Finding Hope Through Discovery in Bible Study

A destitute widow, two noteworthy football players and the wife of a presidential candidate – What do they all have in common and what don’t they have in common with this week’s Sabbath School lesson? Read on . . . An Introductory Commentary to This Week’s Study and Reflection The definition of faith is illusive. True we have the comment in Hebrews which says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) but how does that help you define faith! That is hardly a definition. Wouldn’t that apply to just about anything? Take for example the high school football player in Washington state who said he was surprised he received a penalty for pointing to Heaven after a touchdown. "I do that to give glory to my Heavenly Father, Jesus. He gives me the strength. He's the one who gives me these abilities in the first place." What I found interesting was that he was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct because he drew attentio...

December 11, 2010 Larry Evans, Class Teacher Thought Questions 1. God is not present in the midst of evil. (1 Ki 16:29 to 17:6) True or False? 2. A desperate need experienced by one person can also become the answer for someone else. (1 Ki 17:1-15) True or False? 3. In responding to human dilemmas, God could do more if more resources were brought to Him. (1 Ki 17:13,14; Jer. 29:11; Dan. 3:28) True or False? 4. Sometimes God allows us to be an Elijah for others while at other times we are more like the widow of Zarepath. (1 Ki. 17: 13-21, 2,3; Mt. 14:30, Jn 12:27; Lk 1:17) True or False? 5. The example of the widow of Zarephath illustrates that we should give all we have to feed the poor. True or False? 6. Elijah’s own hunger becomes apparent when he instructs the widow to feed him first. (1 Ki. 17:13) True or False? 7. Faith removes doubt. (1 Ki 17:...

Rizpah: The Influence of Faithfulness Sabbath School Lesson for Nov 27, 2010 Presented by Larry Evans Some Background Information Rizpah (rĭz̀pȧ) . . . .A concubine of Saul. After Saul’s death Ish-bosheth accused Abner of taking her, and rebuked him for it, fearing that Abner planned to usurp royal power. Being offended, Abner deserted to David, but then lost in his life through the treachery of Joab (2 Sa 3:6–28). During David’s reign Rizpah’s sons, Armoni and Mephibosheth, were put to death, with 5 other descendants of Saul, to expiate a crime committed by Saul against the Gibeonites. Rizpah watched over their bodies and protected them from beasts and birds until David, upon hearing of her deed of love, had their remains gathered and honorably buried in the family sepulcher of Saul’s house (ch 21:1, 8–14). (p.944, SDA Bible Dictionary) Concubine. An inferior wife in the system of polygamy. Concubines were sometimes taken from among slaves (Gen 16:2, 3), and could be divorced more ea...

Reflections Larry R Evans Have you ever tried to tell a story only to have someone interrupt and tell their own? I wonder if we don’t do that sometimes with God. Take the book of Genesis, for example. There is much debate today over the book of Genesis. Albeit critical issues are being debated, and we have no intention of minimizing their importance, but other critical insights for our time will remain buried if we restrict our probing to the current debate. We do lament the fact that it seems to be more of a debate than a dialogue for growth and understanding. Sometimes more is told about our Christianity by the way we defend truth than the truth we are defending. Recently I finished reading an insightful book by Marva J. Dawn entitled, In the Beginning God: Creation, Culture, and the Spiritual Life. The book’s focus is on chapter one to three of Genesis. I’ll share a few thoughts from her book as well as some personal reflections. Establishing a biblical worldview is ...

Some Thoughts for Consideration Larry R Evans "Fear God and give him glory . . . " -- Revelation 14:7 How do we give glory to God? Do we do it by being obedient? By helping others? By giving our tithes and offerings? Perhaps but not by doing these things directly. Consider the following: "'The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him' (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is not looking for people to work for Him, so much as He is looking for people who will let Him work for them. The gospel is not a help-wanted ad. Neither is the call to Christian service. On the contrary, the gospel commands us to give up and hang out a help-wanted sign (this is the basic meaning of prayer.). Then the gospel promises that God will work for us if we do. He will not surrender the glory of being the Giver. But is there not anything we can give Him that won't belittle Him to the status...

"The mystery (Eph. 5:32) is this: God did not create the union of Christ and the church after the pattern of human marriage--just the reverse! He created human marrige on the pattern of Christ's relation to the church. The mystery of Genesis 2:24 is tha the marriage it describes is a parable or symbol of Christ's relation to His people. There was more going on in the creation of woman than meets the eye. God doesn't do thing willy-nilly. Everything has a purpose and meaning. When God engaged to create man and woman and to ordain the union of marriage, He didn't roll the dice or draw straws or flip a coin as to how they might be related to each other. He patterned marriage very purposefully after the relationship between His Son and the church, which he had planned from all eternity. Therefore, marriage is a mystery--it contains an conceals a meaning far greater than what we see on the outside. God created man male and female and ordained marriage so that ...

January 2010 We have reluctantly come to the decision that we will need to temporarily step down from teaching the Sabbath School class and therefore making posts of our teaching notes to this blog. I need to focus on my work responsibilities regarding preparations for the coming General Conference Session in Atlanta, June 23-July 3, 2010. I wish to thank all who have sent comments regarding the notes that have been posted. The archives of these notes from 2007 to 2009 will still be accessible. We remain committed to our thrust that "Scripture is not just for learning but for living" and that the inductive Bible study approach is a helpful way to discern God's plan for each of us. During this interim I will begin sharing/posting short provocative thoughts found in my reading as well as some devotional insights I gain from my own study. [See Below] These posts will not be done on a regular basis so you may want to check back from time to time or join as a "Follo...