Described as more “crafty” than any other animal (Gen. 3:1, NIV) , the snake became a powerful symbol throughout Bible history. Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole to stop people from dying in a plague of deadly serpents during the Exodus (Num. 21:5-9) . The same bronze serpent became an object of … Continue reading –>
God created everything by a series of separations with clearly defined boundaries: light and darkness, waters above and waters below, land and sea, night and day, creatures according to their kind, a day separated from the others, a woman separated from a man, and a tree set apart from the others. Read Genesis 1:4-6, Genesis … Continue reading –>
In the context of Creation, the phrase “and God saw that it was good” appears seven times in Genesis 1: light (Gen. 1:4) ; dry land and sea(Gen. 1:10) ; plants yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit (Gen. 1:12) ; sun, moon, and stars (Gen. 1:16) ; seas swarming with fish and skies filled … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Gen. 1:28, Rom. 8:17, Matt. 6:26, Gen. 2:15-17, Gen. 3:1-7, Gen. 3:10-19. Memory Text: “‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel’” (Genesis 3:15, NKJV) . After the creation of … Continue reading –>
We do not know why sin arose in Lucifer. Ellen G. White tells us that “little by little Lucifer came to indulge the desire for self-exaltation”–Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 35. The fact that this occurred in a perfect being reveals in a powerful way the reality of free will and free choice as part of … Continue reading –>
Just as the reflexes of a twitching, freshly killed poisonous snake can cause it to reach around and inject its poison if you pick it up, Satan’s bite is still deadly. He may have been defeated at Calvary, but the danger is not over yet. Read John 16:33. How did Jesus warn His disciples of … Continue reading –>
As we have seen, the war in heaven was not confined to heaven but affected the earth too. For some time it appears that Satan (the “accuser of our brethren, ” Rev. 12:10) was still able to stand before God’s throne and make accusations against God’s people. Job was one biblical character who suffered this … Continue reading –>
We have no idea what war in heaven means; that is, we don’t know what kind of physical battles were fought other than the casting out of Satan and his angels. The fact is, the Bible does not say anything about the physical aftermath of this heavenly conflict. It deals, instead, with the spiritual results … Continue reading –>
Read John 12:31, John 14:30, and John 16:11. Why does Jesus call Satan the prince of this world? When God first established Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He entrusted them with the management of Eden (Gen. 2:8, and Gen. 2:15) , and the care of all creatures in the waters, skies, and … Continue reading –>
Read Isaiah 14:4, Isaiah 14:12-15. What descriptions of the king of Babylon indicate that he is speaking of someone much greater than a mere human ruler? No earthly king has ever fallen from heaven, a truth that suggests that verses 12-15 are focusing on someone bigger than the king, even of Babylon. Furthermore, the images … Continue reading –>
