The book of Revelation refers to Jesus as “the Lamb” nearly 30 times. From the earliest days in the plan of redemption, God’s people have used lambs as a symbol of the coming Messiah. Abel offered “the firstborn of his flock” ( Gen. 4:4, NKJV ), and before the Israelites departed Egypt for the land of promise, they were instructed to redeem every firstborn person or animal with a one-year-old lamb ( Exod. 12:5 ). Read Exodus 12:1–11; Isaiah 53:7, 8; 1 Corinthians 5:7; and Revelation 5:6 . What d...
May 06, 2025•15 min•Season 7Ep. 2388
Some have criticized the entire concept of sacrifice, claiming that it is cruel, harsh, and, in a sense, unfair. Yet, that’s precisely the point. Christ’s death was cruel, harsh, and unfair—the innocent dying for the guilty. That’s what it took to solve the sin problem. And Christ's death was what all these harsh, cruel, and unfair sacrifices pointed to. Read Hebrews 10:3–10 . What does this passage teach us about the sacrifices God’s people offered in the Old Testament? If sinners could not act...
May 05, 2025•11 min•Season 7Ep. 2387
Sometimes contrasting two ideas can be very instructive. Much can be learned about the nature of sacrifice in the biblical perspective from when God actually rejected the sacrifices of His people. Compare Isaiah 1:2–15 with Isaiah 56:6, 7 and Psalm 51:17 . What important lessons about sacrifice are taught here? This tragic episode in Israel’s history was not the first time that God rejected a sacrifice; something similar happened near the beginning of salvation history, when Abel’s sacrifice was...
May 04, 2025•21 min•Season 7Ep. 2386
Read for This Week’s Study Isa. 1:2–15, Heb. 10:3–10, Exod. 12:1–11, 1 Cor. 5:7, Hag. 2:7–9, Isa. 6:1–5, Rev. 4:7–11 . Memory Text: “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation’ ” ( Revelation 5:9, NKJV ). When Jesus came toward him, John the Baptist declared: “ ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’ ” ( John ...
May 03, 2025•7 min•Season 7Ep. 2385
Read Ellen G. White, “The Tower of Babel,” pp. 117–124, in Patriarchs and Prophets. “ ‘I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.’ Revelation 21:1 . The fire that consumes the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin. “One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon H...
May 02, 2025•9 min•Season 7Ep. 2384
The remnant church was born in the New World, precisely where those seeking religious liberty had fled during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Given the long-standing religious and political obstacles that existed elsewhere, it is doubtful that the launch of this movement would have been as swift or powerful in some other location as it was in the new land that became the United States. Read Revelation 10:1–11 , which describes the birth of the movement. Look for some of the elements we...
May 01, 2025•18 min•Season 7Ep. 2383
The land and sea imagery in the Bible, especially for prophecy, can be very instructive. Consider the case of the symbols of land and sea in Bible prophecy, which are contrasted sharply. “Symbolically, when earth and sea are juxtaposed, earth often represents the ordered world, or even the land of Israel, while sea refers to the Gentile nations that menace it as the sea menaces the land.”—Beatrice S. Neall, “Sealed Saints and the Tribulation,” in Symposium on Revelation, book 1, ed. Frank B. Hol...
Apr 30, 2025•9 min•Season 7Ep. 2382
The dream of Daniel 2 was first presented to a Babylonian king. The vision of Daniel 7 , in contrast, was presented to a Hebrew prophet, a member of God’s covenant people. Daniel is shown the same subject as was Nebuchadnezzar but from a different perspective. Instead of a statue, he sees a series of nations rising up out of the sea, the result of wind churning up the water. These nations were in a continual state of strife, causing a perpetual shift in power among them. Such passages as Psalm 6...
Apr 29, 2025•12 min•Season 7Ep. 2381
It was during the Babylonian captivity, through the prophet Daniel, that God presented the most compelling descriptions we have of the relationship between His people and the kingdoms of this world. His people were no longer autonomous; they would now be reaping the consequences of their choices. (And, perhaps, learning from them?) Read Daniel 2:31–35 , which gives a sweeping panoramic view of world history until the end of time. What important truths can we learn from this amazing prophecy? At ...
Apr 28, 2025•9 min•Season 7Ep. 2380
The Garden of Eden was a classroom for God’s first people, a place where their interaction with the creation would endlessly teach them and their offspring more about the Creator. “The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God,” Ellen G. White pointed out, “but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. . . . The mysteries of the visible universe—‘the wondrous works of Him which is perfect in knowledge’ ( Job 37:16 )—afforded them an exhaustless source of ins...
Apr 27, 2025•9 min•Season 7Ep. 2379
Read for This Week’s Study Gen. 2:9–17; Dan. 2:31–35; Isa. 17:12, 13; Dan. 7:1–3; Rom. 3:10–19; Rev. 12:15, 16; Rev. 10:1–11 . Memory Text: Through the centuries, some people have argued that God wanted the Fall, that it was His intention for humans to descend into sin and death and thus lead Him—in the person of Jesus—to the cross. After all, how else could He have so powerfully and graphically displayed the depth of His love for humanity than by dying on the cross for them? In short, the think...
Apr 26, 2025•5 min•Season 7Ep. 2378
Read Isaiah 44:24–45:13 . “Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, ‘the mystery of iniquity’ carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work. Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under paganism. But as persecution ceased, and ...
Apr 25, 2025•12 min•Season 7Ep. 2377
The primary purpose for which God established the nation of Israel was not to condemn the rest of the world but to save it. Certainly, most of us feel condemned when we are confronted by righteous behavior in someone else; so the existence of Israel also served to highlight the sin and selfishness of the nations around it. Believers living in harmony with God highlight His righteous character, which naturally leads to conviction. Ideally, the lives of people who “keep the commandments of God” ( ...
Apr 24, 2025•9 min•Season 7Ep. 2376
God’s dealings with Israel provide rich insights into His dealings with the New Testament church. In fact, in many ways, the nation of Israel served to foreshadow the errors of the church. Far from being able to claim any kind of superiority to ancient Israel, Christians have been, and still are, very much susceptible to the same temptations. Read Matthew 20:25–28 . What error did Jesus warn His disciples to avoid in establishing the work of the Christian church? Israel asked for a human king, a...
Apr 23, 2025•9 min•Season 7Ep. 2375
As originally established, Israel was not to have a human monarch, the way that other nations did. In time, however, the people’s faith faltered, and they found themselves pining for the things that “the nations,” the Gentiles, had. Read 1 Samuel 8:4–18 . Why do you suppose the elders found the idea of a king appealing? In what ways do we fall prey to similar temptations? It is important to notice that the request for a king was a rejection of God’s reign over His people. As established, the nat...
Apr 22, 2025•14 min•Season 7Ep. 2374
In the tenth chapter of Genesis, we see the birth of various nations. The word usually translated “nations” is goyim , which also can refer to Gentiles. Genesis 10 tells us that the human race divided up into lands, languages, families, and “nations” ( Gen. 10:5; see also Rev. 14:6 ). Almost immediately after the introduction of this concept, God calls Abraham out of one of those nations to be different from them and from what they represent. Read Genesis 12:1–9 . Why did God call Abram (later A...
Apr 21, 2025•11 min•Season 7Ep. 2373
Eden was created as the ideal home for the human race. Once sin entered, God had no choice but to separate humanity from the Garden and the tree of life, at least for now. Outside of the Garden, humans were required to work hard to provide for their own continued existence. Life became harder; we had to live with pain and by the sweat of our brow ( Gen. 3:16–19 ). Our first parents trusted that the rightful King would provide a path back into the Garden, and they brought sacrifices to the gates ...
Apr 20, 2025•13 min•Season 7Ep. 2372
Read for This Week’s Study Gen. 10:1–12, Gen. 12:1–9, 1 Sam. 8:4–18, Matt. 20:25–28, Rev. 18:1–4 . Memory Text: The book of Revelation shows us God’s solutions for our fallen world. In the final chapters, access to the tree of life is restored, the curse is lifted, and we are readmitted into the presence of God. Revelation, in some ways, is the book of Genesis in reverse, which is why Genesis remains an important key to understanding how the world’s problems developed in the first place. One of ...
Apr 19, 2025•7 min•Season 7Ep. 2371
Read John 2:1–11, Matthew 22:1–14, 2 Corinthians 11:1–5, and Matthew 25:1–13 . Once you realize how much data is available in the rest of the Bible to help you broaden your understanding of prophecy, it can be tempting to over-apply it. Throughout the centuries, some Christians have emphasized the symbolism and imagery found in Bible stories to the point where they virtually begin to treat the historical narrative as a myth. While layers of meaning are to be found just about everywhere in Script...
Apr 18, 2025•16 min•Season 7Ep. 2370
Read Revelation 19:1–9 . Two things are celebrated simultaneously: the end of the harlot and the marriage of Christ with His bride. How is it possible that both events are actually demonstrations of God’s righteous and loving character at the same time? Infidelity comes with a very painful price tag. The fallout spills over into the lives of children and others. Even the most patient of wronged spouses may eventually discover that there is a moment of no return, past which the marriage can no lo...
Apr 17, 2025•11 min•Season 7Ep. 2369
When Abraham was old and no doubt thinking about the promises made to him by God about his posterity (see Gen. 15:5 ), he gave his oldest and most trusted servant a solemn task. Read Genesis 24:1–4 . Why was it so important to Abraham that his son not marry “ ‘from the daughters of the Canaanites’ ” ( Gen. 24:3, NKJV )? However exclusivist his admonition could seem, the issue for Abraham was spiritual, not ethnic; it was theological, not national. Abraham knew very well the moral degeneracy of C...
Apr 16, 2025•12 min•Season 7Ep. 2368
God’s request of the prophet Hosea may be one of the strangest assignments ever given to one of His servants: marry a harlot—on purpose! But God was using Hosea to help us understand, from His own perspective, the pain of human sin and rebellion. God had lovingly chosen a wife, Israel, who repeatedly cheated on Him, and yet, astonishingly enough, He took her back and restored her. Compare Hosea 1:2; Hosea 3:1; Revelation 17:1, 2; and Revelation 18:1–4 . What is the harlotry mentioned here? What ...
Apr 15, 2025•16 min•Season 7Ep. 2367
Ezekiel 16 shows us an astonishing picture of God’s regard for His people. He describes the nation of Israel as an abandoned baby, left in a field to die. He takes her home, cleans her up, and when she is fully grown, he marries her. It is a powerful picture of an unlikely marriage. Read Ezekiel 16:4–14 . What do the details about this bride’s exaltation teach us about God’s intentions toward us? God told Israel that, under His care, she grew “ ‘exceedingly beautiful’ ” ( Ezek. 16:13, NKJV ). Wh...
Apr 14, 2025•12 min•Season 7Ep. 2366
Few biblical metaphors underscore the intimacy that God desires with the human race more than that of marriage. This metaphor is used so frequently in the biblical narrative—and shows up so pointedly in Revelation—that it is imperative for Bible students to grasp what God is driving at when He uses it in the Word. Read Genesis 2:23–25 and Ephesians 5:29–32 . In what ways does a human marriage mirror Christ’s bond to humanity? On an occasion when Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, He quoted the...
Apr 13, 2025•13 min•Season 7Ep. 2365
Read for This Week’s Study Gen. 2:23–25, Eph. 5:29–32, Ezek. 16:4–14, Rev. 18:1–4, Gen. 24:1–4, Rev. 19:1–9 . Memory Text: The Bible is replete with love stories that powerfully reveal aspects of salvation and of God’s love for His people. The most intimate of relationships, marriage, proves to be a school in which, if we allow ourselves to experience it the way that God had intended, we can discover deep lessons about His love for us, about our relationship to Him, and about the lengths to whic...
Apr 12, 2025•8 min•Season 7Ep. 2364
Read Ellen G. White, “The Revelation,” pp. 578–581, in The Acts of the Apostles. Many world religions simply deal with ideas; in powerful contrast, the ideas found in the Christian religion are anchored firmly in historical events. The Bible is the story of God’s interacting with humanity throughout history, and by studying thousands of years of such interactions, we can learn much about the consistent character of God. Sometimes, however, Christians complain that they are getting tired of heari...
Apr 11, 2025•8 min•Season 7Ep. 2363
The issue of worship is a key subject in the book of Revelation. The perpetrator and enabler of false systems of worship is identified as the “dragon” ( Rev. 13:2–4 ), and the serpentine description of this fallen cherub is no accident. It clearly points us back to the Garden of Eden, where a serpent entered Paradise and persuaded Adam and Eve to follow him into rebellion against the Creator. Compare Genesis 3:1–5 with Revelation 12:1–9 . What are some of the common themes in each account? How d...
Apr 10, 2025•10 min•Season 7Ep. 2362
Perhaps the cruelest aspect of living in a world detached from its Creator is the way that death lurks in the background of every life, ready to strike at any moment. It is the “wages of sin,” the penalty that we pay for having been disconnected from the only Source of life in the universe: the Creator. As such, it plays a major role in Bible prophecy, both its reality and, even more important, its solution, which is found only in Jesus and His death and resurrection. Both the first mention of d...
Apr 09, 2025•13 min•Season 7Ep. 2361
The Bible’s first mention of a seh (Hebrew: a lamb) occurs in the same story as the first mention of love: Genesis 22 . The lamb, of course, is one of the most persistent symbols found in the book of Revelation, in which Jesus is called “the Lamb” more than 20 times. In one of the most powerful scenes of Revelation—John’s visit to the throne room of God in chapters four and five—the Lamb plays the central role. Read Genesis 22:7, 8; Exodus 12:3–13; and Revelation 5:5–10 . How does the story of I...
Apr 08, 2025•13 min•Season 7Ep. 2360
Part of inheriting a sinful nature means that our perception of the universe has been tainted by our own propensities toward selfishness and pride. We see the world from our own limited perspective rather than from God’s omniscient one (obviously). Perhaps no concept has been more skewed by the sinful human race than that of “love.” Popular culture tends to promote an understanding of love that centers on self-fulfillment rather than on others. This self-centered approach to the subject makes it...
Apr 07, 2025•11 min•Season 7Ep. 2359
