March 12, 2023 – John’s Writings – Mercy for those who See

Mercy for those who See

Hosea 6:4 – 7:1a - New International Version (NIV)

⁴ “What can I do with you, Ephraim?
    What can I do with you, Judah?
Your love is like the morning mist,
    like the early dew that disappears.
⁵ Therefore I cut you in pieces with my prophets,
    I killed you with the words of my mouth—
    then my judgments go forth like the sun.
⁶ For I desire mercy, not sacrifice,
    and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
⁷ As at Adam, they have broken the covenant;
    they were unfaithful to me there.
⁸ Gilead is a city of evildoers,
    stained with footprints of blood.
⁹ As marauders lie in ambush for a victim,
    so do bands of priests;
they murder on the road to Shechem,
    carrying out their wicked schemes.
¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing in Israel:
    There Ephraim is given to prostitution,
    Israel is defiled.

¹¹ “Also for you, Judah,
    a harvest is appointed.

“Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people,

¹ whenever I would heal Israel,
the sins of Ephraim are exposed
    and the crimes of Samaria revealed.

What is the love of Ephraim and Judah like (verse 4)?

How did the Lord cut Ephraim and Judah in pieces (verse 5)?

What does the Lord desire instead of sacrifice (verse 6)?

How are Ephraim and Judah like Adam (verse 7)?

What is Gilead (verse 8)?

How are marauders and bands of priests similar (verse 9)?

What horrible things has the Lord seen in Israel (verse 10)?

What is appointed for Judah (verse 11)?

When are the sins of Ephraim exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed (verses 11 and 1)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about God’s mercy?

John 9:24-34 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

²⁶ Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷ He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸ Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

³⁰ The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. ³² Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴ To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Who did the Pharisees summon a second time (verse 24)?

How did they want the man to “give glory to God” (verse 24)?

What did the Pharisees know (verse 24)?

What did the man know (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why did they ask the man “how did he open your eyes” (verse 26)?

What had the man told the Pharisees before (verse 27)?

Who did the Pharisees say they were disciples of (verse 28)?

What did the Pharisees know (verse 29)?

In your opinion, how does the man’s statement “we don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes” expose the Pharisees hypocrisy (verse 30)?

Who does the man say that God does not listen to (verse 31)?

Who does the man say that God does listen to (verse 31)?

What had no one “ever heard of” (verse 32)?

In your opinion, is the man’s statement that “if this man were not from God, he could do nothing” valid (verse 33)?

How did the Pharisees respond (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about God’s mercy?

In your opinion, how is God’s plea in Hosea:4-7:1a that mercy is desired instead of sacrifice demonstrated again in John 9:24-34?

1 John 2:7-14 – New International Version (NIV)

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. ¹¹ But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

¹² I am writing to you, dear children,
    because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
¹³ I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the evil one.

¹⁴ I write to you, dear children,
    because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God lives in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.

Since when did John’s friends have the commandment that he is writing (verse 7)?

Why is the command new (verse 8)?

Who is in the darkness (verse 9)?

Who does not have anything “in them to make them stumble” (verse 10)?

Why do people who hate their brother or sister “not know where they are going” (verse 11)?

Whose sins are forgiven (verse 12)?

Who has “known him who is from the beginning” (verse 13)?

Who has “overcome the evil one” (verse 13)?

What do the “dear children” now know (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why has what the fathers know not changed (verse 14)?

What has changed for the young men (verse 14)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about God’s mercy?

In your opinion, how can God’s desire for mercy in Hosea 6:4-7:1a, which is replaced in 1 John 2:7-14 with the command to love, be not a new command but at the same time be a new command (as stated in the 1 John passage)?

In your opinion, what does 1 John 2:7-14 help us understand about why the Pharisees in John 9:24-34 threw out the man who had been born blind?

Revelation 14:14-20 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. ¹⁵ Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” ¹⁶ So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

¹⁷ Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. ¹⁸ Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” ¹⁹ The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. ²⁰ They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.

Where was the “one like a son of man” seated (verse 14)?

What was He wearing (verse 14)?

What was He holding (verse 14)?

Who called out to “him who was sitting on the cloud” (verse 15)?

What was called out (verse 15)?

In your opinion, who was harvested from the earth (verse 16)?

What did the angel who came from the temple have (verse 17)?

Who said “take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine” (verse 18)?

Where did the angel throw the grapes that were harvested (verse 19)?

What happened to the grapes (verse 20)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage show us about God’s mercy?

In your opinion, how is the harvest of Judah that God has appointed in Hosea 6:4-7:1a related to the two harvests of Revelation 14:14-20?

In your opinion, which of the harvests of Revelation 14:14-20 do you think the man in John 9:24-34 who said “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” will be taken away in?

In your opinion, what does 1 John 2:7-14 help us understand about those who are harvested by the one “seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand” in Revelation 14:14-20 and about those who are harvested by the “angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle” from the same passage? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Hosea, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about how God reacts to a sinful people?

In your opinion, how do these four very different passages teach us about how to respond to a merciful God?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

October 2, 2016 – Teachings from the Rock – Blasphemy and Gentle Instruction

Blasphemy and Gentle Instruction

Numbers 22:21-33 – New International Version (NIV)

²¹ Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials. ²² But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.

²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam’s foot against it. So he beat the donkey again.

²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. ²⁸ Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”

²⁹ Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

³⁰ The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”

“No,” he said.

³¹ Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

³² The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. ³³ The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.”

When did Balaam saddle his donkey and go with Moabite officials (verse 21)?

How did God feel about Balaam’s going (verse 22)?

Why did the donkey turn off the road and into the field (verse 23)?

Who stood in the harrow path with walls on both sides (verse 24)?

Why did the donkey crush Balaam’s foot against the wall (verse 25)?

Where did the angel stand next (verse 26)?

In your opinion, why did Balaam beat the donkey when he laid down (verse 27)?

What did the donkey say to Balaam (verse 28)?

Why would Balaam have killed the donkey if he had a sword in his hand (verse 29)?

Had the donkey made a habit of laying down while Balaam was riding him (verse 30)?

When did Balaam see the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn (verse 31)?

What question did the angel ask Balaam (verse 32)?

What would the angel have done if the donkey had not turned away three time (verse 33)?

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

John 9:24-34 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

²⁶ Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷ He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸ Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

³⁰ The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. ³² Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴ To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

What happened a second time to the “man who had been blind” (verse 24)?

How was he to give glory to God (verse 24)?

What did the man know (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why did they say “What did he do to you?  How did he open your eyes?” (verse 26)?

Who did they claim to be disciples of (verse 28)?

What did they know (verse 29)?

In your opinion, why did the man who had been blind think it was remarkable that they did not know where Jesus came from (verse 30)?

Who does God listen to (verse 31)?

What has no one ever heard of (verse 32)?

What did the man say that Jesus could have done if he were not from God (verse 33)?

How did they treat the man who had been blind (verse 34)?

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

In your opinion, what do the people attacking the man who had been blind in John 9:24-34 have in common with Balaam in Numbers 22:21-33?

2 Timothy 2:14-26 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. ¹⁶ Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. ¹⁷ Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸ who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

²⁰ In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. ²¹ Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

²² Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. ²³ Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵ Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

What is Timothy to remind the people of (verse 14)?

How is Timothy to do his best to present himself to God (verse 15)?

Why is Timothy to avoid “godless chatter” (verse 16)?

What will spread like gangrene (verse 17)?

How do Hymenaeus and Philetus destroy the faith of some (verse 18)?

How is God’s solid foundation sealed (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that some articles are for special purposes and some are for common use (verse 20)?

Who will be “useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (verse 21)?

What is Timothy (and us) to pursue (verse 22)?

What do foolish and stupid arguments produce (verse 23)?

Who must be “kind to everyone” (verse 24)?

How should opponents be instructed (verse 25)?

Why has the devil taken “them captive” (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, how does the arguments of the Pharisees in John 9:24-34 illustrate the truth that Paul shares with Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:14-26 that those who engage in godless chatter will “become more and more ungodly”?

In your opinion, how is the donkey and the angel confronting Balaam in Numbers 22:21-33 an example of God gently instructing Balaam so that he would “escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” as Paul describes the fallen to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:14-26?

2 Peter 2:10-16 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; ¹¹ yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord. ¹² But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.

¹³ They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. ¹⁴ With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! ¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

What are those “who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise author” not afraid to do (verse 10)?

What do angels not do “when bringing judgment on them from the Lord” (verse 11)?

Who is “like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, why is “their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight” (verse 13)?

What do they never stop doing (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does Peter mean when he says they wandered of the “follow the way of Balaam” (verse 15)?

Who rebuked Balaam (verse 16)?

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

In your opinion, how is the gentle instruction that Paul instructs Timothy to use to help people escape the trap of the devil in 2 Timothy 2:14-26 similar to the donkey who “spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness” as described by Peter in 2 Peter 2:10-16?

In your opinion, how are the words and actions of the Pharisees in rejecting the testimony of the man who was blind in John 9:24-34 an example of the people that Peter talks about in 2 Peter 2:10-16 who are like unreasoning animals who blaspheme in matters that they don’t understand?

In your opinion, how does Balaam, who beat the donkey who was saving his life in Numbers 22:21-33, help us to understand those who Peter says in 2 Peter 2:10-16 “follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority” and are bold and arrogant and not “afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Numbers, John, 2 Timothy, and 2 Peter help us to understand about those who are trapped by the devil and how to respond to them?

In your opinion, what do these passages show us about ourselves today?

Next, back to 2 Peter 2:17 – (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)