February 1, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Boldly Different

Boldly Different

Leviticus 18:1-5, 16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘I am the Lord your God. ³ You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. ⁴ You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the Lord your God. ⁵ Keep my decrees and laws, for the person who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.

¹⁶ “‘Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife; that would dishonor your brother.

Who spoke to Moses (verse 1)?

Who was Moses to tell I am the Lord you God” (verse 2)?

What practices did God tell them not to do (verse 3)?

What were they to be “careful to follow” (verse 4)?

Who will “live by” the Lord’s decrees and laws (verse 5)?

What would “dishonor your brother” (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God’s people should respond to the world?

Matthew 14:1-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus, ² and he said to his attendants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

³ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, ⁴ for John had been saying to him: “It is not lawful for you to have her.” ⁵ Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

⁶ On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for the guests and pleased Herod so much ⁷ that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. ⁸ Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.” ⁹ The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted ¹⁰ and had John beheaded in the prison. ¹¹ His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. ¹² John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

What did “Herod the tetrarch” hear (verse 1)?

Who did Herod think Jesus was (verse 2)?

Who was Herodias (verse 3)?

What had John been telling Herod (verse 4)?

Who was Herod afraid of (verse 5)?

How did Herodias’s daughter please Herod (verse 6)?

What oath did Herod make (verse 7)?

What did Herodias prompt her daughter to ask for (verse 8)?

Why did the king order her request to be granted (verse 9)?

What happened to John (verse 10)?

What did the girl give her mother (verse 11)?

Who did John’s disciples tell after they buried John’s body (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God’s people should respond to the world?

In your opinion, how did Leviticus 18:1-5, 16 effect the relationship between John the Baptist and Herod in Matthew 14:1-12?

Acts 4:23-31 - New International Version (NIV)

²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. ²⁵ You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“‘Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
²⁶ The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
against the Lord
    and against his anointed one.’

²⁷ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. ²⁸ They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. ²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Where did Peter and John go “on their release” (verse 23)?

What did the people do “when they heard’ what the chief priests and elders had told them (verse 24)?

What did David say the “peoples” did in vain (verse 25)?

Who did David say the kings of earth and rulers “band together against” (verse 26)?

What did Herod, Pontius Pilate, “the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city” do (verse 27)?

Who had decided what “should happen” (verse 28)?

What did Peter, John, and their people ask God to enable them to do (verse 29)?

Who did they pray would “heal and perform signs and wonders” (verse 30)?

How did God respond to their prayer (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God’s people should respond to the world?

In your opinion, how does the believers’ prayer for boldness in the face of threats in Acts 4:23-31 demonstrate their willingness to obey the Lord’s commands in Leviticus 18:1-5, 16?

In your opinion, how do both Matthew 14:1-12 and Acts 4:23-31 reveal “nations” raging and “peoples” plotting against the Lord?

Hebrews 10:14-25 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

¹⁵ The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

¹⁶ “This is the covenant I will make with them
    after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them on their minds.”

¹⁷ Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
    I will remember no more.”

¹⁸ And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

What did Jesus do “by one sacrifice” (verse 14)?

Who “testifies to us about this” (verse 15)?

Where will the Lord write His laws (verse 16)?

What will the Lord “remember no more” (verse 17)?

Where is “sacrifice for sin” no longer necessary (verse 18)?

How can Christians have “confidence to enter the Most Holy Place” (verse 19)?

What is the “new and living way opened for us through the curtain” (verse 20)?

With what can Christians “draw near to God” (verse 22)?

Why can we “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” (verse 23)?

What should we consider (verse 24)?

Who should we encourage (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about how God’s people should respond to the world?

In your opinion, how might the Israelites entering the land of Canaan in Leviticus 18:1-5, 16 be a foreshadowing of the entry of “brothers and sisters” into the “Most Holy Place” in Hebrews 10:14-25?

In your opinion, what does Matthew 14:1-12 help us understand about the difficulty of obeying the instructions of Hebrews 10:14-25 to “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess”?

In your opinion, how is Acts 4:23-31 an encouragement for the “meeting together” that Hebrews 10:14-25 instructs us to not give up on?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Leviticus, Matthew, Acts and Hebrews teach us about how to be boldly different from the world we live in?

In your opinion, how can we as Christians encourage and spur one another on today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)