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Sabbath Bible Lessons

Living in the Day of Atonement

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Lesson 3 Sabbath, October 19, 2019

Understanding the Symbols

“Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:50, 51, first part).

“The rending of the veil of the temple showed that the Jewish sacrifices and ordinances would no longer be received. The great Sacrifice had been offered and had been accepted.”—Early Writings, pp. 259, 260.

Suggested Reading:   Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 273-279, 352, 353

Sunday October 13

1. DAILY CONSECRATION

a. Why was it necessary for Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to replace the sacrificial offerings? Hebrews 10:9–12; Acts 3:1. How is the morning and evening sacrifice of ancient times relevant to us today?

“Christ was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. The types and shadows under which the Jews worshiped, all pointed forward to the world’s Redeemer.”—The Signs of the Times, February 25, 1897.

“The hours appointed for the morning and the evening sacrifice were regarded as sacred, and they came to be observed as the set time for worship throughout the Jewish nation. . . . In this custom Christians have an example for morning and evening prayer. While God condemns a mere round of ceremonies, without the spirit of worship, He looks with great pleasure upon those who love Him, bowing morning and evening to seek pardon for sins committed and to present their requests for needed blessings.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 353, 354.

“If ever there was a time when every house should be a house of prayer, it is now. Like the patriarchs of old, those who profess to love God should erect an altar to His worship wherever they pitch their tent. The father, as priest of the household, should offer the morning and evening sacrifice, while the wife and children unite in prayer and praise. In a home where God is thus honoured, Jesus will love to tarry.”—The Bible Echo, December 15, 1893.


Monday October 14

2. PURIFYING THE HEART

a. What is the significance of the Passover to us as Christians? 1 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 7:26, 27.

“The Passover was to be both commemorative and typical, not only pointing back to the deliverance from Egypt, but forward to the greater deliverance which Christ was to accomplish in freeing His people from the bondage of sin. The sacrificial lamb represents ‘the Lamb of God,’ in whom is our only hope of salvation. Says the apostle, ‘Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.’ 1 Corinthians 5:7. It was not enough that the paschal lamb be slain; its blood must be sprinkled upon the doorposts; so the merits of Christ’s blood must be applied to the soul. We must believe, not only that He died for the world, but that He died for us individually. We must appropriate to ourselves the virtue of the atoning sacrifice. . . .

“The lamb was to be prepared whole, not a bone of it being broken: so not a bone was to be broken of the Lamb of God, who was to die for us. John 19:36. Thus was also represented the completeness of Christ’s sacrifice.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 277.

b. What did the hyssop symbolize in the Passover? Psalms 51:2, 7; 119:9; 1 Peter 1:22.

“The hyssop used in sprinkling the blood was the symbol of purification, being thus employed in the cleansing of the leper and of those defiled by contact with the dead.”—Ibid.

“We want something besides Sabbath religion. We need the living principle, and to daily feel individual responsibility. This is shunned by many, and the fruit is carelessness, indifference, a lack of watchfulness and spirituality. Where is the spirituality of the church? Where are men and women full of faith and the Holy Spirit? My prayer is: Purify Thy church, O God.”—Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 99.

“The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God. In order to serve Him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will purify the heart and renew the mind, giving us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us a willing obedience to all His requirements. This is true worship.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 189.

“The people of God must purify their souls through obedience to the truth, and be prepared to stand without fault before Him at His coming.”—Evangelism, p. 695.


Tuesday October 15

3. A HOLY LIFE, A HOLY ORDINANCE

a. Explain how the completeness of Christ’s sacrifice was symbolized. Exodus 12:46; John 19:36.

b. How does the fact that the Passover lamb was not only to be slain, but also eaten relate to Christ our Passover? Exodus 12:8; John 6:53, 54, 63.

“It is not enough even that we believe on Christ for the forgiveness of sin; we must by faith be constantly receiving spiritual strength and nourishment from Him through His word. . . . The followers of Christ must be partakers of His experience. They must receive and assimilate the word of God so that it shall become the motive power of life and action. By the power of Christ they must be changed into His likeness, and reflect the divine attributes. They must eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God, or there is no life in them. The spirit and work of Christ must become the spirit and work of His disciples.

“The lamb was to be eaten with bitter herbs, as pointing back to the bitterness of the bondage in Egypt. So when we feed upon Christ, it should be with contrition of heart, because of our sins.”—Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 277, 278.

c. What specific ceremony did the Passover foreshadow, and what additional ordinance was added to it? Mark 14:16, 22–25; John 13:1–5, 13–15.

“The act of Christ in washing the feet of His disciples was a sacred one; His motive in so doing was to bring about, through their remembrance of what Christ had done for them, a state of feeling where no exaltation of one above another should find place. This ordinance was to bring brother to an understanding of the feelings of his brother. . . .

“This ordinance does not speak so largely to man’s intellectual capacity as to his heart. His moral and spiritual nature needs it. If His disciples had not needed this, it would not have been left for them as Christ’s last established ordinance in connection with, and including, the last supper.”—The Review and Herald, June 14, 1898.


Wednesday October 16

4. SET APART

a. When the Passover was originally established, what restriction had God placed on who was allowed to partake of it? Why? Exodus 12:43–48.

“[The Lord] required of Abraham and his seed, circumcision, which was a circle cut in the flesh, as a token that God had cut them out and separated them from all nations as His peculiar treasure. By this sign they solemnly pledged themselves that they would not intermarry with other nations; for by so doing they would lose their reverence for God and His holy law, and would become like the idolatrous nations around them.

“By the act of circumcision they solemnly agreed to fulfill on their part the conditions of the covenant made with Abraham, to be separate from all nations, and to be perfect. If the descendants of Abraham had kept separate from other nations, they would not have been seduced into idolatry. By keeping separate from other nations, a great temptation to engage in their sinful practices, and rebel against God, would be removed from them. They lost in a great measure their peculiar, holy character, by mingling with the nations around them.”—The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 1, pp. 262, 263.

b. As circumcision had been in the Old Testament, what New Testament ordinance is an emblem of separation from the world and consecration to God? Colossians 2:6, 10–12; Galatians 5:6.

“Christ has made baptism the sign of entrance to His spiritual kingdom. He has made this a positive condition with which all must comply who wish to be acknowledged as under the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. . . .

“Baptism is a most solemn renunciation of the world. Those who are baptized in the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, at the very entrance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have forsaken the service of Satan and have become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King. They have obeyed the command: ‘Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing.’ And to them is fulfilled the promise: ‘I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.’ 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18.”—Testimonies, vol. 6, p. 91.


Thursday October 17

5. A SOLEMN SEPARATION FROM SIN

a. What provisions did Jesus make for the Passover? Who partook of this feast with Him? Mark 14:12–15.

“The Lord’s Supper was not to be observed only occasionally or yearly, but more frequently than the annual Passover. This solemn ordinance commemorates a far greater event than the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt. That deliverance was typical of the great atonement which Christ made by the sacrifice of His own life for the final deliverance of His people.

“This ordinance is not to be exclusive, as many would make it. Each must participate in it publicly, and thus bear witness: I accept Christ as my personal Saviour. He gave His life for me, that I might be rescued from death.”—The Faith I Live By, p. 302.

“I was pointed back to the time that Jesus took His disciples away alone, into an upper room, and first washed their feet, and then gave them to eat of the broken bread, to represent His broken body, and juice of the vine to represent His spilled blood. I saw that all should move understandingly, and follow the example of Jesus in these things, and when attending to these ordinances, should be as separate from unbelievers as possible.”—The Review and Herald, November 1, 1850.

b. What did the unleavened bread symbolize? 1 Corinthians 5:6–8.

“At the time of the Passover the people were directed to remove all the leaven from their houses as they were to put away sin from their hearts.”—Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 95, 96.


Friday October 18

PERSONAL REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What reveals our daily need of atonement now as much as ever?

2. How does the hyssop in the Passover service have its parallel today?

3. Why is the ordinance of humility so important for us in these last days?

4. How is the ancient mingling with the uncircumcised repeated today?

5. From what and whom is the Lord’s Supper to be separate?

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