SDA Sabbath School Lesson 6- 2nd Quarter 2025-Understanding Sacrifice

[Richard Myers]

2nd Quarter        Lesson 6                                                                                                                                                                May 3-9                                                                                                                                       

 
Understanding Sacrifice

Commentary in Navy                  Inspiration in Maroon

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Isa. 1:2-15; Heb. 10:3-10; Exod. 12:1-11; 1 Cor. 5:7; Hag. 2:7-9; Isa. 6:1-5; Rev. 4:7-11

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.” Revelation 5:9

When Jesus came toward him, John the Baptist declared: “ ‘Behold! The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!’ ” (John 1:29). This was an unmistakable reference to the idea of animal sacrifice, all of which pointed to Christ’s substitutionary death in behalf of all humanity.

Amen! If you ever have wondered how it happened that God's chosen people, Israel, could have caused the Son of God to be murdered, it is the result of church leaders perverting the gospel message. By the time John the Baptist gave that message that their Messiah had come, Israel did not understand the Lamb had to die. They all including John the Baptist thought and taught that Jesus was going to rule from an Earthly throne. Even His disciples did not know Jesus had to suffer and die that they might be saved. This is why Paul cried out that anyone who brings "another" gospel into the church is accursed. Yet, how many times have you heard this from the pulpit? Who in our church does not know the church today hears multiple false gospels being preached and printed in our periodicals? I have never heard this verse being spoken.

 1:6   I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 
 1:7   Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 
 1:8   But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 
 1:9   As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. 

In the Bible, we cannot escape the theme of animal sacrifice; it runs like a scarlet thread throughout its pages and plays a central role in the grand scene in Revelation, where John is escorted into God’s throne room (Revelation 4,5). The fact that Jesus appears in this pivotal scene, looking like a slain lamb (Rev. 5:6), is an important key to understanding the entire prophetic episode.

This week we will look at some of the themes of sacrifice that inform our understanding of Jesus, the slain Lamb, the clear protagonist of the throne room scene. He is accepted as worthy, where no one else is, and His unique worthiness speaks volumes about what the Lord was doing through the sacrificial system. It reveals Him as a God of infinite love who made the ultimate sacrifice, an act that we, and the other intelligences in the universe, will marvel at for eternity.

Amen! Many do not teach that Jesus had to suffer for every sin of every person who would ever live on this planet. Nothing is said about the punishment every unrepentant sinner will suffer. It is true they will not burn for eternity, but all of the wicked will be raised from their graves to suffer for every sin. Satan will burn the longest. But, seldom is this heard in our churches. Thus, many do not know how much Jesus had to suffer. Yes, we do know the Lamb did die for our sins, but few know He had to suffer before He died. If they know this, they never say it. So many sinners go on in life not understanding that if they continue to reject life everlasting, they will suffer for every sin. And no one warned them? What friend would not warn them?

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, May 10.

[Richard Myers]

Sunday         May 4
Futile Sacrifices?

Sometimes contrasting two ideas can be very instructive. Much can be learned about the nature of sacrifice in the biblical perspective from when God actually rejected the sacrifices of His people.

Compare Isaiah 1:2-15 with Isaiah 56:6-7 and Psalm 51:17. What important lessons about sacrifice are taught here?

This tragic episode in Israel’s history was not the first time that God rejected a sacrifice; something similar happened near the beginning of salvation history, when Abel’s sacrifice was approved and acknowledged by God, and Cain’s was not. That early episode gives us another opportunity to contrast acceptable and unacceptable sacrifices. (See Gen. 4:3-7 and Heb. 11:4.)

In Isaiah’s time, Israel was going through the motions, mentally checking off religious boxes in a minimal attempt to appease God, all the while living as they pleased. Their sacrifices were anchored in self, just as Cain’s were, and not in an attitude of surrender and submission to God.

It is the same spirit that animates the kingdoms of this world: the spirit of self-sufficiency. Cain would live as he pleased and render mere ritual to God on his own terms. One can only assume that he viewed God as an inconvenience, a roadblock to setting his own course, but feared God just enough to go through the motions.

Abel, however, offered the sacrifice God had requested, the sacrifice that exhibited the promise God had made of a coming Messiah (Gen. 3:15): a lamb, pointing forward to the saving act of Christ at Calvary. “Abel grasped the great principles of redemption. He saw himself a sinner, and he saw sin and its penalty, death, standing between his soul and communion with God. He brought the slain victim, the sacrificed life, thus acknowledging the claims of the law that had been transgressed. Through the shed blood he looked to the future sacrifice, Christ dying on the cross of Calvary; and trusting in the atonement that was there to be made, he had the witness that he was righteous, and his offering accepted.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 72.

How crucial that we protect ourselves from simply “going through the motions”! How can each one of us experience what it means to depend totally upon the death of Jesus as our only hope of salvation?

Let us go back to the sacrifice Abel made. It was a shadow of things to come. The reality being taught was what?  What was God's intention in asking Abel to slaughter a lamb? Let us go to the New Testament as Jesus revealed the very same gospel message. Both were what was given to humanity when we read Gen. 3:15. God promised that all who disobey God and thus must die, will have an opportunity to be transformed, to be aligned with God and at enmity with Satan and sin. When we come into the world we are in need of this transformation in order to justify one receiving eternal life in a world without sin. In order for us to have that opportunity to be transformed, the gospel message, the everlasting covenant we read in Gen. 3:15 that Christ must be bruised. He must take upon Himself the sins of the whole world. By so doing, He must suffer for each and every sin of every person who would ever live on this planet. Justice demands this. We may be forgiven our sins if Jesus suffered in our place, which He did in Gethsemane and on the cross.  The sacrificial lamb tells the story of the sacrifice our Savior made when hanging on the cross. It is an intellectual and spiritual truth that by beholding we become changed. 2 Cor. promises us that if we will behold the glory of our God, we will be changed into His image by the Spirit. Jesus put it this way when answering Nicodemus' question when He rebuked him, "how can this be?"  He wanted to know what he must do in order to be born again of the Spirit.  Jesus told him "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." If Nicodemus would look upon Jesus hanging on the cross, he would be changed into His image, His character. We must "look and live."  The sacrifice of the lamb earned nothing. It was merely a lesson, a revelation of God's great love for us while we were yet sinners. When the knife slit the lamb's neck and the warm blood ran across Abel's fingers, he was to understand this was to teach him that that warm blood represented the blood of the Son of God that would allow God to forgive his sins because Christ had paid the price in suffering for his sins.

This is the gospel message. It is this undeserved love, grace, that is the power that changes sinners into saints. It would be well to spend a thoughtful hour a day in contemplating this love as Jesus hangs on the cross. It is by His stripes that we are healed (born again).

[Richard Myers]

Monday        May 5
The Blood of Bulls and Goats

Some have criticized the entire concept of sacrifice, claiming that it’s cruel, harsh, and, in a sense, unfair. Yet, that’s precisely the point. Christ’s death was cruel, harsh, and unfair—the innocent dying for the guilty. That’s what it took to solve the sin problem. And that death, Christ’s, was what all these harsh, cruel, and unfair sacrifices pointed to.

Read Hebrews 10:3-10.

10:3   But in those [sacrifices there is] a remembrance again [made] of sins every year. 
 10:4   For [it is] not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. 
 10:5   Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 
 10:6   In burnt offerings and [sacrifices] for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 
 10:7   Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 
 10:8   Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and [offering] for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure [therein]; which are offered by the law; 
 10:9   Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 
 10:10   By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once [for all]. 

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?

The sanctuary and its services were a revelation of the plan of salvation. It was to teach the Jews that Jesus would pay the price for our sins and offer all the opportunity to obtain eternal life in a world without sin. 

The lambs and other sacrificial animals were mere symbols pointing forward to the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God. They were acts of faith, giving sinners a tangible way to express faith in the work of the coming Messiah. We often refer to these kinds of symbols as types, which are fulfilled by an antitype, or the appearance of the thing or event they foreshadowed. Some have even described the sacrifices as “mini-prophecies” of the death of Jesus on the cross.

The rituals associated with sacrifice were a little like paying for a trip. When you purchase a train ticket or a bus ticket or one for an airplane, you do not immediately receive the journey you paid for. Instead, you are given a ticket or boarding pass: a symbol or promise of the journey to come. You can sit on that piece of paper all you want, but it will not convey you to any destination. Once you have boarded and the journey begins, however, you have received what you paid for: the paper ticket becomes unnecessary.

So it was with the sacrificial animals. They had an important role to play, but once the real sacrifice was made, they became meaningless—a reality depicted when the veil between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place in the earthly sanctuary was rent asunder at the death of Jesus. “Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38, NKJV). The whole sacrificial system, temple and all, pointed forward to the death of Jesus on the cross. Once Jesus fulfilled His promise at the cross and rose victorious over death, the types became unnecessary.

Think about just how bad sin must be that only the death of Jesus, the incarnate Word (see John 1:1-3, 14), could atone for it. What should this tell us about what our attitude toward sin must be?

Actually His death was but a small sleep, Three days including a rest on the Sabbath. Why did all heaven rejoice when Jesus went to sleep? Because He had paid the price for us to be forgiven if we allow Him to transform us. If His death did not provide a way for us to be saved, then what did Jesus do that we might be saved? He took what would have been our punishment for all of our sins. And what would that be?

[Richard Myers]

Tuesday         May 6
The Passover Lamb

The book of Revelation refers to Jesus as “the Lamb” nearly thirty times. From the earliest days in the plan of redemption, God’s people have used lambs as a symbol of the coming Messiah. Abel offered “the firstborn of his flock” (Gen. 4:4, NKJV), and before Israel departed Egypt for the land of promise, they were instructed to redeem every firstborn person or animal with a lamb one year old (Exod. 12:5).

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?

It verifies the everlasting gospel made before the foundation of our Earth was made. Gen. 3:15 tells us that the Lamb would be bruised that we might be transformed from sinner to saint, from being at enmity towards God to being at enmity with Satan and sin. There is another condition for us even though Christ has opened the door for us to enter. What must we do that we would be transformed? Not all will hate Satan and sin, only those who love the Lord our God with all of the heart. The question to be asked and answered is what must I do to obtain eternal life in a world without sin?

Years after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, Peter reflected on what had transpired, and he wrote, “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet. 1:18-19, ESV).

Jesus lived the one human life that satisfied the holiness of God; the rest of us have sinned, and the way we live our sinful lives quite literally tells lies about the nature of our Maker.

Jesus, however, became the “last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). Where we had failed, He lived perfectly. In His humanity, He was everything the human race was supposed to be. He reflected God’s glory perfectly. “If you have seen me,” He told Philip, “you have seen the Father” (John 14:9, CEV).

Jesus, meanwhile, was crucified on Passover, further demonstrating that He is the antitypical Lamb. In John 18:19-20, Jesus said that He “spoke openly” (NKJV) of His doctrine. In a parallel way, regarding the Passover lamb in Exodus 12:5-6, the children of Israel were instructed to choose a lamb for Passover, and “keep it,” or put it on display during the days leading up to the sacrifice. When the high priest questioned Jesus about His teachings, He made reference to the fact that He Himself had been on open display in the temple for everybody to consider. His life, His works, His teaching—all revealed who He really was. He is the Lamb without blemish, the most powerful expression of God’s righteousness and glory.

What are ways that we can better reflect the perfect character of Jesus in our own lives?

How can we reflect the perfect character of Christ? 2 Cor. 3:18 tells us exactly. Why then do we not perfectly reflect the character of Christ, as a people? Because few are truly converted. They have been buried alive. You do not think so? Why then did not the church in 1890 reflect the perfect Character of God? Because it was rare to find one who had truly experienced the new birth. It is impossible for those who are not converted to do any good thing. And when truly converted we will reflect the perfect character of Christ. We will not sin as long as we remain fully surrendered to Christ. 1 John 3:9 tells us, just as does 2 Cor. 3:18. If you want the truth, then take time to read these two verses. Read 1  John 3 to see that verse nine is not twisted, but is in fact true. We cannot sin if we abide in Jesus and He in us. We are partakers of God's divine nature if we are truly converted. The Holy Spirit takes possession of the heart if we surrender the whole heart to Christ. He brings with Him love, joy, peace long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance, not one is missing.

The new birth is a rare experience in this age of the world. This is the reason why there are so many perplexities in the churches. Many, so many, who assume the name of Christ are unsanctified and unholy. They have been baptized, but they were buried alive. Self did not die, and therefore they did not rise to newness of life in Christ (Manuscript 148, 1897).

[Richard Myers]

Wednesday         May 7
Jesus at the Temple

There is tension throughout the entire story of salvation. God wishes to restore the communion that we once enjoyed with Him and longs to draw close to us. But bringing sinners into His presence would destroy them. “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,” David writes, “nor shall evil dwell with You” (Ps. 5:4, NKJV). At the same time, David also writes, “But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; in fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple” (Ps. 5:7, NKJV).

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?

When the first temple was dedicated by Solomon, the Shekinah glory—the presence of God that had accompanied the children of Israel en route to Canaan—filled the temple, and so the priests could not remain to complete their work of ministry (1 Kings 8:10-11). When the second temple was dedicated, the ark of the covenant, representing God’s throne, was missing because some faithful men, upset with the nation’s sins, had hidden it. The literal presence of God did not fill the temple this time. It was heartbreaking. How could Haggai’s promise possibly come true?

It was in the second temple that Jesus, the incarnation of God, appeared in Person, in flesh and blood. God Himself had stepped out from behind the veil to become one of us and to join us in this broken world. Because the Son of God was now the Son of man, we could see His face, hear His voice, and witness, for example, when He touched an unclean leper and made him whole (Matt. 8:3). Instead of bringing us closer in His direction, God brought us closer to Him by moving in our direction. He came down, personally, to us. No wonder the Bible said about Jesus: “ ‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which is translated, ‘God with us’ ” (Matt. 1:23, NKJV). Think about what this means: the Creator of the cosmos condescended not only to live among us but to die for us.

The cross is by far the greatest manifestation of God’s love. What are other ways we can see and experience the reality of God’s love?

Jesus gave up being omni-present when He became our Brother. He is bound by His humanity. And He not only died for us, but suffered for every sin of every person, and He risked failing and being separated from His Father for eternity. Wonder O heavens and be astonished O Earth! Such love!!

[Richard Myers]

Thursday         May 8
For You Created All Things!

On a handful of occasions, prophets have been brought close enough to God in vision that they were permitted to see God’s throne. Ezekiel saw it above the firmament (Ezek. 1:26); Isaiah visited the temple in heaven to see it (Isa. 6:1), and in one of the most explicit descriptions provided to us, John was escorted there in vision in Revelation 4 and 5. The Old Testament types in the sanctuary service indicated that there was only one path by which humanity could enter God’s presence: the blood of Christ. (See Lev. 16:2-14, for example.)

Read Isaiah 6:1-5 and Revelation 4:7-11.

 6:1   In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 
 6:2   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. 
 6:3   And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory. 
 6:4   And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 
 6:5   Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 

 4:7   And the first beast [was] like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast [was] like a flying eagle. 
 4:8   And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. 
 4:9   And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 
 4:10   The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 
 4:11   Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. 
 

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?

The glory of God is so great that all fall down and worship Him.

In each of these throne room visions, the first thing that happens is that heavenly beings underscore the holiness of God. In Isaiah’s vision, the scene is impressive: the temple is filled with smoke and the “posts of the door” were shaken as seraphim proclaim the holiness of God. In John’s vision, cherubim make the same announcement, “Holy, holy, holy.” (See Ezekiel 10:14-15 to find the living creatures described as cherubim.) Each prophet was shown a dazzling scene of God’s glory.

Then we are shown the prophet’s reaction to the scene. Isaiah cries out that he is a man of unclean lips (Isa. 6:5), and John weeps because he is faced with the tragic truth that no one worthy can be found (Rev. 5:4). When we are directly presented with the worthiness of God, we then finally begin to comprehend the human situation: we are utterly unworthy, and we need Christ as our Redeemer.

Satan has hurled many accusations against God, arguing that He is arbitrary, selfish, and severe, but even a brief moment in God’s throne room exposes Satan’s lies. It is in seeing Christ for who He truly is, “ ‘the Lamb who was slain’ ” (Rev. 5:12, NKJV), which enables us to see the Father as He truly is. How comforting to know that by seeing Jesus, we see what the Father is like (John 14:9). And the greatest revelation of what the Father is like is seen in Jesus dying on the cross for us.

The cross, then, should show us two things: first, just how much God loves us that He would do this, sacrifice Himself, for us; second, it should show us just how sinful and fallen we are that only through the cross could we be saved.

Amen!!

[Richard Myers]

Friday        May 9

Further Thought: The Scriptures make it clear that Christ is the only One worthy to secure our salvation. His life was the only sinless human life, the only example of a life that rendered perfect satisfaction to the glory of the Father. He is the spotless Lamb of God, and now He stands at the head of the human race as our eternal security. At the same time, He took our guilt on Himself, satisfying the judgment that is God’s response to wickedness. As John witnesses the incredible scene of heavenly beings gathered around God’s throne, he is told to stop weeping because “ ‘the Lion of the tribe of Judah . . . has prevailed’ ” (Rev. 5:5, NKJV).

Think, too, just how bad sin is, and just how fallen the human race really is, that only the death of Jesus, God Himself, would suffice to solve the problem of sin. No doubt, if there were some other way that God could have saved us, without violating the principles of His divine government, surely He would have done it. “The broken law of God demanded the life of the sinner. In all the universe there was but one who could, in behalf of man, satisfy its claims. Since the divine law is as sacred as God Himself, only one equal with God could make atonement for its transgression. None but Christ could redeem fallen man from the curse of the law and bring him again into harmony with Heaven. Christ would take upon Himself the guilt and shame of sin—sin so offensive to a holy God that it must separate the Father and His Son. Christ would reach to the depths of misery to rescue the ruined race.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 63.

Discussion Questions:

    John sees the Lamb enter the throne room looking as though He had been “slain.” Revelation 13:8 informs us that Jesus has been “slain” since the foundation of the world. What can we learn about God through the fact that the plan of salvation was already in place before we needed it?

    Many atheists believe that we are alone in a cold, uncaring universe. In contrast, the Bible talks not only about God but that He loved the world so much that He came down to it, and even died for it. How differently should we view the world, and our place in it, in contrast to those who don’t believe in God at all? In other words, how should the reality of the Cross impact all that we do?

    Why was the life, death, and resurrection of Christ the only means by which the human race could be saved? Again, what does such a cost tell us about how bad sin must really be?

Even more when we consider how much He had to suffer before He died (slept). For those who reject His offer of love and eternal life, there awaits the judgement where the wicked will suffer for every sin they did. The cost tells us that Gods loves us so very much that we would suffer for every sin of every person. And He did this while we were yet sinners.