable in the eyes of the Lord. Do not bring sin upon the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
5 If a man has recently
married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one
year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has
married.
What should you not do if “you make a vow to the Lord your God”
(verse 21)?
When will you “not be guilty” (verse 22)?
What must you “be sure to do” (verse 23)?
How many of your neighbor’s grapes can you eat (verse 24)?
How many of your
neighbor’s grapes can you put “in your basket” (verse 24)?
In your opinion,
what is the difference between picking grain kernels by hand and using a sickle
(verse 25)?
What is actually
being forbidden in verses 1 through 4?
How long is a newly
married man to be exempt from being “sent to war” (verse 5)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what does this
passage teach us about selfish assumptions?
Matthew 5:31-37 - New International
Version (NIV)
31 “It has
been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of
divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his
wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and
anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again,
you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your
oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ 34 But
I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s
throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by
Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do
not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. 37 All
you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from
the evil one.
What “has been said” (verse 31)?
Who makes
the faithful wife “the victim of adultery” (verse 32)?
What “was said to the people long ago” (verse 33)?
What command does Jesus give about oaths (verse 34)?
Why should we not swear by our head (verse 36)?
What “comes from the evil one” (verse 37)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about selfish
assumptions?
In your opinion, how are the guidelines that Moses gave in Deuteronomy 23:24-24:5
changed by Jesus in Matthew 5:31-37?
2 Corinthians 1:17-24 - New International
Version (NIV)
17 Was I fickle
when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so
that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?
18 But as
surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For
the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and
Silas and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has
always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many
promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the
“Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it
is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He
anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us,
and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
23 I call
God as my witness—and I stake my life on it—that it was in order to spare
you that I did not return to Corinth. 24 Not that we
lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is
by faith you stand firm.
What manner would allow Paul in same
breath to “say both “Yes,yes” and “No, no” (verse 17)?
In whom has it “always been “Yes”” (verse 19)?
Where
are the promises God has made always “Yes” (verse 20)?
Who makes “both us and you stand firm in Christ”
(verse 21)?
How does God provide us a guarantee (verse 22)?
Who does Paul call as his witness (verse 23)?
How do the Corinthian Christians “stand firm”
(verse 24)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about
selfish assumptions?
In your opinion, how does Paul’s discussion about
fickleness in 2 Corinthians 1:1-24 relate to the reason for the commands of
Deuteronomy 23:24-24:5?
In your
opinion, how does Paul’s description of Jesus as the “Yes” in 2
Corinthians 1:17-24 help us begin to understand why Jesus is adamant in Matthew
5:31-37 that we should not “swear an oath”?
James 4:7-17- New International Version (NIV)
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come
near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you
sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve,
mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble
yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one
another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges
them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law,
you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There
is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and
destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go
to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make
money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen
tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and
then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the
Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As
it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. 17 If
anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for
them.
Who should we submit ourselves to (verse 7)?
What will happen when Christians “Resist the devil” (verse
7)?
Who is to “purify your hearts” (verse 8)?
When will the Lord “lift you up” (verse 10)?
Who “speaks against the law and judges it” (verse 11)?
Who is the “one Lawgiver and Judge” (verse 12)?
What are we (verse 14)?
What should we say (verse 15)?
When is boasting evil (verse 16)?
What is the knowing of a good that ought to be done and not
doing it (verse 17)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion,
what does this passage teach us about selfish assumptions?
In your opinion, how is making a vow to the Lord that is discouraged in
Deuteronomy 23:24-24:5 different from submitting to God that is encouraged in
James 4:7-17?
In
your opinion, how much is the fact that we who are human have the ability that
James 4:7-17 points out to be double-minded a part of the reason for Jesus to
discourage oath taking in Matthew 5:31-37?
In your opinion, how
often does our inability to know the future as James points out in James 4:7-17
cause us to look “fickle” as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 1:17-24
when he made plans but was unable to honor them?
In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Deuteronomy,
Matthew, 2 Corinthians, and James teach us about the importance of considering
how our view of ourselves guides our making vows, dealing with neighbors and
spouses, and our attitude before God?
In your
opinion, how might making living in the Lord’s will shape our words and actions?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment