Sabbath School Lesson for May 3-9, 2025
Introduction of Lesson 6, Understanding Sacrifice
Memory Text: “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.’ “ Revelation 5:9 NKJV
An essential part of understanding prophecy is to understand more fully the sacrifice of God that makes a better future possible for the nations. A symbol of a lamb that points to the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, is seen throughout the Scriptures. From the story of Cain and Abel all the way to John’s prophetic vision in God’s heavenly throne room, we see the theme of sacrifice played out.
All religions, ancient and more recent varieties, incorporate some kind of obligatory, ritual sacrifice or service. Most of them involve giving something to appease a deity, in exchange for assistance of some kind for the worshiper. This kind of sacrifice indicates an upward movement–one originating with man and moving upward to a god, or multiple gods.
The worship of our Creator God, in the person of His Son, however, signifies a downward movement. A loving, merciful God reaches down to mankind and offers forgiveness and restoration through His sacrifice. It’s important to study the sacrifice of the worthy Lamb of God by examining the historical and prophetic links about Him that are available in God’s holy word.
- Sunday: Futile Sacrifices?–the sacrifices of Cain and Abel
- Monday: The Blood of Bulls and Goats–types and antitypes
- Tuesday: The Passover Lamb–the last Adam
- Wednesday: Jesus at the Temple–His holy presence that made the second temple so great
- Thursday: For You Created All Things!–seeing both God’s greatness and our sinfulness
Sunday: Futile Sacrifices?
The idea of sacrifice was seen quite early in Genesis with the sad story of Abel’s murder by his very own brother and fellow worshiper, Cain. It makes sense to examine this incident closely, because it involved one sacrifice that was accepted and one that was not. Why was Cain’s offering useless, and Abel’s was enough to land him a place in Hebrews 11, the faith chapter?
God had no doubt prescribed specifically what offerings He desired from the brothers, including the symbolic, innocent lamb to point forward to God’s sacrifice for them. Genesis 4:4 suggests that Abel may have also brought a non-animal offering from the garden to express thanks, along with the firstborn of his flock. Cain, on the other hand, brought only something from his garden, but did it with a heart that was focused on himself, rather than God.
In addition, since Abel was a keeper of the flock, pride may have prevented Cain from asking for a sheep from his brother. Cain’s jealous heart was unprepared to worship, causing the trouble and heartache that resulted from the hasty murder of Abel and subsequent flight to safety.
Verses and questions:
Genesis 4:3-7 and Hebrews 11:4
- What lessons are found in this story about the meaning of our service and worship to God?
- Why must we go beyond simply “going through the motions” like Cain, when it comes to our worship? How do we make the same mistake today and how can we correct it?
Isaiah 1:2-15, 56:6-7, and Psalm 51:17
- What is it that makes our sacrifice acceptable or unacceptable to God, and what can we do about it?
Monday: The Blood of Bulls and Goats
As our modern minds look back to the many animal sacrifices that took place in God’s temple, we are struck with the cruel, harsh, and unfair, bloody practice of killing innocent animals. This feeling of cruelty and injustice must have also been felt to some extent by those involved in the ritual back then as well. But, that was the whole point. It reminded all of us of the cruel, harsh, unfair treatment of God’s innocent Son Jesus, referred to as the Lamb of God.
The blood of bulls and goats represented the blood of Jesus. Therefore, they are known as a type, or symbol of the real Sacrifice they foreshadowed, which is known as the antitype. Once the real Sacrifice was given, the antitype, when Christ died on the cross, those animal sacrifices were thankfully no longer needed. When Jesus breathed His last, Mark 15:38 describes the veil in the temple that was torn from top to bottom, indicating a change in the services needed there. See also Hebrews 7:26-27.
This switch from type to antitype might be seen as a travel ticket or boarding pass we receive before a trip (when we look forward to going somewhere–the type). Once we are on the bus, plane, or ship we no longer need that paper ticket. We are on the way to our destination (when we look forward to getting there–the antitype).
Verses and questions:
Hebrews 10:3-10, John 1:29, and Mark 15:38
- What was the purpose of the animal sacrifices in God’s sanctuary service?
- Why are they no longer needed there?
Tuesday: The Passover Lamb
We don’t often pause to think of the significance of Jesus’ death happening on the Passover. But, He truly was the antitypical Passover Lamb, which had been foreshadowed by that ceremony all those years since the Exodus (Exodus 12:5). “Knowing that you were ransomed…with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19). Revelation, with all it prophetic references, spoke of Jesus as “the Lamb” almost thirty times. The lambs used in their offerings definitely symbolized the coming Messiah.
One interesting analogy was when questioned by the high priest after His arrest, Jesus was asked about His disciples and doctrine. His reply was that He had spoken openly of those things in synagogues and the temple. He had said nothing in secret (John 18:19-20). Similarly, we are told that the Passover lamb was killed before the whole congregation (Exodus 12:5-6). It, too, was not secret, but an event that was done openly for all to see.
There’s another type to remember as we focus on Christ’s sacrifice. Think about the “first Adam” as a type of Jesus, because he was the first human being given life (Romans 5:14). And Jesus has been called the “last Adam”, the antitype, because He was also given life at His amazing resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:45).
Verses and questions:
Exodus 12:1-11, Isaiah 53:7-8, 1 Corinthians 5:7, and Revelation 5:6
- What does it mean to you that Christ is the Passover Lamb?
- How does it make us feel and how should we respond?
Wednesday: Jesus at the Temple
Haggai, a very short book of just two chapters in the Bible, reveals a curious thing about the second temple that was built after Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. The prophet Haggai declares that the rebuilt temple would be greater than the one it replaced, despite the fact that the ark of the covenant, which held God’s presence, had been lost and was still missing. See Haggai 2:7-9.
What made the second temple so great was the fact that it was the one that Jesus visited while on earth. His in-person presence there certainly made the temple more glorious than it had ever been.
Called “the Desire of All Nations”, the Messiah lived up to His name Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). Instead of God bringing us closer to Him, He brought Himself closer to us. This was just a part of His unusual, great sacrifice–leaving His heavenly home with the Father and coming to our dirty, sinful world to redeem us.
Verses and questions:
Haggai 2:7-9
- If Jesus was the Desire of All Nations, why wasn’t He welcomed by more nations when He was on earth?
- How have the nations responded to Him over the years, and what can we do to influence that response?
Thursday: For You Created All Things!
There have only been a few prophets who, in vision, have seen what God’s throne and throne room are like. Notable ones are Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and John. Comparing what we learned about the throne room from Isaiah and John, we notice some striking parallels.
Both Isaiah in the Old Testament and John in the New describe beautiful angelic beings with wings surrounding the throne, giving them the ability to fly. These admirers of God sing enthusiastically the words, “Holy, holy, holy”–three times, it is thought, for each of the three Beings of the godhead.
God’s holiness is definitely recognized by the prophets who were honored to witness the glorious scene. As a matter of fact, His holiness was so overpowering that both Isaiah and John respond with feelings of their own complete unworthiness to be there. Isaiah declared, “Woe is me, for I am undone!” (Isaiah 6:5). And John’s response was literally to cry his eyes out (Revelation 5:4).
The message is clear that the Sacrifice is meant to show us the holiness of God and how much He loves us. But it also reveals our unholy tendencies to sin and our total dependency on Him to do anything about it.
Verses and questions:
Isaiah 6:1-5 and Revelation 4:7-11
- How do you see God’s holiness and the prophet’s unworthiness in these two scenes in the throne room?
- Why should the Sacrifice of God’s Son bring out feelings of God’s holiness and our unworthiness, as we contemplate what He’s done for us?
- What happens when we don’t feel the extent of His holiness? Or our unworthiness?
Friday: Final Thoughts
It would be useless for us to understand all the prophecies through their allusions, images, and symbols, if we don’t keep one thing in mind: the sacrifice of God to save us and how that impacts how we live our lives in the present. That is the true goal of all our study to know the future. If we miss this one lesson about what all the animal sacrifices represented in the past, we will never benefit from knowing what the future holds.
Ellen White summed up that sacrifice so well when she said: “Christ would reach to the depths of misery to rescue the ruined race.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 63. We can only respond with gratitude and praise for such amazing love as this. He was willing to act on that love, and we must do the same by loving others in return. Only then is our future secure.
Next Week: Foundations for Prophecy
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