August 13, 2023 – John’s Writings – God’s Invitation to the Banished

God’s Invitation to the Banished

Genesis 3:17-23 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

²⁰ Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. ²² And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” ²³ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴ After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

What had Adam done with the fruit from the tree that God commanded “you must not eat from it” (verse 17)?

What happened to the ground because of Adam (verse 17)?

How will Adam eat food from the ground (verse 17)?

What will the ground produce (verse 18)?

Where will Adam return (verse 19)?

Why did Adam name his wife Eve (verse 20)?

Who made garments and clothed Adam and Eve (verse 21)?

How had Adam and Eve become like God (verse 22)?

How did God keep Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of life (verse 23)?

Why were the cherubim and the flaming sword placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about our opportunity to come to eternal life?

John 1:35-39 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶ When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

³⁷ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

³⁹ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

Who was with John (verse 35)?

What did John say when he saw Jesus (verse 36)?

Who followed Jesus (verse 37)?

What did Jesus ask them (verse 38)?

How did Jesus answer when they said “where are you staying” (verse 39)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about our opportunity to come to eternal life?

In your opinion, how is the banishment of Genesis 3:17-23 beginning to be rescinded by the invitation of Jesus in John 1:9-18?

1 John 5:5-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹ We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 

What does the one “who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” do (verse 5)?

Who came by the “water and the blood” (verse 6)?

Who is “the truth” (verse 6)?

Who are the “three that testify” (verses 7 and 8)?

Why is God’s testimony greater (verse 9)?

Who “accepts this testimony” (verse 10)?

What is the testimony (verse 11)?

Who has life (verse 12)?

Why did John “write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God” (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about our opportunity to come to eternal life?

In your opinion, how does 1 John 5:5-13 provide an answer to the banishment of Genesis 3:17-23?

In your opinion, how is the invitation of Jesus to the two disciples to “come” in John 1:9-18 expanded from a day to an eternity in 1 John 5:5-13?

Revelation 22:16-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

¹⁷ The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

¹⁸ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.

²⁰ He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Who sent the angel “to give you this testimony for the churches” (verse 16)?

Who is “the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star” (verse 16)?

What do the Spirit and the bride say (verse 17)?

What should the “one who hears say” (verse 17)?

Who is to be allowed to “take the free gift of the water of life” (verse 17)?

What will happen to the one who adds to the “words of prophecy of this scroll” (verse 18)?

What will happen to the one who “takes words away from this scroll of prophecy” (verse 19)?

Who says “yes, I am coming soon” (verse 20)?

What does John pray will “be with God’s people” (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about our opportunity to come to eternal life?

In your opinion, how is the banishment of Genesis 3:17-23 resolved by the invitation of “the Spirit and the bride” in Revelation 22:16-21?

In your opinion, how is the prayer “Amen. Come Lord Jesus” in Revelation 22:16-21 the perfect response to Jesus’s invitation in John 1:9-18 to “Come”?

In your opinion, what does 1 John 5:5-13 help us understand about the “free gift of the water of life” that Revelation 22:16-21 invites the thirsty to take? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how those who were once banned from eternal life are invited by God to enter it?

In your opinion, how can you confidently pray “Come, Lord Jesus”?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 28, 2023 – John’s Writings – Overcoming the World

Overcoming the World

Jeremiah 51:54-64 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵⁴ “The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
    the sound of great destruction
    from the land of the Babylonians.
⁵⁵ The Lord will destroy Babylon;
    he will silence her noisy din.
Waves of enemies will rage like great waters;
    the roar of their voices will resound.
⁵⁶ A destroyer will come against Babylon;
    her warriors will be captured,
    and their bows will be broken.
For the Lord is a God of retribution;
    he will repay in full.
⁵⁷ I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
    her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep forever and not awake,”
    declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty.

⁵⁸ This is what the Lord Almighty says:

“Babylon’s thick wall will be leveled
    and her high gates set on fire;
the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing,
    the nations’ labor is only fuel for the flames.”

⁵⁹ This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. ⁶⁰ Jeremiah had written on a scroll about all the disasters that would come upon Babylon—all that had been recorded concerning Babylon. ⁶¹ He said to Seraiah, “When you get to Babylon, see that you read all these words aloud. ⁶² Then say, ‘Lord, you have said you will destroy this place, so that neither people nor animals will live in it; it will be desolate forever.’ ⁶³ When you finish reading this scroll, tie a stone to it and throw it into the Euphrates. ⁶⁴ Then say, ‘So will Babylon sink to rise no more because of the disaster I will bring on her. And her people will fall.’”

The words of Jeremiah end here.

What comes from Babylon (verse 54)?

Who will destroy Babylon (verse 55)?

What is the Lord a God of (verse 56)?

How will the Lord change the officials, wise men, governors, officials and warriors (verse 57)?

In your opinion, what does the Lord mean by “the peoples exhaust themselves for nothing” (verse 58)?

Where did “Zedekiah king of Judah” go in the fourth year of his reign (verse 59)?

What had Jeremiah “written on a scroll” (verse 60)?

When was Seraiah to “read all these words aloud” (verse 61)?

What was Seraiah to say when he was done reading (verse 62)?

How was Seraiah tying a stone to the scroll and throwing it into the Euphrates related to Babylon (verses 63 and 64)?

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

In your opinion, where do we see a person who was of the world overcoming the world in this passage?

John 12:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.

When did Jesus come to Bethany (verse 1)?

How was Lazarus described (verse 1)?

Why was the dinner given (verse 2)?

Who served the dinner (verse 2)?

What did Mary do (verse 3)?

How did Mary’s actions change the house (verse 3)?

What was pointed out about Judas Iscariot (verse 4)?

What did Judas say (verse 5)?

Why did Judas say this (verse 6)?

How did Jesus respond to Judas (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, where do we see a person who was of the world overcoming the world in this passage?

In your opinion, how is the sinking of the scroll tied to the stone in Jeremiah 51:54-64 and the fragrance of the perfume filling the house in John 12:1-7 both appropriate foreshadowing’s of the destruction and death to follow?

1 John 5:5-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹ We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 

“Who is it that overcomes the world?” (verse 5)?

How did Jesus Christ come (verse 6)?

Who testifies (verse 6)?

How many testify (verse 7)?

Who are the ones who testify and “are in agreement” (verse 8)?

What is greater than human testimony (verse 9)?

Who accepts “this testimony” (verse 10)?

What is the testimony (verse 11)?

Who has life (verse 12)?

Who does not have life (verse 12)?

Why did John write these things (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, where do we see a person who was of the world overcoming the world in this passage?

In your opinion, what is the difference between those who “exhaust themselves for nothing” in Jeremiah 51:54-64 and those who overcome the world according to 1 John 5:5-13?

In your opinion, how does the discussion in 1 John 5:5-13 about the difference between accepting and rejecting God’s testimony about Jesus help us understand the difference between Mary and Judas in John 12:1-7?

Revelation 18:21-24 – New International Version (NIV)

²¹ Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said:

“With such violence
    the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
    never to be found again.
²² The music of harpists and musicians, pipers and trumpeters,
    will never be heard in you again.
No worker of any trade
    will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
    will never be heard in you again.
²³ The light of a lamp
    will never shine in you again.
The voice of bridegroom and bride
    will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world’s important people.
    By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
²⁴ In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people,
    of all who have been slaughtered on the earth.”

What did the “mighty angel” do with the millstone sized boulder (verse 21)?

How will Babylon be like the boulder (verse 21)?

What will never be heard in Babylon again (verse 22)?

Who will never be found in Babylon again (verse 22)?

What will never shine in Babylon again (verse 23)?

Whose voices will never be heard in Babylon again (verse 23)?

Who were the “world’s important people” (verse 23)?

How were nations “led astray” (verse 23)?

What was found in Babylon (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, where do we see a person who was of the world overcoming the world in this passage?

In your opinion, how is the Babylon of Jeremiah 51:54-64 like the Babylon of Revelation 18:21-24 in:

Might and Power?

And Destruction?

In your opinion, how is Lazarus in John 12:1-7 a perfect contrast to Babylon in Revelation 18:21-24?  How might Judas be compared to Babylon?

In your opinion, how does 1 John 5:5-13 show us that those whose blood was found in the city of Babylon in Revelation 18:21-24 will have overcome the mighty city that took their lives? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Jeremiah, John, 1 John and Revelation show us about the difference between the obvious might of Babylon (the world) and the subtle power of love?

In your opinion, how do we overcome the world with the power of God’s love today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

February 5, 2023 – John’s Writings – Sanctuary’s Gate

Sanctuary’s Gate

Ezekiel 37:15-28 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁶ “Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, ‘Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, ‘Belonging to Joseph (that is, to Ephraim) and all the Israelites associated with him.’ ¹⁷ Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand.

¹⁸ “When your people ask you, ‘Won’t you tell us what you mean by this?’ ¹⁹ say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim’s hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah’s stick. I will make them into a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.’ ²⁰ Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on ²¹ and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. ²² I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. ²³ They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ “‘My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees. ²⁵ They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their children’s children will live there forever, and David my servant will be their prince forever. ²⁶ I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant. I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them forever. ²⁷ My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. ²⁸ Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.’”

What was Ezekiel to write on the first stick of wood (verse 15)?

What was Ezekiel to write on the second stick of wood (verse 15)?

What was Ezekiel to do with the two sticks of wood (verse 16)?

How was Ezekiel to answer when the people ask “won’t you tell us what you mean by this” (verses 18 and 19)?

What is the Sovereign Lord going to do with the Israelites (verse 21)?

How many kings will the formerly two nations have (verse 22)?

What will the Sovereign Lord save them from (verse 23)?

What will the people be (verse 23)?

How many shepherds will they have (verse 24)?

Where will they live (verse 25)?

How long will the covenant of peace last (verse 26)?

Where will God’s dwelling place be (verse 27)?

What will the nations know (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 sanctuary and our need for it?

John 10:7-18 - New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

How did Jesus describe Himself (verse 7)?

Who came before (verse 8)?

What will happen to those who enter through Jesus (verse 9)?

Why has Jesus come (verse 10)?

What does the “good shepherd” do (verse 11)?

What happens after the hired hand abandons the sheep (verse 12)?

Why does the man run away (verse 13)?

Who do the sheep know (verse 14)?

What does Jesus do for His sheep (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does Jesus mean when He says “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen” (verse 16)?

How many flocks will there be (verse 16)?

Why does the Father love Jesus (verse 17)?

What authority does Jesus have (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s sanctuary and our need for it?

In your opinion, how are the two sticks of Ezekiel 37:15-28 different from the two flocks of John 10:7-18? 

1 John 5:5-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹ We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Who overcomes the world (verse 5)?

Who “came by water and blood” (verse 6)?

Who testifies (verse 6)?

What three are in agreement (verses 7 and 8)?

What is greater than “human testimony” (verse 9)?

Who “accepts this testimony” (verse 10)?

What is “the testimony” (verse 11)?

Who has life (verse 12)?

Why does John write (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about God’s sanctuary and our need for it?

In your opinion, how is God promise to call all the dispersed descendants of Israel and Judah back “into their own land” in Ezekiel 37:15-28 related to 1 John 5:5-13’s promise that everyone “who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” has overcome the world?

In your opinion, what do both John 10:7-18 and 1 John 5:5-13 teach us about the importance of individual discernment?

Revelation 12:13-17 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent’s reach. ¹⁵ Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. ¹⁶ But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. ¹⁷ Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring—those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus.

What did the dragon do when he “saw that he had been hurled to the earth” (verse 13)?

Why was the woman “given the two wings of a great eagle” (verse 14)?

How long would the woman “be taken care of” (verse 15)?

Why did the serpent spew “water like a river” (verse 15)?

What did the earth do (verse 16)?

Who was the dragon’s next target (verse 17)?

How are the rest of the woman’s offspring described (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 sanctuary and our need for it?

In your opinion, how is the pursuit of the woman in Revelation 12:13-17 related to the covenant of peace promised to God’s people in Ezekiel 37:15-28?

In your opinion, what does Jesus’s discussion about the sheep who are in the pen and those who are not in John 10:7-18 help us understand about those who the dragon is pursuing and making war against in Revelation 12:13-17?

In your opinion, how does 1 John 5:5-13 reassure us about the outcome of the dragon’s war in Revelation 12:13-17 against “those who keep God’s commands and hold fast their testimony about Jesus”? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezekiel, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about the outcome of the confrontation of the Good Shepherd and the wolf/dragon?

In your opinion, how do these four very different big picture overviews help us understand about “Sanctuary’s Gate”?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

October 2, 2022 – John’s Writings – Falling Short and Overcoming

 Falling Short and Overcoming

Ezekiel 20:10-21 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ¹¹ I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. ¹² Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy.

¹³ “‘Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws—by which the person who obeys them will live—and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness. ¹⁴ But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. ¹⁵ Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands— ¹⁶ because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols. ¹⁷ Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the wilderness. ¹⁸ I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. ¹⁹ I am the Lord your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁰ Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”

²¹ “‘But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said, “The person who obeys them will live by them,” and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 

Where did God take the Israelites when He led them out of Egypt (verse 10)?

What did God give the Israelites in the wilderness that they could obey and live (verse 11)?

In your opinion, how would the Sabbaths show the Israelites that “the Lord made them holy” (verse 12)?

What did the Israelites do in the wilderness (verse 13)?

What did God swear (verse 15)?

How did the Israelites feel about their idols (verse 16)?

In your opinion, why did God look at the Israelites “with pity” (verse 17)?

What did God tell the children of the Israelites (verse 18)?

How did God identify Himself to the children (verse 19)?

Why were the children to “keep my Sabbaths holy” (verse 20)?

How did the children respond to God (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about falling short and/or overcoming in this passage?

John 5:36-47 - New International Version (NIV)

³⁶ “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, ³⁸ nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. ³⁹ You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept glory from human beings, ⁴² but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵ “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. ⁴⁶ If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. ⁴⁷ But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

What testimony does Jesus have that is “weightier than that of John” (verse 36)?

What does this testimony testify to (verse 36)?

Why have those listening to Jesus “never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you” (verses 37 and 38)?

Why do those same people “study the Scriptures diligently” (verse 39)?

What do those Scriptures do (verse 39)?

In your opinion, why do the people listening to Jesus refuse to come to Him “to have life” (verse 40)?

What does Jesus know they not have in their hearts (verse 42)?

Who will they accept (verse 43)?

Who will accuse these people “before the Father” (verse 45)?

Who would these people believe if they “believed Moses” (verse 46)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about falling short and/or overcoming in this passage?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the failure of the Israelites that Ezekiel was speaking because “they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said, “The person who obeys them will live by them,” that Ezekiel 20:10-21 and the failure of the people that Jesus was talking to in John 5:36-47 who “study the Scriptures diligently” but were not able to believe in Jesus?   

1 John 5:5-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶ This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. ⁹ We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

¹³ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 

“Who is it that overcomes the world” (verse 5)?

How did Jesus come (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to come “by water and blood” (verse 6)?

Who is the truth who testifies (verse 6)?

Who are the three who testify in agreement (verses 7 and 8)?

Why is God’s testimony greater (verse 9)?

What does “whoever believes in the Son of God” accept (verse 10)?

Who makes God “out to be a liar” (verse 10)?

What is the testimony (verse 11)?

Who has life (verse 12)?

Who does not have life (verse 12)?

Who does John write these things to (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about falling short and/or overcoming in this passage?

In your opinion, how does 1 John 5:5-13’s discussion about overcoming the world help us understand how that the Israelite people that God was talking about in Ezekiel 20:10-21 rebelled in the wilderness?

In your opinion, how does 1 John 5:5-13’s discussion about overcoming the world help us understand why the people that Jesus was talking to in John 5:36-47 did not find Jesus in the writings of Moses?

Revelation 5:8-14 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

What did the “four living creatures and the twenty-four elders” do when Jesus took the scroll (verse 8)?

Where “are the prayers of God’s people” (verse 8)?

Why, according to the new song, was Jesus “worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals” (verse 9)?

What have the “persons from every tribe and language and people and nation” that Jesus purchased been made into (verses 9 and 10)?

Who “encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders” (verse 11)?

What did they say the “Lamb, who was slain” was worthy to receive (verse 12)?

How did “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them” respond (verse 13)?

What did the four living creatures do (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, what can we learn about falling short and/or overcoming in this passage?

In your opinion, how are the people that God had brought from slavery in Egypt into the wilderness who could not keep the Sabbath in Ezekiel 20:10-21 and all the rest of us who have failed at keeping ourselves holy and also deserve God’s wrath able to find hope in Revelation 5:8-14? 

In your opinion, what does Revelation 5:8-14 reveal to us about Jesus’s works He was to finish that He said in John 5:36-47 “testify that the Father has sent me”?

In your opinion, what is the difference between what 1 John 5:5-13 and Revelation 5:8-14 reveal about what the blood of Jesus does?  How are both important? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezekiel, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how we, like the Israelites freed from slavery in Egypt through mighty acts of God and the people who actually saw Jesus perform miracles, might fall short today?  And what do they teach us about how to overcome today?

In your opinion, how would you describe overcoming the world (this might be considered a trick question)? 

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)