September 15, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – Living in a Temporary Shelter

-                        The

Living in a Temporary Shelter


Leviticus 23:33-43 - New International Version (NIV)

³³ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁴ “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Lord’s Festival of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days. ³⁵ The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. ³⁶ For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.

³⁷ (“‘These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for bringing food offerings to the Lord—the burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings required for each day. ³⁸ These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbaths and in addition to your gifts and whatever you have vowed and all the freewill offerings you give to the Lord.)

³⁹ “‘So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days; the first day is a day of sabbath rest, and the eighth day also is a day of sabbath rest. ⁴⁰ On the first day you are to take branches from luxuriant trees—from palms, willows and other leafy trees—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come; celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² Live in temporary shelters for seven days: All native-born Israelites are to live in such shelters ⁴³ so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in temporary shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”

What are the Israelites to celebrate “on the fifteenth day of the seventh month” (verse 34)?

What is the first day of the celebration (verse 35)?

When are the food offerings to be presented to the Lord (verse 36)?

Who appointed the “sacred assemblies” (verse 37)?

In your opinion, how do the “branches from luxuriant trees-from palms, willows and other leafy trees” aid in rejoicing before the Lord (verse 40)?

Where are the people to live for seven days (verse 42)?

Why are they to live there (verse 43)?

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

Genesis 23:1-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-seven years old. ² She died at Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.

³ Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, ⁴ “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”

⁵ The Hittites replied to Abraham, ⁶ “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our tombs. None of us will refuse you his tomb for burying your dead.”

⁷ Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites. ⁸ He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my dead, then listen to me and intercede with Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf ⁹ so he will sell me the cave of Machpelah, which belongs to him and is at the end of his field. Ask him to sell it to me for the full price as a burial site among you.”

¹⁰ Ephron the Hittite was sitting among his people and he replied to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city. ¹¹ “No, my lord,” he said. “Listen to me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”

¹² Again Abraham bowed down before the people of the land ¹³ and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”

¹⁴ Ephron answered Abraham, ¹⁵ “Listen to me, my lord; the land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.”

¹⁶ Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weight current among the merchants.

¹⁷ So Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre—both the field and the cave in it, and all the trees within the borders of the field—was deeded ¹⁸ to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city. ¹⁹ Afterward Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (which is at Hebron) in the land of Canaan. ²⁰ So the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site.

How long did Sarah live (verse 1)?

Where did she die (verse 2)?

Who did Abraham speak to (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why did Abraham say “I am a foreigner and stranger among you” (verse 4)?

What did the Hittites offer (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did Abraham not take the Hittites offer but ask to buy the cave of Machpela (verses 7, 8 and 9)?

What did Ephron the Hittite offer (verses 10 and 11)?

How did Abraham respond to the offer (verses 12 and 13)?

How much was the land worth (verse 15)?

What did Abraham do (verse 16)?

What happened to “Ephron’s field in Machpelah near Mamre” (verses 17 and 18)?

When was Sarah buried in the cave (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, how are the situations of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis 23:1-20 and of the Israelite people during the time they were remembering that they lived in temporary housing during the festival appointed by the Lord in Leviticus 23:33-43 similar?

John 7:1-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. ² But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. ¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” ¹³ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.

Why did Jesus not “want to go about in Judea” (verse 1)?

When did Jesus brothers say “leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do” (verses 2 and 3)?

Did Jesus “own brothers”  believe in Him (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why was Jesus’ time different than His brothers for whom “any time will do” (verse 6)?

Why does the world hate Jesus (verse 7)?

When did Jesus go to the festival secretly (verse 10)?

Who was at the festival “watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?” (verse 11)?

Where was the “widespread whispering” about Jesus (verse 12)?

Why would no one publicly say anything about Jesus (verse 13)?

When did Jesus go to the temple courts and begin to teach (verse 14)?

Why were the Jews amazed (verse 15)?

Where did Jesus teaching come from (verse 16)?

Who will find out “whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (verse 17)?

Who has nothing false about themselves (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how was Jesus’ hesitation to go to the Festival of Tabernacles in John 7:1-18 because His time was not yet here, similar to the Israelites who Leviticus 23:33-43 says were to hold the Festival so their descendents would remember them living in temporary shelters as they were brought out of Egypt?

In your opinion, how was Sarah, who died in Genesis 23:1-20 without a place to be buried, similar to Jesus who says in John 7:1-18 that He was hated by the world?

1 Peter 1:1-9 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Who does Peter call “exiles” (verse 1)?

What have these “exiles” been chosen for (verse 2)?

In what had “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (verse 3)?

Where is our inheritance kept (verse 4)?

How long are we “through faith shielded by God’s power” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, how can we “greatly rejoice” in the midst of trials (verse 6)?

Why have trials come (verse 7)?

What fills those who believe in Jesus even though they don’t see Him (verse 8)?

What is the “end result” of faith (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, how are the Israelites living in temporary shelters in Leviticus 23:33-43 similar to the “exiles” scattered through the world with an inheritance in heaven that Peter refers to in 1 Peter 1:1-9?

In your opinion, how is what Abraham did by purchasing the cave where Sarah was buried in Genesis 23:1-20 similar to what Jesus does for those who believe by sprinkling them with His blood according to 1 Peter 1:1-9?

In your opinion, how do the crowds in John 7:1-18 whispering “he is a good man”  versus “no, he deceives the people” help us understand what it takes to become what Peter calls an “exile” in 1 Peter 1:1-9?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Leviticus, Genesis, John and 1 Peter teach us about living as Christians in todays world?

In your opinion, how can we have “grace and peace” in abundance in a world which hates Jesus?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 1, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Suffering and Salvation

 Suffering and Salvation

Genesis 45:1-11 – 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.’”

What could Joseph “no longer” do (verse 1)?

Who did Joseph make himself known to (verse 1)?

How loudly did Joseph weep (verse 2)?

What question did Joseph ask his brothers (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why were Joseph’s brothers “terrified at his presence” (verse 3)?

How did Joseph describe himself to his brothers (verse 4)?

Why did Joseph tell his brothers “do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here” (verse 5)?

What has been in the land for two years and will be there for five more years (verse 6)?

Who sent Joseph ahead “to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, why does Joseph say “it was not you who sent me here, but God” (verse 8)?

Who does Joseph want to come quickly to Egypt (verse 9)?

Where will Joseph’s father and his family live (verse 10)?

Who will provide for Joseph’s father and his family (verse 11)?

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

Matthew 14:22-33 - New International Version (NIV)

²² “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

What did Jesus make his disciples do (verse 22)?

Where did Jesus go to be by himself and pray (verse 23)?

Why was the boat “buffeted by the waves” (verse 24)?

How did Jesus go out to them (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why were the disciples terrified when they saw Jesus “walking on the lake” (verse 26)?

How did Jesus respond to their fear (verse 27)?

In your opinion, why would Peter, who was just terrified, ask Jesus to tell him to “come to you on the water” (verse 28)?

What did Peter do when Jesus said “come” (verse 29)?

Why did Peter begin to sink (verse 30)?

How did Jesus respond to Peter’s cry for help when he began to sink (verse 31)?

When did the wind die down (verse 32)?

How did those in the boat respond (verse 33)?

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

In your opinion, how is Jesus pulling Peter from the water after he was afraid of the wind in Matthew 14:22-33 similar to God saving the brothers of Joseph who sold him into slavery through Joseph in Genesis 45:1-11?

Romans 8:18-28 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁸ “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

What is not worth comparing “with the glory that will be revealed in us” (verse 18)?

Who does the creation wait “in eager expectation” for (verse 19)?

What was the creation subjected to (verse 20)?

What is creation to be brought into if it is liberated from it bondage to decay (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the “whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth” (verse 22)?

Who groans inwardly while waiting eagerly for “our adoption to sonship, the redemption of bodies” (verse 23)?

What is “no hope at all” (verse 24)?

How do we wait if we “hope for what we do not yet have” (verse 25)?

Who helps us “in our weakness” (verse 26)?

How does the Spirit intercede for us when we don’t know what to pray for (verse 26)?

How does the Spirit intercede for “God’s people” (verse 27)?

In what things does God work “for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (verse 28)?

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

In your opinion, how is Peter asking Jesus to call him out onto the water in Matthew 14:22-33 an example of how the Spirit intercedes as Paul talks about in Romans 8:18-28?

In your opinion, how does the story of Joseph and his brothers in Genesis 45:1-11 anticipate Paul’s statement that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” in Romans 8:18-28?

1 Peter 1:1-9 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Who is Peter writing to (verse 1)?

What does God the Father have about the elect that were chosen (verse 2)?

How does the Spirit work in the chosen (verse 2)?

Whose blood are the chosen to be sprinkled with (verse 2)?

Through what has God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ “given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (verse 3)?

Where is the “inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” kept (verse 4)?

How are the chosen “shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, how can the chosen “greatly rejoice” even though “for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (verse 6)?

Why have the trials come (verse 7)?

How do the chosen respond to Jesus, even though they have not seen Him (verse 8)?

What is the end result of the faith of the chosen (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, how are Paul, in Romans 8:18-28, and Peter, in 1 Peter 1:1-9, (who were very different in personality and background) similar in their teachings about sufferings and joy?

In your opinion, how does Jesus reaching down to pull Peter from the water in Matthew 14:22-33 even though he had “little faith” add richness and strength to what Peter says about being shielded by God’s power through faith in 1 Peter 1:1-9?

In your opinion, how does God’s preparation to save the brothers of Joseph in Genesis 45:1-11 help us to understand the foreknowledge and saving work of God that Peter talks about in 1 Peter 1:1-9?

In your opinion, what do these passages, from Genesis, Matthew, Romans and 1 Peter show us about ourselves today?

Next, back to Peter 1:10 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)