8 December 2021 | In this class I wish to step back a little and look at the big picture before we focus on more specific questions. That is, we will address three or four preliminary points/questions that should be addressed before deciding anything about ecumenism for Adventists. These include: The meaning of salvation in […] Source: https://atoday.org/preliminary-questions-to-ecumenism/
Thursday: Daniel’s Prayer
One of the most famous prayers in all the Old Testament is in Daniel 9. Having learned from reading the prophet Jeremiah that the time of Israel’s “desolations” (Daniel 9:2), seventy years, was soon to be up, Daniel earnestly began praying.
And what a prayer it was — a poignant and tearful supplication in which he confesses his sins and the sins of his people, while at the same time acknowledging God’s justice amid the calamity that had befallen them.
Read Daniel 9:1-19. What themes can you find that are related directly back to the book of Deuteronomy?
Daniel’s prayer is a summary of exactly what the nation had been warned about in Deuteronomy regarding the fruits of not keeping their end of the covenant. Twice Daniel referred back to “the law of Moses” (Daniel 9:11, Daniel 9:13), which certainly included Deuteronomy and, in this case, might have been specifically referring to it.
Image © Review and Herald Publishing collection at GoodSalt.com
As Deuteronomy had said, they were driven from the land (see Deuteronomy 4:27-31 and Deuteronomy 28:1-68) because they didn’t obey, exactly what Moses (Deuteronomy 31:29) had been told would happen.
How tragic, too, that instead of the nations around them saying, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deuteronomy 4:6), Israel became a “reproach” (Daniel 9:16) to those same nations.
In all of Daniel’s tears and supplications, he never asks the common question that so many ask when disaster strikes: “Why?” He never asks because, thanks to the book of Deuteronomy, he knows exactly why all these things happened. In other words, Deuteronomy gave Daniel (and other exiles) a context in which to understand that the evil that came upon them wasn’t just blind fate, blind chance, but the fruits of their disobedience, exactly what they had been warned about.
But, and perhaps more important, Daniel’s prayer expressed the reality that despite these events, there was hope. God had not abandoned them, no matter how much it might have seemed that way. Deuteronomy provided not only a context for understanding their situation, but it also pointed to the promise of restoration, as well.
| Read Daniel 9:24-27, the prophecy of Jesus and His death on the cross. Why would this prophecy be given to Daniel (and to the rest of us) in the context of Israel’s exile and the promise of return? |
Amen!
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The Fall 2021 Adventist Today magazine was a blessing!
8 December 2021 | Dear Editor, I very much enjoyed the Fall 2021 issue of Adventist Today! Every article contributed to my better understanding of how we should read the Bible. In the lead article, I was especially impressed with Loren’s insistence that those parts of the Bible that seem to show God as vengeful […] Source: https://atoday.org/thank-you-for-the-fall-2021-adventist-today-magazine/
There Is Nothing Too Hard for Thee
Ah Lord God! Behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee. Jeremiah 32:17.
As the earth came forth from the hand of its Maker, it was exceedingly beautiful. Its surface was diversified with mountains, hills, and plains, interspersed with noble rivers and lovely lakes; but the hills and mountains were not abrupt and rugged, abounding in terrific steeps and frightful chasms, as they now do; the sharp, ragged edges of earth’s rocky framework were buried beneath the fruitful soil, which everywhere produced a luxuriant growth of verdure. There were no loathsome swamps nor barren deserts. Graceful shrubs and delicate flowers greeted the eye at every turn. The heights were crowned with trees more majestic than any that now exist. The air, untainted by foul miasm, was clear and healthful….
After the earth with its teeming animal and vegetable life had been called into existence, man, the crowning work of the Creator, and the one for whom the beautiful earth had been fitted up, was brought upon the stage of action…. Here is clearly set forth the origin of the human race; and the divine record is so plainly stated that there is no occasion for erroneous conclusions…. He who set the starry worlds on high, and tinted with delicate skill the flowers of the field, who filled the earth and the heavens with the wonders of His power, when he came to crown His glorious work, to place one in the midst to stand as ruler of the fair earth, did not fail to create a being worthy of the hand that gave Him life…. Though formed from the dust, Adam was “the son of God.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, 44.
With God at Dawn p. 344
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for E for God’s guidance and protection. R
—-I have eyelid surgery on Wednesday morning and could use the prayers for a successful outcome. David
— my friend Joanne is in the hospital with this second kind of COVID she is 58 years old. She is on a ventilator and is getting weaker… The doctors are saying she might not make it. I am asking for mighty prayers for her. Maryanne
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Dear Friends,
Yesterday, I wrote about the eight baby hamsters that Ronnie Jay had so many years ago. Their lives were full of object lessons. What busy little rodents they were! While one was on his tiptoes getting a drink from the water bottle, others were running in the wheel. Some were wrestling; still others were foraging around looking for something to eat or just exploring their surroundings. It was so much fun watching their antics! One time, after we cleaned out their cage, I laid my hand on the freshly changed pine shavings to get them used to me and to see what they would do. Immediately, four of them came over to investigate. After smelling my fingers all over, one of them tried to take a bite. He didn’t hurt me, he was just tasting me to see if I was edible. I withdrew my hand rather quickly, before he decided he liked the taste!
Think of it. If those little creatures give us so much pleasure, think how much enjoyment we will have when interacting with all of God’s creatures when sin and sinners are no more. Isaiah speaks of that grand and glorious day. “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. . . .And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Isa 65:17-24; 11:6-9;
What delights await us when we will experience the time John foresaw, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Rev 21:1-4
May we all be there is my prayer.
Rose
Source: https://rosesdevotional.org/there-is-nothing-too-hard-for-thee.html
UK Ghanaian Adventists Virtual Day of Fellowship
The biannual gathering of the Ghanaian Adventist Congregations in UK (GAC-UK) – made up of 18 organised churches and 2 church plants – was halted by the devastating effects of Covid-19. However, on Sabbath 6 November, 2021 the first ever virtual GA-UK day of fellowship was held under the theme ‘Rebuilding and Reconnecting’. Speaking at the event as guests of honour, Dr Emmanuel Osei (South England Conference President) praised God for the numerical growth and financial contributions of the…Source: https://adventist.uk/news/article/go/2021-12-08/1022/
