Chosen People
Genesis 17:9-14 – New International Version (NIV)
9 Then God
said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your
descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This
is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to
keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You
are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the
covenant between me and you. 12 For
the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be
circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money
from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with
your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be
an everlasting covenant. 14 Any
uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut
off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
Who was to keep God’s covenant (verse 9)?
What
is the covenant they are to keep (verse 10)?
Who is the covenant between (verse
11)?
What instruction is given for those “bought
with your money” (verse 12)?
How long is the covenant to last (verse 13)?
What will happen to the uncircumcised
male (verse 14)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage help us understand about Jews and Gentiles?
Matthew 15:21-28 - New International Version (NIV)
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and
Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from
that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on
me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and
urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent
only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she
said.
26 He replied, “It is not
right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you
have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
Where did Jesus withdraw to (verse 21)?
Who
cried out “Lord, Son of David” (verse 22)?
Who was “demon-possessed and suffering terribly”
(verse 22)?
How did Jesus respond (verse 23)?
What did the disciples urge Jesus to do (verse 23)?
How did Jesus answer them (verse 24)?
What did the woman tell Jesus when she
knelt before Him (verse 25)?
What did Jesus reply to the woman
(verse 26)?
In your opinion, why can the woman accept the comparison to dogs (verse 27)?
What does Jesus recognize about the woman’s faith (verse 28)?
What happened to the daughter (verse 28)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage help us understand about Jews and
Gentiles?
In your opinion, how does Genesis 17:9-14 help us understand the rejection
of the woman by the disciples in Matthew 15:21-28?
Ephesians 2:11-22 - New International Version (NIV)
11 Therefore, remember that
formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those
who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human
hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from
Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the
covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were
far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our
peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier,
the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by
setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and
regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity
out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and
in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which
he put to death their hostility. 17 He
came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who
were near. 18 For through him we
both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
19 Consequently, you are no
longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s
people and also members of his household, 20 built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus
himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In
him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy
temple in the Lord. 22 And in
him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by
his Spirit.
What were the Gentiles by birth called “by those who call themselves
“the circumcision”” (verse 11)?
What were the Gentiles “without” (verse 12)?
How have those “who once were far away” been brough
near (verse 13)?
What have the two groups been made into (verse 14)?
How was “the law with its commands and regulations” set
aside (verse 15)?
How were the two groups reconciled “to God” (verse 16)?
What was preached “to you who were far away” and “to
those who were near” (verse 17)?
Who do both groups have access to (verse 18)?
What have the foreigners and strangers become (verse 19)?
Who is the “chief cornerstone” (verse 20)?
What does the “whole building” rise to become (verse
21)?
Where does God live “by his Spirit” (verse 22)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion,
what does this passage help us understand about Jews and Gentiles?
In your opinion, how
does what is revealed in Ephesians 2:11-22 change the covenant made in Genesis
17:9-14?
In your opinion, how
does Jesus’s interaction with the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 help
prepare for the revelations of Ephesians 2:11-22?
1 Peter 2:4-10 - New International Version (NIV)
4 As you
come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and
precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being
built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For
in Scripture it says:
“See, I
lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to
you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
“The
stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone
that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the
message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you
are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s
special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you
out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were
not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received
mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Who has chosen “the
living Stone” (verse 4)?
What are those
like “living stones” being built into (verse 5)?
Who will “never
be put to shame” (verse 6)?
What is the Stone
“to those who do not believe” (verses 7 and 8)?
Why do people
stumble (verse 8)?
What are the “chosen
people” to declare (verse 9)?
Who are the
ones who once “were not a people” (verse 10)
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage help us understand
about Jews and Gentiles?
In your opinion, how does Peter’s statement in 1 Peter
2:1-10 (10) “once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God” apply
to the descendants of Abraham who are part of the covenant of Genesis 17:9-14?
In
your opinion, what does the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28 help us
understand about the “spiritual sacrificies” that 1 Peter 2:1-10 (5)
says we are to offer?
In your opinion, what
do 1 Peter 2:1-10 and Ephesians 2:11-22 help us understand about the building being
built on the cornerstone of Christ?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis,
Matthew, Ephesians and 1 Peter teach us about Jews and Gentiles in God’s eyes?
In your
opinion, how can the chosen faithfully declare God’s praises today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
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