October 27–November 1

This weekly feature is dedicated to Adventists who are looking for biblical insights into the topics discussed in the Sabbath School lesson quarterly. We post articles which address each lesson as presented in the Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, including biblical commentary on them. We hope you find this material helpful and that you will come to know Jesus and His revelation of Himself in His word in profound biblical ways.

 

Lesson 5: “Violating the Spirit of the Law”

This week deals with how the Israelites were behaving and how Nehemiah had to step in to stop their mistreatment of each other. The first few days of this lesson are very confusing as in it the author jumps back and forth between the two sides of the issue of charging interest.

First, from the lesson:

“As we will see, what made this oppression even worse was that it was being done within “the letter of the law,””

And then it says: “For biblical regulations against usury”…followed by some texts. The texts the reader is directed to all say that the Israelites were not to charge their fellow Jews interest, although they were allowed to charge interest to non-Jews. Let’s read those texts:

If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest (Ex. 22:25–27). 

Do not take usurious interest from him, but revere your God, that your countryman may live with you. You shall not give him your silver at interest, nor your food for gain (Lev. 25:36, 37).

You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess (Deut. 23:19, 20).

The author jumps back and forth between those two opposites with no apparent realization of how he is contradicting himself. He says this practice is done within “government policies”, but it was not part of the policies, or laws, the people would have learned while listening to Ezra read the Law. They would have heard from Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy how they were not to charge interest when lending to their fellow Israelites.

Then the lesson says this:

But overall, according to God’s Word, the only thing the creditors did wrong was to charge interest (Neh. 5:10), and interestingly, the people didn’t even mention that in their grievance.

Then he tries to turn the discussion to the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law:

It was the spirit of the law that was transgressed in this situation.

In fact, the texts we are given to read say the exact opposite—it was the very letter of the law they were transgressing. And then, the author jumps back onto the other side by saying this:

“By declaring “let us stop charging interest” (Neh. 5:10, NIV), he affirmed the law that forbade this practice with fellow Hebrews.”

I used to understand, or at least ignore, this kind of double-think by just taking what I read at face value. Now, I find it rather bizarre, and I can’t understand how anyone can read this and accept this author as an authority who is qualified to teach a Bible lesson.

Then the lesson moves on to slavery. From the lesson:

“However, since God is all about giving freedom, He regulated the practice in Israel by requiring creditors to release their slaves every seven years. Thus, God protected people from becoming permanent slaves and demonstrated His desire for people to live freely.

Does it make sense for the Israelites to buy Jews and give them freedom only to have them end up as slaves of their own people?”

This openly contradicts what God said to Israel about slaves. They were not to make their own countrymen slaves. If a fellow countryman became poor, he was to be treated as family and helped in his time of need:

“‘Now in case a countryman of yours becomes poor and his means with regard to you falter, then you are to sustain him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you.” Lev. 25:35

And even if he sold himself (or his children) to you, he was not to be treated as a slave:

“If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave’s service. He shall be with you as a hired man, as if he were a sojourner; he shall serve with you until the year of jubilee. He shall then go out from you, he and his sons with him, and shall go back to his family, that he may return to the property of his forefathers. 

For they are My servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt; they are not to be sold in a slave sale” (Lev. 25:39).

This was not about God just “being all about freedom” or “wanting everyone to live free” as the lesson says. It was because they were to remember that they had been slaves in Egypt and had been freed by the hand of God. It wasn’t specifically about slavery; rather this practice was about remembering who God is and what He had done for them when they were slaves.

Then we come to a discussion about honesty which I find very ironic. From the lesson:

How many people have been turned off to Christianity by those whose words sound Christian but whose actions are anything but?

  Think about just how much impact your words have on others. How can we learn to be very careful in what we say, when we say it, and how we say it?

While this principle is true about each and every individual who claims the name of Jesus, it is should be even more true when it comes to an organization who claims to have “the truth” to the exclusion of everyone else. So let’s look at how it is applied in real life.

What about urging your members in the military to be non-combatants so that they don’t break the sixth commandment (which actually says ‘don’t murder’, not ‘don’t kill’) while simultaneously granting abortions on demand performed in many Adventist hospitals—the so-called ‘right arm of the gospel’?

How honest is that?

Or what about holding evangelistic meetings without telling people who you are? And, in fact, instructing those holding the meetings to deflect the question of identity (lie by omission)? How many people have been “turned off” by finding out the truth that was hidden in order to lure people in?

Or what about letting the church leadership get away with dishonest—and outright illegal—investing of tithe money with an Adventist investor who promised huge returns, in the process losing large amounts of tithe money given by the members in good faith which is expressly dedicated to the spread of the gospel.

Or, what about the official statement claiming the Bible and the Bible only has authority in things of God, as expressed here on the web page listing the 28 Fundamental Beliefs?

“Seventh-day Adventists accept the Bible as their only creed and hold certain fundamental beliefs to be the teaching of the Holy Scriptures.”

In line with that, belief #18 say this:

“The Scriptures testify that one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. This gift is an identifying mark of the remnant church and we believe it was manifested in the ministry of Ellen G. White. Her writings speak with prophetic authority and provide comfort, guidance, instruction, and correction to the church. They also make clear that the Bible is the standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested.”

But then, when there is conflict between the Bible and Ellen White, she is accepted as the sole interpreter of Scripture, and what she says is accepted as truth. And, by her authority only, without any Biblical support, they claim as some of the other 28 beliefs things like:

#8 The Great Controversy

This was based on the belief that Jesus was not always God, and when God elevated Him to that position, Lucifer was jealous and rebelled. This is from the Arian beliefs of the founders of the Adventist church and has never been denied or even acknowledged as error. Rather, they just pretend that they never said that at all.

#12 The Church 

“The church is the community of believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.” 

Adventists say this while denying that those outside Adventism can ultimately be saved without accepting the Sabbath and so, therefore, are not part of the community.

#19 The Law of God 

By this, they mean the 10 Commandments which, according to the Bible are the very words of the Old Covenant (Deut. 29:1; Ex. 34:28). But Adventists claim to be under the New Covenant.

#22 Christian Behavior (Including this sentence):

“Along with adequate exercise and rest, we are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures.” 

This belief is based on laws of the Old Covenant, not the New. They hold these beliefs while claiming that some of the health laws are still applied to us while at the same time claiming that the ‘ceremonial’ laws were ended at the cross. This confusion is directly contrary to numerous places in the Bible that say the whole Law is one unit and if you offend in one you have broken them all.

#24 Christ’s Ministry in the Heavenly Sanctuary

This one completely denies the gospel and the finished work of Christ on the cross where He declared “it is finished”. Finished is from the Greek word ‘telos’ which is a word in present tense meaning “it is completed at a point of time with the results continuing without end”. Jesus was saying that the plan of salvation was completed, and there is nothing more to be done.

So not only does #24 call Jesus a liar, it says that His blood was not enough to complete the payment for our sins. If that was true, we would have no hope of salvation, because if He didn’t pay it in full, we are left having to pay for our sins and the only payment that will do is death.

So, are all of these dishonest? If so, and they are, how can you call for the people to be honest in all they do in order to not turn others away from God when they have such examples of dishonesty from those who are supposed to be their leaders? 

“Do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work for even an your average two-year-old, so it certainly doesn’t work for a church organization. †