I was an Atheist. I taught physics and astronomy in a secondary school in Bulgaria and was responsible for teaching atheism. Then my brother became an Adventist Christian. I knew nothing about what he had gotten into, but I was sure it was trouble.
My brother told me of a man in his workplace who read his Bible during work breaks. He gave my brother some Bible literature and signed him up for a Bible course. My brother invited me to [...]
Further Study: Ellen G. White, “What Is the Sanctuary?” pp. 409–422; “In the Holy of Holies,” pp. 423–432, in The Great Controversy.
In Daniel 9:24–27, the beginning of the seventy weeks is marked by “the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem” (Dan. 9:25, NASB). The book of Ezra reports on three decrees that concern Jerusalem and the temple, but only the third, reported in Ezra 7:12–26, is the most effective one. The Persian King Artaxerxes I issued the [...]
The term for vision (in Hebrew chazon) in the question in Daniel 8:13 refers to the entire vision in Daniel 8:3–11 (see Dan. 8:1-2, 13, 15) and encompasses the time of Media-Persia (ram), Greece (he-goat), and papal Rome (little horn). When the length of the vision is given as “2,300 evenings and mornings,” we should therefore understand it as covering the span from Media-Persia to the End Time. The text repeatedly emphasizes that the vision pertains to the “time of [...]
You can now see the current lesson of the Hope Sabbath School class led by Pastor Derek Morris. (Adobe Flash Player version.) It is an hour-long, inter-active study of the lesson for the week and a demonstration of a good Sabbath School class. You can download the video (MP4) or audio (MP3) files and the lesson outlines (PDF) to your computer.
A Youtube version of the Hope Sabbath School “The Eschatalogical Day of Atonement” works very well on mobile devices. You [...]
This week’s introduction runs just over 8 minutes and would be great as a Sabbath School introductory video. You can see previous videos at the SanctuaryLesson Vimeo Channel. If you haven’t seen last week’s introduction, we suggest you view it before the current one, because the two videos together help to simplify what some see as a difficult subject.
WEEK TEN | “The Eschatological Day of Atonement” from Seminar Schloss Bogenhofen on Vimeo. (You can see previous videos by clicking on [...]
The target of the horn’s assault is God’s heavenly sanctuary and His people. What does the future hold for them? That is what the question in Daniel 8:13 asks. However, only the Day of Atonement can bring the sanctuary and the people of God back to their rightful state and thus justify God in His dealings. So, the answer in Daniel 8:14 must be a Day of Atonement activity. In fact, the Day of Atonement is the only ritual day [...]
Read Daniel 8:14. What happens at the end of the 2,300 “evenings and mornings”?
Image © Kim Justinen from GoodSalt.com
The phrase “evenings and mornings” reflects language from the Creation account that signifies a day (Gen. 1:5, 8, et cetera). It implies that God, using His own creative force, will counter the destructive activities of the horn and its host. The Creator causes a change of situation, which is actually called for by the question in Daniel 8:13.
The answer in Daniel [...]
The presumption of the little horn leads to the cry for judgment. As the ram and the he-goat became great and then were broken (Dan. 8:4, 7-8), so the horn power exalts itself (Dan. 8:9–11). Thus, the question comes, How long will the vision be?
What specific issues are prompting the question in Daniel 8:13?
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
Although the question singles out a few activities of the horn, perhaps the most horrible ones, it still asks for the [...]
Read Daniel 8, focusing especially on verses 9-14 and 8:23-25. What does the little horn power attack?
Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com
The horn power interferes with the worship of the divine “Prince of the host” (vs. 11, compare with Josh. 5:13–15). It removes from Him (Dan. 8:11-12) “the daily” (in Hebrew tamid)—a word that refers over and over to the daily sacrificial service in the earthly sanctuary service. Because the agent of tamid activities at the sanctuary is a [...]
Read for This Week’s Study: Daniel 8; Rev. 14:6-7; Num. 14:34; Dan. 9:24–27.
Memory Text: “And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” (Daniel 8:14).
For a better understanding of the sanctuary message, study this chart, which shows how the great judgment scene of Daniel 7 (studied last week) is the same event as the cleansing of the sanctuary in Daniel 8:14.
Daniel 7
Daniel 8
Interpretation
Lion
—
Babylon
Bear
Ram
Media-Persia
Leopard
He-goat
Greece
Fourth beast Little horn
Little Horn
Rome—pagan Rome—papal
Pre-Advent Judgment
Cleansing of the [...]
High on a lush mountaintop in Papua New Guinea (PNG) stands the village of Kora. People live in simple houses made of roughly cut wood and a thatched roof. They raise crops of yams, bananas, and sweet potatoes.
Most of the older people can’t read, and they speak only the local language, which we call wontok [one talk]. Teaching them the Bible was a challenge. But your mission offerings have made it easier. Many adults come to the children’s Sabbath School [...]
Further Study: “He who dwells in the heavenly sanctuary judges righteously. His pleasure is more in His people, struggling with temptation in a world of sin, than in the host of angels that surround His throne.”–Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 176.
“Satan has an accurate knowledge of the sins that he has tempted God’s people to commit, and he urges his accusations against them, declaring that by their sins they have forfeited divine protection, and claiming that he has [...]
Thanks to the work of a small team of volunteers at Seminar Schloss Bogenhofen (link to video tour), a Seventh-day Adventist seminary in Austria, we can invite lesson author Dr Martin Pröbstle into our homes or our Sabbath School classes to introduce the lesson. The introduction to “The Pre-Advent Judgment” runs just over 7 minutes and would work well as a video introduction in a Sabbath School class.)
WEEK NINE | “The Pre-Advent Judgment” from Seminar Schloss Bogenhofen on Vimeo.
You can [...]
You can now see the current lesson of Pastor Derek Morris’s Sabbath School Class on the HopeTV. It is an hour-long “an in-depth, inter-active study of the Word of God.” If you don’t have satellite TV, you can download the video (MP4) or audio (MP3) files and the lesson outlines (PDF) to your computer from the site.
For Sabbath School teachers, this is a good example of how a good Sabbath School class should function.
A Youtube version of the Hope Sabbath [...]
Read Psalm 96:11–13. What is the reason for all creation to rejoice?
Why would anyone cry out “Judge me, O Lord” (Ps. 7:8, NKJV)? The reason is simple. Judgment means salvation: “ Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your power” (Ps. 54:1, NASB). Psalm 26 is a heartbreaking plea for justice and righteousness. David expressed marvelously the idea that God, the Judge, is always on the side of His loyal people and that His judgment is [...]
