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: “Deuteronomy In the Later Writings”
COLLEEN TINKER
Problems with this lesson:
- The author fails to see that the nation of Israel was under a specific covenant—the same covenant God made with Israel at Mt. Sinai—for its entire duration until Jesus rose from the grave.
- This covenant is not an everlasting covenant but the Mosaic covenant with expanded application as given in Deuteronomy.
- The author attempts to apply the book of Deuteronomy to “the church” in the Teachers Comments.
This lesson attempts to establish the book of Deuteronomy as the “source book” for not only Israel’s functioning but also the functioning of the church. It makes the point throughout the week that Deuteronomy was the source of insight and instruction for worship not only to the wilderness generation but also to Israelites leaders from Josiah to Nehemiah.
Of COURSE Deuteronomy applied to Israel’s leaders throughout the centuries; it was the restatement of the conditional covenant that God made with the nation, and it was to last until the Seed came (Gal. 3:19).
The lesson uses examples from 2 Kings, Jeremiah, Daniel, Micah, and Nehemiah to emphasize the ongoing authority of the covenant—never discussing the fact that this was a national covenant with a beginning and an ending—but assuming its ongoing authority. It’s not that the lesson is WRONG about how these Israelite leaders used Deuteronomy; what is wrong is the way the lesson implies that they used Deuteronomy because it has equal authority for God’s people throughout time.
In the Teachers’ Comments on page 148, the lesson presents this “Life Application”:
Divisions
You are a leader of the church, and you suffer as you witness division in your community. Choose one of the following options:
•You side with one of the factions against another group, and you accuse the other group of being wrong.
•You listen to both groups and acknowledge where they are both right, and you go to both groups to help them see the values of the other group.
•You realize that you are a part of the problems of your community, and you call both groups to pray with you and consider how you were all wrong in the dispute.
Local Church
How should you respond to areas in local church life in which the church is not living up to the light that it has been given? What are the best ways to go about seeking to bring reformation? What principles can we take from these accounts that we could apply to our own churches?
From this section alone we see the evidence of the author’s assumption: Deuteronomy is the “operating manual” not only for Israel but also for the church. The fact that Jesus came and fulfilled the law and inaugurated a new covenant in His blood is not even on their radar screen.
Underlying this misunderstanding of “covenant”, however, and the lack of distinction between Israel and the Church, is the fact that the authors of this lesson do not even represent the Church.
Adventism is not a denomination of the apostolic church established at Pentecost. As we have previously discussed, Adventism grew up in the mid-19th century from the ruins of a failed prophecy of Jesus’ return. Unwilling to admit their mistake in date-setting, the handful of people who morphed into Seventh-day Adventists insisted that the date was right but the event was wrong. The rest is history which we all know.
Using the strange and gospel-denying doctrine of the investigative judgment, sometimes referred to now as the sanctuary doctrine, Adventists established a new religion based not only on their unbiblical investigative judgment doctrine but also on their anti-trinitarian, Arian views. This religion was rooted in heresies, not in the apostolic gospel. The fact that it has morphed externally over the years does not negate the toxic nature of Adventist beliefs.
In spite of the religion’s attempts to clean up their language and to accommodate Christian beliefs, they still hold to an unbiblical view of the nature of man, of the nature of the Trinity, of the position of the law, and they honor a false prophet.
This lesson lacks power and revelation because it approaches the subject of Deuteronomy and its use in Israel from an Adventist-centric position instead of seeing that God is at the heart of Scripture.
The story of Israel and the covenant statement in Deuteronomy that governed the nation is ultimately about the revelation of our sovereign God, and it foreshadows the coming Messiah and the coming new covenant which would be a completely NEW covenant.
The lesson never hints at these realities. †
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Jesus said ” Until John the Baptist began to preach , the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides ” [ Luke 16 : 16 NLT ] . The Old Testament consisted of two parts : the laws of Moses : Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy . Genesis was written before the law and is a book of generations . The second part of the Old Testament is called the messages of the prophets : Judges to Malachi . John the Baptist was the last prophet . The laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets lasted until John the Baptist .
John the Baptist’s ministry was the dividing line between the Old and New Testaments [ John 1 : 15 – 18 ] . With the arrival of Jesus came the realization of all the prophets hopes . Jesus emphasized that his Kingdom fulfilled the law [ the Old Testament ] ; it did not cancel it ” Don’t misunderstand why I have come . I did not come to abolish the Law of Moses or the writings of the prophets . No , I came to accomplish their purpose . “[ Matthew 5 : 17 ] .
Now that Christ has come , Hebrews 1 : 1,2 says ” Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets . BUT now in these final days he has spoken to us through his Son ”
God doesn’t speak through the prophets any more nor does He speak through Moses . Today God speaks to us through Christ .
The lesson author on Tuesday says ” Paul was not speaking against the law and certainly nothing in this passage could justify breaking the Sabbath commandment . The key can be found in Galatians 3:10 , where he writes that ‘ all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse ‘ [ NIV ] ,and then he quotes Deuteronomy 27:26 . The issue isn’t obedience to the law , but relying on the law . ”
Here is Deuteronomy 27:26 from the NIV ” Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by CARRYING THEM OUT . ” The issue is obedience to the law , not relying on the law .
Whether it is obedience to the law , or relying on the law or depending on the law , all belong to the works – of – the – law camp . SDA’s are in this camp . This quarters lesson pamphlet screams obedience . The result is that the blood of the Son of God is spurned , trampled , profaned and insulted .
” Those who belong to the works – of – the – law camp are under a curse . Yes that’s what the Bible say’s : ‘ Cursed is everyone who doesn’t stick fast by everything written in the book of the law , to perform
it ‘ . But , because nobody is justified before God in the law , it’s clear that the righteous shall live by faith . The law , however , is not by faith : rather ‘the one who does them shall live in them . ”
[ Galatians 3 : 10,11 The Bible for Everyone ] .