September 1, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – Heeding the Call

Heeding the Call


Leviticus 23:23-25 - New International Version (NIV)

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. ²⁵ Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.’”

Who told Moses to “say to the Israelites” (verses 23 & 24)?

When are they to have “a day of sabbath rest” (verse 24)?

How is the sacred assembly to be commemorated (verse 24)?

What is to be presented “to the Lord” (verse 25)?

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

Ezekial 33:1-9 - New International Version (NIV)    

¹ The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, ³ and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, ⁴ then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. ⁵ Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’

⁷ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. ⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. ⁹ But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.

What came to Ezekial (verse 1)?

Who chooses the watchman (verse 2)?

How does the watchman warn the people that the “sword is coming against the land” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning . . . their blood will be on their own head” (verse 4)?

What would happen if “they had heeded the warning” (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why, if the person’s “life will be taken because of their sin” will the Lord hold the watchman accountable (verse 6)?

Who made Ezekial “watchman for the people of Israel” (verse 7)?

When will Ezekial be held “accountable for the blood” of a wicked person (verse 8)?

How can Ezekial be saved even when the wicked person dies for their sin (verse 9)?

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

In your opinion, how is the trumpet call of Leviticus 23:23-25 different from the trumpet call of Ezekial 33:1-9?

Matthew 24:23-31 – New International Version (NIV)

²³ At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ See, I have told you ahead of time.

²⁶ “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

²⁹ “Immediately after the distress of those days

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

³⁰ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. ³¹ And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Who is not be be believed (verse 23)?

What will the “false messiahs and false prophets” perform (verse 24)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus tell this “ahead of time” (verse 25)?

What is not to be believed (verse 26)?

How visible will the “coming of the Son of Man” be (verse 27)?

Where do vultures gather (verse 28)?

When will the sun “be darkened” and the moon not give its light (verse 29)?

What will then appear (verse 30)?

In your opinion, why will “all the peoples of the earth” mourn when “they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory” (verse 30)?

What will the Lord use to “send his angels” (verse 31)?

What will the angels do (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, how is the trumpet call of Leviticus 23:23-25 similar to the trumpet call of Matthew 24:23-31?

In your opinion, do your think that the peoples of the earth that mourn with the coming of the Lord in Matthew 24:23-31 received a trumpet call of warning by a watchman like Ezekiel was charged to be in Exekiel 33:1-9?

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

What does Paul not want the Thessalonians to be uninformed about (verse 13)?

Who has “no hope” (verse 13)?

Who do “we believe” God will bring with Jesus (verse 14)?

What will those “who are still alive” not do (verse 15)?

What will happen when the Lord comes “down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God” (verse 16)?

Where will all Christians, those who had been dead and those who are still alive, meet the Lord (verse 17)?

How long will Christians be with the Lord (verse 17)?

What does Paul want Christians to do with this information (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, how are the actions of the people of Israel after the trumpet call in Leviticus 23:23-25 similar to the actions of Christians after the trumpet call of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?

In your opinion, how do people’s responses to the trumpet call of the watchmen like Ezekiel in Ezekiel 33:1-9 determine their response to “the trumpet call of God” of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18?

In your opinion, what do Paul and Jesus understand that causes Paul to say in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that “the rest of mankind, who have no hope” and Jesus to say in Matthew 24:23-31 that “all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven”?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Leviticus, Ezekiel, Matthew and 1 Thessalonians teach us about how God uses a trumpet call?

In your opinion, are Christians today to be watchmen?  How should our message be similar to Ezekiel’s?  How should our message be different?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

August 25, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – Sacred Offerings

-                        The

Sacred Offerings


Leviticus 23:15-22 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ “‘From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. ¹⁶ Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷ From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. ²⁰ The priest is to wave the two lambs before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

²² “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”

How long were the Israelites to count off after the day they “brought the sheaf of the wave offering” (verse 15)?

What are the Israelites to present (verse 16)?

Where are the “two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour” to come from (verse 17)?

What are the bread, seven male lambs, young bull and two rams to be (verse 18)?

What is the male goat for (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what is a wave offering (verse 20)?

How is the day to be set apart (verse 21)?

Why is the harvest not to include the edges of the fields or the gleanings (verse 22)?

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

John 15:26-16:15 - New International Version (NIV)           

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

¹ “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. ² They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. ³ They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴ I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, ⁵ but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. ⁷ But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

Who will the Advocate testify about (verse 26)?

Who else must testify (verse 27)?

Why has Jesus told the disciples these things (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why will people who kill the disciples “think they are offering a service to God” (verse 2)?

Why will people “do such things” (verse 3)?

When are the disciples to remember that Jesus warned them about those who would think killing the disciples was serving God (verse 4)?

Where is Jesus going (verse 5)?

What fills the disciples (verse 6)?

Why is it good for the disciples that Jesus is going away (verse 7)?

What will the Advoate prove the world is wrong about (verse 8)?

Why is the world wrong about sin (verse 9)?

Why is the world wrong about righteousness (verse 10)?

Why is the world wrong about judgment (verse 11)?

Who will guide the disciples “into all the truth” (verse 13)?

Who will be glorified (verse 14)?

What belongs to Jesus (verse 15)?

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

In your opinion, how are the burnt offerings, sin offerings, fellowship offerings and wave offerings of Leviticus 23:15-22 related to the Advocate’s teaching of “sin and righteousness and judgment” in John 15:26-16:15?

Acts 2:1-12 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. ⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹² Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

Where were the followers of Jesus “when the day of Pentecost came” (verse 1)?

What sound “filled the whole house where they were sitting” (verse 2)?

What “came to rest on each of them” (verse 3)?

Who was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (verse 4)?

How were they able to “speak in other tongues” (verse 4)?

Who was “staying in Jerusalem” (verse 5)?

Why was the crowd bewildered (verses 6-11)?

What did the “amazed and perplexed” crowd ask one another (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does it mean that on the day the Israelite people were supposed to be dedicating the harvest as described in Leviticus 23:15-22 the Holy Spirit “came to rest on each of them” in Acts 2:1-12?

In your opinion, how does what Jesus told his disciples in John 15:26-16:15 answer the question asked by the crowd in Acts 2:1-12, “what does this mean”?

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. ² You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. ³ Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

⁴ There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. ⁵ There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. ⁶ There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

⁷ Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

About what does Paul not want the Corinthians to be uninformed (verse 1)?

When were the Corinthians “influenced and led astray to mute idols” (verse 2)?

Who cannot say “Jesus be cursed” (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why is it important that “there are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them” (verse 4)?

Who is served by the “different kinds of service” (verse 5)?

Where is “the same God at work” (verse 6)?

Why is each “manifestation of the Spirit” given (verse 7)?

Whose work is the message of wisdom, the message of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in different kinds of tongues and interpretation of tongues (verses 8 through 11)?

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

In your opinion, how are the waving of the lambs and bread in Leviticus 23:15-22 and the “manisfestation of the Spirit” in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 similar?

In your opinion, how is Jesus statement that “He will glorify me” in John 15:26-16:15 fulfilled through what the Holy Spirit does in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s lesson in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 also answer the question of the crowd in Acts 2:1-12, “what does this mean”?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Leviticus, John, Acts and 1 Corinthians help us understand about how the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts is a fulfillment of the Pentecost worship outlined in Leviticus 23:15-22?


In your opinion, how can we who have received the transformation of the sin offering of Christ and are the firstfruits of the harvest wave offering of the Spirit of God to fulfill the command of Jesus to “testify about me”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

August 18, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – God’s Bounty

God’s Bounty


Leviticus 23:9-14 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. ¹¹ He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹² On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, ¹³ together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the Lord, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. ¹⁴ You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

Who spoke to Moses (verse 9)?

When are the Israelites to “bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest” (verse 10)?

Where is the priest supposed to “wave the sheaf” (verse 11)?

What else is to happen “on the day you wave the sheaf” (verses 12 and 13)?

What are the Israelites forbidden to do “until the very day you bring this offering” (verse 14)?

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

Joshua 5:2-12 - New International Version (NIV)    

² At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” ³ So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the Israelites at Gibeath Haaraloth.

⁴ Now this is why he did so: All those who came out of Egypt—all the men of military age—died in the wilderness on the way after leaving Egypt. ⁵ All the people that came out had been circumcised, but all the people born in the wilderness during the journey from Egypt had not. ⁶ The Israelites had moved about in the wilderness forty years until all the men who were of military age when they left Egypt had died, since they had not obeyed the Lord. For the Lord had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ⁷ So he raised up their sons in their place, and these were the ones Joshua circumcised. They were still uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. ⁸ And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.

¹⁰ On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. ¹¹ The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. ¹² The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.

Who was to “make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again” (verse 2)?

Where were the flint knives made and the circumcision to happen (verse 3)?

What had happened to “all those who came out of Egypt-all the men of military age” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why had all the people who had come out of Egypt been circumcised and those who were born in the wilderness hadn’t (verse 5)?

Why had the Israelites “moved about in the wilderness forty years” (verse 6)?

Who had the Lord raised up (verse 7)?

How long did they stay in camp (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what was the “reproach of Egypt” that the Lord rolled away (verse 9)?

When did the Israelites celebrate the Passover (verse 10)?

What did the Israelites do the “day after the Passover” (verse 11)?

When did the manna stop (verse 12)?

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

Luke 15:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Who was gathering around to hear Jesus (verse 1)?

What did the “Pharisees and the teachers of the law” mutter (verse 2)?

What did Jesus tell them (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why does the shepherd leave the ninety-nine sheep “in the open country” when he goes after the lost sheep (verse 4)?

Where does the shepherd put the sheep when he finds it (verse 5)?

What does the shepherd want his friends and neighbors to do (verse 6)?

Where is there more rejoicing “over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (verse 7)?

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

In your opinion, how is the lost sheep that the shepherd rejoiced finding in Luke 15:1-7 similar to the people of Israel who had their reproach lifted at Gilgal in Joshua 5:2-12?

1 Corinthians 15:12-26 – New International Version (NIV)

¹² But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. ¹⁵ More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. ¹⁹ If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. ²⁴ Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

What were some people saying (verse 12)?

Who could not be raised from the dead if there is no resurrection of the dead (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why is Paul’s preaching useless if Christ has not been raised (verse 14)?

Why is Paul a false witness if Christ has not been raised (verse 15)?

Where would the Corinthians be if Christ “has not been raised” (verse 17)?

In your opinion, why would “those also who have fallen asleep” be lost if Christ has not been raised (verse 18)?

Who is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (verse 20)?

What two things came “through a man” (verse 21)?

How will “all be made alive” (verse 22)?

Who will be made alive after “Christ, the firstfruits” (verse 23)?

When will the end come (verse 24)?

How long will Christ reign (verse 25)?

What is the “last enemy to be destroyed” (verse 26)?

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

In your opinion, how is the new generation who had been raised up by the Lord, had their reproach removed, and dined on the food of the promised land in Joshua 5:2-12 similar to those who Paul says are raised up by Christ, the first fruit in 1 Corinthians 15:12-26?

In your opinion, how does Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 15:12-26 that “as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” enhance your understanding of the one lost sheep and ninety-nine “left in the open country” in Luke 15:1-7?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Leviticus, Joshua, Luke and 1 Corinthians teach us about how to recognize the Lord’s bounty?

In your opinion, how can we, the rescued “lost sheep”, celebrate God’s bounty today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

August 11, 2019 – Festivals and Foundations – Celebrating Being Born Again

Celebrating Begin Born Again


Leviticus 23:6-8 - New International Version (NIV)

⁶ On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. ⁸ For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.’”

What is the Festival called that begins on the 15^th day of the month and where “for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast” (verse 6)?

What is to happen on the first day (verse 7)?

When is the “food offering to the Lord” to be presented (verse 8)?

What is to happen on the seventh day (verse 8)?

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

Exodus 12:15-20 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁵ For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.

¹⁷ “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. ¹⁸ In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. ¹⁹ For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. ²⁰ Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”

How long are the Israelites to “eat bread made without yeast” (verse 15)?

What is to happen to the person who eats anything with yeast in it during this Festival (verse 15)?

Which days are the Israelites to do no work (verse 16)?

Why are the Israelites to “celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread” (verse 17)?

Which days are the Israelites “to eat bread made without yeast” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, why is no yeast to be found in the homes of the Israelites during this time (verse 19)?

What kind of bread are the Israelites to eat “wherever you live” (verse 20)?

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

Luke 24:13-35 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. ¹⁵ As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; ¹⁶ but they were kept from recognizing him.

¹⁷ He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” he asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. ²⁰ The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; ²¹ but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. ²² In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning ²³ but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. ²⁴ Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

In your opinion, what Festival was occurring at the time these two men were going to Emmaus (verse 13)?

Where were the two men going (verse 13)?

Who “came up and walked along with them” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, why were they “kept from recognizing him” (verse 16)?

What did Cleopas ask Him (verse 18)?

How did the men view Jesus of Nazareth (verse 19)?

What had the men hoped Jesus would do (verse 21)?

How had the women amazed them (verses 22 and 23)?

What did the companions find when they went to the tomb (verse 24)?

Where did Jesus begin in explaining “to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (verse 27)?

How did Jeses act as they approached the village (verse 28)?

Where did Jesus go (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what kind of bread did Jesus give thanks over and break at the table (verse 30)?

What happened when “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (verse 31)?

How did the two men feel when Jesus was talking with them on the road and opening the Scriptures to them (verse 32)?

When did the two men return to Jerusalem (verse 33)?

What did the two men say was true (verse 34)?

What did the two men tell them (verse 35)?

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

In your opinion, how is the Festival that Moses tells the Israelites to celebrate in Exodus 12:15-20 similar to the meal that the men walking to Emmaus celebrated with Jesus in Luke 24-13-35? 

In your opinion, how is the trip that the men took from mourning the lost redeemer to celebrating the risen Lord similar to the trip the Israelites took from Egypt to Israel?

1 Peter 1:13-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ¹⁶ for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

What does Peter say a Christian’s alert and sober minds should be set their hope on (verse 13)?

What should Christians not “conform to” (verse 14)?

How should we “be holy” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean by “live out your time as foreigners here” (verse 17)?

What were Christians redeemed from (verse 18)?

How were Christians redeemed (verse 19)?

What are a Christians “faith and hope” in (verse 21)?

How should Christians love each other (verse 22)?

What has happened to Christians “through the living and enduring word of God” (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, how is the instruction to have no yeast in the house for seven days in Exodus 12:15-20 similar to the command to “not conform to the evil desires that you had when you lived in ignorance” in Romans 1 Peter 1:13-23?

In your opinion, how does the transformation of the two men on the way to Emmaus from “we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” to “It is true! The Lord has risen” in Luke 24:13-35 an example of what Peter calls the “empty way of life” being transformed to “your faith and hope are in God” in 1 Peter 1:13-23?

In your opinion, how do these passages from Leviticus, Exodus, Luke and 1 Peter teach us about how the festival of Unleavened Bread is related to the redeemed life of the Christian?


In your opinion, how can we, who have been a gift greater than Isralites who celebrated the Lord bringing their “divisions out of Egypt” annually for a week, celebrate being “born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)