View an in-depth discussion of Passover in the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris.
Click on the image below to view the video:

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With thanks to Hope Channel – Television that will change your life.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/5-passover-hope-sabbath-school-video-discussion/

Many Christians find comfort in these words from the Psalmist, but may not fully understand Their meaning, 

A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. Psalm 91:7-8 NKJV

I have had people ask me why their loved one died of COVID while claiming this Bible promise. Why does God allow Christians to die in terrorist attacks? Doesn’t this Psalm say a thousand may fall or even ten thousand, but it won’t come near you?

Yes, it does, but it also goes on to say that we will only see the reward of the wicked. COVID as well as terrorist attacks are not a judgment on the wicked. There is a difference between suffering the consequences of sin and suffering the reward of the wicked, or the judgment of the wicked.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

In Matthew 5:45 Jesus tells us that the rain and sunshine fall on both the good and the bad. That is all just a part of life. Well, it’s also a part of our character development. The point is that both rain and sunshine are just the consequences of living in a sinful world, but not a direct judgment. In John 9:2-3 the disciples asked if a certain man was born blind because of his own sin or his parents. For some reason, it just makes us feel better if we assure ourselves that the person suffering somehow deserved it. That way we don’t have to question the mercy and justice of God. But Jesus said the man’s blindness was not a judgment against him or his parents. We live in a sinful world where bad things just happen. Even through all of this, God’s goodness can still be seen, just like Jesus healing the blind man in John 9. 

When COVID first came on the scene someone asked me if this was the beginning of the last plagues in Revelation. I told them no. First of all, no plague describes COVID. Second, the last plagues fall on those who have the mark of the beast. See Revelation 16:2. Right now, no one has the mark of the beast, and therefore no one is currently suffering from any of the 7 last plagues of Revelation. 

Like the plagues in Exodus which fell on the Egyptians but not on any of the Israelites, the 7 last plagues only fall on the wicked. Like the plagues in Exodus, the 7 last plagues are a judgment from God on the wicked. See Revelation 16:7. I was intrigued the other day, when my father pointed out as we studied the Sabbath School lesson over the phone, that in Exodus 9:29, Moses walks out of the city before stopping the hailstorm. This meant that Moses walked through the hailstorm as he left the city, totally unscathed. This is where Psalm 91:7-8 applies. The Psalmist tells us we will not experience the reward of the wicked. While assuring us of God’s protection throughout the Psalms, the Psalmist never promises us that we will not experience any of the consequences of living in a sinful world. The Psalmist only assures us that the righteous will not experience any of the direct judgments of God on the wicked.

Just as Lot and his family were saved from the direct judgments on Sodom and Gomorrah, the righteous will be saved from the direct judgments on the wicked. Amos 3:7 tells us that God does nothing without first telling his prophets, and the direct judgments on the wicked always come with plenty of warning first. Noah preached long before the flood. Jonah warned all of Ninevah. Likewise, in Revelation 14:9-12 God has a people who will warn the world not to take the mark of the beast long before it becomes a test. 

According to Revelation 16:2, the 7 last plagues will only fall on those who have the mark of the beast. This is where the promise of Psalm 91:7-8 applies. Sure, Psalm 91 applies wherever a direct judgment from God occurs. Psalm 91:8 clearly says it is the reward of the wicked that the righteous will not experience. Meanwhile, the sunshine and rain Jesus mentioned in Matthew 5:45, which are not direct judgments on the wicked, happen to both the good and the bad as a part of life. 

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/how-can-psalm-917-8-be-true-while-bad-things-happen-to-righteous-people/

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 30th of July 2025

The psalmist states how our children can know God and His loving care: “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalms 145:4, ESV). One family should speak to another family about God, about His marvelous deeds, and about His teachings, all in order to pass biblical knowledge on to another generation.

Image © Providence Collection at Goodsalt.com

Parents were the first teachers in Israel and were to recount the story of the Exodus to their children. It was not to be told as a past historical event only but to be presented as their own experience, even though it happened a long time ago. By celebrating this festival, they were to identify with their forefathers, and the history was to be relived and actualized. The father would say: “I was in Egypt, I saw the defeat of the Egyptian gods and the plagues on Egypt, and I was set free.” In the book of Exodus, it is twice underlined how parents should answer their children’s questions regarding the Passover (see Deuteronomy 6:6-8 and Exodus 13:14-16).

It is worthwhile to notice that the Israelites were still in Egypt when told to celebrate their liberation from Egypt. The whole celebration, then, was an act of faith. After receiving their directions, “the people bowed down and worshiped” (Exodus 12:27, NIV) their Redeemer, and then they followed the Passover instructions.

In the book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites are reminded to tell their story in such a way that they can internalize it as their own journey. Notice the collective tone of this account as well as the stress on the present experience: “ ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey’ ” (Deuteronomy 26:5-9, NIV).

Also, by recounting and retelling the story of Passover (or any events in sacred history) to their children, parents would be greatly helped in remembering what God had done for them and for the people. Telling it was as much for the speaker as for the hearers.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25c-05-passing-the-torch/