The morning
Manna will be provided at 6am. Thanks. Studying
Genesis in the SSnet.org series Lesson 5, let the Holy Spirit be your Speaker
through His Bible. The Topic today
is: "The Redemption of the Exile". The Opening
Hymn will be 229 "Spirit of the Living God" The Sabbath
School Quarterly, downloadable from SSnet.org in the Teacher's Edition is on
page 62 and for the laymen edition or Standard Edition, on page 43. The SSnet.org
site allows anyone, anywhere to read the lesson in their own language. Choose your
own language to see God speaking also to your heart. ---Post-Flood
people wanted to have one culture, one language and be unitedly "stick
together". ---They wished
to design all kinds of anti-God devices in their lives. ---God saw that
it will replay the pre-Flood situation. ---Therefore He
confused them and disperse them all over the World. ---Even though
the word balal means "confuse" the word Babel is not derived from
that word. ---It is
derived from an Akkadian word compound with Akkadian signs saying "City of
the gate of the gods". ---Babel is not
about confusion. It is about pantheism. ---It is about
unified ecumenical pluralism. ---It is about
real spiritual challenging. ---It is about
"seeking to be like the Canaanites around us." ---A spiritual
"Babel". ---Actually, in
cuneiform studies it was demonstrated by Stephanie Dalley from Oxford (retired) that Babel was the name of every major
city in the Levant who was the leading empire of a certain time. ---Niniveh,
Larsa, etc. were also called "Babylon" in cuneiform studies. ---It is not
located only static in one place. ---It is a
symbolic concept that "moves" with the empire. ---New York can
be the USA "Babylon"? Is it not right? --The Vatican
was "Babylon". ---Peter
called Rome "Babylon" in his letters. ---Shushan will be "Babylon" in the Medo-Persia period. Athens in the Greek period would have been "Babylon". ---Shifting "Babylons" following great empires. ---What is the problem of "Babylon"? Due to religious "politics" the people of God started to persecute "the true worshippers of God". ---In the Byzantine times it was "Heretic hunting" by the churches and they cut off the tongue so that the people do not speak any "heresies" any more! ---That spirit is still lingering around us. It is built on selfish gains. ---God is looking for "obedience" from all His worshippers and this word "obey" is found almost on every page of the whole Bible. Cannot get away from "holy living calls and preaching". ---God does not save people "in their sin [cheap grace sermons] but from their sin [holiness preaching calls]" Dr. Doukhan in
these lessons brings out the "now" of God in small nuances packed
into the bibical "suitcase" specially for all, including us. For
every generation. Enjoy God now
with both the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy as your daily guide on your knees
with the Guide, the Spirit of the Living God. God is looking
now at your response to His interest in you.