Key Thought: The weekly Sabbath is a symbol or model of the heavenly rest Jesus will give us.
.September 11, 2021

1. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 4:4-7.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What is the remaining promise of entering His rest referring to?
3. Personal Application: What was the problem with the people referred to in this passage? How can we learn not to get caught up in the same problem? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Why didn’t the Israelites enter into God’s rest? How can we not make the same mistake? What does it mean to have unbelief?” How would you respond to your friend?

2. Have a volunteer read Hebrews 4:8-11.

1. a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
   b. What is the link between not entering rest and disobedience?
   c. Personal Application: How do we harden our hearts today? Is hardening our hearts a form of disobedience? Share your thoughts
   d. Case Study: One of your friends states, “I don’t think Jesus can forgive my sins. He can’t change my heart; I think there is no hope for me.”?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Galatians 3:26-29.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What are the characteristics of God’s post-cross covenant people?
3. Personal Application: Do we tend to major in minors too often? How can we keep our focus on the big picture and not get lost in the trees of the forest? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “Can we be reconciled to God if we are not reconciled to each other? Is there any place for hatred, prejudice, or racism in God’s kingdom or in His church on earth?“ How would you respond to your relative?

4. Have a volunteer read I Corinthians 10:1-11.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What examples do we have from the Israelites in the desert? What makes you think we wouldn’t have acted the same way? Why or why not?
3. Personal Application: How do we focus on the heavenly, when we are deluged with the earthly daily struggles and worries of living? How can we increase our faith?” Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

Amen!(0)

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The Old Testament system of ritual and sacrifices, such as found in Leviticus, offers more examples of what we saw yesterday — Old Testament symbols pointing to New Testament truths. Though modern readers of the Bible often pass over these rituals, they do contain many important spiritual truths that can be of great value to those who study them.

Read the instructions for the sin offering for a regular Israelite in Leviticus 4:32-35. What can we learn from this ritual, even though we don’t have a sanctuary or temple with an altar where we can offer sacrifices for our sins? Connect this ritual with John 1:29 and 1 Peter 1:18-21.

Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com

A ritual is an excellent communicator of important values and information, and it needs to be understood in its context. It usually requires a specific time, a particular location, and a predetermined sequence of actions to be efficacious. Indeed, when we read through the biblical injunctions in the Old Testament regarding sacrifice, it becomes clear that God gave very specific details about what could be sacrificed, and when, where, and what ritual and procedure to follow.

Central to many of the rituals, of course, was blood and the spilling and the sprinkling of blood. This is not pretty, nor was it supposed to be, because it is dealing with the ugliest thing in the universe, and that is sin.

What exact role did the blood play, and why did it have to be put on the horns of the altar? While most of the rituals associated with the sanctuary appear in prescriptive forms (i.e., they give instructions on how to do it), they do not always include all the explanations. Perhaps that’s because the people already understood what it all meant. After all, people in Israel understood the significance of blood (Leviticus 17:11).

The example taken from Leviticus 4:32-35, however, contains an important explanation in Leviticus 4:35: “So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him” (NKJV). Thus, blood was key to the whole process of atonement, the means by which we sinners can be made right with a Holy God. What we see with these sacrifices, then, is a type, a model, of Christ’s death and ministry in our behalf.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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