Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast

Read for This Week’s StudyRev. 1:1–7, 1 Pet. 2:9, Rev. 14:6–12, Luke 11:23, 1 Tim. 2:4, Rev. 21:1–4.Memory Text:“Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God . . . ?” (2 Peter 3:11, 12, NKJV).The book of Revelation fills the mind with scenes of the end. The epicenter...

“To every household and every school, to every parent, teacher, and child upon whom has shone the light of the gospel, comes at this crisis the question put to Esther the queen at that momentous crisis in Israel’s history, ‘Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?’ Esther 4:14.”—Ellen G. White, Education, p. 263.“Esther was a beautiful Jewish girl, cousin of Mordec...

Commentators for millennia have noticed that God’s name does not appear in the book of Esther. This is the only biblical book where such a phenomenon occurs. However, the Jews were able to recognize God’s actions in the great deliverance made for them, and this book was selected by God’s people to be included in the canon of the Bible. Are we able to discover the presence of God beneath the surfac...

Read Esther 4:1–14. Why was it considered at this moment appropriate for Esther to identify herself as a Jew? When Mordecai contacted Esther for her help, she had been married to Ahasuerus for several years, but there was a law in Persia that no one could come to the king’s throne without an express invitation from the king. Anyone who didn’t respect this rule risked death. Esther, knowing the ris...

Living as they were in a foreign land, sooner or later Mordecai and Esther, if they were to remain faithful to God, might have run into trouble. This, certainly, became the case for Mordecai. Read Esther 3:1–15. What happened here, and why? In Esther 3, we learn that King Xerxes (Ahasuerus) honored Haman and gave him a high position full of power. Everyone was told they must bow down before Haman....

Eventually, after the fall of Babylon and the rise of Medo-Persia, many of the Jews returned to their ancestral lands. But not all returned. Some remained where they had been living for a generation or more. With this background in mind, we have a bit of the context for the story of Esther. “In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel” (Esth...

It is never easy to be expatriated to a foreign culture. It may be difficult for us today to comprehend what the Jews faced, first under the Babylonians and then the Persians. None of us, for instance, lives in an Adventist country where the principles of our faith are, to some degree, the law of the land. But before being deported, the Jewish people had been living in their own country, where the...

Read for This Week’s StudyDan. 1:1–12; Dan. 6:1–9; Esther 2:1–10, 20; Esther 3:1–15; Esther 4:1–14; Esther 9:1–12.Memory Text:“ ‘I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth’ ” (Isa. 49:6, NRSV).One of the most inspiring accounts of “cross-cultural ministry” in the Bible can be found in the book of Esther. A great deal has been written over the mil...

Among those whom the Jews styled heathen were men who had a better understanding of the Scripture prophecies concerning the Messiah than had the teachers in Israel. There were some who hoped for His coming as a deliverer from sin. Philosophers endeavored to study into the mystery of the Hebrew economy. But the bigotry of the Jews hindered the spread of the light.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Age...

In Luke 18:8, Jesus asks this question at the end of one of His parables: “ ‘When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?’ ” (NKJV). As Christ’s disciples today, we need to see what Jesus is looking for. In this story, we can see that Jesus is looking for faith that shines even amid darkness. Read Matthew 8:10, 13; Matthew 9:2; Matthew 20:29–34; Mark 2:5; Mark 10:46–52; and L...

In the unreached neighborhood of the cities, there are many who long for hope. During Christ’s time, what prevented God’s people from bringing hope of the Messiah to such foreign cities as Tyre and Sidon? Nationalism, pride, and prejudice blinded God’s people to the opportunities to see those nearest to them who longed for the hope foretold by the prophecies of the First Advent. Today in the citie...

Despite challenges, external and internal, Jesus graciously extends the call to us for His mission to the cities. Read Matthew 9:35–38. What does this teach us about mission to the multitudes, wherever we find them? Jesus was moved with compassion for the multitudes, such as are found in cities. Luke 19:41 describes how Jesus wept over Jerusalem. We may not understand the depths of Jesus’ love for...

Despite challenges, external and internal, Jesus graciously extends the call to us for His mission to the cities. Read Matthew 9:35–38. What does this teach us about mission to the multitudes, wherever we find them? Jesus was moved with compassion for the multitudes, such as are found in cities. Luke 19:41 describes how Jesus wept over Jerusalem. We may not understand the depths of Jesus’ love for...

We read that Jesus took His disciples from Gennesaret (Matt. 14:34) “and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon” (Matt. 15:21, NKJV). Why did He take them from Galilee to these pagan places? He leads His disciples on this field trip into the borders of these foreign regions so that they can learn, on location, what they could not learn so easily in Galilee. He wanted to teach His disciples lesso...

Read for This Week’s Study1 Kings 11:1–6; Matt. 4:23–25; Matt. 15:22–28; Mark 7:24–30; Acts 10:34, 35; Matt. 8:10, 13.Memory Text:“Then Jesus answered and said to her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour” (Matthew 15:28, NKJV).From the beginning, a loving God sought His lost children (Gen. 3:9); and, to our day, this same...

One of the primary takeaways from the story of Paul’s experience at the Areopagus is its on-the-ground study of how to approach an unreached group of unbelievers, which resulted in a small group of believers starting in Athens.“The words of the apostle, and the description of his attitude and surroundings, as traced by the pen of inspiration, were to be handed down to all coming generations, beari...

Read Acts 17:24–34. How does Paul continue his witness? It’s also interesting to note that Paul actually quoted some of their own writers, who, having written something fairly close to biblical truth, gave Paul an opening to take his hearers further along. That is, he used his familiarity with their beliefs to seek common ground with them, only to then take it further. No question: in seeking to r...

Now that Paul had the attention of the thinkers in Athens, he turned his audience to the God of heaven. Read Acts 17:24–27. What approach was Paul taking here in an attempt to reach these people? For a people who cared enough about spiritual things to build an altar to an unknown god, Paul’s words were intriguing: a Creator God who does not live in a temple needs nothing from humans, but instead s...

Notice that Paul did not disparage the false religion or false gods of the Athenians. He gathered whatever points of good he could find, few as they were, and capitalized on them. Read Acts 17:22, 23. What was Paul doing here in his attempt to reach these people with the gospel?“ ‘People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious’ ” (Acts 17:22, NIV). Paul was complimenting pagans!...

No matter where he was, Paul, given his commission from God, was going to preach the gospel. So, that’s exactly what he sought to do in Athens. Read Acts 17:18–21. What were some of the different ways that the pagans in the marketplace reacted to Paul’s speaking and ques­tioning? Clearly, with his “foreign gods,” Paul made an impression on these people in the marketplace (Acts 17:18), and so they...

Read Acts 17:1–16. How did Paul wind up in Athens, and how did he respond to what he found there? The city of Athens was “given over to idols” (Acts 17:16, NKJV). Knowing the history of his own people and their proclivity (despite the endless warnings) to idolatry, Paul was upset at all the idols he found in Athens, as well. No question, Paul was motivated by compassion for the Athenians, who woul...

Read for This Week’s StudyActs 17, 1 Cor. 2:2, Rom. 1:18–25.Memory Text:“ ‘The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands’ ” (Acts 17:24, NIV).Depicting what Paul did in Athens, Luke wrote: “Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those...

Read Ellen G. White, “Ministry to the Rich,” The Ministry of Healing, pp. 209–216; “Captive Maid Shows Concern for Naaman,” Reflecting Christ, p. 337.Jesus’ love is the same for the poor as it is for the rich and powerful people in the world. He died for princes as well as for paupers. Jesus knew the most effective way of reaching their hearts. He warned us that “ ‘it is easier for a camel to go t...

Read Matthew 19:16–22. What lessons can we learn from this story, in which, in contrast to Nicodemus, a person did not accept Jesus? Jesus’ interaction with the rich young ruler shows just how dangerous a trap wealth can be. Look at these words: “And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:24, NKJV)....

Jesus knew how to make friends with the powerful. He was admired and respected by many of these people and, at the same time, was also despised by many. The powerful people in the Bible who came to Jesus for help surely sensed that He cared for them. Also, many of the rich and powerful did not openly come to Jesus right away; they waited until they were certain that Jesus was truly the Son of God....