1. Study the circumstances and occasion of Jesus’ bitter grief and lamentation over Jerusalem. For what reasons must it have seemed strange and unaccountable to the onlookers? 17:1, 2 [15:1, 2]
2. Did Jesus have reason to feel sorrow for Himself as He faced Gethsemane and Calvary? What motive led to His great grief? 18:1 [16:1]
Note.— As we think of the trying times ahead of God’s people, should our greatest concern be for our own hardships and tests, or for the fate of the impenitent? If we follow Jesus’ example of thinking of lost souls, how shall we manifest this burden in our lives?
3. Meditate on God’s compassion and love for His people in His dealings with them in the past and in Christ’s mission of love to them. Memorize:“The waves of mercy, beaten back by those stubborn hearts, returned in a stronger tide of pitying, inexpressible love.” 20:2 [19:3]
4. What had caused the prophets to weep? How did Jesus’ view of the future compare with their expectations — (1) as to the time covered, (2) as to the multitudes of people involved, (3) as to their iniquity, (4)as to the severity of the judgments? 21:1; 22:1; 36:2 [21:1; 22:1; 39:2]
5. Compare the great sin of the Jews with that of the later Christian world. 22:2 [22:2]
6. What prophecy of Micah was to meet its fulfillment in the attitude of the Jews and the destruction of their city? How was it fulfilled? 26:2; 27:2 [27:2; 28:1]
7. What circumstances made it possible for Christ’s followers to escape from Jerusalem with their lives? Where did they find a place of safety? 30:2; cf. 37:2 [31:1; cf. 41:1]
8. As illustrated in God’s dealings with Israel, note that God exhausts heaven’s resources in seeking to persuade men to accept salvation. 20:3; 22:1; 28:1 [19:4; 22:1; 29:1]
9. When men finally and irrevocably reject God, they thereby choose Satan as their ruler. What kind of master is he? Show that the destruction of Jerusalem and of the Jewish nation was a natural consequence of their impenitence. How does this principle apply to our own time? 35:3 [38:2]
10. To whom are we indebted for peace and protection? What may cause the withdrawal of this protection, and with what consequences? 36:1 [39:1]
11. What conditions will prevail up to the time of the close of probation? 38:1 [41:2]