Finding Hope Through Discovery in Bible Study

JONAH EAGER TO FORGIVE Sabbath School Lesson May 11, 2013 Larry R Evans SS Teacher Introduction Jonah’s message came at a time of great national distress.   Jeroboam II “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; he did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.” (2 Kings 14:23-27).   Through the prophecy of Jonah (v.25), however, the Lord extended his mercy to Israel and widened her borders.   Nevertheless, Israel existed on probationary time despite this blessing. The message of Jonah is unique in that while he preaches to Nineveh the real import of the book is directed to the northern kingdom.   The dominant theme is God’s right to extend mercy to any nation or individual he chooses – Jew or Gentile.   The book reminds Israel in a satirical way of her missionary responsibility even to her enemies and that her God, Yahweh—her promise-keeping God, is Lord over all nations.   It becomes clear that Isra...

--> Stewardship and the Environment March 9, 2013 Larry R Evans Introduction: Has the Adventist Church Been Too Silent? Sometimes it seems, the only insights we see gain from the book of Genesis are two things:   God created the earth in seven days and that evolution was not part of God’s formula in creating the earth.   Can there be anything else that God wants us to see in this first book of the Bible?   I think so!! Could it be possible that these two truths are assumptions that open the door for seeing much more about God, this earth and us!   Are we stuck at the threshold?   Today we will venture only slightly farther but hopefully we will begin to see a more full picture of our Creator God, His plans, His concerns and just how we fit into all of that. I doubt many of you know about the compilations of statements in a book entitled, Statements, Guidelines and Other Documents which is produced by the Communication Departmen...

  January 19, 2013 Larry R Evans Sabbath School Study Introduction Have you ever picked up a book and read the last chapter first?   Sometimes the anticipation is a bit overwhelming so we rush to the end.   While doing so has some advantages, there are also some real disadvantages. We can miss some critical insights if we only focus on the outcome. Likewise there are also some pitfalls if we take the same approach when reading the biblical account of the Creation Week. The end has greater significance when we understand how we got there in the first place! In Genesis 1:4, for example, we discover that God saw that the light was good and throughout the week He pronounces other creations as “good” and “very good.”   While in our rush to get to the description of the creation of man and/or the creation of the Sabbath experience, we must not conclude that God is only interested in the “spiritual realities.”   H. Ross Cole points out th...