Judges 11:29-40 - New International Version (NIV)
29 Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. He crossed Gilead
and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced
against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the
Lord: “If you give the Ammonites
into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house
to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a
burnt offering.”
32 Then Jephthah went over to
fight the Ammonites, and the Lord
gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns
from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel
subdued Ammon.
34 When Jephthah returned to
his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing
to the sound of timbrels! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither
son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his
clothes and cried, “Oh no, my daughter! You have brought me down and I am
devastated. I have made a vow to the Lord
that I cannot break.”
36 “My father,” she replied,
“you have given your word to the Lord.
Do to me just as you promised, now that the Lord
has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But
grant me this one request,” she said. “Give me two months to roam the hills and
weep with my friends, because I will never marry.”
38 “You may go,” he said. And
he let her go for two months. She and her friends went into the hills and wept
because she would never marry. 39 After the two months,
she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a
virgin.
From this comes the Israelite
tradition 40 that each year the young women of Israel go
out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.
Who
“came on Jephthah” (verse 29)?
What
did Jephthah vow to do if God gave the Ammonites to him (verses 30 and 31)?
Who
did the Lord give the Ammonites to (verse
32)?
How
many towns did Jephthah devastate (verse 33)?
Who
came out from his home in Mizpah to meet Jephthah (verse 34)?
In
your opinion, whose fault was it that Jephthah was devastated (verse 35)?
What
did Jephthah’s daughter tell her father to do (verse 36)?
What
did Jephthah’s daughter ask for (verse
37)?
Why
did Jephthah’s daughter and her friends weep (verse 38)?
What
did Jephthah do when his daughter returned (verse 39)?
Who
commemorate’s the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite (verse 40)?
In
your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
Mark 4:35-41 - New International
Version (NIV)
35 That day when evening
came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving
the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were
also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up,
and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus
was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to
him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the
wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it
was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples,
“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and
asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Where
did Jesus say to the disciples to go (verse 35)?
Who
did the disciples leave behind (verse 36)?
Why
was the boat “nearly swamped” (verse
37)?
In
your opinion, why did the disciples ask Jesus “don’t you care if we drown”
(verse 38)?
Who
did Jesus tell “Quiet! Be still!” (verse 39)?
In your opinion, why did Jesus ask the disciples “do you still have no faith” (verse 40)?
How did the disciples feel (verse 41)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is Jephthah making a vow to the Lord in Judges 11:29-40 similar to the disciples waking Jesus in the storm in Mark 4:35-41?
Hebrews 11:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)
1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about
what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were
commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s
command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
4 By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By
faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And
by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not
experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For
before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And
without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him
must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear
built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became
heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later
receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where
he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the
promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did
Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For
he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and
builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past
childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered
him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from
this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars
in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
What is “confidence in what we hope for and
assurance about what we do not see” (verse 1)?
What were the ancients “commended for” (verse 2)?
How do we “understand that the universe was formed at God’s command” (verse
3)?
How did Abel bring a better offering
to God that Cain (verse 4)?
Who did not experience death (verse 5)?
Why is it impossible to please God
without faith (verse 6)?
In your opinion, how did Noah’s faith
condemn the world (verse 7)?
What did Abraham not know about the
place where he was called to go (verse 8)?
Who were heirs with Abraham of the
promise (verse 9)?
What did Abraham look forward to
(verse 10)?
How was Sarah enabled to bear children
(verse 11)?
How numerous are Abraham’s descendants
(verse 12)?
In your opinion, what is the basic
message of this passage?
In your opinion, since Hebrews 11:1-12 also describes faith as “assurance about what we do not see”, what does the disciples’ question “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown” in Mark 4:35-41 help us understand about their faith?
James 5:7-12 – New International Version (NIV)
7 Be patient, then, brothers
and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to
yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You
too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t
grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The
Judge is standing at the door!
10 Brothers and sisters, as
an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in
the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as
blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and
have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion
and mercy.
12 Above all, my brothers and
sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you
need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned.
In
your opinion, how does James using the example of the farmer “patiently waiting for the autumn and spring
rains” to help the land yield its
crop as an illustration of the way we should wait for the Lord’s coming help us
understand his instruction to “be
patient” (verse 7)?
Why should Christians “be patient and stand firm” (verse 8)?
What will happen if Christians “grumble against one another” (verse 9)?
Who is an “example of patience in the face of suffering” (verse 10)?
What is the Lord full of (verse 11)?
What should Christians not swear by (verse 12)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how does the story of Jephthah being filled with the Spirit of the Lord and then making a vow in Judges 11:29-40 help us understand why James would say that Christians should not swear “by heaven or by earth or by anything else” in James 5:7-12?
In your opinion, how are Christians who need the instruction of James 5:7-12 to be patient as we wait for the return of the Lord similar to the disciples who questioned Jesus’ love for them as the waves were breaking over the boat in Mark 4:35-41?
In your opinion, how can the “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” that is discussed in Hebrews 11:1-12 help Christains have the patience that James 5:7-12 instructs?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Judges, Mark, Hebrews and James teach us about the relationship between vows and impatience and the Lord’s coming and strength of faith?
In your opinion, what do we need to persevere in as Christians to increase our “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see”?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
