August 24, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Prepared

Prepared

Genesis 45:1-15 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants, and he cried out, “Have everyone leave my presence!” So there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers. ² And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard him, and Pharaoh’s household heard about it.

³ Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

⁸ “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. ⁹ Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. ¹⁰ You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. ¹¹ I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’

¹² “You can see for yourselves, and so can my brother Benjamin, that it is really I who am speaking to you. ¹³ Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

¹⁴ Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

How many were with Joseph “when he make himself known to his brothers” (verse 1)?

Why did the Egyptians hear Joseph (verse 2)?

How did Joseph’s brothers react to him (verse 3)?

What did Joseph say his brothers had done (verse 4)?

Who had sent Joseph “ahead” of his brothers (verse 5)?

What will not happen “for the next five years” (verse 6)?

Why was Joseph sent ahead of his brothers (verse 7)?

What had God made Joseph (verse 8)?

Who did Joseph want to send a message to (verse 9)?

Where will they live (verse 10)?

Who will provide for them (verse 11)?

What are the brothers to do “quickly” (verse 13)?

Who wept (verse 14)?

Who did Joseph weep over (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about making “the most of every opportunity”?

Matthew 10:9-23 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. ¹¹ Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

¹⁶ “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. ¹⁸ On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. ¹⁹ But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, ²⁰ for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

²¹ “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ²² You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ²³ When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

What did Jesus tell the disciples they were not to take (verse 9)?

Who is “worth his keep” (verse 10)?

What should they do when they enter the house they are going to stay in (verses 11 and 12)?

When do they let their “peace rest on it” (verse 13)?

When should they shake the dust “from their feet” (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (verse 16)?

Who will they “be handed over to” (verse 17)?

What will they be when they are “brought before governors and kings” (verse 18)?

What should they “not worry about” (verse 19)?

Who will be “speaking through” them (verse 20)?

Who will be saved (verse 22)?

When should they “flee to another” place (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about making “the most of every opportunity”?

In your opinion, how could God sending Joseph to Egypt in Genesis 45:1-15 be an encouragement to those in Matthew 10:9-23 being sent out like sheep among wolves”?

Acts 20:25-38 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶ Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. ²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. ²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰ Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

³² “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁶ When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

Who will not see Paul again (verse 25)?

What does Paul declare to them (verse 26)?

What has Paul “not hesitated to proclaim” (verse 27)?

How has God “bought” the church (verse 28)?

What will happen after Paul leaves (verse 29)?

Why will men from their church “arise and distort the truth” (verse 30)?

What had Paul done “for three years” (verse 31)?

What can “the word of” God’s grace do (verse 32)?

How were the needs of Paul and his companions supplied (verse 34)?

What did Paul do when he finished speaking (verse 36)?

What “grieved them most” (verse 38)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about making “the most of every opportunity”?

In your opinion, how is the work that God sent Joseph to do in Egypt in Genesis 45:1-15 similar to the work that Paul is assigning to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:25-38?

In your opinion, how would the instructions to be “as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” that Jesus gave to the people He was sending out in Matthew 10:9-23 apply to the Ephesian elders that Paul was instructing in Acts 20:28-38?

Colossians 4:2-6 - New International Version (NIV)

² Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. ³ And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. ⁴ Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. ⁵ Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. ⁶ Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

What does Paul say to do while “being watchful and thankful” (verse 2)?

What prayer does Paul request for himself (verse 3)?

Where is Paul (verse 3)?

How does Paul want to “proclaim it” (verse 4)?

How should Christians “act toward outsiders” (verse 5)?

What should each conversation be full of (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about making “the most of every opportunity”?

In your opinion, how does the way that God prepared Joseph for the circumstances of Genesis 45:1-15 and the way that Paul was provided with a way to minister while he was in chains in Colossians 4:2-6 give us confidence as we pray for doors to open today?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s instruction to “make the most of every opportunity” in Colossians 4:2-6 help us understand Jesus’s instructions to those He was sending out in Matthew 10:9-23?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s instruction to “let your conversation be always full of grace” in Colossians 4:2-6 seem difficult when you think about all the things he had warned the Ephesian elders would happen in Acts 20:25-38?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Genesis, Matthew, Acts, and Colossians reveal about God’s ability to prepare people for the circumstances they will face?

In your opinion, how does this change the way we view the challenging circumstances we find ourselves in?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)