Sabbath Afternoon, May 3
Memory Text:
“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;” KJV — Revelation 5:9
The Lamb’s presence before the throne assures us that “if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John 2:1.
The Lamb’s seven horns signify completeness of power and authority, in assurance of which Christ said: “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.” Matt. 28:18. His unlimited power is for our good, and for our use. He proclaims: “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20.
The Lamb’s seven eyes denote that all things are open and naked unto Him.
“Whither,” asks the Psalmist “shall I go from Thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven,” he declares, “Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.” Psalm 139:7-12.
Sunday, May 4
Futile Sacrifices?
Compare Isaiah 1:2–15 with Isaiah 56:6-7 and Psalm 51:17. What important lessons about sacrifice are taught here?
“The prophet Micah, who bore his testimony during those troublous times, declared that sinners in Zion, while claiming to “lean upon the Lord,” and blasphemously boasting, “Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us,” continued to “build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity.” Micah 3:11, 10. Against these evils the prophet Isaiah lifted his voice in stern rebuke: “Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the Lord.... When ye come to appear before Me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread My courts?” Isaiah 1:10-12. Prophets and Kings, page 322.2
“Inspiration declares, “The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?” Proverbs 21:27. The God of heaven is “of purer eyes than to behold evil,” and cannot “look on iniquity.” Habakkuk 1:13. It is not because He is unwilling to forgive that He turns from the transgressor; it is because the sinner refuses to make use of the abundant provisions of grace, that God is unable to deliver from sin. “The Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2.” Prophets and Kings, page 323.1
“Then let it be understood by all the members of the household that the work must begin at the heart. The heart must be subdued and made contrite through the creating, regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.” The Review and Herald, March 14, 1893. Christian Education, page 231.1
“Man must be emptied of self before he can be, in the fullest sense, a believer in Jesus. When self is renounced, then the Lord can make man a new creature. New bottles can contain the new wine. The love of Christ will animate the believer with new life. In him who looks unto the Author and Finisher of our faith the character of Christ will be manifest.” The Desire of Ages, page 280.4
Monday, May 5
The Blood of Bulls and Goats
Read Hebrews 10:3–10. What does this passage teach us about the sacrifices God’s people offered in the Old Testament? If sinners could not actually be saved by them, why offer them at all?
“This covenant deed was to be ratified with Christ’s own blood, which it had been the office of the old sacrificial offerings to keep before their minds. This was understood by the apostle Paul who said, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 12 (1897), paragraph 6
“Nearly two thousand years ago, a voice of mysterious import was heard in heaven, from the throne of God, “Lo, I come.” “Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me.... Lo, I come (in the volume of the Book it is written of Me,) to do Thy will, O God.” Hebrews 10:5-7. In these words is announced the fulfillment of the purpose that had been hidden from eternal ages. Christ was about to visit our world, and to become incarnate. He says, “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” Had He appeared with the glory that was His with the Father before the world was, we could not have endured the light of His presence. That we might behold it and not be destroyed, the manifestation of His glory was shrouded. His divinity was veiled with humanity,—the invisible glory in the visible human form.” The Desire of Ages, page 23.1
“A solemn statement was made to ancient Israel that the man who should remain unclean and refuse to purify himself should be cut off from among the congregation. This has a special meaning for us. If it was necessary in ancient times for the unclean to be purified by the blood of sprinkling, how essential for those living in the perils of the last days, and exposed to the temptations of Satan, to have the blood of Christ applied to their hearts daily.” Testimonies for the Church, volume 4, page 123.1
Tuesday, May 6
The Passover Lamb
Read Exodus 12:1–11; Isaiah 53:7-8; 1 Corinthians 5:7; and Revelation 5:6. What do these verses teach us about Jesus as the Passover sacrifice? What does that mean for each of us?
“After condemning Jesus, the council of the Sanhedrin had come to Pilate to have the sentence confirmed and executed. But these Jewish officials would not enter the Roman judgment hall. According to their ceremonial law they would be defiled thereby, and thus prevented from taking part in the feast of the Passover. In their blindness they did not see that murderous hatred had defiled their hearts. They did not see that Christ was the real Passover lamb, and that, since they had rejected Him, the great feast had for them lost its significance.” The Desire of Ages, page 723.2
“Pilate was as unwilling as they for the body of Jesus to remain upon the cross. His consent having been obtained, the legs of the two thieves were broken to hasten their death; but Jesus was found to be already dead. The rude soldiers had been softened by what they had heard and seen of Christ, and they were restrained from breaking His limbs. Thus in the offering of the Lamb of God was fulfilled the law of the Passover, ‘They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.’” Numbers 9:12 The Desire of Ages, page 771.3
“It was the purpose of Jesus to draw attention to the crowning sacrifice that was to end his mission to a fallen world. They were assembling at Jerusalem to celebrate the passover, while he, the antitypical Lamb, by a voluntary act set himself apart as an oblation. Jesus understood that it was needful in all future ages that the church should make his death for the sins of the world a subject of deep thought and study. Every fact connected with it should be verified beyond a doubt. It was necessary, then, that the eyes of all people should be directed to him, that the demonstrations which preceded his great sacrifice should be such as to call the attention of all to the sacrifice itself. After such an exhibition as that attending his entry into Jerusalem, all eyes would follow his rapid progress to the final end.” The Spirit of Prophecy, volume 2, page 386.1
Wednesday, May 7
Jesus at the Temple
Read Haggai 2:7–9. As the second temple was being constructed, the prophet Haggai made an astonishing promise: the new temple would be more glorious than the previous one. What was meant by that prophecy?
“After the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar it was rebuilt about five hundred years before the birth of Christ by a people who from a lifelong captivity had returned to a wasted and almost deserted country. There were then among them aged men who had seen the glory of Solomon's temple, and who wept at the foundation of the new building, that it must be so inferior to the former. The feeling that prevailed is forcibly described by the prophet: “Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?” Haggai 2:3; Ezra 3:12. Then was given the promise that the glory of this latter house should be greater than that of the former. The Great Controversy, page 23.3
“But the second temple had not equaled the first in magnificence; nor was it hallowed by those visible tokens of the divine presence which pertained to the first temple. There was no manifestation of supernatural power to mark its dedication. No cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erected sanctuary. No fire from heaven descended to consume the sacrifice upon its altar. The Shekinah no longer abode between the cherubim in the most holy place; the ark, the mercy seat, and the tables of the testimony were not to be found therein. No voice sounded from heaven to make known to the inquiring priest the will of Jehovah. The Great Controversy, page 24.1
“For centuries the Jews had vainly endeavored to show wherein the promise of God given by Haggai had been fulfilled; yet pride and unbelief blinded their minds to the true meaning of the prophet's words. The second temple was not honored with the cloud of Jehovah's glory, but with the living presence of One in whom dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily—who was God Himself manifest in the flesh. The “Desire of all nations” had indeed come to His temple when the Man of Nazareth taught and healed in the sacred courts. In the presence of Christ, and in this only, did the second temple exceed the first in glory.” The Great Controversy, page 24.2
Thursday, May 8
For You Created all Things!
Read Isaiah 6:1–5 and Revelation 4:7–11. What elements of these two visions are similar? Pay attention to the order of events: What subject is presented first? What comes next? What truth about God is being stressed in these visions?
Besides this divine appearance which Ezekiel saw (Ezekiel 1:28), the Bible describes God enthroned on three other occasions – once as seen by Isaiah, and twice as seen by John the Revelator; to wit:
(1) “…I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried and the house was filled with smoke.” Isaiah 6:1-4.
(2) “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne… And round about the throne were four and twenty seats; and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold … and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.” Revelation 4:2, 4-6.
(3) “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Revelation 22:1.
Since the throne seen by Isaiah was a “train” (retinue), and since as it entered into the temple, “the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke” (Isaiah 6:1, 4), it therefore is a traveling throne, whereas both the one of Revelation 4, having the “sea of glass” before it, and the one of Revelation 22, having the “river…of life” before it, are stationary thrones.
Though the one which Ezekiel saw is similar to the one which Isaiah was shown, yet they are distinct and separate thrones, for each of the “seraphims” of Isaiah’s vision has six wings, while each of the “cherubims” of Ezekiel’s vision has but four. In the latter, moreover, the cherubims stood under the throne, whereas in the former, they stood above it. On record, therefore, are four thrones – two stationary, and two traveling.
In determining the location of the throne of Revelation 4, and the one of Revelation 22, we note to begin with that the latter, the one from which the “river…of life” proceeds, is, says the Revelator, “the throne of God and of the Lamb” – that upon which Christ sat at the right hand of God after His resurrection. The former, the one having the sea of glass before it, is (also according to John’s view) in the most holy apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, for John saw before it “seven lamps of fire” (Revelation 4:5) – a sanctuary fixture. “As in vision the apostle John was granted a view of the temple of God in heaven, he beheld there ‘seven lamps of fire burning before the throne.’ “ – The Great Controversy, page 414.
Then, concerning the Father and the Son’s moving from the throne of God and of the Lamb – the one where the river of life is – to the throne where the sea of glass is, we read: “I saw the Father rise from the throne, and in a flaming chariot go into the holy of holies within the veil, and sit down. Then Jesus rose up from the throne,… Then a cloudy chariot, with wheels like flaming fire, surrounded by angels, came to where Jesus was. He stepped into the chariot and was borne to the holiest, where the Father sat.” – Early Writings, page 55.
Recording the same event as he saw it, Daniel says: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down and the Ancient of days did sit, Whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9-10.
Friday, May 9
Further Thought
The week’s lesson deals with sacrifice and uses the lamb to illustrate this point. It speaks about the lamb in the context of the sanctuary. It mentions the sacrifice of the lamb in ancient Israel for the forgiveness of sins, which points to Jesus the Lamb of God who died for our sins. Jesus is also the true paschal lamb. He is seen in the sanctuary in heaven as the only one worthy to redeem us and to break the seven seals. The lesson also talks about futile sacrifices. It points out that we must come into right relation with God if our sacrifices, our prayers and works are to be accepted by Him. The lesson concluded with the throne of God in the context of the sanctuary. Four thrones are made mention of. Two moving and two stationary. The sanctuary fixtures in heaven show that it is the great original of which the one that was on earth was a copy or pattern of.