THE SANCTUARY
Burnt Mills Sabbath School
Dear Friend,
Welcome to Burnt Mills Sabbath School !
Our Sabbath School Program at 10:30 am on October 9, 2010 is a special program planned by the Junior/Earliteen Division. Interestingly, it coincides with the end of the evangelistic series at the church. You will not want to miss this clear presentation by the young people on THE SANCTUARY.
Thanks to the dedicated teachers – Susanna Roe, Shyla John and Mabel Nathaniel.
We hope the weekly comments on the lesson from Contemporary Comments and Ellen White continues to be a blessing and it leads you into studying further the lesson for the week.
If you have not picked up your lesson study guide, please be sure to see your teacher or Suzie Dallas this Sabbath. We usually run out of these by the 2nd or 3rd Sabbath.
Caleb: Living With the Wait | October 9, 2010 |
Numbers 13:30 – “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
Numbers 14: 1-9 – “That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."
Comments from Ellen White :
“Caleb’s faith now was just what it was when his testimony had contradicted the evil report of the spies. He had believed God’s promise that He would put His people in possession of Canaan, and in this he had followed the Lord fully. He had endured with his people the long wandering in the wilderness, thus sharing the disappointments and burdens of the guilty; yet he made no complaint of this, but exalted the mercy of God that had preserved him in the wilderness when his brethren were cut off. Amid all the hardships, perils, and plagues of the desert wanderings, and during the years of warfare since entering Canaan, the Lord had preserved him; and now at upwards of fourscore his vigor was unabated. He did not ask for himself a land already conquered, but the place which above all others the spies had thought it impossible to subdue. By the help of God he would wrest his stronghold from the very giants whose power had staggered the faith of Israel. It was no desire for honor or aggrandizement that prompted Caleb’s request. The brave old warrior was desirous of giving to the people an example that would honor God, and encourage the tribes fully to subdue the land which their fathers had deemed unconquerable.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 512, 513.
Adapted from Contemporary Comments :
"It was meant to be a relaxing hike for 64-year-old Edward Rosenthal. Last week the well-known Los Angeles real estate broker closed a profitable deal on the Clinton Cafeteria—a Los Angeles trademark—and decided to celebrate by taking a day hike. His place of choice was the Joshua Tree National Park. But celebration turned to fright when the experienced hiker made a wrong turn as he was heading back to his car at the end of the day.
After straying for 13 miles, he realized how lost he really was, and that the best thing he could do was to sit and wait. His wait lasted for six days. Six days without food, and eventually, without water. Six days in the desolate desert where daytime temperatures reached 110 degrees as California experienced one of it’s worst heat waves in years.
When Rosenthal didn’t return home, search teams on horseback and in helicopters began to comb the area. As the days went by, hope of finding him alive dimmed for the rescuers. It also dimmed for Rosenthal.
The longer Rosenthal waited, the more he lost faith that he would be rescued. To pass the time, he chronicled his ordeal daily. He always carried a pen, but since he didn’t have any paper, he decided his hat would do just fine as a journal.
When he felt that all hope was gone, Rosenthal wrote a heartbreaking message to his family, stating that he didn’t think he was going to make it. For now the messages remain private. But his wife of 21 years did say that one note requested that Persian food be served if a wake or party to celebrate his life was held. “He had certain poems he wanted read. A vacation that we had planned, who I should take in his place, that I should still go on the vacation. Some of his clients that he wanted me to thank. It was very heartfelt,” she said.
Rosenthal’s wife also said that he wrote to her that if she ever felt down, to “just think about him and how much he loved me and there is always hope.” He also left a loving note to their 20-year-old daughter.
Moments after writing what he thought was his final message to his family, he was rescued. Weak and severely dehydrated, he was nearly incapacitated. “I had to carry him to the helicopter and put him in the backseat,” said rescuer Bob Stine. “He couldn't walk on his own at all.” But the six days of waiting paid off. He was flown to the intensive care unit at High Desert Medical Center to recover.
As we learned in this week’s lesson, Caleb was experienced at waiting, too. First, he travelled slowly with the Israelites for 15 months before they reached the boarder of the Promised Land. Then, just as they reached Canaan, God made them wait while He sent spies into the land. Caleb was one of the 12 sent on that 40-day mission. Ten came back with discouraging reports. They didn’t believe that former slaves could conquer the powerful cities. But Caleb spoke up and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” But few others shared his “live by faith, not by sight” attitude. In fact by nightfall, most were wishing they had died back in Egypt or while in the dessert! Caleb’s final wait would last 40 long years. An entire generation of Israelites would die off in the desert before they would be allowed to enter the Promised Land. Caleb had to suffer through that waiting, too.
He’s not unlike us, is he? We too wait to enter our Promised Land—Heaven. And the motto of our lives must be to “live by faith—not by sight.” When we’re tempted to grumble, doubt, and give up, like Caleb we need to recall how God has led us in the past. Our day will come, just as Caleb’s did. But for now, we too wait."
Wishing you an abundance of Sabbath blessings – fellowship, nurture, peace, love, joy, rest . . . . !
Regards,
Joseph Pakkianathan
Burnt Mills Sabbath School