Image © Pacific Press

Read for This Week’s Study: Neh. 13:23-25; Deut. 7:3-4, 2 Cor. 6:14; Ezra 9:1-15, Ezra 10:1-44, 1 Cor. 7:10-17.

Memory Text: “And I said: ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens’ ” (Ezra 9:6, NKJV).

Ezra and Nehemiah became leaders in communities where intermarriage with non-Israelites had become the norm. Both leaders were strongly concerned about this, as they wanted to lead the nation into a close relationship with God. They were aware of the negative influence that non-believers or idol worshipers could have on the people of Israel, as they had seen the terrible effects throughout history. The Canaanite religions spread throughout Israel until Baal and Asherah were being worshiped on every high hill. Moreover, the influence that pagan spouses had on the Israelite families was detrimental. Balaam advised the Moabites to send their women to the Israelites, sure that the Israelites would turn away from God as they fell for these women. Unfortunately, he was right. Not only do spouses influence each other, but also their children’s faith is impacted.

What will Ezra and Nehemiah do with Israel’s intermarriage situation? Will they let it go or stand up against it? This week we will look at the way the two leaders approached this issue.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 21.

Sunday–>

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Secret to Happy Home

By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission

Home was not a happy place for Hazel Moyo. Her father drank, and her parents argued frequently in Gwanda, a small town in Zimbabwe. Hazel longed to have a happy family.

Image © Pacific Press

At the age of 14, Hazel made a decision that triggered a chain of events that would change her home forever. She started going to church. She saw other children heading to Sunday services, and she wanted to go, too. So, she took her 9-year-old brother by the hand and went.

After high school, Hazel saw a newspaper advertisement for Solusi University, a Seventh-day Adventist institution located about 2 ½ hours by bus from her home. She met university recruiters when they visited her town, and her father agreed to pay for her tuition.

At Solusi, Hazel soon joined a singing group and asked them many questions about the Sabbath. One of the group members, a young married pastor named Elyght Nyatanga, announced, “I want this girl to be my daughter”, he said. “Every Wednesday, I will pray and fast for her to know God”.

Five other group members liked the idea and, together with Hazel, joined in.

For three months, they prayed and fasted. Then Solusi University held a week of prayer, and Hazel was baptized.

When Hazel turned 23, Elyght presented her with Ellen White’s book “Messages to Young People”. Hazel was touched by the advice for happy families. She wanted a happy family.

“I learned how you approach an angry parent, how you address some of the issues that you have with parents, and how to show honor to your parents”, she said.

A favorite passage says, “There are many children who profess to know the truth, who do not render to their parents the honor and affection that are due to them, who manifest but little love to father and mother, and fail to honor them in deferring to their wishes, or in seeking to relieve them of anxiety”. (page 331).

Joy began to fill Hazel’s home as she followed the book’s advice.

Then during a school break, Hazel invited her parents to read the Bible and pray before going to bed. They agreed! The next evening, Mother asked Hazel to read the Bible and pray again. Soon the family began having evening and morning worship every day.

Happiness now permeates the home, and Hazel is praying for her family to be baptized.

“Now we are a happy family – the kind of family that I always wanted”, said Hazel, left.

Part of a 2015 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering went to Solusi University to double the size of its cafeteria from 500 seats to 1,000. Thank you for your mission offerings that allow Adventist schools like Solusi to work with the Holy Spirit to change families for eternity.

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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Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “Rejoicing in the Lord”, pages 115–126, in Steps to Christ.

“As he set before them God’s commands and threatenings, and the fearful judgments visited on Israel in the past for this very sin, their consciences were aroused, and a work of reformation was begun that turned away God’s threatened anger and brought His approval and blessing.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

There were some in sacred office who pleaded for their heathen wives, declaring that they could not bring themselves to separate from them. But no distinction was made; no respect was shown for rank or position. Whoever among the priests or rulers refused to sever his connection with idolaters was immediately separated from the service of the Lord. A grandson of the high priest, having married a daughter of the notorious Sanballat, was not only removed from office, but promptly banished from Israel. ‘Remember them, O my God’, Nehemiah prayed, ‘because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites’” – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, pages 673, 674.

Discussion Questions:

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“Mary’s Song” Image © Lifeway Collection from GoodSalt.com

If you have been enjoying our Daily Lesson posts, you probably appreciate that the illustrations add significantly to the attractiveness of the lessons and sometimes even add layers of meaning.

Linda Reiss has been doing an admirable job of choosing appropriate illustrations for some time, but she is retiring from this position. Thus we are in urgent need of someone to take her place.

As indicated on our Help Wanted page, this job entails the following:

• Reading the lessons about three weeks ahead and becoming familiar with the post for each day day and recognizing a dominant theme of the lesson.
• Picking out an illustration for the theme from either GoodSalt.com or a source of free images.

You will be working directly with Gerald Greene who posts our daily lessons. He says he’ll do the uploading, so all you’ll have to do is what is listed above and send Gerald the following:

• Lesson date
• Lesson title
• URL for the image at GoodSalt.com
• Title of the image
• Name of Artist/Photographer, as indicated under the title of the image.
• Image ID

For instance, for the image [click on it] in this post, the information you would send to Gerald would be the following:

• Lesson date
• Lesson Title
• URL: https://www.goodsalt.com/details/lfwas1766.html
• Mary’s Song of Praise
• Artist/Photographer: Lifeway Collection 
• Image ID: lfwas1766

You can see that all the information is provided on the GoodSalt page.

You may volunteer for an indefinite period of time, or perhaps you can help us out for just one quarter. 

Please write to us through our Volunteer Form. You may fill in only relevant details and use the “Message” box for most of your information. (We cannot put an email address directly on this page because that would be a spam magnet!!)

We are looking forward to welcoming you to our Sabbath School Net team!

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Concerning Jesus, the Pharisees said,

Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked.  “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? John 7:47-48 NLT

Image © Pacific Press from GoodSalt.com

In Luke 24:13-34 Jesus uses Scripture to explain to a couple of friends who the Messiah is, while they don’t even recognize Him. Jesus didn’t want them to recognize Him. Jesus did not need them to recognize Him. The Scriptures stood on their own regardless if it was the Son of God or a small servant child sharing them. However, the Pharisees thought people should base their beliefs on who endorsed them rather than what the Scriptures said about them. The Pharisees thought people should just believe whatever the leaders believed, and if a leader did not believe it neither should anyone else.

May I suggest that the first sign of backsliding is when people take their eyes off of Scriptures and look to their leaders alone? 

In Exodus 32:1-35 the people took their eyes off the law they just heard and looked to Aaron. The people should have held Aaron accountable to the law but instead they thought Aaron was above the law or able to interpret the law all on his own. Maybe they thought since Aaron was the high priest that he would be more spiritual than they. He wasn’t. Working as a Bible worker and lay preacher I have a lot of close associations with ordained ministers as well as lay people. I am surprised to find many lay members assume pastors are on a higher spiritual plane when they are not. Should pastors walk very closely to Jesus? Of course! But so should every single church member.  Lay members are called Christians. In sign language the literal translation is “Christ person” or a person like Christ. You can’t have any calling higher than that. Being an ordained pastor does not make you like Christ. Being a true Christian makes you like Christ.

Not by their wealth, their education, or their position does God estimate men. He estimates them by their purity of motive and their beauty of character. He looks to see how  much of His Spirit they possess and how much of His likeness their life reveals.  -Ellen White, Ministry of Healing, Pages 477-8

Maybe the people of Israel thought Aaron had special insights into the law and could interpret it better than they. He didn’t. On the other hand, we have Jesus who was God in the flesh, yet instead of claiming any special insights or philosophies above Scripture, He always stuck to Scripture. In Matthew 4:1-11, when Jesus was tempted He did not check with His personal inclinations or philosophy in order to create any gray areas. Instead He answered every temptation with “It is written” in the Scripture. In Luke 10:25-26 an expert in the law asked Jesus how to have eternal life. He did not give any off-the-cuff answer. He directed the man straight to Scripture.  Had Aaron looked to the law he just heard instead of the people or his own emotions, the golden calf never would have been made, and there would have been no backsliding. If the people had focused on the law they just heard instead of looking to Aaron and their apparent current circumstances they would never have backslidden. 

The church went through the spiritual dark ages when the Scriptures were usurped by men of position and human reasoning. Recovery from this darkness began when men like Luther usurped men of position and human reasoning with Scripture.  Today, I believe the first sign of personal or corporate backsliding begins by preferring people with position and human reasoning over Scripture. 

As I read about the reformations made in Nehemiah 13, I can’t help but think there are changes I need to make as well in regard to Sabbath keeping and even health reform. Years ago I was working for a church that was somewhat lax about the health message. I actually appreciated this as I could take my cola into the church office without anyone giving me funny looks or admonishing me. But you know what? It was still very unhealthy. It wasn’t any more appropriate just because this church had a different tone about caffeine than previous churches I worked with.  1 Corinthians 10:31 says to eat and drink to the glory of God, and that stands regardless of what church I am in or what other church leaders  are eating or drinking around me. The same goes for Sabbath reform. I see more and more secular work being done in the church on Sabbath that should be saved for during the week. Recently I received a call on Sabbath from a pastor wanting me to hold meetings in his church. He started talking to me about what I would charge and started scrolling through hotel prices online while we were on the phone. I asked him if we could discuss the business part after Sabbath. He quickly agreed but he never spoke to me again. I get it. It is more convenient to take care of these things on Sabbath. Our week is already so hectic.  

I worked with a church years ago where everyone wanted to hold committee meetings on Sabbath because it was more convenient than coming back to church during the week. People stopped coming to prayer meeting because they did not want to take time for church during the week. But it did not stop there. Next thing I knew people wanted to have their committee meetings during Sabbath School so they would not have to stay after church. It makes me wonder what we would do if Nehemiah came to our churches today? Problem is, would we just tell him to mind his own business because we are all already doing what is right in our own eyes, and we don’t need him judging us? Something to think about. 

Throughout history individual Christians and churches have been tempted to backslide by preferring convenience, philosophy and human leaders over Scripture. The first sign of backsliding is when we neglect or rationalize away Scripture. Jesus gave us a fool-proof way to avoid backsliding by placing Scripture above human authority or human philosophy and reasoning. 

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