1. The main purpose for God’s creation of Sabbath.  Is it hard for you to believe that the Sabbath came into being to celebrate the creation of a day of rest? Did mankind need a special time to mingle with one another in praise to God? Why? or why not?   Sabbath is a time to celebrate freedom. Freedom from what? What effect does Sabbath observance have on those who take the Sabbath seriously? Or does being serious about the Sabbath make any difference in a Christian’s spiritual life? True or False: Knowing what we should or should not do on Sabbath is the most important aspect of Sabbath worship. 
2. Manna prevents starvation. Imagine wandering through the wilderness with the Israelites with hardly any food to carry with you. Or none at all. How long would your journey last? What makes the “manna story” so precious in re-living those many years of wandering through the desert? Explain the rhythm of the gift of manna. What impact did the manna miracle have on the trip to the promised land?  What impact would the extra manna provided on Friday have on God’s people? Why did God provide a double measure of manna every Friday? Imagine being an Israelite child. Would the repeated miracle have a special impact on you?
3. Two reasons for Sabbath. What are the two fundamental purposes of the Sabbath Day? Fill in the blanks: The first purpose (Exodus 16:16 -18) deals with the regular collection of manna for the Sabbath meal. What was the lesson learned by this purpose?  The second purpose (Deuteronomy 5:12-15) underscores the holiness of the seventh day Sabbath. What do those two purposes have to do with how God relates to His people? Is the Sabbath a memorial to our rescue? What else does the Sabbath help us remember? What fundamental principles of Sabbath-keeping guide us to a life of eternity with Jesus?
4. A day of equality. Why do you think the fourth commandment contains more words and a more detailed description than the other commandments?  In converse, why do you think most Christians, in general, pay less attention to the Sabbath commandment than to the other aspects of the Decalogue? Is it true that we can include the animals we care for in observing the Sabbath day?  Do you agree with this statement from your lesson for this week: “If you are an employer during the week, you have no authority to make your employees work on Sabbath,”  In what way(s) is this interpretation of the Sabbath commandment important today? Every now and then you may encounter someone who believes in the seventh day Sabbath, such as a member of the Church of God. What should be our attitude toward such Sabbath day worshipers?
5. A day of healing. If you believe that the Sabbath is a day to put work aside, what do you say about the pursuit of Jesus when He repeatedly performed miracles to heal people on the Sabbath? In your Christian experience, do you seek ways to minister to those who are sick or in pain on the Sabbath day? As Seventh-day Adventists, do you think we should spend more time and energy on the Sabbath seeking the sick and offering them comfort? How can we do that and keep the Sabbath commandment that does not allow for labor on that day? What are some ways we can follow Jesus’ example in ministering to the sick and afflicted on His holy day?

Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/b7hHjekLNN8/

Key Thought: The Sabbath was used by Jesus to heal the sick and a day to benefit those in need. The Sabbath has many practical benefits.

July 20, 2019

1. Have a volunteer read Exodus 16:16-18.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What can we learn from this gathering process of the manna that God set up?
3. Personal Application: How do fellowship meals and Dorcas centers help the church in following this procedure? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “How does the church play a role in this period of time in helping people in need when there are social welfare programs and help given through governmental programs? Has the government taken over a church responsibility, or is there a need for both?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Exodus 20:8-11.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What are some positive reasons that Sabbath rest is a blessing to mankind?
3. Personal Application: In what ways should Sabbath-keeping make us better, kinder, compassionate, and more caring people? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “What is the difference between being legalistic in Sabbath-keeping and the freedom from the law that Paul talks about? What is the difference between a rule and a principle?” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Matthew 12:9-13.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. Do we excuse ourselves too much when we do things we shouldn’t on the Sabbath?
3. Personal Application: Have you ever helped someone on the Sabbath that someone in the church might consider breaking the rule of law? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “What good things do you Adventists do for others on the Sabbath? Do you just have potluck and go home and nap on Sabbath, or do you do hospital visits, see shut-ins, help others?” How would you reply to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Leviticus 25:1-7.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. How does Sabbath-keeping affect the way we live the other six days of the week?
3. Personal Application: How could we incorporate the seventh year resting of land for the poor into our lives today? 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).

Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/PKrbc80rZ_w/

One of the things obvious from a quick reading of the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5 is that the fourth commandment is the most detailed by far. Whereas some of the commandments are recorded in as few as three words in some versions (in the Hebrew some can be expressed in only two words), the fourth commandment gives space to the why, how, and who of remembering the Sabbath day.

Read Exodus 20:8-11. What does it say about the servants and strangers, even animals, and what does it mean?

Notable among these Sabbath details is the focus on others. Sigve K. Tonstad argues that this kind of command is unique among all the cultures of the world. The Sabbath commandment, he explains, “prioritizes from the bottom up and not from the top looking down, giving first considerations to the weakest and most vulnerable members of society. Those who need rest the most—the slave, the resident alien, and the beast of burden—are singled out for special mention. In the rest of the seventh day the underprivileged, even mute animals, find an ally”. – The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day (Michigan: Andrews University Press, 2009), pages 126, 127.

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

The commandment has a special focus on urging that the Sabbath is a day to be enjoyed by everyone. In the light of the Sabbath, we are all equal. If you are an employer during the week, you have no authority to make your employees work on Sabbath. And that’s because God gave them, too, a day of rest. If you are an employee—or even a slave—for the rest of your days, the Sabbath reminds you that you are equally created and redeemed by God, and God invites you to celebrate this in ways other than your usual duties. Even those outside the Sabbath-keeping people—“any foreigner residing in your towns” (Exod. 20:10, NIV)—should benefit from the Sabbath.

This idea would have been a remarkable change of perspective for the Israelites, fresh from their own experiences of slavery and marginalization. Now that they were to be established in a new land, God did not want them to adopt the habits of their former oppressors. As well as giving them detailed laws for their society, He gave them (all of us, actually) a weekly reminder, in a powerful way, of just how equal we all are before God.

Amen!(1)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/F0vTo90qxI0/

Read Exodus 20:8-11 and Deuteronomy 5:12-15. How do these two versions of the fourth commandment complement each other?

Remembering is an important part of the relationship that God seeks to re-establish with His people, a relationship centered on the fact that God is our Creator and Redeemer. Both roles appear in the two versions of the fourth commandment and are thus linked closely with Sabbath and its practice.

Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com

Coming out of a land dominated by so many false gods, the Israelites needed to be reminded of the true God’s role as the Creator. The Sabbath was a crucial way to do that, made all the more significant in the context of the weekly cycle of providing extra manna on Friday, a powerful example of His creative power. In the Exodus 20 version of the fourth commandment, God as our Creator is revealed most clearly.

By contrast, their rescue, redemption, and salvation is the focus of the fourth commandment in Deuteronomy 5. This was a story that the Israelites were to retell regularly; they could reconnect with it especially every Sabbath. Their first story was one of actual, physical rescue from slavery in Egypt, but as their understanding of God and His salvation grew, Sabbath would also become a weekly symbol and celebration of their spiritual salvation.

Both of these motivations for Sabbath were about restoring the relationship between God and His people: “I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the LORD made them holy” (Ezek. 20:12, NIV). And, as we have seen, this was never about this group of people only. On the foundation of this relationship, they were to establish a new kind of society, one that was kind to outsiders and a blessing to the wider world.

“Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deut. 5:15, NIV). By keeping the Sabbath as a way of remembering and celebrating both our creation and Redemption, we can continue to grow in our relationship, not only with the Lord but with those around us. God is gracious to us; therefore, we need to be gracious to others.

Amen!(1)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/PC6Wk6NhKt0/

After generations of slavery and the social degradation that such a condition can inflict on His oppressed people, God sought to lift up the newly freed Israelites, pointing them to a better way of living and giving them laws for the best ordering of their new society. But one of the first parts of this process came in the form of a practical and instructive object lesson.

Manna

Continuing for the full 40 years of their wilderness wanderings, this rhythm of life, visible evidence of God’s provision and practiced unselfishness, should have become part of the culture of Israelite society. It came in the form of manna, a food that appeared each morning on the ground around the Israelites’ camp.

Read Exodus 16:16-18. What do you think is the significance of the specific measure for each person emphasized in these verses?

In 2 Corinthians 8:10-15, Paul references this story as an example of how Christians should give: “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality” (vs. 14, NIV).

The lesson for the Israelites, and us, was that God has provided sufficiently for His people and His creation. If we take only what we need and are prepared to share our excess with others, all will be cared for and provided for. Taking only enough for the day required the people to trust that there would be more the following day. Oppressed people, such as the Israelite slaves, tend to focus on their own survival, but God wanted to demonstrate to them a life of trust, generosity, and sharing.

But there was also another, more remarkable, dimension to this practice. Each Friday a double portion of manna appeared on the ground, and on that day—and only that day—the people were to collect the extra manna in preparation for the Sabbath. The special provision for the Sabbath became an additional way for them to learn to trust the Lord for all their needs. This extra portion of manna, an act of grace on God’s part, enabled them to enjoy even more fully the rest that God has promised them on the seventh-day Sabbath.

Amen!(0)

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SabbathSchoolNet/~3/71QX8LHj4u8/