Lesson 4 *October 20 - 26
Prepare to Meet Thy God
Memory Text: (Amos 4:12 KJV) Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
“Scripture from the NEW KINGS JAMES VERSION” Copyright © 1982: Used by permission
Sabbath Afternoon
(Amos 4:1-3 NKJV) Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, "Bring wine, let us drink!" {2} The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: "Behold, the days shall come upon you When He will take you away with fishhooks, And your posterity with fishhooks. {3} You will go out through broken walls, Each one straight ahead of her, And you will be cast into Harmon," Says the LORD.
Sunday October 21
The Cows Of Bashan
(Amos 4:1 NKJV) Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, "Bring wine, let us drink!"
(Mat 25:35-40 NKJV) 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; {36} 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' {37} "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? {38} 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? {39} 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' {40} "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
(1 Tim 6:10 NKJV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
(Mat 19:21 NKJV) Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."
(Mark 4:19 NKJV) "and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Monday October 22
God’s Holiness
(Amos 4:2 NKJV) The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: "Behold, the days shall come upon you When He will take you away with fishhooks, And your posterity with fishhooks.
(Isa 57:15 NKJV) For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
(1 John 1:5 NKJV) This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
(Lev 11:44 NKJV) 'For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
(Isa 6:3 NKJV) And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"
(Psa 99:9 NKJV) Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the LORD our God is holy.
(Josh 24:19 NKJV) But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.
(2 Ki 19:22 NKJV) 'Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
(Psa 71:22 NKJV) Also with the lute I will praise you; And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel.
(Rev 4:8 NKJV) The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!"
(Amos 4:2 NKJV) The Lord GOD has sworn by His holiness: "Behold, the days shall come upon you When He will take you away with fishhooks, And your posterity with fishhooks.
Tuesday October 23
God’s Ironic Call
(Amos 4:4-5 NKJV) "Come to Bethel and transgress, At Gilgal multiply transgression; Bring your sacrifices every morning, Your tithes every three days. {5} Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, Proclaim and announce the freewill offerings; For this you love, You children of Israel!" Says the Lord GOD.
(Hosea 9:17 NKJV) My God will cast them away, Because they did not obey Him; And they shall be wanderers among the nations.
(Hosea 4:16 NKJV) "For Israel is stubborn Like a stubborn calf; Now the LORD will let them forage Like a lamb in open country.
(Hosea 11:7 NKJV) My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, None at all exalt Him.
Through the man of God that had appeared before the altar at Bethel, through Elijah and Elisha, through Amos and Hosea, the Lord had repeatedly set before the ten tribes the evils of disobedience. But notwithstanding reproof and entreaty, Israel had sunk lower and still lower in apostasy. "Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer," the Lord declared; "My people are bent to backsliding from Me." Hosea 4:16; 11:7. {PK 281.1}
There were times when the judgments of Heaven fell very heavily on the rebellious people. "I hewed them by the prophets," God declared; "I have slain them by the words of My mouth: and thy judgments are as the light that goeth forth. For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt treacherously against Me." Hosea 6:5-7. {PK 281.2}
"Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel," was the message that finally came to them: "Seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against Me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. . . . I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings." Hosea 4:1, 6-9. {PK 281.3}
The iniquity in Israel during the last half century before the Assyrian captivity was like that of the days of Noah, and of every other age when men have rejected God and have given themselves wholly to evil-doing. The exaltation of nature above the God of nature, the worship of the creature instead of the Creator, has always resulted in the grossest (p. 282) of evils. Thus when the people of Israel, in their worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, paid supreme homage to the forces of nature, they severed their connection with all that is uplifting and ennobling, and fell an easy prey to temptation. With the defenses of the soul broken down, the misguided worshipers had no barrier against sin and yielded themselves to the evil passions of the human heart. {PK 281.4}
Wednesday October 24
“Yet Have Ye Not Returned Unto Me”
(Amos 4:6 NKJV) "Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.
(Amos 4:8-11 NKJV) So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD. {9} "I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured them; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD. {10} "I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD. {11} "I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.
(Mark 2:17 NKJV) When Jesus heard it, He said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
(Luke 15:7 NKJV) "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
(Acts 20:1 NKJV) After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia.
(Acts 20:21 NKJV) "testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Rom 2:4 NKJV) Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
(Heb 6:1 NKJV) Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
(Rev 3:19 NKJV) "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
(Rev 2:21 NKJV) "And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.
Thursday October 25
“Prepare To Meet Thy God”
(Amos 4:11-12 NKJV) "I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD. {12} "Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"
(Deu 32:4 NKJV) He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.
(Isa 45:21 NKJV) Tell and bring forth your case; Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me.
(Jer 23:5 NKJV) "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
(Amos 4:12 NKJV) "Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"
(Dan 12:1 NKJV) "At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; And there shall be a time of trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, Every one who is found written in the book.
(Rev 22:11 NKJV) "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."
Friday October 26
Chap. 23 - The Assyrian Captivity The closing years of the ill-fated kingdom of Israel were marked with violence and bloodshed such as had never been witnessed even in the worst periods of strife and unrest under the house of Ahab. For two centuries and more the rulers of the ten tribes had been sowing the wind; now they were reaping the whirlwind. King after king was assassinated to make way for others ambitious to rule. "They have set up kings," the Lord declared of these godless usurpers, "but not by Me: they have made princes, and I knew it not." Hosea 8:4. Every principle of justice was set aside; those who should have stood before the nations of earth as the depositaries of divine grace, "dealt treacherously against the Lord" and with one another. Hosea 5:7. {PK 279.1}
With the severest reproofs, God sought to arouse the impenitent nation to a realization of its imminent danger of utter destruction. Through Hosea and Amos He sent (p. 280) the ten tribes message after message, urging full and complete repentance, and threatening disaster as the result of continued transgression. "Ye have plowed wickedness," declared Hosea, "ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled. . . . In a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off." Hosea 10:13-15. {PK 279.2}
Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, pp. 93, 22 - 23 (Incorrect page numbering, not included with lesson help)
Probable reference needed is p. 1107
Ellen G. White Comments, The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1107
21. See EGW on Rom. 3:19. {5BC 1107.1}
21, 22, 29 (Phil. 2:9; Heb. 2:9; Rev. 6:16; 14:10). Two Kinds of Crowns.--On whose side are we? The world cast Christ out, the heavens received Him. Man, finite man, rejected the Prince of life; God, our sovereign Ruler, received Him into the heavens. God has exalted Him. Man crowned Him with a crown of thorns, God has crowned Him with a crown of royal majesty. We must all think candidly. Will you have this man Christ Jesus to rule over you, or will you have Barabbas? The death of Christ brings to the rejecter of His mercy the wrath and judgments of God, unmixed with mercy. This is the wrath of the Lamb. But the death of Christ is hope and eternal life to all who receive Him and believe in Him (Letter 31, 1898). {5BC 1107.2}
Under Satan's Black Banner.--Each son and daughter of Adam chooses either Christ or Barabbas as his general. And all who place themselves on the side of the disloyal are standing under Satan's black banner, and are charged with rejecting and despitefully using Christ. They are charged with deliberately crucifying the Lord of life and glory (RH Jan. 30, 1900). {5BC 1107.3}
22, 23 (Mark 15:12-14; Luke 23:20-23; John 19:14, 15). A Representative Scene.--The scene transacted in Jerusalem at the betrayal and rejection of Christ represents the scene which will take place in the future history of the world, when Christ is finally rejected.
The religious world will take sides with the first great rebel, and will reject the message of mercy in regard to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (MS 40, 1897). {5BC 1107.4}
25, 26 (Mark 15:14, 15; Luke 23:23, 24; John 19:15, 16). Angels Could Not Interfere.--Be astonished, O heaven, and be everlastingly ashamed, O inhabitants of earth! With sorrow and indignation the angels heard the choice made by the people and the sentence passed upon Christ. But they could not interfere; for in the great controversy between good and evil, Satan must be given every opportunity to develop his true character, that the heavenly universe and the race for whom Christ was giving His life might see the righteousness of God's purposes. Those under the control of the enemy must be allowed to reveal the principles of his government (MS 136, 1899). {5BC 1107.5}
32 (Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26). A Means of Conversion.--The cross he [Simon] was forced to bear became the means of his conversion. His sympathies were deeply stirred in favor of Jesus; and the events of Calvary, and the words uttered by the Saviour, caused him to acknowledge that He was the Son of God (Undated MS 127). {5BC 1107.6}
37 (Ps. 85:10; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38; John 19:19). An Arranged Superscription.--Look at the superscription written above the cross. The Lord arranged it. Written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, it is a call for all, Jew and Gentile, barbarian and Scythian, bond and free, hopeless, helpless, and perishing, to come. Christ has made of none effect the power of Satan. He laid hold of the pillars of Satan's kingdom, and passed through the conflict, destroying him that had the power of death. A way was now opened whereby mercy and truth could meet together, and righteousness and peace kiss each other (MS 111, 1897). {5BC 1107.7}
38 (Mark 15:27; Luke 23:33; John 19:18). Christ Placed as Most Notorious Criminal.--Joseph and Nicodemus watched every development at the condemnation and crucifixion of Christ. Not an action escaped them. These men were diligent searchers of the Scriptures, and they were deeply indignant (p. 1108) as they saw this man, whom the judges had pronounced to be entirely without fault, placed in the center of two thieves, "on either side one, and Jesus in the midst." This instruction had been given by the chief priests and rulers, that by his position all might judge that Christ was the most notorious of the three (MS 103, 1897). {5BC 1107.8}
Manuscript 40, 1897 (reference unclear to do search)
(2 Cor 7:10 NKJV) For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
(Mat 27:3-8 NKJV) Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, {4} saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood." And they said, "What is that to us? You see to it!" {5} Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself. {6} But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood." {7} And they consulted together and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. {8} Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.