Daily Lesson for Wednesday 23rd of April 2025

God’s dealings with Israel provide rich insights into His dealings with the New Testament church. In fact, in many ways, the nation of Israel served to foreshadow the errors of the church. Far from being able to claim any kind of superiority to ancient Israel, Christians have been, and still are, very much susceptible to the same temptations.

Image © Pacific Press at Goodsalt.com

Israel asked for a human king, a request that led to the moral downfall of the nation. The kings became progressively more wicked until God allowed the Babylonians to take His people captive as a matter of course correction.

Something similar happened in the history of the Christian church. Even though they were not to structure themselves like a Gentile nation, when Constantine came to power and professed to be a Christian, believers were relieved—persecution was now ended! That in itself was a blessing, but then it occurred to the church that they might be able to leverage the power of the emperor to their own advantage.

Several major disputes broke out among Christians in the fourth century, and when the church found itself incapable of resolving them, it allowed the emperor to intervene. Gradually the bishop of Rome rose in prominence, where he had once been one senior bishop among equals. The church allowed the state to intervene in the religious matters, and once the state had a foot in the door, things went from bad to worse.

Like Israel of old, many of the darkest chapters in Christian history are the direct result of the church compromising with the world. Where Israel turned to idol worship and her kings were corrupted by their appetite for power—to the point of offering children to idols—the church gradually adopted many of the means and methods of a pagan empire to the point that many faithful believers were martyred because they were perceived as threats to the church-state institution.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/25b-04-the-rulers-of-the-gentiles/

Several years ago, I read Cowan and Kuenster’s compelling yet depressing book To Sleep With the Angels: The Story of a Fire. It was about a horrific fire where a Catholic school burned, and 92 students and three teachers perished. The book investigated all the things that went wrong that day. For example, the Mother Superior was substituting in the Kindergarten room, unaware that the rest of the school was on fire. The problem was that only Mother Superior could call for an evacuation, so several teachers kept their students in their smoke-filled rooms waiting for Mother Superior’s permission to evacuate. Finally, after it was too late, the teachers decided to go ahead and evacuate even though they did not have her permission. 

Free-to-use photo from Pixaby.com

As I read this book, I could not help but be amazed at a hierarchy system that would not allow the students and teachers to think and act for themselves, causing them to lose their lives! I thought that many in that type of hierarchical system will burn in the lake of fire simply because they trusted in the hierarchy instead of studying the Bible for themselves. 

The doctrine that God has committed to the church the right to control the conscience, and to define and punish heresy, is one of the most deeply rooted of papal errors.-Ellen White, The Great Controversy, Page 293. 

While reading about a Catholic School, I realized many wonderful Catholics are reading their Bibles and finding Bible truth. I recognize also that while spiritual Babylon is a specific system, it is also an attitude. It’s the attitude of those at the tower of Babel and later in Daniel 4. It is the Babylonian king who thought he was saved by his mighty power, when he said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and the honor of my majesty?” Daniel 4:30 NKJV So I see all down through the ages, Babylon is an attitude, and that attitude can be found anywhere, including our hearts. So the call out of Babylon is more than just a call out of a papal system. It is a call out of a hierarchy-based mindset. That mindset goes back way before the papacy. It was in the church of Christ’s day, and that is why He had to call His disciples out of that mindset when He told them, 

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave—  just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:25-28 NKJV

This tells me the call out of Babylon in Revelation 18 may involve more than just a few doctrines on the Sabbath and the state of the Dead. I may be called out of a legalistic or authoritarian Babylonian mindset into a whole new way of thinking. 

After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” Revelation 18:1-4 NKJV

The call out of Babylon is a call out of a false system of worship. This false worship is more than a false day of worship. It also worships a false god called “legalism,” better known as “our works.” It is also a calling out of a false hierarchical system that is based on humans assuming the prerogative of God to compel the conscience of those  “under them” to act and worship a certain way. And it is a calling out of complying with the direction of people in positions of power to do things that are against the principles of the Bible, which asks us to worship God alone, and allow Him to guide our conscience instead of man.

We are not just called out of false churches. No matter what church we attend, we need to come out of a false way of thinking into a new mindset. We are called out of the hierarchical system of not only the papal mindset but also the mindset of the Babylonians and the religious leaders in Christ’s day. We are called out of the mindset of becoming dictators into the mentality of servants serving God and others the way Christ served His Father and others. And we are called out of placing man in the place of God Himself. 

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/called-out-of-a-babyonian-mindset-into-a-christ-centered-mindset/

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/4-the-nations-part-1-it-is-written-discussions-with-the-author/

View an in-depth discussion of The Nations: Part 1 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/4-the-nations-part-1-hope-sabbath-school-video-discussion/

Key Thought : One of the key issues in Daniel and Revelation in worldly government; human attempts to control a planet that belongs to God.
April 26, 2025

1. Have a volunteer read Genesis 12:1-9.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. Why did God call Abram out from his country of origin?
3. Personal Application: Why is the sin of rebellion against God more subtle than we might realize? Does it really matter where we are living? Can we be in Babylon as long as Babylon is not in us? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “I don’t understand. God called Abraham out of Babylon, and years later his descendants end up captives back in Babylon, and eventually sent Cyrus to deliver Israel out of Babylon again..” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read I Samuel 8:4-18.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. Why do you think the people found the idea of a king appealing?
3. Personal Application: Has God used people outside God’s people to help them before? Why would you think God might or might not use people outside His church to help them in some way to fulfil His purposes? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What was wrong with the people wanting a king? Don’t most countries have a king or president as a figurehead for their country and people? Didn’t God appoint Moses to lead them before?.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Matthew 20:25-28.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What error did Jesus warn His disciples to avoid in establishing the work of the Christian church?
3. Personal Application: In your society, what are ways in which temptations can justice imperil the integrity of our faith? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “Does God ever use people outside the church to further the gospel and accomplish His goals?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Numbers 14:17-21; Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; 60:3; Rev 18:1-4.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What do these texts teach us about God’s role for His people in the world?
3. Personal Application: How can we be used as a church to call out God’s people who are still in Babylon? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared. ”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/4-the-nations-part-1-teaching-plan/