Daily Lesson for Tuesday 17th of March 2026

People today sometimes bring up slavery as a way to relegate some of the Bible’s counsels to the past, if not to discredit Scripture entirely. But, ironically, this takes little to no account of the historical contexts within Old Testament Israel and the New Testament church. Human beings are made in God’s image and, like all of God’s intelligent beings, are designed for freedom. Mosaic laws prohibited Israelites from being perpetual slaves (Deuteronomy 15:12) and stipulated six years as the maximum term of service to pay off financial indebtedness (Exodus 21:2-6, Leviticus 25:39-43). The slavery in the Bible, however repugnant to our modern sense, was not normally like the abominable practices of slavery that have been seen in the Western world, which was a scourge and horrific crime against humanity.

Image © John Baker at Goodsalt.com

In New Testament times, the church had to operate within the framework of Roman law, which provided for owning slaves: “But, unlike modern forms of slavery, Roman law afforded slaves considerable rights and opportunities, and attempting to overturn the practice could have threatened the advancement of the gospel.”—Clinton Wahlen, “Culture, Hermeneutics, and Scripture: Discerning What Is Universal,” in Frank M. Hasel, ed., Biblical Hermeneutics: An Adventist Approach (Silver Spring, MD: Biblical Research Institute/Review and Herald Academic, 2020), p. 166.

In fact, within the church, unlike more generally within the Roman Empire, the slave’s first obligation was to the Lord. And their masters were instructed to treat them fairly, “knowing that you also have a Master in heaven” (Colossians 4:1, NKJV). Moreover, Paul instructed Philemon not to treat Onesimus any longer as his slave but as his brother (Philemon 1:16). Actually, in both the Old and New Testaments, believers are called slaves (or servants) of God (see, for example, Psalms 34:22, Luke 17:10, 1 Peter 2:16).

Even if we don’t like the cultural circumstances in which some Bible texts were written, we still must accept the authority of the text itself. Otherwise, we have placed ourselves and our culture above Scripture. The better option is to look at everything the Bible says about a topic before reaching a conclusion about what the Bible is telling us about it.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/26a-12-work-relations/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=26a-12-work-relations

The great lesson we learn from dear Paul this quarter is that we are to 
Stand Up! Stand Up For Jesus! – Hymn 618. This is a beautiful theme hymn to give us a great reminder of what we need in our world that is falling apart these days.

We are encouraged this week in sharing and living together in wonderful harmony as families, and as a Church. Sunday starts off with how a family can gain the most happiness as we also find in 
Happy The Home – Hymn 655 and 
Happy The Home That Welcomes You – Hymn 651.

Please continue to search the scriptures this week to be blessed, and to bless others.

To learn unknown hymns, you will find the accompaniment music for each one at: https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/

Another great resource is for when there is a hymn you wish to sing but can’t find it in your hymnal. Go to https://www.sdahymnal.org/Search and in the search bar type a special word in that is in the hymn. I am sure you will be amazed at the help you will be given.

 2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/12-living-with-each-other-singing-with-inspiration/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=12-living-with-each-other-singing-with-inspiration