-
The
The Time has Come
Daniel 2:31-45 - New International Version (NIV)
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an
enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head
of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly
and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of
iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a
rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of
iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the
bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff
on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a
trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled
the whole earth.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your
Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion
and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed
all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they
live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a
third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. 40 Finally,
there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes
everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all
the others. 41 Just as you saw that the feet and toes were
partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet
it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed
with clay. 42 As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so
this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 And
just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture
and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a
kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It
will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself
endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the
rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron,
the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the
future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.”
How does Daniel describe the large statue before
Nebuchadnezzer (verse 31)?
What were the
head, chest and belly and thighs of the statue made of (verse 32)?
What was made “partly
of iron and partly of baked clay” (verse
33)?
Where did the
rock that was cut out “but not by human hands” hit the statue (verse
34)?
What happened
to “the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold” (verse 35)?
What “filled
the whole earth” (verse 35)?
Who has given
the “king of kings” “dominion
and power and might and glory” (verse 37)?
Who is the “head
of gold” (verse 38)?
What will the
fourth kingdom, the one as strong as iron, do to the preceeding kingdoms (verse
40)?
How does
Daniel interpret the meaning of the feet and toes that are partly iron and
partly clay (verses 41 through 43)?
How is the
kingdom that God will set up be different from the other kingdoms (verse 44)?
In the vision,
what represents the kingdom of God (verse 45)?
Mark 1:14-20 - New International Version (NIV)
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming
the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The
kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his
brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come,
follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At
once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and
his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without
delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the
hired men and followed him.
When did Jesus
go into Galilee (verse 14)?
What does
Jesus say about the kingdom of God (verse 15)?
How are those who
hear His words to respond to the kingdom of God (verse 15)?
What were
Simon and Andrew doing (verse 16)?
Where was
Jesus going to send Simon and Andrew (verse 17)?
How did Simon
and Andrew respond to Jesus’s invitation (verse 18)?
What were
James and John doing when Jesus saw them (verse 19)?
How did James
and John respond to Jesus’s invitation (verse 20)?
In your opinion, how is the calling of Simon,
Andrew, James and John in Mark 1:14-20 a part of the prophecy of the cutting of
the rock, “but not by human hands” in Daniel 2:31-45?
1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard
and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the
people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were
teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They
seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until
the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the
number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law
met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so
were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They
had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what
power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and
elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today
for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he
was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of
Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but
whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus
is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
What were Peter and John doing when the
priests, the captain of the guard, and the Sadducees came up (verse 1)?
How did the priests,
the captain of the guard, and the Sadducees feel about Peter and John’s
proclaiming “in Jesus the resurrection of the dead” (verse 2)?
Where did they put Peter and John (verse 3)?
How did many of the people who heard Peter and John
proclaiming “in Jesus the resurrection of the dead” respond (verse 4)?
Who met in Jerusalem (verses 5 and 6)?
In your opinion, why did they ask “by what power or what
name did you do this” (verse 7)?
Who filled Peter (verse 8)?
How does Peter answer the question “by what power or what
name did you do this” (verses 9 and 10)?
What does Peter say Jesus is (verse 11)?
Where is salvation found (verse 12)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, how is the “stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone” in Mark 1:14-20 related to the “rock
that was cut out, but not by human hands” in Daniel 2:31-45?
In your
opinion, how is the action of Simon (Peter) in Acts 4:1-12 similar to his
action in Mark 1:14-20? In your opinion,
how are his actions different?
1 Peter 2:4-10 – New International Version (NIV)
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen
by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are
being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For
in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who
do not believe,
“The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,”
has become the cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what
they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were
not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received
mercy, but now you have received mercy.
In your opinion, who is “the living Stone” (verse 4)?
What are the “living
stones” being built into (verse 5)?
Who lays the “stone
in Zion” that the one who trusts in “will never be put to shame” (verse
6)?
In your
opinion, how can some people view the stone as precious and others reject it (verse
7)?
Why do people
stumble over the stone (verse 8)?
What do “you
a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession” declare
(verse 9)?
In your
opinion, what has changed in the people who “once had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy” (verse 10)?
In your
opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your
opinion, how are the “living stones” who Peter is writing to in 1 Peter
2:4-10 a part of the prophecy of Daniel 2:31-45?
In your
opinion, how do the priests, captain of the temple guard and Sadducees of Acts
4:1-12 and the “living stones” of 1 Peter 2:4-10 represent the two
reactions to the stone the builders rejected in both passages?
In your
opinion, what do these passages from Daniel, Mark, Acts and 1 Peter help us
understand about the differences between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of
the world?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
