Wednesday: Passing the Torch
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 30th of July 2025
The psalmist states how our children can know God and His loving care: “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts” (Psalms 145:4, ESV). One family should speak to another family about God, about His marvelous deeds, and about His teachings, all in order to pass biblical knowledge on to another generation.
Read Exodus 12:24-28. What important point was being made here?
Image © Providence Collection at Goodsalt.com
Parents were the first teachers in Israel and were to recount the story of the Exodus to their children. It was not to be told as a past historical event only but to be presented as their own experience, even though it happened a long time ago. By celebrating this festival, they were to identify with their forefathers, and the history was to be relived and actualized. The father would say: “I was in Egypt, I saw the defeat of the Egyptian gods and the plagues on Egypt, and I was set free.” In the book of Exodus, it is twice underlined how parents should answer their children’s questions regarding the Passover (see Deuteronomy 6:6-8 and Exodus 13:14-16).
It is worthwhile to notice that the Israelites were still in Egypt when told to celebrate their liberation from Egypt. The whole celebration, then, was an act of faith. After receiving their directions, “the people bowed down and worshiped” (Exodus 12:27, NIV) their Redeemer, and then they followed the Passover instructions.
In the book of Deuteronomy, the Israelites are reminded to tell their story in such a way that they can internalize it as their own journey. Notice the collective tone of this account as well as the stress on the present experience: “ ‘My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey’ ” (Deuteronomy 26:5-9, NIV).
Also, by recounting and retelling the story of Passover (or any events in sacred history) to their children, parents would be greatly helped in remembering what God had done for them and for the people. Telling it was as much for the speaker as for the hearers.
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The loudest story you can ever tell is your own story. It is a living story. God instructed the Children of Israel to make the Passover event a living story when God came down to rescue them (Exodus 3:7–8). Each one of us has our own “Passover” moment when God came down to be real, personal, and tangible. An encounter with God is the loudest story to tell about how God showed up during a distressing moment. When God revealed his mighty power to rescue. Health was failing, and God brought healing. Business was failing, and God intervened. The relationship was dying, and God intervened. I was jobless, and God provided one. I was a tenant, but now I am a property owner. I was “a nobody,” but now I am somebody. I was lost in sin, but God found me. These are our “Passover” moments, and we should not let the story die out, but tell the power of God to rescue.
The story recorded in John 9:1-34, where Jesus healed a man born blind, is a story that inspires me to tell my “Passover” moment. “One thing I do know. I was blind, but now I see!” (John 9:25). As God instructed the Hebrew people not to be silent about the Passover event, let us not be silent about what God has done to each one of us. Firstly, let our faith be accompanied by obedience. Then, let us start telling our story in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth.
The Passover story was not a story to be told around the fireplace simply to pass the time. It was a solemn time to tell the greatness and mercy of God. Likewise, when we participate in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, may we seriously reflect on its meaning and purpose. May it not be an empty ritual as a story told by the fireplace to pass the time.
Even those of you who never studied science have probably heard of Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei. They were giants in discovering some of the big ideas of science. Today many of their ideas have been superseded by the developments in our understanding of quantum mechanics and relativity. Does the fact that their ideas were superseded by the new ideas diminish their greatness? I submit that the most important thing that they passed on to us was the spirit of inquiry. They were willing to challenge old ideas and replace them if necessary. Hold that thought for a moment.
Seventh-day Adventists face a challenge that we do not seem to be passing something spiritual on to our next generation. I have taught in the Church's institutions all my life and am very much aware of how many of our young folk no longer have faith. When we have reunions, it is both saddening and challenging to see and hear their loss of faith.
I don't want to be simplistic about this but I think that one of the issues is that we see our view of Christianity as a tightly integrated set of doctrines that we can prove by using the Bible texts in the right order and with the right magnifying glass. In some churches this is called dogma. We want to pass on to our young people our set of doctrines.
I submit that the real heritage that our pioneers passed on to us was not a set of doctrines, but the spirit of challenging the status quo. In many respects they were like Newton and Galileo in the scientific world. Our pioneers came up with brilliant new spiritual ideas in a religious world that was accepting the status quo, and gave us a dynamic that was even more important than their doctrinal discoveries.
Do we pass on to our children a set of credal statements? Or, do we show them our Christianity is a dynamic for living? It is worth reminding ourselves that the judgement scenes depicted in the Bible don't ask any questions about the doctrines. They are really about the dynamics of living. I have often said that, give me a flock of Galahs (a pink and grey parrot found in huge numbers all over Australia) and enough time, I could teach them to say all the doctrines of the church. But that would not make one iota of difference to their behaviour.
We do have a grand spiritual heritage. It is a sad thing that all too often we pass on to the generation what they discovered, not how they discovered it.
Maurice - I picked up yesterday on a comment stating: “Keeping the Sabbath and proclaiming Jesus is coming soon is relatively easy compared to living and sharing with others.” Today you say: “We do have a grand spiritual heritage. It is a sad thing that all too often we pass on to the generation what they discovered, not how they discovered it."
I agree, and believe this is were our focus should be – to evaluate our dedication to and selfless application of the Truth God shared with us by His Son Jesus Christ. I am a first generation 'Sabbath-keeper'. There is no one in my family’s history who passed on the background of the Seventh Day Adventist's circumstances by which they support their decision to follow Jesus. I consider myself a Christian first and then a Sabbath-keeper.
Like you, I see Christianity to be a living Faith, given to the living to reveal the 'Good News' that God's Ways lead to eternal life. It is important that we move beyond agreeing with mere symbolism and creed and apply His Word's spiritual meaning to our daily life, so assuring His Works to be manifest in our lives lived by faith in His Word – “we walk by faith not by sight” – 2 Cor.5:7; Rom.10:17.
We pass on our attitudes more strongly than our words. It's the body language, emotions and actions that get remembered most. For example, if a parent says "don't drink" while winking and laughing with other parents nearby and reminiscing fondly about their own high school years getting caught with a few bottles, what will the teenager deduce? God gave us His Word, but He also sent Jesus to demonstrate His Body language towards us, His actions and attitude that matched His Word.
The Passover meal was a physical experience meant to drive home the spiritual truth of God's great love applied not only for them but to all generations. A parent could execute the Passover meal perfectly, yet I'm sure it was the attitude towards what the meal pointed to that God really wanted passed on. If the parent was truly grateful to be set free from slavery, humbled, repentant of ever worshiping idols, in awe of God, worshipful, grateful, growing in trust...the child would pick up on this as the meal unfolded. But if the parents recounted the Exodus story as a mere ritual, it would raise doubts in the child's mind and lose it's power to reveal the truth about God. A parent's ho-hum spiritual DNA will replicate itself in the next generation, needing a divine intervention to bring "born again" DNA, Christ's own character blueprint, into the mix.
I think that is so true, Esther.
Today I got a little curious about how Passover is celebrated by the Jews today and discovered the extent of their pursuit of getting rid of all yeast from their house. I also learned that if they have some very valuable yeast products (for example a bottle of grain based liquor), they can actually sell them and buy them back after Passover. Hmmm... very interesting. I don't mean to be critical, but it seems in focusing on yeast, they've missed the point.
But lest we feel smug, maybe we're not so different with some of our practices. And the next generation sees through us. I think they know when something really matters to us.
That’s so interesting, Christina. Reminds me of foot washing Sabbaths growing up… Sometimes us girls/women in the house would be more focused on how clean our pantyhose were, and whether there were any runs in the toes that we would be embarrassed by, than we were on the meaning of humility. 😅
So true! It's funny, but it's not. We're all guilty of something like that at times.
One of the core responsibilities God gave to the Israelites was to teach their children His ways, ensuring that each generation would carry His truth forward. In Deuteronomy 6:6–7, God commands, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road…” Passing the torch begins in the home—with intentional teaching, living by example, and making faith a daily conversation. Parents and spiritual leaders must listen to God and recognize who is being raised up to carry on the mission. The next generation will not know unless we teach them. The strength of Israel’s future depended not on one leader but on the consistent, faithful passing of God’s word from parent to child.
Champions often resist stepping down, fueled by the desire to continue in strength, but true wisdom recognizes the cyclical nature of life and ministry. Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us, “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” There is a time to lead and a time to empower others to lead. Just as we began life needing guidance, we will again need support as we age. The humility to both receive and release is essential in the kingdom of God. We must be intentional about mentoring the next generation, not clinging to our positions, but releasing our mantles with grace, trusting that God will continue His work through those we have trained.
Now here comes the big disadvantage of modern technology. With easy access to information and being able to jump straight into sections using search engines and now with AI, story telling and it's journey's impact to the mind has been lost. Whereas technology was intended to ease revision and search of information, it has nailed a coffin on "internalization" and the story experience - and even worship (quality time with God).
When I was 17, a friend excitedly introduced me to "Alf Laylah wa-Laylah" ("One Thousand and One Nights" or "The Arabian Nights"). However, the book's massive size intimidated me. I knew the common stories like Ali Baba and the forty-thieves, Sinbad's Adventures, and Aladdin and his magical lamp, so I skipped through them. This turned out to be a disadvantage when I had to share these stories with others. I ended up being corrected by everyone in the room, making it clear that I had only skimmed the book while others had read it thoroughly. That was a pretty embarrassing moment! I came read the massive book later, and wow! I had missed a lot of good story telling.
Today, we have lost this beauty of story telling - no bonfire evangelism; no story telling for children; no skits; we just depend on cartoon/anime summarized more to entertain than to teach. Today's Christian is more the "Proof Text" Christian with just enough verses to win arguements and be seen as religious but missing the lifechanging impact of Scripture (the Word).
This section (Exodus 12:24-28; Deuteronomy 6:6-9) reminds us of our duty to do indepth study, and keep the story of redemption as real, as unadultarated and as detailed as possible for generations to come. It is our duty for the next generation and future of the values and virtues of Christianity. It's about our children knowing and fearing God.
I agree with much of what you are saying here, but I would like to add that one of the problems we have with modern technology is that we allow it to make us lazy. It does not need to be that way. My grandsons like to use AI to help them do their homework but this is where Grandad steps in and starts asking questions. We have developed a tradition in our sessions of not accepting what is given to us by the AI Bot and questioning their answers. We end up having long conversations - the three of us - because in the end the conversation is often more important than the answer.
I submit that in our spiritual lives we have become used to "The Church" providing us with the answers, rather than the encouraging us to find our answers for ourselves. This is spiritual laziness "The Church" should not be seen as a sort of AI Bot that spits out the right answers. Rather it should provide a framework for conversations that grow us spiritually. Christianity is not like going shopping in the supermarket and buying the right food. It is more like learning to be a gardner and developing the skills to grow our own food.
Wow! Never thought it this way.
It seems to me that Satan's plan has been to gradually condition humanity to accept truth and/or guidance from others, rather than look to God for guidance.
Accepting truth/guidance without question from any earthly authority, whether it be AI or a preacher, is putting that authority in the place of God. It is violating the first commandment.
More than ever before, we need to be "Bereans," searching the Scriptures to determine whether the things authorities tell us are true.
We may not see this matter of accepting human authority as a serious matter, but if we condition ourselves to go along with the flow of those who receive such authority as supreme, we are not likely to be able to change our thinking pattern when the "big" decisions have to be made.
God gave us the power to think, evaluate, decide and act after studying and praying over it, and we need to develop those powers. There is nothing more powerful to strengthen the mind than a study of the Scriptures.
So let's make it personal: How much time do we spend communing with God through the Bible and prayer compared to how much time we allow the world to program our minds?
Do we study the Bible apart from the Sabbath School lesson? (The Sabbath School lesson is only a start. We need to study the whole Bible.)
When is the last time we have read the Bible all the way through?
So true
I asked this question to a group of my relatives who were with me at the recently concluded GC session in St. Louis, "why do we go to church?" Some of the answers included, I go to church to fellowship with other believers, I go to church to praise God, I go to church to receive a message from God, etc. I then asked another question. Do we have to go to a physical church to experience these things? Cain and Abel went to church to present their offerings to God. At church they saw what each other brought as their offerings to God. They could have chosen to present the same offerings privately. Similarly we could experience fellowship, the spoken word, good religious music, etc., at locations and at places external a church gathering of people.
So this brings me to ask the question, why did God develop the church? And what is the real purpose of church. John 4:23, 24 says the God is looking for true worshipers, individuals who will worship him in spirit and in truth. So what is spirit worship, and truth worship? Is it possible that worship can lack spirit and/or truth? So what is the goal of spirit worship? 1 Corinthians 10:31 provides a good answer. It says, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
Worship is designed to draw us closer to God. This goes for both corporate and private worship. If one's spiritual experience is in an upward trajectory, at the end of an individual worship encounter, we should be different from what we were before we started. Today's sabbath school lesson makes this point at the end. It says that by telling the Egyptian deliverance story to successive generations, both the giver and the receiver of the story will be blessed.
So what does it mean to be blessed, or to be drawn closer to Christ. It means becoming more and more like Christ in character. This can only happen to us by an action of the Holy Spirit. But we have to want it! We have to not only want it, we have to hunger and thirst for it, as Jesus says in Matt 5:6. Lastly, Romans 8:16 says that the Spirit himself will communicate with us and show others that we are changing. Thus, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives. Our actions will not be to glorify ourselves but it will be to bring honor and glory to God. The Holy Spirit will bestow spiritual gifts upon us for the edification of the saints and for the work of the ministry. However, to truly experience this, we have to beg for it by prayer and fasting, as the bible says in Ephesians 6:18, that our prayers should be done "in the Spirit." This is focused prayers, prayers that beg for the infilling of the Spirit, prayers that beg for the Spirit to be our teacher, our guide, our friend, the designer of our motives, and the one who will teach us to learn how to listen to ourselves, to listen to the inner thoughts that are going on in our heads, thoughts that no one but ourselves can hear. Lord help us, Lord help me.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we are also part of a story of deliverance—not from Egypt, but from confusion and spiritual darkness. The early Adventist pioneers faced ridicule, disappointment, and sacrifice, yet they pressed on because they believed that God had raised up a people to proclaim the everlasting gospel to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.
But here’s the danger: if we do not intentionally teach the next generation, they will grow up knowing only what we do, not why we do it. If they hear our sermons but not our testimonies, if they read our doctrines but not our history, their faith may become rootless, like soil without depth.
When we speak of 1844, the Three Angels’ Messages, or the Sabbath, we’re not just passing on beliefs—we’re handing down a legacy of trust in God’s Word, of perseverance through trial, and of a prophetic calling. These truths are more than theology; they are God’s fingerprints in our history.
So let us make it our sacred duty to tell the next generation:
- Tell them why we worship on the seventh day.
- Tell them what happened in 1844 and why it matters.
- Tell them who Ellen White was—not as a replacement for Scripture, but as a messenger who pointed us back to Jesus and the Bible.
And as we tell, let us also live what we believe—so our children don’t just hear the story, but see it in us.
Telling our godly heritage stories is for the speakers as well as the healer... that is powerful! Further, when we talk about it, we increase the propensity to remember. Our faith wanes when we forget how good God was to us and our foreparents. We have nothing to fear except we forget how the Lord has led us in the past
Our task is to believe He will do it again!
My past experience is probably my best example for my daughter. Hopefully, she does not look to the sinful side, but to the one fighting against it.