Sabbath School Summary
Waging Love
Lesson 11
Memory Text: Isaiah 58:10
“and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.”
INTRODUCTION
An old friend and mentor pastor Dampton Phiri said “Your enemy has all weapons of harming you but you must have love to shield you from the weapons formed against you. That love is only found in God. If God is in You His love surrounds you.”
SABBATH: Love can turn a fierce foe into a dear friend, build a bridge between rivals, & make the bitter better. When a Jewish couple in Lincoln, Nebraska, got a series of threatening calls from a gang leader (Ku Klux Klan), they resorted not to police but love. The couple made dinner & dinned with the crippled gang leader & visited him often till they became close. They feasted with their foe (Isa. 58:6, 7).
SUNDAY: God’s shower of grace & pardon freely falls for all. Yet, this free gift of pardon was bought at a costly price—the atoning blood of Christ. Isaiah bid us to “come, buy and eat” freely from this offer of forgiveness (Isa. 55:1-7; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19). No human work could blot out our sins, save the mercies of Christ. Salvation in the OT & NT has always been by grace through faith (Gen. 3:15; Eph. 2:8, 9; Rom. 6:23).
MONDAY: Human minds are unable to comprehend the depth, breadth, & height of God’s love & handiwork. This makes Him the God of the universe & calls for our humility. Even His simple act of creation is full of mysteries (Isa. 55:6-13). The greatest of all the mysteries is the plan of salvation (Eph. 6:19). How the Creator & darling of heaven will descend so low to die for humanity baffle great minds (ML, p. 360).
TUESDAY: In the sacrificial system, a horn (shofar) was blown 10 days before the Day of Atonement & every 50th year of the Day of Atonement marked the beginning of the “jubilee year of freedom”. The day came with a fast. God bid Israel not to fast as a ritual but to back their fast with obedience (Isa. 58:1-8; Lev. 16:29, 31; 23:27-32; Ps. 35:13; Dan. 10:2, 3, 12; Lev. 25:9, 10; Isa. 27:13; Lev. 16 & 4).
WEDNESDAY: The 10-day trumpet blast calling Israel to self-denial & loyalty was met with rebellion (Isa. 58:1-12). A true fast is not a mere skipping of a meal but a fast that seeks the good of others & calls for total obedience to God. Anyone can fast but that is not enough! Christ while on earth did much of healing, mercy, & feeding the needy despite being faithful to religious rituals (read Matt. 25:40; Jam. 1:27).
THURSDAY: Prophet Isaiah present 3 key themes in chapter 58 which are interlinked; self-denial, social kindness, & the Sabbath (see Isa. 58:13, 14). The Day of Atonement was a Sabbath day, yearly. It was a time to put God first & it was from evening to evening (Lev. 23:27-32). The principle of this ceremonial Sabbath applies to our weekly Sabbath today (Lev. 19:2, Phil. 2:8, John 3:16, Gen. 2:2, 3; Exod. 20:11).
FRIDAY: The great commission of Christ can only be accomplished through self-denial. The herald of the gospel must put away all pride & worldly ambition. The disciple of Christ is selfless in His service to God & humanity. He invite the poor into his home & cloth the naked. His bread is for the hungry soul.
—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 206.
Keywords
ML- My Life Today
OT- Old Testament
NT- New Testament
Captions
SUNDAY- Buy Something Free? (Isa. 55:1-7)
MONDAY- High Thoughts And Ways (Isa. 55:6-13)
TUESDAY- Fast Friends (Isa. 58:1-8)
WEDNESDAY- Fast Fight (Isa. 58:1-12)
THURSDAY- A Time For Us (Isa. 58:13, 14)
Discussion Questions
📌 Look at the question Isaiah asked the people of his time: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” (Isa. 55:2, NRSV). Ask yourself, in what ways, if any, are we doing the same thing, laboring for that which does not satisfy? Why is it so easy to fall into that very trap?
📌 If self-denial, social kindness, and the Sabbath were important on the Day of Atonement in Isaiah’s day, are they just as important in the endtime day of atonement (Dan. 8:14), during which God’s jubilee trumpet will signal ultimate freedom at the second coming of Christ (1 Cor. 15:52; compare Lev. 25:9, 10)? Explain your answer.
📌 In class, open up a discussion on the question of Sabbath keeping. What do you think Isaiah means when he says we should turn away from doing our own pleasure on the Sabbath, and yet, at the same time, call it a delight (Isa. 58:13)? How can we do both? Keep in mind the context of the complete text of Isaiah 58.
Entire Lesson Summary
In Isaiah 55 and 58, the prophet appeals to his people to give up their thoughts and ways and return to God, whose ideal for their happiness is so much higher than their own. He mercifully pardons and then insists that the pardoned be merciful, in harmony with the spirit of the Day of Atonement and the Sabbath, because the gift of God’s forgiveness, if it is truly received, transforms the heart.
ELDER DR MASIMBA MAVAZA
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