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Through out this quarter, we will be learning about Jonah. Here are articles pertaining to the Sabbath School lessons in the month of November The sacrifice required of Abraham was not alone for his own good, or sorely for the benefit of succeeding generations, but it was also for the instruction of the sinless intelligences of heaven and of other worlds. The field of the controversy between Christ and Satan-the field on which the plan of redemption is wrought out-is the lesson book of the universe. Because Abraham had shown a lack of faith in God's promises, Satan had accused him before the angels and before God of having failed to comply with the conditions of the covenant, and as unworthy of its blessings. God desired to prove the loyalty of His servant before all heaven, to demonstrate that nothing less than perfect obedience can be accepted, and to open more fully before them the plan of salvation. Heavenly beings were witnesses of the scene as the faith of Abraham and the submission of Isaac were tested. The trial was far more severe than that which had been brought upon Adam. Compliance with the probation laid upon our first parents involved no suffering, but the command to Abraham demanded the most agonizing sacrifice. All heaven beheld with wonder and admiration Abraham's unfaltering obedience. All heaven applauded his fidelity. Satan's accusations were shown to be false. God declared to His servants, "Now I know that thou fearest God [not withstanding Satan's charges], seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me." "God's covenant, confirmed to Abraham by an oath before the intelligences of other worlds, testified that obedience will be rewarded." * Abraham's obedience teaches us that nothing is too precious for us to give to God. _____ *Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 155. Samuel Mawutor, London, Ontario Back to Top Luke 18 opens with the parable of the persistent widow. The lesson here is made not by comparison, but by contrast, a Jewish method of reasoning much used by Jesus and the apostles. If even the unjust judge delivers justice, how much more will God, the just Judge, do so! Jesus ends the parable with the rhetorical question, "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (verse 8, NIV). I wonder if this is connected to the next parable. The Pharisee's problem was that he was unaware of his lack of goodness. This condition is echoed in the warning to the Laodicean church in the last days. The people greatly respected the Pharisees for their piety. They were zealous for the law, kept it to the letter-and beyond. By contrast, the tax collectors were despised by most Jews. In spite of his apparent goodness, the Pharisee was lost spiritually, for he had no sense of spiritual need. In contrast, the tax collector stood at a distance, would not even look up to heaven, and, beating his chest, said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" (verse 13, NIV). He did not seek to justify himself. The Pharisees thought of righteousness in terms of keeping the law. Jesus taught that righteousness resulted from an inward working of God's grace, a condition of the mind, and a state of one's relationship with God. Even those who keep the law most zealously need repentance and humility to be in a right relationship with God and their fellow humanity. Beng Yong Tang, Singapore Back to Top God has given humanity the assurance that they can conquer any of life's difficulties. Compare Psalm 104:6-9 with Genesis 1:9, 10. How can you relate personally to the water being gathered together? Isaiah 57:20, 21 relates the wicked to a tossing sea that cannot rest. The stress and turmoil of this world are like the sea that threatened to overwhelm the ancient world. People of that time believed that the world was flat and the sea was a great evil that, if left unchecked, would overtake them. The story of the Flood shows that only God's mercy keeps this evil in check. Just as God at Creation pushed the sea to its place, we can also push the sea of turmoil and stress to its place by using the power of Creation. Read Psalm 104:8, 10, 13, 18. Why did God call Israel to live in the mountains rather than the river valleys? Abraham was called out of Mesopotamia. Moses called Israel out of Egypt. Ezra and Nehemiah called Israel out of Babylon. Each time Israel was called out of a river valley to live in the mountains. Digging out an existence in the mountains was much more difficult than depending on the yearly floods in the river valleys. The followers of God can take on the challenges of the more difficult things in life because God lives in them. Compare Genesis 1:21-26 with Psalm 104:23-26. Relate rulership and mastery over creation to your personal life. God gave humankind the job of ruling over the creatures of the earth. Included in that command is authority over the sea creatures, including the great mystical creature Leviathan. The Hebrew implies subduing of the animals. What was included in that command. Read the description of Leviathan in Job 41 and notice that the characteristics of Satan are contained in the references to Leviathan. Rather than allowing Satan to control our lives, we are given the power to control and subdue him. Through the creative power of God working within, the tables have been turned. The evil one does not overtake us, but we are to subdue him. On Sabbath we celebrate the creative power of God. We celebrate the assurance that His power works within and through us. We realize that we can challenge and conquer any life difficulty. The turmoil, evil, and stress of this life can be pushed to its proper place just like the raging sea was given its place. We can take on the hardships of the more difficult path just as Israel did to live in the mountains rather than in the easier living conditions of the river valleys. We can shout our victory over Satan himself. No longer are we afraid of his existence because we are empowered to rule over him and subdue him. Sabbath is a reflection of our victory over all life's difficulties. Daryl Chang, Honolulu, Hawaii Back to Top Copyright 2003 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists To have these great articles that are pertaining to the month of November on your e-mail monthly, simply go to www.cq.youthpages.org. Here are articles pertaining to the Sabbath School lessons in the month of October The Bible frequently speaks about God's foreknowledge: "Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7, NKJV). "Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure,' Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it" (Isa. 46:9-11, NKJV). See also Isaiah 45:21; Psalm 25:14. God has not promised to reveal everything that is going to happen in the future, but He has chosen to reveal to us what He will do in saving humanity-what He plans to do to finish the sin problem and to establish His eternal kingdom. Prophecy was not given to make us aware beforehand of what is going to happen in the political or economic world, but to inform us about God's activity in saving us. Here is where many in the past have made mistakes. They have tried to use unfulfilled Bible prophecies to predict political events-to interpret the prophecies by using the news headlines-only to be embarrassed when the events did not take place. They have often had to change their interpretations as often as the headlines have changed. Prophecies should always be church-centered-focused on the great plan of salvation. The Christian is to live by faith, trusting in God that He controls the future, including our own futures. To know everything in advance would tend to undermine faith, and we would subsequently suffer spiritually as a result. To know in advance all the good things that will happen to us might be considered desirable, but to know in advance all the bad things would doubtless be very depressing, and would also discourage us and, for many if not all, adversely affect our faith and trust in God. L. P. Tolhurst, Cooranbong, Australia Back to Top How exciting and encouraging it is to have our memories refreshed about the God we serve from this study of Jonah. At least three lessons emerge that are applicable to everyday life. 1. The great God of the universe uses ordinary individuals to carry His message. The story of Jonah depicts an ordinary man with whom we can identify. We can understand his fears, his desires for self-esteem, and his doubts. We are left with no illusions about him, no fanciful dreams or projections that make him quasi-divine. It is a source of encouragement and strength to know that if God used Jonah, he can use me! God does not ask us to do what we cannot do. He does not call us to exceed our level of competence. What He bids, He provides grace to accomplish. To be called of God should result in an urgency to fulfill one's task. 2. God does not hold grudges, but gives the disobedient a second chance. Jonah learned that our disobedience is not enough to make God turn His back on us. Despite our disobedience, God loves us and does not hold grudges because of our waywardness. We see this repeatedly in the Scriptures with Abraham, Simon Peter, David, and Jacob, to mention a few. In all instances God provided a second chance. Certainly, in our lives we can see God's compassion and forgiveness. By faith we can seek God for a second chance. The words of a favorite hymn indicate God's response: "A second look He gave which said: 'I freely all forgive: This blood is for thy ransom paid; I died that thou mayest live.' " God is Lord of the second chance. Thus, "The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time" (Jon. 3:1, NKJV). 3. Finally, this loving, compassionate God makes provision for the disobedient one to have temporary comfort as he finds his way back to his Creator. Here we see a patient God leading a despondent, angry, ordinary creature to an understanding of His ways, and back to Him. God had accomplished much through Jonah. Hence, Jonah's experimental knowledge was great. Jonah was the man for the times. Yet because Nineveh was not destroyed, Jonah was angry. His prophecy had not been fulfilled. To illustrate to Jonah His continued love for him, God provided temporary comfort as Jonah sat on a hill outside of Nineveh. The temporary comfort was to help Jonah through the situation. It was to be a learning tool. The temporary comfort was to give Jonah assurance of his permanent comforter, Jesus Christ. This gourd was to let Jonah and Christians today know that we are to trust Christ. Trust is to be manifest even when we believe He hides His face from us. Thank God for the temporary gourds of life, but thanks even more for the worms that come to destroy them. They bring us to the place that we see our nakedness and flee to Him, our permanent assurance and comforter. Barbara Jones, Duluth, Georgia Back to Top I recently heard about a documentary on a Special Forces team. The sole purpose of this team is to rescue hostages, MIAs, and POWs, even at the cost of their own lives. There was one mission that stuck in my mind. Two teams had been sent in, at the cost of nine agents' lives to save a single pilot! The pilot during his debriefing in the states asked why they didn't abort the rescue after the first mission failed at the cost of seven lives; after all, he is only one person. The commander replied, "Our motto is 'so that others may live.' We live and die by this motto. We would have sent 100 men, if necessary, so that you, sir, might live!" Wow! I am next to positive that John Doe did not wake up one morning and say to himself, You know, I think I want to join the Special Forces today so that I can fly into enemy territory and risk my life to save one person only days after seven of my close friends die attempting the same mission! However, these brave soldiers knew their cause that made them go anywhere, under any circumstance, for they had become one with their mission. I am sure they did not become one with their mission and mindset overnight; rather it was a process that we can compare easily to Christian mission, a process we see Jonah right in the midst of. Jonah knows God so well that he is sure the tempest is a result of his running from God (Jon. 1:12), and he was right (verse 15). He knew that God would forgive and save Nineveh (4:2), and God did (3:10). He even speaks directly with God (4:9-11). Jonah goes where God wants him to (3:2, 3). Now, admittedly it took some seaweed and fish vomit to convince Jonah, but the bottom line is that he does eventually learn, with God's help, to obey. Jonah does seem to fall short of the third aspect of Christian mission. He has not yet become one with the mission. He does not yet understand the so-others-might-live philosophy. In fact, he cares more about plant life than human life, and God calls him out on it (4:10, 11). Jonah does seem to be on the right track, though, as I believe many of us younger people are. It seems as though the church at large tends to have an all-or-nothing approach to Christianity. It sometimes may seem that to be considered a "true Christian," you must do as the pillars of the church do. Let's learn from Jonah and our brave military example. It is best to be a true Know-Go-Be person, like our military special forces, so we can fulfill our mission "so others might live." However, you will not be one overnight, for it is a process-spiritual boot camp, if you will. What Jonah shows us is that God is willing to use us in huge ways even during this process. The next time somebody makes you feel you are not what they expect you to be, but you know you are in this process of becoming a Know-Go-Be Christian, tell them what my Best Friend told me: "I have come to save sinners, not saints." Gael S. Murray, Takoma Park, Maryland Back to Top Copyright 2003 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists To have these great articles that are pertaining to the month of October on your e-mail monthly, simply go to www.cq.youthpages.org. |
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