January 11–17

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 3: ”From Mystery to Revelation “

This week, we move into the first of the prophetic sections of Daniel which starts out with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its meaning.

With Daniel’s prayer and God’s response giving him the interpretation, we begin to see that even after the apostasy of Israel and the resulting punishment by God, there is also another purpose for what has happened in the nation’s exile.

Not only does God use Daniel to interpret the king’s dream which tells future events, but He also uses this successful interpretation through Daniel to lead Nebuchadnezzar to elevate Daniel to a high place in the kingdom. In that position, he is protected from the fate of many of the people enslaved by Babylon and is in a position to be used by God to teach the king, and us, about the future that is safe in God’s hands.

So often, we see only one possible reason, or no apparent reason at all, for things that happen; but God is at work behind the scenes, and even though we often don’t see all of it at the time, one day perhaps He will show us the reasons. For now, we trust Him to be in charge, even when things go badly, because He loves us and we know He allows nothing to happen outside of His will for us.

From that perspective, I really like this comment from the lesson:

“Although the rise and fall of nations, ideologies, and political parties seem to happen at the discretion of human whim alone, Daniel 2 shows that it is the God of heaven who actually moves human history to its grand finale.”

Our earthly life is fleeting and is not what is truly important. What really counts is our eternal life which is safe with God.

 

The Prayer

Here again, the author has some good words about our prayers and the God to whom we pray:

“Daniel’s response not only reminds us of the importance of thanksgiving and praise but also reveals the character of the God we pray to. When we pray to Him, we can trust Him to do what is in our best interest, and thus we should always praise and thank Him.”

 

The Stone

In this section discussing the stone, there is a subtle but important deviation from Biblical text. From the lesson:

“This mountain, which according to the text is already in existence, most likely points to the heavenly Zion, the heavenly sanctuary, whence Christ will come to establish His eternal kingdom. And in the Jerusalem that will come down from heaven (Rev. 21:1–22:5), this kingdom will find its ultimate fulfillment.” 

First, let’s read Daniel 2:34:

“You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.”

Every translation I have read says that he (Nebuchadnezzar) kept looking until a stone was cut out without human hands.

But I think it is likely that the author, being a Seventh-day Adventist, wanted to insert the “heavenly sanctuary” into the narrative. 

First of all, the Holy City and the heavenly sanctuary are not the same thing. Read Revelation 21:10-20 for a description of the Holy City that will come down from heaven. Then compare that to the next verse:

“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”

The Holy City has no temple, or sanctuary, in it because God is the temple. 

Moreover, wherever God is, that is the “sanctuary” or temple because those are just human words for the dwelling place of God. 

Under the Old Covenant, there was a tabernacle, later a temple, to serve as the dwelling place of God amid the people. Now, under the New Covenant, we, as the ransomed of God, are the dwelling place of God; He indwells us and seals us (Eph. 1:13, 14; 2 Cor. 1:21, 22) and is always with us (John 14:16).

I can see no other reason for this change in the wording of Daniel 2:34 other than to establish a basis for the Adventist interpretation of Daniel 8:14 which is coming in later lessons. To change the words and meaning of the Bible so that your own theology is supported, however, is not “rightly handling the word of God” (2 Tim. 2:15) and leads to all kinds of un-Biblical errors.

 

Friday

At the end of the day’s lesson, there is this statement: 

“How good to know that amid all the chaos and suffering of this world, God is ultimately in control and will bring everything to a glorious end.” 

Those are very comforting words for all times but even more these days as we see the very fabric of society shredding under the work of the evil one. As bad as it gets here on this fallen world, we take great comfort from knowing that God is in total charge—not that He makes the bad things happen but rather that no bad thing can happen without His allowing it.

But then we come to this rather ambiguous question:

“Until then, what is our role in seeking to do all the good that we can to help alleviate the suffering that exists in this fallen world?”

Our “role” in these end times is to spread the gospel of grace to fallen man. To “do all the good that we can” is not our main purpose here, and alleviating suffering is not our primary purpose. Certainly we want to help those in need and those who are suffering, but if we make that our primary work and then stop there, we have failed in what we were put here to do—tell those in need that there is a Savior Who loves them and wants to give them eternal life, and to tell them that this physical life is not the ultimate end. 

Doing both is good, but the souls of the lost are of greater importance to the Kingdom than even their earthly, physical lives.

The last question at the end, followed by a long comment, are good as far as they go, but I think could have gone a little farther. The author seemed to avoid taking his conclusions it to the end of the thought of the whole verse, that of the final Kingdom, by quoting only part of verse 35. Read the entire verse:

“Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

What the author left out is that the stone filled the whole earth. This can be nothing other than the Millennial Kingdom of God on earth that will be ruled by Jesus from David’s throne. There are numerous Old Testament verses that refer to this Kingdom and to the fact that He will rule the nations “with a rod of iron”.

That description is stated as fact, so we know it will happen. It hasn’t happened in the history of this world since the fall, and today the world is still under the rule of the devil.

This prophecies kingdom won’t happen in eternity as there won’t be “nations” any more, only the eternally redeemed. And as sinless beings, there will not be a need to be “ruled with a rod of iron”.

And it can’t happen during a Millennium in heaven as the the Bible is clear that the redeemed will be on earth during that time. That is the time when we will see “swords beaten into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:4; Joel 3:10; Micah 4:3); all under the loving, but strict, rule of Jesus (with the “rod of iron”).

You should take the time to read all three of those chapters to get their full meaning. All three are talking about the “latter days” when God will rule the earth. 

I appreciate the words in this week’s lesson that express great faith in God and His Sovereign control of all that happens, even though I know Adventism teaches that God limits His sovereignty to accommodate our free will. However, I find great comfort in knowing that He is sovereign, particularly as things here on earth are getting worse and worse.

All the more reason to believe in Jesus and accept His free gift of forgiveness and salvation. When you do, you have nothing to fear here, even though as physical beings we can and do fear physical events. But knowing that our souls are safe with Him, even if we lose our very lives here, we know that we have eternity with Him. †