Join the Hit the Mark panel as they discuss Sabbath School Lesson 12 – Precursors. It’s the fastest hour of the week!

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/precursors-hit-the-mark-sabbath-school/

Inside Story for Friday 20th of June 2025

By Andrew McChesney

Seventeen-year-old Anders complained of hearing voices at Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School in the US state of Arizona. The school counselor, Loren Fish, met with him and determined that it wasn’t a mental health issue. Staff members prayed.

Image © Pacific Press

But then Anders started acting like a possessed person. While at home during school break, he had attended a traditional ceremony. Back at school, the slightly built teen began to exhibit superhuman strength at times, and Holbrook’s staff had trouble controlling him. Other times, his eyes rolled back in his head. After an attack, he’d sleep for hours. When he awoke, he acted normal, but he was scared. One day, he asked the boys’ dean, “What does Legion mean?” He’d heard the word “Legion” in his head. The dean remembered how Jesus, before healing a possessed man, asked the demon for his name, and the demon replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many” (Mark 5:9, NKJV). The registrar, who was mentoring Anders, asked if he would like for the school staff to pray over him. The boy said yes.

In the school’s conference room, staff gathered around Anders and began to pray for him. Suddenly, the boy groaned and fell to the floor. No one was sure about what to do. Several people prayed out loud while others sang hymns. Still others urged Anders to pray, “Jesus, help me.” Anders could not get the words to come out of his mouth. It was complete chaos. Then Anders started to laugh at the staff. It was a strange, unnatural laugh.

The school’s development director, Diana Fish, felt embarrassed. The devil knows that we don’t know what to do, she thought. Pulling out her cellphone, she googled, “How to help a possessed person.” She found a paper titled, “Ellen White on Confrontation with Evil Spiritual Powers” by Marc Coleman on the Andrews University website. “Listen,” she said. “We need to be united. We need to command the spirit to leave in Jesus’ name.”

Immediately, a staff member commanded the spirit, “Come out in the name of Jesus!” Then Anders gasped, “Jesus, help me!” All of the staff exclaimed in unison, “Praise God!” A loud screech came out of the boy. The school’s business manager felt something like a strong whirlwind fly past her and out of the room. Then there was peace. Anders lay, weeping, on the floor. Two staff members brought in a cot, and the boy slept for the rest of the afternoon. After that, Anders was better—until he went home again. When he returned, the harassment resumed, and the student left the school.

“We’re still praying for him,” Diana said. “We know it’s a spiritual battle, and it’s not over. We deal with the great controversy daily with our students.”

This mission story offers an inside look at a previous Thirteenth Sabbath project, Holbrook Seventh-day Adventist Indian School. Anders is a pseudonym. Thank you for supporting the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering on June 28.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25b-12-inside-story-epilogue-a-daily-battle/

Daily Lesson for Friday 20th of June 2025

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “God’s People Delivered,” Pages 635–652, in The Great Controversy.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

“In all ages, God has wrought through holy angels for the succor and deliverance of His people. Celestial beings have taken an active part in the affairs of men. They have appeared clothed in garments that shone as the lightning; they have come as men in the garb of wayfarers. Angels have appeared in human form to men of God. They have rested, as if weary, under the oaks at noon. They have accepted the hospitalities of human homes. They have acted as guides to benighted travelers. They have, with their own hands, kindled the fires at the altar. They have opened prison doors and set free the servants of the Lord. Clothed with the panoply of heaven, they came to roll away the stone from the Saviour’s tomb.

“In the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of the righteous; and they visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went to Sodom, to make a record of their deeds, to determine whether they have passed the boundary of God’s forbearance. The Lord delights in mercy; and for the sake of a few who really serve Him, He restrains calamities and prolongs the tranquillity of multitudes. Little do sinners against God realize that they are indebted for their own lives to the faithful few whom they delight to ridicule and oppress.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, Pages 631, 632.

Discussion Questions

<–Thursday

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25b-12-further-thought-precursors/

It is important to note that while the three Hebrews never even hinted at bowing to the image, they still attended the demonstration. They did not refuse to show up just because they knew where this was going. They obeyed the king as far as they could, until the king gave a command that directly violated God’s law. The example the three Hebrews gave us aligns with biblical counsel.

Image © Review & Herald Publishing at Goodsalt.com

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities….Romans 13:1 NKJV

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29 NKJV

Paul instructs us to obey civil laws as far as possible without violating God’s law. Peter says that, of course, the law of God trumps civil law when civil law directly violates God’s law, but Peter did not teach us to violate civil law just for the sake of demanding our rights. After all, as a Christian, the only right I have is to pick up my cross and die with Christ. See Luke 9:23.

The same Peter who was thrown into prison by the civil servants, the same Peter who said we ought to obey God rather than men, also told us,

Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. 1 Peter 2:13-17 NKJV

Peter gave no validation for those who refuse to obey simply to defy the civil laws.

For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 1 Peter 2:20 NKJV

During the COVID shutdown, I was saddened by Christians who were making fun of people wearing masks and refusing to wear masks where they were required simply because they felt their rights were being taken away. Again, Luke 9:23 tells me the only right I have is to die with Christ. Wearing a mask in no way interferes with any of God’s laws. Some Christians were defiant, claiming that even more rights may be taken away that would interfere with God’s law. Still, remember the three Hebrews did not demand their rights. They obeyed just as far as they could without violating God’s law. They did not refuse to attend the ceremony just because they knew where this was going to go.

Jesus tells us,

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 NKJV

Jesus gave no validation for those who are persecuted for any other reason than for righteousness’ sake.

Even though Jesus, Paul, and Peter had some serious run-ins with the civil authorities, they never taught us to defy civil laws just for our rights. Even when Paul mentioned in Acts 22:25 that it was unlawful for him to be scourged as a Roman citizen, he was going by civil law and not opposing it.

Many of the things people were asked to give up or do during the COVID shutdown did not violate civil law or God’s law. We recognize that these circumstances are likely to recur, and it is essential to recall that Scripture offers no justification for disobeying civil law unless it directly conflicts with God’s law. The Three Hebrews, Paul, Peter, and even Jesus, set an example for us to follow civil law as far as possible, until it directly contradicts God’s law.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/does-the-bible-teach-us-to-disregard-man-made-laws-at-times/

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

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/12-precursors-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/