May 3, 2026 – A Study of Matthew – Chosen People

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)

June 15, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – What are We Building

What are We Building

Ezekiel 13:8-16 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. ⁹ My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁰ “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, ¹¹ therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. ¹² When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”

¹³ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. ¹⁴ I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. ¹⁵ So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, ¹⁶ those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’

Why is the Sovereign Lord against the false prophets of Israel (verse 8)?

Who will the Lord’s hand be against (verse 9)?

What kind of wall do the false prophets build (verse 10)?

What do they cover the wall with (verse 10)?

Who is Ezekiel to tell that the wall “is going to fall” (verse 11)?

What will people ask “when the wall collapses” (verse 12)?

What will the Sovereign Lord unleash (verse 13)?

When will the false prophets “know that I am the Lord” (verse 14)?

What will be poured out “against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash” (verse 15)?

Who “saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace” (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, what is revealed about the people in this passage by what they built?

Matthew 7:24-29 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Who is “like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (verse 24)?

Why did the rain, streams and wind not cause the house to fall (verse 25)?

Who is “like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (verse 26)?

What happened to the house built on sand when “the rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against” it (verse 27)?

How did the crowds react to Jesus as He finished the Sermon on the Mount (verse 28)?

How did Jesus teach (verse 29)?

Who did Jesus not teach like (verse 29)?

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

In your opinion, what is revealed about the people in this passage by what they built?

In your opinion, what do the false prophets of Ezekiel 13:8-16 and the foolish man in Matthew 7:24-29 have in common?

Acts 4:1-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. ² They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. ⁴ But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.

⁵ The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. ⁶ Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. ⁷ They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, ¹⁰ then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Who did “the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees” come up to while they were speaking to the people (verse 1)?

Why were they “greatly disturbed” (verse 2)?

What did they do to Peter and John (verse 3)?

How many men believed (verse 4)?

Where did “the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law” meet (verse 5)?

Who else was at the meeting (verse 6)?

What question did they ask Peter and John (verse 7)?

How was Peter filled (verse 8)?

What were they being “called to account” for (verse 9)?

How did Peter say “this man stands before you healed” (verse 10)?

What is Jesus (verse 11)?

Who is salvation found in (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what is revealed about the people in this passage by what they built?

In your opinion, where does the whitewashed wall of Ezekiel 13:8-16 show up in Acts 4:1-12?

In your opinion, where in Acts 4:1-12 do you see examples of building on the sand and building on the rock that Jesus talked about in Matthew 7:24-29?

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 is “rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him” (verse 4)?

What are those “like living stones” being built into (verse 5)?

Who “will never be put to shame” (verse 6)?

What has “become the cornerstone” to those who do not believe (verse 7)?

What does the stone do to those who do not believe (verse 8)?

Who is to “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (verse 9)?

What are “you” (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, what is revealed about the people in this passage by what they built?

In your opinion, why would the false prophets who built the whitewashed wall of Ezekiel 13:8-16 stumble over the cornerstone of 1 Peter 2:4-10?

In your opinion, what does 1 Peter 2:4-10 teach us about the rock that the wise man in Matthew 7:24-29 was building on?

In your opinion, how does 1 Peter 2:4-10 expand on his response to the “rulers and elders of the people” in Acts 4:1-12?

In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Ezekiel, Matthew, Acts, and 1 Peter teach us about how to determine what is whitewashed wall and what is built on the cornerstone of Jesus?

In your opinion, how can we wisely build a rock solid “house” today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

June 16, 2024 – Isaiah in the New Testament – God’s Household

God’s Household

Isaiah 56:1-8 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ This is what the Lord says:

“Maintain justice
    and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
    and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
² Blessed is the one who does this—
    the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
    and keeps their hands from doing any evil.”

³ Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
    “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.”
And let no eunuch complain,
    “I am only a dry tree.”

⁴ For this is what the Lord says:

“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
    who choose what pleases me
    and hold fast to my covenant—
⁵ to them I will give within my temple and its walls
    a memorial and a name
    better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
    that will endure forever.
⁶ And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
    to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
    and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
    and who hold fast to my covenant—
⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain
    and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
    will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
    a house of prayer for all nations.”
⁸ The Sovereign Lord declares—
    he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
“I will gather still others to them
    besides those already gathered.”

 

Where is the Lord’s salvation (verse 1)?

 

Who is blessed (verse 2)?

Who is not to say “the Lord will surely exclude me from his people” (verse 3)?

What will the Lord give the “eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant” (verses 4 and 5)?

What will the Lord give the “foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant” (verses 6 and 7)?

What will the Lord’s house be called (verse 7)?

Who does the Sovereign Lord gather (verse 8)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage help us see the joy in God’s “house of prayer”?

Matthew 21:6-16 – New International Version (NIV)

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

¹² Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³ “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“‘From the lips of children and infants
    you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

What did the disciples bring to Jesus (verse 7)?

Who “spread their cloaks on the road, while other cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road” (verse 8)?

What was shouted (verse 9)?

Who “was stirred and asked, “Who is this”” (verse 10)?

How did the crowds answer (verse 11)?

What did Jesus do when He “entered the temple courts” (verse 12)?

What did Jesus say was written (verse 13)?

How did Jesus respond to the blind and lame who “came to him at the temple” (verse 14)?

When did the chief priests and teachers of the law become indignant (verse 15)?

How did Jesus answer when they said “do you hear what these children are saying” (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage help us see the joy in God’s “house of prayer”?

In your opinion, how are the temple courts that Jesus entered in Matthew 21:6-16 different from the temple that Isaiah 56:1-8 prophesied about?

1 Timothy 3:14-4:5 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, ¹⁵ if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. ¹⁶ Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:

He appeared in the flesh,
    was vindicated by the Spirit,
was seen by angels,
    was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
    was taken up in glory.

¹ The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. ² Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. ³ They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. ⁴ For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.

When does Paul hope to come to Timothy (verse 14)?

Why is Paul “writing you these instructions” (verses 14 and 15)?

What is “God’s household” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, who “appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory” (verse 16)?

What does the Spirit say that some will do “in later times” (verse 1)?

Whose “consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (verse 2)?

Why were the foods that people are forbidden created (verse 3)?

When is nothing to be rejected (verse 4)?

How are things consecrated (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage help us see the joy in God’s “house of prayer”?

In your opinion, how is “God’s household” in 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5 related to the “house of prayer for all nations” on Isaiah 56:1-8?

In your opinion, how do the children shouting “hosanna to the Son of David” in Matthew 21:6-16 help us understand the essence of what Paul is teaching in 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5?

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 rejected “the living Stone” (verse 4)?

What are those who come to the living Stone being built into (verse 5)?

Who “will never be put to shame” (verse 6)?

What is the stone “to those who believe” (verse 7)?

What is the stone “to those who do not believe” (verse 7)?

Why do people stumble (verse 8)?

What are the ones called “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” to do (verse 9)?

What have this “people of God” received (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage help us see the joy in God’s “house of prayer”?

In your opinion, how are the people who come to the living Stone in 1 Peter 2:4-10 and those who God gathers in Isaiah 56:1-8 related?

In your opinion, how is the difference between those who shouted “hosanna to the Son of David” and those who were indignant in Matthew 21:6-16 explained by 1 Peter 2:4-10?

In your opinion, what does 1 Peter 2:4-10 help us understand about “God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” that Paul gives instructions about how to behave ourselves in of 1 Timothy 3:14-4:5?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Matthew, 1 Timothy and 1 Peter teach us about the people who go into “house of prayer for all nations”?

In your opinion, how can we, as God’s household, “declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness” today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)