Daily Lesson for Sunday 21st of December 2025

“Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God” (Joshua 24:1, NKJV).

Shechem was the place where Abraham had built an altar upon his arrival in the land and where God first gave him the promise of the land (Genesis 12:6-7). Now, when the promises given to Abraham have been fulfilled,

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Israel renews the covenant with God at the very place where the first promise had been given. The appeal of Joshua recalls the words of Jacob to “ ‘put away the foreign gods which are among you’ ” (Joshua 24:23, NKJV; compare with Genesis 35:2-4). The geography of the event in and of itself conveys the call to demonstrate undivided loyalty to the Lord, rejecting all other “gods.”

God is the main subject of the reviewed past: “I took,” “I gave,” “I sent,” “I plagued,” “I did,” “I brought you out,” “I delivered you,” and so on. Israel is not the main protagonist of the narrative but rather its object. It is God who created Israel. Had not God intervened in the life of Abraham, they would have been serving the same idols. Israel’s existence as a nation is not the merit of any of its ancestors but the exclusive work of God’s grace. The fact that the Israelites are settled in the land is not a ground for boasting but the very reason why they should serve God.

The Lord’s speech contains a shift that occurs five times between “you” and “they” (the fathers). The fathers and this generation at Shechem are treated as one. Joshua is seeking to show what Moses affirmed already in Deuteronomy 5:3, that the Lord did not make the covenant only with the fathers but with all those present at the moment of Joshua’s speech. The vast majority there now had not experienced the Exodus. Not “all” of them were at Horeb. Yet, Joshua says that all of them were there. In short, the lessons of the past must be appropriated by each new generation. The God who worked for the ancestors in the past is ready to act on behalf of the present generation.

<–Sabbath Monday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25d-13-you-were-there/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=25d-13-you-were-there

Daily Lesson for Sabbath 20th of December 2025

Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: Joshua 24:1-33; Genesis 12:7; Deuteronomy 17:19; Deuteronomy 5:6; 1 Kings 11:2,4,9; 2 Timothy 4:7-8.

Memory Text: “ ‘And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. . . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’ ” (Joshua 24:15, NKJV).

The final chapter of Joshua is set in the context of a covenant renewal ceremony, but this time conducted by the aged leader of Israel. Although not a covenant itself but rather a report of a covenant renewal ceremony, the chapter has the elements of ancient Near Eastern suzerainty treaties: (1) a preamble in which the suzerain, the initiator of the treaty, is identified; (2) the historical prologue, which describes the relationship between the overlord and the vassal; (3) the covenant stipulations asking the vassal to manifest total allegiance to the suzerain based on, and motivated by, gratitude; (4) blessings for obedience and curses for breaking the covenant; (5) witnesses to the pledge of the vassal; (6) deposition of the document for future reading; and (7) ratification of the covenant.

Joshua is close to the end of his life; no replacement is on the horizon. The covenant renewal is a reminder to the Israelites that their king is Yahweh Himself and that, if they remain loyal to Him, they will enjoy His protection. Israel does not need a human king. As a theocratic nation, they have to ever keep in mind that their only king is the Lord.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 27.

Sunday–>

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25d-13-choose-this-day/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=25d-13-choose-this-day

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.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/mission-spotlight-for-december-20-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mission-spotlight-for-december-20-2

Inside Story for Friday 19th of December 2025

Kim Sun is associate director of the 1000 Missionary Movement, whose headquarters in Silang, Philippines, were constructed with the help of a 1996 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Read the rest of the story next week.

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The woman didn’t want any help when Kim Sun arrived at her house at the regularly scheduled time.

“Why?” asked Sun, a South Korean serving as a missionary in her remote town in the Philippines. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no,” the woman replied. “I want you to take a break. You’ll have more people to help around the neighborhood this afternoon. Here, have some cookies and relax.”

Image © Pacific Press

Sun was touched by the woman’s concern. He had been helping people free of charge since arriving in the town three months earlier. Rather than tell people that he was a missionary, Sun had sought to be their friend and show God’s love. For three months, the townspeople had accepted his help without any thought about him. But now, this woman was expressing care for his well-being. He realized that he had made a first real friend.

But she wasn’t the last. Around the same time, many townspeople began to view Sun as their friend, and they piled him with questions.

“Why are you helping us for free?” said one.

“Where are you from?” said another.

Sun replied that he came from the 1000 Missionary Movement.

“I’m a missionary,” he said. “I want you to know Jesus Christ, so I have been serving you.”

The townspeople were astonished to hear that Sun was a missionary and said, “If you are a missionary, then why don’t you tell us about the Bible?”

“Do you want to study the Bible?” Sun said.

“Yes! Yes!” they replied.

Before long, no one wanted Sun’s help anymore. Everyone was studying the Bible with Sun. A few people didn’t request Bible studies, but they agreed when Sun invited them. After three months of free labor, how could they refuse?

Sun remembered the mistake he made with his parents. As a new Adventist, he had sought to convince his parents to embrace his beliefs for five years and failed miserably. Now, he presented each Bible truth as an expression of God’s love.

He shared the Genesis story of creation. “This is God’s love for you,” he said. He read the parables of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son. “This is God’s love for you,” he said. He spoke about Jesus dying on the cross. “This is God’s love for you,” he said.

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25d-12-inside-story-tell-us-about-the-bible/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=25d-12-inside-story-tell-us-about-the-bible

Daily Lesson for Friday 19th of December 2025

Read Ellen G. White, “The Last Words of Joshua,” Pages 521, 522, in Patriarchs and Prophets.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“Satan deceives many with the plausible theory that God’s love for His people is so great that He will excuse sin in them; he represents that while the threatenings of God’s word are to serve a certain purpose in His moral government, they are never to be literally fulfilled. But in all His dealings with His creatures God has maintained the principles of righteousness by revealing sin in its true character—by demonstrating that its sure result is misery and death. The unconditional pardon of sin never has been, and never will be. Such pardon would show the abandonment of the principles of righteousness, which are the very foundation of the government of God. It would fill the unfallen universe with consternation. God has faithfully pointed out the results of sin, and if these warnings were not true, how could we be sure that His promises would be fulfilled? That so-called benevolence which would set aside justice is not benevolence but weakness.

“God is the life-giver. From the beginning all His laws were ordained to life. But sin broke in upon the order that God had established, and discord followed. So long as sin exists, suffering and death are inevitable. It is only because the Redeemer has borne the curse of sin in our behalf that man can hope to escape, in his own person, its dire results.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 522.

Discussion Questions

<–Thursday

Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25d-12-further-thought-god-is-faithful/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=25d-12-further-thought-god-is-faithful