Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
A new “Adult Sabbath School Study Guide” lesson quarterly for our fourth quarter titled “Ezra and Nehemiah”. A good study of the time and the people who went back to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. So many lessons learned during that time. But like the Exodus centuries before, this group needed strong guidance. And God gave it in the two men we study this quarter. “The challenge for Ezra and Nehemiah was not to reconstruct the temple… but to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, its administration, and the national autonomy—all eventually paving the way for the coming Messiah” (quarterly introduction). Did the two do a good job? Were the people adequately prepared for Jesus? Was it the fault of the “two”? So as we study this quarter, remember the big picture. Perhaps we will see ourselves as we, too, prepare for the coming Messiah.
In Sabbath’s lesson (September 28) and in the “Teacher’s Comments” section for this week, there is a sentence repeated. Obviously important to the “Principal Contributor” or to the “Editor”. Here’s the sentence… “Our best performance comes from a realization of who God is and what He has done, and from knowing how He lovingly intervenes on behalf of His people”. The “Teacher’s Comments” section adds this phrase at the end… “and how He moves them to action”. This entire sentiment is likely true. But this truth is fraught with one fatal variable, stated at the very beginning. That variable is “who God is”. Our picture of God (who He is) is the determiner of “our best performance”. Because who we think God is determines how we relate to Him, to others, and how we “perform”. After-all, this is the issue at stake in the Great Controversy. The nature and character of God.
As we study our lessons each week, as we delve into different Biblical topics and Biblical Books, we know how the story turns out. We know that the children of Israel coming out of Egyptian slavery will break faith with God. We know that the people returning to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity will eventually reject their God when He comes as the Messiah. We know Judas will betray Jesus, John will write the most sublime narrative of Christ’s life and the Book of Revelation that reveals so much, that the denial of Peter was not His final word but was a defining moment for that impetuous disciple, and that Saul would defend the faith he originally persecuted. As such, we need to see in the various lives and stories of people we study the seeds that will bear the future fruit we know.
So with this quarter’s study, too. Let us watch for the faithfulness of God. Let us watch for the faithfulness of the “two” and the faithfulness of the people. But let us also look for those subtle false pictures of God that the children of Israel believe at this time in their history. False pictures that will bear the fruit of rejection of the very “One” they claim to worship. False pictures that put our God in a false light. This is what makes any belief false. Beliefs that put our God in a false light. Our highest desire is… to know God aright, present Him to others aright, and live a life that honors God aright. So let’s study this quarter and watch God in action and ask ourselves, “What does this tell us about God”? Perhaps we will see the seeds of misunderstanding Him in the study. We will definitely see two men of faith who exhibited great courage in the face of adversity. Who followed the God they understood. May we so follow.
With brotherly love,
Jim