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 6: “From Arrogance to Destruction”
This week, we read the story of Belshazzar and the night his kingdom was lost to him and turned over to the Medes and Persians. The whole tenor of the story is nicely summed up in this from the lesson:
In Daniel 5, the Word of God gives us a powerful example of human hubris that ends in a stunning and dramatic way.
Hubris—exaggerated pride or self-confidence—is a good description of this pagan ruler. It seems likely that he knew of Daniel and at least knew about Daniel’s God, yet he continued in his own human pride, certain that nothing could defeat his mighty kingdom.
But God had other plans, and He had allowed this particular wickedness it to go on long enough.
This is a good object lesson for us; God is patient and long-suffering and doesn’t want anyone to be lost (2 Peter 3:9), but there is a limit to that patience.
This thought is stated farther down in the lesson:
In other words, by means of false doctrines and a distorted worship system, modern Babylon lures the world into evil (Rev. 17:4–6), oblivious to the judgment that will soon fall upon her. One day judgment will come.
As we observe the signs of the times, we can see that the end is very near. Now is the time to accept Jesus as your Savior, before it is too late. It is time to trust Him for your salvation and refrain from adding your own works to the process instead of trusting Him to save you. When you think that you have to add your works to keep yourself saved, you show that you don’t trust God to save you.
But Hebrews 7 tells us something different from the Adventist message; it sets forth the Lord Jesus as the guarantor of our salvation. After verse 18 tells us that the “former commandment” is set aside because it is “weak and useless”, it goes on to say in verse 25:
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
God saves us forever (some versions say “to the utmost”) and is able to keep us saved.
Most of this week’s lesson is an overview of the story, but there are a few things that need thoughtful discussion. For example, there is an interesting question at the end of Sunday’s lesson:
What are ways in which our society and culture profane the truth of God’s Word? How can we be careful not to take part in that profanation, even in subtle ways?
While none of us would likely dispute the thought that societies and cultures profane God’s truths, there is a much more serious, often subtle problem. Many churches and professed Christians also profane God’s truths by substituting their own doctrines for the clear word of God.
When the plain truth of the Bible is altered to fit pre-conceived ideas, God’s truth is profaned. When ideas, beliefs, and practices are added to the Bible to accommodate our preferences, God’s truth is profaned.
When the Bible is re-written to accommodate a set of doctrines, God’s truth and His Holy Word are profaned.
When we try to exclude other Christians from the Family of God because they believe and worship differently than the way we do things, God’s truth is profaned.
There is another statement in the lesson that is very true, but it may also be very dangerous if it is understood from a false understanding of Scripture and of revelation:
Some truths are too important to be left for humans to try to figure out for themselves. That’s why God, instead, reveals these truths to us.
“Some truths” would better be called “all of God’s truths”. This statement may be worded this way in the lesson as subtle attempt to separate Adventist “truths” from that of other Christians. And saying that God reveals these truths to us can be taken to mean that anything someone claims to hear from God is thus “revealed” to us. However, any revealed truth that does not line up with the Bible cannot be God’s truth.
Yes, God does reveal His truths to us. He does that with the Bible and through the action of the Holy Spirit:
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come (John 16:13).
The Bible is God’s full revelation of His truths, and nothing more needs to be added to it. This is made quite clear in Jude 3 which says:
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.
God’s revelation to us, His Holy Word, didn’t stop before all that we need to know was written. It takes the Holy Spirit to teach us and to reveal His truths to us, but nothing more needs to be added to it. From first to last, it is all there in the Bible. Even though those truths are so simple a child can understand, they are also so profound that a lifetime of study will never exhaust the truths He has for us.
In other words, there isn’t one “truth” for the past and a different “truth” for those of us in the last days. If God is truly the same yesterday, today and forever, then His plan of salvation does not change for the last generation on earth. Even before the cross, salvation was still by faith—faith in what was promised to come. After the cross, it is by faith in Jesus, not our works. And for the last generation, it is still the same—salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus alone.
Changing the terms of salvation for this last generation is an attempt to change the very Word of God. In fact, the very end of the Bible, Revelation 22:18 has a very clear warning:
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book…
While some believe that that warning, and the one following that in verse 19, apply only to the book of Revelation, it is clear that it applies to all of God’s Word.
Every Word of God is pure. Do not add to His words, lest He reprove you, and you be found a liar (Prov. 30:5–6).
From the lesson:
What opportunities do we have to become “acquainted with truth”? What does that mean? At what point can we say that we are acquainted with all the truth that we need to know?
The Bible has all the truth we need for salvation; apart from that, no other “truths” are necessary. But when you think you have “the Truth” it is too easy to fall into the habit of thinking that unless others believe as you do, they don’t have truth at all—or at least not enough truth to save them.
That sort of thinking teaches that God didn’t include enough information in the Bible to save us. This idea denies the plain, straightforward statement of Jude 3 which tells us that the gospel was given in its entirety with nothing else needed to improve it or to correct it or to make it better.
The Bible is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16) which means it is true; God cannot lie (Num 23:19), and the Bible can be believed to be true with no error.
Instead of building a house of cards with additions to the Bible, how much better to take it at its basic, simple, complete meaning. God wanted us to have all we need to know for salvation so He would not have made it complicated and impossible to grasp.
Even a child can understand it, sometimes more easily than adults who, with their greater experience and learning, think that the simple gospel is too simple and easy and must somehow be made more difficult.
But it is a very simple message:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
Let’s meditate on this verse. It is probably one of the first verses we all learned, but, sadly, it is also one of the easiest to forget in all its simplicity. †
- October 9–15 - October 7, 2021
- October 2–9 - September 30, 2021
- September 25–October 1 - September 23, 2021
Jeanie,
Thanks for this weeks commentary. Two questions.
1. From your comments, I gathered that you may subscribe to the “once saved, always saved” doctrine? Is this accurate? If so, how does “truth” meaning what we know God tells us in scripture and the Holy Spirit differ based on individual’s interpretation of the Bible? This debate has existed for a long time, but I wanted to get your thoughts on it.
2. You state that God’s truth are “simple” and easy for a child to understand. Yet, all we need to do is ask God to “reveal” them to us and not add anything to it. It seems to me that this line of thinking suggests that if we all (professed Christians) did this then there would be only one Christian church rather than multiple denominations and sects. Is that what you believe would happen?
Thanks again,
Adrian
Adrian,
Thank you for your questions.
In answer to your first one, once saved/always saved, I can only rely on what the Bible says.
For instance, in John 10:27, 28 Jesus said that no one can snatch us out of His hands, or out of the Father’s hands. That has to include us as we are ‘someone’.
Then, in John 6, Jesus said this:
39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.
Notice that He said that it is the will of the Father that Jesus will lose none of those who come to Him and He promises that He will raise up all of them.
If we can’t take Him at His word, we have no hope at all.
One problem people have with not accepting that they are safe with Jesus is that verses are taken out of context or are just disbelieved. It is almost ‘too easy’ for many to believe. Many people want to add their works to keep themselves saved but Ephesians 2:8, 9 emphasize the point that working after the fact is no different than working before the fact to ‘earn’ salvation. If we could do that we would have something about which to boast.
There is a principle of Bible interpretation that says that when you form your theology, you should base it on the clear, obvious texts. Then, when some other, more obscure texts seem to disagree, look for the context of those. Obviously, there are some places where thoughtful, educated people will disagree but there is so many plain, obvious statements about our security that to deny them requires us to call God a liar in other verses.
Your second question is one that has puzzled many people. First of all, the basic, simple truth of salvation by a loving God is just that—so simple that even a child can understand it. Going beyond basic salvation, however, as we get deeper into God’s truths, we can never understand all of it as we are constantly searching and learning new depths. In this we need the teaching of the Holy Spirit to guide us and to help us to understand.
As the Holy Spirit leads and teaches, we learn more and more of what the Bible tells us. It is unfortunate, as you mentioned, that here is where denominations tend to stray and develop their own unique doctrines. Sometimes it is in an effort to be different from others and sometimes it is because they are not really listening to the Spirit but are following their own clever ideas.
In answer to the final question you asked, if all of us would let God teach and guide us, then no, I don’t think there would be so many different denominations, each one claiming to be the only right one. That is a reflection of man’s thinking, not God’s.
I hope I have answered your questions to your satisfaction. If not, please let me know. I welcome discussion as long as we base our ideas and conclusions on what the Bible says, not our own opinions or those of others. We can benefit greatly from Christian writers, but we must always use discernment to be sure the author is staying true to the Bible.
In Christ
Jeanie