Sabbath Afternoon - October 28, 2023
Scripture Reading for the Week:
Jonah 1:1-17; Jonah 2:1-10; Jonah 3:1-10; Jonah 4:1-11; Nahum 1:1; 2 Kings 17:5-6; Psalms 24:1; James 1:27; Isaiah 6:1-8.
Thought for Meditation:
Never before had Isaiah realized so fully the greatness of Jehovah or His perfect holiness; and he felt that in his human frailty and unworthiness he must perish in that divine presence. "Woe is me!" he cried; "for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." But a seraph came to him to fit him for his great mission. A living coal from the altar was laid upon his lips with the words: "Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." And when the voice of God was heard saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah with holy confidence responded, "Here am I; send me." . . . The prophet was nerved for the work before him. {CC 232.4}
Memory Text:
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me’ ” (Isaiah 6:8).
This week's SSLesson will explore the excuses that may hinder people from sharing the mission of God to save humanity. This includes the personal experience of Jonah and Isaiah when they are called for the mission.
Study Outline:
Excuses to Avoid Mission
Sunday - October 29, 2023
Our Excuses - Fear {Jonah 1}
Nahum 1:1; Nahum 3:1-4; 2 Kings 17:5-6; 2 Kings 19:32-37
Monday - October 30, 2023
False Views or Misconceptions {Jonah 2}
Jonah 1:1-12; Jonah 2:1-3,7-10; Psalms 24:1; James 1:27.
Tuesday - October 31, 2023
Inconvenience or Lack of Spirit of Sacrifice {Jonah 3}
Wednesday - November 1, 2023
Uncomfortable Confrontations or Cognitive Distortion {Jonah 4}
Obey Without Excuses
Thursday - November 2, 2023
Here Am I, Send Me {Isa. 6:1-8}
Friday - November 3, 2023
Insights and Further Study
From the Pen of Inspiration
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Excuses to Avoid Mission
Sunday - October 29, 2023
Our Excuses - Fear {Jonah 1}
Nahum 1:1; Nahum 3:1-4; 2 Kings 17:5-6; 2 Kings 19:32-37
“But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord…” (Jonah 1:3)
God's mission is undone.
Brethren, you have a work to do which you have left undone. A long-neglected field stands out in plain view before God to shame the people who have light and advanced truth but who have done so little to remove the stones and the rubbish that have been accumulating for so long a time. Those who have enjoyed every privilege and blessing have passed by on the other side. As a Christian people, God has called you to prepare the way of the Lord in this unpromising field. {SW 79.2}
God sent a message to Nineveh by his servant Jonah, saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." "And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." {SW 79.3}
When Darkness is Deepest Godlike Character Shines the Brightest
God desires His people to prepare for the soon-coming crisis. Prepared or unprepared, they must all meet it; and those only who have brought their lives into conformity to the divine standard, will stand firm at that time of test and trial. When secular rulers unite with ministers of religion to dictate in matters of conscience, then it will be seen who really fear and serve God. When the darkness is deepest, the light of a godlike character will shine the brightest. When every other trust fails, then it will be seen who have an abiding trust in Jehovah. And while the enemies of truth are on every side, watching the Lord's servants for evil, God will watch over them for good. He will be to them as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. {AA 431.2}
Consider the Following
God sent Jonah as a missionary to distant lands, to preach in Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, Israel's enemy (Jonah 1:1-2). The Assyrians were known for their cruelty (Nahum 3:1-4).
Go preach to cruel enemies? How would they react when one of their enemies entered their capital and told them that they were going to be destroyed?
Jonah reacted by fleeing so as not to carry out his mission. He believed he had enough reasons not to obey the divine order. However, he forgot something fundamental: God is our shield, with Him there is no fear (Ps. 115:11; 118:6).
Let us trust in God and not let our fears be an excuse for not preaching the message of salvation.
Monday - October 30, 2023
False Views or Misconceptions {Jonah 2}
Jonah 1:1-12; Jonah 2:1-3,7-10; Psalms 24:1; James 1:27.
“And he said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great tempest is because of me” (Jonah 1:12)
Safe in the Haven Guide
"Behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah 26:21. The storm of God's wrath is gathering; and those only will stand who respond to the invitations of mercy, as did the inhabitants of Nineveh under the preaching of Jonah, and become sanctified through obedience to the laws of the divine Ruler. The righteous alone shall be hid with Christ in God till the desolation be overpast. Let the language of the soul be:
"Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, O, leave me not alone! Still support and comfort me.
"Hide me, O my Saviour, hide! Till the storm of life is past; Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last!" {PK 278.2}
His Word was Sent to Heal and Deliver Us from Destructions
Confused, humiliated, and unable to understand God's purpose in sparing Nineveh, Jonah nevertheless had fulfilled the commission given him to warn that great city; and though the event predicted did not come to pass, yet the message of warning was nonetheless from God. And it accomplished the purpose God designed it should. The glory of His grace was revealed among the heathen. Those who had long been sitting "in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron," "cried unto the Lord in their trouble," and "He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder." "He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." Psalm 107:10, 13, 14, 20. {PK 272.5}
Consider the Following
Jonah could have used this moment (Jonah 1:12) to tell them about the true God. But, instead of doing so, he himself proposed that they throw him into the sea.
God used his mistake to make him reconsider and turn to Him in prayer (Jonah 2:3-4, 6-7).
Like Jonah, we can also have misconceptions about God that can affect the fulfillment of our mission. Some common errors are:
(1) We must seek our salvation and separate ourselves from contact with sinners.
(a) We must turn away from sin, but not from sinners. How can they abandon their sin if we do not teach them their error and bring them hope?
(2) The success of the mission depends on ourselves.
(a) We are God's collaborators. Only He can transform people. Our mission is to sow. Success is always from God.
Tuesday - October 31, 2023
Inconvenience or Lack of Spirit of Sacrifice {Jonah 3}
“So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord…” (Jonah 3:3)
The Salvation Belongs to God
At last Jonah had learned that "salvation belongeth unto the Lord." Psalm 3:8. With penitence and a recognition of the saving grace of God, came deliverance. Jonah was released from the perils of the mighty deep and was cast upon the dry land. {PK 269.1}
Once more the servant of God was commissioned to warn Nineveh. "The word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee." This time he did not stop to question or doubt, but obeyed unhesitatingly. He "arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord." Jonah 3:1-3. {PK 269.2}
As Jonah entered the city, he began at once to "cry against" it the message, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Verse 4. From street to street he went, sounding the note of warning. {PK 270.1}
God of Israel will be Exalted and Honored
As king and nobles, with the common people, the high and the low, "repented at the preaching of Jonas" (Matthew 12:41) and united in crying to the God of heaven, His mercy was granted them. He "saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them; and He did it not." Jonah 3:10. Their doom was averted, the God of Israel was exalted and honored throughout the heathen world, and His law was revered. Not until many years later was Nineveh to fall a prey to the surrounding nations through forgetfulness of God and through boastful pride. [For an account of the downfall of Assyria, see chapter 30.] {PK 270.4}
Consider the Following
To fulfill the divine order, Jonah had to walk many kilometers; overcome your fears; swallow your prejudices; and give an unpleasant message. Quite a sacrifice for him.
But be careful: God accepts our sacrifice even when we do it reluctantly.
Without a spirit of self-sacrifice we will not be able to fulfill the mission that God has entrusted to us, since it is necessary that we deny ourselves certain comforts for the benefit of others.
We must give up our prejudices; dedicate part of our time and resources to the mission; be willing to be emotionally spent... All this for the love of perishing souls.
Wednesday - November 1, 2023
Uncomfortable Confrontations or Cognitive Distortion {Jonah 4}
“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry” (Jonás 4:1)
The Distorted Reaction of Jonah - Anger instead of Joy
When Jonah learned of God's purpose to spare the city that, notwithstanding its wickedness, had been led to repent in sackcloth and ashes, he should have been the first to rejoice because of God's amazing grace; but instead he allowed his mind to dwell upon the possibility of his being regarded as a false prophet. Jealous of his reputation, he lost sight of the infinitely greater value of the souls in that wretched city. The compassion shown by God toward the repentant Ninevites "displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry." "Was not this my saying," he inquired of the Lord, "when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil." Jonah 4:1, 2. {PK 271.1}
Overwhelmed with Discouragement - Losing Sight of Others
Once more he yielded to his inclination to question and doubt, and once more he was overwhelmed with discouragement. Losing sight of the interests of others, and feeling as if he would rather die than live to see the city spared, in his dissatisfaction he exclaimed, "Now, O Lord, take, I beseech Thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live." {PK 271.2}
"Doest thou well to be angry?" the Lord inquired. "So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd." Verses 3-6. {PK 272.1}
God's Goodness Should be Made Known
The people of the world are worshiping false gods. They are to be turned from their false worship, not by hearing denunciation of their idols, but by beholding something better. God's goodness is to be made known. "Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God."-- Christ's Object Lessons, p. 299. {ChS 15.6}
All who would enter the city of God must during their earthly life set forth Christ in their dealings. It is this that constitutes them the messengers of Christ, His witnesses. They are to bear a plain, decided testimony against all evil practices, pointing sinners to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.--Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 23. {ChS 15.7}
Consider the Following
With a single day's preaching, King Adad-nirari III and all his subjects humbled themselves and asked God to have mercy on them (Jonah 3:4-9).
But Jonah became depressed and angry (Jonah 4:1). What was going through Jonah's mind?
By examining the “gourd” example, we can see Jonah's distortion (Jonah 4:6-11):
(1) The plant lives →Jonah is happy. The people live →Jonah gets angry.
(2) The plant dies →Jonah gets angry The people die →Jonah is happy.
Jonah placed more value on the life of a plant than on the life of people. What do you value most?
The Lesson for God's Messenger Today
As the preaching of Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so Christ's preaching was a sign to His generation. But what a contrast in the reception of the word! Yet in the face of indifference and scorn the Saviour labored on and on, until He had accomplished His mission. {PK 274.1}
The lesson is for God's messengers today, when the cities of the nations are as verily in need of a knowledge of the attributes and purposes of the true God as were the Ninevites of old. Christ's ambassadors are to point men to the nobler world, which has largely been lost sight of. According to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, the only city that will endure is the city whose builder and maker is God. With the eye of faith man may behold the threshold of heaven, flushed with God's living glory. Through His ministering servants the Lord Jesus is calling upon men to strive with sanctified ambition to secure the immortal inheritance. He urges them to lay up treasure beside the throne of God. {PK 274.2}
Obey Without Excuses
Thursday - November 2, 2023
Here Am I, Send Me {Isa. 6:1-8}
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)
The Youth Call to Bear A Message of Warning
There is something for everyone to do. Every soul that believes the truth is to stand in his lot and place, saying, "Here am I; send me." Isaiah 6:8.--Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 49.
It was under circumstances of difficulty and discouragement that Isaiah, while yet a young man, was called to the prophetic mission. Disaster was threatening his country. By their transgression of God's law the people of Judah had forfeited His protection, and the Assyrian forces were about to come against the kingdom of Judah. But the danger from their enemies was not the greatest trouble. It was the perversity of the people that brought upon the Lord's servant the deepest depression. By their apostasy and rebellion they were inviting the judgments of God. The youthful prophet had been called to bear to them a message of warning, and he knew that he would meet with obstinate resistance. . . . His task seemed to him almost hopeless. . . . {CC 232.2}
Christ's Witnesses Reveals the Gospel of Salvation
To everyone who becomes a partaker of His grace, the Lord appoints a work for others. Individually we are to stand in our lot and place, saying, "Here I am; send me." Upon the minister of the word, the missionary nurse, the Christian physician, the individual Christian, whether he be merchant or farmer, professional man or mechanic,-- the responsibility rests upon all. It is our work to reveal to men the gospel of their salvation. Every enterprise in which we engage should be a means to this end.--The Ministry of Healing, p. 148. {ChS 13.1}
When the master of the house called his servants, he gave to every man his work. The whole family of God are included in the responsibility of using their Lord's goods. Every individual, from the lowest and most obscure to the greatest and most exalted, is a moral agent endowed with abilities for which he is accountable to God.--Bible Echo, June 10, 1901. {ChS 13.2}
We are Christ's witnesses, and we are not to allow worldly interests and plans to absorb our time and attention.--Testimonies, vol. 9, pp. 53, 54. {ChS 15.4}
"Ye are My witnesses, saith the Lord. . . . I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are My witnesses." "I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house."--The Acts of the Apostles, p. 10. {ChS 15.5}
Consider the Following
God continues to ask for volunteers to speak to those who do not hear his voice or perceive his love. It needs messengers to bring hope to modern Nineveh.
— Upon being called, Isaiah responded without hesitation (Isa. 6:8). God calls you. Do not hesitate. Do not make excuses. He needs you. Go!
Friday - November 3, 2023
Insights and Further Study
Our churches are to co-operate in the work of spiritual tilling, with the hope of reaping by and by. . . . The soil is stubborn, but the fallow ground must be broken up, the seeds of righteousness must be sown. Pause not, teachers beloved by God, as though doubtful whether to prosecute a labor which will grow as performed.--Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 420. {ChS 14.7}
The church is God's appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God's plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fulness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory.--The Acts of the Apostles, p. 9. {ChS 15.1}
Let no church think it is too small to exert an influence and do service in the great work for this time. {ChS 15.2}
Questions to Ponder
Why did Jonah divert his direction in carrying God's mission for Nineveh?
What can we glean from the attitude of Jonah towards God's plan for Nineveh?
In what ways do our lives become distorted when we ignore God's clear commission?
How could we in some instances relate to Jonah's personal experience?
Are you willing to make sacrifices to fulfill God's mission for others? In what way?
What was wrong with Jonah's reaction when the plant died?
Based on the statement above, {ChS 14.7-15.2}, as Jonah and Isaiah were called as messengers, what do the church and members have to do with God's mission? Do we also make excuses?
From the Pen of Inspiration
“To everyone who becomes a partaker of His grace the Lord appoints a work for others. Individually we are to stand in our lot and place, saying, “Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8. Upon the minister of the word, the missionary nurse, the Christian physician, the individual Christian, whether he be merchant or farmer, professional man or mechanic—the responsibility rests upon all. It is our work to reveal to men the gospel of their salvation” (E. G. W. The Ministry of Healing, pg. 148.2)