Friday, March 12
“No one can practice real benevolence without self-denial. Only by a life of simplicity, self-denial, and close economy, is it possible for us to accomplish the work appointed us as Christ’s representatives. Pride and worldly ambition must be put out of our hearts. In all our work, the principle of unselfishness revealed in Christ’s life is to be carried out. Upon the walls of our homes, the pictures, the furnishings, we are to read, ‘Bring the poor that are cast out to thy house.’ On our wardrobes we are to see written, as with the finger of God, ‘Clothe the naked.’ In the dining room, on the table laden with abundant food, we should see traced, ‘Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry?’ Isaiah 58:7” Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 206
Discussion Questions:
1. Look at the question Isaiah asked the people of his time: “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not?” (Isaiah 55:2). 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?
2. 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 end-time Day of Atonement (Daniel 8:14), during which God’s Jubilee trumpet will signal ultimate freedom at the second coming of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:52; compare Leviticus 25:9, 10)? Explain your answer.
3. 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” (Isaiah 58:13)? How can we do both? Keep in mind the context of the complete text of Isaiah 58.
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.
