SDA Sabbath School Lesson 6--1st Quarter 2021--Playing God

[Wally]

Lesson 6 January 30-February 5

Playing God

Commentary in Navy                  Inspiration in Maroon

[Richard Myers]

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Isaiah 13, Isa. 13:2-22, Isaiah 14, Isaiah 24-27.

Memory Text: “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this [is] our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this [is] the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:9

After a minister had preached a searching sermon on pride, a woman who had heard the sermon waited for him and told him that she was in much distress of mind, and that she would like to confess a great sin. The minister asked her what the sin was.

“She answered, ‘The sin of pride, for I sat for an hour before my mirror some days ago admiring my beauty.’

‘Oh,’ responded the minister, ‘that was not a sin of pride—that was a sin of imagination!’” — C. E. MaCartney, compiled by Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times, p. 1100.

Ever since sin was born in the heart of a mighty angel, pride has not respected the boundaries of reality (in angels or people). Nowhere is this problem seen worse than in those who harbor spiritual pride, a rather sorry trait in beings so corrupted that their salvation can be found only in the works of another in their behalf.

This week, among other things, we’ll take a look at the origin of pride and self-exaltation.

What is the origin of pride and self-exaltation? Where did it come from and how are we to deal with it?

Pride originated in heaven. Lucifer brought selfishness into the universe. How did it end up on the Earth and in me?

Eve began it all. She thought God a liar and Satan truthful. She believed a lie and convinced Adam to eat of the same forbidden fruit. Thus, through them their offspring inherited selfishness as our nature. It is only through Christ that we can be transformed and dead to self. We are evil by nature and can do no good thing in  and or ourselves. But, through Christ we can do all He asks of us. When we love Him with the whole heart, then He will cleanse it whiter than snow and make us partakers of His divine nature. The Holy Spirit will dwell in the heart of all who love God supremely and will give these converted ones all of the fruits of the Spirit, not one will be missing.

 "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter 1:4.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, February 6.

[Richard Myers]

Sunday        January 31

Doom on the Nations (Isaiah 13)

 13:1   The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. 
 13:2   Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 
 13:3   I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, [even] them that rejoice in my highness. 
 13:4   The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 
 13:5   They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, [even] the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 
 13:6   Howl ye; for the day of the LORD [is] at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 
 13:7   Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: 
 13:8   And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces [shall be as] flames. 
 13:9   Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 
 13:10   For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. 
 13:11   And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 
 13:12   I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 
 13:13   Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. 
 13:14   And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. 
 13:15   Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined [unto them] shall fall by the sword. 
 13:16   Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 
 13:17   Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and [as for] gold, they shall not delight in it. 
 13:18   [Their] bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. 
 13:19   And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 13:20   It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 
 13:21   But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. 
 13:22   And the wild beasts of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in [their] pleasant palaces: and her time [is] near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. 

Isaiah 13:1 has a heading that names Isaiah as the author (compare Isa. 1:1, Isa. 2:1); it seems, also, to begin a new section of his book. Chapters 13-23 contain oracles of judgment against various nations. Let’s take a look.

Why do the prophecies against the nations begin with Babylon?

Isaiah 10:5-34 had already announced judgment against Assyria, which posed the greatest danger in Isaiah’s day. While Isaiah 14:24-27 briefly reiterates the Lord’s plan to break Assyria, chapters 13-23 deal mainly with other threats, Babylon being the most important.

Endowed with a rich and ancient cultural, religious, and political legacy, Babylon later emerged as the superpower that conquered and exiled Judah. But from the human perspective of Isaiah’s time, it would not have been readily apparent that Babylon would threaten God’s people. During much of Isaiah’s ministry, Assyria dominated Babylon. From 728 B.C., when Tiglath-pileser III took Babylon and was proclaimed king of Babylon under the throne name Pulu (or Pul; see 2 Kings 15:19, 1 Chron. 5:26), Assyrian kings retook Babylon several times (710 B.C., 702 B.C., 689 B.C., and 648 B.C.). Babylon, however, eventually would become the great superpower in the region, the power that would destroy the Judean kingdom.

Read through Isaiah 13. Notice how strong the language is. Why does a loving God do these things, or allow these things to happen? Certainly some innocent people will suffer, as well, wouldn’t they (Isa. 13:16)? How do we understand this action by God? What should these texts, and all the texts in the Bible that talk about God’s anger and wrath against sin and evil, tell us about the egregious nature of sin and evil? Isn’t the mere fact that a God of love would respond this way enough evidence to show us just how bad sin is? We have to remember that this is Jesus speaking these warnings through Isaiah, the same Jesus who forgave, healed, pled with, and admonished sinners to repent. In your own mind, how have you come to understand this aspect of a loving God’s character? Ask yourself this question, as well: Could not this wrath actually stem from His love? If so, how so? Or, look at it from another perspective, that of the Cross, where Jesus Himself, bearing the sins of the world, suffered worse than anyone else ever has suffered, even those “innocents” who suffered because of the sins of the nation. How does the suffering of Christ on the cross help answer these difficult questions?

It takes more than the suffering of Christ on the cross to answer why "good" people suffer since God is love and omnipotent. Yes, Christ suffered for the sins of the whole world, but that does not explain why God continues to allow Satan and sin wherein innocent people suffer greatly. People are continually asking "If your God is so powerful then He could stop this mayhem of the innocent. Then if He is so powerful, then He cannot be so loving since He allows the suffering to go on, or if He is loving then He must not be so all powerful."

It makes sense that the person would come to that conclusion, even though he is wrong. What would you tell this person as to why God allows innocent people to suffer such great pain? Seventh-day Adventists have been given great light. It is our responsibility to understand what God has given us, and to share it with a world soon to perish. If the heathen were to hear the truth as to why God allows suffering of the innocent, don't you believe some would change their mind about God? Then tell the world why God allows suffering of the innocent ones. Prayerfully study the verse in Nahum that explains why God allows Satan and sin to continue.  And the share with us and your Sabbath School what you found in the Book of Nahum.

[Richard Myers]

Monday         February 1

The Late Great City of Babylon (Isa. 13:2-22)

In 626 B.C. the Chaldean Nabopolassar restored Babylonian glory by making himself king in Babylon, beginning the Neo-Babylonian dynasty, and participating (with Media) in the defeat of Assyria. His son, Nebuchadnezzar II, was the king who conquered and exiled Judah.

How did the city of Babylon finally end? See Daniel 5.

In 539 B.C., when Cyrus the Persian captured Babylon for the Medo-Persian Empire (see Daniel 5), the city lost its independence forever. In 482 B.C., Xerxes I brutally suppressed a revolt of Babylon against Persian rule. He removed the statue of Marduk, the chief god, and apparently damaged some fortifications and temples.

Alexander the Great took Babylon from the Persians in 331 B.C. without a fight. In spite of his short-lived dream to make Babylon his eastern capital, the city declined over several centuries. By 198 A.D. the Roman, Septimus Severus, found Babylon completely deserted. So, the great city came to an end through abandonment. Today some Iraqi villagers live on parts of the ancient site, but they have not rebuilt the city as such.

Yes, but a modern day dictator who is not longer with us began to rebuild the city, but failed.

The doom of Babylon, described in Isaiah 13, liberates the descendants of Jacob, who have been oppressed by Babylon (Isa. 14:4-6). The event that accomplished this was the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus in 539 B.C. Although he did not destroy the city, this was the beginning of the end for Babylon, and it never threatened God’s people again.

Isaiah 13 dramatizes the fall of Babylon as a divine judgment. The warriors who take the city are God’s agents (Isa. 13:2-5). The time of judgment is called “the day of the LORD” (Isa. 13:6, 9), and God’s anger is so powerful it affects the stars, sun, moon, heavens, and earth (Isa. 13:10, 13).

Compare Judges 5, where the song of Deborah and Barak describes the Lord as going forth with quaking of the earth and with rain from the heavens (Judg. 5:4). Judges 5:20, 21 depict the elements of nature, including stars, as fighting against the foreign oppressor.

Imagine that someone living in Babylon at the height of its glory might read these words of Isaiah 13, particularly Isaiah 13:19-22. How foolish and impossible they would have seemed! What other prophecies, yet unfulfilled, seem foolish and impossible to us now? Why would we be foolish, however, to dismiss them as impossible?

Some in our church, God's church, don't believe God can cleanse it. Many have left the church believing it has fallen and become Babylon. If God has not said otherwise, then many more would think the church has become Babylon. But, God has said otherwise, the church will never be broken up into atoms. The Bible is clear on the subject, then why do so many not understand? Why is it not widely taught that the Bible reveals the truth? How many times have you heard or read that God is going to pour clean water upon the church and cleanse it from its filthiness and idols? Or that the Holy Spirit is going to raise up His church from the dead, dead, dead church members? Maybe that is why so many do not teach the church is going through from Scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy?

Not long ago, ten years or so, who would have thought that Turkey would say she is going into Jerusalem? Turkey is still a part of NATO, but how can that be? She is now far from a democratic republic patterned after Western nations. She is now an Islamic State expressing her desire to become the "new" Ottoman Empire.  Many today still think it foolishness.

[Richard Myers]

Tuesday         February 2

Fall of the Mountain “King” (Isaiah 14)


 14:1   For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. 
 14:2   And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. 
 14:3   And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve. 
 14:4   That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 
 14:5   The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, [and] the sceptre of the rulers. 
 14:6   He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, [and] none hindereth. 
 14:7   The whole earth is at rest, [and] is quiet: they break forth into singing. 
 14:8   Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, [and] the cedars of Lebanon, [saying], Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. 
 14:9   Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet [thee] at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, [even] all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 
 14:10   All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 
 14:11   Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 
 14:12   How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 
 14:13   For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 
 14:14   I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 
 14:15   Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 
 14:16   They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, [and] consider thee, [saying, Is] this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 
 14:17   [That] made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; [that] opened not the house of his prisoners? 
 14:18   All the kings of the nations, [even] all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 
 14:19   But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, [and as] the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. 
 14:20   Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, [and] slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. 
 14:21   Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 
 14:22   For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD. 
 14:23   I will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts. 
 14:24   The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, [so] shall it stand: 
 14:25   That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 
 14:26   This [is] the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this [is] the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 
 14:27   For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back? 
 14:28   In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. 
 14:29   Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit [shall be] a fiery flying serpent. 
 14:30   And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. 
 14:31   Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, [art] dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none [shall be] alone in his appointed times. 
 14:32   What shall [one] then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it. 
 

In response to the fall of Babylon (Isaiah 13), which frees God’s people (Isa. 14:1-3), Isaiah 14:4-23 utters a figurative taunt (see also Mic. 2:4, Hab. 2:6) against the king of Babylon. It is poetic, not meant to be literal, obviously, as it portrays dead kings greeting their new colleague in the realm of death (Isa. 14:9, 10), where maggots and worms are his bedding (Isa. 14:11). This is simply the Lord’s dramatic way of telling the haughty king that he shall be brought low, as other proud monarchs before him—it is not a commentary on the state of the dead!

How could Isaiah 14:12-14 apply to a king of Babylon?

They cannot.

Babylonian kings did not suffer from lack of self-esteem (Daniel 4, 5). But aspiring to “be like the most High” (Isa. 14:14) would be beyond even the most inflated ego. While kings claimed strong connections with the gods, they were subservient to them. This was dramatically demonstrated every year on the fifth day of the Babylonian New Year Festival, in which the king was required to remove his royal insignia before approaching the statue of Marduk so his kingship could be reaffirmed. The idea of displacing even a lesser god would have been looked upon as crazy and suicidal.

As in Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28 identifies heaven-daring arrogance with the ruler of a city. Here also, the description goes beyond that of an earthly monarch, and God’s cross-hairs come into sharper focus: The proud potentate was in the Garden of Eden, an anointed, covering, or guardian, cherub on God’s holy mountain, perfect from the day he was created until sin was found in him, cast out by God, and who will eventually be destroyed with fire (Ezek. 28:12-18). Applied to any human being, the specific terms of this rhetoric are so figurative as to be meaningless. But Revelation 12:7-9 does tell of a mighty being who was cast out of heaven with his angels: “Satan, the deceiver of the whole world” (Rev. 12:9, NRSV), who deceived Eve in Eden (Genesis 3).

Satan has a proud imagination: “ … you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,’ yet you are but a mortal, and no god” (Ezek. 28:2, NRSV). His death will prove he is no god. Unlike Christ, Satan will perish in the heart of a sea of fire (Rev. 20:10), never to haunt the universe again.

Compare Isaiah 14:13, 14 with Matthew 11:29, John 13:5, and Philippians 2:5-8.

 14:13   For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
 14:14   I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 

11:29   Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

13:5   After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe [them] with the towel wherewith he was girded. 

 2:5   Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 
 2:6   Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 
 2:7   But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 
 2:8   And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 

What does this contrast tell us about the character of God as opposed to the character of Satan? What does this contrast tell us about how the Lord views pride, arrogance, and the desire for self-supremacy?

The character of God was revealed in allowing His innocent Son to come to this dark spot in the universe  where Satan claims dominion, a helpless baby subject to the weakness of humanity to fight the battle of life as we must fight it, at the risk of failure and eternal loss!  God can demonstrate His power and speak of His greatness because He is the creator of all that is, but He is not proud, but humble, unlike Lucifer who was selfish and proudly arrogant. And he dares to charge God with being selfish. Such foolishness to begin with. As clever as he is, he is surely not smar
t nor good, but purely evil.

Isaiah clearly tells us of his end. "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." 14:15. 

[Richard Myers]

Wednesday        February 3

Heaven’s Gate (Isaiah 13, 14)

In Isaiah 14 a taunt against Satan, the fallen “Day Star (in KJV, ‘Lucifer’), son of Dawn” (Isa. 14:12, NRSV) is blended into a taunt against the king of Babylon. Why? Compare Revelation 12:1-9, where a dragon identified as Satan (Rev. 12:9) tries to destroy a child as soon as it is born. In Revelation 12:5 the child clearly is Christ. But it was King Herod who tried to kill Jesus as a young child (Matthew 2). The dragon is both Satan and the Roman power represented by Herod, because Satan works through human agents. Similarly, Satan was the power behind the king of Babylon and the prince of Tyre.

Why does “Babylon” later refer to Rome (1 Pet. 5:13) and to an evil power in the book of Revelation (Rev. 14:8; 16:19; Rev. 17:5; Rev. 18:2, 10, 21)?

Like literal Babylon, Rome and the “Babylon” of Revelation are proud, ruthless powers that oppress God’s people. See especially Revelation 17:6, for it is “drunk with the blood of the saints” (NRSV). They rebel against God, an idea implied in the name “Babylon” itself. In the Babylonian language, the name is bab ili, which means: “the gate of god(s),” referring to the place of access to the divine realm. Compare Genesis 11, where people built the tower of Babel (Babylon) so that by their own power they could rise to the divine level of immunity from any accountability to God.

When Jacob awoke from a dream in which he saw a ladder connecting heaven and earth, he exclaimed: “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:17, NRSV). Notice that the “house of God” is “the gate of heaven”; that is, the way of access to the divine realm. Jacob named the place “Bethel,” which means “house of God.”

The “gate of heaven” at Bethel and the “gate of god(s)” at Babylon were opposite ways to reach the divine realm. Jacob's ladder originated in heaven, revealed from above by God. But Babylon, with its towers and ziggurat temples, was built by human beings from the ground up. These opposite ways represent contrasting paths to salvation: divinely initiated grace versus human works. All true religion is based on the humble Bethel model: “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph. 2:8, 9, NRSV).

I think the KJV says it better. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." KJV

All false “religion,” including legalism and “secular” humanism, is based on the proud Babylon model. For the contrast between the two approaches, see Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the publican (Luke 18:9-14).

Even after spending a few years in a Zen monastery, Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen told an interviewer, “I’m not saved.” In the context of today’s study, what do you think his problem was? What did he need to know about salvation?

Who knows. Self is probably at the foundation of his "problem."  At least he recognized he was not in a converted state. Laodiceans are in a worse state because they do not know they are not in a saved state. Jesus says He would rather they were hot or cold (not saved) than being like they are in a lukewarm condition being blind to their lost condition.

Since he knew he was not converted, there is hope that he will learn more of God and see His grace and be converted. Hopefully he will not run into false teachers who teach that God does it all and we have no part in our salvation. If we do not spend time with Jesus, if we do not behold Him and learn of Him, we will not be saved.

[Richard Myers]

Thursday         February 4

Final Triumph of Zion (Isaiah 24-27)

 24:1   Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. 
 24:2   And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. 
 24:3   The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. 
 24:4   The earth mourneth [and] fadeth away, the world languisheth [and] fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. 
 24:5   The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. 
 24:6   Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. 
 24:7   The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. 
 24:8   The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. 
 24:9   They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 
 24:10   The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. 
 24:11   [There is] a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. 
 24:12   In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction. 
 24:13   When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, [there shall be] as the shaking of an olive tree, [and] as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. 
 24:14   They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. 
 24:15   Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, [even] the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea. 
 24:16   From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, [even] glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. 
 24:17   Fear, and the pit, and the snare, [are] upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. 
 24:18   And it shall come to pass, [that] he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. 
 24:19   The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. 
 24:20   The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. 
 24:21   And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones [that are] on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. 
 24:22   And they shall be gathered together, [as] prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. 
 24:23   Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously. 
 
Chapter 25

 25:1   O LORD, thou [art] my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful [things; thy] counsels of old [are] faithfulness [and] truth. 
 25:2   For thou hast made of a city an heap; [of] a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. 
 25:3   Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. 
 25:4   For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones [is] as a storm [against] the wall. 
 25:5   Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; [even] the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low. 
 25:6   And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 
 25:7   And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. 
 25:8   He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken [it]. 
 25:9   And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this [is] our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this [is] the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 
 25:10   For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. 
 25:11   And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth [his hands] to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. 
 25:12   And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, [and] bring to the ground, [even] to the dust. 
 
Chapter 26

 26:1   In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will [God] appoint [for] walls and bulwarks. 
 26:2   Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. 
 26:3   Thou wilt keep [him] in perfect peace, [whose] mind [is] stayed [on thee]: because he trusteth in thee. 
 26:4   Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH [is] everlasting strength: 
 26:5   For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, [even] to the ground; he bringeth it [even] to the dust. 
 26:6   The foot shall tread it down, [even] the feet of the poor, [and] the steps of the needy. 
 26:7   The way of the just [is] uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just. 
 26:8   Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of [our] soul [is] to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. 
 26:9   With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments [are] in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. 
 26:10   Let favour be showed to the wicked, [yet] will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD. 
 26:11   LORD, [when] thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: [but] they shall see, and be ashamed for [their] envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them. 
 26:12   LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. 
 26:13   O LORD our God, [other] lords beside thee have had dominion over us: [but] by thee only will we make mention of thy name. 
 26:14   [They are] dead, they shall not live; [they are] deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. 
 26:15   Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed [it] far [unto] all the ends of the earth. 
 26:16   LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer [when] thy chastening [was] upon them. 
 26:17   Like as a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. 
 26:18   We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. 
 26:19   Thy dead [men] shall live, [together with] my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew [is as] the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. 
 26:20   Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 
 26:21   For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. 
 
Chapter 27

 27:1   In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that [is] in the sea. 
 27:2   In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. 
 27:3   I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest [any] hurt it, I will keep it night and day. 
 27:4   Fury [is] not in me: who would set the briers [and] thorns against me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together. 
 27:5   Or let him take hold of my strength, [that] he may make peace with me; [and] he shall make peace with me. 
 27:6   He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit. 
 27:7   Hath he smitten him, as he smote those that smote him? [or] is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him? 
 27:8   In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of the east wind. 
 27:9   By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this [is] all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. 
 27:10   Yet the defenced city [shall be] desolate, [and] the habitation forsaken, and left like a wilderness: there shall the calf feed, and there shall he lie down, and consume the branches thereof. 
 27:11   When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, [and] set them on fire: for it [is] a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will show them no favour. 
 27:12   And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the LORD shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt, and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel. 
 27:13   And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the LORD in the holy mount at Jerusalem. 

Following oracles against individual nations in Isaiah 13-23, Isaiah 24-27 describes on a worldwide scale the climactic defeat of God’s enemies and the deliverance of His people.

Why does Isaiah’s description of the desolation of the earth (Isaiah 24) look like John’s description of events connected with 1,000 years that follow Christ’s second coming (Revelation 20)?

As in Isaiah 13-14, aspects of literal Babylon apply to later powers, and the “king of Babylon” represents fusion of human rulers with the mastermind behind them, Satan himself. So, a message that Babylon is fallen (Isa. 21:9) can be repeated at a later time (Rev. 14:8, Rev. 18:2), and Satan is finally destroyed after Christ’s second coming (Rev. 20:10). While the destruction of literal Babylon was a judgment “day of the LORD” (Isa. 13:6, 9), another “great and terrible day of the LORD” (Joel 2:31, Mal. 4:5, compare Zeph. 1:7) is on the way.

Similarly, in Isaiah 24 the prophet’s vision reaches through conditions with which he is familiar to the time when “the moon will be abashed, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem” (Isa. 24:23, NRSV). Isaiah undoubtedly thought the vision applied to the Jerusalem he knew, but the book of Revelation explains that it will actually be fulfilled in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2). “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23, NRSV).

Does God really destroy the wicked?

Look at Isaiah 28:21, where God’s work of destruction is His strange “deed” (NRSV). It is strange for Him, because He doesn’t want to do it, but it is, nevertheless, a deed, or an act. It is true that sin carries the seeds of self-destruction (James 1:15). But because God has ultimate power over life and death, and He determines the time, place, and manner of final destruction (Revelation 20), it is pointless to argue that He ultimately terminates the curse of sin in a passive way, by simply allowing cause and effect to take its natural course.

What we see in Isaiah 24-27 is what we see reflected in the entire Bible, which is that no matter the suffering, pain, and desolation now, in the end God and goodness will triumph over evil. What, then, is the only thing we can do if we ourselves want to be part of that final victory? Prov. 3:5-7, Rom. 10:9.

Amen!  God's justice will not be set aside, neither will His grace fail to perfect a people who love Him with the whole heart and keep His commandments of love. If we want to be in heaven, then we need to act like we are in heaven. That is only possible if self is dead and Christ has possession of our hearts. And, if we want Him to take possession of the heart, then we need to trust Him with all we are and all we have. Then we need  to really get to know Him quite well. We will love Him if we see how much He loves us while we are yet sinners. It would be well to spend a thoughtful hour a day contemplating the life of Christ, especially the closing scenes when His chosen people hung Him on a tree. For we are told that by beholding His glory (His character) we will be changed into His image (character). See 2 Cor. 3:18.

[Richard Myers]

Friday          February 5

Further Study: “Is it by conditions that we receive salvation?—Never by conditions that we come to Christ. And if we come to Christ, then what is the condition? The condition is that by living faith we lay hold wholly and entirely upon the merits of the blood of a crucified and risen Saviour. When we do that, then we work the works of righteousness. But when God is calling the sinner in our world, and inviting him, there is no condition there; he draws by the invitation of Christ, and it is not, Now you have got to respond in order to come to God. The sinner comes, and as he comes and views Christ elevated upon that cross of Calvary, which God impresses upon his mind, there is a love beyond anything that is imagined that he has taken hold of.” — Ellen G. White, Manuscript Releases, vol. 6, p. 32.

Now some will misunderstand what is written here. Why because they think God does it all and man does nothing, that is what has been and is being taught in His church. What then are we reading here? That grace saves us not our good works. That before we do anything, God is drawing us to Himself that we might know Him. There are no conditions that God loves us and is knocking at the door of all hearts until some can no longer hear because they have resisted His call for so very long. And since some will not be drawn, then what is the difference between those who are saved and those who are not? Read what is written: "then what is the condition? The condition is that by living faith we lay hold wholly and entirely upon the merits of the blood of a crucified and risen Saviour. When we do that, then we work the works of righteousness."

When we hear that still small voice telling of His grace then believe it. Lay hold upon it. You may not do this the first time, but God will continue to call and to reveal His love for you. He will give evidence of it. As He points us to His Word, and that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word, what shall we do? Will we respond or reject His still small voice? Will we reject His righteousness, will we not be healed by His stripes, will we not let His grace into our hearts? In other words, what we are being told is that God is drawing all to Himself.  "If I be lifted up, I will draw all to me." He was lifted up and is drawing all to Himself. We must not resist this drawing. We need to allow His love into the heart, we must feed upon this love. As we look upon His righteousness, we will be transformed from sinner to saint. We will do works of righteousness. We will be given a new heart that has been cleansed whiter than snow.

Discussion Questions:

    Look at the above quote from Ellen G. White; read it in the context of Wednesday’s study. What is she telling us there? Notice in her statement both elements of the Christian walk: faith and then works. How does she differentiate between them?

One comes first, without faith we cannot please God, we cannot manifest good works until we love and believe God fully. We must allow God's righteousness into our hearts in order to be born again and then we will obey God's law (Eze 36:26,27).

    Why are pride and arrogance such dangerous sins? Why are they so hard to put away? Can it be because by their very nature they blind people to their need to put them away? After all, if you are proud, you think you are OK, and if you think you are OK, why bother changing?

Listen to Jesus speaking directly to each of us who profess to be Seventh-day Adventists. "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Rev 3:14-17.

And to the blind proud ones what must they do? Cease resisting the drawing of Christ? He is drawing all in the church to read His Words that follow the strong rebuke, verses 18-22: "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." 

How can dwelling on the Cross and what it represents (the only means of saving any person) be a powerful cure for pride and arrogance in anyone?

It is where we see God's grace, for it is because of my sins that He came to this dark spot in the universe to suffer and die in my place. This where we are healed, by realizing the stripes He received before being hung on the cross ought to have been mine.

Does Isaiah see hope for people of other nations? See, for example, Isa. 25:3, 6; Isa. 26:9 (compare Rev. 19:9).

Summary: Isaiah saw that following Assyria, Babylon would conquer Judah. But he also saw that in spite of superhuman rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph. 6:12) working through God’s human enemies and presuming to play God, the Lord would decisively prevail and bring eternal peace to our troubled planet.

Amen! And He needs our cooperation. It is through man that His character is to revealed not only to man, but to the unfallen worlds above. This dark and dirty planet is the lesson book of the universe that all might correctly understand the character of God, that His righteousness might be clearly seen. For this is the not only the cure for fallen man, but the cure for all of creation.

[Richard Myers]

As all can see we jumped over a few  chapters. I was blessed as I read them, even though I did not understand all that I read.   I look forward to hearing from one who has received light on them.