Too ashamed. Imagine Ezra wailing, “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens’ ” (Ezra 9:6, NKJV). And what seemed to be the main cause of the iniquity spreading everywhere? Mixed marriage! What? … Continue reading –>
Key Thought: Nehemiah contended with those who had made bad choices in marrying those who had no desire to follow God or were idolators. . December 21, 2019 1. Have a volunteer read Nehemiah 13:23-25. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is. Why did Nehemiah … Continue reading –>
Read Ezra 9:1-15. How does Ezra respond to hearing about the Israelites’ intermarriages? Ezra 9:1-2 state that the people “have not separated themselves”. The word “separated” is used in the following verses as well: Lev. 10:10; Lev. 11:47; Exod. 26:33; Gen. 1:4, Gen 1:6-7, Gen. 1:14, Gen. 1:18. What does the use of this word imply about the issue of a believer marrying an unbeliever? … Continue reading –>
Read Nehemiah 13:26-27. What does this show about how important biblical history is for informing us about the dangers of deviating from the right path? Solomon was led deeper into sin by the choices he made. It would be accurate to say that Solomon caused his own ruin by disobeying God’s command for the kings of … Continue reading –>
Read Nehemiah 13:23-25. What happened here, and how do we explain Nehemiah’s reaction to the situation? Since the children didn’t speak Aramaic (the language used during the Exile) or Hebrew, they couldn’t understand the teachings from Scripture. This was a real problem, because the knowledge of God’s revelation could thus be distorted or even disappear. The … Continue reading –>
Read for This Week’s Study: Neh. 13:23-25; Deut. 7:3-4, 2 Cor. 6:14; Ezra 9:1-15, Ezra 10:1-44, 1 Cor. 7:10-17. Memory Text: “And I said: ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens’ … Continue reading –>
Secret to Happy Home By Andrew McChesney, Adventist Mission Home was not a happy place for Hazel Moyo. Her father drank, and her parents argued frequently in Gwanda, a small town in Zimbabwe. Hazel longed to have a happy family. At the age of 14, Hazel made a decision that triggered a chain of events … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Ellen G. White, “Rejoicing in the Lord”, pages 115–126, in Steps to Christ. “As he set before them God’s commands and threatenings, and the fearful judgments visited on Israel in the past for this very sin, their consciences were aroused, and a work of reformation was begun that turned away God’s threatened anger and brought His … Continue reading –>
Concerning Jesus, the Pharisees said, Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? John 7:47-48 NLT In Luke 24:13-34 Jesus uses Scripture to explain to a couple of friends who the Messiah is, while they don’t even recognize Him. Jesus … Continue reading –>
Nehemiah’s zeal for the Sabbath day is admirable. Nehemiah was so passionate about observing the Sabbath correctly that he even promised to “lay hands” on the merchants from other nations. In other words, he would have personally intervened if he had caught them in the city or by the gates on the Sabbath again. As … Continue reading –>
Read Nehemiah 13:15-16. What is the issue that Nehemiah addresses here? It is not easy to stand up for God when you are in the minority. Because God said that the Sabbath was to be a holy day on which no one was to do any work, Nehemiah intended to make sure that this command was … Continue reading –>
Hymn 297, “God Be Merciful to Me” opens our singing for Sabbath School this week in the cleansing process learned in the Memory Text. Nehemiah 13:22 goes on to request that Sabbath be a sanctified day: Hymn 381, “Holy Sabbath Day of Rest” and Hymn 388, “Don’t Forget the Sabbath”. Nehemiah came back to the … Continue reading –>
