Sabbath Afternoon January 1
Memory Text:
“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;” KJV — Hebrews 8:1
“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, Who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Heb. 8:1, 2. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Heb. 9:24. Indeed, “now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:26, 27) – the cleansing of the sanctuary (Dan. 8:14).
Plainly, therefore, the judgment is to begin and the sanctuary to be cleansed, not before, but after the fulfillment of the period for those appointed to die. The judging being consistent with the records found in the books of heaven, the names, therefore, of those who are found unworthy, without the “wedding garment” on, are blotted from the books. Thus is the sanctuary cleansed. Speaking of the commencement of this work of judging and cleansing, the angel said unto Daniel: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Dan. 8:14.
Sunday - January 2
Jesus Is Our King
Hebrews 1:4-14
According to Hebrew 1, how far back can we identify Christianity?
This scripture reveals that Christ is not only our Saviour but our Creator as well; that He created not only our world but all other worlds too; and that He is one with the Father. It is for this reason that “God (the Father) said (to the son), let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” – Gen. 1:26. And while the Exodus Movement was afoot, all “did…drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. 10:4.
Clearly, then, since the personality now called Christ, has been with God’s people even from the dawn of history, during Old as well as New Testament times, Christianity on earth identifies Itself with the beginning of creation.
Monday - January 3
Jesus Is Our Mediator
Compare Exodus 4:22, 23 with 2 Samuel 7:12–14; Deuteronomy 12:8–10 with 2 Samuel 7:9–11; and Deuteronomy 12:13, 14 with Psalm 132:1–5, 11–14.
What promises to Israel would be fulfilled through the promised Davidic King?
Is Jesus our Mediator representing our world only before God?
“The work of God's dear Son in undertaking to link the created with the Uncreated, the finite with the Infinite, in His own divine person, is a subject that may well employ our thoughts for a lifetime. This work of Christ was to confirm the beings of other worlds in their innocency and loyalty, as well as to save the lost and perishing of this world. He opened a way for the disobedient to return to their allegiance to God, while by the same act He placed a safeguard around those who were already pure, that they might not become polluted. MYP 253.3
“While we rejoice that there are worlds which have never fallen, these worlds render praise and honor and glory to Jesus Christ for the plan of redemption to save the fallen sons of Adam, as well as to confirm themselves in their position and character of purity. The arm that raised the human family from the ruin which Satan has brought upon the race through his temptations, is the arm which has preserved the inhabitants of other worlds from sin. Every world throughout immensity engages the care and support of the Father and the Son; and this care is constantly exercised for fallen humanity. Christ is mediating in behalf of man, and the order of unseen worlds also is preserved by His mediatorial work. Are not these themes of sufficient magnitude and importance to engage our thoughts, and call forth our gratitude and adoration to God?” MYP 254.1
Tuesday - January 4
Jesus Is Our Champion
Compare 1 Samuel 8:19, 20 and Hebrews 2:14–16.
What did the Israelites look for in a king, and how were these wishes fulfilled in Jesus?
Did the Israelites get what they looked for in a king?
Ancient Israel wanted the tallest man in the land to be their king, and they got him. He would have led them into ruin, though, had it not been for the ruddy and unpretentious David who delivered them from the Philistine army and from their giant.
It is a common practice among Christians to make idols of men. This is recognized even by the ministry of other denominations. A certain minister, speaking on “Religion in Life,” told his radio audience that he stopped at a service station to refill his tank one day. While there, the attendant thought that the minister’s voice sounded familiar, and asked: “Are you the man I have been listening to every morning on the radio?” As soon as the attendant heard the minister say yes, he emphatically retorted: “I am disappointed in you; I thought I was listening to a preacher about six feet tall, weighing not less than two hundred pounds, but now I see you are only a little runt.” This practice is typical among Christians.
How does God describe Himself in Isaiah 59 and what special work He does for the Church?
Isa.59:16, first part “And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor.” God “was astonished”. Moses and Aaron “stood between the dead and the living.” Num. 16:48. God used Elijah on Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 18. In the crisis here brought to view, God finds no man (Eze. 22:30), so He Himself interposes.
Isaiah 59:16-18 “Therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. For he put on righteousness as a breast plate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.” God clothes Himself with His own attributes, and advances to set things right. Had there been a man, God would have let the man do the work, but as there was none, He does it Himself. This reveals one of God’s working principles. He will use one man, or a nation, to help correct or punish another. When that cannot be done, God steps in. While God will come with vengeance to some, He comes with salvation to others. Isa. 59:20: “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion.” This is not referring to the second coming of Christ in the clouds, for it takes place before probation closes. He is not coming with vengeance to the ungodly in the world, but coming to the church. And when He comes, He will do the work mentioned in Malachi 3:1-3.
Isa.59:19: “So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun.” God will make this coming as an example to the nations, just as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah. Isa.59:19, last part: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” John in Revelation 12:15, refers to this incident. “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” The woman here mentioned is God’s church (Seventh-day Adventist) “which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The “flood” is not the blue Sunday law, or any persecution in the past. The blue law has a different setting, and is described in Revelation 13, as a persecuting power to enforce the mark of the beast.
“Flood” is the same as “water”, which means people (in the church) unconverted, whom Satan is using to cause the church to be carried away in a very quiet manner, so that no one would be suspicious of the great deception. In this way he attempts to deceive the very elect (144,000) if it were possible. Being impossible, Christ Himself interposes and delivers His people (those who sigh and cry for all the abominations in the church) and then makes an example of the others.
Revelation 12:16, “And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” The meaning is that they die, being buried in the earth, as in Num. 16:32, “And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods.” Thus, “the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19, last part. This will fulfill Matthew 13:29, 30: “Let both the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest.” The separation will mark the beginning of the harvest, which is the Loud Cry of the third angel’s message. Revelation 18:1. The Spirit of God is poured upon His people (those who escape the ruin), and the promise is, that it shall never depart from them. Isaiah 59:21, “As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever.” Read “Isaiah the Gospel Prophet,” Volume 3, pages 43-49.
Wednesday - January 5
Jesus Is Our High Priest
Hebrews 5:1-4
How many sections of priesthoods are there?
Just as there were three sections or divisions of the church, (1) the period represented by Eve, (2) the period represented by Hagar; and (3) the period represented by Sarah...
So also, there are three sections of the true priesthood. You know that the priesthood in the time of the Jewish church was the Levitical priesthood, and it was not in existence before Israel left Egypt, and it is not the true priesthood today. Before the Levitical priesthood, there was Melchizedek who had neither father nor mother, neither beginning of days nor end of days, and he was the priest of the Most High God, king of Salem, king of peace. To him Abraham paid his tithes.
Then the three sections of the priesthood lines up thus: (1) in the period from Adam and Eve to the time of Israel, we have Melchizedek; (2) to the Christian era, we have the Levitical priesthood; and (3) in the Christian period we have the priesthood of Christ Himself...
Thursday - January 6
Jesus Mediates a Better Covenant
Hebrews 8:8-12
What is the type of the priestly work of our Lord and when will the heavenly sanctuary be cleansed?
That the true sanctuary, of which the tabernacle on earth was a type, is the temple of God in Heaven, of which Paul speaks in Hebrews 8 and onward, and of which the Lord Jesus, as our great high priest, is minister; and that the priestly work of our Lord is the antitype of the work of the Jewish priest of the former dispensation; that this heavenly sanctuary is the one to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14; its cleansing being, as in the type, a work of judgment, beginning with the entrance of Christ as the high priest upon the judgment phase of His ministry in the heavenly sanctuary forshadowed in the earthly service of cleansing the sanctuary on the day of atonement. This work of judgment in the heavenly sanctuary began in 1844. Its completion will close human probation.
“The sacrificial service that had pointed to Christ passed away; but the eyes of men were turned to the true sacrifice for the sins of the world. The earthly priesthood ceased; but we look to Jesus, the minister of the new covenant, and “to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” “The way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: ... but Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, ... by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Hebrews 12:24; 9:8-12.” DA 166.1
Friday - January 7
Further Study
“God chose Israel to reveal His character to men. He desired them to be as wells of salvation in the world. To them were committed the oracles of heaven, the revelation of God's will. In the early days of Israel the nations of the world, through corrupt practices, had lost the knowledge of God. They had once known Him; but because “they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, ... their foolish heart was darkened.” Romans 1:21. Yet in His mercy God did not blot them out of existence. He purposed to give them an opportunity of again becoming acquainted with Him through His chosen people. Through the teachings of the sacrificial service, Christ was to be uplifted before all nations, and all who would look to Him should live. Christ was the foundation of the Jewish economy. The whole system of types and symbols was a compacted prophecy of the gospel, a presentation in which were bound up the promises of redemption.” AA 14.1