Friday: Further Thought - 'The Nations: Part 1'

Daily Lesson for Friday 25th of April 2025

Further Thought: Read Isaiah 44:24-28; Isaiah 45:1-13.

“Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, ‘the mystery of iniquity’ carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and his apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, Pages 49, 50.

In line with the question at the end of Wednesday’s study, are we not all in danger, especially the longer we are here, of setting “aside the humble simplicity of Christ and his apostles” for the pomp, power, accolades, and temptations of the world? If we think we’re not, we are fooling ourselves.

Discussion Questions

When God exiled His people to Babylon, it was a particularly painful moment. Abraham had been called out of Chaldea to establish a covenant people as a light for the planet, and now they were taken away in chains. During their captivity, God showed Israel what might have been if they had been faithful. Nebuchadnezzar, the very head of a system utterly opposed to God, comes to Christ (Daniel 4:1-37). At the end of the Israelites’ captivity, God raises up a Persian king to serve as a type of Christ, releasing His people from Babylon and returning them to the Promised Land. Cyrus was not an Israelite, and yet God chose him to demonstrate the plan of salvation to the world as he returned God’s covenant people to Jerusalem. What lessons can we learn about how God views humanity from the fact that He was now using people outside of Israel to accomplish His goals?
We might not be in Babylon, but how much of Babylon might be in us? How do we recognize this problem, and how can we change?

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The captains and the kings conspire to build greater kingdoms with monuments built of granite to last forever. But, in the end much of their glory fades and their greatness is forgotten or simply used by tourists in their quest for selfies.
Percy Byssch Shelley, the English poet sums it up well in his poem:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart.Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
No thing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Percy Shelley 1819

In contrast God offers us:

“During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed; no one will ever conquer it. It will shatter all these kingdoms into nothingness, but it shall stand forever, indestructible. That is the meaning of the Rock cut from the mountain without human hands—the Rock that crushed to powder all the iron and brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. Dan 2:44,45 TLB

We see the glory of that kingdom now in the acts of compassion and kindness of the followers of Jesus as they share his love with others. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

I am back from New Zealand after a really great holiday. For those of you who would like a bit of Sabbath viewing, click on the link below. There are not so many birds in the slideshow but some wonderful scenes from what must be one of the wettest places on earth!

New Zealand Part 1

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Friday: Further Thought – ‘The Nations: Part 1’ — 1 Comment

Maurice Ashton on April 24, 2025 at 10:19 am said:

The captains and the kings conspire to build greater kingdoms with monuments built of granite to last forever. But, in the end much of their glory fades and their greatness is forgotten or simply used by tourists in their quest for selfies.
Percy Byssch Shelley, the English poet sums it up well in his poem:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desart.Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
No thing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Percy Shelley 1819

In contrast God offers us:

“During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed; no one will ever conquer it. It will shatter all these kingdoms into nothingness, but it shall stand forever, indestructible. That is the meaning of the Rock cut from the mountain without human hands—the Rock that crushed to powder all the iron and brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. Dan 2:44,45 TLB

We see the glory of that kingdom now in the acts of compassion and kindness of the followers of Jesus as they share his love with others. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

I am back from New Zealand after a really great holiday. For those of you who would like a bit of Sabbath viewing, click on the link below. There are not so many birds in the slideshow but some wonderful scenes from what must be one of the wettest places on earth!

New Zealand Part 1

(2)

Reply ↓

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Seventh-day Adventist Bible Study Discussion

Friday: Further Thought – ‘The Nations: Part 1’

Further Thought: Read Isaiah 44:24-28; Isaiah 45:1-13.

Comments

Friday: Further Thought – ‘The Nations: Part 1’ — 1 Comment

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