Sabbath School Lesson for August 14-20, 2021
Overview of Lesson 8
Teresa’s YouTube channel about the lesson: http://www.youtube.com/teresathompson
Rest is connected with our healing…
- There are many kinds of healing that we need. (Sunday)
- It helps to know the root cause of our need for healing and rest. (Monday)
- We tend to run away from our needs. (Tuesday)
- We sometimes get too tired to run away. (Wednesday)
- Spiritual rest and healing is the best. (Thursday)
Two examples of people needing rest were examined this week. One in the New Testament (the paralytic brought to Jesus through the roof of a house) and one in the Old Testament (when Elijah ran from Queen Jezebel, following his experience on Mount Carmel).
We need rest and healing from God for various reasons too. Many of Jesus’ healing miracles were quite outstanding, such as those He healed with leprosy or blindness. But there was another kind of sickness that Jesus was acutely aware of. He read the hearts of sin-afflicted souls and made sure He also addressed their spiritual and emotional needs with forgiveness and encouragement to grow.
Memory Text: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1 NKJV
Fear causes us to lose strength, but God has the answer. He is our strength. We have no need to fear when He’s by our side. His light guides us out of our troubling thoughts and feelings that have the ability to tire and cripple us mentally and emotionally.
The two people in our lesson this week felt that weakness. The paralytic’s guilt had caused his suffering, as much his physical condition had prevented him from having any kind of mobility or independence. Elijah, on the other hand, had enjoyed numerous spiritual victories and was serving God well. His weakness came from the traumatic, emotionally-draining events that ended with a death threat from the queen.
Sunday: Healing Rest (Mark 2:1-4)
The paralytic’s despair and discouragement sounds similar to ours. We, too, often are aware that our unwholesome lifestyle contributes to our sickness. When that is the case, adjusting our lifestyle can often help reverse the disease, and so should not be dismissed. However, there are no guarantees of a healthy outcome in this sin-filled world, even for those who are diligent about guarding their health.
The paralytic, who was lowered down through the roof of a house by his friends, was suffering from extreme guilt that had been laid on him, whether justly or unjustly, by religious leaders at the time. He had been told repeatedly that his condition had been brought on by his own ungodly behavior.
When Jesus announced that his sins were forgiven, a sense of rest and healing came immediately to the man’s troubled heart. Forgiveness was the key ingredient for his overall healing. Without it, his ability to walk again would have been a temporary, partial solution. Jesus wanted him to feel the fullness of health that forgiveness and spiritual rest alone can bring.
Physical rest does have benefits for the immune system, helping our recovery, but only the mental relief of knowing God’s forgiveness can make us feel whole and at rest, inside and out.
Bible Verses to Read and Discuss:
Mark 2:1-4
- How would you describe these four men in the story and how important was their ministry?
- What kind of intercessory work can we do for our friends?
Monday: Root Treatment (Mark 2:5-12)
Jesus included the forgiveness of his sins in healing the paralytic that day. He understood how important being healed on the inside was to the man, who had been troubled by guilt and remorse for so long. And forgiving him before making him walk shows how important that inward healing was to Jesus.
Our own recovery from physical disease is also enhanced when we take full advantage of God’s forgiveness and love by accepting it readily and wholeheartedly from the beginning. Ill health, no matter where it comes from, can be dealt with more easily when we trust God with the outcome. Whether we are healed immediately, gradually over time, or even when it’s delayed right up to Resurrection Morning, God is available to help us bear the trials we are going through.
Bible Verses to Read and Discuss:
Mark 2:5-8 and 1 Samuel 16:7
- How do we know that Jesus knew what was really troubling the paralytic?
- How was this knowledge more evidence that Jesus was all He claimed to be?
Mark 2:9-12, Luke 5:21, and Ephesians 4:32
- Why is God the only one who can forgive sin?
- What kind of forgiveness does God expect us to have for each other?
Tuesday: Running Away (1 Kings 19:1-5)
Depression is a major disabling health threat around the world. People, everywhere, struggle with being totally drained, emotionally, mentally, and physically, by various life experiences. Clinical depression often goes undiagnosed, but is nevertheless a debilitating condition many silently endure.
Even faith-filled Christians are not immune to the effects of depression. It’s not a lack of faith on their part, any more than it was for the prophet Elijah. Life just becomes too much for us to handle, and we start to shut down. Elijah literally ran away from his problems, but the story in 1 Kings 19 reveals that God must have been running with him.
Yes, God continues to speak to and console us when we let Him. He was certainly there for Elijah, after the harrowing episode on Mount Carmel, followed by a serious death threat from Queen Jezebel, a woman known for her deadly acts of revenge against any who opposed her. These certainly would have been triggers for depression for most of us. Even a prophet couldn’t resist the forces of evil that had suddenly reached such a climax in his life.
Bible Verses to Read and Discuss:
1 Kings 19:1-5
- To what extent did Elijah experience depression and what were the triggers for it?
- When have you felt like running away and maybe even wanting to die? How were you rescued from those feelings?
Wednesday: Too Tired to Run (1 Kings 19:4)
Elijah had come to the end of his rope, after Jezebel’s chilling, threatening message of revenge. He ran as far as he was physically able. Sitting alone under a broom tree (a juniper bush, that was little protection from the elements), he exclaimed that he was ready to die. He recognized that he was no better than his forefathers, who he had denounced as morally deficient (1 Kings 19:4). His efforts had not measured up to the high standard to which he felt called.
Many verses in the Bible indicate that God is aware of our frail, emotional tendencies. Psalm 34:18 says plainly that “the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.” The Beatitudes, so beautifully expressed in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, mentions “the poor in spirit”, and “those who mourn” (Matthew 5:3, 4). They were the first blessings bestowed upon His spiritually-starved listeners. And how they must have felt relief and validation for what they had endured.
God truly understands our challenges. He made us. He knows that the attacks of Satan are felt physically, mentally, and emotionally by His precious children. And He will not forsake us in our greatest times of sorrow and despair. We may not feel His hand in quite the visible and audible way Elijah did, but our hearts can be uplifted by the knowledge that God is always by our side, our ever present source of rest and strength.
Bible Verses to Read and Discuss:
1 Kings 18:36, 37 and 1 Kings 19:4
- How would you compare these two prayers of Elijah?
- What events and emotions accounted for the difference?
Psalm 84:2, 73:26
- In what ways has God been your strength?
Isaiah 53:4-6
- What impact has Jesus’ life and sacrificial death had on the life of all who are encumbered with grief and sadness?
Thursday: Rest and More (1 Kings 19:5-18)
Reading about Elijah’s experience in 1 Kings 19, we are struck by God’s watchful, tender care for His depressed, suicidal prophet. The traumatic event that took place, when Elijah was instructed by God to kill Baal’s prophets there on Mount Carmel, had left its mark of sadness and guilt upon his emotionally-torn heart (1 Kings 18:40). And then to get the message from Jezebel that she would seek revenge for those needed executions was all it took to throw Elijah into the depths of depression.
Running away to the wilderness and expressing his desire to die, an angel was then sent twice to feed him and allow the prophet to get rest and gain strength. These basic, physical remedies would begin to revive the sagging spirits of Elijah. Then, after forty days of fasting, he was allowed to hear God’s still, small voice on the mountain, where he had been led.
God provided for Elijah’s needs, giving him strength and energy to continue his ministry to the very end. He was promised a better tomorrow, and saw that promise fulfilled later as a fiery chariot escorted him into the courts of heaven without seeing death. This episode of triumph gives us a glimpse of the future for those who are alive and will journey straight to heaven at the Second Coming without seeing death.
Bible Verses to Read and Discuss:
1 Kings 19:5-8
- Why did Elijah need food and rest before he was able to benefit most from God’s message of hope?
- Why is it important for us to minister to the physical needs of people before presenting them with the gospel?
- Why is it also important for us to monitor and tend to our own physical needs, in order to better serve God?
Friday: Final Thoughts
Perhaps the two greatest thoughts taken from this lesson are to…
- recognize that the origin of our sickness, whether of mind or body, has various factors involved. It may be connected with our lifestyle (which we shouldn’t neglect to correct when possible), but sometimes it just happens because of the nature of sin in our world. Sin, in general, leads to pain and eventually death, no matter how we’ve lived our life. We therefore must not judge the afflicted person, or feel overwhelmed with guilt when we are the one suffering.
- understand that God has many ways to provide healing. It comes in unusual ways and at unexpected times, but it is always there. God’s purpose and desire for His children is to lessen the effects of our disease, both inwardly and outwardly. He gives us the strength to endure, as well as sometimes eliminating our suffering altogether. The comfort offered of a final eradication of sin and death must not be underestimated. We can be confident in believing that a pain-free existence will someday include all those who have put themselves in the hands of God. It’s that complete and permanent healing that we long for at the Second Coming that will heal our sagging spirits and enable us to endure our trials. This hope undeniably provides true rest in Christ.
Next Week: The Rhythms of Rest
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