LESSON 9 *August 23–29

Living the Law

Living the Law

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Exod. 21:1–32, Exod. 22:16–23:33, 2 Kings 19:35, Matt. 5:38–48, Rom. 12:19, Matt. 16:27.

Memory Text: “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: “You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make anything to be with Me—gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves” ’ ” (Exodus 20:22, 23, NKJV).

God desired His people to be different from the surrounding nations. He wanted them established as a devoted community of faith who would live under His leadership and authority. Everyone would be subject to His law. Judges were to be appointed as administrators of the law, and the priests were to teach it. Parents also played a crucial role.

In any culture, the laws reveal the ideals, goals, intent, and character of the lawmaker. For example, when Pharaoh ordered every Hebrew male baby killed, this law revealed what he was like: evil. In contrast, if a king made a law that every 18-year-old in the kingdom would be awarded a free higher education, many would consider this evidence of the king’s generosity and desire for his country to prosper.

God’s law reveals Him, that is, His goodness, love, values, righteousness, and His restraints against evil. As the law is holy and just, so is God. While creating space for an abundant life, the law also helps protect us from dangers and calamities. Respect for God, for each other, and for life’s values were the basis of His legislative system.

* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 30.


Sabbath Afternoon, August 23

Lesson 9 - Living the Law

God’s law is his great standard of righteousness. This law is perfect in all its requirements; and God calls upon us to obey it; for by it our cases will be decided in that day when the books of heaven are opened, and the deeds of all come up in review before the Judge of the universe.

But there are, and ever have been, two classes in this world; and the question, What constitutes the difference between these two classes? is grave and important. One class love and fear God; the other do not wish to retain him in their knowledge. One class render obedience to his law; the other disregard and disobey his requirements. . . .

Weakened through sin, we can not of ourselves keep the law of God. But Christ came to our world to restore the moral image of God in men, and to bring them back from the path of disobedience to a path of obedience. His mission to the world was to reveal the character of God by living the law, which is the foundation of his government; and those who will accept him as their personal Saviour will grow in grace, and in his strength will be enabled to obey the law of God.

When Christ comes in the clouds of heaven only two classes, the obedient and the disobedient, will meet him. And only those who, having had the light upon God’s requirements, have been obedient to him, can meet him with joy. Those who have persisted in a course of disobedience, will flee in terror, hiding in the dens of the mountains, and saying to the rocks and the mountains, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.” But those who have honored God by their obedience, will look up, and say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord, we have waited for him; we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”—“The Obedient and the Disobedient,” Signs of the Times, February 11, 1897, par. 1, 2, 15, 16.
 

Those who hold that Christ abolished the law teach that He broke the Sabbath and justified His disciples in doing the same. Thus they are really taking the same ground as did the caviling Jews. In this they contradict the testimony of Christ Himself, who declared, “I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” John 15:10. Neither the Saviour nor His followers broke the law of the Sabbath. Christ was a living representative of the law. No violation of its holy precepts was found in His life. Looking upon a nation of witnesses who were seeking occasion to condemn Him, He could say unchallenged, “Which of you convicteth Me of sin?” John 8:46, R. V.—The Desire of Ages, p. 287.

SUNDAY August 24

The Code of the Covenant

At Sinai, with the giving of His law, God set the foundation for teaching His people how, through connection with Him, they could live holy lives. But the principles of the law needed to be applied in everyday life, so God gave them additional laws, the so-called “Code of the Covenant.” It was the responsibility of judges to watch over these laws and to apply them correctly.

“The minds of the people, blinded and debased by slavery and heathenism, were not prepared to appreciate fully the far-reaching principles of God's ten precepts. That the obligations of the Decalogue might be more fully understood and enforced, additional precepts were given, illustrating and applying the principles of the Ten Commandments. These laws were called judgments, both because they were framed in infinite wisdom and equity and because the magistrates were to give judgment according to them. Unlike the Ten Commandments, they were delivered privately to Moses, who was to communicate them to the people.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 310.

Read Exodus 21:1–32. What specific regulations were given regarding Hebrew slaves, homicide, and bodily injuries?

* Your notes will not be saved!

The Code of the Covenant is described in several chapters (Exod. 21:1–23:19). All these regulations and laws were issued to stop the avalanche of evil and to build an orderly society.

The slavery laws were special and should not be confused with the vicious and evil practice of modern or medieval slavery. Hebrew slaves were, in fact, protected and valued. In modern and medieval societies, servants and slaves were the property of their owner, who could do whatever they wished with them. In contrast, biblical laws regulated things differently. Servitude was limited to six years (Exod. 21:1, 2; Jer. 34:8–22), and in the seventh year, all slaves had to be liberated unless they wanted to stay with their master. Masters also had to give them Sabbaths off (Exod. 20:9, 10) and provide for their basic needs.

Though, in most of the world, the evil practice of institutionalized slavery has for the most part been abolished, what are ways in which some of the principles of it still exist, and what can we do, in our own limited sphere, to fight against these principles?


Sunday, August 24

The Code of the Covenant

As Creator of all, God is governor over all, and He is bound to enforce His law throughout the universe. To require less from His creatures than obedience to His law would be to abandon them to ruin. To fail to punish transgression of His law would be to place the universe in confusion. The moral law is God’s barrier between the human agent and sin. Thus infinite wisdom has placed before men the distinction between right and wrong, between sin and holiness. . . .

The Scriptures make it plain that God is Ruler, and that man is under the highest obligation to acknowledge this, and to obey His law with heart and mind, trusting in His power for help and protection. This law which man is called upon to obey as the standard of right for the universe, is the wise and holy counsel of God. It is a moral law, and has its foundation in the difference between right and wrong. Moral law is universal; positive law is not necessarily universal, but may be restricted or extended according to the will of the law-giver. Moral law must be immutable, while positive law may be changed or abolished, as the law-giver may choose.

The Decalog, or moral code of God, consists of ten precepts, engraven on stone by the finger of God. These precepts contain the whole duty of man. The first four define man’s duty to his God; the last six man’s duty to his fellow-man. These two great principles were recognized by the Saviour; for He declared that the whole law hung upon love to God and love to man. Other commands may be found in the Scriptures, but only as an amplification of those contained in the ten precepts of the Decalog.—“The Moral Law,” Signs of the Times, June 5, 1901, par. 5, 7, 8.
 

The law of God in the sanctuary in heaven is the great original, of which the precepts inscribed upon the tables of stone and recorded by Moses in the Pentateuch were an unerring transcript. Those who arrived at an understanding of this important point were thus led to see the sacred, unchanging character of the divine law. They saw, as never before, the force of the Saviour’s words: “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.” Matthew 5:18. The law of God, being a revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, must forever endure, “as a faithful witness in heaven.” Not one command has been annulled; not a jot or tittle has been changed. Says the psalmist: “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.” “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever.” Psalm 119:89; 111:7, 8.—The Great Controversy, p. 434.

MONDAY August 25

More Laws

In God’s mercy, He taught the judges how to deal with people in various situations regarding property rights. Several case studies are enumerated, indicating what to do if a bull attacked a neighbor’s bull, if people stole a domestic animal and sold it, if animals grazed in the field or vineyard of another owner, if an item a person borrowed was stolen from him, or if a hired animal was injured or died (Exod. 21:33–22:15).

Read Exodus 22:16–23:9. What issues were dealt with in these laws and how?

God’s laws included different issues. There were specific regulations against putting down or humiliating people. He did not want any kind of exploitation. In His mercy, God corrects the sinful tendencies of the human heart and restrains people’s natural inclinations. Society was to be kept safe, evil eliminated, and good interpersonal relationships cultivated. Justice and love must rule all actions.

Read Exodus 23:10–19. What important issues were dealt with here?

The Sabbath and the festivals were about worship and were reminders of crucial events in salvation history. Worship was carefully regulated because this was the theological basis for all other activities. The Sabbath was established at Creation (Gen. 2:2, 3; Exod. 20:8–11), was connected to Israel’s deliverance and redemption (Deut. 5:12–15), and, in a powerful way, points to worshiping God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Lord (Mark 2:27, 28).

Meanwhile, there were three crucial festivals that Israel was required to celebrate each year: (1) the Passover or the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the spring (usually about mid-March to mid-April); (2) Pentecost or the Feast of Harvest (or the Feast of Weeks) seven weeks after the previous festival, thus beginning 50 days later; and (3) the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) or the Feast of Ingathering in the fall (usually about mid-September to mid-October; see also Exod. 34:18– 26, Lev. 23:4–44, Num. 28:16–29:40, Deut. 16:1–16).


Monday, August 25

More Laws

On the fourteenth day of the month, at even, the Passover was celebrated, its solemn, impressive ceremonies commemorating the deliverance from bondage in Egypt, and pointing forward to the sacrifice that should deliver from the bondage of sin. When the Saviour yielded up His life on Calvary, the significance of the Passover ceased, and the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper was instituted as a memorial of the same event of which the Passover had been a type.

The Passover was followed by the seven day’s feast of un­leavened bread. The first and the seventh day were days of holy convocation, when no servile work was to be performed. On the second day of the feast, the first fruits of the year’s harvest were presented before God. Barley was the earliest grain in Palestine, and at the opening of the feast it was beginning to ripen. A sheaf of this grain was waved by the priest before the altar of God, as an acknowledgment that all was His. Not until this ceremony had been performed was the harvest to be gathered.

Fifty days from the offering of first fruits, came the Pentecost, called also the feast of harvest and the feast of weeks. As an expression of gratitude for the grain prepared as food, two loaves baked with leaven were presented before God. The Pentecost occupied but one day, which was devoted to religious service.

In the seventh month came the Feast of Tabernacles, or of ingathering. This feast acknowledged God’s bounty in the products of the orchard, the olive grove, and the vineyard. It was the crowning festal gathering of the year. The land had yielded its increase, the harvests had been gathered into the granaries, the fruits, the oil, and the wine had been stored, the first fruits had been reserved, and now the people came with their tributes of thanksgiving to God, who had thus richly blessed them.

This feast was to be pre-eminently an occasion of rejoicing. It occurred just after the great Day of Atonement, when the assurance had been given that their iniquity should be remembered no more. At peace with God, they now came before Him to acknowledge His goodness and to praise Him for His mercy. The labors of the harvest being ended, and the toils of the new year not yet begun, the people were free from care, and could give themselves up to the sacred, joyous influences of the hour. Though only the fathers and sons were commanded to appear at the feasts, yet, so far as possible, all the household were to attend them, and to their hospitality the servants, the Levites, the stranger, and the poor were made welcome.—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 539, 540.

TUESDAY August 26

God’s Original Plan

Read Exodus 23:20–33. What methods did God desire to use for conquering the Promised Land?

It was not God’s intention for the Israelites to fight for their new territory; it was to be given to them. It had been promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and should have been received as God’s special gift to Israel.

The model for the conquest of the Promised Land was demonstrated during the crossing of the Red Sea. God fought for His people and gave them total victory over those planning to kill them (Exod. 14:13, 14). The Egyptians were defeated because the Lord miraculously intervened. Similarly, in the time of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, God also defeated the vast, heavily equipped, and well-trained Assyrian army, but without the Israelites having to fight. God granted victory because King Hezekiah believed God’s word given to him through the prophet Isaiah (2 Kings 19:35, Isa. 37:36).

God informed Abraham that the Promised Land would not be immediately given to his posterity, but only after 400 years (Gen. 15:13–16). Why? The reason was related to the wickedness of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan. God was mercifully working with those people and gave them another period of grace to repent. However, they continued in their rebellion against God and His values, so when the iniquity of those nations was complete, God was ready to give their territory to the Hebrews as a new homeland.

In addition, God promised that He would drive the nations out ahead of Israel by two unusual but very effective methods: (1) by sending terror and fear upon wicked nations, and (2) with hornets that would drive the people away. Before the Israelites arrived in the new territory, their enemies would abandon the place, and “turn their backs and run” (Exod. 23:27, 28, NIV).

The crucial role in the conquest of the Promised Land is played by the Angel of God. This Messenger was Christ, who guided Israel, conquered territories, and protected them. He was the pillar of cloud guiding them during the day and the pillar of fire during the night. Israel had to pay careful attention and listen to Him because He had divine authority (Exod. 23:21). Defiance of God’s will and unbelief in His leadership would complicate their advancement.

What does this idea, that of God giving those pagans many years to change their ways, teach us about God’s grace and also about the limits of that grace for those who refuse to accept it?


Tuesday, August 26

God’s Original Plan

Now, while we point the sinner to Jesus Christ as the one who can take away sin, we must explain to him what sin is, and show him the necessity of being saved from his sins, not in them. He must be made to feel that he must cease to transgress the law of God, which is to cease to sin. Paul makes the inquiry many years after the death of Christ, “Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law; for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Thus saying, Paul exalts the moral law. When this law is practically carried out in every-day life, it is found indeed to be the wisdom of God. It serves to detect sin. It discovers the defects in the moral character, and in the light of the law sin becomes exceeding sinful, revealing its true character in all its hideousness.

The law of God given from Sinai is a copy of the mind and will of the Infinite God. It is sacredly revered by the holy angels. Obedience to its requirements will perfect Christian character, and restore man, through Christ, to his condition before the fall.

The sins forbidden in the law could never find place in Heaven. It was the love of God to man that prompted him to express his will in the ten precepts of the decalogue. And when, through sin, man’s understanding became darkened, God came down upon Mount Sinai and spoke his law with an audible voice, and wrote it on tables of stone. Afterward he showed his love for man by sending prophets and teachers to declare his law.

God has given man a complete rule of life in his law. Obeyed, he shall live by it, through the merits of Christ. Transgressed, it has power to condemn. The law sends men to Christ, and Christ points them back to the law.—“The Exalted Position of the Law of God,” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, September 27, 1881, par. 16–19.
 

The Canaanites had filled up the measure of their iniquity, and the Lord would no longer bear with them. His protection being removed, they would be an easy prey. By the covenant of God the land was ensured to Israel. But the false report of the unfaithful spies was accepted, and through it the whole congregation were deluded. The traitors had done their work. If only the two men had brought the evil report, and all the ten had encouraged them to possess the land in the name of the Lord, they would still have taken the advice of the two in preference to the ten, because of their wicked unbelief. But there were only two advocating the right, while ten were on the side of rebellion.—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 390.

WEDNESDAY August 27

An Eye for an Eye

Read Matthew 5:38–48. How does Jesus interpret the meaning of the retaliation law? How should we apply it today?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ cited texts from the Old Testament, texts that people were surely familiar with. However, He was speaking against the current rabbinical interpretations, which over the centuries had moved away from the original purpose of these laws. That is, human tradition not only hid the purpose of God’s Word but in some cases (think of the Sabbath regulations and what they had done to the Sabbath commandment) had perverted their intent and meanings. By His words, Jesus was restoring the original meanings of these laws.

On the Mount of Beatitudes, by pointing His hearers back to the texts’ original intent and meaning, Jesus was seeking to correct some of these false interpretations.

The text from Exodus 21:24 that talks about an “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” was quoted in Matthew 5:38 (“you have heard . . . but I say to you”) and referred to the lex talionis, the so-called retaliation law. This verse is also used in other places in the Bible (Lev. 24:20, Deut. 19:21).

The original intention of this law was formulated against any personal revenge. It was to stop blood feuds, or retaliation without an investigation first. Injury had to be evaluated by judges, and then a proper monetary compensation would be established and paid. This practice was done in order to stop people from “taking the law into their own hands.” Justice was to be done, but it had to be done according to God’s law.

Jesus Christ, who gave these social laws to Moses, knew the purpose of this law; therefore, He could apply it in an objective way, according to its original intention. The motive behind it was to bring justice and reconciliation, and to restore peace.

One could argue that, in a sense, justice implies a kind of vengeance. The proper application of these laws was, it seemed, an attempt to find the right balance between the ideas of justice and vengeance.

How should the realization that one day justice will come help you deal with all the injustice that we see in the world now?


Wednesday, August 27

An Eye for an Eye

It is the Creator of men, the Giver of the law, who declares that it is not His purpose to set aside its precepts. Everything in nature, from the mote in the sunbeam to the worlds on high, is under law. And upon obedience to these laws the order and harmony of the natural world depend. So there are great principles of righteousness to control the life of all intelligent beings, and upon conformity to these principles the well-being of the universe depends. Before this earth was called into being, God’s law existed. Angels are governed by its principles, and in order for earth to be in harmony with heaven, man also must obey the divine statutes. To man in Eden Christ made known the precepts of the law “when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” Job 38:7. The mission of Christ on earth was not to destroy the law, but by His grace to bring man back to obedience to its precepts. . . .

Speaking of the law, Jesus said, “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” He here used the word “fulfill” in the same sense as when He declared to John the Baptist His purpose to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15); that is, to fill up the measure of the law’s requirement, to give an example of perfect conformity to the will of God.

His mission was to “magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isaiah 42:21. He was to show the spiritual nature of the law, to pre­sent its far-reaching principles, and to make plain its eternal ­obligation.—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp. 48, 49.
 

Because the law of the Lord is perfect, and therefore changeless, it is impossible for sinful men, in themselves, to meet the standard of its requirement. This was why Jesus came as our Redeemer. It was His mission, by making men partakers of the divine nature, to bring them into harmony with the principles of the law of heaven. When we forsake our sins and receive Christ as our Saviour, the law is exalted. The apostle Paul asks, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Romans 3:31.

The new-covenant promise is, “I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.” Hebrews 10:16. While the system of types which pointed to Christ as the Lamb of God that should take away the sin of the world was to pass away at His death, the principles of righteousness embodied in the Decalogue are as immutable as the eternal throne. Not one command has been annulled, not a jot or tittle has been changed. Those principles that were made known to man in Paradise as the great law of life will exist unchanged in Paradise restored. When Eden shall bloom on earth again, God’s law of love will be obeyed by all beneath the sun.—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, p. 50.

THURSDAY August 28

Vengeance

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’ ” (Rom. 12:19, ESV; see also Deut. 32:35).

What promise and command are found in these verses, and how are they closely related?

Until the Lord brings the justice so lacking now, it was the duty of the judges in ancient Israel to implement the law and to determine a just punishment when harm or injury occurred. But they needed the facts first. The problem was that the teachers of the law in Christ’s time applied this law in a way that opened the door for personal vengeance. By doing so, the principle was taken out of its context, and the initial purpose was missed. Consequently, they were defending what the law actually forbade.

Read Matthew 6:4, 6; Matthew 16:27; Luke 6:23; and 2 Timothy 4:8. What do these texts tell us about how Jesus viewed the principles of reward and punishment?

Jesus was not against the principle of reward and punishment. Justice is a matter of principle; it is a crucial part of life. However, no individual is to take the role of judge, jury, and “executioner” upon himself or herself. How easy it would be for us to pervert justice! It is not up to us to repay harm. If some evil is to be addressed, this must be performed by an objective court; it is the work of judges.

In this context Jesus tells us to be as perfect as our “Father in heaven is perfect.” How can we be as perfect as God Himself? Unselfish love is the overarching characteristic of God. He teaches His followers how to love their enemies and to pray for those who persecute them. True perfection is to love, to be forgiving, and to be merciful (Luke 6:36), even to those who do not deserve it. This principle, and the actions it leads to, is what it means to reflect God’s character.

What are ways in which, day by day, we can learn to love in the way that we are commanded to? Why does this always involve a death to self?


Thursday, August 28

Vengeance

With untold love our God has loved us, and our love awakens toward Him as we comprehend something of the length and breadth and depth and height of this love that passeth knowledge. By the reve­lation of the attractive loveliness of Christ, by the knowledge of His love expressed to us while we were yet sinners, the stubborn heart is melted and subdued, and the sinner is transformed and becomes a child of heaven. God does not employ compulsory measures; love is the agent which He uses to expel sin from the heart. By it He changes pride into humility, and enmity and unbelief into love and faith.

The Jews had been wearily toiling to reach perfection by their own efforts, and they had failed. Christ had already told them that their righteousness could never enter the kingdom of heaven. Now He points out to them the character of the righteousness that all who enter heaven will possess. Throughout the Sermon on the Mount He describes its fruits, and now in one sentence He points out its source and its nature: Be perfect as God is perfect. The law is but a transcript of the character of God. Behold in your heavenly Father a perfect manifestation of the principles which are the foundation of His government.

God is love. Like rays of light from the sun, love and light and joy flow out from Him to all His creatures. It is His nature to give. His very life is the outflow of unselfish love.

“His glory is His children’s good;

His joy, His tender Fatherhood.”

He tells us to be perfect as He is, in the same manner. We are to be centers of light and blessing to our little circle, even as He is to the universe. We have nothing of ourselves, but the light of His love shines upon us, and we are to reflect its brightness. “In His borrowed goodness good,” we may be perfect in our sphere, even as God is perfect in His.

Jesus said, Be perfect as your Father is perfect. If you are the children of God you are partakers of His nature, and you cannot but be like Him. Every child lives by the life of his father. If you are God’s children, begotten by His Spirit, you live by the life of God. In Christ dwells “all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9); and the life of Jesus is made manifest “in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11). That life in you will produce the same character and manifest the same works as it did in Him. Thus you will be in harmony with every precept of His law; for “the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.” Psalm 19:7, margin. Through love “the righteousness of the law” will be “fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4.—Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, pp. 76, 77.

FRIDAY August 29

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “The Law Given to Israel,” pp. 310–314, in Patriarchs and Prophets.
 

Because we live in the territory of our enemy, it is no wonder we may be hurt in real life by his skillful and deceptive schemes. Who among us has not known pain and suffering, all brought about because of sin and the sinful fallen world in which we live? It’s just part of life now, unfortunately. However, God gives us power to cope.

“The precious Saviour will send help just when we need it. The way to heaven is consecrated by His footprints. Every thorn that wounds our feet has wounded His. Every cross that we are called to bear He has borne before us. The Lord permits conflicts, to prepare the soul for peace. The time of trouble is a fearful ordeal for God's people; but it is the time for every true believer to look up, and by faith he may see the bow of promise encircling him.”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 633.

Discussion Questions:

  1. People through the centuries have struggled with the fact that the Lord had those pagan nations driven out of their land, and sometimes even wiped out. It is, indeed, troubling. However, how should realizing that God’s love must also manifest justice help us trust that, even in these events, His love, not just His justice, was revealed?

  2. Dwell more on the fact that right after all Jesus’ words about loving others, even our enemies, and even those who hate you, He says to us, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48, NKJV). Why would Jesus have this command follow right after these other commands? What was He telling us here about what it means not only to be “perfect” but to be as perfect as “your Father in heaven”?

  3. The apostle Paul had a positive and uplifting attitude toward God’s law and its functions, yet he was against the misuse of the law. What does his statement mean that “you are not under the law, but under grace” (Rom. 6:14, NIV)? What are ways that we can misuse the law?

  4. What is the difference between justice and vengeance? Are they completely different concepts or just different manifestations of the same idea? How do we know if our desire for justice is not really a desire for vengeance?


Friday, August 29

For Further Reading

“The Great Principle of the Law,” The Faith I Live By, March 21, p. 86;

“Trust God’s Words, Not Man’s,” The Upward Look, October 7, p. 294.

INSIDE STORY

All Things Working Together

By Andrew McChesney

Carl Casey, a helicopter pilot and science teacher in Alaska, had a stroke at the age of 51. He couldn’t understand why. Long before becoming a Seventh-day Adventist, he had stopped eating unclean meat after seeing that the Bible spoke against it and reading scientific evidence that backed it up.

The stroke shattered Carl’s life in Fairbanks. He couldn’t walk or work.

Then he read in Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (NKJV). He had read the verse many times, but now it took on a new meaning. He saw it didn’t say “all things are good for those who love God” but rather “all things work together for good to those who love God.”

Carl stopped asking why. Instead, he asked God to use his stroke to win souls in Alaska. He wanted to be able to echo Joseph and say, “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Gen. 50:20).

Carl began to look for opportunities to witness in Alaska, which is a challenging mission field with a difficult history; long, cold winters; and limited roads and other infrastructure across a vast territory. Only about 3,000 Adventists live among the population of 733,000. Carl quickly realized that his wheelchair put him in a unique position. It was hard for people not to notice him. With their attention, he spoke glowingly about his love for God.

People responded with surprise. “You’re in a wheelchair, and you care about God?” they asked.

“You betcha!” Carl replied. Then he extolled God’s great love. He shared Romans 3:23, which says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and John 3:16, which says all who believe in Jesus have eternal life. He encouraged people to read the Bible daily and grow close to God, believing that once a relationship was formed, everything else would fall into place, including doctrines like the Sabbath and teachings such as the Levitical diet.

Carl readily admits that a healthy diet didn’t prevent his stroke. “My stroke was not from eating unhealthily but just the result of living in a sinful world,” he said. “I’m lucky to be alive. Most people die after a stroke like this.” He still recommends and follows the Levitical diet as the path to a longer, healthier life.

Nearly a decade after his stroke, he can say that lives have been changed because of the stroke.

“I will see people in heaven because I had this stroke,” Carl said. “People will be there who wouldn’t have been there otherwise. So, all things work together for good to those who love God.”

All Things Working Together

Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School mission offerings to spread the gospel worldwide. Read new stories daily at AdventistMission.org.