Sabbath School Lesson for April 26-May 2, 2025
Introduction of Lesson 5, The Nations: Part 2
Memory Text: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nation, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10 NKJV
“Being still” is recommended for anyone wanting to know God better. It’s a reminder that in the quiet stillness of nature, or in the stillness of the night, we can more easily hear God speaking to us. This was the original plan for His creatures to more fully enjoy His companionship, especially during the blessed, holy Sabbath hours.
We seldom consider the content of the remainder of the words in Psalm 46:10, however. We forget about the need to exalt God among the nations and that He deserves to be exalted in the whole earth. This means that being still also reinforces our rightful place in our relationship with God.
Adam and Eve unfortunately failed to exalt God as their supreme Commander, and decided instead to be self-governed. Once they chose Satan’s unwise plan, they found themselves on an irreversible path of tragic consequences that engulfed the whole planet. Later, once again, God had to remind the Israelites that if they chose to exalt a human monarch to lead their country, they would be on a path of destruction and death that could not be reversed.
- Sunday: The Very First Commandment–Genesis 2, God’s original desire for us in the Garden
- Monday: Daniel 2–Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, affecting the nations
- Tuesday: Daniel 7— Daniel’s dream, affecting God’s people
- Wednesday: Between Land and Sea–Revelation 12 and 13, the birth of diverse nations
- Thursday: Prophesy Again–Revelation 10, the birth of God’s remnant people
Sunday: The Very First Commandment
Our first home in the Garden of Eden was more than a beautiful showplace to provide endless leisure and recreation for the human family. The interactions they would enjoy with God’s glorious creation were designed to instruct them. The Garden itself would be a classroom for their continued growth in knowledge about God.
One of the first lessons given the couple was a requirement, that, if heeded, would grow their faith and trust in God’s benevolence in healthy, pain-free ways. Instead, they ignored His clear message that not heeding this command would result in death, and chose rather to learn about their world by experiencing all the evil suffering that Satan’s rule would provide.
Human beings thus lost the freedom they once had and were henceforth allowed to witness the harsh, violent kingdoms and nations of the world that Satan promoted, instead of experiencing the never-ending, peaceful kingdom of God that defined their Garden home at the beginning.
Verses and questions:
Genesis 2:9-17
- What was their Garden home like and what might have been the purpose of God’s one prohibition there?
- Why didn’t God want them to know about good and evil the way Satan taught it?
- Do we have to experience evil to know it exists? What is a better way to know about things in the universe?
Monday: Daniel 2
Many people at the beginning of the twentieth century felt that the world, with its advanced technology and knowledge, was on an upward swing toward betterment. It was thought by scientists and philosophers, like Charles Darwin and Karl Marx, that mankind was getting better, evolving upward, if you will. Until World War 1 and the numerous wars to follow showed us otherwise.
We should have paid closer attention to a Babylonian king’s dream in Daniel 2. The image he saw in his dream consisted of kingdoms of metals that were progressively less valuable as they came upon the world. The world, it seems, is not getting better. As a matter of fact, it’s only getting worse with each world power that tries to rear its head and dominate its share of the planet.
The only real peace and security will be brought to us by God’s kingdom, when His Son breaks through our doom and gloom and comes to rescue us from ourselves and Satan’s ugly false claims of dominion.
Verses and questions:
Daniel 2:31-35
- What significance is there that the metals get less and less valuable in the king’s image?
Matthew 24:6-7, Luke 21:25-26, and 2 Peter 3:4
- How have we noticed these signs of the times in these last days?
- How does just having more information about world events make our hearts fail us more?
- On the other hand, why do some get complacent about His Coming?
Tuesday: Daniel 7
The king’s dream of an image of nations in Daniel 2 basically delivers the same message as Daniel’s vision about animals in Daniel 7. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream showed the same succession of nations, but from the standpoint of those Gentile empires.
Daniel’s vision, however, graphically described the various beasts of nations coming up on the land, showing how they would impact God’s people in His Promised Land. Since many of them had chosen to live like Gentiles, they would now experience what it was really like to live with (and under) the Gentile nations.
In building His own nation through Abraham’s descendants, God had hopes of creating a better environment to welcome His Son, the promised Messiah. That attempt seemed to be only a partial success, not indicating any fault in God’s plan, however. The fault lay solely with God’s people, who chose to be led differently.
Verses and questions:
Daniel 7:1-3 and Revelation 13:1
- Since both Daniel and John saw beasts rising out of the sea, why is it important to study their prophecies together? What can we learn about nations from each of them?
Wednesday: Between Land and Sea
The land and sea are powerful images we find in prophecy. As one might expect, they are symbols that differ greatly from each other, but they both indicate nations of some kind.
The nations that identify with the land represent those places with stability and where a more ordered rule is in place. Examples would be the land of Israel when it was a theocracy; and later, it is thought to be America, where a migration of persecuted believers fled and where religious freedom was established for a long time.
The nations represented by the sea, however, most likely refer to the Gentile nations that often menace the land nations. Just as we see the tumultuous, unpredictable ocean often threatening land areas. These worldly, sea nations are ruled by human pride and selfishness.
In Revelation, we discover that the dragon, Satan, uses the waters of the sea to persecute God’s church (Revelation 12:15-16). Revelation 13 surprises us with two beasts, however–one coming out of the sea, and a land beast that becomes an image to the first sea beast (Revelation 13:1, 11), making it a diverse, scary creature that caused the prophets to be anxious and concerned. At this point, the whole earth, both land and sea nations, seems to be threatened.
Verses and questions:
Revelation 12:15-16
- How has history shown the persecution of God’s people by threatening Gentile nations and other, unstable forces?
Revelation 13:1, 11
- Why is the beast from the earth a particular concern in this chapter?
Revelation 21:1
- What might John, surrounded by waters on the island of Patmos, have meant by there being “no more sea” in his vision of the new earth?
Thursday: Prophesy Again
Daniel 12:4, the last chapter of Daniel’s book, includes a directive for the prophet to seal his book till the time of the end, assumedly a time when its prophecies would be most beneficial. Revelation 10:8-10 mentions a “little book” that Bible scholars believe refers to the smaller prophetic book of Daniel.
The rest of Revelation 10, talks about a mighty angel, who sounds like John’s depictions of God’s Son. He cries with a loud voice, similar to the three angels’ messages in Revelation 14. This angel stands on the land and the sea, which must mean the message is for all nations, the whole planet. Like Revelation 14, this angel glorifies the Creator, the One who made the heavens, the earth and sea, and all creatures.
The last verse, Revelation 10:11, encourages this remnant people of the end times to “prophesy again” to many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.” The New World and the Old World, indeed all the world, will be blessed by this religious movement whose main objective is to prepare hearts for the Second Coming of Christ.
Verses and questions:
Revelation 10:1-11
- What insights does this chapter hold about a final movement of Christians, who will be God’s remnant people before the Second Coming?
- What part do the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation play in the message they proclaim to the world?
Friday: Final Thoughts
The tragedies that people suffer as they attempt to rule themselves, both corporately and individually, keep getting worse and worse. Some nations have ruled better than others over the years, just like some of Israel’s kings were good and some were bad; but the general trend has been downward. Our only safety is recognizing our Creator and allowing Him to rule in our hearts.
It has always been a struggle for God’s people to know how much to interact with their government. Most have at least determined to be involved enough to protect religious freedoms as much as possible, especially in these last days when true worship of God on the day He has commanded will not be allowed anywhere on the planet. To be safe, we must prepare for the predicted times of persecution by staying as close to God as possible.
Next Week: Understanding Sacrifice
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