The Truth or Blasphemy
Leviticus 24:10-23 – New International Version (NIV)
11 The son of the Israelite
woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to
Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the
Danite.) 12 They put him in custody until
the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.
13 Then the Lord said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside
the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the
entire assembly is to stone him. 15 Say to the Israelites:
‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; 16 anyone who
blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire
assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme
the Name they are to be put to death.
17 “‘Anyone who takes the life
of a human being is to be put to death. 18 Anyone who takes the life of
someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their
neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer
the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must
make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death. 22 You are to have the same law
for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.’”
23 Then Moses spoke to the
Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned
him. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.
How did “the son of the Israelite woman? blaspheme the Name
(verse 11)?
For how long did they put him into custody (verse 12)?
Who did the Lord speak to (verse 13)?
Who was to “lay their hands on his head” (verse 14)?
What was the “entire assembly” to do (verse 14)?
What is to happen to “anyone who blasphemes the name of the
Lord” (verse 16)?
How is the person who “takes the life of a human being” to
be punished (verse 17)?
What is the one who
inflicts injury to suffer (verse 20)?
How is the law to be
applied to the “foreigner and the native-born” (verse 22)?
What happened to the
blasphemer (verse 23)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what does this
passage teach us about blasphemy?
Matthew 9:1-8 - New International
Version (NIV)
1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men
brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their
faith, he said to the man, “Take
heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”
3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This
fellow is blaspheming!”
4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is
easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want
you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the
man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they
praised God, who had given such authority to man.
Where did Jesus go (verse
1)?
Who did “some
men” bring to Jesus (verse 2)?
What did Jesus see (verse 2)?
What did Jesus say (verse 2)?
Who said to themselves “this fellow is blaspheming” (verse 3)?
In your opinion, why did Jesus consider their thoughts “evil” (verse
4)?
What did Jesus want them to know (verse 6)?
What did Jesus say to the “paralyzed man” (verse 6)?
What did the man do (verse 7)?
Why did the crowd praise God (verse 8)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about blasphemy?
In your opinion, how does the response to blasphemy in Leviticus 24:10-23
intensify the teachers of the law’s discussion about Jesus in Matthew 9:1-8?
Acts 26:9-18 - New International Version (NIV)
9 “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was
possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And
that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I
put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to
death, I cast my vote against them. 11 Many a time I went
from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force
them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted
them down in foreign cities.
12 “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the
authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 About
noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter
than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We
all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in
Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick
against the goads.’
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the
Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your
feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness
of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue
you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to
them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from
darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may
receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by
faith in me.’
What was Paul convinced he “ought to do” (verse 9)?
Where did he do it (verse 10)?
Who did Paul cast his vote against (verse 10)?
What did he try to convince the Lord’s people to do (verse
11)?
Who had given Paul “authority and commission” to go
to Damascus (verse 12)?
What did Paul see at “about noon” (verse 13)?
What did the voice ask Paul (verse 14)?
Whose voice was it (verse 15?
What was Paul going to become (verse 16)?
Who was Paul going to be rescued from (verse 17)?
Why was Paul going to “open their eyes and turn them
from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God” (verse 18)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion,
what does this passage teach us about blasphemy?
In your opinion, how would you compare the condemnation of
the blasphemer in Leviticus 24:10-23 and Paul’s (Saul’s) condemnation of those
who followed Jesus of Nazerath in Acts 26:9-18?
In
your opinion, why do the teachers of the law in Matthew 9:1-18 and initially Paul
(Saul) in Acts 26:9-18 both condemn Jesus of Nazareth and His followers?
Jude 1:8-23 - New International Version (NIV)
8 In the very same way, on the strength
of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority
and heap abuse (blasfēmeō – to blaspheme) on celestial beings. 9 But
even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil
about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander
but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander
(blasfēmeō – to blaspheme) whatever they do not understand, and the very
things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy
them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way
of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have
been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These people are blemishes at your
love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who
feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by
the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They
are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars,
for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam,
prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon
thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and
to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their
ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against
him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders;
they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and
flatter others for their own advantage.
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 do the “ungodly people” do “on the strength of their
dreams” (verse 8)?
How did the archangel Michael respond to the devil (verse 9)?
What do these people “slander” – blaspheme (verse 10)?
Whose “error” have they rushed into (verse 11)?
In your opinion, why would Jude consider these people “twice
dead” (verse 12)?
What has been “reserved forever” for them (verse 13)?
Who is the Lord coming “to convict” (verses 14 and
15)?
What do they do to others “for their own advantage”
(verse 16?
Who foretold “in the last times there will be scoffers
who will follow their own ungodly desires” (verses 17 and 18)?
What do “the people who divide you” follow (verse
19)?
How should “dear friends” . . . “wait for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life” (verses 20 and 21)?
How should Christians respond to “those who doubt”
(verse 22)?
What should Christians hate (verse 23)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion,
what does this passage teach us about blasphemy?
In your opinion, what
does Jude 1:8-23 help us understand about the “son of the Israelite woman”
of Leviticus 24:10-23?
In your opinion, what
does Jude 1:8-23 reveal about who in Matthew 9:1-8 is blaspheming?
In your opinion, how
does Acts 26:9-18 show about who might be snatched from the fire like Jude
1:8-23 instructs?
In your opinion, what do these Scriptures from Leviticus, Matthew,
Acts, and Jude teach us about how a blasphemer can be saved?
In your
opinion, how do we resist blasphemy today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
