December 26–January 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.

 

Introduction and Lesson 1: “Crisis of Identity”

This study of Isaiah would have been a great opportunity for a fresh, new look at one of the most important prophetic books of the Old Testament. Unfortunately, it is merely a reprinting of the lesson from 2004. It is a word-for-word copy of that lesson with very, very slight and occasional modification which consists mostly of the removal of a sentence here and there; but the rest is just the same words under a new date. So there is nothing new here to learn for those who went through that study 16 years ago.

In introducing the study of Isaiah, the author, Roy Gane, used a flood of words that tend to overwhelm the mind with noise without really saying much of worth. But, buried in all the flood of words, there is one short paragraph that clearly sums up the message of Isaiah:

This, of course, explains why Isaiah’s words speak so loudly, so crisply to us—even after 27 centuries.

In his suffering-servant poem, for instance (Isa. 52:13–53:12), Isaiah brings a picture of the Messiah into finer resolution than anywhere else in the Old Testament. This section alone is enough to justify the name, “the gospel prophet.”

Isaiah is the first of what are called the major prophets and does more than any of the others not only to speak to the people of his time, but also to speak about the coming Messiah. This fact is why the author’s comment about “the gospel prophet” is so appropriate.

It might be good to start off with a reminder of the job of a Biblical prophet. I found this explanation to be very succinct and informative:

“As a mouthpiece or spokesman for God, the prophet’s primary duty was to speak forth God’s message to God’s people in the historical context of what was happening among God’s people. The broadest meaning is that of forthtelling; the narrower meaning is that of foretelling. In the process of proclaiming God’s message, the prophet would sometimes reveal that which pertained to the future, but, contrary to popular opinion, this was only a small part of the prophets message.” J Hampton Keathley III

As Keathley points out, telling the future was just a small part of the prophet’s job. He also was tasked with speaking to the people of his time with reminders and warnings. And, in the particular case of Isaiah, He also wrote extensively about the solution for their sin, the coming Messiah.

Keathley goes on to say:

“No book of the Old Testament presents a portrait of Christ that is as complete and comprehensive as does Isaiah. Isaiah portrays Messiah in His sovereignty above (6:1f), birth and humanity (7:14; 9:6; 11:1), in His ministry by the Spirit (11:2f), His divine nature (7:14; 9:6); His Davidic descent (11:1); His work of redemption as our substitute (53), His ministry as the Servant Savior (49ff), and much more.”

John Gill, in his exposition on the book of Isaiah, goes into even more detail and points out how Isaiah shows up in the New Testament, being used there as an authority as a prophet of God:

“…certain it is that no one writes so fully and clearly of the person, offices, grace, and kingdom of Christ; of his incarnation and birth of a virgin; of his sufferings and death, and the glory that should follow, as he does. John, the forerunner of Christ, began his ministry with a passage out of him concerning himself, (Mt 3:3 Mr 1:3 Lu 3:4 Joh 1:23). Our Lord preached his first sermon at Nazareth out of this book, (Lu 4:17-21) and it was in this the eunuch was reading when Philip came up to him, who from the same Scripture preached to him Christ, (Ac 8:28-35). And there are more citations in the New Testament made out of this prophecy than any other book, excepting the book of Psalms, as Musculus observes.”

And, for an added emphasis on this, in Scofield’s commentary, we see this summation:

“Isaiah is justly accounted the chief of the writing prophets. He has the more comprehensive testimony and is distinctively the prophet of redemption. Nowhere else in the Scriptures written under the law have we so clear a view of grace. The New Testament Church does not appear ( 3:3-10 ), but Messiah in His Person and sufferings, and the blessing of the Gentiles through Him, are in full vision.”

I like that phrase “the prophet of redemption”. Throughout all of the warnings from God of the judgments about to fall, the promise of the gospel is woven into the very language, giving hope to those who were looking for the coming Messiah, and for those of us who have seen His coming and are resting in His grace.

Now that we have been introduced to Isaiah, we jump right into chapter 1 where the sins of the people—“rebellion” in the NASB—are pointed out by God.

Verse 4 pretty much sums it up:

They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.

The Lord went on to say that the very ceremonies and sacrifices that He Himself set up for them have become wearisome to Him and something that He has come to hate. They are form without any substance. They are a series of actions the people take without any thought or intention of true worship of God, as if the mere performing of the actions is sufficient to cover their sins—if they even have any remaining sense of sin.

All of this is leading to the judgments that were laid out by Moses when God first established the nation of Israel and the worship system. Obedience brings blessings, disobedience brings judgment. And it is judgment that they are facing now. The 10 northern tribes have already been taken into captivity for their evil ways, and the same is going to happen to the two remaining tribes if they do not return to God. 

Even though He knew they would not listen and return to Him, He still, in infinite love, gives them the warning and the opportunity to return to Him. What a message of love, during the age of Law, that is surpassed only by the offer of salvation during the age of Grace!

For most of the week, the lesson is fairly good at providing a background of the problems and the offered solution. Unfortunately, in Friday’s lesson, the author fell back on the totally unbiblical words of Ellen White:

“They listened to the charges of Satan against the divine character, and represented God as devoid of mercy and forgiveness.”—The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 4, p. 1137.

To begin with, there is nothing in the Bible that even suggests that such an accusation happened or that it was the cause for the beginning of sin. And, besides that, there is absolutely nothing that even hints that the people of Israel “listened to the charges of Satan” against God. 

Verse 4 is very clear about their sin:

“They have abandoned the Lord, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.”

Their problem was not that they heard Satan’s supposed accusations and, as a result, came to doubt God. They had simply “turned away from Him.

But, as is typical of Sabbath School Lessons, no matter how much the week’s lesson goes to Scripture for its authority, apparently the week is incomplete and not reliable without the stamp of approval of Ellen White. When you consistently end with her words, it is clear that she is actually your final authority and source of truth. Even when she contradicts, detracts from or adds to the words of the Bible. †