Sabbath: The Bible and History
Read for This Week’s Study: Ps. 104:1–9, Rev. 1:1–3, 2 Pet. 1:21, Daniel 2, Rev. 12:7–17, Rom. 16:20, 2 Cor. 5:17–19.
Memory Text:
“ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,’ says the Lord, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty’ ” (Revelation 1:8, NKJV).
Key Thought: Our God works in and through history, and in and through history He has given us powerful evidence for faith.
Is human history a meaningless series of events, or is there a central direction toward a specified goal, all according to a plan? The Bible makes it clear that the latter is true. Bible writers in both testaments insist that God directs history and reveals Himself in it.Yet, not all history reveals God’s will: humans are free to make bad choices, choices that influence history. The point is that just because God works through history doesn’t mean He causes all that happens. What it means, instead, is that despite the machinations and evil of human beings, God is there, working out His ultimate will and that He will bring human history to a grand and glorious close.
Biblical Christians believe that the Bible writers operated within the framework that God had revealed and that He inspired them to record the most significant events in human history. God often even provides the interpretation of these events so that we can understand what they mean.
This week we’ll explore a little of how God has worked in and through world history.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 3.
I hope we all take time to enjoy the magnificent Psalm 104.
This lesson reminded me of William Cosper's poem and hymn:
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
...
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
[I left out 2 stanzas. Sadly this is not in our current hymnal.]
This lesson makes us to know that bible works with the history and the future. It also make us know that God knows the history and the future. Joshua