In the last days, the great controversy will be played out, in a dramatic way, over worship. Do we worship the Creator, or do we worship the beast and its image? There is no middle ground. The first angel of Revelation 14 urges men and women to “ ‘worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’ ” (Rev. 14:7, NKJV). In further support of heaven’s appeal, the third angel reveals the dire consequences of worshiping the beast: “The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of Go...
Jun 18, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 2064
In the coming crisis over worship, God’s faithful people will not yield to worldly pressures (Rev. 14:12). They will be sealed by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30) and cannot be moved. In ancient times, seals attested to the authenticity of official documents. They were a distinctive, individualized mark. Since the final conflict centers on worship and God’s authority as revealed in His law, we would expect God’s seal to be embedded in His law (compare Isa. 8:16).Read Exodus 20:8–11. What elements of ...
Jun 17, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 2063
Read Proverbs 23:23, John 8:32, and John 17:17. What common thread runs through these verses?Throughout the ages, the great controversy has been a battle between truth and error. Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Jesus is the author of all truth. He declared, “ ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life’ ” (John 14:6). The truth that sets us free from Satan’s deceptions is found in God’s Word. The Bible unmasks Satan’s strategy and reveals God’s plans. Scripture is a lamp to our fe...
Jun 16, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2062
Read for This Week’s StudyJohn 8:32; Ezek. 20:12, 20; Rev. 7:1, 2; Rev. 14:1; Joel 2:21–24; Hos. 6:3; James 5:7, 8; Rev. 18:1–4.Memory Text:“Buy the truth, and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23, NKJV).Suppose you had a daughter driving home from college for summer vacation. As you wait for her to arrive, you anxiously monitor the weather reports. You become worried as the weather rapidly deteriorates. Storm clouds loom on the horizon. Winds blow fierc...
Jun 15, 2024•7 min•Season 6Ep. 2061
Worshiping the beast and its image alludes to Daniel 3, in which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were commanded by the king of Babylon to bow down to a golden image or be thrown into a fiery furnace. Ancient Babylon, modern Babylon—the issue is worship. True worship springs from a mind taught by God’s Word, a soul transformed by His love, and a heart filled with His Spirit. Then we will not be “conformed to this world” but live according to God’s will, which is found in His Word. That is our onl...
Jun 14, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2060
Read Revelation 13:11–18. How does this second beast differ from the first beast of Revelation 13?The first beast rose out of the sea; the second beast comes “up out of the earth” (Rev. 13:11, NKJV). The sea represents “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues” (Rev. 17:15, NKJV). The earth, then, represents a sparsely populated area of the world. This second beast arises near the close of the prophetic period during which the first beast exercises authority (Rev. 13:5). That is, it rises to pr...
Jun 13, 2024•11 min•Season 6Ep. 2059
Rather than worshiping the beast, God’s people find their greatest joy and highest delight in worshiping Him. Their obedience springs from their heart of love. They are committed to Him because they know how committed He is to them.Read Revelation 13:5. Write this identifying characteristic in the space below.Recall from lesson 4 that God gives us a key for understanding prophetic time—one prophetic day equals one literal year (Num. 14:34, Ezek. 4:6). Calculating the time period of 42 months men...
Jun 12, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2058
Read Revelation 13:1, 2. Where does this beast rise from, and who gives it authority?The book of Revelation identifies the dragon primarily as Satan. Revelation 12:3–5 says the dragon attempted to destroy, “as soon as it was born,” the “male Child,” who was later “caught up to God and His throne” (NKJV). It was the devil, working through pagan Rome, who tried to destroy Christ (see Matt. 2:16–18). The archenemy of God and humanity works through political and religious institutions to accomplish ...
Jun 11, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2057
The message of Revelation is much more than cryptic symbols, strange beasts, and odd images. It speaks of eternal truths given by a loving God to an end-time generation. The conflict between Christ and Satan began in heaven over worship. It will come to its final climax over worship.Compare Revelation 14:7, 9 with Revelation 4:11. What is the overarching theme of Revelation in this conflict between good and evil?Throughout Revelation, worship and creation are indissolubly linked. Revelation 14:7...
Jun 09, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2055
The mark of the beast prophecy in Revelation 13 tells us about the fiercest and very worst stage of Satan’s war against God. Ever since Jesus died on the cross, the enemy has known he was defeated, but he is determined to take as many as possible down with him. His first strategy in this campaign is deception. When deception does not work, he resorts to force. He is ultimately behind the decree that anyone who refuses to worship the beast or receive his mark will be put to death.Religious persec...
Jun 09, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2056
Read for This Week’s StudyRev. 14:7, 9, 12; Rev. 4:11; Rev. 13:1, 2; Rev. 12:3–5, 17; Rev. 13:11–18.Memory Text:“ ‘Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth’ ” (John 17:17, NKJV).There is a relatively new medical device called a biochip or VeriChip, about the size of a grain of rice, that can be implanted in a patient. The biochip contains information about the patient’s medical history, which can then be obtained by passing an external scanner across the area where the biochip or VeriChip...
Jun 08, 2024•5 min•Season 6Ep. 2054
A recent book by Lee Strobel, The Case for Heaven, is premised on the idea that, at death, the dead remain alive in some kind of conscious existence, with “near death experiences” (NDEs) being used as part of the “proof.” One example: “Another girl, who had an NDE during heart surgery, said she met her brother in the afterlife—which surprised her because she didn’t have a brother. When she later recovered and told her father, he revealed to her for the first time that she did, indeed, have a bro...
Jun 07, 2024•6 min•Season 6Ep. 2053
Our hope of salvation is rooted in Christ. His bloodstained hands beckon us to accept the sacrifice so freely provided at infinite cost. Soon Christ will return to claim His own. Titus 2:13 calls the second coming of Christ “the blessed hope.”Satan’s goal is to destroy this hope. He will perform miracles, signs, and wonders, anything and everything that could lead people away from Bible truth and salvation in Christ.“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of...
Jun 06, 2024•7 min•Season 6Ep. 2052
Read Matthew 24:5, 11, 24; 2 Thessalonians 2:7–9; Revelation 13:13, 14; and Revelation 16:13, 14. What kind of deceptions will people face in the last days?The devil will use “signs and wonders” and spectacular miracles to deceive multitudes just before the coming of Jesus. Commenting on the deceptive power of demonic spirits, Ángel Rodríguez makes this telling statement: “Their power of persuasion is to be found not in the content of their message but in the power of supernatural manifestations...
Jun 05, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2051
Read John 11:11–14, 21–25; 2 Timothy 1:10; 1 Corinthians 15:51–54; and 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17. How do the New Testament writers’ descriptions of death compare with those in the Old Testament?Both the Old and New Testaments use the symbolism of death as a sleep. At least 53 times in the Bible, the word “sleep” is equated with death. The Bible writers concur that there is no conscious existence in an immortal soul that leaves the body immediately after death.The New Testament adds another dimensi...
Jun 04, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 2050
Read Psalm 6:5, Psalm 115:17, 1 Kings 2:10, 1 Kings 11:43, and 1 Kings 14:20. What do these verses teach about the state of the dead?The Old Testament does not teach the immortality of the soul. Nor does it teach that after death the faithful soar off to the bliss of heaven for eternity and the unfaithful descend to hell, where they burn for eternity. It teaches that death is a sleep. The book of Kings uses the expression “they rested [slept] with their fathers” to describe the death of the patr...
Jun 03, 2024•13 min•Season 6Ep. 2049
The fable that death is really just entrance to a new stage of life is based on the concept of the soul’s natural immortality. This pagan idea infiltrated the church early on as it moved away from its biblical foundations in an attempt to make its faith understandable to the wider Roman world. “The theory of the immortality of the soul was one of those false doctrines that Rome, borrowing from paganism, incorporated into the religion of Christendom.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 549...
Jun 02, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2048
Read for This Week’s StudyMatt. 10:28; Eccles. 9:5; Isa. 8:19, 20; John 11:11–14, 21–25; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17; Rev. 16:13, 14; Matt. 24:23–27; 2 Thess. 2:9–12.Memory Text:“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessaloni...
Jun 01, 2024•6 min•Season 6Ep. 2047
“In the absence of Bible testimony in their favor, many with unwearying persistence urged—forgetting how the same reasoning had been employed against Christ and His apostles: ‘Why do not our great men understand this Sabbath question? But few believe as you do. It cannot be that you are right and that all the men of learning in the world are wrong.’“To refute such arguments it was needful only to cite the teachings of the Scriptures and the history of the Lord’s dealings with His people in all a...
May 31, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2046
In Revelation 14:7, the first angel cries with a loud voice, “ ‘Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water’ ” (NKJV). Heaven’s appeal is for us to give our supreme allegiance and heartfelt worship to the Creator in light of impending judgment.The second angel declares, “ ‘Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornicati...
May 30, 2024•15 min•Season 6Ep. 2045
Read Revelation 12:12, 17 and Revelation 13:7. How do these texts reveal Satan’s wrath? Why is the devil so angry with God’s end-time people?Revelation 12 outlines the cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan down through the ages. It climaxes with Satan’s final attack on the people of God. Revelation 13 introduces the dragon’s two allies, the beast from the sea and the beast from the land. These two powers join him in making war on God’s people.Read Revelation 13:4, 8, 12, 15 and Revelation 14:...
May 29, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2044
Read Revelation 14:6, 7; Revelation 4:11; Genesis 2:1–3; and Exodus 20:8–11. What is the relationship between Creation, the Sabbath, and the law of God?Creation speaks of our value in God’s sight. We are not alone in the universe—some speck of cosmic dust—nor are we a genetic accident. In other words, the common scientific scenario of life’s origins, which has been picked up by the news media and popular culture, presents a view of our origins that is in every way incompatible with the biblical ...
May 28, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2043
Read Matthew 5:17, 18; Psalm 111:7, 8; Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14; 1 John 5:3; and Proverbs 28:9. What do these Bible passages teach regarding the Christian’s relationship to the law?Seventh-day Adventists follow in the footsteps of the Protestant Reformers who upheld the sanctity of God’s law. Note this powerful affirmation of John Wesley: “The ritual or ceremonial law delivered by Moses to the children of Israel, containing all the injunctions and ordinances which related to the old sacrifices and...
May 27, 2024•12 min•Season 6Ep. 2042
Read Revelation 11:19, Exodus 25:16, Exodus 31:18, and Revelation 12:17. What do these verses indicate was in the ark of the covenant in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary?The Day of Atonement was a day of judgment. All of Israel was commanded to take part in this event by repentance, soul searching, and refraining from all work (see Lev. 23:29–31). On this day alone the high priest would enter the Most Holy Place to make atonement for sin. There, in the innermost apartment of the sanctuary, w...
May 26, 2024•14 min•Season 6Ep. 2041
Read for This Week’s StudyRev. 14:6–12; Eccles. 12:13, 14; Prov. 28:9; Dan. 7:25.Memory Text:“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 12:17, NKJV).Through intensive Bible study, Adventists came to understand the significance of the law in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. Looking into the heart of God’s law, they also discovered the signific...
May 25, 2024•8 min•Season 6Ep. 2040
Notice how Jesus’ work for us in the judgment and our role are described: “Jesus does not excuse their sins, but shows their penitence and faith, and, claiming for them forgiveness, He lifts His wounded hands before the Father and the holy angels, saying: I know them by name. I have graven them on the palms of My hands. ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.’ Psalm 51:17. And to the accuser of His people He declares: ‘The Lord reb...
May 24, 2024•9 min•Season 6Ep. 2039
Read Hebrews 10:9–14. What difference does this passage reveal between the priest’s ministry in the earthly sanctuary and Jesus’ ministry in the heavenly sanctuary?Once and for all, Christ died upon the cross as a perfect sacrifice for sin. His priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary sanctifies us. Now, having entered the Most Holy Place, He stands as our Advocate in the judgment (see 1 John 2:1). “Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He w...
May 23, 2024•7 min•Season 6Ep. 2038
Read Hebrews 4:14–16 and Hebrews 10:19–22. What assurance and divine invitation do these verses give to each one of us?Paul’s point here in Hebrews is “hold fast,” “come boldly,” “never give up,” focus your faith on Jesus, our great High Priest. In Jesus, we have all we need. By faith we may enter the heavenly sanctuary through the “new and living way” that Jesus has opened for us.Looking into the court, we see blood on the horns of the brazen altar. In the Holy Place, we see blood on the golden...
May 22, 2024•9 min•Season 6Ep. 2037
Compare Daniel 7:9, 10 with Revelation 14:6, 7. What is the similarity between these two passages?The judgment is a prominent theme throughout the Bible. “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccles. 12:14, NKJV). Jesus pointed His hearers to a future time of judgment, when “ ‘every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment’ ” (Matt. 12:36, NKJV). The apostle Paul adds, God will “bring to light the hi...
May 21, 2024•10 min•Season 6Ep. 2036
Read Leviticus 16:21, 29–34; Leviticus 23:26–32; and Hebrews 9:23–28. Why was the Day of Atonement so important in ancient Israel?The priests ministered every day of the year, but on the Day of Atonement, called Yom Kippur in Hebrew, the eyes of all Israel turned toward the sanctuary. Leviticus 16 and 23 give explicit instructions for the Day of Atonement. All regular activity ceased. Everyone fasted. While the high priest entered the presence of God for them in the Most Holy Place, the people e...
May 20, 2024•14 min•Season 6Ep. 2035
