Bible Study - Sabbath School Podcast

Willingness to Listen “The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Then Samuel said, ‘Speak, for your servant is listening’ ” (1 Sam. 3:10, NIV). Have you ever heard that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit but ignored it? Consequently, everything went wrong, and you thought to yourself later, Oh no, why didn’t I listen? First Samuel describes the story of an...

Dying Comes Before Knowing God’s Will Many Christians sincerely seek to know God’s will for their lives. “If only I could know God’s will for my life, I would sacrifice every- thing for Him.” But even after promising this to God, we still may be confused about what His will is. The reason for this confusion may be found in Romans 12:1, 2. Paul is describing how we can know God’s will, and he makes...

Submission for Service Read Philippians 2:5–9. What important message is there for us in these verses? Contemporary culture urges us all to demand and assert our rights. And all this is good and often is the way it should be. But as with Jesus, the will of God may be for us to give up our rights freely in order to serve the Father in ways that will make an eternal impact for God’s kingdom. This pr...

Read for This Week’s Study: Phil. 2:5–9; Rom. 12:1, 2; 1 Sam. 2:12–3:18; 1 Sam. 13:1–14; Zech. 4:1–14. Memory Text: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; . . . but if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24, NKJV). Jesus’ picture of a kernel of wheat dying is a fascinating analogy of our submission to God’s will. First, there...

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The Anointing of David,” pp. 637–642, in Patriarchs and Prophets. God’s plan for us may require that we do a lot of waiting, and this really can feel like a crucible. Learning patience during this time can happen as we focus on the person of God and trust that He is acting for us. There are many reasons for waiting, but all are concerned with the fulfillment...

Learning to Take Delight in the Lord “Take delight in the L ord , and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps. 37:4, NRSV). Psalm 37:4 is a wonderful promise. Imagine getting what you have always wanted. But getting the desires of our hearts hinges on having hearts that take delight in the Lord. So, what does it mean to “take delight in the Lord”? Read Psalm 37:1–11. The context for Psalm...

Elijah: The Problem of Rushing The showdown on top of Mount Carmel had ended (1 Kings 18). Fire had come out of heaven, all the people had acknowledged the true God, and the false prophets had been put to death. God had been vindicated. You would have thought that Elijah had been growing in spiritual strength as the day went on, but suddenly he heard something that terrified him so much that he wa...

David: An Object Lesson in Waiting In 1 Samuel 16:1–13, we see David anointed by Samuel as king. However, it was a long journey from the fields of his father, Jesse, to the throne in Jerusalem. No doubt, at times, he felt he was in the midst of a crucible. First, the lad is called to play music to soothe Saul’s troubled spirit (1 Samuel 16). Later, he becomes Israel’s hero as he kills Goliath (1 S...

In God’s Time Read Romans 5:6 and Galatians 4:4. What do they tell us about God’s timing? In these verses, Paul tells us that Jesus came to die for us at exactly the right time. But Paul does not tell us why it was the right time. It is very easy to read these verses and wonder, Why did Jesus wait for thousands of years until He came to the earth to deal with sin—didn’t the universe understand tha...

The God of Patience Read Romans 15:4, 5. What is found in these verses for us? We are normally impatient about things that we really want or have been promised but don’t have yet. We are often satisfied only when we get what we are longing for. And because we rarely get what we want when we want it, it means that we are often doomed to irritation and impatience. And when we are in this state, it i...

Read for This Week’s Study: Rom. 15:4, 5; Rom. 5:3–5; 1 Samuel 26; Ps. 37:1–11. Memory Text: “But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . longsuffering” (Gala- tians 5:22, NKJV). Scientists did an experiment with four-year-old children and marshmallows. Each child was told by a scientist that they could have a marshmallow; however, if the child waited until the sci- entist returned from an errand, they w...

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The Importance of Seeking True Knowledge,” pp. 453, 454, in The Ministry of Healing; “The Sermon on the Mount,” pp. 298–314, in The Desire of Ages; “The Worker and His Qualifications,” p. 630, in Evangelism. “The difficulties we have to encounter may be very much lessened by that meekness which hides itself in Christ. If we possess the humility of our Master,...

Our Rock and Refuge So often the most proud people, the most arrogant and pushy, are those who suffer from low self-esteem. Their arrogance and pride—and total lack of meekness or humility—exist as a cover, perhaps even uncon- sciously, for something lacking inside. What they need is something we all need: a sense of security, of worthiness, of acceptance, especially in times of distress and suffe...

A Closed Mouth The most powerful examples of meekness in the crucible come from Jesus. When He said to come and “learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29), He meant it in ways we probably can’t imagine. Read 1 Peter 2:18–25. Peter is offering some surprising advice to slaves. He describes how Jesus responded to unjust and painful treatment and suggests to them that He has left t...

Loving Those Who Hurt Us Someone once said: “Loving our enemies, then, does not mean that we are supposed to love the dirt in which the pearl is buried; rather it means that we love the pearl which lies in the dust. . . . God does not love us because we are by nature lovable. But we become lovable because He loves us.” When you look at your “enemies,” what do you normally see—the pearl or the dirt...

Interceding for Grace Read Exodus 32:1–14. What role do we find Moses playing here? After the people began worshiping the golden calf, God decided they had gone too far and announced that He would destroy the people and make Moses a great nation. But rather than taking up God’s offer, Moses pleaded for God to show grace to His people, and God relented. Exodus 32:1–14 raises two important issues. F...

“Broken Bread and Poured-Out Wine” Consider: Oswald Chambers has said that we are to become “bro- ken bread and poured-out wine” for others. What do you think he means by this? All through the Bible there are examples of people who were “broken” to serve others. Moses was called to endure unending waves of gossip and criticism as he led people to the Promised Land. Joseph was called to a journey t...

Read for This Week’s Study: Ezek. 24:15–27, Exod. 32:1– 14, Matt. 5:43–48, 1 Pet. 2:18–25, Ps. 62:1–8. Memory Text: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5, NKJV). We don’t hear the word meek used much, except maybe when reading about Moses or studying the Beatitudes. It’s not hard to figure out why, either. Meekness is defined as “enduring injury with patience and wi...

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “Jehoshaphat,” pp. 190–203, in Prophets and Kings; “The Fall of Jericho,” pp. 487–498, in Patriarchs and Prophets. “Then let us educate our hearts and lips to speak the praise of God for His matchless love. Let us educate our souls to be hopeful and to abide in the light shining from the cross of Calvary. Never should we forget that we are children of the heav...

A Weapon That Conquers Read 2 Chronicles 20:1–30. As Jehoshaphat discovered, praise is a powerful weapon. After receiving the report that a “vast army” was coming against him, Jehoshaphat did not immediately jump to military action, but “resolved to inquire of the Lord” (2 Chron. 20:3, NIV). As the people of Judah came to Jerusalem for a fast, Jehoshaphat admitted the reality of the situation, say...

A Witness Who Convicts In the book of Acts, praise had an astonishing effect on those who heard it. Read Acts 16:16–34. Having been stripped and beaten hard, Paul and Silas were thrown into prison. No one was there to put oint- ment on their badly cut and bruised backs. In great physical pain and with their feet in stocks, they were placed in the darkness of the inner prison. But as the other pris...

The Life of Praise Praising the Lord might not be natural to us, even in good circum- stances. Thus, how much more difficult to do it in bad ones? Yet, that is what we are called to do. Praise is something that we must practice until it changes from being an activity done at a particular time to an atmosphere in which we live. Praise shouldn’t so much be a specific act but a specific way of life i...

Praying Down Walls There’s an expression in English: “to be painted into a corner.” Imagine painting the floor of a room but then realizing that you have wound up in a corner and cannot get out—except by walking over the fresh paint. You have to stay there until it dries! Sometimes our faith seems to paint us into a corner. We arrive at a situa­ tion, and, like the wet paint on the floor, our fait...

Framework for Praise The great Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky had been sentenced to death, only to have the sentence commuted at the last moment. He spent years in prison instead. Talking about his prison experience, he wrote: “Believe to the end, even if all men go astray and you are left the only one faithful; bring your offering even then and praise God in your loneliness.” In these lessons,...

S abbath A fternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Phil. 4:4–7, Josh. 5:13–6:20, Psalm 145, Acts 16:16–34, 2 Chron. 20:1–30. Memory Text: “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4, NKJV). It’s always easy to shout with joy to the Lord when we feel joy. It’s not so easy, however, when things are bad, when we are in the worst situations imaginable, when the crucible heats up....