Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast

Walk into any Christian bookstore and scan through the titles on Bible prophecy. You will quickly discover that there is a mind-boggling assortment of views and interpretations, and it can be tempting to believe that no one can truly understand what books such as Revelation are saying. For example, one author says the antichrist is nothing but a metaphor; another says he is still coming in the fut...

PRECURSORS FOR PROPHECY During the First Gulf War (1991), a well-known Protestant writer and speaker was convinced that the book of Revelation predicted this conflict. His argument was based on the fact that some of the helicopters in the war looked like the locusts depicted in Revelation 9. “And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the...

Some Principles of Prophecy Jer. 29:23, 24; Ps. 139:1–6; Dan. 12:4; Rev. 22:10; 2 Tim. 3:15–17; Heb. 4:12 . Memory Text: As with most everything else in Scripture, Christians disagree about prophecy, which often convinces others that Bible prophecy is a waste of time. After all, if Christians fight over every prophetic jot and tittle, how valid could it be? Unfortunately, many believers also begin...

Read Ellen G. White, “The Least of These My Brethren,” pp. 637–641, in The Desire of Ages. “Those who minister to others will be ministered unto by the Chief Shepherd. They themselves will drink of the living water, and will be satisfied. They will not be longing for exciting amusements, or for some change in their lives. The great topic of interest will be, how to save the souls that are ready to...

If love is the fulfillment of the law, then one cannot keep God’s law in the full sense simply by refraining from doing wrong things. The law of love itself (expressed in the fullness of Scripture) not only commands us to refrain from doing evil but the law prompts us to do acts that reveal the love of God to others—not only to other church members but also to the world at large, which is so despe...

Special Podcast Episode: "From the Mouths of Children" In this heartwarming special edition, we bring you something truly precious—2.5-year-old Beatriz reciting the Lord’s Prayer. There’s something deeply moving about hearing such profound words spoken with childlike innocence. "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of...

As we have seen, law and grace are not opposed to one another. Instead, they serve different functions in accordance with the love and justice of God. A sharp contrast between law and grace would have puzzled ancient Israelites, who saw God’s giving of the law itself as a great display of God’s grace. While the “gods” of the surrounding nations were fickle and entirely unpredictable, leaving peopl...

As we have seen, law and grace are not opposed to one another. Instead, they serve different functions in accordance with the love and justice of God. A sharp contrast between law and grace would have puzzled ancient Israelites, who saw God’s giving of the law itself as a great display of God’s grace. While the “gods” of the surrounding nations were fickle and entirely unpredictable, leaving peopl...

Love is the foundation of God’s law. When God upholds the law, He upholds love. This is why Jesus died in order to save sinners, so that He could uphold the law while also extending grace to us. Thus, He could be both just and the justifier of those who believe ( Rom. 3:25, 26 ). What an expression of love! Accordingly, the law is not invalidated by the process of redemption; rather, it is further...

God’s law does not consist of abstract principles; instead, God’s law is an expression of relationship. This can be seen explicitly in the Ten Commandments. The basic principles of the Ten Commandments were in place already in the Garden of Eden, the principles of love that were to govern the relationship between God and people and between people themselves. When the Ten Commandments proclaimed in...

Read for This Week’s Study Exod. 20:1–17; Rom. 6:1–3; Rom. 7:7–12; Jer. 31:31–34; Matt. 23:23, 24; James 2:1–9 . Memory Text: While they were dealing with a problematic member, someone on the church board said to the pastor, “We can’t make decisions based on compassion.” We can’t? The pastor wondered what this person’s understanding of God and of God’s law must have been. Compassion certainly need...

Read Ellen G. White, “The Sabbath,” pp. 281–289, in The Desire of Ages. “The spies dared not answer Christ in the presence of the multitude, for fear of involving themselves in difficulty. They knew that He had spoken the truth. Rather than violate their traditions, they would leave a man to suffer, while they would relieve a brute because of the loss to the owner if it were neglected. Thus greate...

In Luke’s account, just after Jesus declares the two greatest commandments of love for God and love for a neighbor, a lawyer, “wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ ” ( Luke 10:29, NKJV ). In response to this, Jesus tells the now-familiar, but then shocking, parable of the good Samaritan. Read the parable of the good Samaritan in  Luke 10:25–37 . What is this passage...

The prophets in Scripture continually highlight God’s call for justice in society. Again and again, Scripture does not shrink back from highlighting issues of injustice and oppression. Indeed, the call for God to bring judgment was itself the call for God to establish justice. For example, the prophet Isaiah does not mince words about the injustice in Israel at the time. His words and call for jus...

Scripture declares that God loves justice and hates evil (for example,  Ps. 33:5, Isa. 61:8 ), and He is deeply concerned about injustice, which evokes righteous indignation on behalf of all those who are the victims of injustice. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, God is consistently passionate in favor of the downtrodden and oppressed while expressing righteous anger against the victimizers...

According to Jesus Himself, the two greatest commandments are love for God and love for one another. And carrying out these commands involves sacrifices that tangibly show love to others, which is what following in the footsteps of Jesus is really about. Now, if the two greatest commandments are love for God and love for others, what are the two greatest sins? Read  Psalm 135:13–19 . What does thi...

To reflect on what we might do, individually and corporately, to advance God’s love and justice in our world, it is appropriate to begin by focusing on what God has commanded us. Read  Matthew 22:34–40 . How did Jesus answer the lawyer’s question? According to Jesus Himself, the “ ‘first and great commandment’ ” is “ ‘ “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and...

Read for This Week’s Study Matt. 22:34–40, Zech. 7:9–12, Psalm 82, Micah 6:8, Matt. 23:23–30, Luke 10:25–37 . Memory Text: Though we have confidence that God will make all things right in the end, it still matters what we, as Christians, do in the here and now. Though there may be many injustices and evils that God will not now eradicate (because of the parameters of the cosmic conflict), this doe...

Read Ellen G. White, “The Reward of Earnest Effort,” pp. 285–288, in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9. “All that has perplexed us in the providences of God will in the world to come be made plain. The things hard to be understood will then find explanation. The mysteries of grace will unfold before us. Where our finite minds discovered only confusion and broken promises, we shall see the most pe...

Ultimately, God’s name is vindicated in every way. Through the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption, the perfect righteousness and love of God is manifested beyond any reasonable doubt (see  Rom. 3:25, 26; Rom. 5:8 ). Read  Romans 3:1–4  in light of  Isaiah 5:3, 4 . What does this teach about God Himself being vindicated in the cosmic conflict? What more could He do t...

In the parable of the vineyard owner, in  Matthew 21 , Jesus picks up where  Isaiah 5  left off, shedding additional light on the character and actions of the vineyard owner on behalf of His vineyard. Read  Matthew 21:33–39  with particularly the question of  Isaiah 5:4  in mind. What more could He do than what He has done? The first part of Christ’s parable quotes directly from the song of  Isaia...

In amazing ways, God has manifested His love and righteousness amid the cosmic conflict. Yet, some might ask, Should God have done more than He has done to prevent and/or remove evil? We have seen a cosmic conflict framework that indicates that God has acted in order to respect the free will necessary for the maximal flourishing of love relationships between Him and humanity. Further, He has appar...

At every turn, Christ’s work undoes the work of the devil. And, according to  1 John 3:8 , Jesus “was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” ( 1 John 3:8, NRSV ) and to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” ( Heb. 2:14, NRSV ). Yet, the total defeat of the enemy’s rulership takes place in two stages. First, through the work of the Cross, Christ dis...

Although there is an enemy at work whom Christ Himself refers to as the (usurping) “ruler of this world,” the true king of the universe is Jesus Christ. Jesus wins the victory for us, and in Him we can have victory, even in the midst of hardship and suffering. Indeed, the work of Christ counters the enemy at every turn. We have seen that Scripture describes the devil as: The deceiver of the whole...

Read for This Week’s Study John 18:37, Rom. 3:23–26, Rom. 5:8, Isa. 5:1–4, Matt. 21:33–39, Isa. 53:4, Rom. 3:1–4 . Memory Text: Some years ago, an insightful children’s story was printed in Guide magazine. The story focuses on a boy named Denis, an orphan living as a foster child with a family in medieval times. Denis passionately hates the king of his land because, when his parents were sick, the...