Fourth Quarter 2004 Adult Sabbath School Lessons:
"Daniel"

Insights to Lesson 1:
To Eat or Not to Eat: That is the Question
September 26-October 1

(Produced by the Editorial Board of the 1888 Message Study Committee)

These next 13 weeks are a precious opportunity. Jesus especially singled out Daniel for our attention: “Whoso readeth, let him understand” (Matt. 24:15). That “let” embraces within itself a promise: if you “read” the book, that is, give it honest attention, the “understanding” will for a certainty be given to you. Your goal of course is not only your personal enrichment, but you want to learn how to “let” someone else “understand,” for his good.

We often have a restricted idea of how to “give Bible studies.” We need printed lessons that tell all the historical details that we aren’t diligent enough to remember; educated “scholars” will have prepared the material, and we faithfully pass on to someone second hand this mass of information (that is, of course, until he gets too bored to continue).

Our goal in this series of INSIGHTS is different: we want to do exactly what Jesus said—“read” and “understand” Daniel so we can ourselves personally lead someone else through the book, verse by verse. (Our “foster” daughter is right now leading a group of teens through it, using our The Gospel in Daniel; talk about Sabbath School fun!). You don’t want to impress someone with your acquired wealth of historical knowledge (God forbid!); what you want is to grasp the “gospel” Good News that is embedded in Daniel and let it grip someone’s heart. Then that heart-thrilling reward comes in chapter 12: even now, before “forever and ever” comes, your happiness will “shine as the brightness of the firmament,” and you will “turn [someone] to righteousness” (12:3). Pay attention these 13 weeks; the Holy Spirit will fill in the gaps and when you “read” with someone else, you will be surprised how He will “bring all things to your remembrance.” You’ll be conscious of His alerting you (John 14:26; that’s a thrill nothing can surpass).

Daniel is a lesson book in corporate repentance.

Note how he and his young friends who did not rebel against God (as did the kings and people of Israel) have to suffer innocently for the nation’s corporate sin. God is forced to back off and allow Babylon to conquer them (Daniel and his friends get castrated in a foreign land; see Isa. 39:7). But no bitterness. Finally he writes a chapter fully explaining corporate repentance (9). The same principle is incumbent on the Seventh-day Adventist Church to appreciate: our “fathers’ sins” of resisting the Holy Spirit are corporately “our sins” as well (9:3-19; compare what Ellen White says about our own “1888” history and its effect on us today).

Daniel is a precious lesson book in Day of Atonement health reform.

We can easily forget why God has given us health reform: it came precisely in tandem with our pioneers’ incipient understanding of Day of Atonement living. Christ as our great High Priest in 1844 had entered His ministry in the second, “Most Holy,” apartment, of the heavenly sanctuary. While He is busy there “cleansing” it from the sin of His people, they on earth are permitting Him to “cleanse” it from their hearts. No way can the heavenly “books” have our sins “blotted out” there until first of all they are erased from our hearts down here. Health reform is a vital part of this special ministry—never before accomplished so completely for the corporate body of God’s people.

The media (TV, radio, print) are shouting health reform at us. But they don’t know how to tell it with the “power of salvation” (Rom. 1:16), as God wants His people to tell it. The problem is the sinful love of self that is evident in love of appetite. What’s lacking is the intimate knowledge of “Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:1, 2). Take that away, and “self” is left uncrucified; even for vegetarians, indulgence in eating unhealthful food or overeating healthful food becomes a pathetic sin. (Even Sabbath potlucks can become the venue.) Never before in world history has the Savior’s “arm” been so “bared” in saving power for people enslaved by appetite as now in this Day of Atonement. It’s the time of becoming fully “reconciled” to God “in Christ.” You crave victory over appetite, not for a self-centered motivation (so you can be saved!), but that you may keep your mind, your fore-brain, clear so you can “understand” the “most precious” mysteries of “the everlasting gospel” (there’s Jesus’ Matt. 24:15 word again!). That includes the “the third angel’s message in verity” which Ellen White said is the consummate truth God placed in the 1888 message.

This Sabbath, Daniel’s (and his companions’) victory over appetite is our inspiration (1:8-17). They were tempted by the allurement of the gourmet fare prepared by the chefs in the palace kitchens. That cuisine was the envy of wealthy Babylonians! The four were teens (or at least young men) with voracious appetites, but “no to self” was their wise decision—at every meal. They will not patronize the McDonalds or Burger Kings of their day. They swam upstream against the current. But oh, how they were thrilled to realize the blessings! Verses 9 and10 let us in on a secret: there were other Jewish youth there who carelessly drifted downstream with the current. Even within the remnant church today, following Christ can be an occasion for persecution. Ridicule within the church for one’s fidelity to principle can be painful to endure.

Ellen White has wisely said that “abstemiousness in diet is rewarded with mental and moral vigor” (Ministry of Healing, p. 308).

Students in school don’t have to follow the crowd. They can enjoy standing out different and follow the youthful Daniel’s example. The courage comes through exercising “the faith of Jesus,” a “measure” of which has been “dealt” to “every person” (Rom. 12:3). Jesus was tempted on appetite more than we can be. His overcoming grace is given freely to all, not merely “offered” to them (Rom. 5:15-18; Eph. 2:8, 9). It’s impossible to estimate the enormity of the suffering that unrestrained appetite causes in this world today. Everywhere you turn you see obesity, heart disease, lung cancer from smoking, cirrhosis of the liver from alcoholism. Jesus is already “the Savior of the world,” but He is helpless to deliver people who despise, resist, and reject what He has given them. He is forced to watch all this suffering, to see the needless tears, to sympathize with the needless pain, to share the often premature funeral grief. It’s time for us to learn to sympathize with Him in His suffering that He feels for humanity. In all the world’s suffering you can hear the overtones of His crying! In the 1888 message Jesus invited us to come closer to share with Him His feelings, His concerns.

The Good News is great: the Holy Spirit will be your day-by-day Teacher; He won’t let you transgress further for Jesus promised that He will “convict the world of sin” (John 16:8). That means He will do it when you are tempted, He will remind you, “Don’t indulge!” unless you continue to beat Him off. To say “No!” to self may be as painful as crucifixion. So be it; you are “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20).

Our title could well be: “To be loyal to Jesus or not: that is the question.” That’s it—every time we’re tempted.

—Robert J. Wieland

Read the study notes for lesson 2