Does it seem that everything goes wrong at the same time? I was telling a friend of mine the other day that it seems I only get speeding tickets when I am absolutely broke.  For example, about twenty years ago, I was driving in the middle of the night across country to see my sister and see about a job. I had just quit a job that was not working out and had no idea what the future held. I had no job, no money, no future, as far as I could see, and then, to make matters worse, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw flashing red lights. Just what I needed— a speeding ticket while I was broke without a job! I honestly had no idea I was speeding enough to warrant a ticket, but the officer was not the least bit sympathetic.

Photograph by William Earnhardt

Needles to say I was very frustrated. I was already feeling down before I got the ticket. Now I was in despair and gloom as I asked God how He was going to take care of this ticket for me, since He knew I had no money when He allowed this to happen. (Never mind the fact that it was my foot and not His on the gas pedal!)

As I was complaining to God about the situation He had just placed me in and asking Him in despair how in the world He was going to provide the money for the ticket, I suddenly realized the obvious: God does not have to provide for this ticket. God does not have to do anything for me! God does not owe me anything! Then it hit me what I was doing. After He created me and died for me, I was withholding my praise from Jesus until He took care of this ticket for me. I finally realized I was blaming God for allowing something that was all my fault. This all happened years before Facebook, but as I write today, I can relate an old Facebook meme that says, “Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the reason is that we make bad choices.” As I contemplated all of this while driving in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, I also realized that if God never provided the money for this ticket and stopped giving me any more blessings from that day forward, He still had already given me way more than I deserve! As a matter of fact, Calvary alone warrants all of my thankfulness, praise and devotion, without God ever giving me anything else.

There in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, I changed my attitude from gloom and despair to joy and praise. I decided not to ask God to help me pay for the ticket, but instead just thank Him and praise Him for everything else He has already done for me. I then remembered reading a passage about how Satan cannot stand to be in our presence when we praise God, “

When the evil one begins to settle his gloom about you, sing praise to God. … strike up a song about the matchless charms of the Son of God, and I tell you, when you touch this strain, Satan will leave you. You can drive out the enemy with his gloom; . . . and you can see, oh, so much clearer, the love and compassion of your heavenly Father. (Ellen White, Heavenly Places, p 95.)

Considering the above passage, I thought to myself, “Hey, if Satan is going to try to ruin my day by giving me this ticket (I went from blaming God to blaming Satan, but it wasn’t Satan’s foot on the gas pedal either!), then I am going to ruin his day by singing praises to my God. I started singing praises at the top of my lungs. I was traveling in the middle of the night hundreds of miles away from my friends or family, but I felt the presence of angels as they sang with me. I wasn’t worried about the ticket any more. I was worried about making sure God knew I appreciated His sacrifice at Calvary. (By the way, God did take care of the ticket for me. My sister also happens to be an angel.) I also found a job and a future that outshone my past, but even more impressive were the two lessons I learned that night:

One: God owes me nothing and I owe Him everything. After Calvary if He never gave me another gift, I still have cause to praise him for the rest of my life!

Two: Singing praises to God will change your day and life from gloom and doom to joy and gladness. 

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Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: Neh. 13:1-9; Deut. 23:3-6; Neh. 13:10-14; Num. 18:21-24; Neh. 13:15-22; John 5:5-16.

Memory Text: “And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!” (Nehemiah 13:22, NKJV).

In the interim between chapters 12 and 13, Nehemiah returns to Babylon. Though we don’t know how long he was gone, when he returned (probably around 430–425 B.C). the people were backsliding. Though they had covenanted with God on these matters: first, not to intermarry with idolaters; second, to observe the Sabbath carefully; and, third, to take care of the temple and its personnel by tithe and offerings (Nehemiah 10) — they had violated all three of these promises.

By the time Nehemiah returned, he found them very lax in their devotion to God. The people had stopped returning tithes and offerings, began using temple rooms for other purposes, ceased keeping the Sabbath properly, and even returned to intermarriage with the nations around them. Worst of all, it was the leadership whom he had left behind that contributed to the decline in the Israelites’ relationship with God. It is not surprising that Nehemiah was devastated when he discovered how much had changed. However, instead of accepting it, once again as his character demanded, he acted for God’s glory.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 14.

Sunday–>

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3 Warnings in Abkhazia

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Valentina Dmitrienko, intent on finding corn to bake lepyoshka flatbread for her family, hurried to the outdoor market in Abkhazia, a breakaway region in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Image © Pacific Press

She didn’t have much money, and a months-long armed struggle in her hometown, Sukhumi, had caused a severe food shortage.

Valentina found a woman selling dried corn kernels from a cloth bag, but she didn’t have enough money. Valentina stood silently and thought, “How can I feed my family?”

Suddenly, she felt someone tap her left shoulder and address her with a friendly but firm voice, “Valya, get out now!”

Startled, she spun around. No one was there.

Valentina stood puzzled for a moment, but her thoughts quickly returned to her husband, Pavel, who worked as a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, and their 16-year-old daughter, Natasha. She looked at the woman with the precious corn.

Again, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Valya, get out now!”

Realizing something was wrong, Valentina rushed toward the exit but stopped to greet two neighbors, Yury and Taisia. Then she saw a woman selling straw brooms and asked, “How much?”

She felt a tap on her shoulder for the third time. “Valya, get out now!”

Valentina fled. Two minutes later, she heard the terrifying whistle of an artillery shell flying over her head. Two more shells followed in quick succession.

Valentina stopped dead in her tracks as a loud boom reverberated across the city center. Valentina saw a huge cloud of smoke and dust rising from the market.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she ran home, praying, “God, thank you for saving me! But who am I? Why did You protect me?”

Later, Valentina returned to the market and saw craters left by the blasts. Two craters marked the exact spots where she had stood and looked longingly at the corn and brooms.

Recalling that day in 1993, Valentina often thinks about Isaiah 43:2, where the Lord says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you”.

“The artillery shell is like the fire that scorches people, but God promises, ‘I will be with you’”, said Valentina, left. “We gave God the right to protect us by walking with Him and living with Him. Our whole life has been a life of service. Why did Christ come into this world? To serve, as Ellen White says. This has been the goal of our life – to serve”.

Produced by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.
Find more mission stories at adventistmission[dot]org

All Rights Reserved. No part of the Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide may be edited, altered, modified, adapted, translated, reproduced, or published by any person or entity without prior written authorization from the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.

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Read Nehemiah 12:44-47. Why did Judah rejoice “over the priests and Levites who ministered”? Why were they important?

What did the work of the priests (who were Levites) symbolize? See Hebrews 9:1-11.

Priests and Levites

“The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven. We must by faith enter within the veil, ‘whither the forerunner is for us entered’. Hebrews 6:20” – Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 489.

Again, though the people back then certainly didn’t have the light that we have today, they understood enough to know that the work of the Levites, who alone could minister in the temple, was so important. They were excited that the work of God would be done through them.

The nation had been spending time with God in reading His word, praying, worshiping, and rededicating themselves to Him. Amid all this they realized that the ministries of the temple had been neglected and needed to be restored. Now that these were established again, the people rejoiced over the important work the Levites would be doing on their behalf. God impressed the nation that the ministries of the temple were part of His design for worship.

Unfortunately, ministers, teachers of the Word, and musicians are often taken for granted. Even during the time of Nehemiah, the support of the Levites was sometimes strong and sometimes very weak. The Levites had to go back to other work many times in order to provide for their families, because the people stopped giving tithes and offerings.

Without tithes and offerings, there is no organized worldwide church. If we want our ministries to continue, we must be committed to supporting our ministers by monetary contributions as well as verbal appreciation. The church may never be perfect, but that shouldn’t undermine our giving to God so that His work can continue around the world.

<–Wednesday    Friday–>

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Read Nehemiah 12:43. What was special about offering “great sacrifices” as part of their worship celebration?

Sacrifices were the most essential aspect of worship during the time of the temple. Several different sacrifices were used, either for the promise of forgiveness or to express the joy of fellowship and gratitude to God. Sacrifices provided the substance for worship, as they reminded the worshipers of the truth of God and who He is, and pointed to the Promised Seed, the Messiah, who would sacrifice His life for them, because He is the Lamb of God.

Read John 1:29, John 1:36; 1 Corinthians 5:7; and Revelation 5:6, Rev. 5:12-13. What do they teach us about what the sacrifices ultimately pointed to? If the ancient Israelites could rejoice over a dead farm animal, a death that could reveal only so much truth, how much more reason do we have to rejoice than they had?

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

Notice, too, how many times the idea of joy and rejoicing appears in Nehemiah 12:43 alone. That is, amid the reverence, and perhaps the godly fear that the people experienced in their worship service (after all, the killing of an animal for their sins was a solemn thing), there was joy and rejoicing, as well. When we approach God, it must be in awe and reverence, as well as with rejoicing. Psalm 95 demonstrates that a true act of adoration involves a summons to sing, shout joyfully, and make music to celebrate God (Ps. 95:1) as well as to bow down and kneel before the Lord (Ps. 95:6). Striving to achieve a balance between joy and reverence is crucial for adoring, praising, and worshiping our Creator.

<–Tuesday    Thursday–>

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