December 7–13

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 11: “Backslidden People”

The introduction to this week’s lesson lays the groundwork for what Nehemiah had to do when he returned to Jerusalem. The people had become lax in their obedience to their covenant with God and needed strong leadership to get them back on the right path.

In the section called Tainted Temple Leadership, we see this:

“Why do God’s people all through sacred history—whether the Jews in ancient Israel, or the Christians who followed them dur­ing and after New Testament times—so easily allow themselves to be led astray? How can we avoid their mistakes?”

There are many ways we can be led astray if we are not grounded in the Word and led by the Holy Spirit. Once the newness of a relationship with God wears off, following Him can seem less important and we drift along, content in the thought that we eat the right foods and go to church on the right day. 

When nothing bad seems to happen for not following His word, it reinforces our idea that maybe it doesn’t matter so much after all. If we don’t stay grounded in God’s word, we can easily forget just what He said to us and then we tend to fill it in with what we think is right.

If, instead of studying the Bible for ourselves, we start relying on what others have read and rely on their interpretation of it, we can start to believe whatever they said. If we don’t carefully hold up every Bible scholar’s work to the truths of the Bible, we may not notice when they deviate from the truth.

If we elevate a commentator to the status of prophet equal to those in the inspired word of God, their words are now equal to those in the Bible, so we don’t question them or check them against the Bible.

It all starts on the slippery slope of not knowing God’s word for ourselves, as taught by the Holy Spirit, and not holding all “authorities” accountable to be in line with the Bible. Of primary importance is our willingness to change our theology to fit the Bible. We should never change the message of the Bible to fit in with our own theology.

The Levites in the Fields

 “Why is tithing so important for our own spirituality and as a measure of our own trust in God?”

Here is one area where many Christians attempt to slide back under the Old Covenant—many without even realizing it. When God divided the Promised Land between the tribes of Israel, the Levites had no land inheritance. Their inheritance was to do the work in the temple and be the spiritual leaders of the people. Instead of living off their own land, they were supported by the tithes from the rest of the people. 

If you read the instructions in the Bible for tithing under the Old Covenant, you will see that it was not a tithe of monetary income. It was a tenth from the harvest of the fields and the flocks and herds. This tithe was to support the Levites and Priests who had no other support, and it was also for the poor of the land who needed help.

In Num. 18:25-27, we see that the Levites who received the tithe from the people also paid a tithe out of that to the Priests who ministered in the temple.

Under the New Covenant, there is no such instruction. Rather, we are to give out of gratitude to God, and the more generous we are with what God has given us, the more He will bless us. 

We deal with this further in the section called Tithes and Offerings where we are instructed to read some texts from both Old and New Testaments.

There is a basic principle for reading the Bible that says that all of it is written for us, but not all of it is written to us. That means that although we can learn from all of it, not all of it is telling us, the church, what to do.

For instance, we don’t accept the instruction for offering sacrifices as something that applies to us, but where Psalms tells us to sing praises to the Lord, we know that is for us to do also. All you need is the leading of the Holy Spirit and discernment.

So, when you read the first two texts listed, you must ask yourself if they are directed at us. So, what about Numbers 18:21-24?

It is addressed to: “the sons of Levi” and says things like,

“the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel”

It repeatedly refers to Israel specifically and by name, and since the Church is not Israel, those commands are not directed at us.

And then there is Malachi 3:10, which is often used to “prove” that the church is commanded to pay a 1/10 tithe. The thought starts with verse 8, so read it from there.

First of all, when you read Malachi 1:1 you see that the whole book is directed at Israel:

“The oracle of the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.”

No matter how you try to squeeze the church into that, it is clearly directed at Israel—at the priests to be exact. The entire book is a rebuke against the priests for their carelessness in obeying God’s commands. So while we can learn principles from that instruction, it was never directed at the church.

So let’s go to the texts in the New Testament. First, Matt. 23:23:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

Remember that before the cross, Israel was still under the Old Covenant and was to obey the Law. Jesus was included in that description and, in fact, He perfectly obeyed that Law. 

His scolding in this whole chapter of “woes” was directed against the scribes and Pharisees, the ones who were known as the best law-keepers—for their over-zealous tithing of minute “harvests” of even the herbs from their gardens, but were still neglecting to do justice, mercy and faithfulness that were also demanded by the Law. In the next verse Jesus likened that neglect to swallowing a camel whole while choking on a gnat, the smallest insect around.

Once again, this instruction is directed at Israel and was based on the tithing laws in the Old Covenant.

1 Corinthians 9:7-14 and 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 are the only two texts listed in the lesson that were addressed to people in the church, those of us under the New Covenant. There is nothing in either one, however, that is talking about giving a 10% tithe. It is talking about giving from the heart and the amount to give is not a specified portion of what you have but rather, as it is neatly summed up in 2 Corinthians 9:6, 7 it is giving bountifully because God has blessed you. “God loves a cheerful giver” is the ending of verse 7, and is followed by verse 8 which says that God will provide what you need so don’t worry.

There is nothing in that passage which demands that you are obligated to give a specific amount; rather, give generously as God has blessed you, and He will bless you more.

So, then, this line from the lesson is completely contrary to God’s word:

“Moreover, we give tithes because God established the system in His Word.”

Pay attention to just where He “established the system” of tithing! If you are obligated to that system, you had better be offering sacrifices in the Temple and following all the other 613 Laws. That isn’t to say that a system of regular, systematic giving is wrong, just that you can’t claim that a 10% tithe of monetary income is ordered for the church by extrapolating that from the laws for Israel.

In the section Treading the Winepresses on Sabbath we get to the very central pillar of Adventism. All sorts of claims have been made to “prove” it, but just saying it does not make it so.

From the lesson:

The Sabbath was created as the pinnacle of Creation week because it was a special day on which people were to be renewed and re-created by spending time with God in ways that they can’t when engaged in their occupations or other worldly pursuits.

The point is that the seventh-day Sabbath was, and remains, a powerful means of helping keep faith alive in those who by God’s grace seek to observe it and enjoy the physical and spiritual benefits it offers us.

This lesson is not the best place to deal with all of the lesson’s claims, but I will say this about the claims in that quote.

The only record in Genesis of a Sabbath rest was when God rested after creation. That is, He stopped working. He wasn’t tired, He just was finished, and He stopped. 

Adam, and possibly Eve, were created the day before, and they had no hard physical work to do, so they weren’t tired either.

They walked with God in the Garden, so they didn’t need a special day to commune with Him.

The Sabbath, as a holy day with instructions for people to observe it, was first mentioned when Moses was given the 10 Commandments. It was the weekly, repeatable sign of being a part of the Covenant just as circumcision was the entry sign into that covenant.

To limit our time with God to one day a week is to largely shut Him out of the rest of the week. We need Him and His presence all the time as we walk with Him.

Colossians 2 assures us that we are in Christ and are to walk in Him. We are warned not to be fooled by persuasive arguments or deceptions of man. This warning is summed up by verses 16 and 17:

Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day—things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.

People go through all sorts of mental gymnastics in an effort to “prove” that in the progression from yearly (festivals), to monthly (new moon) to weekly (Sabbath day), the “days” are actually referring only to the Jewish feast days, not the weekly seventh-day Sabbath.

When you let Sabbataerians persuade you of that lie, you are falling for the “philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men” we are warned against in verse 8.

In the section Did Not Your Fathers Do Thus? we see this:

“Nehemiah’s warning about Sabbath desecration, along with other warnings about violating it, had apparently echoed down through the ages even to Jesus’ time.”

Of course it did. Jesus was a Jew under the Old Covenant and was obligated to obey all its laws, including the Sabbath.

But to put us back under the obligation of the weekly Sabbath is to put us back into the Old Covenant, and doing that is to remove us from grace and go back under the Law. Remember, if you are going to keep the law you must keep all of it. (James 2:10)

Friday is just more reading from Ellen White. Look at the second question at the end:

“Though we know that there is nothing legalistic about keeping the seventh-­day Sabbath—just as there is nothing legalistic about not coveting, stealing, or lying…”

But that is the very definition of legalistic—adhering to the Law as a guide for moral behavior. That quote from the lesson is a paraphrase of part of Romans 7:5-8, so let’s start with that. Paul had just finished saying that trying to mix law and grace was to commit spiritual adultery. And then he says this:

“For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 

But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.”

Did you get that? We no longer live by the law but by grace. We are released from the law, which kills, and are now under grace. How much clearer can it be? 

Romans 7 is the perfect, concise, direct answer to those who think we need both law and grace. (And to anyone who then says that to be released from the Law leads to complete lawlessness with no guidance for our behavior, I would say read Romans 6.)

Then he goes on to bemoan the fact that he knows what to do but can’t seem to make himself do it. He then says that his struggle is because of his sin nature.

The very next thought after that is the wonderful opening of chapter 8: Therefore there is no condemnation (judgment) for those who are in Christ Jesus.

So, do you want to be under Law which kills? Or under grace which brings life? You can’t have both or you will be committing spiritual adultery. And if you claim that the 10 Commandments are for you, you would be breaking the seventh one. †