Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 10 – Rules of Engagement. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/rules-of-engagement-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/

Daily Lesson for Thursday 6th of March 2025

The cosmic conflict is primarily a dispute over God’s character, caused by the devil’s slanderous allegations against God’s goodness, justice, and government. It is a kind of cosmic covenant lawsuit.

Such a conflict cannot be settled by sheer power but, instead, requires demonstration.

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

If serious allegations are brought against a person in power, the best (and maybe only) way to defeat the allegations would be to allow for a free, fair, and open investigation. If the allegations threaten the entire government (of love), they cannot simply be swept under the rug.

What does all this mean for understanding the cosmic conflict and relating to the problem of evil? If God makes a promise, would He ever break it? Of course not. Insofar as God agrees to rules of engagement, His future action would be (morally) limited. As such, evil will fall within the temporary domain of the kingdom of darkness.

In both these narratives, some limits or rules of engagement seem to be in place, dynamically related to such things as faith and prayer. Elsewhere we see abundant evidence that prayer makes a difference in this world, opening up avenues for divine action that otherwise might not be (morally) available. However, we should not make the mistake of thinking that faith and prayer are the only factors. There are likely many other factors of which we might be unaware.

This fits with what we’ve seen previously about rules of engagement. As we said, there are ceratin rules of engagement in the great controversy that limit what God can morally do, at least for now.

<–Wednesday Friday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-10-limits-and-rules/

Join It Is Written Sabbath School host Eric Flickinger and this quarter’s author, John C. Peckham, as they provide additional insights into this week’s Sabbath School lesson.”

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/10-rules-of-engagement-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

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

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

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/10-rules-of-engagement-hope-sabbath-school-video-discussion/

Daily Lesson for Wednesday 5th of March 2025

We have seen in previous lessons that, within the cosmic conflict, Satan and his cohorts are temporarily granted significant jurisdiction in this world, limited according to some kind of rules of engagement.

These rules of engagement limit not only the actions of the enemy—the devil and his cohorts—but they also limit God’s action to eliminate or mitigate the evil that (temporarily) falls within the jurisdiction of the enemy. Because the Lord will never break His promises, to the extent He has agreed to the rules of engagement—thus affording some limited and temporary rulership to the devil—God has morally limited His future course of action (without lessening His raw power).

Image © Rolf Jansson from GoodSalt.com

The New Testament sets forth a clash of kingdoms, the kingdoms of light and darkness, with the darkness coming from Satan and his rebellion. Part of Christ’s mission was to defeat the kingdom of Satan: “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8, NKJV).

Nevertheless, there are “rules” that limit what God can do while remaining true to the principles behind His government. These limits include at least (1) the granting of free will to creatures and (2) the covenantal rules of engagement, which we are not privy to, at least now. Such impediments and limitations on divine action have significant implications for God’s moral ability to reduce and/or immediately eliminate evil in this world. Thus, we see continued evil and suffering, which can indeed cause many people to question either God’s existence or His goodness. However, once the background of the great controversy is understood, and the limits God has placed on how He will deal with evil, we can to some degree better understand why things are as they are—at least until the final triumph of God over evil.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25a-10-the-temporary-ruler-of-this-world/