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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS022134S
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00:00 (uplifting theme music)
00:13 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:14 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:17 We're glad to have you back again this week 00:19 as we look at lesson number four in our study "On Death, 00:22 Dying, and the Future Hope." This week we're gonna be 00:25 looking at "The Old Testament Hope." 00:28 What hope is there in the Old Testament 00:31 in this subject that we are delving into? 00:33 And to help us understand an answer to that question 00:36 is our guest again this week, Dr. Alberto Timm; 00:39 he's an associate director of the Ellen G. White Estate. 00:42 Alberto, welcome back. 00:44 >>It's an honor for me to join you every week. 00:47 >>So let's take a look at this now. Old Testament, 00:50 there's a lot of stories in the Old Testament, 00:52 and sometimes people will present this idea 00:55 that there's a lot of pain and suffering 00:57 and death and terribleness, 00:59 and you've got an angry God in the Old Testament 01:01 and so forth. 01:02 I don't know that that's necessarily completely biblical, 01:04 but it's a viewpoint that is prevailing out there 01:08 in some circles, 01:10 but there is certainly some death in the Old Testament, 01:13 and there's also some hope, and we want to try 01:16 to draw some of that out. 01:17 I wanna go over to the book of Job and read a passage here 01:21 from Job, chapter 19, to kind of get us started. 01:25 In Job, chapter 19, starting in verse number 25, 01:29 here's what's recorded. 01:31 It says, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, 01:34 and He shall stand at last on the earth; 01:37 and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, 01:40 that in my flesh I shall see God, 01:44 whom I shall see for myself, 01:46 and my eyes shall behold, and not another. 01:48 How my heart yearns within me!" 01:52 It's almost as if Job had been through a lot of pain 01:56 and was looking for something better. 01:58 I don't know if that's the case or not. What do you think? 02:01 >>Actually, I don't recall any other human being, 02:05 as far as I know, that has suffered so much as he, 02:08 I mean, as Job has. 02:10 Actually, it was not only a physical pain-- 02:17 because, of course, he has physical pains-- 02:20 but he lost his livestock, many of his possessions. 02:26 And when you are in a trouble, 02:29 you usually expect some kind of word of encouragement, 02:34 of support, of comfort. 02:37 But even his friends went against him. 02:41 And worse than this, his children died, 02:45 and his own wife was speaking badly about himself. 02:49 So he was absolutely alone. 02:53 I know some people that have lost a child, 02:57 and that is very painful. 03:00 You have the hope of seeing that child growing up, 03:06 and when the child dies or somebody that you really love, 03:09 a beloved one, it's very painful. 03:12 But can you imagine in the case of Job 03:15 with all these problems going on-- 03:19 and each one of us, as I mentioned before, 03:22 needs a word of support. If you are alone in this world, 03:25 because nobody is an island, 03:28 if nobody is on your side, 03:31 you are really in a very bad situation. 03:37 And this is the context that we see here 03:39 somebody that suffered a lot. 03:42 And then comes a question also, 03:45 and I don't know if you ever ask this question for yourself, 03:50 but there is the matter 03:52 of why bad people prosper, 03:57 and sometimes good people who trust the Lord 04:00 are in a very difficult situation. 04:02 You'll remember that even the Psalmist almost lost his faith 04:07 till he went into the sanctuary 04:09 and saw the end of those who are prospering. 04:14 So in this case here, in the most difficult situation, 04:21 Job said, "No, I think that I'd better die now, 04:25 and then my soul will be to go to paradise, 04:28 and so I will be rejoicing over the..." 04:31 No. He spoke about his hope 04:34 of being a hope of resurrection: 04:37 "In my flesh"--or in my body as a person, 04:41 as an individual--"I will see the Lord" when He will appear. 04:47 In other words, you have a clear reference, 04:49 seeing this passage, to the body resurrection. 04:53 >>So there's a clear reference to that, as you mentioned. 04:56 But I wanna come back and hit on something 05:01 that you touched on, and you really do an excellent job 05:05 of asking this question at the end of Sunday's lesson. 05:08 In Sunday's lesson it says, 05:10 How can we learn to trust God 05:12 even amid the harsh unfairness of life? 05:17 I don't wanna rush past the story of Job 05:19 without dwelling on this question for a moment. 05:21 How do we trust God? How can we trust God when we are, 05:26 maybe we're not going through the same things 05:27 that Job went through, 05:29 but we're going through our own trials. 05:31 How do we learn to trust Him in that? 05:35 >>I think that this is not just an act; it's a process. 05:39 For instance, love is not something 05:41 that starts from day to night or something like that. 05:45 It just jumps in, and you are starting love. You know, 05:48 love is something that grows, and you have to nourish it. 05:52 The same thing happens about trusting God. I have to learn 05:57 to trust God in my daily experience. 06:02 Simple actions here and there, 06:05 you face a issue here, another problem there, 06:09 and you trust in God, and this builds up faith, 06:14 trust, and hope. 06:16 So if you are able to trust God in the daily life 06:20 based on His word and with something in mind, 06:26 because sometimes we believe that God's blessings 06:28 are only if I prosper. 06:32 Not necessarily. 06:33 You remember that even Paul and some of the apostles 06:37 considered to be a privilege to suffer for the Lord's cause. 06:41 As He suffered, they were suffering. 06:44 So I know that whatever I will be facing 06:49 is something that God is with me. 06:53 So God never promised that He would remove 06:57 all the possibilities of facing a storm. 07:00 But what makes the difference is that He is with us 07:04 within the storm. So you should consider something. 07:11 Remember there is a stating, a little prayer that says, 07:14 "God, help me to remember that noting will happen today 07:20 that both of us together cannot handle." 07:25 >>And that should encourage us, to remember 07:26 that He's there with us. He goes through the storms with us. 07:30 He doesn't abandon us in the storms. 07:33 Encouraging words, thank you. 07:35 >>Eric, you could even ask another question, 07:38 and that would be, why did Lord allow--I mean, the Lord, 07:43 God--allow Job to suffer so much? 07:47 Well, I think it was for his own sake. 07:51 I don't know; only God knows. 07:54 But within the framework of the cosmic controversy 07:57 that is mentioned at the beginning of the book, 08:01 it was a witness in favor of God 08:05 and against Satan, because Satan was saying, 08:08 "Well, You have blessed him so much. 08:11 He prospers; that's the reason 08:13 why he serves you so faithfully, 08:16 but let's remove the blessings and see how he will behave." 08:19 So within the great controversy, that had a meaning. 08:23 And I think that this story not only happened, 08:26 but also was recorded in the Bible 08:30 as a way of helping us 08:33 when myself, you, and whoever else 08:37 is facing the harshness of life. 08:42 >>And God does include these stories for us 08:44 so that we can get through the, as you said, 08:47 the harshness of life. There's another interesting story, 08:50 that is, of course, recorded in the Bible, 08:52 referenced in the memory text that we have for this week, 08:55 in Hebrews 11, verses 17 and 19. 08:59 Verse 17 says, "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, 09:02 offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises 09:07 offered up his only begotten son"-- 09:09 verse 19: "concluding that God was able to raise him up, 09:13 even from the dead, 09:15 from which he also received him in a figurative sense." 09:20 Now, this is--of course, we're talking about 09:21 the New--or the Old Testament in this week, 09:24 but this is a New Testament reference 09:27 to an Old Testament story. 09:29 So unpack this a little bit for us. 09:32 >>Actually, if we read the book of Genesis, 09:35 there is no reference of Abram 09:38 speaking of a resurrection as such. 09:42 But in reality, we believe that the New Testament 09:45 is inspired also by the Holy Spirit. 09:49 So, this is a passage from the New Testament that confirms 09:54 that concept of a bodily resurrection 09:57 was not some foreign idea in the Old Testament. 10:02 We have at least two examples so far. 10:04 We have Job and Abraham, 10:08 both really having this concept, 10:10 so it's not something, a later development 10:13 in human history or biblical history, 10:16 whatever you want to say, in regard to the resurrection. 10:20 It comes from the very beginning. 10:23 >>So all the way back at the very beginning 10:25 in the book of Genesis, 10:26 we have evidence from the New Testament 10:29 that this concept was there. 10:31 We continue seeing it through the Old Testament, 10:33 looking now at Psalm 49 and verse number 15, 10:38 which says, "But God will redeem my soul 10:41 from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me." 10:45 So here again, we see this idea of the resurrection, 10:48 of life beyond death. 10:51 >>Yes. That's exactly the case. 10:53 And if you want to consider soul 10:56 as something separate from the body, 10:59 even in this case the soul would remain in the grave, 11:03 and only through resurrection it would come back. 11:07 But in this case, we believe 11:09 that the soul means, really, the human being, as such, 11:13 and you have another reference to the resurrection. 11:16 >>Yep, and we have also in Psalm 71, 11:20 Psalm, chapter 71, or Psalm 71, verse number 20 11:25 says, "You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, 11:28 shall [receive]"--pardon me--"shall revive me again, 11:31 and bring me up again from the depths of the earth." 11:35 So, couple of references here from Psalms. 11:39 >>Yeah, this here is an ambiguous passage, 11:42 is not as clear as the other ones that we read, 11:46 or that you read, and we discussed a little bit. 11:50 This one is a more ambiguous one. 11:52 It can refer to the resurrection, as such, 11:59 or it can be really he overcoming deep depression-- 12:02 I mean the Psalmist. 12:04 I would say from my perspective, 12:06 and I have some sources that agree with it as well, 12:10 that a primary sense of this passage 12:13 would be overcoming his depression. 12:17 And the secondary sense would be the physical one, 12:21 if you want to add it too. 12:23 But it's a--at least you have here a little glimpse into... 12:29 coming out. >>And so, 12:30 and so in the Old Testament, 12:31 we do have these encouraging words to help us through. 12:36 We're looking at Old Testament hope in the resurrection 12:40 as we look at "Death, Dying, and the Future Hope," 12:44 which incidentally happens to be 12:46 the name of the companion book 12:47 for this quarter's Sabbath school study. 12:50 If you're enjoying this subject, 12:51 if you wanna learn more about it, share it with others, 12:54 I wanna encourage you to pick this book up. 12:56 You can find it at itiswritten.shop. 12:59 Again, that's itiswritten.shop. 13:01 It goes into greater detail on the subjects 13:03 that we are looking at. The name of the book again is 13:05 "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope." 13:08 The author is our guest this week 13:10 and each week this quarter on "Sabbath School," 13:13 Dr. Alberto Timm. 13:16 When we come back, we're going to continue looking 13:18 at stories in the Old Testament 13:20 that help us to understand the hope that we have even today. 13:27 We're gonna be back in just a moment. We'll see you then. 13:28 (theme music swells and ends) 13:32 >>Hi there, this is John Bradshaw from It Is Written 13:35 with a special invitation for you to attend "Grounded," 13:40 broadcast globally from Knoxville, Tennessee, 13:42 October 19th through 22nd. 13:45 As we experience unprecedented times in an unstable world, 13:49 our connection with God is more important than ever. 13:52 This is an opportunity for you to strengthen your faith 13:55 so that it's stronger, more relevant 13:57 and real than ever before. 13:59 Together we'll explore five vital topics 14:02 to our walk with God. 14:03 Our interactive Bible study format will encourage 14:06 and equip you to live a life of victory. 14:09 Attend "Grounded" at a local site near you or watch online. 14:13 Have your friends and family join you 14:15 on this journey of transformation for eternity. 14:18 Register your church, small group, or yourself right now 14:21 at grounded.study and check out the information 14:24 and resources available. 14:26 See you October 19 through 22 for "Grounded," 14:29 brought to you by It Is Written. 14:33 (uplifting theme music) 14:38 >>Welcome back. We're gonna continue looking now 14:40 at the hope that we have in the Old Testament. 14:44 Let's take a look at the book of Isaiah now, 14:47 Isaiah, chapter 26. 14:50 Alberto, I'm gonna read a couple of verses here, 14:51 verses 14 and 19. In verse 14 it says, 14:56 "They are dead, they will not live." 14:59 Now, that doesn't sound very encouraging 15:02 if it stopped right there, but let's keep reading: 15:04 "They are dead, they will not live; 15:06 they are deceased, they will not rise. 15:09 Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, 15:12 and made all their memory to perish." 15:14 But then in verse number 19, you see a contrast here; 15:19 it says, "Your dead shall live; 15:21 together with my dead body they shall arise. 15:24 Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; 15:26 for your dew is like the dew of herbs, 15:28 and the earth shall cast out the dead." 15:31 So, there are the dead, but then there are those 15:35 who are cast out of the earth. They are no longer dead. 15:40 >>Yeah, this is a very significant passage, 15:44 because first of all, in a negative term, it really says 15:48 that the unrighteousness, the wicked, 15:53 they have no life, and even their memory will be gone. 15:57 So I think that this passage, from the negative side, 16:02 it really speaks about the end of the life 16:06 and even of the memory of those who really are not with God, 16:11 the enemies of God. But then you have the positive side, 16:16 and the positive side is that there will be a resurrection. 16:20 And in this passage here I understand to be very meaningful 16:24 for one reason; the passages that we considered so far, 16:29 they deal more with individuals like Job, 16:33 the Psalmist, Abraham, 16:35 and so that they believe that they would live, 16:38 they would be raised from the dead after they... 16:42 at appropriate time, 16:44 but in this case, now you have a community being raised, 16:50 so the covenantal community of those 16:53 who are the children of God. 16:56 And this community will be raised 16:59 when God will manifest Himself. 17:02 And together with the community, 17:05 Isaiah was putting himself as well. 17:08 So it broadens the concept of a resurrection 17:11 from an individual perspective 17:14 now to a broader communal co-perspective. 17:19 >>So we're broadening the idea here, 17:21 and I think we might even be able to broaden it 17:23 just a little bit more as we continue through this week on, 17:27 on, let's see--what day is this?--Thursday's lesson. 17:30 You go into Daniel, chapter 12, 17:32 and there's some interesting things. 17:33 There's actually quite a few interesting things 17:35 in Daniel, chapter 12 going on, 17:37 but we wanna focus specifically on the resurrection, 17:42 death and the resurrection. 17:43 But there's also some other interesting things 17:45 happening here in Revelation, chapter 12. 17:47 I'm gonna read verses 1 and 2. >>Daniel. 17:49 >>Pardon me, Daniel, chapter 12, thank you very much, 17:51 Daniel, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. 17:54 Revelation 12 is good too. 17:55 You should read it. (Dr. Timm laughs) 17:57 But we're gonna look at Daniel, chapter 12 today. 17:59 It says, "And at that time Michael shall stand up, 18:02 the great prince who stands 18:04 watch over the sons of your people; 18:06 and there shall be a time of trouble, 18:08 such as never was since there was a nation, 18:11 even to that time. 18:13 And at that time your people shall be delivered, 18:15 every one who is found written in the book." 18:19 Then verse 2 says, "And many of those 18:21 who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, 18:25 some to everlasting life, 18:27 some to shame and everlasting contempt." 18:31 So let's deal first with these resurrections, 18:35 "some to everlasting life" 18:36 and "some to shame and everlasting contempt." 18:39 It sounds like now this concept of the resurrection 18:42 is getting broader still. 18:45 >>Yes, because, as we mentioned before, 18:49 we had individuals having the hope 18:53 for the resurrection, and then comes a community. 18:58 And, of course, in Isaiah the idea would be really 19:02 that the wicked would not have everlasting life, 19:06 only those who would be raised, those who were with God. 19:09 But now it becomes clearer, even this picture. 19:12 So it's an unfolding scenario 19:15 where you have now both 19:19 the righteous and the unrighteous being raised. 19:25 Of course, once--I mean, the group of the righteous 19:27 to receive everlasting life 19:30 and then the other group without everlasting life... 19:36 to be punished. 19:37 So this concept that is already much in place 19:40 in the book of Daniel is far more unfolded, 19:45 even more, in the teachings of Jesus, in the gospels, 19:49 and especially in the book of Revelation. 19:51 You remember that the book of Revelation and Daniel, 19:55 that they fit together. 19:57 In other words, many of the topics or the subjects 20:01 of the book of Revelation 20:04 are something, they have their roots, 20:07 are rooted in the book of Daniel. 20:11 >>So ultimately even the wicked are going to be resurrected, 20:13 and there is, of course, a purpose for that. 20:16 They're given an opportunity to acknowledge the fact 20:19 that God is good and that He gave them every opportunity 20:22 to be saved, and that ultimately they squandered it, 20:25 which is a sign of a very loving God, a very caring God, 20:28 and one evidence that needs to be presented 20:31 before the universe that God's plan was right 20:34 and the adversary's plan was wrong. 20:36 But that's a bit of a diversion on to a much deeper 20:39 and incredible subject. Let's take another short diversion 20:44 here in Daniel, chapter 12 and verse number 1. 20:48 It talks about Michael. Who is Michael here? 20:53 >>Oh, there is a tendency to identify Michael 20:57 just as an angelic being, 21:00 because the word "archangel" used elsewhere in the Bible, 21:05 so he would be just a angel. 21:07 But be careful with this because "the angel of the Lord" 21:12 in some instances refers to the Lord Himself 21:15 because the word "angel" means "a messenger," 21:18 so in this case He would be the chief messenger. 21:21 But I think that the best way is to allow the book of Daniel 21:25 to answer this question. 21:28 And you have, for instance, in Daniel 8:11, 21:34 you have the reference to "the Prince of the hosts." 21:38 Then you go to chapter 8, verse 25, 21:43 "the Prince of Princes." 21:46 And then there is a crucial one in Daniel 9:25, 21:50 "Messiah the Prince." So when it speaks about the Prince, 21:56 it speaks here about the Messiah as being a prince. 22:02 And then comes definitely the passage that you read, Eric. 22:03 And this is chapter 12, verse 1 that speaks about 22:07 "Michael the Great Prince." I would not consider 22:14 that there would be another angelic being 22:16 that would be greater-- 22:19 I mean, would be called a great prince, 22:22 that would be greater than the Messiah the Prince. 22:26 So then we have plenty of evidences 22:28 that really, it applies to Christ Himself, 22:33 and especially for one reason: 22:35 You will see that the prophet time periods-- 22:38 oh, I'd better say, the prophetic element of Daniel, 22:44 the prophecies, the visions of Daniel, 22:46 they have always a climax 22:49 with the manifestation of Christ and His kingdom. 22:53 You have in chapter 2 the Stone, then you have there 22:57 the Son of Man you have in chapter 7, 23:01 you have later on in chapter 8 the Prince, 23:04 and now you have Michael the Great Prince. 23:08 If you would say that the climax of chapter 11 23:12 that continues into chapter 12, this would not be Christ, 23:16 then you have to deny the other ones as well 23:19 because one of the main characteristics of Daniel 23:23 is the repetition to amplify the concepts. 23:30 So I think that we have plenty of evidences to believe 23:32 that this is Christ. When He will manifest Himself, 23:36 He will then raise people from the grave. 23:40 >>And you're referencing a favorite passage of mine, 23:44 and, I think, a favorite passage of many Christians, 23:46 over in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4 in verse number 16. 23:51 In 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 16, it says, 23:53 "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, 23:57 with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. 24:01 And the dead in Christ will rise first." 24:04 So here it references the Lord Himself; 24:06 it talks about the archangel and the dead in Christ rising. 24:09 Now, just to clarify, neither you nor I are suggesting 24:13 that Jesus is an angel in the sense of a created being 24:16 with the wings and so forth, 24:19 but He is described as an archangel, 24:22 as the the chief of the host, the head of the angels, 24:26 not a created being, 24:27 correct? >>Exactly. 24:29 And He is the messenger also of the Godhead. 24:33 He's an absolute God. 24:35 And the one that speaks much of the revelation of the Bible, 24:40 was done by Christ. He revealed Himself many times. 24:44 >>Excellent. 24:46 Let's come back to this idea of who we are, 24:50 the complexity of the human being and the resurrection, 24:54 and how that all kind of comes together. 24:56 I wanna look briefly at Psalm 139, verses 13 and 14. 25:00 And unfortunately we don't have a lot of time 25:02 to look at this, but verse 13 says, 25:05 "For You formed my inward parts; 25:07 You covered me in my mother's womb. 25:09 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 25:12 marvelous are Your works, 25:14 and that my soul knows very well." 25:18 We are very complex beings, 25:20 and yet God is able to raise us up. 25:24 >>Well, sorry for the IT people 25:28 that really are so much fascinated with computers 25:31 and technology and the cyber world 25:35 and whatever else you want to add to it, 25:37 but there is no machine that we have developed 25:42 as human beings that is as complex as the human body. 25:48 And I am referring especially to the human brain. 25:51 There are many studies that have been done in this area, 25:54 scientific ones, trying to explain what it is. 25:57 And to start with, not even you can explain what is life. 26:02 We accept it as for granted. 26:04 And so, from my perspective, at least, 26:08 I believe that it would be quite something awkward, 26:12 or whatever you want to say, 26:14 to believe that some complex form of life-- 26:19 as you are and as I am with all the systems 26:24 and whatever you want to add to it, 26:27 and we don't know us completely--would be 26:30 just built to last for a few years. 26:36 I think that there is something else, 26:37 even from a existential perspective, 26:40 I think that human beings are such-- 26:42 we are not really made just to live this life. 26:47 But the hope that is in our, 26:50 that we find in the Old Testament, 26:52 and as well as in the New Testament, shows 26:55 how valuably we are created in God's own image and likeness 27:00 and to live for eternity. 27:02 There is even a passage that says 27:04 that God "has put eternity in [our] hearts." So... 27:10 >>So if God has put eternity in our hearts, 27:13 that means that He wants us looking forward to eternity. 27:15 And the only way that we can do that 27:17 is if we have a relationship with Jesus. 27:20 And I hope that during the course of these lessons 27:22 that we've been going through, your relationship with Jesus 27:25 has strengthened and deepened, 27:28 and that you've made a decision to let Him be your Savior 27:31 and the King of your life. 27:33 If you haven't yet, well, it's not too late. 27:36 But when we come back, 27:37 we're gonna look at lesson number 5 27:39 as we continue looking at this interesting subject, 27:42 "On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope." 27:44 because that hope lies in Jesus, 27:48 the only One who can give us hope. 27:50 We'll see you next time. God bless you. 27:52 (gentle uplifting theme music) 28:25 (music ends) |
Revised 2022-10-13