Special Insights No. 3
Second Quarter 2007
Adult Sabbath School Lessons
“Thy Word Is a Lamp Unto My Feet”
(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)
Bible Prophecy Fulfilled
The First Advent Prophecy and
Time Fulfillment. Both Isaiah and Daniel prophesied of the coming of
the Messiah. Isaiah gives information about the mission of Jesus and.
Daniel predicts the very time when He would be anointed by the Holy
Spirit for His mission, and also the time of His crucifixion. Predictions
from these two books undoubtedly strengthened the faith of Jesus both
in the early years of His ministry, and especially during the closing
scenes of His life.
Daniel foretold the time of Jesus’ public ministry. Shortly after
His baptism in A.D. 27, He began preaching repentance for sin, and faith
in the gospel. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand” (Mark 1:15). The only time He could have been referring
to was the seventy weeks/years of Daniel 9:25—“Know therefore
and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore
and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,
and threescore and two weeks” (prophetic time).
Luke Presents the Lord’s Mission by Quoting Isaiah. “There
was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had
opened the book, He found the place where it was written, ‘The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach
the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord” (4:17-19).
This was preached in Christ’s home church (synagogue) in Nazareth.
At first the hearts of the congregation were strangely warmed, the air
no doubt punctuated with fervent “Amens!” This was short-lived,
however. When the people realized He addressed them in their lukewarmness,
they became insanely incensed to the point of destroying Him.
In one of this week’s reading assignments (Isa. 52 - 53:12) we
consider the opposition and rejection of His mission and message, but
also of His victory in death. Not just His own nation was included in
the rejection of His message of healing. Without exception every nation
and every individual opposes Christ and His righteousness unless conversion
from above transforms him.
In Isaiah 52:1-15, the prophet presents in outline form the work of
Christ: (1) His ministry on earth; (2) His crucifixion; (3) His resurrection;
and (4) His redemption, which startled nations.
Chapter 53 describes the Messiah’s sufferings, prophesied 800
years before “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”
Jesus died for those who hated Him.
53:6 is of particular interest. The confession given here is both corporate
and particular: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all.” Here is portrayed the sinfulness of Adam’s race.
However, not only has the race corporately gone away from the Lord,
but “every one” with some specific and special aggravation
has turned “to his own way.”
This passage is the confession of the individual sinner who has sinned
without a single excuse against light particular to himself. There is
a giving up of all claims to self-righteousness. The mark of genuine
repentance and confession, while it associates with others of the same
ilk, is very specific to each one for his or her particular sins of
which the Holy Spirit convicts. The next thought is the most wrenching;
at the same time the most hopeful for the lost sinner: “the Lord
has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The very heart and soul
of prophecy is contained in this verse.
To summarize: Christ took upon Himself every sin—both personal
and corporate—and died (Isa. 53:6,11). Because of this everyone
died in His death. Not one is excluded. Verse 6 sheds light on the “all”
and the “every”: “All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on
Him the iniquity of us all.” This verse begins with the “all”
of condemnation, but ends with the “all” of salvation. Jesus
died for each one of us. Every sin of every individual was laid upon
Him. This is the very heart of the Gospel—Christ died for Adam’s
sin; Christ died for our sins; Christ died for my sins; Christ died
for your sins.
Isaiah further prophesied of Christ’s crucifixion. “He
was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of
my people was He stricken” (Isa. 53:8). Daniel used similar language:
“after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but
not for Himself” (Dan. 9:26). “But not for Himself.”
No! Never! It was all for you and for me (emphasis supplied).
Daniel not only deals with the outline prophecies of four empires on
earth, he prophesied of the opposition to Christ and to His message.
We have space for only one illustration. In chapter two, after going
step-by-step through the unfolding history of the four great empires,
Daniel writes describing the amalgamation of clay and iron in the feet
and toes of the image of which Nebuchadnezzar dreamed . The iron, of
course, is bnvthe metal monarchy of Rome’s pagan phase that followed
the Republic. And we sing of the clay in that great hymn based on Isaiah
64:8—“O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and
thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” Clay is
used to describe God’s people. God’s work is to mold and
to fashion us according to His will, just as a potter molds clay.
However, the clay becomes “miry clay.” It represents especially
Christianity that becomes watered down in the last days of earth’s
history as it united to the New Imperial Rome that follows the dismantling
of the Republic. All religions must have power to exist. Christianity
must have God’s power. His power is centered in the gospel of
the cross (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:18). But when Christianity separates
from God’s power it must join itself to the strongest power on
earth, which, of course is the state.
This union of church and state depicted in the mingling of metal and
mineral had a fulfillment in the Medieval church, and in the Protestantism
of England. Not until the American Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution of this Republic was a separation between church and state
the law of the United States.
In the Last Days of Earth’s History. The completion of the amalgamation
of iron and clay in Daniel’s prophecy was almost accomplished
119 years ago in America by the determined effort of various religious
and non-religious entities. A bill to enforce Sunday sacredness was
proposed by Senator Blair of New Hampshire in May 1888 and taken up
again in the next session.
But something happened between those two sessions—Minneapolis.
There, when the message of Christ and His righteousness was not accepted
by a majority to whom it was given, God had to stop the Blair Sunday
Bill. He knew that without the “Loud Cry” of the Third Angel’s
Message, His people could not stand under the onslaught awaiting them,
should that Bill be enacted into national law.
He now invites all to “come” to Himself that the hatred
might be lifted and peace and joy and righteousness fill the heart of
those who respond, repent, and believe the “everlasting gospel.”
—Gerald L. Finneman
(Note: A series of CDs on these lessons recorded
by this Robert J. Wieland is available from the office of the 1888 Message
Study Committee: 269-473-1888.)
Listen to the audio recording for Lesson 3 now in MP3 format.
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