Sabbath: The Nations: Part 1
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 19th of April 2025
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 10:1-12, Genesis 12:1-9, 1 Samuel 8:4-18, Matthew 20:25-28, Revelation 18:1-4.
Memory Text:
“ ‘Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed’ ” (Daniel 7:14, NKJV).
The book of Revelation shows us God’s solutions for our fallen world. In the final chapters, access to the tree of life is restored, the curse is lifted, and we are readmitted into the presence of God. Revelation, in some ways, is the book of Genesis in reverse, which is why Genesis remains an important key to understanding how the world’s problems developed in the first place.
One of the key issues in both Daniel and Revelation is worldly government, a succession of human attempts to control a planet that rightfully belongs to God, who will—once this horrible episode of sin and rebellion is forever ended—ultimately rule in righteousness.
It is a very long process that leads to this moment, covering thousands of years of human experiments in self-government. They have never worked; even those expressing the highest ideals have always fallen short, often terribly short, of those ideals. So much of the sad history of humanity through the millennia is nothing but accounts of the tragedy that these failed systems have brought upon us. And it only will get worse until God’s “everlasting kingdom” (Daniel 7:27) finally is established.
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 26.
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One great assurance that prophecy provides is that one day, in some future date, God will establish His everlasting kingdom here on earth. The universe, which has been corrupted by sin over thousands of years, will be created anew. This will be a kingdom ruled by God’s righteousness, love, and justice. This shall be a kingdom of nations (Zechariah 14:16). There will be global unity of all nations, peoples, languages, and tribes. God’s eternal joy will be experienced for eternity (Revelation 21:4). God is inviting each one of us to be a citizen of that kingdom now.
“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” - Isaiah 46:9-10, NIV
Omwenga I would like to add:
1st we(the righteous or saints if you prefer) will be taken to heaven for a thousand years. The earth will lay desolate. The devil will be chained to a bottomless pit here on earth.
Then Christ returns to the earth landing on the Mount of Olives, with us a multitude of saints. The second resurrection takes place. The Holy City descends and rests on the place made purified for it. Christ and his people enter the Holy City. Christ sits on the golden throne(gold sometimes has the allusion of white in the brilliance of light) with the presence of our heavenly Father emanating light to light all of the Holy City and beyond. Satan garners war against Christ to take the Holy City. A panoramic picture of Christ sacrifice is shown to all inside and outside the Holy City, for all to see. The books were opened and then Christ executes judgement. Revelation 20.
Then your picture Omwenga takes place, after the earth is cleansed of all sin. Thank-you for it. Revelation 21.
Thank God for the illumination of the Bible.
The Great Controversy chapter 42.
I am sure these descriptions will be repeated throughout this quarter. We kind of got ahead of Pastor Boonstra's narrative. Thats ok.
One of Satan’s claims in his controversy with God was that God’s government was faulty and that he could improve upon it. As the god of this world he has had 6000 years to demonstrate his “improvements”. All of the corruption, injustice and oppression of human government in the history of mankind is an example to the universe of Satan’s “improvements”.
Luke 22:41–43
All the misery, devastation, and anguish experienced by humanity stem from one core issue: we are self-willed rather than God-willed. The Israelites were given the opportunity to remain under the Kingship of the Almighty, but they desired instead to be like the surrounding nations - what a travesty!
1 Samuel 8:4–18 vividly portrays the consequences of their decision to demand a king who would start the reign of rulers governing the people according to their own will, and so forsaking the God who delivered them from Egypt - but our God remained faithful!
His words regarding self-will remain relevant until the new world is established. Governments may rise and fall, but the underlying reality does not change: human-led systems always tend to serve themselves, using the people to fulfill the leader's own ambitions.
Reading this first lesson and looking ahead quickly to the rest of the week, the lesson seems to almost be saying that government is the result of Satan. I see what is being said - that humans being sinful will never rule the way God intends. And it's true that even the nations with the highest of ideals (for example the USA) have never fully lived up to them. But I'm not sure anarchy is any better because individuals are just as selfish as nations. And Paul spoke about governments being instituted by God (and he wasn't talking about a good government when he wrote that). And even Israel had a government prior to having kings - God invested judges with leadership, the priests and levites held positions of leadership and there were court systems. So I guess I have mixed feeling with what is being said here.
Hello Christina
Thank you for raising an important issue.
The problem is not with the concept of government, but with recognising that in a fallen world, Satan strives to twist everything God has made, including governments.
We need to remember that God nowhere encourages anarchy.
"Deu 12:8 “You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes,"
The apostle Paul pointed out the role of earthly governments in Romans 13.
But the disciples made clear that our primary loyalty is the our God and Creator whenever there is a conflict between earthly government and God's commands.
Although earthly governments are far from God's ideal, some form og government is necessary for society to function. Imagine the chaos if every driver on the road chose to set his own road rules.
Hai Christina, please see this video where the lesson writer explains the lesson. It might just help clarify your concerns especially his explanations around Genesis 10 It is Wriiten -Discussions with the Author
As Christians, our portion is not anxiety about the times we are living in, as much as things will get worse and ugly, the most interesting thing is that we shall win, as the book of Revelation points out. We are not whatsoever going to win because we are any special, we shall win because we are in Christ and because he will reign forever as Lord of Lords. Our victory is secure in Him, and that is what is special about our faith. The Lord has also promised to be with us up to the end, hence, we need to reduce our anxiety; the comfort of his presence should ease any anxiety we may be having in these uncertain days.
Trying to predict when events will occur exactly, especially when Jesus establishes his kingdom, has been a fruitless exercise, as those who have attempted before have failed flat. Anyone who tries to tell you they know when Jesus is coming back should be ignored with contempt; regardless of how educated or profound they sound, they are violating a truth of Scripture. Our humble duty is to be ready to meet our Lord when he appears as the book of Revelation
Thank God evil has its days counted to an end. When Jesus died on the cross without a single sin, victory was guaranteed, and a countdown was started.
The government of Israel was a theocracy, that is, government by God directly. When Israel and Judah repeatedly violated God's law and rejected His rulership, the Lord finally withdrew from them His direct government and left them to what they desired—subjection to man. There was no government anywhere to which God has delegated the authority that He gave to the Judges or priest of Israel in the days of the theocracy. No judges or priest takes advantage of the people to satisfy their selfishness and comfort as depicted in 1 Samuel 8:11-18.
Ideally that was true. But the judges had their own flaws - Samson, Jephath, even Gideon. And the priests in Samuel's day were not good - Eli's sons were taking advantage of the people (see I Samuel 2). Samuel's own sons were not righteous (I Samuel 8:1-3) and that was part of the reason the people asked for a king. Their motive of wanting to be like the other nations was wrong, but their concerns were not.
It's well that we are expecting a new kingdom
“The book of Revelation shows us God’s solutions for our fallen world.” (Quoting author.)
IS there more than ONE solution to our fallen world?