January 26, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Life Giving God

Life Giving God

Exodus 4:19-23 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill you are dead.” ²⁰ So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, ²³ and I told you, “Let my son go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”

Where was Moses when God talked to him (verse 19)?

Why could Moses go back to Egypt (verse 19)?

Who did Moses take when he started to Egypt (verse 20)?

What did Moses take (verse 20)?

Who was Moses to “perform” “all the wonders I have given you the power to do” before (verse 21)?

Why was the Pharaoh not going to “let the people go” (verse 21)?

Who was Moses to tell the Pharaoh that the Lord’s “firstborn son” is (verse 22)?

What will happen because the Pharaoh refused to let God’s firstborn go to worship God (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about living for God?

Matthew 2:19-23 - New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

When did the “angel of the Lord” appear to Joseph in a dream (verse 19)?

Where was Joseph when the angel appeared to him (verse 20)?

Who was Joseph to take “to the land of Israel” (verse 20)?

What did Joseph do (verse 21)?

Why was Joseph afraid to go to Judea (verse 22)?

Where did Joseph go instead (verse 23)?

How was what “was said through the prophets” fulfilled (verse 23)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about living for God?

In your opinion, how do the challenges Moses would face in Egypt in Exodus 4:19-23, and the challenges Joseph, Mary and Jesus would face in Judea in Matthew 2:19-23, help us understand the challenges we may have today?

Acts 2:22-36 - New International Version (NIV)

²² “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. ²³ This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. ²⁴ But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. ²⁵ David said about him:

“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
    Because he is at my right hand,
    I will not be shaken.
²⁶ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest in hope,
²⁷ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    you will not let your holy one see decay.
²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

²⁹ “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. ³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. ³³ Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
³⁵ until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’

³⁶ “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

How was Jesus of Nazareth accredited to the Israelites by God (verse 22)?

What was done “by God’s deliberate plan” (verse 23)?

What did God free Jesus from (verse 24)?

Why will David “not be shaken” (verse 25)?

Where will his body rest (verse 26)?

Where will he not be abandoned (verse 27)?

What has been made known (verse 28)?

Who could Peter “confidently” say died (verse 29)?

What had God “promised him on oath” (verse 30)?

Who had David spoken of “that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay” (verse 31)?

What was Peter a witness of (verse 32)?

What had Jesus “poured out” (verse 33)?

Who said, “to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” (verses 34 and 35)?

What has God “made this Jesus” (verse 36)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about living for God?

In your opinion, what does the contrast of God sending Moses back to Egypt because “all those who wanted to kill you are dead” in Exodus 4:19-23 but in Acts 2:22-36 Jesus was handed over to be killed “by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge” teach us about God’s plan?

In your opinion, how does Jesus being protected from Herod in Matthew 2:19-23 foreshadow Jesus being freed “from the agony of death” in Acts 2:22-36?

1 Peter 1:3-12 – New International Version (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹ for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, ¹¹ trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

What has “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” given us (verse 3)?

Through what has He given this to us (verse 3)?

Where is the inheritance kept (verse 4)?

What shields people of faith (verse 5)?

What may we have to suffer (verse 6)?

What does “the proven genuineness of your faith” result in (verse 7)?

How are those who believe in Jesus, without seeing Him, filled (verse 8)?

What is “the end result of your faith” (verse 9)?

Who searched for salvation “intently and with the greatest care” (verse 10)?

What were they trying to find (verse 11)?

Who else longs “to look into these things” (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about living for God?

In your opinion, how is Moses’s request of the Pharaoh to let Israel “go so he may worship me” in Exodus 4:19-23 a foreshadowing of the inheritance that 1 Peter 1:3-12 says that Jesus gives Christians new birth into?

In your opinion, how can the fact that Jesus went from being threatened by Herod to being threatened by Archelaus in Matthew 2:19-23 and was later killed by others help us understand the trails that 1 Peter 1:3-13 says that we may suffer?

In your opinion, how does the fact that “it was impossible for death to keep its hold on” Jesus in Acts 2:22-36 make the “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” in 1 Peter 1:3-12 possible?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Exodus, Matthew, Acts and 1 Peter teach us about God’s control over life and death?

In your opinion, how can we live as if “it is impossible for death to keep its hold on” us today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

January 19, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Called

Called

Hosea 11:1-11 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
² But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
    and they burned incense to images.
³ It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
    it was I who healed them.
⁴ I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed them.

⁵ “Will they not return to Egypt
    and will not Assyria rule over them
    because they refuse to repent?
⁶ A sword will flash in their cities;
    it will devour their false prophets
    and put an end to their plans.
⁷ My people are determined to turn from me.
    Even though they call me God Most High,
    I will by no means exalt them.

⁸ “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
    How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
    How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
    all my compassion is aroused.
⁹ I will not carry out my fierce anger,
    nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
    the Holy One among you.
    I will not come against their cities.
¹⁰ They will follow the Lord;
    he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
    his children will come trembling from the west.
¹¹ They will come from Egypt,
    trembling like sparrows,
    from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
I will settle them in their homes,”
    declares the Lord.

Where did God call his son from (verse 1)?

What did Israel do when God called more (verse 2)?

Who healed Ephraim (verse 3)?

How did God lead them (verse 4)?

What will they refuse to do (verse 5)?

What will “devour their false prophets (verse 6)?

Where are God’s people determined to turn from (verse 7)?

What is aroused within God (verse 8)?

Why will God not “devastate Ephraim again” (verse 9)?

Who will “they” follow (verse 10)?

Where will God settle the ones who come (verse 11)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about being called by God?

Matthew 2:13-18 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”

Who told Joseph “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt” (verse 13)?

When was Joseph to return from Egypt (verse 13)?

When did Joseph leave for Egypt (verse 14)?

What was fulfilled (verse 15)?

How did Herod feel when he realized “he had been outwitted by the Magi” (verse 16)?

What did Herod order (verse 16)?

Who was “weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more” (verse 18)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about being called by God?

In your opinion, what is the difference between God’s son that was called out of Egypt in Hosea 11:1-11 and God’s Son that the fulfillment of Hosea’s words are claimed for in Matthew 2:13-18?

Romans 8:28-39 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In what things does God work “for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (verse 28)?

Why were those that God foreknew “also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (verse 29)?

Who did God justify and glorify (verse 30)?

Who did God give up His Son for (verse 32)?

Who justifies (verse 33)?

Who is “also interceding for us” (verse 34)?

What will not separate us from the love of Christ (verse 35)?

What do “we face all day long” (verse 36)?

How are we “more than conquerors” (verse 37)?

What is Paul convinced of (verses 38 and 39)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about being called by God?

In your opinion, how does Israel’s struggle to allow God to lead them “with ties of love” in Hosea 11:1-11 (which sometimes is also our struggle also) make the Romans 8:28-39 promise that “those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” more powerful and more comforting?

In your opinion, what does God calling Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod in Matthew 2:13-18 help us understand about God’s love that Romans 8:28-39 teaches keep us, who are “sheep to be slaughtered”, from being separated from God?

1 John 3:1-3 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

What has the Father “lavished on us” (verse 1)?

What are we called (verse 1)?

Why does the world “not know us” (verse 1)?

What “has not yet been made known” (verse 2)?

Who will we be like (verse 2)?

What do “all who have this hope in him” do (verse 3)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage teach us about being called by God?

In your opinion, how is the aroused compassion of God proclaimed in Hosea 11:1-11 also revealed in 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, how is the difference between the ones who know God and the ones who don’t revealed in both Matthew 2:13-18 and 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, how do all the difficulties listed in Romans 8:28-39 help us understand the true value of being a child of God as described in 1 John 3:1-3?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Hosea, Matthew, Romans and 1 John teach us about what we are called from, and what we are called to?

In your opinion, how can all who have hope in God’s calling purify themselves today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

January 12, 2025 – A Study of Matthew – Chosen By God

Chosen By God

Daniel 2:24-30 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”

²⁵ Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”

²⁶ The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”

²⁷ Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, ²⁸ but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:

²⁹ “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. ³⁰ As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

What had Arioch been “appointed” to do (verse 24)?

What did Daniel tell Arioch (verse 24)?

When did Arioch take Daniel to the king (verse 25)?

What did he tell the king (verse 25)?

What was Daniel “also called” (verse 26)?

In your opinion, why was it important that Daniel answer the king’s question about the dream by saying “no wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery” (verses 26 and 27)?

Who “reveals mysteries” (verse 28)?

Who showed the king “what is going to happen” (verse 29)?

Why was the mystery revealed to Daniel (verse 30)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about the challenges those chosen by God may face in the world?

Matthew 2:1-12 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
    who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When did the “Magi from the east” come to Jerusalem (verse 1)?

What did the Magi ask (verse 2)?

What had the Magi seen (verse 2)?

Who was disturbed (verse 3)?

Who did Herod ask about “where the Messiah was to be born” (verse 4)?

Where was the Messiah to be born (verse 5)?

Who will come “out of” Bethlehem (verse 6)?

What did Herod secretly find out (verse 7)?

Why did Herod ask the Magi to report to him when they find the child (verse 8)?

How did the Magi find “the place where the child was” (verse 9)?

What did they do when “they saw the child with his mother Mary” (verse 11)?

How were the Magi warned not to go back to Herod (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about the challenges those chosen by God may face in the world?

In your opinion, what do the revelation to king Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2:24-30 and the revelation to the Magi in Matthew 2:1-12 have in common?

Acts 13:5-12 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵ When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

⁶ They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, ⁷ who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. ⁸ But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. ⁹ Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, ¹⁰ “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? ¹¹ Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. ¹² When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

What did they do “when they arrived in Salamis” (verse 5)?

Who did they meet in Paphos (verse 6)?

Why did the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, send for Barnabas and Saul (verse 7)?

Who opposed Barnabas and Saul (verse 8)?

How was Saul filled (verse 9)?

Who did Saul say that Elymas was (verse 10)?

What was going to happen to Elymas “for a time” (verse 11)?

How did the proconsul respond to this (verse 12)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about the challenges those chosen by God may face in the world?

In your opinion, what is the difference between the motivations of Daniel in Daniel 2:24-30 and Bar-Jesus (Elymas) in Acts 13:5-12?

In your opinion, why would King Herod in Matthew 2:1-12 and Bar-Jesus (Elymas) in Acts 13:5-12 both reject people who worship God?

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Who does Paul want to “think of what you were when you were called” (verse 26)?

How many were “wise by human standards” (verse 26)?

Why did God choose “the foolish things of the world” (verse 27)?

Why did God choose “the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not” (verse 28)?

Who can boast before God (verse 29)?

What has Jesus “become for us” (verse 30)?

What is written (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about the challenges those chosen by God may face in the world?

In your opinion, how is Daniel in Daniel 2:24-30 an example of the foolish, weak and lowly people that 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 says that God choose?

In your opinion, how does the reaction of King Herod and “all Jerusalem with him” as contrasted with the Magi in Matthew 2:1-12 help us understand the difference between those who are viewed well by human standards and those who 1 Corinthians 1:26-31 indicates are chosen by God?

In your opinion, how is Bar-Jesus (Elymas) in Acts 13:5-12 an example of those not chosen by God as described in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Daniel, Matthew, Acts and 1 Corinthians teach us about being chosen by God?

In your opinion, how can we who are chosen boast about God today?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)