Thy Kingdom Come!
Verse of the week to live by:
“Behold, I am coming soon” (Rev. 22:7).
Bible Readings 2025, Week 53; Dec. 29-31
Dec. 29; Zech. 11-12;
1. Zech. 11:12-13; “Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.”
Where in the New Testament do we find the fulfillment of this prophecy? How was this prophecy fulfilled in the life and death of Jesus?
2. Zech. 12:1-2; “The oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem will also be against Judah.”
What does it mean that God “stretched out the heavens”? What does this declaration tell us about God’s sovereignty and creative power?
3. Zech. 12:10; “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”
Was this prophecy fulfilled? Where in the New Testament do we find references to this passage?
Dec. 30; Zech. 13-14; Mal. 1; Rev. 21
1. Mal. 1:1; “The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
Who is Malachi?
2. Rev. 21:1; “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.”
How does the new creation described in Revelation 21–22 relate to the first creation in Genesis 1–2?
3. Rev.21:3; “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
How does God’s dwelling place in the new creation relate to His dwelling with humanity in the Garden of Eden?
Dec. 31; Mal. 2-4; Rev. 22
1. Mal. 3:1; “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.”
Who is this messenger? Do you believe this refers to John the Baptist? Why or why not?
2. Mal. 4:5-6; “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 6 And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”
Who is “Elijah” in this passage? Do you think this refers to John the Baptist? How does the New Testament help us understand this promise?
3. Rev. 22:1-5; “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.”
Compare this passage with Genesis 2:9–14. In what ways does King Jesus bring us home—not merely to Eden restored, but to a creation greater than Eden?