11 October 2021 | Is Ernie Knoll a new prophet approved by our church? He claims to have dreams from God. Signed, Searcher Dear Searcher: Ernie Knoll appeared on the Adventist scene about fifteen years ago, with some spectacular claims to divine messages. His initial presentations were pretty much typical Adventist end-time warnings and instructions […] Source: https://atoday.org/is-ernie-knoll-our-churchs-new-prophet/
Wednesday: His Special People
It’s hard for us today to grasp much of what the ancient world was like at the time in which Israel was wandering the wilderness. If whole empires have come and gone, with only ruins (if that) remaining, what can we know of many of the smaller pagan nations that lived in the same area as Israel did?
Not a whole lot, but we do know one thing: these people were steeped in paganism, polytheism, and some utterly degrading practices, which included child sacrifice. Try to imagine just how degrading and evil a culture and a religion would be that would do that to their own children, and do so in the name of some god!
Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com
No wonder, over and over, all through the history of ancient Israel, the Lord had warned His people against following the practices of the nations around them. “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations” (Deuteronomy 18:9).
And that’s because God had called out this nation for a special purpose. By having entered into the covenant with God, they were to be a special people, a witness to the world of the God who created the heaven and the earth — the only God.
Read Deuteronomy 26:16-19. How is the covenant relationship between God and Israel summed up in these verses? How should their faithfulness to the covenant be manifested in the kind of people they were to become? What lessons can we take from there for ourselves, as well?
How fascinating that Moses begins these four verses with the words “this day,” as in right now, again, God commands you to do these things (Moses repeats the idea in verse 17). He had been commanding them all along to do these things. It’s as if he is telling them they need to commit at this very moment, again, to be the faithful, holy, and special people that is truly the central reason for their existence as the covenant nation. They were the only nation, as a nation, who knew the true God and knew the truth about this God and how He wanted people to live. In a real sense, they not only had “present truth” but they were, in their own way, to embody that truth until Jesus, “the Truth” Himself (John 14:6), was to come.
| Why is the idea of “this day” committing to God and to His covenant requirements relevant even to us, “this day”? |
Amen!
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#GCAC21: Less Money, More Problems — Day 2 of Annual Council Is a Biggie
The agenda item that attracted the most attention at the second business meeting of the Annual Council had to be “Theological Issues Facing the Church,” which generated a flurry of activity and responses on Twitter. Also of interest: Church finances — not great, but could have been way worse, according to presenters. To watch the […] Source: https://atoday.org/gcac21-less-money-more-problems-day-2-of-annual-council-is-a-biggie/
Constancy in Service
Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God. 1 Corinthians 7:24.
God’s servants are to put on every piece of the Christian armor. We are not wrestling simply with human foes. God calls upon every Christian to enter the warfare, and fight under His leadership, depending for success on the grace and help of Heaven. We are to go forward in the strength of the Mighty One. Never are we to yield to Satan’s attacks. Why should not we, as Christian warriors, stand against principalities and powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world? God calls upon us to press forward, using the gifts entrusted to us. Satan will place temptation before us. He will try to overcome us by stratagem. But in the strength of God we are to stand firm as a rock to principle.
In this warfare there is no release. Satan’s agents never pause in their work of destruction. Those who are in Christ’s service must watch every outpost. Our object is to save perishing souls from ruin. This is a work of infinite greatness, and man can not hope to obtain success in it, unless he unites with the divine Worker.
From eternity Christ has been man’s Redeemer. Ever since the fall there has come to those uniting with Him in His great work, the word, “Be not weary in well-doing.” …
The Christian is encouraged to show patient perseverance in carrying forward the work of the gospel ministry, in connection with the medical missionary work. As he gains an experience in genuine religion, he obtains a spiritual knowledge that makes character.
The life of a true Christian is one continuous round of service.—Testimonies for the Church 9:219, 220.
With God at Dawn p. 286
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Prayer Reequests
—-Please pray for Larry who has just had a stroke. Pray for Mike and Eileen as well. Rose
—-Please be in prayer for my friend Jenny. Her parent’s are both down with the virus and are suffering some heart complications. Her dad was able to come home from hospital but must be on a heart monitor. Her mom is still in the hospital due to heart monitors and diabetes complications. They are giving her a timeframe to get better, otherwise she will be put on the ventilator. This is hard becasue Jenny can’t even help with her dad because her daughter Maya is so medically fragile and can’t risk any exposure. Jennifer
—-Please pray for David that he will be healed mental and spiritually. Buck
—-Update: BJ is doing better, and trying to build back his strength. Keep him in your prayers, because now he has to get his business back on track, while still gaining strength. Jana
—-Please pray for my sister, Karen. She was taken to the hospital with chest pain. She is having a stress test today to see if they can determine the cause. Kay
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Tuesday: The Book of the Covenant
Though the idea of covenant (berit in Hebrew), to describe God’s relationship with His people, is found all through the Bible, this word appears so often in Deuteronomy that Deuteronomy has been called “The Book of the Covenant.”
Look at Deuteronomy 5:1-21. What is happening here that helps to show how central the idea of covenant (berit) is to the book of Deuteronomy?
Image © Jeff Preston at Goodsalt.com
Not long after the children of Israel were redeemed from Egypt, God established the covenant with them, at Sinai, just before they were supposed to enter the Promised Land. Then, after a 40-year detour, just before they are again to enter the Promised Land, which was a central part of the covenantal promise (see Genesis 12:7, Exodus 12:25), through the mouthpiece of Moses, the Lord again gives them the Ten Commandments, a way to re-emphasize just how important it was for them to renew their covenant obligations, as well.
Yes, the Lord was going to fulfill His covenantal promises to them. Now, though, they are obligated to uphold their end of the deal: “So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone” (Deuteronomy 4:13). He did it at Sinai, and now He was doing it again, in Moab, just before they were to take the land promised to them through the promise made to the fathers centuries earlier, a manifestation of the “everlasting covenant” that preceded even the existence of the world.
“Before the foundations of the earth were laid, the Father and the Son had united in a covenant to redeem man if he should be overcome by Satan. They had clasped Their hands in a solemn pledge that Christ should become the surety for the human race.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 834.
Read Deuteronomy 5:3. How do we make sense of this verse?
What was Moses saying to them? Most likely Moses was emphasizing the fact that their fathers were now gone, and the wonderful covenantal promises made to the fathers were now being made to them. This could have been Moses’ way of letting them know that they should not mess up, as the previous generation had done. The promises (and obligations) are now theirs.
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