Daily Lesson for Sunday 10th of August 2025

In biblical narratives, different roles are played by different characters, good or bad, and we need to pay close attention to plots, places, timing, and villains. However, the most important point in a storyline is usually the solution and the lessons learned. It’s no different in these accounts.

As the episodes show, God is the Problem Solver and the Peacemaker; however, His work is complicated by people’s unbelief. As a result of their constant murmuring and disobedience, the Hebrews experienced serious complications, even tragedies. They brought upon themselves many difficulties because of their incredulity and unrepentance.

Image © Providence Collection at Goodsalt.com

The first test of Israel’s faith is associated with the need for water, not surprising given the harsh, hot, and dry desert environment. After three days of traveling, the people finally found water, but it was undrinkable. Marah means “bitter,” and because the water was bitter, Israel’s faith in their caring Lord quickly floundered. However, God reacted with compassion, and the first miracle was performed with a piece of wood. Of course, it was not the wood but the Lord who made the water sweet and drinkable. The people had to learn important lessons: (1) patience in waiting for the Lord’s timing, and (2) that God does things in co­operation with humans.

However, the children of Israel took so many things for granted and quickly forgot the great miracles that God had done for them—miracles for which they had just so passionately sung praises to Him, declaring: “ ‘Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?’ ” (Exodus 15:11, ESV).

And yet, even after their grumbling, God promised that He would not bring upon the Israelites “any of the diseases” (Exodus 15:26, NIV) that had plagued the Egyptians. He would protect them. They could expe­rience this promise only on the condition that they stayed faithful to Him.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25c-07-bitter-waters/

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 9th of August 2025

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: Exodus 15:22-27; Exodus 16:1-36, Genesis 3:1-6, Exodus 17:1-7, 1 Corinthians 10:4, Exodus 18:1-27, 1 Corinthians 10:11.

Memory Text:

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws? See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.’ So the people rested on the seventh day” (Exodus 16:28-30, NKJV).

After leaving Egypt, Israel was on an unknown journey to the Promised Land. The people faced a demanding and long trek, and they needed to learn a multitude of new lessons. The Lord would lead and care for them; and, yes, He desired to help them grow, but they must learn discipline, self-control, sacrifice, unselfishness, trust in the Lord, and especially obedience.

Moses was a visible leader, and the people had to follow him and his leadership if they were to triumph. It was crucial for them to stay together, to cooperate as a community, and to assist each other. There were many hindrances and challenges ahead. So much of their spiritual growth would depend on how they met those challenges and how they responded to Moses, especially when the challenges became great.

The familiar Chinese saying that “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” was true in their situation, and they needed to trust the Lord’s directions with every footstep. Tragically, as we will see, they didn’t learn those lessons so easily.

But then again, who does?

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 16.

Sunday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25c-07-the-bread-and-water-of-life/

Our Sabbath School program has always been linked to the support of the Seventh-day Adventist Mission program. This video provides a little insight into this important work.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-august-9/

Inside Story for Friday 8th of August 2025

By Andrew McChesney

Dmitry Bagal, a Russian missionary living in Germany, found a hospital to be an unexpected mission field while receiving cancer treatment for what turned out to be three benign tumors. He saw people from all walks of life—especially secular and post-Christian people, and people from non-Christian world religions—struggling over tough questions about God.

Image © Pacific Press

One patient received six rounds of chemotherapy and underwent an operation at the Munich hospital. But when his cancer returned after six weeks, the doctor saw no point in removing it again. The man couldn’t think clearly and barely recognized his wife. Her only desire, meanwhile, was to stay with her husband during his last days in the palliative-care unit. At an opportune moment, Dmitry gave the wife a booklet about God and suffering, and he prayed with the couple. The prayer moved the wife to tears.

Later that day, Dmitry gave the woman copies of The Great Controversy and The Desire of Ages, saying the books have provided great comfort to him and many others. The woman wanted the books—but not for free. She gave him 14 euros (U.S.$15), all the change in her purse. Dmitry believes that the two will meet again, if not on this Earth, then on the new earth.

Dmitry also met a young man hospitalized with an unknown illness. The man, who was from Iran, had given up his studies in Britain and flown to Germany for treatment. Doctors, however, couldn’t diagnose his illness. He couldn’t walk, so Dmitry pushed him around the hospital grounds in a wheelchair nearly every day. Even though he hadn’t been raised Christian, he allowed Dmitry to pray to Jesus on his behalf. As Dmitry prayed day after day, the young man began to recover. Before long, he could stand and walk with assistance. The two conversed in German, but because the young man had studied in Britain, Dmitry gave him an English copy of The Great Controversy. Months later, Dmitry was still praying for him, treasuring the words, “But remember that you do not know and cannot measure the result of faithful effort” (Ellen G. White, Colporteur Ministry, p. 114).

During two weeks in the hospital, Dmitry gave away 20 copies of The Great Controversy as well as other books; distributed many business cards with QR codes to download the book; and stocked about 10 of the hospital’s public bookshelves with books.

“Many seeds have been sown, and I pray that they will bear fruit,” he said. “We work under God’s guidance and leave the results to Him.”

This Inside Story illustrates Mission Objective No. 2 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s “I Will Go” strategic plan: “To strengthen and diversify Adventist outreach … among unreached and under-reached people groups, and to non-Christian religions.” Read more at IWillGo.org.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25c-06-inside-story-special-mission-hospital/

Daily Lesson for Friday 8th of August 2025

Read Ellen G. White, “The Exodus,” Pages 281–290, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

God was for the Israelites despite their little faith. He wished to teach and guide them in how to think and behave as His chosen people. God led them patiently and directed them to a location where they would encounter fewer challenges. Ellen G. White explains: “The Israelites . . . had little knowledge of God and little faith in Him, and they would have become terrified and disheartened. They were unarmed and unaccustomed to war, their spirits were depressed by long bondage, and they were encumbered with women and children, flocks and herds. In leading them by the way of the Red Sea, the Lord revealed Himself as a God of compassion as well as of judgment.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 282.

Talking about the Song of Moses, the Andrews Bible Commentary says: “The certainty of this redemptive act of God in history assures us that we have nothing to fear for the future. The last stanza focuses on future enemies who would be faced in conquest of Canaan. Because of God’s powerful ‘arm,’ they would be ‘as still as a stone’ (v. 16). When we face certain impossibilities, when we feel cornered and do not know which way to turn, we can find assurance in ‘The Song of Moses,’ for it commemorates a great event in the history of God’s people.”—Andrews Bible Commentary, “Exodus” (Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 2020), p. 214.

Discussion Questions

<–Thursday

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25c-06-further-thought-through-the-red-sea/