September 5–11

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: “Sharing the Story of Jesus”

There is encouragement and hope brought out in this week’s lesson—hope for the future, hope for the making of all things right and the removal of sin, hope for the end of sin and its effects on God’s creation and creatures. It is uplifting to read such words of hope which give us so much to anticipate—but the hope is shattered when we read this in the lesson in the section entitled:

“How Long, O Lord?”

From the lesson:

“A similar cry is taken up in the New Testament, where even creation itself is portrayed as groaning for God to rescue and re-create (see Rom. 8:19–22). In Revelation 6:10, this cry—“How long, O Lord?”—is taken up on behalf of those who have been martyred for their faith in God.”

Here is a case of ‘proof-texting’ in order to make the text fit Adventist theology. To get the correct information, you need to back up to verse 9 and read the entire sentence:

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” (Rev. 6:8, 9). 

The verses say nothing of a cry being made on behalf off those who had died, but rather it says that the cry is made by the very souls of those who were killed for their testimony of God.

The biblical words had to be changed because Adventist theology denies the very existence of the soul and therefore, the possibility that the souls of those who die in Christ are in the very presence of God.

A Certain Kind of Hope

Here, the lesson talks about what we used to call those “too heavenly minded to be of earthly good”—and this idea can be a very valid criticism. There are some who are so dedicated to doing what they think God called them to do that they ignore the pain and suffering and need of those right in front of them.

Then, further on we see this:

“…when He will replace the current disorder with His glorious and righteous kingdom. After all, without that hope, without that promise, we really have no hope at all.“

The millennium on earth will be just that—Christ’s kingdom on earth with Jesus ruling the nations. Adventism, though, does not teach that this glorious hope for the millennium will occur on earth. (See Revelation 20.) The righteous kingdom of Christ is not about eternity but about His reign here on earth—the time when swords will be beaten into plowshares. See Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-7. 

What a great hope to see the earth restored to its first perfection, with Jesus ruling all with a perfect, just hand! Not only do we have the firm hope of eternity with no sin or death or ending, but before that, we also can look forward to 1,000 years on the restored earth as it was intended!

One other point from the lesson:

“What we believe about the future has important implications for how we live now.”

This is a very good point! Think about it—if you don’t really believe in the certainty of your salvation, how can you live with true hope? And I mean hope in the way the word is intended—anticipation, not a sad, uncertain wishful thinking. Without that true hope—the certainty that what God has promised IS OURS—it’s too easy to just try to forget about it and live for the day. After all, if this is all you can be certain you have, you may as well live for today. 

So, yes, it really does have important and serious implications for how we live now. Not an attempt to earn the glorious future of eternity but rather in joyful anticipation, waiting eagerly for it to come. The problem with this idea appearing in this lesson, however, is that it is used to mean something different from the biblical hope of our certain salvation. Instead, the lesson assumes the readers will understand that they must live obediently to the Ten Commandments in order to achieve the “hope” of the future. 

Resurrection Hope

There are some very good things in this section, but it misses the mark in the importance it gives to the resurrection of Jesus. For instance this:

“If He could come back from the dead—which they had witnessed for themselves—He would surely come back to complete the project of removing sin and its effects and renewing the world”

While that is true, it overlooks a more serious reason for His resurrection. By rising from the dead, Jesus conquered death on our behalf. Because of that, death no longer has a hold on us (Romans 6:8-11). We may die physically on this earth, but because of His victory over death, we will never truly die (John 8:51, 52 and 11:26), and our physical resurrection is guaranteed! 

Judgment Hope

From the lesson:

“The hope of judgment comes down to what one believes about the core nature of God, life, and the world in which we live.”

In this section, the author uses the word judgment in terms of the ultimate punishment of evil and the restoration of the good and downtrodden people to their rightful place. This falls in line with his apparent overall goal of promoting social justice.

But judgment in the Bible is so much more. It’s about the eternal condemnation of those who reject Christ, regardless of their treatment of their fellow man, and it is so much more final than just making life good again here on earth.

And, while there is a judgment of the saved, that judgment isn’t about deciding between eternal life or death for them based on their behavior. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul says that even if our works are “burned up”, counted as worthless before God, we ourselves are saved—so that judgment isn’t about salvation at all. It is about rewards for those who are saved.

He emphasized this in Romans 8:1 where he assures us that there is no condemnation—judgment—for those in Christ.

As for our hope depending on our belief about the core nature of God, what hope do you possibly have if you believe that He will condemn you if you don’t remember and then confess every single sin you ever committed! What does it say about your belief about the core nature of God if you think He died to forgive your sins up until the moment you believed, but that you have to keep yourself saved after that? Or if when you sin, He will let go of you, even though Jesus promised He won’t, and you must come back to Him or you are lost?

No More Tears or Pain

There are some encouraging words about the end of sin and death and the joy of eternity. Then, in Friday’s “further study”, the reader is advised to read the chapter “Desolation of the Earth” in the EGW book The Great Controversy.

Here is one section of that chapter that needs addressing:

“Now the event takes place foreshadowed in the last solemn service of the Day of Atonement. When the ministration in the holy of holies had been completed, and the sins of Israel had been removed from the sanctuary by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, then the scapegoat was presented alive before the Lord; and in the presence of the congregation the high priest confessed over him “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat.” Leviticus 16:21. In like manner, when the work of atonement in the heavenly sanctuary has been completed, then in the presence of God and heavenly angels and the hosts of the redeemed the sins of God’s people will be placed upon Satan; he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he has caused them to commit. And as the scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, so Satan will be banished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited and dreary wilderness.”

Before going any farther, we should refer to the Old Covenant laws that laid out the role of the scapegoat in Leviticus 16:10. 

“But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as the scapegoat.”

And in verses 22 and 22 “The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.”

I won’t bother to address the banishment of Satan to the “desolate earth” for the 1,000 years but I do want to discuss what is said about our sins being placed on Satan. 

Even saying it is just the “guilt” of the sins which is placed on Satan, EGW is still saying that Satan will bear away our sins. This makes him a party to our salvation—an idea which completely denies the truths in the Bible.

The scapegoat was to bear the sins of the people. So who bears our sins? As the redeemed in the New Covenant, we must look to the New Testament for that.

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed (1 Peter 2:21-24).

The Bible says that Jesus already bore our sins—He took upon Himself the guilt and the punishment that we deserve. Ellen White is saying that what Jesus did was not enough to pay for them but that the devil will ultimately pay for our sins.

This is blasphemy! The Son of God, the perfect Lamb who took away the sins of the world, was not able to complete the transaction but, instead, the fallen one, Lucifer who rebelled against God, becomes our sin-bearer? That makes Satan our propitiation, the one who pays the price we owed, and that makes him, at least in part, our savior! 

Let that sink in until you feel the horror of that blasphemy!

If the devil is to ultimately carry our sins, that would mean that Jesus’ sacrifice was not sufficient payment.

The payment for sin could be made only by One who is totally sinless, so if Jesus’s sacrifice was not sufficient payment, how could a fallen, totally evil being make that payment for us?

And if Jesus’s sacrifice was not sufficient, that would mean that God lied all throughout the Bible, in which case He would be no better than the father of lies himself. Again, that would mean the end of all hope for us.

It is past time to put away commentaries and so-called prophets who deny, contradict, twist, distort, add to and remove from the Bible. If even one word is said by that “prophet” that contradicts God’s Word, then none of it can be safely believed. 

In Ellen White’s own words:

“God does nothing in partnership with Satan. My work for the past thirty years bears the stamp of God or the stamp of the enemy. There is no halfway work in the matter. The Testimonies are of the Spirit of God, or of the devil. In arraying yourself against the servants of God you are doing a work either for God or for the devil” (Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 230).

There you have it in her own words! Set her aside and trust God to teach you from His Word. 

• His word is truth—John 17:17
• The Spirit will lead you into all truth without the need for other, questionable sources—John 16:13
• He will never lie to you for He cannot lie—Numbers 23:19
• He loved you and planned for your salvation before creation—Ephesians 1:4
• He made total payment—propitiation—for our sins—1 John 2:2, 4:10; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17

Now there is our true hope!