HSS_2019_Q4_EP09

♪ theme music ♪

(Derek) Welcome to Hope Sabbath School,

an in-depth, interactive study

of the Word of God.

We are in the middle

of a series of lessons

that is blessing our lives,

Ezra and Nehemiah, ancient books

with practical lessons for today.

This week's topic is
Trials, Tribulations, and Lists,

and I'm excited because Stephanie

is going to be teaching today.

And actually this is relevant

for our lives today

because we're going to face

trials and tribulations

as followers of Jesus today.

We will learn that God

can work blessings through them.

We're always happy to hear from you,

our Hope Sabbath School family.

By the way, if you're just joining us,

and you've missed any in this series,

you can go to hopetv.org; you can look

for Hope Sabbath School there.

You can look at all of the past programs.

You can even download our awesome app.

It's Hope Channel, and you

can find other programs.

Awesome. Hope Channel.

Go to your App store and download it.

Here are some folks

watching from Australia.

Garry writes to us, and he says,

"I grew up in the church

in Adelaide, South Australia,

but as a teenager I left church

and did some really stupid things.

I've always heard Jesus

knocking at my heart's door,

and in the bad times, I've always turned

to the things of this world.

But 30-odd years later,

I have opened the door to Jesus."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) "He's been knocking all that time.

I love Him with all my heart,

and I love to serve Him.

Watching Hope Sabbath School each week,

which I only recently discovered,

brings joy to my heart,

and it's great to share the gospel

through a study of God's Word." Amen?

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) You see, what I love
about these emails

(I want to thank you for writing to us,

[e-mail]),

is we don't know about lives

that are being changed

all around the world

unless you send an email to us, right?

Garry's testimony is amazing.

"May our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

dwell in your hearts forever.

Keep up the awesome work

for our awesome God."

Well, Garry, thanks for writing to us.

What an amazing testimony,

and I know no prayer for you

or for anyone of us is ever wasted.

David writes from Papua New Guinea.

Thanks for writing to us, David.

"I'm from Papua New Guinea.

Thank God for this program,

for hearing you share

God's message of love."

That's what it is, isn't it?

The immeasurable and unfailing
love of God.

"I'm so blessed I cannot

miss out on one program.

Your sharing helps me prepare

for my personal Bible study.

Thank you so much.

May God continue to touch many

through this wonderful program."

Well, David, thanks for writing.

Papua New Guinea, that's a world away,

but I just thank God

that we've got Hope Sabbath School members

right there in your country,

and may God bless you.

Maybe you'll think of starting

an interactive Bible study yourself.

Here's a note from a donor

in North Carolina in the United States,

"Hope Sabbath School is truly

a wonderful blessing all over the world.

May God bless you,"

and a gift for a hundred dollars.

Thanks for partnering with us.

We're a donor-supported ministry,

and we're thankful to you

in North Carolina

But to each one, thanks for being part

of this great miracle of God.

Oh, this is an amazing testimony

from a South African

named Craig living in Italy.

We're an international group, aren't we?

"Dear Hope Sabbath School team,

I'm South African born of British parents,

and I've been living in Italy
for 20 years.

Around six years ago,

the Lord called me

out of the darkness I was living in

and showed me His truth."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Miracles are happening
around the world.

"I asked Him to do so,"

maybe that was the key.

"I eventually became a baptized

Seventh-day Adventist Christian

and will often use

your Hope Sabbath School presentation

to enhance my study of the Word of God.

I enjoy the interactive discussion

of the Word of God,

and I also appreciate

the different experience

that each member shares.

It gives me strength to know

that I'm not the only one

facing daily battles

that need to be overcome

in the strength of Jesus."

Well, this is a good [email]

for today's lesson, isn't it?

"May the Lord Jesus continue

to bless your ministry, Craig from Italy."

Craig, thanks for writing to us.

A great testimony, we're glad

you're a witness there

in that beautiful country,

though originally from South Africa

from British parents, international,
indeed.

One last note, from Pardon
in Zimbabwe,

"Greetings in the name of Jesus."

(Team) Greetings.

(Derek) Lots of Hope Sabbath School
members,

by the way, in Zimbabwe.

"My name is Pardon.

I just want to thank

the entire Hope Channel team

for your tireless efforts.

I am drawn to Jesus by your discussions."

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) That's it, isn't it?

"I love the Scripture songs."

Well, I've got good news for you, Pardon,

we're going to sing our theme song

right now from Psalm 25.

"May God alone, who has the keys

of the grave and death,

uphold you with His

victorious right hand."

I can tell that you know
the Bible, Pardon,

and we're going to sing

a Scripture song right now,

before Stephanie leads us

in our Bible study,

Trials, Tribulations and Lists,

good news for our lives today.

But first our song,

"To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul."

Let's sing it together.

♪ music ♪

(Derek) Amen. Well, Stephanie,

lead us in prayer as we begin our study.

(Stephanie) Let's pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, Lord,

thank You so much for Your Word

and that we can study

of prophecies today,

those that have been fulfilled

and Your faithfulness

throughout the recent

or the past history of our world.

May we leave our lesson today knowing

that we can fully trust You
with our future.

In Jesus' name. Amen.

(Derek, Team) Amen.

(Stephanie) I'll just be honest,

when I saw the title

to our lesson study today, I thought,

"Wow, this might be a little gloomy,"

but I believe we're

going to take a journey.

We're taking a journey

with these Jewish exiles

who have been taken into captivity,

but a prophecy has been written,

and we'll take a look at that,

that they would be going back
to Jerusalem.

They have challenges along the way,
which we'll see,

but we're going to walk

on this journey with them.

And also I'd like us

to think about how that journey

really applies to us today

because we're in captivity,

but God is going to take us

through the challenges

that we will face in day-to-day life

And where is our destination?

(Nicole) Heaven.

(Stephanie) The new Jerusalem.

So they went to Jerusalem;

we're going to the New Jerusalem.

Let's open up and look

at Daniel, chapter 4, verse 17;

Malaina, if you would start our study.

We're going to look at an important truth

that Daniel wanted to share

with Nebuchadnezzar.

Daniel, chapter 4, verse 17.

(Malaina) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Stephanie) All right,

so what's the important truth

that you see? Brittany.

(Brittany) The Most High rules.

(Stephanie) The Most High rules.

Why is that important?

(Derek) Otherwise, we're just in chaos,

you know, survival of the fittest,

like we've been told by some people.

But, actually, the amazing thing

about the Bible and the book

of Daniel in particular

is that He gives evidence through prophecy

that the Most High does rule.

He's not just saying it.

(Stephanie) Amen. Let's look at that

in Daniel, chapter 2, verse 39.

Nicole, if you would take us there
and read.

We want to see what prophecy,

first of all, was given,

and then its fulfillment

that took place in 539 B.C.

(Nicole) The New King James Version

of Daniel 2:39 says:

(Stephanie) So, what is the prophecy?

Who is he talking to?
Let me ask you that.

(Stephanie, Team) King Nebuchadnezzar.

(Stephanie) King Nebuchadnezzar

is the king of Babylon, okay,

and he's telling King Nebuchadnezzar

that some other kingdoms

will rise after him.

(Derek) It might be helpful, Stephanie,

to know that he'd had a dream,

and then he couldn't remember it,

about this metal man with a head of gold,

chest and arms of silver,

belly of brass, legs of iron,

feet of iron and clay,

and then a rock that comes

and smashes the image.

And God gave -
again, the Most High rules -

God gave that same dream to Daniel

and the interpretation of the dream.

(Stephanie) Amen. You have to read

that story on your own,

but that is powerful, Daniel,
chapter 2. Jason.

(Jason) And it's interesting to me,

talking about this idea of ruling

because Nebuchadnezzar is an earthly ruler

and the idea at the time is,

if you're an earthly ruler,

you want to hang onto power

as long as you can for your people

as long as you can.

So God is kind of showing here

who the ultimate Ruler really is

and in this story, that God

is taking care of things

and letting Nebuchadnezzar know,

"Yes, you've been a ruler,

but there are things

that are going to happen,

and your rule is temporary;
it's not eternal."

(Stephanie) So, was that prophecy
fulfilled?

(Team) Yes.

(Stephanie) Okay, let's turn
to Daniel, chapter 5,

and we're not going to read

the entire chapter of Daniel, chapter 5,

but could someone summarize,

what is the setting?

What is taking place at the very beginning

of Daniel, chapter 5?

Who can help me out? Travis.

(Travis) This would be

the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar.

He's throwing a party

for all of his leaders within the city.

And they're getting drunk,

and they bring a bunch of the vessels

that were captured from the temple of God

back in Jerusalem,

that Nebuchadnezzar had brought.

And they started drinking wine

and getting drunk, using those vessels,

and worshiping, also, idols

of gold and of silver and bronze gods.

That was the context

of the feast going on.

(Stephanie) Yes, and then what happens

in the midst of this?

What happens? John, what happens?

(John) In the middle of their debauchery,

a bloodless hand appears

and begins to write a message on the wall.

(Stephanie) What does that do to the king?

Can you imagine what would happen

if you saw just a hand

writing on the wall?

What would that do for you?

What did it do to the king?

(Derek) It terrified him.

(Stephanie) He was shocked.

(Derek) His knees were striking together.

(Stephanie) That's right,

and the queen said, "Don't be scared.

Don't be fearful; there is someone

who can interpret this."

By the way, he had already tried,

his astrologers and those, to interpret.

All right, so then what takes place?

That's when Daniel shows up, right?

(Derek) It may be helpful to know,

you know, "You've been weighed

in the balance and found wanting."

I mean, this is a message of judgment

against the kingdom of Babylon

because it wasn't just an ordinary party.

It was mocking the authority

of the Most High God.

(Stephanie) That's right,

and I would actually like to take a look

at Daniel's response,

and we can start in verse 17

of Daniel, chapter 5.

Brittany, if you would read that for us,

Daniel, chapter 5, verses 17 through 30.

Let's notice what Daniel's response is.

(Brittany) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Daniel, chapter 5, verses 17 through 30:

(Stephanie) What took place there?

Fulfillment of prophecy.

Go ahead, Nicole, what were you
going to say?

(Nicole) I was actually going to say

it's interesting that Daniel

begins with telling him,

"These are the things that you knew.

You knew what was going on

with your father," or, "your grandfather,"
in this case.

"And even with that knowledge,

you still decided to live the life

that you wanted to live.

And so I'm just letting you know

that God is the Most High.

He's still in control,

and the prophecy that I'm telling you now

is what's being fulfilled."

So, it's just, God always
gives us a chance.

He lets us know what we're getting into

before we actually even get into it.

(Stephanie) So, after the fulfillment
of that prophecy,

we know that Jeremiah

also had a prophecy.

And that was also fulfilled

after the collapse of Babylon, right?

Let's turn to Ezra, Ezra, chapter 1,

and we'll look at Ezra, chapter 1,

verses 1 through 11, and, Evelyn,

would you read that for us?

Let's take a look at the prophecy

of Jeremiah that was fulfilled

after the fall of Babylon.

(Evelyn) I am reading

from the New Living Translation,

Ezra, chapter 1, verses 1 to 11:

(Stephanie) Wow, is that amazing?

What took place there,

besides a large miracle?

Can you tell me, what was

the prophecy that was fulfilled? Travis.

(Travis) After 70 years of captivity,

God had promised that He would restore

and rebuild Jerusalem,

and He uses King Cyrus to do it.

And he's a pagan king,

but He works on his heart,

and the Holy Spirit inspires him

to move forward with the decree

and go and restore and rebuild Jerusalem.

(Stephanie) John, did you have

anything else to add to that?

(John) It's fascinating that King Cyrus

knows that he's fulfilling prophecy,

like he knows that he's

an instrument in God's hands

to restore God's people.

(Stephanie) Harold.

(Harold) I just wanted to add

that actually the name of Cyrus

is mentioned in Isaiah,

chapter 45, I believe.

So, who knows, maybe somebody

read it to him, or he read it himself,

and he realized, "Wow,

actually God called me

for this greater work to do."

(Stephanie) So, again we see

the Most High rules over the world.

As we consider the fact

that the Jewish exiles

were leaving Babylon,

I'd like us to consider

the number of the individuals

who returned to Jerusalem.

And we're talking about the returning

to Judah with Zerubbabel,

and so we'll look in Ezra 2, verse 64,

and, Jason, if you would read that for us,
Ezra 2, verse 64.

How many of those exiles

returned from Babylon?

(Jason) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Ezra, chapter 2, verse 64:

(Stephanie) Is that a large group
of individuals?

(Travis) Yes and no.

(Stephanie) Yes and no, okay,

somebody talk to me about that.

We hear yes; for us we think

that's a lot of people,

but why would we say no? Travis.

(Travis) It's only a remnant.

it's only a remnant

of the children of Israel

who were led into captivity.

(Stephanie) Gladys.

(Gladys) Those who were taken

were larger than that.

So, like Travis said,

it was just a smaller portion

of those that left.

(Stephanie) Adison.

(Adison) There were a number of them

who didn't want to leave Babylon.

So there are more that...

(Stephanie) Why do you think

many of them decided to stay in Babylon?

Why do you think?

Brittany and then Gladys,

and we'll go back to Jason.

(Brittany) They got comfortable there.

They had land; they had possessions.

They didn't want to go start
all over again.

(Gladys) I think others were officials,

and they decided that that's

where God wanted them to be.

(Stephanie) It's possible

that some were officials,

and God kept them there. Jason?

(Jason) It kind of reminds me
of the Exodus

when the children of Israel
were leaving Egypt,

you know, going to the Promised Land.

And most of them felt like

they wanted to go back to Egypt

because the trials that they
were experiencing

weren't complementary to their liking.

So, therefore, they wanted to go back.

They were just pretty much murmuring
and complaining.

So this, fast forward, and it

could have been their thought process.

In going back to Jerusalem,

it would have been somewhat similar
to that,

so they just wanted to stay.

(Stephanie) Yes, Adison.

(Adison) There were some

new generations, of course,

who had never lived in Jerusalem.

They were born in the land of exile.

They were born in Babylon,

and so they were comfortable

with what they knew.

This was their home,

and this was where they were born.

(Stephanie) And certainly there

would be some trials on the way back.

That was not going to be an easy journey,
by any means.

So, as we think about that,

staying in Babylon,

how can we apply that to our lives today?

Are we comfortable

in our status quo? Gladys.

(Gladys) There was a time

when I was asking God,

when I graduated from college,

where He wanted me to be,

and I said, "Wherever You lead me."

And He led me to a place,

and I said, "I don't want to be there,"

because I was like, I'm a secondary ed;

I don't know anything about little kids.

And God kept saying,

"This is where I want you to be,"
and I said, "No."

And the trials and tribulations

that were in the place

where God did not send me

were greater than the place, I guess,

that God wanted me to be.

So, sometimes in our lives,

we choose what is comfortable,

what we think is comfortable for us,

instead of where God is leading us

because we don't want to face the unknown,

and maybe we're just afraid

of where God is leading us.

(Stephanie) So God had a work
for you to do,

and you asked Him, "Lord, show me."

And He showed you, and you said,

"Nope, not that option."
Is that real?

(Team) Yes.

(Stephanie) We run into that, don't we?

So, have you ever had an opportunity,

God's given you an opportunity,
to work for Him?

What was the impact on your life

when you went and did it,

and then even now, as a result

of making that choice? Alex?

(Alex) I think of a couple of years ago

I had been praying for the chance

to give a Bible study to somebody,

and I'd never done it before.

Then God gave me an opportunity
with a coworker.

I was nervous, and I

almost kind of didn't want to do it

once I had the opportunity,

but I did follow through with it.

I reached out to some people

who had given Bible studies before,

and I learned how to do it.

And it was such a blessing to me;

it was a blessing to the two people

that were baptized because of it.

And it's given me the desire

to share more in the future after that.

(Stephanie) So that changed the direction

of maybe what you thought

your possibilities were.

There may be someone...

You may be watching and thinking,

"I could never give a Bible study,"

but we have just seen through Alex

that God can use us

to do those Bible studies.

Thank you for sharing, Alex. Travis.

(Travis) I remember one time,

this was quite a few years ago now,

but the very first time

I went on a mission trip to Guyana,

I remember sleeping

in the jungles of Guyana.

And it was an interesting experience.

I didn't know anybody there,

and I left there a changed person.

I was like, "Wow."

I came back home, and I had

a business and all these things.

And I'm like, "Lord, what am I doing?"

There are so many people out there

who need to know about Jesus,
who need help,

and I need to get the things

straight in my life.

And it was just a life-changing experience
for me.

(Stephanie) So, Travis, would you say

that was pivotal in your direction
for your future?

(Travis) Oh, yeah, it weighed

on my mind all the time.

I couldn't get that out of my head,

and so I would say that definitely had

a huge impact on my making

a 180-degree turn to serve Jesus.

(Stephanie) Jason.

(Jason) My wife and I, we like
to travel a lot,

and so the best souvenir

I ever got was from Bermuda.

I ran into an actual monument of a guy

by the name of Johnny Barnes.

And Johnny Barnes was

a very loving individual.

He would actually go about a roundabout

or a circle in a nearby town in Bermuda,

and he would tell people

that he loved them, that God loved them.

He would do this, and he was 96 years old.

He's passed away now,

but when he was doing it,

he was 96 years old, and he

would just tell people he loved them.

So, when I saw that,

it touched my heart so much

that I was jogging one day,

and we have roundabouts or circles here

in the United States.

And I was like, "God, I would like

to go out there and do

what Johnny Barnes did."

Nonetheless, God answered

because I asked God, I need a sign.

So God showed me a sign

that was just lying on the ground

when I was jogging,

and I picked it up, and I wrote,
"God loves you."

And, therefore, it started

the journey to minister

on a roundabout, a circle,

showing the sign to people on Sundays,

telling them that God loves them.

And the impact was amazing.

I mean, it was a hot day

this first time I did it.

They came out of their car

and gave me a water bottle.

I was giving them literature,

telling them God loves them,

and just sharing the love of God.

It really touched me in a special way.

Now I know what the love of God

feels like, in that manner.

(Stephanie) What's interesting to me

is that Jason was inspired

by someone else who had inspired him.

And so, every time that we are impacted,

and that impact, we'll go out

and share it with other people, right?

Other people are impacted by that.

(Derek) What I'm hearing,

tying back into why so many exiles

decided that they didn't want to go home,

the real problem was

that they were disonnected

from a personal relationship with God

because when you're connected,

God can direct your steps.

And then you get greater joy

because you see how real God is
and how He works.

But when you're disconnected,

you just think about conserving assets

and maybe looking better

than the people around you.

(Stephanie) Thank you for sharing that.

Let's move on to Ezra, chapter 8,

and we'll look in verse 15 to start with.

There were some trials

and tribulations along the way,

and we want to take a look

at what that was in this chapter,

Ezra, chapter 8, verse 15.

Alex, if you would prepare to read that.

We'll take a look at the challenge,

and then how it was handled by Ezra,

all right, Ezra, chapter 8, verse 15.

(Alex) Sure, and I'll be reading

from the King James Version:

(Stephanie) What was the challenge?

(Team) No Levites.

(Stephanie) No Levites,

no priests, religious leaders. Brittany.

(Brittany) I was going to say
no spiritual vision

because the Bible says

where there is no vision, the people
fall or they fail,

and so they needed that leadership.

(Stephanie) Adison.

(Adison) The Levites were the ones

that God had commissioned

to be a part of the service

of the temple, the sanctuary,

and so they needed to be there,

but there was a lack of them.

And Ezra's got this dilemma, "Where can I

find these priests and these Levites?"

(Stephanie) Let's see what Ezra does.

Let's go to verses 16 to 20

in the same chapter, Ezra 8:16-20,

and, John, would you read that for us?

(John) All right, lots of good names here.

Reading from the New King James Version,
it says:

(Stephanie) So how did Ezra

decide to meet this challenge?

What did you see?

What did he do here in these few verses?
Evelyn?

(Evelyn) He sends out men of discernment.

So I figure these men have a talent

to minister, to probably ask for help.

They were sent to ask help to the Levites.

And, thankfully, the Levites

were able to send some people

to minister to the temple.

(Stephanie) Men of understanding
again, right? Travis.

(Travis) It's interesting

that as he searched through the people,

he didn't find...because they were

going to rebuild the temple,

so you need people who are eligible
to work in the temple.

If you go there and rebuild the temple,

and you have nobody to work inside,
you've got a problem.

So he's looking for eligible people,

qualified individuals who can be there

and sends qualified people,
as she mentioned,

just to go and find religious leaders

to perform the duties within the temple.

(Stephanie) Thank you. Jason.

(Jason) He also uses

this sort of Jewish social network

that they have there.

He finds the leaders

who might know people,

and he works with what he has

to connect himself to find

these Levites wherever they are.

(Stephanie) So he didn't just leave

without Levites, right?

He went and recruited appropriately.

(Derek) I think there's a principle, too,
Stephanie,

that was kind of alluded to here.

You know, you cannot

do everything by yourself.

So he's delegating some responsibility

to some people of understanding,
some leaders,

asking them to talk to Iddo,

"And you talk and network with this,

and let them talk to others,"
like Jason said.

God is not going to just use one person;

otherwise, we'd just have

Hope Sabbath School with one,

but we have a team.

And I think that he recognized that,

and the Bible talks about, you know,

in a multitude of counselors
there's safety.

So he trusts that God

is not just leading one person.

(Stephanie) Amen. Thank you

for bringing that out.

Let's continue on in verses 21 through 23,

and, Harold, if you

would read that for us,

Ezra, chapter 8, verses 21 through 23,

and see what else Ezra

is going to encourage the people to do.

(Harold) And I'll be reading

from the New King James Version:

(Stephanie) Amen. So they did what?

They fasted and they prayed.

Why did they fast and pray?
It's in the text.

Why did they fast and pray? Jason.

(Jason) They wanted to prepare themselves
for this journey.

This wasn't just a little bit of a trip.

This was a spiritual direction

that they were taking,

and they wanted to make sure

that when they were doing this

that they themselves were prepared

in their relationship with God

to follow His plan.

(Stephanie) Prepared in the relationship
with God.

Thank you. Gladys?

(Gladys) The text says, "That we

might humble ourselves before God."

They wanted to have the right spirit.

They wanted to be in that connection

with a humble heart to accept the task

that God had given them.

(Stephanie) To be connected. Derek?

(Derek) I'm going to share something

that may sound a little controversial,

but it doesn't say he fasted and prayed,

and then he was ashamed

to ask for an escort.

And I see Ezra quite different
from Nehemiah.

When Nehemiah was asked,

"What do you want?"

what's the first thing he did?

(Team Member) He prayed.

(Derek) He says, "I prayed
to the Lord my God,

and then I said, 'I need this, this,

this, this, this, this and this.'"

And if you read the chapter,

you go, "Wow, that was bold."

Here it says that Ezra the priest

was ashamed to ask for an escort,

and later it says he fasted and prayed.

And I'm just putting a plea in,

maybe we'll get a few emails,

but I'm putting a plea in,

that when God gives us an opportunity,

that we should pray

because we might be more bold.

I'm typically not that bold,

but I think when the Holy Spirit helps us,

we can be more bold.

Maybe he should have

fasted and prayed before he declined

or was ashamed to ask for an escort.

You know what I'm saying?

And maybe if he had fasted and prayed,

God would have said, "No, I'm going

to touch the heart of the king,

and he'll give you everything
that you need."

(Stephanie) But he did proclaim

a fast, though, in verse 21,

prior to "for I was ashamed."

(Derek) That's a good point,

and then he fasted and prayed.

Yeah, so I don't know.

It doesn't say, though,

like with Nehemiah, "I prayed,
and then..."

(Stephanie) "And then I followed

the leading of my God."

(Derek) What do you think?

(Stephanie) Travis.

(Travis) I think it's important

to understand he was ashamed

because of what he had

already told the king,

"I told him that my God

was going to bless those

who walk righteously,

and He was going to curse those

who do not walk righteously."

So the reason he was ashamed

wasn't because he was, you know,

not walking with God.

I think the reason is

he had set God on a pedestal,

and he didn't want to take Him down.

"No, my God will take care of us,

and I will show you," and that was
the reason he was...

That's my feeling on this.

(Derek) But all of the fulfillments
of prophecy,

God can use pagan kings

to provide for His people, so...

I think the lesson for all of us

is that God uses imperfect people,

and, you know, I don't know

what should have been done there,

but Nehemiah certainly

was much more bold,

and he was also a person of faith.

And he didn't believe

he wasn't trusting God in that.

He believed that God was working

in touching the heart of the king.

(Stephanie) Amen. And I'm thankful

that you brought that out, the difference,

because God works...He can make

all things work together for good,

whether it was right or wrong

for Nehemiah and Ezra,

still God worked, and He could take
human beings

and make something beautiful
come out of that.

So here's my question,

why do you think fasting and prayer

is an appropriate response

when you're facing a decision? Brittany.

(Brittany) When you're fasting,

whether it's from water or food,

you realize that you really need God.

You aren't dependent on other things.

You realize how weak you are

and how strong He is.

And so it gives you an opportunity

to recognize, "God, I can't

make this journey on my own."

In their case, "God, we can't go back

and do all that You're calling us to do

without Your help.

We need You; our full dependence
is on You."

(Stephanie) Adison.

(Adison) I just have a quick story.

Several years ago I went

on a survival trip for about three days.

And we had pretty much no food or water,

a little bit of water but not much.

And I remember spending time

reading my Bible, praying to God,

and I just felt more of my need,

maybe because I was empty

of all, like, what Brittany was saying.

But I just felt that I could have

a unique experience with God

that would hopefully draw me

closer to Him and bring me

into a better connection with Him...

(Stephanie) Gladys, and after Gladys'
comment,

I would like you to share with me

a time when you fasted and prayed,

and you saw God work

in a miraculous way. Gladys.

(Gladys) When you fast and pray,

it clears your mind.

You're not focused on your physical needs.

You're more connected

in a spiritual connection with God.

It just clears your mind for God

to really speak to you.

(Stephanie) All right. Testimonies.
Nicole.

(Nicole) It wasn't quite a testimony,

but I just wanted to bring something up

because I think we're focusing
on food and water,

but you can fast from other things.

I think that you can fast

from things that take up time

in your day, like media.

Because people who have medical issues

that can't actually fast
from food and water,

there's nothing less to say

that I'm going to give something up

that I use on a regular basis

to then get closer to Christ.

And I've done that;

I've actually fasted from my cellphone,

and it was an interesting experience.

(Stephanie) Thank you, Nicole.

That is a very good point

because the whole purpose

of fasting and prayer

is that we focus on God.

And the things that take up our time,

we now spend time with God

to know His will. Jason.

(Jason) My first deployment

on an aircraft carrier in the navy,

I was appointed leadership

of facilitating a Bible study.

The Bible study leader left

and went to another command,

and I felt very inadequate

because he brought a large crowd.

He was a man of God, and I felt little,

to fill those shoes he had.

So the one thing that came to mind

was, "Some things come

with prayer and fasting."

It kept on echoing in my head,

so I took God on that offer, and I fasted,

and did He come through!

It was amazing; I mean, people

that I've never met came

to the Bible studies.

People were actually repenting of sins,

drawing closer to Christ.

I was just blown away.

It really felt like, if I can explain,

it was like the Day of Pentecost,

you know, without the tongues,

but people were actually coming;
God was adding.

At night I would just be in awe,

just thanking God because I knew

it was Him and it wasn't me.

(Stephanie) Amen. Thank you.

(Gladys) I wanted to share the second part

of the story I shared earlier.

It was through a whole year
that God took me

through that back and forth with Him,

telling me to go, and I didn't want to go.

And it was through fasting and prayer

that I finally...He humbled me

and said, "You have to do what I say

because it will be the best."

And it has been a great journey with Him,

just trusting that where He said, "Go,"

it is the best way to be.

And I wouldn't be happier

than to be placed where He wants me to be.

And it was through fasting and prayer

that that conviction came,

that it is better to be within His will

than outside of His will.

(Stephanie) Amen. Are there

any Bible promises that come to your mind

that remind you that God is with you

through the challenges,

through the decisions

that you have to make? Alex.

(Alex) I think of the wonderful promise
in Isaiah 41:10.

(Stephanie) Would you like
to read that for us?

(Alex) Sure.

(Stephanie) Isaiah, chapter 41, verse 10.

And we're talking about promises

of God's faithfulness, right,

in trials and challenges.

(Alex) I'll be reading

from the King James Version:

(Stephanie) Amen. Very good.

Thank you for sharing. Any other? Nicole.

(Nicole) Matthew 24, it doesn't talk

about holding you up.

It just says, "If you will endure,
you will be saved."

It just talks about enduring,

and there are trials and tribulations,

but if you would just hold fast
and endure,

the Lord says that He will save us,
and that's in Matthew 24.

(Stephanie) What causes us

to claim these promises?

Why would we claim the promises of God?

Tell me, Gladys.

(Gladys) Because of the Giver;
God is the Giver,

so we trust in Him.

We know that He is the Ruler of the earth.

He's the One who created us,

and if we have that connection with Him,

we know that He's faithful.

(Stephanie) That's right, and He loves us

and wants to do the very best

for our lives, right?

He has a plan. Travis.

(Travis) The Bible says

that God cannot lie.

And Psalm, chapter 50, verse 15,

if I could read that...

(Stephanie) Sure, Psalm, chapter 50,

verse 15, you said?

(Travis) Verse 15, and I'll be reading

from the New King James Version; it says:

God doesn't lie; we can claim
these promises.

(Stephanie) So, call upon the Lord,

and He will deliver you,

"and you will glorify Me."

So, here again, it's not

just, "I received a blessing,"

but I also give the blessing as a result.

We're talking about the Jewish exiles

who have come out of Babylon, right?

They've gone through challenges,

and now at this point we're going

to move to them actually residing
in Jerusalem.

So let's turn to Nehemiah,

Nehemiah, chapter 11, and we'll

look at verses 1 and 2.

Nehemiah, chapter 11, verses 1 and 2,

and let's consider what they are doing

in these two verses.

Who would be able to read for us?

Brittany, you have that?

Okay, great, Nehemiah, chapter 11,
verses 1 and 2.

(Brittany) I'll be reading

from the New King James Version,

Nehemiah, chapter 11, verses 1 and 2:

(Stephanie) What were the people doing,

and what were they doing it for?

Can you tell me? What's taking place here?

They are...? Casting lots.

Why are they casting lots?

(Brittany) The city's not big enough

for everyone to live there.

(Stephanie) All right, so they're casting
lots on who should live

in Jerusalem, right?

(Derek) Actually, I'm not sure
that's the reason

because they actually would prefer

not to live there.

And if you've traveled in the Holy Land,

there are some really nice places

to live besides on Mount Zion.

So, it's actually the lot,

not saying, "Oh, I've got..."

They would rather live somewhere else.

They're casting lots, and one

out of ten will live there.

And then they actually bless them.

You know, it was like, "Bless you

for being willing to do that."

It's a question why;

certainly Jerusalem would be a first place

to come under attack, right?

There may have been other challenges

of living in a congested, urban setting.

But back to the question of why the lots,

if you look in the Old Testament,

that was a way that God had shown them

to prayerfully ask for His direction.

An example, of course,

when Achan steals things,

and he's identified as the one

who stole from Jericho.

It wasn't, like, "Well,

that's a coincidence," no.

They prayed and asked God to point out.

So they were asking God

to show who should be there,

but I don't think they wanted

to all live in that city.

They would rather live

out in the countryside.

(Stephanie) I would agree,

and we have evidence that it

might have been more difficult in the city

than it is out in the countryside.

You have more challenges in the city.

You needed to have inhabitants, though,
in the city.

We think about it today.

Is it easier sometimes

to be out in the country,

away from some of the challenges

that the cities present to us?

I think so. Travis.

(Travis) They were rebuilding
the community,

and so, rebuilding a community,

like you said, is going
to face challenges.

But Jerusalem, the whole system

needed to be reestablished and rebuilt.

And so, they were just choosing

who's going to be here

to rebuild the community

and make this work.

(Stephanie) So they were casting lots

to understand God's will.

How do we, today, know the will of God?

(John) Through His Word.

(Stephanie) Through His Word.

Okay, that's definitely...

Anything that...Wherever God leads us,

it will not be contradictory

to His Word, right,

the principles in His Word.

What else? Brittany.

(Brittany) Prayer, like she said,
and fasting.

And also the Bible talks

about a multitude of counselors.

And so, looking to godly people

who have maybe made

similar decisions as you,

and you're praying about it,

and you can seek their counsel as well.

(Stephanie) All right. Nicole.

(Nicole) Well, Brittany said it all.

(Derek) I had a student, Stephanie,

one time who said,

"I'm going to put a sock..."

He was trying to decide

what to do for the summer...

"I'm going to put a sock on my dresser,

and if it's wet, I go to...,"

you choose the state.

"And if it's dry, I go here."

And I said, "How did you determine that?

Have you sought counsel
from your parents?"

You know, I mean...I do think

the Bible does say that God...

"I will teach you and instruct
you the way,"

but He's spoken in His Word,
so there are principles.

But then it also says,

"Listen to counsel, receive instruction,

that you may be wise."

And he was like, "No

I haven't talked to them

because I already know

what they'll tell me."

Sometimes I think we

maybe do silly things,

when the clear guidance of God

is already before us,

or godly family members

or spiritual leaders can provide

wise counsel for us.

(Stephanie) It's already been revealed,

and we may be saying, "I don't

want that answer, God."

But, praise the Lord,

He continued to work in that circumstance

for you, Gladys. Travis.

(Travis) The one thing that I want to say

is we can be very sure

that God wants us to know His will.

We can be very sure

that He wants us to know His will.

(Stephanie) And I think I could

take that a step further.

Not only does He want us to know His will,

but He is willing to show us His will.

We don't have to be in confusion

or in a state of questioning.

Did I see a hand?

(Derek) I'm reminded of a 70-year-old man

praying because he was invited

to go and hold some evangelistic meetings.

"Oh, Lord, please show me

if this is what You want me to do."

And he said the Spirit of God said,

"I've already told you,

I want you all to go," to the world

and to preach the gospel.

It's like, "Why are you asking for a sign?

I've already told you."

And he went, by the way,

and God blessed him in an amazing way.

But it may be that the counsel
is already there.

(Stephanie) Amen. And I do want to mention

on that note that we need

to know the Word of God.

"I don't know where God's
leading me," you may say,

"I don't know where God's leading me;

He hasn't shown me,"

but we have to be in His Word;
He will teach us.

Over and over again I've noticed

that when I've gone to the Word of God,

even if I'm studying

something totally different,

a totally different topic,

He reveals His plan for our lives.

Are we willing to listen?

Are we willing to listen? Gladys.

(Gladys) I think that God

reaches us in a way

that we personally can understand.

The way that He reaches somebody else

doesn't necessarily mean

that I'm going to understand

if He talks to me that way.

So I think that God reaches us

in an individual way

that we will understand.

(Stephanie) That's really important.

God knows our language.

He knows the language,

and He knows how to reach us.

Can you think of other Bible characters

who followed God's will

even though it may not

have been the most comfortable? Nicole.

(Nicole) I always think of Joseph.

He had a very difficult time,

but even in the end he said,

"You might have sold me into slavery,

but God sent me here for this purpose."

So, throughout his entire life,

when he was in prison,

when he was having all these issues,

he still was following and knew

that God had a plan for his life

and had a will for him, and so I
think of him.

(Derek) Amen.

(Stephanie) Harold.

(Harold) Jeremiah, he was

called to be a prophet

to the people of Israel.

And actually he did endure
lots of hardships.

They put him in prison;

they treated him badly.

I mean, these are his own people,

and yet he waited on the Lord

for His guidance and His help.

(Stephanie) Was there ever a time

that you left your comfort zone

to go and do God's work? Evelyn.

(Evelyn) Well, yes. This past semester

I was studying at Southern Adventist
University,

and I had a test coming up;

I wanted to study for it.

And Travis comes up to me, inviting me

to come to Hope Sabbath School.

And my initial reaction was, "No,

I need to stay here and study."

And God seriously made it clear to me

that this was a place He wanted me to come

because soon afterwards my professor said,

"Evelyn, I'll pay for your flight

for you to go there.

And, you know what, you

live ten minutes away; you have to go."

I left my familiar; I wanted

to stay there and study,

and I said, "Okay, God, I'm going

to step out and do Hope Sabbath School."

And I got the best grade on that exam
when I got back.

So it was truly just God saying,

"Evelyn, trust Me;

this is going to work out for you."

(Stephanie) Thank you for sharing.

We are all on a journey, aren't we?

And our destination is where?

(Stephanie, Team) The New Jerusalem.

(Stephanie) And God is going
to bring us step by step

through whatever challenges we face,

but we can know that He is faithful,

He loves us, and He will

walk that path with us.

Aren't you excited?

(Team) Amen.

(Stephanie) The prophecies

that have been fulfilled

will be fulfilled again for us.

Thank you for studying.

(Derek) Amen. Thank you so much.

What a great study, and thank you

for being with us

on Hope Sabbath School today.

Trials and tribulations are part of life

on this broken planet,

but that assurance, "Fear not,"

like Alex mentioned from Isaiah 41:10,

"I am with you," the Lord says.

"I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you."

Well, then, we would say

with the prophet Paul,

"If God is for us, who can be against us?"

Whatever trial or tribulation
you're facing today,

invite the Lord to be your strength

and your Deliverer.

Let's pray; Father in Heaven,

we thank You that, whatever trial

or tribulation we may face,

You've said, "I'll be with you always,

even to the end of the age."

We do not need to be afraid

but to trust wholly in You.

May we do that even this day

and rejoice and be glad in You.

in Jesus' name. Amen.

(Team) Amen.

(Derek) Thanks for joining us

for Hope Sabbath School today.

Trials and tribulations are part of life,

but the Lord is right there by our side.

Someone needs to know that.

Go and share that good news with them.

♪ theme music ♪