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Read for This Week’s Study: Neh. 9:1-3; Dan. 9:4-19; Neh. 9:4-8; Col. 1:16-17; Neh. 9:9-38; Rom. 5:6-8.

Memory Text: “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13, NKJV).

After the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) was finished, the leaders again gathered the people. They had just spent time celebrating; now it was time to return to the unfinished business of confession and repentance before God for their sins.

Yes, earlier, the leaders had told them to stop grieving and being sad over their faults, but that doesn’t mean mourning and confession are not important. Thus, now that they had celebrated the festivals, it was time to go through proper confession.

The order of events presented here doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the sequence in which rejoicing and confession are always done; nor does it mean that only the reverse order is to be followed. Although we may naturally follow the order of confession first, followed by celebration, perhaps the celebration of God in our lives should come first. After all, Romans 2:4 tells us that it is the “goodness of God” that brings us to repentance. His “goodness”, then, should evoke praise and feasting, while also reminding us that we need God to forgive, cleanse, and re-create us.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, November 16.

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… the Bible! 

Apple pies are great. I love them, especially with whipped cream or ice cream on top. They make a great dessert, and yes, even with everything else that goes into them, the apples provide real nutrition. Even so, for a daily breakfast routine I would recommend an actual apple over an apple pie. I just think an actual apple is more nutritious than an apple pie. That doesn’t mean I’m throwing grandma’s apple pie recipe away. It just means on a daily basis I eat actual apples. My stomach only holds so much food and if its filled with apple pies, then there won’t be any room for actual whole apples. 

Its the same with devotional books and the Bible. Of course God created us to be social creatures. I actually learn from other people’s  comments in Sabbath School class and on Sabbath School Net. I learn from books other writers have written. So I am not suggesting you throw away your new 2020 devotional book any more than I am suggesting throwing away grandma’s apple pie recipe. Just make sure you are eating plenty of whole apples, and make sure you are actually reading the Bible. While serving as a literature evangelist I learned that during the years Arthur Maxwell wrote the Bible Stories , he read only the Bible as he did not want anyone else influencing his depictions of the Bible stories. 

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The other day I was teaching a 4th-grade Bible class in a local Adventist School in which I occasionally substitute. I asked the children why do we pray before reading the Bible? I received several good answers, but my favorite came from a boy who answered “Because Proverbs 3 says we are not to trust our own understanding but to depend on God for understanding.” What a great application of Proverbs 3:5 I thought! 2 Peter 1:21 tells us that those who wrote Scripture were moved by the Holy Spirit. In John 16:13 Jesus assures us the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. The same Holy Spirit that moved the writers to write those words thousands of years ago, is the same Holy Spirit that teaches us as we read those words. The Holy Spirit can teach you as easily as any theologian. 

When I preach on Sabbath I like to make sure I use plenty of Scripture. That way if my own thoughts are worthless at least people got to hear actual Scripture, which is valuable. Most of my illustrations are my own, but of course I get ideas from others as well. When we read the Bible for ourselves we also have ideas the Holy Spirit gives us to share with others. If we do not read the Bible for ourselves then we are only getting ideas from others. This is not fair to them or to us. We are  not contributing our fair share and others are doing all the thinking for us. A mother breastfeeds her infant with the hopes that one day the infant will grow up to feed him or herself. Likewise we should not always rely on other authors to feed us. God wants to teach us all how to find our own spiritual bread in the Bible. 

In Ezra’s day there was a reformation and revival as the people turned back to the reading of the Word. I think our church today is in desperate need of a revival and reformation  inspired by the reading of the Word. 

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Breaking a Curse

By ChanMin Chung

Sunny and Salma met during orientation for first-year students at a university in the Middle East.

Sunny, who is from Asia, is a “Waldensian student”, a Seventh-day Adventist studying at a secular university in the Adventist Church’s Middle East and North Africa Union.

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Salma is a local student who grew up in a non-Christian family.

The two young women instantly became friends. They shared the same classes and lived in the same neighborhood. Salma soon learned that her new friend was an Adventist Christian. She had been taught to be wary of Christians, but Sunny seemed so kind and honest.

As their friendship grew, Salma accepted an invitation to attend a Friday evening meeting in Sunny’s home. Salma met other Adventists at the meeting, and she liked the friendly conversations. Soon she began to enjoy singing hymns and praying with the group every Friday evening.

After a year, Sunny invited Salma to visit an Adventist church, and she agreed. But Salma faced harsh criticism from family and friends.

“What did you do there?” one said.

“Does this mean you have become a Christian?” asked another.

Family members warned that they would be cursed if she became a Christian.

Salma was worried, but she kept going to church. She even joined the youth choir and participated in health seminars. Her Adventist friends prayed for her.

One Friday evening, the group watched a video about Jesus’s life and, afterward, Salma asked to study the book of Acts.

“I was surprised because Salma hadn’t been interested in Bible studies for about a year”, Sunny said.

Salma began weekly Bible studies, but she insisted that she had no desire to be baptized. She worried that her family would be cursed.

One Sabbath, Salma participated in a women’s ministries retreat where each woman had to select a heart-shaped card and meditate on a Bible verse written inside. She prayerfully chose a card and opened it. Inside, she read, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your household will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Instantly Salma realized that she didn’t need to worry about a curse falling on her family. She stood up and announced, voice trembling, that she wanted to be baptized.

“This is not the end but the beginning”, Sunny said. “After I finish my studies, I plan to stay here to develop a lifelong friendship with people like Salma. I pray for God to send more people like her to me”.

ChanMin Chung is communication coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Union.

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, “Instructed in the Law of God”, pages 661-668, in Prophets and Kings. “

“Now they must manifest faith in His promises. God had accepted their repentance; they were now to rejoice in the assurance of sins forgiven and their restoration to divine favor. …

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Every true turning to the Lord brings abiding joy into the life. When a sinner yields to the influence of the Holy Spirit, he sees his own guilt and defilement in contrast with the holiness of the great Searcher of hearts. He sees himself condemned as a transgressor. But he is not, because of this, to give way to despair; for his pardon has already been secured. He may rejoice in the sense of sins forgiven, in the love of a pardoning heavenly Father. It is God’s glory to encircle sinful, repentant human beings in the arms of His love, to bind up their wounds, to cleanse them from sin, and to clothe them with the garments of salvation” – Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 668.

Discussion Questions:

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The “joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh. 8:10) serves as a reminder that it is God’s will that we rejoice and enjoy life. Most of all, it is not just any kind of joy, but it is the joy that comes because we know God and the reality of His love. Delighting in God, in His goodness, and rejoicing because of everything God has provided for us is something that we should strive to be doing every day. Moreover, delighting in God gives us the strength to face the day and to handle what comes our way.

Read Nehemiah 8:13-18. What happened here, and what does it tell us about the people and their leaders at this time?

The Joy of the Lord

The next day the leaders of the people come to Ezra in order to learn more from God’s book. This initiative demonstrated by the leaders showed their desire to lead the community toward God. They understood that leading the people the right way would not happen if they themselves did not seek God and seek knowledge from Him.

Read Leviticus 23:39-43. What were the Israelites commanded to do, and why?

Notice that in Nehemiah 8:15, the texts refer to the fact that what they were doing was according to what is “written”. We see here another example of how seriously they now wanted to obey the Word of God, ideally because after decades in captivity they had learned their lesson about disobedience. Also, in the texts in Leviticus they were to celebrate the feast and to “rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days” (Lev. 23:40, NKJV). In other words, as they remember God’s acts of mercy and grace and salvation, the people were to rejoice in what the Lord had done for them.

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