October 29, 2023 – Isaiah in the New Testament – Rejoice and Be Glad

Rejoice and Be Glad

Isaiah 25:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Lord, you are my God;
    I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
    you have done wonderful things,
    things planned long ago.
² You have made the city a heap of rubble,
    the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
    it will never be rebuilt.
³ Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
    cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
⁴ You have been a refuge for the poor,
    a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
    and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
    is like a storm driving against a wall
⁵     and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
    as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
    so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

⁶ On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
    a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
    the best of meats and the finest of wines.
⁷ On this mountain he will destroy
    the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
⁸     he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
    from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
    from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

⁹ In that day they will say,

“Surely this is our God;
    we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
    let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

 

When were the “wonderful things” the Lord has done planned (verse 1)?

What has the Lord made of the fortified town (verse 2)?

Who will revere the Lord (verse 3)?

What is the Lord to the “needy in their distress” (verse 4)?

How is the “song of the ruthless” stilled (verse 5)?

Who will the Lord prepare “a feast of rich food” for (verse 6)?

Where will the Lord destroy “the shroud that enfolds all peoples” (verse 7)?

What will the Lord do to death (verse 8)?

How should we respond to what “our God” has done (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the power the Lord has over death?

John 5:21-29 – New International Version (NIV)

²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 

What does the Father give the dead (verse 21)?

Who does the Son give life to (verse 21)?

Who has the Father entrusted “all judgment” to (verse 22)?

Who “does not honor the Father” (verse 23)?

What does the one who “hears my word and believes him who sent me” have (verse 24)?

Who will not “be judged” (verse 24)?

What time “has now come” (verse 25)?

Who has “granted the Son also to have life in himself” (verse 26)?

Why has the Father “given him authority to judge” (verse 27)?

What will “all who are in their graves” hear (verse 28)?

Who will “rise to live” (verse 29)?

Who will “rise to be condemned” (verse 29)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the power the Lord has over death?

In your opinion, how does John 5:21-29 help us understand the Lord Almighty’s promise in Isaiah 25:1-9 to “swallow up death forever”?

1 Corinthians 15:50-57 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

What cannot “inherit the kingdom of God” (verse 50)?

In your opinion, why is it impossible for the “perishable” to inherit the “imperishable” (verse 50)?

What will happen to everyone (verse 51)?

When will the dead “be raised imperishable” (verse 52)?

In your opinion, will everyone, regardless of their status with Jesus, “be raised imperishable” (verse 52)?

What must the mortal clothe itself with (verse 53)?

When will the saying “death has been swallowed up in victory” come true (verse 54)?

In your opinion, where is death’s victory (verse 55)?

What is the “power of sin” (verse 56)?

Why should we thank God (verse 57)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the power the Lord has over death?

In your opinion, how does 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 help us understand the salvation that is promised by the swallowing up of death in Isaiah 25:1-9?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the life that believers have already passed from death to in John 5:21-29 and the raising of the dead in 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 that will happen at the sounding of the trumpet?

Revelation 2:8-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Who was the letter to (verse 8)?

How is Jesus described (verse 8)?

Who is rich (verse 9)?

Who are “those who say they are Jews” (verse 9)?

What are they not to “be afraid of” (verse 10)?

Who will put some of them in prison (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why is it significant that the persecution is limited to “ten days” (verse 10)?

What will those who are faithful, “even to the point of death” receive (verse 10)?

Who will not “be hurt at all by the second death” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal to us about the power the Lord has over death?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the “death” that Isaiah 25:1-9 says will be swallowed up forever and the “second death” that Revelation 2:8-11 says the victorious will not be hurt by?

In your opinion, what does John 5:21-29 reveal to us about the people that Revelation 2:8-11 calls “victorious”?

In your opinion, how is the discussion about the perishable and imperishable in 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 different from the discussion of death and life in Revelation 2:8-11? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, John, 1 Corinthians, and Revelation teach us about how can we be both imperishable and victorious?

In your opinion, how does God swallowing up death give us the ability to “rejoice and be glad in his salvation”?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

March 20, 2022 – John’s Writings – Opposition, Inside and Out

Opposition, Inside and Out

Ezra 4:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, ² they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

³ But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

⁴ Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. ⁵ They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

⁶ At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes, they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

⁷ And in the days of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of his associates wrote a letter to Artaxerxes. The letter was written in Aramaic script and in the Aramaic language.

What did the enemies of Judah and Benjamin hear (verse 1)?

Who did the enemies come to (verse 2)?

What did the enemies want to do (verse 2)?

How did “Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel” answer the enemies (verse 3)?

What did the peoples around them “set out to” do (verse 4)?

How did the try to discourage them and make them afraid (verse 5)?

When did they lodge “an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem” (verse 6)?

How was the letter to Artaxerxes written (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show the world’s opposition to God’s people?

John 2:13-25 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

²⁰ They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

²³ Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. ²⁴ But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵ He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

When did Jesus go “up to Jerusalem” (verse 13)?

What were people doing in the temple courts (verse 14)?

How did Jesus respond to what people were doing (verses 15 and 16)?

What did His disciples remember (verse 17)?

Who ask “what sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this” (verse 18)?

How did Jesus answer them (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why did the Jews not understand what Jesus meant (verse 20)?

What had Jesus been talking about (verse 21)?

When did the disciples recall and believe “the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken” (verse 22)?

What did “many people” do while Jesus was in Jerusalem (verse 23)?

Why would Jesus not “entrust himself to them” (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show the world’s opposition to God’s people?

1 John 2:15-19 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

¹⁸ Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

What are Christians not to love (verse 15)?

When is “love for the Father” not in someone (verse 15)?

Where does “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” come from (verse 16)?

Who lives forever (verse 17)?

Who has come (verse 18)?

How do we know it is the last hour (verse 18)?

Where did the antichrists not belong (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show the world’s opposition to God’s people?

Revelation 2:8-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

Who is John to write to (verse 8)?

Who are the words that John is to write from (verse 8)?

What is known (verse 9)?

Who is rich (verse 9)?

Who are those slanderers “who say they are Jews” (verse 9)?

What are they not to be afraid of (verse 10)?

Who will receive “life as your victor’s crown” (verse 10)?

Who is to hear (verse 11)?

Who will “not be hurt at all by the second death” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how does this passage show the world’s opposition to God’s people?

In your opinion, how does the opposition of “the peoples around them” to the people rebuilding the temple in Ezra 4:1-8 and the resistance of the Jews to Jesus in John 2:13-25 show ways that God’s work can be impeded?   

In your opinion, how is the conflict between the world and the kingdom of God displayed in both Ezra 4:1-8 and in 1 John 2:15-19? 

In your opinion, how do the people around Jerusalem and their opposition to the building of the temple in Ezra 4:1-8 compare to those who are a “synagogue of Satan” slandering the church of Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11 in attitude and in method?

In your opinion, how does the zeal that Jesus had in the temple in John 2:13-25 help us understand how to deal the “everything in the world” that John warns us of in 1 John 2:15-19? 

In your opinion, what is the difference between those who “believed in his name” but who Jesus would not entrust himself to in John 2:13-25 and the “one who is victorious” in Revelation 2:8-11?

In your opinion, how are the antichrists that John warns of in 1 John 2:15-19 related to those “who say they are Jews” in Revelation 2:8-11? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, John, 1 John and Revelation teach us about the source of opposition to God’s people and their work?

In your opinion, how should Christians respond to opposition from the outside?

In your opinion, how should Christians respond to opposition from the inside?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

May 14, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Persecution and Victory

Persecution and Victory

Genesis 37:14-28 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁴ So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.

When Joseph arrived at Shechem, ¹⁵ a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”

¹⁶ He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”

¹⁷ “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. ¹⁸ But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

¹⁹ “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. ²⁰ “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”

²¹ When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. ²² “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.

²³ So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— ²⁴ and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.

²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern 

and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

What did Jacob ask Joseph to do (verse 14)?

Where was Joseph when the man ask him “what are you looking for” (verse 15)?

Who was Joseph looking for (verse 16)?

Where did Joseph find his brothers (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him (verse 18)?

What did they call Joseph (verse 19)?

How did they plan to get away with killing Joseph (verse 20)?

Who tried to rescue Joseph (verse 21)?

Why did Reuben say not to shed any blood (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why did they strip off the ornate robe that Joseph was wearing (verse 23)?

Where did they throw Joseph (verse 24)?

Who did they see coming from Gilead (verse 25)?

Who spoke up and suggested that the brothers could gain if the sold their brother (verses 26 and 27)?

How much did they sell Joseph for (verse 28)?

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

John 18:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

² Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

⁴ Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

⁵ “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) ⁶ When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

⁷ Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth,” they said.

⁸ Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” ⁹ This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”

¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

¹¹ Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

¹² Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him ¹³ and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

When did Jesus and the disciples cross the Kidron Valley (verse 1)?

How did Judas know the place (verse 2)?

Who did Judas guide into the garden (verse 3)?

What did Jesus know about what was going to happen (verse 4)?

Where was Judas when Jesus said “I am he” (verse 5)?

How did the people respond when Jesus said “I am he” (verse 6)?

What did Jesus request (verse 8)?

Why did “this” happen (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why did Simon Peter strike the servant of the high priest (verse 10)?

What command did Jesus give to Peter (verse 11)?

Who arrested Jesus (verse 12)?

Where did they take Jesus (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what is similar between the brothers who put Joseph into the cistern in Genesis 37:14-28 and Judas, who guided the detachment of soldiers and the officials to Jesus in John 18:1-13?

Romans 8:31-39 - New International Version (NIV)

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In your opinion, “if God is for us” can anyone be against us (verse 31)?

What did God give up for us (verse 32)?

Who justifies (verse 33)?

Who condemns (verse 34)?

Where is Christ Jesus (verse 34)?

What is Christ Jesus doing (verse 34)?

In your opinion, can “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword” actually separate us from the love of Christ (verse 35)?

What is it written that we will face “all day long” (verse 36)?

How are we “more than conquerors” (verse 37)?

What does Paul think that “neither death nor live, neither angel nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation” will be un able to do (verses 38 and 39)?

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

In your opinion, what does Romans 8:31-39 help us understand about why Jesus, in John 18:1-13, repeatedly ask “who is it you want” and commanded Peter to put away his sword?

In your opinion, how would Joseph, when he was being led off by the Ishmaelites in Genesis 37:14-28, have answered Paul’s question in Romans 8:31-39 “if God is for us, who can be against us” and how would he have answered the question years later when his brothers came to him for food?

Revelation 2:8-11 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. ⁹ I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown.

¹¹ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

How did Jesus describe Himself (verse 8)?

In your opinion, how can Jesus know “your afflictions and your poverty” and still say that the Christians of Smyrna are rich (verse 9)?

What are the Christians in Smyrna not to be afraid of (verse 10)?

Who will put some of the Christians in Smyrna into prison (verse 10)?

How long are the Christians in Smyrna to “be faithful” (verse 10)?

What will Jesus give the ones who remain faithful (verse 10)?

Who will not be hurt “at all by the second death” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how does Jesus in Revelation 2:8-11 answer the question that Paul asks in Romans 8:31-39, “if God is for us, who could be against us”?

In your opinion, how does the promise of Jesus “be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown” to the Christians of Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11 help support the statement “I have not lost one of those you gave me” that John attributes to Jesus in John 18:1-13?

In your opinion, how would Jesus’ statement in Revelation 2:8-11 to the Christians of Smyrna “Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days” also have been appropriate for Joseph prior to what happens to him in Genesis 37:14-28?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Romans and Revelation help us understand about persecution?

In your opinion, how can these passages help us overcome the fear of suffering?                                         

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)