http://www.ssnet.org/lessons/16a/less01.htmlLesson 1 *December 26-January 1
Crisis in Heaven
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week's Study: Isa. 14:4, 12-15; Ezek. 28:2, 12-19; John 12:31; Rev. 12:7-16; Luke 10:1-21.
Memory Text: "'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'" (Revelation 7:10, NKJV).
The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the happiness of all intelligent beings depends upon their perfect accord with its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures the service of love-service that springs from an appreciation of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced obedience; and to all He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service."-Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 34.
So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love, there was perfect harmony throughout the universe. All it took was one rebel, and everything changed. Lucifer thought that he could do a better job than God did. He wanted God's position and the prestige that went with it.
His lust for power resulted in a "war in heaven" (Rev. 12:7). By tricking Adam and Eve at the forbidden tree in Eden, Satan brought that war to earth, and we have been living with the consequences ever since. The plan of salvation is God's way of dealing with the rebellion and restoring the order and harmony that Satan had disrupted.
Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 2.
Sunday December 27
The Fall in Heaven
Read Isaiah 14:4, 12-15. What descriptions of the king of Babylon indicate that he is speaking of someone much greater than a mere human ruler?
No earthly king has ever fallen from heaven, a truth that suggests that Isaiah 14:12-15 are focusing on someone bigger than the king, even of Babylon. Furthermore, the images of ascending to heaven, of being in a position higher than angels, and of presiding over the assembly on the mountain in the far north are all recognized descriptions of deity in the ancient Near East. Satan's ambitions are, clearly, exposed here, in this kind of "dual" prophecy.
Jesus uses a similar tactic in His description of the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:1-51). Although the disciples ask about the destruction of the temple, in His reply, Jesus describes both the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70, and the greater reality of the end of the world. In the same way, Isaiah describes the attributes of an earthly king but applies it all to something much grander and larger than just a mere human king.
Read Ezekiel 28:2, 12-19. How is Satan depicted here?
Ezekiel 28:13 describes a perfect being present in the "garden of God," one decorated with all the kinds of precious stones later found on the breastplate of the high priest and as a being who was commissioned as a guardian cherub at the throne of God. The perfect being, however, corrupted himself because of his "beauty."
By using human parallels, these glimpses allow us to understand divine realities. The prophets used that which is closer and more easily understandable in order to explain something that, in and of itself, might be harder for us to understand. What happens in heaven may be difficult for us on earth to grasp, but we are all able to understand the effects of the blatant and destructive political ambitions of earthly rulers. Isaiah and Ezekiel give us insight into the inexplicable transition, at some point in history, when all that was beautiful and perfect in God's order of things was marred by destructive ambition.
If a perfect being, created by a perfect God, in a perfect environment, could mess himself up because of pride, what should that tell us fallen beings about how deadly this sentiment really is?
Topic: Crisis in heaven, and your role in the consequences (Read 11532 times)