América e Babilônia

Lição 10 - 02 a 08 de Junho

Sábado à tarde

VERSO PARA MEMORIZAR: “E naquele tempo se levantará Miguel, o grande príncipe, que se levanta a favor dos filhos do teu povo, e haverá um tempo de angústia, qual nunca houve, desde que houve nação até àquele tempo; mas naquele tempo livrar-se-á o teu povo, todo aquele que for achado escrito no livro.” Daniel 12:1

LEITURAS DA SEMANA: Apocalipse 13:1-12; 14:9-11; 16:2; 18:1-4; 19:20; 20:4; Jeremias 51:6, 7, 53, 57

Na semana passada, examinamos a “falsa trindade”, Satanás (o dragão) e os dois poderes terrestres que, juntos, trarão perseguição ao povo de Deus.

Um desses poderes, a besta do mar (Apocalipse 13:1-10), é descrito como uma combinação de um leopardo, um urso e um leão (Apocalipse 13:2) – imagens retiradas diretamente de Daniel 7:4 a 6. Vimos na lição seis que, em Daniel 7, após a ascensão de Babilônia (leão), Média-Pérsia (urso) e Grécia (leopardo), surge o último poder terrestre, Roma. Esse império começou com a Roma pagã e depois transformou-se na Roma papal, o poder do chifre pequeno de Daniel 7:7, 8, 19-21, 23-25, que surgiu diretamente do quarto animal. Vimos também que muitas das características da Roma papal, retratadas nestes versos de Daniel 7, reaparecem na besta do mar de Apocalipse 13:1 a 10. Por isso, estudiosos da Bíblia têm visto Roma como um dos principais antagonistas no contexto do tempo do fim, descrito em Apocalipse 13.

No entanto, Roma não está sozinha. É representado outro poder. Nesta semana, vamos concentrar-nos principalmente em Apocalipse 13 e nos eventos e poderes retratados nesse capítulo, questionando sempre: O que significam estes eventos e como podemos estar preparados para eles?

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Deadly Wound Healed

Sunday, June 3

Read Revelation 13:1-10 and go over the reasons why this is referring to the papacy, both its role in the past and in the future. Notice specifically just how prominent a role it is given. What does this mean in terms of last-day events?

Though God has faithful people in all churches, Scripture does point to a specific role that this institution has played in history and will play in last-day events.

Read Revelation 13:3. What is happening here, and what does this teach about Rome’s prominence?

For centuries the Roman church had been the central religion and, in many ways, the political center of the Western world. A telling example of her power is seen in the story of Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, who, angering Pope Gregory VII, came to the pope’s castle to make peace. There, the Roman emperor was made to wait in an outer court for three days in the winter cold before the pope granted him entrance. Gregory VII, elated with his triumph, boasted that it was his duty to pull down the pride of kings.

Nevertheless, through the influence of the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution, Rome’s political and religious hegemony had been shattered by the late eighteenth century. One of the popes, Pius VI, had actually been taken captive by the French army in 1798 and died in exile in 1799.

Revelation 13, however, speaks of a resurgence, the healing of its “deadly wound”. And though Rome today doesn’t have the kind of political power it wielded in the day of Gregory VII, yet thanks to the popularity of recent popes, it is an influential force, both religiously and politically (for instance, Pope Francis’s speaking to both houses of the American Congress in 2015 was a historical first). According to prophecy, this influence will only grow.

How can we be faithful to the message that we have been called to preach but do so in a way that causes as little offense as possible? Why, though, must we not bow down to “political correctness” as we proclaim present truth?

America and Babylon

Lesson 10, June 2-8

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: Revelation 13:1-12; 14:9-11; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4; Jeremiah 51:6, 7, 53, 57; Revelation 18:1-4.

Memory Text: “At that time Michael shall stand up, The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book’” (Daniel 12:1, NKJV).

Last week we looked at “the counterfeit trinity”, Satan (the dragon) and two earthly powers that together will bring persecution against God’s people.

One of these powers, the sea beast (Revelation 13:1-10), is described as a composite of a leopard, a bear, and a lion (Revelation 13:2) — images taken directly from Daniel 7:4-6. We saw in week six that in Daniel 7 — after the rise of Babylon (lion), Media-Persia (bear), and Greece (leopard) — came the final earthly power, Rome. It started out as pagan Rome and then turned into papal Rome, the little horn power of Daniel 7:7, 8; 19-21; 23-25; which rose directly out of the fourth beast. We saw, too, that many of the characteristics of papal Rome, as depicted in these verses in Daniel 7, reappear in the sea beast of Revelation 13:1-10. Hence, Bible scholars have seen Rome as one of the key antagonists in the end-time scenario of Revelation 13.

However, Rome is not alone. Another power is depicted. This week we will focus mostly on Revelation 13 and the events and powers portrayed in it, as always asking the questions: What do these events mean, and how can we be prepared for them?

Can you Prove that God Exists?

Rendimento Básico Universal

Saiba mais sobre o Rendimento Básico Universal neste artigo da Wikipedia.

Estudo adicional - Sexta-feira, 01 de Junho

Pensemos sobre as implicações da teoria da evolução no contexto dos eventos finais, especialmente no que diz respeito à função do Sábado. Uma razão pela qual Charles Darwin, autor da teoria, promoveu a evolução foi que, não entendendo o grande conflito, ele teve dificuldade em conciliar o mal e o sofrimento com a ideia dum Criador amoroso. Por causa deste problema, ele buscou respostas noutra direção. Também não foi uma coincidência o facto de que, durante a segunda metade do século 19, quando Darwin estava a revisar e a reformular a sua teoria da evolução, Deus criou um movimento, a Igreja Adventista do Sétimo Dia, que rejeitou a teoria de Darwin. É interessante o facto de que a Igreja Adventista, cujos fundamentos criacionistas são revelados no seu nome, tenha começado a crescer e a expandir-se na mesma época em que surgiu a teoria darwiniana.

Se Darwin tivesse lido e acreditado nestas frases de Ellen G. White, talvez o mundo teria sido poupado a um dos maiores equívocos do pensamento desde o geocentrismo e a geração espontânea: “Se bem que a Terra estivesse maculada pela maldição, a natureza devia ainda ser o compêndio do homem. Não poderia agora representar apenas bondade, pois o mal achava-se presente em toda parte, manchando a terra, o mar e o ar, com o seu contacto corruptor. Onde se havia encontrado escrito apenas o caráter de Deus, o conhecimento do bem, agora achava-se […] escrito o caráter de Satanás, a ciência do mal. Pela natureza, que agora revelava o conhecimento do bem e do mal, o ser humano devia ser […] advertido quanto aos resultados do pecado” (Educação, p. 26).

Darwin desenvolveu as suas especulações com base numa falsa compreensão da natureza e do caráter de Deus e do mundo caído. Infelizmente, as implicações da sua teoria prenderão as pessoas nos enganos de Satanás, especialmente na crise final.

Perguntas para discussão

1. É perigoso rejeitar o ensino bíblico de que Satanás é um ser literal?

2. O que dizer aos que creem que a experiência de quase-morte prova que há vida após a morte?

3. Os que aceitam a evolução serão mais suscetíveis aos enganos finais?

Further Thought - Friday, June 1

Let’s dwell more on the implications of the theory of evolution in the context of last-day events, especially in regard to the role of the Sabbath. One reason that Charles Darwin, the originator of the theory, promoted evolution was that — not understanding the great controversy-he had a difficult time reconciling evil and suffering with the idea of a benevolent and loving Creator. Because of this error, he looked in another direction for answers. It wasn’t a coincidence, either, that during the mid-to-late 1800s, as Darwin was revising and reworking his theory of evolution, God raised up a movement, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, which countered everything for which Darwin’s theory stood. How interesting that the Seventh-day Adventist Church, whose creationist underpinnings are revealed in its very name, started growing and expanding at about the same time that Darwin’s theory did, as well.

Who knows, but had Darwin read and believed these few short lines from Ellen G. White, the world might have been spared one of the grandest blunders of human thought since geocentricism and spontaneous generation: “Although the earth was blighted with the curse, nature was still to be man’s lesson book. It could not now represent goodness only; for evil was everywhere present, marring earth and sea and air with its defiling touch. Where once was written only the character of God, the knowledge of good, was now written also the character of Satan, the knowledge of evil. From nature, which now revealed the knowledge of good and evil, man was continually to receive warning as to the results of sin”. — Education, p. 26.

As it was, Darwin devised his evolutionary speculations, all based on a false understanding of the nature and character of God and the fallen world in which we live. Unfortunately, the implications of his theory will make people prey to Satan’s deceptions, especially in the final crisis.

Discussion Questions:

Why do so many Christians reject the idea of a literal Satan? What does this view teach us about how dangerous it is to reject the clear teaching of the Bible?

What can you say to a person who, having had a near death experience, claims that this experience shows him or her that, indeed, we go on living after death?

What other reason can you think of regarding why those who believe in evolution would be so much more susceptible to deceptions in the last days?