“Seek the Lord and Live! (Amos) ”

Second Quarter 2013 Adult Sabbath School Lessons
“Seek the Lord and Live! (Amos) ”
For the week of May 4, 2013

 
 
 
The Common and the Simple

In 1972, journalist David Halberstam published The Best and the Brightest, a book on the architects of U.S. policy in Vietnam in the early 1960s. Halberstam's title refers to these individuals having received the best education in the best institutions of higher learning; additionally, most had achieved, prior to their involvement in the emerging U.S. Vietnam strategy, notable successes and triumphs in business, government, and academia. Why then, Halberstam asked, did the policies, formulated and implemented by these scholars, prove to be disastrous?

We could argue that war was not their forte; however, what made these men successful in one field did not, in fact, carry over to another. Halberstam made the point clear, that the best and the brightest can be a hindrance to a project or a nation. 

If you look at biblical history, God rarely chose “the best and the brightest." And when “the best and the brightest" have stumbled as it were into the sacred story, they have often proved not so bright after all.  Examples include, King Saul, Judas, and Solomon, who for all his wisdom is described as an old fool, because he departed from God until his old age. In contrast, some of God’s best servants often haven't started out so well.  Moses, a prince, committed murder, fled into the desert, and attempted to talk his way out of his mission.  Jonah fled in the opposite direction of his orders to avoid confronting his discouragement, fear and bigotry.  Paul was a persecutor and an enabler of mob violence.  God humbled these servants that they might see their ongoing need of absolute dependence on Him.

Many of God’s chosen ones had humble beginnings.  King David started as a shepherd, and most of the Apostles were fishermen -- not exactly the best and brightest, they were common and simple people.  The prophet Amos was no exception; he was a farmer. We read in Amos 7:14-15:

“Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.”

Amos did not choose to send himself, to prophecy unto Israel. Instead he was given heavenly credentials and authority, as were the later William Miller and Ellen White. Similar to Amos, William Miller was untrained in theology, and was also a farmer, but he was a studious man whom God used to preach the nearness of Christ’s Second Advent based on the 2300 day prophecy.  Another of God’s servants from humble beginnings was Ellen White. She, unlike William Miller and Prophet Amos, was not a farmer. Instead, she was a young woman who, unable to study beyond elementary school due to her injury, God imbued with His Spirit and with power.  She was given many revelations from God to assist His people on their journey to the kingdom. To the world, most of the advent pioneers were not accomplished or polished, but God chose to use them.

Christ Himself also chose to come to this world as a common and simple man.  In Isaiah 53:2, we read that Christ grew up “… as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”  Indeed, Paul says of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 8:9 that “… though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor...”  And in Matthew, Christ said He had no place to call his own – “… The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matthew 8:20). 

Now, you would expect that a people who profess to know and worship God, would understand that this is the way He works. He chooses whom He will, and imbues them with His Spirit and with power. But unfortunately, we in our pride often resist those sent by God because they do not meet our standards, and come with a message we do not want to hear. Amos himself gave the reason,

Amos 5:10: “They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.”

Throughout history, professed followers of God have done whatever was in their power to stop the one who came in the name of the Lord with rebuke.  Ellen White says, “…those who are true to God will be persecuted; their motives will be impugned, their best efforts misinterpreted, and their names cast out as evil”  Acts of the Apostles, p. 431.  “Those who hate the preachers of righteousness, hate righteousness. Thus, we can see how God’s messengers were killed by those to whom they were sent.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Christ was despised and rejected of men, esteemed not, oppressed, and brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:3 – 7). 

Hebrews chapter 11 depicts the Hall of Faith, where are cataloged many of the feats of the faithful. And yet, in verses 36-38, we see that (earthly) success was not the fate of all. Let us read,

“And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

Were these men and women not God’s servants? Yes they were, and like the ‘best and brightest’, their missions also seemed to fail– so where’s the difference? We know these missions did not fail because God’s Word “prospers in the thing to which it is sent…” Isa.55:11; but to the world, the life and work of God’s servants is indeed a failure.

This kind of spirit of rejecting God’s messengers was present in the Minneapolis 1888 conference.  Ellen White said that it was the Lord that sent the young messengers.  She said, “The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones” Testimonies to Ministers p. 91. Several times Ellen White reiterated that the message presented by these two fellows had heavenly and divine credentials.  However, Waggoner and Jones were seen by the brethren as unseasoned young upstarts. How dare they oppose those who had been present at the Great Disappointment of 1844?  These brethren forgot that in 1844 they too were considered unseasoned young upstarts, preaching foolishness about the end of the world and Christ’s return.  These very pioneers treated the young preachers as they were treated 44 years earlier, somehow missing the irony. 

Ellen White did not mince any words rebuking the brethren for their attitude and behavior.  She was adamant that the brethren rejecting the message had the same spirit as that of the Jews who crucified Christ (Testimonies to Ministers 79, 1895; Special Testimonies, Series A, No. 6, p. 20).  Furthermore, she warned them that they were ignorant of their true spiritual condition, and were on the brink of committing the unpardonable Sin. 

Where do we stand?  What if God were to send us young men and women from the poorest parts of the world to give us further light, how would we receive them? Would we allow prejudice to take over?  Would we, like good people of Laodicea say, “we have all the light we need, we have no need of more?”  Or would we humbly go to the Lord and ask Him, “Is this from You?  Did You send these messengers?”  I pray we respond the humble way. 
 

-Raul Diaz

“Lord of all Nations (Amos) ”

Second Quarter 2013 Adult Sabbath School Lessons
“Lord of all Nations (Amos) ”
For the week of Apr 27, 2013

 
 
 
Lord of All Nations (Amos)
 
For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many....nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom....And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Matt 24:5-14.
 
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, [that] the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. Rev. 3:18.
 
-----------------
 
No doubt about it - we are living in times when the prophecy of Christ found in Matthew 24 is finding stark fulfillment. Offense, betrayal, hatred, and lawlessness are coexistent with claims of an emerging new age in which “god” is in everyone, just waiting to be expressed. However, the god of this world has no desire to solve the sin problem.
 
We serve a personal, sovereign God who loves justice and mercy, and who promises to set right the rebellious wrongs of humanity. Like Judah and Israel of old, we might be glad as we hear the voice of Amos proclaiming God’s justice against the wickedness and oppression of the world. 
 
But we can also tremble as we read the list of besetting sins in chapters 2 and 3 that we would by parallel apply to ourselves as spiritual Israel today:
 

• Despising the law and breaking the commandments
• Following lies about God and His will
• Practicing greed and avarice
• Perverting the way of the humble
• Winking at sexual immorality
• Closing our ears to the prophet
• Promoting unhealthy lifestyles

 
 
Yet as the called out remnant at the end of time, we have a responsibility to minister to the spiritual and physical needs of all humanity in spite of ourselves. Isaiah 58 gives us a broader definition of what it means to be Sabbathkeepers in the end of time.
 
Clearly we cannot accomplish the Lord’s work for the world in this time without the cleansing, enduring love coming from heart appreciation of the gospel. When we can let the “light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” shine in and through us, then our light can “break forth as the morning,” bringing a healing righteousness to ourselves and the world. We desperately need what the Laodicean Messenger prescribes!
 
 
We might individually ask ourselves - How much am I giving to lift the oppression of those weighed down with sin? Do I have a practical Christianity that is and extension of God’s love to me? Am I lifting others up with the blessings I have received?
 
We have been richly blessed with a picture of the love of God without precedent in human history. Mercy and Justice have kissed at the cross. How can we be silent and passive in the light of such love?  We are to prepare to meet our God, and not come empty-handed, but with friends and loved ones to swell the chorus, “Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints!”
 
Rather than taking a fortress mentality like the Edomites (the land of Esau), rejoicing that we are not in the captivity of others while we look on their afflictions from a distance, we are to get out there and help in this work. 
 
O Lord, save us from pride and inactivity, and fulfill your word in us!
 
But on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
 
The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau [shall be] stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall [remain] of the house of Esau," For the LORD has spoken. Obadiah 1:17,18
 
All those prophesyings, and the history of Israel, are put in the Bible for the warning of the people who live in the last days of this word's history. And the instruction of God is there for the people in the last days-to turn to God that they may be saved from actual ruin. That is why those things are put there. So that Amos and Hosea are just as much present truth to-day, to you and to me, and to everybody in the world, as they were to the people in the ten tribes in the day that they wrote. (March 14, 1897 ATJ, GCDB Q41.4)
 
 The situation now is the same as it was in the days of Amos. There are judgments waiting to be poured out, not upon one nation only, but upon all nations. Men put far away the evil day, and there are many at ease in Zion. "When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them . . . and they shall not escape." 1 Thess. v. 3. Some are scoffing at the promise of His coming, and "as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. xxiv. 38, 39. God's servants should now be proclaiming His Word, calling on men to "fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come," to recognise God in His works and receive life and righteousness at His hands, that the prophecy of Amos may be fulfilled to them, "I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be plucked up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God." (September 1, 1898 EJW, PTUK 547.5)
 
God is the ruler over all things, and the prophecies are but the declarations of His purposes. Every great purpose of God in His works for the salvation of men has been made known before the time for its accomplishments. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Amos iii. 7. He reveals them for the instruction of men, that they may be wise and may know what to do when the time for action arrives. God's great plan for the redemption of men has never from the first moment of its inauguration been standing still. It has been moving steadily forward, and is moving forward to-day. Satan at every step has been opposing the work, and as these opposing forces have met, a crisis has been the result. Then those who were zealous for the glory of God, and whose zeal was according to knowledge, have improved the opportunity to do an important work for God, and have made their names prominent among those who have been counted as His servants. But those who have not "had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do," have thereby failed to relate themselves properly to the work of God, or have stood in opposition to it, and their lives have been dismal failures; for the great purposes of Omnipotence must move forward to their completion, and if a man will not fill the place into the work which God has designed for him, the loss is his, and the honour that might have been his is given to someone else. (October 5, 1893 EJW, PTUK 420.1)
 
Who will speak of the wonderful love and power of God? Are there any special ones of His followers who are privileged to tell of His goodness, while others must keep silence? Hear what is written: "The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?" Amos iii. 8. Evidently none can help speaking His word, save those who have not heard it. Jeremiah once, because of the criticism of men, thought he would not make mention of the Lord any more; but he said, "His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." Jer. xx. 9. And so when the apostles were even commanded not to speak any more in the name of Jesus, they said "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." Acts iv. 20. And so it will always be; none will keep silence except those who have not known the voice of God speaking to them. 
 
"Let those refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But servants of the Heavenly King
May speak their joys abroad." 
 
(December 28, 1893 EJW, PTUK 609)

-Todd Guthrie

“A Holy and Just God” (Joel)

Second Quarter 2013 Adult Sabbath School Lessons
“A Holy and Just God” (Joel)
For the week of Apr 20, 2013

 A Holy and Just God

As the minor prophets such as Joel heralded the last messages of comfort, hope, and warning to the people of Judah before the first advent of Christ, so we find in these timeless letters an apocalyptic fulfillment for the generation that lives to see Christ return a second time. "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" Romans 15:4.

Joel describes the judgments of God that fell on Israel as a result of their disobedience to His commandments. The Laodicean message found in Revelation chapter three also hints at judgments that will befall God's last church on earth: "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" Revelation 3:19. We are rebuked for our sins of worldliness and self-righteousness, for our woeful ignorance of our true condition. The remedy includes being clothed with the garments of Christ's righteousness and anointing our eyes with heavenly eye salve that we may see ourselves as Christ does, and see Him as He is.

It was for this purpose that the Lord in His mercy sent a healing message to cleanse, rebuke, and purify us. Speaking to those gathered at the General Conference session of 1893, Brother A.T. Jones quoted Joel 2: " 'Be glad, then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately.' What is the margin? 'A teacher of righteousness.' . . . When He gave the former rain, what was it? 'A teacher of righteousness.' And when He gives the latter rain what will it be? 'A teacher of righteousness.' How? 'According to righteousness.' " A. T. Jones, 1893 General Conference Bulletin, #9.

Bro. Jones goes on to explain that the latter rain message -- this teacher of righteousness -- was sent from heaven to the delegates of the 1888 Minneapolis session through messages that uplifted the righteousness of Christ.

In a later message (#14), also given at the 1893 GC session, Bro. Jones warned that "the nearer we come to the second coming of the Saviour the more fully spiritualism will be professing Christ." But we need not be deceived. The hallmark of Satan's version of the "righteousness of Christ" is self-exaltation. We need to pray that God will give us discernment to know the difference.

Though the work of the latter rain in preparing God's people for the greatest test ever faced by man (outside of Christ's experience on the cross) has been delayed, the promise is sure. The latter rain will come. It will do it's work, and in its wake we will see young and old receiving visions and prophesying; we will witness "wonders in the heavens and in the earth" (Joel 2:28-31); God's people coming into unity to give the last warning message to our world (Joel 2:15, 16); a spirit of repentance manifested by the leadership of the church (Joel 2:17); And the a unified church proclaiming the last warning message to our world in the face of disaster and calamity on every hand (Joel 2:1-11).

"It is true that in the time of the end, when God's work in the earth is closing, the earnest efforts put forth by consecrated believers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit are to be accompanied by special tokens of divine favor. Under the figure of the early and the latter rain, that falls in Eastern lands at seedtime and harvest, the Hebrew prophets foretold the bestowal of spiritual grace in extraordinary measure upon God's church. The outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles was the beginning of the early, or former, rain, and glorious was the result. To the end of time the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church. 

"But near the close of earth's harvest, a special bestowal of spiritual grace is promised to prepare the church for the coming of the Son of man. This outpouring of the Spirit is likened to the falling of the latter rain; and it is for this added power that Christians are to send their petitions to the Lord of the harvest "in the time of the latter rain." In response, "the Lord shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain." "He will cause to come down . . . the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain," Zechariah 10:1; Joel 2:23.  Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles p. 55
   
"But unless the members of God's church today have a living connection with the Source of all spiritual growth, they will not be ready for the time of reaping. Unless they keep their lamps trimmed and burning, they will fail of receiving added grace in times of special need.  

"Those only who are constantly receiving fresh supplies of grace, will have power proportionate to their daily need and their ability to use that power. Instead of looking forward to some future time when, through a special endowment of spiritual power, they will receive a miraculous fitting up for soul winning, they are yielding themselves daily to God, that He may make them vessels meet for His use. Daily they are improving the opportunities for service that lie within their reach. Daily they are witnessing for the Master wherever they may be, whether in some humble sphere of labor in the home, or in a public field of usefulness.

"Every worker who follows the example of Christ will be prepared to receive and use the power that God has promised to His church for the ripening of earth's harvest. Morning by morning, as the heralds of the gospel kneel before the Lord and renew their vows of consecration to Him, He will grant them the presence of His Spirit, with its reviving, sanctifying power. As they go forth to the day's duties, they have the assurance that the unseen agency of the Holy Spirit enables them to be "laborers together with God."  Ellen G. White, Acts of the Apostles pp. 54-56

The book of Joel tells of the time period in which "the angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel's message is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here foretold. The Advent movement of 1840-44 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel's message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be far exceeded by the mighty movement under the last warning of the third angel.

"The work will be similar to that of the day of Pentecost. As the 'former rain' was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening of the gospel, to cause the up springing of the precious seed, so the 'latter rain' will be given at its close, for the ripening of the harvest.

"The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the gospel, are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. 

"Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from Heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. [Revelation 13:13.] Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.

"The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord's side." Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy pp. 611-612 

-Patti Guthrie

“Love and Judgment, God’s Dilemma” (Hosea)

Second Quarter 2013 Adult Sabbath School Lessons
“Love and Judgment, God’s Dilemma” (Hosea)
 For the week of April 13, 2013

Memory text:  “But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.”  Hosea 12:6 NIV
 
Hosea uses metaphors to try to bring spiritual truth to the mind in a familiar way.  God used this method, and still does, because He cares to communicate to us in such a way that we can truly hear Him and respond to His love. 

In the first day’s study, God’s people are compared to a dove, easily deceived and senseless. God is trying to get us to see that unless we are deeply connected to Him, we are easily led to place our trust in powers and rely on human effort instead of placing our trust implicitly in the loving Hands of a loving God. It is so easy to see human aid for our problems instead of seeking the Lord, is it not? Of course, the Lord can use human agents in answer to our prayers, but we must be careful not to use human aid in such a way that, by necessity, we are turning away from the Lord. When we comprehend the goodness of God, it will lead us to repentance. When we understand the Agape Love of God, we will know, more than we have, that He will eventually answer our prayers because He wants to love and bless us.
 
In Hosea 10 Ephraim is compared to a trained heifer that loves to thresh grain because she can eat as she threshes.  Israel had become self-centered. God wants righteousness and kindness to grow in others through our witness, ministry, and character. God wanted Ephraim to work hard at plowing of the soil, under yoke, to learn the value of giving and unconditional self-sacrificing love. The admonition to sow righteousness concerns people-to-people relationships; the search for God concerns the relationship between God and His people. The breaking up of the soil represents spiritual and social reform and renewal. God wants to shower righteousness upon us. 

Hosea 11 has the beautiful image of a child in the hands of a tender parent. God has cared for us from the beginning and will continue to do so if we maintain our faith in Him and Christ’s faith working in us. 

God’s compassion is stronger than anger. God does not wish to execute His fierce anger. While there are times when God disciplines, He prefers to simply win the heart by love, patience, compassion, mercy, and tenderness. God’s ways transcend those of sinful humanity. He will not let bitterness govern His decisions. God’s love seeks to bring healing, health, and restoration to His people. The purpose of divine discipline is to correct, amend, and reconcile, not to destroy or avenge. God’s heart is like that of a little child-pure, loving, innocent, incredibly kind, sensitive, giving.
 
God’s salvation will have the last word. He hears our request to take away the guilt that made us stumble. We bring words of genuine repentance as our thanksgiving offering. God then promises us rich blessings. Fruit trees are used as an illustration of God becoming a garden full of blessings for the whole world. Repentance, corporately and individually, is the condition for receiving the blessings of God, by individuals or by the church as a whole. We need to finally fully respond to such images of God’s love, and seek Him with “all our heart.” I ask you, the reader, three questions. Are you seeking for Him with all your heart? Have you sought for Him, ever, with all your heart? Will you seek for Him today with all your heart? And, as a part of that process, will you persevere under trials and duress in order that you find Him, and retain Him in your heart, mind, and life forever? It is truly time for us to experience true and total godly sorrow and repentance, to weep between the porch and the altar, confessing our sins and the sins of our fathers, church, etc. We are called to enter into the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement, in Christ, and to fully receive His law, His love, His life, His mind, His Spirit, His heart, into our own. “Unite my heart to know thy name.”  I pray, deeply, that you will finally have this experience. “Show me thy glory.”  Truly, the whole earth will be lightened with the glory of God.  Do not miss the experience.  

-Thomas Cusack