July 18–24

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 4: “Interceding for Others”

It is not surprising that this week’s lesson, discussing intercessory prayer, is actually a golden opportunity to insert several very un-Biblical Adventist beliefs. What is also not surprising, but is very disappointing, is how the Bible is mis-used to “prove” those concepts.

We see in this lesson:

1. The Great Controversy theme
2. The limiting of God’s power
3. The substituting of the work of angels for what is actually the work of the Holy Spirit
4. And finally, the false claim that Jesus is actually Michael the archangel.

While we can’t make a comprehensive discussion of all of these fallacies, we can address them to a limited degree.

First, a reminder. The Bible is God’s Word and as such is totally truthful. It is to be the basis for our theology, not a tool for attempting to prove our pre-conceived ideas. So let’s look at these four problem areas in the lesson. 

The Great Controversy theme  

This seems to be the foundation for the entire house of cards that is Adventist theology. Ironically, in a question at the end of the week, we see this:

“How does your knowledge of this controversy help you realize the importance of prayer?”

How many Adventists actually understand very much about this supposed theme? Most just seem to accept the fact that God and the devil are fighting over the world without any clear understanding of the full extent of the total heresy of this belief. While it is true that a spiritual battle is being fought, it is not a fight between God and Satan to see who will win. If you want to put it in terms of war, it is a war for our very souls.

A careful search of Ellen White’s writings will reveal the heretical beginnings and foundation of this great controversy idea. There we are told that in the dim, distant past, when Jesus was elevated to be equal with God as His Son, Lucifer was jealous because he thought he should have been the one elevated and consulted on the creation of the world. This led to jealous anger, and eventually he rebelled and accused God of being unfair when He demanded that everyone in heaven and on earth had to obey the Law (the 10 Commandments). According to this theory, the battle is ongoing, and we humans have to perfectly keep the Law (the 10 Commandments) to prove that God was not unjust and to “vindicate” His character.

None of this theory is in the Bible, and yet it is accepted as absolute truth and is used to explain everything that has happened on earth since creation. Saying that Jesus was elevated to be equal with God as His Son directly contradicts passages like John 1:1, 2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

The Bible is quite clear that Jesus is, and always was, God. In fact, verse three makes it clear that everything that was created—including Lucifer, by the way—was created by Jesus. As Creator, He has no obligation to answer to His created being and is in no danger of losing any supposed “controversy”.

Limiting God’s power and His work

From the lesson:

“Although God is doing everything He can to reach people before we pray, our prayers unleash the mighty power of God.”

This idea limits God, making Him unable to fully reach people until we pray and “unleash” His power. He is “doing everything He can”, but apparently that is not enough, and He needs our help.

No one would deny that God uses our prayers on behalf of others, but in no way is He limited and dependent on us to “unleash” Him so He can do something. In Adventist theology there is a consistent and persistent attempt to limit God to the point that He is under our power and subject to our actions and decisions. But even a casual reading of the last 5 chapters of Job disproves that preposterous idea. In those chapters, God tells Job very clearly that He, God, is above all and is subject to none.

Relating to the idea of limiting God is the persistent idea that although the three parts of the Godhead work well together, they are actually three separate beings. There seems to be no understanding of the meaning of the words in Deuteronomy 6:4 

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” 

When asked which commandment was the greatest, Jesus repeated those very words, as recorded in Mark 12:29.

Adventism’s subtle downgrading of God and His power is emphasized in this lesson by the way the angels are credited with the work of bringing souls to Christ instead of giving the credit to the Holy Spirit.

In support of this supposed ongoing “controversy” the lesson says;

“He sends His Holy Spirit to convict men and women of divine truth (John 16:7, 8). Heavenly angels enter the battle to influence people for eternity (Heb. 1:14).”

Notice that it is the angels that supposedly influence people to come to Christ. But is that really what Hebrews 1:14 means?

“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”

It says nothing about angels influencing people for eternity; rather they are “ministering spirits” that are sent to help us. The whole point of Hebrews 1 is not that angels are winning people to Christ, but rather it is pointing out that the angels are below Jesus in power, authority, work, and position. And they are sent to aid us, those who are in Christ, not aiding the Holy Spirit in the work of winning souls for eternity.

Jesus as Michael the archangel.

This one is the most blasphemous ideas imaginable, and it fits right in with the attempts to down-grade the position and power of one part of the Godhead. Of course the lesson has to play along with that idea as the supposed elevation of Jesus to being equal with God is the whole starting point of the Great Controversy fantasy.

But is it Biblical? As the lesson says, Michael is mentioned in 5 places, so let’s have a quick look at how each text mentions him:

• Daniel 10:13 “Michael, one of the chief princes”
• Daniel 10:21 “Michael your prince”
• Daniel 12:1 “Michael, the great prince “
• Jude 9 “Michael the archangel”
• Revelation 12:7 “Michael and his angels”

In two of them, Michael is called a prince and a great prince, a reference which is fairly non-specific. But look at Daniel 10:13 where Michael is called “one of the chief princes”. 

If Michael is Jesus, then Jesus is just one of many princes—maybe the “chief” prince, but still one of many. But is Jesus one of many? Or is He the one and only Son of God who was always God and who was with God from before the beginning?

Jude 9 is perhaps the most blatant contradiction to the Michael/Jesus idea as it calls Michael the “archangel”. So, what is an archangel? I don’t read Greek, so I depend on Strong’s concordance to define the word.

Strong’s #743 archangel: a chief angel. From: #757  to be first in political rank or power, reign (rule) over and: #32  to bring tidings; messenger; by implication a pastor

When combining the meaning of those definitions, you see that an archangel is an angel, the leader of other angels in the role of leader, and a messenger.

But Jesus is not an angel and never has been. The idea that He is (or was) an angel may fit in with the Great Controversy theory where He was elevated above what He had been before, but it is clearly completely contrary to the clear meaning of the Bible. To lower Him to that status is to deny His deity and to blaspheme His very Name.

One final comment I would like to make is this—with as many un-Biblical errors and contradictions we find in this lesson, in one place they got it very right:

“Our persistence in prayer acknowledges that we recognize our total, absolute dependence on God to reach the individual for whom we are praying.”

We are dependent on God to reach people, and He does this through the power of the Holy Spirit. That Spirit seals us from the moment we first believed and will never leave us. (John 14:16; Ephesians 1:13 and 4:30)

We don’t really know just how God uses our prayers for others; we are just instructed to pray for them. And as we contemplate our amazing, unmerited salvation, how can we not long for others to come to Christ? And how can we not pour out our hearts to the One who wholly loves and who longs for all to come to Him?

We don’t have to know why we are to pray for them, just that we are to do so. †