April 15, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Responding in Hope

-            The

Responding in Hope

 Joshua 8:18-29 - New International Version (NIV)              

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. ¹⁹ As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.

²⁰ The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. ²¹ For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. ²³ But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. ²⁶ For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. ²⁷ But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.

²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. ²⁹ He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

Where will the Lord deliver Ai when Joshua holds out the javelin in his hand (verse 18)?

What happened when Joshua held out the javelin in his hand (verse 19)?

Who had “no chance to escape in any direction” (verse 20)?

When did “Joshua and all Israel” turn and attack (verse 21)?

In your opinion, why was the Israelite attack so successful that it left no “survivors nor fugitives” (verse 22)?

Where did they take the king of Ai (verse 23)?

How many people were killed (verses 24 and 25)?

When did Joshua draw “back the hand that held out his javelin” (verse 26)?

Why did Israel carry off the “livestock and plunder” (verse 27)?

What did Joshua make Ai (verse 28)?

What did they do with the body of the king (verse 29)?

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

Mark 3:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ² Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. ³ Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴ Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵ He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Who was in the synagogue when Jesus went in (verse 1)?

Why were “some” watching Jesus closely (verse 2)?

Where did Jesus tell the man to stand (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask them “which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the people who were watching Jesus remain silent (verse 4)?

What deeply distressed Jesus (verse 5)?

What happened when the man stretched out his hand (verse 5)?

Who began to plot to kill Jesus (verse 6)?

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

In your opinion, how is the outcome of the confrontation of Joshua and the Israelites against Ai in Joshua 8:18-29 similar to the outcome of Jesus and those who watched in Mark 3:1-6?

Acts 5:17-32 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. ²² But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, ²³ “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴ On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

²⁵ Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” ²⁶ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

²⁷ The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

What filled the high priest and all his associates (verse 17)?

Where did they put the apostles (verse 18)?

Who “opened the doors of the jail and brought them out” (verse 19)?

What were the disciples to do (verse 20)?

Who “sent to the jail for the apostles” (verse 21)?

What did they find at the jail (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why did they say “we found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors” (verse 23)?

How did the captain of the guard and chief priests react to this (verse 24)?

Where were the men they had put in jail (verse 25)?

Why did the captain and his officials not use force (verse 26)?

Where were the apostles taken (verse 27)?

In your opinion, why did the high priest say the apostles were “determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” (verse 28)?

How did Peter and the other apostles reply to the high priests statement that “we gave you strict orders not to teach in his name” (verses 28 and 29)?

Who “raised Jesus from the dead” (verse 30)?

Why did God exalt Jesus “to his own right hand as Prince and Savior” (verse 31)?

Who are the witnesses (verse 32)?

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

In your opinion, how is the outcome of the confrontation of Joshua and the Israelites against Ai in Joshua 8:18-29 similar to the outcome of the arrest of the apostles in Acts 5:17-32?

In your opinion, why w ere the Pharisees and Herodians of Mark 3:1-6 and the Sadducees and high priest of Acts 5:17-32 so intent on stopping Jesus and Peter and the apostles who were healing people?

1 Peter 3:8-18 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. ⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
¹¹ They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

¹³ Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” ¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

What does Peter instruct God’s elect to be (verse 8)?

How are God’s elect to respond to evil (verse 9)?

What are those who “would love life and see good days” to keep their tongue from (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “turn from evil and do good” (verse 11)?

Who is the “face of the Lord” against (verse 12)?

In your opinion, “who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good” (verse 13)?

When are we blessed (verse 14)?

How should we view Christ in our hearts (verse 15)?

How should we answer those who ask us for the reason for the hope that we have (verse 15)?

What does keeping a clear conscience do to those who “speak maliciously against” good behavior in Christ (verse 16)?

What is better to suffer for (verse 17)?

Why did Christ suffer “once for sins” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what changed for Peter, who was the apostle with the sword in the garden when Jesus was captured and who would have been taught from Joshua 8:18-29 how to proceed, to make him the person who in 1 Peter 3:8-18 instructs us to “repay evil with blessing” and to respond “with gentleness and respect”?

In your opinion, what does Jesus, who was angry at the Pharisees in Mark 3:1-6 but reacted by healing the man with the withered hand, teach us today about how to respond to Peter’s instruction that, if it is God’s will it is better to “suffer for doing good than for doing evil”?

In your opinion, how did the words of the angel who told Peter and the other apostles in Acts 5:17-32 to “tell the people all about this new life” prepare him to instruct us to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” in 1 Peter 3:8-18?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 1 Peter teach us about how to respond to adversity?

What is the reason for the hope that you have?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 31, 2015 – The Great Commission – A Study of Matthew – Doors and the Key of David

  

Matthew 28:18-20 – New International Version (NIV) – The Great Commission

¹⁸ “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Doors and the Key of David

Matthew 23:13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.”

Who does Jesus say “woe” to (verse 13)?

How does He describe them (verse 13)?

Where do they shut the “door of the kingdom of heaven” (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why do you think that they do not enter the kingdom of heaven (verse 13)?

In your opinion, how do you think they keep “those who are trying to” enter the kingdom of heaven out (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Matthew 23:13 show us about the Great Commission?

Isaiah 22:20-25 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ “In that day I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. ²¹ I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him. He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. ²² I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ²³ I will drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a seat of honor for the house of his father. ²⁴ All the glory of his family will hang on him: its offspring and offshoots—all its lesser vessels, from the bowls to all the jars.

²⁵ “In that day,” declares the Lord Almighty, “the peg driven into the firm place will give way; it will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut down.” The Lord has spoken.”

How is Eliakim son of Hilkiah described (verse 20)?

What will be handed to him (verse 21)?

Who will he be the father to (verse 21)?

What will be placed on his shoulder (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open” (verse 22)?

What will he be driven like a peg into (verse 23)?

What will hang on him (verse 24)?

When will the “peg driven into the firm place” be sheared off and fall (verses 24 and 25)?

In your opinion, why are the teachers of the law and the Pharisees that Jesus is speaking to in Matthew 23:13 only able to “shut the door” but the holder of the “key to the house of David” from Isaiah 22:20-25 is prophesied the much greater promise that “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open”?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Isaiah 22 show us about the Great Commission?

Acts 5:17-32 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ “Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. ²² But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, ²³ “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴ On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

²⁵ Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” ²⁶ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

²⁷ The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

What filled the high priest and all his associates (verse 17)?

Who was arrested and put into the public jail (verse 18)?

When did the angel of the Lord open the doors and bring them out (verse 19)?

Where did the angel tell them to stand and “tell the people about this new life” (verse 20)?

When did they enter the temple courts and begin to teach the people (verse 21)?

In your opinion, why did the high priest and his associates call the Sanhedrin together (verse 21)?

What did the officers find when they got to the jail (verse 23)?

How did the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests respond to the news (verse 24)?

Where were the “men you put in jail” (verse 25)?

Why did the captain and his officers not use force to bring the apostles (verse 26)?

Why were the apostles brought before the Sanhedrin (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what caused the high priest to think the apostles were “determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” (verse 28)?

Who did Peter and the apostles say they must obey (verse 29)?

Who “raised Jesus from the dead” (verse 30)?

Why had God “exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior” (verse 31)?

Who are the “witnesses of these things” (verse 32)?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the high priest and all his associates who have the apostles arrested and put into jail in Acts 5:17-32 and Eliakim son of Hilkiah in Isaiah 22:20-25?

In your opinion, what does it mean that some of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who Jesus said “shut the door of the kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 23:13 were probably part of the Sanhedrin in Acts 5:17-32 who Peter told “the God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead”?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Acts 5 show us about the Great Commission?

Revelation 3:7-13 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. ⁸ I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. ⁹ I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.

¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name. ¹³ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Who is John instructed to write to (verse 7)?

How does Jesus describe Himself (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that Jesus “holds the key of David” (verse 7)?

What has Jesus placed before the church in Philadelphia (verse 8)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus link the fact that the church in Philadelphia had “little strength” with the fact that “you have kept my word and have not denied my name” (verse 8)?

What will “those who are of the synagogue of Satan” do (verse 9)?

Why will Jesus keep the church of Philadelphia from the “hour of trail that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (verse 10)?

When is Jesus coming (verse 11)?

How will the “one who is victorious” be rewarded (verse 12)?

Who will speak to the churches (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the comparison of the angel of the Lord opening the door to the jail and bringing out the apostles in Acts 5:17-22 and the promise to the church of Philadelphia that an open door that no one can shut has been placed before them in Revelation 3:7-13?

In your opinion, how does knowing that the “key of David” once held by the Eliakim son of Hilkiah in Isaiah 22:20-25 is now held by “him who is holy and true” in Revelation 3:7-13 bring perfection to the idea that “what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open”?

In your opinion, how are the limited actions of the “teachers of the law and Pharisees” in Matthew 23:13 in shutting the door to the kingdom of heaven and not letting people enter similar to those of the synagogue of Satan in Revelation 3:7-13 and how is the promise of “an open door that no one can shut” the perfect response by God in this situation?

In your opinion, what does this passage from Revelation show us about the Great Commission?

Next, back to Matthew 23:14 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)