July 28, 2024 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Building God’s House

Building God’s House

Isaiah 66:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ This is what the Lord says:

“Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
    Where will my resting place be?
² Has not my hand made all these things,
    and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord.

“These are the ones I look on with favor:
    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
    and who tremble at my word.
³ But whoever sacrifices a bull
    is like one who kills a person,
and whoever offers a lamb
    is like one who breaks a dog’s neck;
whoever makes a grain offering
    is like one who presents pig’s blood,
and whoever burns memorial incense
    is like one who worships an idol.
They have chosen their own ways,
    and they delight in their abominations;
⁴ so I also will choose harsh treatment for them
    and will bring on them what they dread.
For when I called, no one answered,
    when I spoke, no one listened.
They did evil in my sight
    and chose what displeases me.”

⁵ Hear the word of the Lord,
    you who tremble at his word:
“Your own people who hate you,
    and exclude you because of my name, have said,
‘Let the Lord be glorified,
    that we may see your joy!’
    Yet they will be put to shame.
⁶ Hear that uproar from the city,
    hear that noise from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord
    repaying his enemies all they deserve.

 

Where is the Lord’s throne (verse 1)?

 

What is the earth to the Lord (verse 1)?

What has “made all these things” (verse 2)?

Who does the Lord “look on with favor” (verse 2)?

What have people “chosen” (verse 3)?

Who answered when the Lord called (verse 4)?

Why are the people who “tremble at” the Lord’s word excluded (verse 5)?

What is “that uproar from the city” and “that noise from the temple” (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s house?

Luke 11:24-28 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ ²⁵ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. ²⁶ Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

²⁷ As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

²⁸ He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

What does “an impure spirit” do after leaving a person when it does not find a place to rest (verse 24)?

What does it find “when it arrives” (verse 25)?

Why is the “final condition of that person” worse than the first (verse 26)?

Who did the “woman in the crowd” call out as blessed (verse 27)?

Who did Jesus say is blessed (verse 28)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s house?

In your opinion, how would Jesus’s answer to the woman in Luke 11:24-28 been appropriate for all those who Isaiah 66:1-6 was addressed to?

Acts 7:44-60 - New International Version (NIV)

⁴⁴ “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. ⁴⁵ After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, ⁴⁶ who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob. ⁴⁷ But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

⁴⁸ “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

⁴⁹ “‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
    Or where will my resting place be?
⁵⁰ Has not my hand made all these things?’

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

⁵⁴ When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

What did “our ancestors” have in the wilderness (verse 44)?

Who “drove out” the nations before the ancestors (verse 45)?

Who “asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob” (verse 46)?

Where does “the Most High” not live (verse 48)?

What is heaven (verse 49)?

How are the people Stephen is talking to “just like” their ancestors (verse 51)?

What did they do to the “Righteous One” (verse 52)?

How was the law they received given (verse 53)?

Who was “furious and gnashed their teeth at him” (verse 54)?

How was Stephen filled (verse 55)?

What did Stephen see (verse 56)?

Who covered their ears (verse 57)?

Where did the witnesses lay their coats (verse 58)?

What did Stephen pray (verse 59)?

When did Stephen fall asleep (verse 60)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s house?

In your opinion, how was the conflict between the religious leaders and Stephen in Acts 4:44-59 anticipated in Isaiah 6:1-6?

In your opinion, what does Jesus’s lesson in Luke 11:24-28 help us understand about the leaders of the house of God in Acts 7:44-59? 

1 Corinthians 3:9-17 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

What does Paul say we (the Christian readers) are (verse 9)?

How was Paul able to lay the foundation (verse 10)?

Who is the foundation that is “already laid” (verse 11)?

How will everyone’s work “be shown for what it is” (verse 12 and 13)?

When will the builder “receive a reward” (verse 14)?

What will happen if the builder’s work is destroyed (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be “only as one escaping through the flames” (verse 15)?

Who is “God’s temple” (verse 16)?

What are Christians “together” (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s house?

In your opinion, how does 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 help answer God’s question in Isaiah 66:1-6 “Where is the house you will build for me?”?

In your opinion, what does reading Luke 11:24-28 and 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 help us understand about how we live our choices today?

In your opinion, how does Stephen’s statement that “the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands” followed by Isaiah’s question “What kind of house will you build for me?” in Acts 7:44-59 provide a basis for understanding 1 Corinthians 3:9-17?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Luke, Acts and Hebrews teach us about who builds the house of God?

In your opinion, how do we build God’s house today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

December 30, 2018 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Temple Building Then and Now

Temple Building Then and Now

Ezra 3:8-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. ⁹ Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

¹⁰ When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. ¹¹ With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;
    his love toward Israel endures forever.”

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. ¹³ No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

In your opinion, who are Zerubbabel and Joshua (verse 8)?

Who supervised “those working on the house of God” (verse 9)?

Who gave the priests and Levites “their places to praise the Lord” (verse 10)?

What did they sing about the Lord (verse 11)?

Why did the people give “a great shout of praise” (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why did “many of the older priests and Levites and family heads” weep aloud when they saw the foundation of the temple being laid (verse 12)?

What could not be destinguished (verse 13)?

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

Zechariah 4:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)           

¹ Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. ² He asked me, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. ³ Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

⁴ I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.

⁶ So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

⁷ “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.

¹⁰ “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”

¹¹ Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”

¹² Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”

¹³ He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I said.

¹⁴ So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”

Who woke Zechariah up (verse 1)?

How does Zechariah describe the lampstand he sees (verse 2)?

What does Zechariah see on the the right and the left of the lampstand (verse 3)?

What does Zechariah ask the angel (verse 4)?

What message does the angel have for Zerubbabel (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why will there be shouts of “God bless it” when Zerubbabel brings out the capstone (verse 7)?

How will Zechariah know that the Lord Almighty sent the angel (verse 9)?

In your opinion, who does date “to despise the day of small things” (verse 10)?

Who do the two “olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand” represent (verses 11, 12, 13 and 14)?

In your opinion, who are the “two olive trees” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, why does something as wonderful as building a temple to the Lord create weeping in Ezra 3:8-13 and cause some to despise it in Zechariah 4:1-14?

John 2:13-25 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name.  ²⁴ But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

When did Jesus go to Jerusalem (verse 13)?

What did Jesus find in the temple (verse 14)?

How did Jesus react to what He found in the temple (verse 15)?

What did Jesus say they were turning His Father’s house into (verse 16)?

Who remembered that it was written “zeal for your house will consume me” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did the Jews ask “what sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this” (verse 18)?

How long did Jesus say it would take Him to rainse the temple again (verse 19)?

How long had it taken to build the temple (verse 20)?

What temple was Jesus speaking of (verse 21)?

When did the disciples recall what Jesus had said  (verse 22)?

Why did “many people” believe (verse 23)?

Who would Jesus not entrust himself to (verse 24)?

What did Jesus not need (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, what caused the temple that was so important to people at its beginning that the sounds of joy and weeping were heard “far away” in Ezra 3:8-13 to become a place that was used for the sale of cattle,  sheep and doves in John 2:13-25?

In your opinion, how are Zerubabbel from Zechariah 4:1-14 and Jesus from John 2:13-25 related, by family and position, and how are their positions different?

1 Corinthians 3:9-17 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

What are we (verse 9)?

What did Paul lay (verse 10)?

How should each on build (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why can no one “lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (verse 11)?

What does Paul say people can build on the foundation with (verse 12)?

How will their work “be shown for what it is” (verse 13)?

What will fire test (verse 14)?

Who will receive a reward (verse 15)?

How will the person whose work is burned up be saved (verse 15)?

What are Christians (verse 16)?

Where does God’s Spirit dwell (verse 16)?

What is sacred (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how are the foundation of Zerubbabel’s temple which was being laid in Ezra 3:8-13 and the foundation of “God’s building” which was described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 similar?

In your opinion, what can God’s statement “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” from Zechariah 4:1-14 teach us about building on the foundation of Jesus Christ with “gold, silver, costly stones, wood hay or straw” from 1 Corinthians 3:9-17?

In your opinion, how is the temple that Jesus talks about in John 2:13-25 different from “God’s building” that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, Zechariah, John and 1 Corinthians teach us about the building of God’s temple, from Zerubabbel’s time and our time?

In your opinion, how can we who build God’s temple today build with gold, silver and costly stones instead of wood, hay or straw?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)