2nd Quarter 2024 The Great Controversy

Wow!
This quarters lessons dig deep.
Notice at the bottom of each Sabbath day's page there is reference to chapters in Great Controversy that are being referenced.
The lessons then use the historical backgrounds to draw lessons for us in our Christian life.

The first lesson covered the origin of Sin --
A mighty, powerful, intelligent, beautiful angel challenges God and His government.
After all, aren't angels intelligent and fully capable of thought, reasoning and choosing what they want and don't want. Aren't they holy? They don't need God telling them what they can and can't do. So he worked, stealthfully at first then more openly to convince the angel's that God's laws are restrictive, and that he would offer them a more exalted existence, they could be like god, be their own god.

The question arises, if God knew one of His intelligent, beautiful angels would rebel against Him, why did He create that angel?

If it wouldn't have been that particular angel that rebelled, sooner or later another would have. The only way to avoid it would have been NOT to created thinking, reasoning beings who had the power of choice.
But God wants people, angels, to serve Him because they love and trust Him, not because they are programed to do so.

He could have wiped Lucifer out right then and there,,
What would that have accomplished?
All the other angels would have served out of fear and dread.

So God said, OK Satan, you cannot stay in heaven, for sin cannot live in heaven.
BUT, you can demonstrate your idea of a kingdom on one planet .

In the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived, there was one tree that had forbidden fruit.
Satan was allowed access to that one tree. He could not follow Adam and Eve around the garden, and Adam and Eve were warned concerning this enemy.
But if they ate of that one tree. They listened to his lies and the gates of sin were opened. Satan and his angels could roam the earth and plague the human race, teaching them to disregard God, and be their own "gods".

You won't die, (you are immortal) Satan told Eve on the fateful day, you will be like god! (Defining your own right and wrong)

And that has been his alluring lie to mankind ever since.
And most believe him.

Inspite of the death, misery and woe, Satan's reign has given mankind; so many still believe they've achieved a higher level of existence by operating independent of God.

Reading about those Reformers (they weren't perfect) BUT they put their life on the line standing up for the truth they discovered in the Bible. It was not easy for them.
We have no real idea of what it's like to have powerful dignitaries committed to trampling on everything we believe and seeking our very lives.

What is it that gave them the courage to stand amid fierce opposition?

This last weeks lesson looks back to the time of the Millerites' movement.

"Just as God used the Protestant Reformers to rediscover the truth about justification by faith in Christ alone, He used William Miller to rediscover the truth about the manner of Christ?s second coming."

Many at the time believed the world was heading into a millennium of peace, not in a second coming that would leave the earth desolate.
Miller, on the other hand, understood that the second coming would be a dramatic event, the end of all worldly cultures and systems.

William Miller opened up the study of Prophecy giving a solid foundation for the historicist method of interpreting prophecy.
He saw clearly that the time lines in scripture were all reaching their end points.

But a pre-conceived, generally believed belief, hid something important from him.
William Miller accepted the popular view that the "cleansing of the sanctuary" was the purification of the earth by fire.
Thus, when his calculations of the prophetic timelines ended in 1843-1844 he interpreted this as pointing to the time when Christ would come and cleanse the earth with fire.

Yet, there is no biblical link which says the "cleansing of the sanctuary" is the "purifying the earth with fire."

The study of the sanctuary would open another grand Biblical truth later, but at that time, the misunderstanding of what it meant to "cleanse the sanctuary" led to a serious disappoint.

The next lesson, coming this week, explores what "cleansing the sanctuary" means according to scripture.

The heavenly sanctuary.
What does scripture tell us about a sanctuary in heaven?

In Hebrews 8:1-2 we learn that in heaven, Christ serves in the sanctuary and true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man?

In Hebrews 8:5 we learn (the earthly sanctuary) served as the copy and shadow of the heavenly things

Hebrews 9:1-4 (the earthly sanctuary had two compartments) ; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the showbread; which is called the Holy Place.
The second had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein [was] the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; ... which is called the Holiest of all;

Hebrews 9:3 (The two compartments were divided by) the second veil,

Where was the first veil?
The "second veil" was that between the holy place and the holy of holies (Exodus 36:35), the curtain at the entrance of the holy place (Exodus 36:37) being regarded as the first.

Priests entered into the holy place every day all year.
But only on the day of atonement did the High Priest enter the most Holy Place,

The day of atonement = the cleansing of the sanctuary.

What does this mean to us individually?