April 23, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – The Love You had at First

The Love You had at First

Genesis 50:15-21 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

What did Joseph’s brothers see (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why were they concerned about Joseph holding a grudge (verse 15)?

What did they tell Joseph that their father left (verse 16)?

How was Joseph supposed to react to his brothers (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did Joseph weep (verse 17)?

What did Joseph’s brothers tell him (verse 18)?

How did Joseph respond (verse 19)?

What did Joseph know that his brothers intended (verse 20)?

What did Joseph know that God intended (verse 20)?

In your opinion, how does Joseph knowing what God intended shape his reaction to his brothers (verse 20)?

How will Joseph treat his brothers and their children (verse 21)?

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

John 20:19-31 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

What did Jesus tell His disciples (verse 19)?

How did the disciples react “when they saw the Lord” (verse 20)?

How is Jesus sending the disciples (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what did Jesus mean by “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do no forgive them, they are not forgiven” (verse 23)?

Who was missing when Jesus came (verse 24)?

What did Thomas say it would take for him to believe (verse 25)?

When were the disciples together again (verse 26)?

What did Jesus tell Thomas to do (verse 27)?

How did Thomas react (verse 28)?

Who is blessed (verse 29)?

What did Jesus do (verse 30)?

Why was the book of John written (verse 31)?

How do we have life in Jesus name (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, how is God’s intention for Joseph as Joseph understood it in Genesis 50:15-21 and God’s intention for Jesus as John understood it in John 20:19-31 similar?

Ephesians 4:17-24 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. ¹⁹ Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

²⁰ That, however, is not the way of life you learned ²¹ when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²² You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³ to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴ and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

What does Paul insist on “in the Lord” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, what is the futility of the Gentiles thinking (verse 17)?

What causes the ignorance within the Gentiles (verse 18)?

Why have the Gentiles “given themselves over to sensuality” (verse 19)?

What haven’t the Ephesians who Paul is writing to learned (verses 19 and 20)?

What were the Ephesians taught “in accordance with” (verse 21)?

How were the Ephesians to treat their “former way of life” (verse 22)?

What was to “be made new” in the Ephesians (verse 23)?

What is the “new self” to be created like (verse 24)?

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

In your opinion, how is Joseph’s response to his brothers in Genesis 50:15-21 a demonstration of putting on a new attitude as Paul taught about centuries later in Ephesians 4:17-24?

In your opinion, how does John’s teaching about Jesus and the blessing He gave the disciples in John 20:19-31 help us understand the sensitivity that Paul says is lost in Ephesians 4:14-24?

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

¹ “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Who sent the message to the angel of the church in Ephesus” (verse 1)?

Who had deeds, hard work and perseverance (verse 2)?

How do the Ephesians treat those who claim to be apostles (verse 2)?

Who have the Ephesians persevered and endured hardships for (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to say that the Ephesians had “forsaken the love you had at first” (verse 4)?

What were the Ephesians to consider (verse 5)?

What were the Ephesians to do (verse 5)?

What is in the Ephesians favor (verse 6)?

Who is the Spirit speaking to (verse 7)?

How will the victorious be rewarded (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, how does Paul discussing the results of losing sensitivity in Ephesians 4:17-24 help us to understand how the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 could be hard working, persevering and discerning, but still have “forsaken the love” they had at first and need to repent?

In your opinion, what does John in stating his purpose for writing in John 20:19-31 help us to understand what it takes to be “victorious” and eat from the tree of life in Revelation 2:1-7?

In your opinion, how does the transformation of the situation in Genesis 50:15-21 by the love exhibited by Joseph help us understand what adding the “love you had at first” to the deeds, hard work and perseverance of the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7 could bring about a transformation that would keep their lampstand in its place?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Genesis, John, Ephesians and Revelation help us understand God’s transforming power; from death to life, from old self to new self, and from a loss of sensitivity to loving like we did at first?

In your opinion, how can these passages transform us into new selves who do deeds, work hard, and persevere due to a love greater than that we had at first?                                                                                                

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 16, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – I Have Seen the Lord

I Have Seen the Lord

Genesis 49:29-33 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁹ Then he gave them these instructions: “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field as a burial place from Ephron the Hittite. ³¹ There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried, and there I buried Leah. ³² The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.”

³³ When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

What words did Jacob use to say he was about to die (verse 29)?

Who did Jacob want to be buried with (verse 29)?

Why did Abraham buy the field (verse 30)?

Who was buried in the cave (verse 31)?

Who was the field and the cave in it purchased from (verse 32)?

What did Jacob do when he finished “giving instructions to his sons” (verse 33)?

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

John 20:1-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

¹⁷ Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

When did Mary Magdalene go to the tomb (verse 1)?

What did she find there (verse 1)?

Who did she tell “they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him” (verse 2)?

Who got to the tomb first (verse 4)?

What did he see when he looked into the tomb (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did he not go inside immediately (verse 5)?

What did Peter find when he “went straight into the tomb” (verses 6 and 7)?

What did the “other disciple, who had reached the tomb first” do when he went inside (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead” (verse 9)?

What did the disciples do next (verse 10)?

What did Mary do (verse 11)?

Who did Mary see (verse 12)?

Why was Mary crying (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why did Mary not recognize Jesus (verse 14)?

What did Mary want from Jesus (verse 15)?

When did Mary recognize Jesus (verse 16)?

What was Mary to tell Jesus’s brothers (verse 17)?

What did Mary tell the disciples (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how would Mary Magdalene’s heritage of hearing about Jacob’s instructions to his sons when he is preparing to “be gathered to my people” in Genesis 49:29-33 motivate her to go to Jesus tomb, but then make it harder for her to recognize Jesus in John 20:1-18?

Romans 5:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Why do we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 1)?

What do we now stand in (verse 2)?

What do we also glory in (verse 3)?

In your opinion, how can our sufferings produce “perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (verses 3 and 4)?

Why does hope not put us to shame (verse 5)?

Who did Christ die for (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person” (verse 7)?

How does God demonstrate his love for us (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be saved from God’s wrath through Jesus (verse 9)?

How are we saved (verse 10)?

How do we boast in God (verse 11)?

Through whom have we received reconciliation (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, how does Paul in his discussion in Romans 5:1-11 help us understand the significance of the empty tomb that Mary, John and Peter saw in John 20:1-18?

In your opinion, how does the matter-of-fact planning of Jacob as he prepares to be gathered to his people in Genesis 49:29-33, help us to more completely understand what Paul meant when he describe us in Romans 5:1-11 as powerless?

Revelation 1:9-18 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

How does John describe himself (verse 9)?

Why was John on the island of Patmos (verse 9)?

Where was John on the Lord’s Day (verse 10)?

What did the “loud voice like a trumpet” tell John to write on a scroll (verse 11)?

What was the first thing that John saw when he turned around (verse 12)?

In your opinion, who is the one “like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest” (verse 13)?

What was the hair on His head like (verse 14)?

How was His voice described (verse 15)?

What was His face like (verse 16)?

When did John fall “at his feet as though dead” (verse 17)?

What is the first thing that Jesus tells John (verse 17)?

How does Jesus describe Himself (verse 18)?

What does Jesus hold (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how does John seeing Jesus in heaven in Revelation 1:9-18 help us understand more completely what Paul meant in Romans 5:1-11 when he said “if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life”?

In your opinion, what is similar between Mary Magdalene seeing the Lord on Easter morning in John 20:1-18 and John, who had seen the empty tomb on Easter morning, seeing Jesus in heaven in Revelation 1:9-18?

In your opinion, what is difference between Jacob’s understanding of death saying he was to be “gathered to my people” in Genesis 49:29-33 and John’s understanding of death after hearing Jesus say “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Romans and Revelation help us understand about how the empty tomb on Easter morning changed everything?

In your opinion, how should Mary Magdalene’s wonderful message to the disciples help us respond to the risen Christ in our lives today?                                                                                                                        

 (sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 9, 2017 – Genesis and John (Gospel and Revelation) – Interactions

Interactions

Genesis 31:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Jacob heard that Laban’s sons were saying, “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father.” ² And Jacob noticed that Laban’s attitude toward him was not what it had been.

³ Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.”

⁴ So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. ⁵ He said to them, “I see that your father’s attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. ⁶ You know that I’ve worked for your father with all my strength, ⁷ yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. ⁸ If he said, ‘The speckled ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, ‘The streaked ones will be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked young. ⁹ So God has taken away your father’s livestock and has given them to me.

¹⁰ “In breeding season I once had a dream in which I looked up and saw that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled or spotted. ¹¹ The angel of God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob.’ I answered, ‘Here I am.’ ¹² And he said, ‘Look up and see that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled or spotted, for I have seen all that Laban has been doing to you. ¹³ I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and where you made a vow to me. Now leave this land at once and go back to your native land.’”

Who was saying “Jacob has taken everything our father owned and has gained all this wealth from what belonged to our father” (verse 1)?

What was “not what it had been” (verse 2)?

Where did the Lord tell Jacob to go (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why did Jacob ask for Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were (verse 4)?

Whose God has been with Jacob (verse 5)?

How does Jacob say he worked for Laban (verse 6)?

How has Laban cheated Jacob (verse 7)?

Who has taken away Laban’s livestock and given them to Jacob (verse 9)?

Where did Jacob see the streaked, speckled or spotted male goats (verse 10)?

Who spoke to Jacob (verse 11)?

What did Jacob say that God had seen (verse 12)?

What does God remind Jacob that he did at Bethel (verse 13)?

Where is Jacob to go (verse 13)?

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

John 5:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, ¹⁰ and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

Why did Jesus go to Jerusalem (verse 1)?

Where is the pool called Bethesda (verse 2)?

Who was beside the pool (verse 3)?

How old was the invalid who was there (verse 5)?

What did Jesus ask the invalid (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why did the invalid answer with “sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred” instead of “yes” (verse 7)?

Does Jesus tell the man he will be cured (verse 8)?

What does Jesus tell the man to do (verse 8)?

When is the man cured (verse 9)?

What does the man do (verse 9)?

When did this healing happen (verse 9)?

Who tells the man “it is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat” (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, what is similar about God telling Jacob to “go back to your native land” in Genesis 31:1-13 and Jesus telling the invalid to “pick up you mat and walk” in John 5:1-10?

Romans 12:9-18 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

What must be sincere (verse 9)?

How should we respond to evil (verse 9)?

How should we respond to good (verse 9)?

Who should we “be devoted to” in love (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says to “keep your spiritual fervor” (verse 11)?

How should we hope (verse 12)?

How should we respond to affliction (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to be “faithful in prayer” (verse 12)?

Who should we share with (verse 13)?

What should we do for those who persecute us (verse 14)?

How should we act when we are with those who mourn (verse 15)?

Who should we “be willing to associate with” (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “do not repay anyone evil for evil” (verse 17)?

When are we to “live at peace with everyone” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how would Paul who said to “rejoice with those who rejoice” in Romans 12:9-18 react to the Pharisees who criticize the invalid carrying has mat on the Sabbath in John 5:1-10?

In your opinion, how does the relationship of Jacob and Laban in Genesis 31:1-13 demonstrate what happens when you don’t follow Paul’s instruction in Romans 12:9-18 “do not repay anyone evil for evil”?

Revelation 11:15-19 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:

“The kingdom of the world has become
    the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
    and he will reign for ever and ever.”

¹⁶ And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷ saying:

“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
    the One who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
    and have begun to reign.
¹⁸ The nations were angry,
    and your wrath has come.
The time has come for judging the dead,
    and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name,
    both great and small—
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹ Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.

Who sounded his trumpet (verse 15)?

What has become the “kingdom of our Lord and or his Messiah” (verse 15)?

How did the twenty-four elders respond (verse 16)?

Why are they giving thanks to the Lord God Almighty (verse 17)?

Who were angry (verse 18)?

What will happen to the dead (verse 18)?

What will happen to the prophets and the people who revere God’s name (verse 18)?

Who will be destroyed (verse 18)?

What was opened (verse 19)?

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

In your opinion, what do Paul’s instructions in Romans 12:9-18 show us about the people that are described in Revelation 11:15-19 as “your people who revere your name”?

In your opinion, how does the invalid’s response to Jesus question “do you want to get well” and his reaction to Jesus instruction to “get up” in John 5:1-10 help us to understand the difference between those who belong to the “kingdom of the world” and to the “kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah” in Revelation 11:15-19?

In your opinion, why does God who in Revelation 11:15-19 is identified as the one who has caused the “kingdom of the world” to become His kingdom identify Himself to Jacob in Genesis 31:1-13 as the “God of Bethel”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Genesis, John, Romans and Revelation help us understand about how God changed everything by breaking the cycle of responding to evil with evil by sending Christ as our Savior?

In your opinion, how do these passages guide our reaction to God and to each other?                                 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)