December 30, 2018 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Temple Building Then and Now

Temple Building Then and Now

Ezra 3:8-13 - New International Version (NIV)

⁸ In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. They appointed Levites twenty years old and older to supervise the building of the house of the Lord. ⁹ Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.

¹⁰ When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. ¹¹ With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:

“He is good;
    his love toward Israel endures forever.”

And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. ¹² But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. ¹³ No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

In your opinion, who are Zerubbabel and Joshua (verse 8)?

Who supervised “those working on the house of God” (verse 9)?

Who gave the priests and Levites “their places to praise the Lord” (verse 10)?

What did they sing about the Lord (verse 11)?

Why did the people give “a great shout of praise” (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why did “many of the older priests and Levites and family heads” weep aloud when they saw the foundation of the temple being laid (verse 12)?

What could not be destinguished (verse 13)?

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

Zechariah 4:1-14 - New International Version (NIV)           

¹ Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. ² He asked me, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. ³ Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

⁴ I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.

⁶ So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.

⁷ “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.

¹⁰ “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”

¹¹ Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”

¹² Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”

¹³ He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I said.

¹⁴ So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”

Who woke Zechariah up (verse 1)?

How does Zechariah describe the lampstand he sees (verse 2)?

What does Zechariah see on the the right and the left of the lampstand (verse 3)?

What does Zechariah ask the angel (verse 4)?

What message does the angel have for Zerubbabel (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why will there be shouts of “God bless it” when Zerubbabel brings out the capstone (verse 7)?

How will Zechariah know that the Lord Almighty sent the angel (verse 9)?

In your opinion, who does date “to despise the day of small things” (verse 10)?

Who do the two “olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand” represent (verses 11, 12, 13 and 14)?

In your opinion, who are the “two olive trees” (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, why does something as wonderful as building a temple to the Lord create weeping in Ezra 3:8-13 and cause some to despise it in Zechariah 4:1-14?

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 to Jerusalem (verse 13)?

What did Jesus find in the temple (verse 14)?

How did Jesus react to what He found in the temple (verse 15)?

What did Jesus say they were turning His Father’s house into (verse 16)?

Who remembered that it was written “zeal for your house will consume me” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why did the Jews ask “what sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this” (verse 18)?

How long did Jesus say it would take Him to rainse the temple again (verse 19)?

How long had it taken to build the temple (verse 20)?

What temple was Jesus speaking of (verse 21)?

When did the disciples recall what Jesus had said  (verse 22)?

Why did “many people” believe (verse 23)?

Who would Jesus not entrust himself to (verse 24)?

What did Jesus not need (verse 25)?

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

In your opinion, what caused the temple that was so important to people at its beginning that the sounds of joy and weeping were heard “far away” in Ezra 3:8-13 to become a place that was used for the sale of cattle,  sheep and doves in John 2:13-25?

In your opinion, how are Zerubabbel from Zechariah 4:1-14 and Jesus from John 2:13-25 related, by family and position, and how are their positions different?

1 Corinthians 3:9-17 – New International Version (NIV)

⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. ¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

What are we (verse 9)?

What did Paul lay (verse 10)?

How should each on build (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why can no one “lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (verse 11)?

What does Paul say people can build on the foundation with (verse 12)?

How will their work “be shown for what it is” (verse 13)?

What will fire test (verse 14)?

Who will receive a reward (verse 15)?

How will the person whose work is burned up be saved (verse 15)?

What are Christians (verse 16)?

Where does God’s Spirit dwell (verse 16)?

What is sacred (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, how are the foundation of Zerubbabel’s temple which was being laid in Ezra 3:8-13 and the foundation of “God’s building” which was described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17 similar?

In your opinion, what can God’s statement “not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit” from Zechariah 4:1-14 teach us about building on the foundation of Jesus Christ with “gold, silver, costly stones, wood hay or straw” from 1 Corinthians 3:9-17?

In your opinion, how is the temple that Jesus talks about in John 2:13-25 different from “God’s building” that Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 3:9-17?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Ezra, Zechariah, John and 1 Corinthians teach us about the building of God’s temple, from Zerubabbel’s time and our time?

In your opinion, how can we who build God’s temple today build with gold, silver and costly stones instead of wood, hay or straw?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

December 23, 2018 – Christmas – Salvation, Anticipated and Received

Salvation, Anticipated and Received

Psalm 80:1-7 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
    shine forth ² before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
    come and save us.

³ Restore us, O God;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

⁴ How long, Lord God Almighty,
    will your anger smolder
    against the prayers of your people?
⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears;
    you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
⁶ You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,
    and our enemies mock us.

⁷ Restore us, God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

Who did the “Shepherd of Israel” lead (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what does the psalmist mean by “awaken your might” (verse 2)?

Why did the psalmist want God’s face to shine on him (verse 3)?

What did the psalmist say God’s anger was smoldering against (verse 4)?

What did the psalmist say God fed His people (verse 5)?

Who is an “object of derision” (verse 6)?

How does the psalmist ask for God to save them (verse 7)?

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

Micah 5:2-5a - New International Version (NIV)                 

² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”

³ Therefore Israel will be abandoned
    until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
    to join the Israelites.

⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock
    in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

⁵ And he will be our peace

Who will come from Bethlehem Ephrathah (verse 2)?

What are the origins of the one who will come (verse 2)?

What will end “when she who is in labor bears a son” (verse 3)?

Who will return “when she who is in labor bears a son” (verse 3)?

How will the son “stand and shepherd his flock” (verse 4)?

Why will his flock “live securely” (verse 4)?

What will the son be (verse 5)?

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

In your opinion, what is similar about the salvations that Micah 5:2-5a and Psalm 80:1-7 seek?

Luke 1:39-55 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

⁴⁶ And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.”

Where did Mary hurry to (verse 39)?

Where did Mary greet Elizabeth (verse 40)?

What happened when Mary greeted Elizabeth (verse 41)?

Who did Elizabeth again say was blessed (verse 42)?

In your opinion, why did Elizabeth ask “why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me” (verse 43)?

Who does Elizabeth say is blessed (verse 45)?

How does Mary’s soul respond to “the Lord” (verse 46)?

Who does Mary’s spirit “rejoice in” (verse 47)?

What has God been “mindful of” (verse 48)?

Who has done “great things” for Mary (verse 49)?

Who does God extend mercy to (verse 50)?

Who has God scattered (verse 51)?

Who has God lifted up (verse 52)?

Who has God “sent away empty” (verse 53)?

What has God remembered to be (verse 54)?

Who did God promise these things to (verse 55)?

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

In your opinion, what does the psalmist pleading for God to “awaken your might, come and save us” in Psalm 80:1-7 but God delivering salvation through a humble girl in Luke 1:39-55 teach us?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the fact that according to Micah 5:2-5a God’s chosen will come from the small town of Bethlehem and that in Luke 1:39-55 Mary, the mother of the Saviour, sings about her humble state?

Hebrews 10:5-10 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;
⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
    I have come to do your will, my God.’”

⁸ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

What did Christ say God did not desire (verse 5)?

What had God prepared for Christ (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why was God not pleased with “burnt offerings and sin offerings” (verse 6)?

Who said “I have come to do your will, my God” (verse 7)?

What did Christ say first (verse 8)?

What did Christ then say (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says “He sets aside the first to establish the second” (verse 9)?

How are Christians made holy (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, what does Hebrews 10:5-10 teach us about how God answered the psalmist’s prayer in Psalms 80:1-7?

In your opinion, what does Hebrews 10:5-10 teach us about the ruler that Micah 5:2-5a indicated was coming from Bethlehem to rule the world?

In your opinion, what does Hebrews 10:5-10 teach us about the mercy of the Mighty One that Mary sang about in Luke 1:39-55?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Psalms, Micah, Luke and Hebrews help us in the process of moving from a desire for salvation, to an understanding of where salvation comes from, to salvation?

In your opinion, how can we who have accepted Mary’s Child as our Savior and Shepherd glorify the Lord and rejoice in God our Savior?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

December 16, 2018 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Snatched from the Fire

Snatched from the Fire

Deuteronomy 30:11-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. ¹² It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹³ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

¹⁵ See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. ¹⁶ For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

What is “not too difficult for you or beyond your reach” (verse 11)?

Why won’t the Israelite people need to ask “who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it” (verse 12)?

Why won’t the Israelite people need to ask “who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it” (verse 13)?

Where is the word they need to obey (verse 14)?

In your opinion, what does Moses mean when he says, “I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction” (verse 15)?

When will the people “live and increase” (verse 16)?

What does Moses warn the Israelite people will happen if “your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them” (verses 17 and 18)?

Who does Moses call to witness that he had set before the people “life and death, blessings and curses” (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what do the people have to do to “choose life” (verse 19)?

What is their life (verse 20)?

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

Zechariah 3:1-10 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. ² The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”

³ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. ⁴ The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”

Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you.”

⁵ Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by.

⁶ The angel of the Lord gave this charge to Joshua: ⁷ “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘If you will walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here.

⁸ “‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. ⁹ See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.

¹⁰ “‘In that day each of you will invite your neighbor to sit under your vine and fig tree,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Who did Zechariah see standing at the right side of Joshua as Joshua stood before the angel of the Lord (verse 1)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that Joshua was “a burning stick shatched from the fire” (verse 2)?

How was Joshua dressed “as he stood before the angel” (verse 3)?

What did the angel tell “those who were standing before him” (verse 4)?

What had the angel taken away (verse 4)?

Who said “put a clean turban on his head” (verse 5)?

Who gave the charge to Joshua (verse 6)?

What does Joshua have to do to “govern my house and have charge of my courts” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that High Priest Joshua and his associates are “symbolic of things to come” (verse 8)?

Who is the Lord going to bring (verse 8)?

What will the Lord do in a “single day” (verse 9)?

Who will each one invite “to sit under your vine and fig tree” (verse 10)?

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

In your opinion, what does the fact that Joshua, the high priest, was standing before the Lord in filthy clothes in Zechariah 3:1-10 tell us about how the Israelite people responded to Moses commands issued in Deuteronomy 30:11-20?

John 5:19-27 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 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.

What does Jesus say the Son can do (verse 19)?

Why will the Jewish leaders “be amazed” (verse 20)?

Who will “the Son” give life to (verse 21)?

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

In your opinion, why does the person who “does not honor the Son” not honor the Father (verse 23)?

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 was He given “authority to judge” (verse 27)?

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

In your opinion, how is the choice that Moses gave the people in Deuteronomy 30:11-20 similar to the choice that Jesus gives to people in John 5:19-27?  How are the choices different?

In your opinion, how does the symbolism in Zechariah 3:1-10 help us understand what Jesus says in John 5:19-27?

Jude 1:17-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

²² Be merciful to those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

What does Jude want his friends to remember (verse 17)?

When will the scoffers who “follow their own ungodly desires” come (verse 18)?

What do the scoffers follow (verse 19)?

How are Jude’s friends to “keep yourself in God’s love” (verses 20 and 21)?

What are Jude’s friends to wait for (verse 21)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “be merciful to those who doubt” (verse 22)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “save others by snatching them from the fire” (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “show mercy, mixed with fear” (verse 23)?

What are Jude’s friends to hate (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, why is Moses’s command “to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws” in Deuteronomy 31:11-20 different from Jude’s instruction in Jude 1:17-23 to “keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life”?

In your opinion, what does it mean that the Hebrew “Joshua”, which is “Jesus” in Greek and means “the Lord saves”, is called “a burning stick snatched from the fire” in Zechariah 3:1-10 and in Jude 1:17-23 we are instructed to “save others by snatching them from the fire”?

In your opinion, how does Jesus’s teaching in John 5:19-27 help us understand what people need so that they can be snatched from the fire as instructed in Jude 1:17-23?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Deuteronomy, Zechariah, John and Jude teach us about the decision we must make about God?

In your opinion, how can we who have been snatched from the fire in turn “be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

December 9, 2018 – Looking Backward and Forward from Zechariah – Burning Bushes for the Spiritually Blind

Burning Bushes for the Spiritually Blind

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

¹ Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Where did Moses lead his father-in-law’s flock (verse 1)?

Who appeared to Moses in the “flames of fire from within a bush” (verse 2)?

What did Moses want to know (verse 3)?

When did God call to Moses (verse 4)?

How did Moses answer God’s call (verse 4)?

Why was Moses to remove his sandals (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did God identify Himself as “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob” (verse 6)?

Why did Moses hide his face (verse 6)?

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

Zechariah 2:1-13 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Then I looked up, and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand. ² I asked, “Where are you going?”

He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”

³ While the angel who was speaking to me was leaving, another angel came to meet him ⁴ and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of people and animals in it. ⁵ And I myself will be a wall of fire around it,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be its glory within.’

⁶ “Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “for I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven,” declares the Lord.

⁷ “Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!” ⁸ For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye— ⁹ I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.

¹⁰ “Shout and be glad, Daughter Zion. For I am coming, and I will live among you,” declares the Lord. ¹¹ “Many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day and will become my people. I will live among you and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. ¹² The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem. ¹³ Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.”

Who did Zechariah see when he looked up (verse 1)?

What was the man going to do (verse 2)?

Who came to meet the angel who was speaking to Zechariah (verse 3)?

Why will Jerusalem “be a city without walls” (verse 4)?

What will God be to Jerusalem (verse 5)?

Where were the people to flee from (verse 6)?

Where were the people who ”live in  Daughter Babylon” to come (verse 7)?

What will the Lord do the those who touch “the apple of his eye” (verses 8 and 9)?

Where is the Lord Almighty going to live (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “many nations will be joined with the Lord in that day” (verse 11)?

What will the Lord inherit (verse 12)?

Where will the Lord choose (verse 12)?

How is all mankind to respond to the Lord (verse 13)?

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

In your opinion, what are the similarities between the place that Moses stood in Exodus 3:1-6 and the city of Jerusalem that Zechariah sees in Zechariah 2:1-13?

John 9:35-41 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

³⁹ Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

⁴¹ Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

What had Jesus heard about the man He ask “do you believe in the Son of Man” (verse 35)?

How did the man respond to Jesus’s question “do you believe in the Son of Man” (verses 35 and 36)?

In your opinion, why is the quote “you have now seen him” significant (verse 37)?

What did the man do after saying, “Lord, I believe” (verse 38)?

How does Jesus define judgment after He says “for judgment I have come into this world” (verse 39)?

Who said “are we blind too” (verse 40)?

Why does their guilt remain (verse 41)?

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

In your opinion, how is the response of Moses to God in Exodus 3:1-6 similar to the response of the man who was blind from birth in John 9:35-41 to Jesus?

In your opinion, what does John 9:35-41 teach us about how to respond to God’s command issued through Zechariah in Zecharian 2:1-13 to “escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon” if we consider the world of today the “Daughter Babylon”?

Romans 10:5-17 – New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.”  ⁶ But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

¹⁶ But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” ¹⁷ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

What does Moses say about the “righteousness that is by the law” (verse 5)?

What does not say “in your heart, ‘who will ascend into heaven” (verse 6)?

What says “the word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart” (verses 6 and 8)?

In your opinion, why does Paul connect the declaring “Jesus is Lord” with the mouth and belief in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead with salvation (verses 9 and 10)?

Who will “never be put to shame” (verse 11)?

Why is there “no difference between Jew and Gentile” (verse 12)?

Who will be saved (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what is Paul trying to get us to understand with his questions in verses 14 and 15?

“Not all the Israelites” have accepted what (verse 16)?

Where does faith come from (verse 17)?

How is the message heard (verse 17)?

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

In your opinion, what does Moses’s reaction to God in Exodus 3:1-6 tell us about the man who Paul quotes in Romans 10:5-17 as saying “the person who does these things will live by them”?

In your opinion, what does Paul in Romans 10:5-17 help us understand about the people who will live in the Jerusalem that a “man with a measuring line in his hand” is going out to measure in Zechariah 2:1-13?

In your opinion, how does the reaction of the man who had been born blind to Jesus in John 9:35-41 help us understand the miracle of salvation that Paul is explaining in Romans 10:5-17?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Zechariah, John and Romans teach us about what the “blind” who see understand about God?

In your opinion, how can we be a bush on fire but that does not burn up for those who are spiritually blind?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)