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Chief
Chief of Sinners.
Joshua 4:23–24 – The Jordan crossing becomes a memorial, testifying to God’s power so "all peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord is mighty."
Core Theme: God establishes physical memorials (like the Jordan stones) to combat spiritual forgetfulness, anchoring faith in His past miracles while pointing to future hope.
Core Theme: God establishes physical memorials (like the Jordan stones) to combat spiritual forgetfulness, anchoring faith in His past miracles while pointing to future hope.
Key Insights by Day:
- Sunday: Crossing the Jordan (Joshua 3:1–5)
- Israel consecrates itself before following the Ark of the Covenant into the Jordan.
- Divine Leadership: God’s presence (via the Ark) directs the conquest, requiring human cooperation through purification and trust.
- Modern Parallel: Spiritual preparedness - through repentance and surrender - precedes God’s interventions.
- Monday: The Living God of Wonders (Joshua 3:6–17)
- The Jordan parting (niphla’ot - "wonders") echoes the Red Sea miracle, revealing God’s limitless power over creation.
- Contrast: Unlike dead idols (Psalm 96:5), Yahweh actively saves His people.
- Hope in Impossibility: Jesus affirms that "what is impossible with man is possible with God" (Luke 18:27).
- Tuesday: Remember (Joshua 4)
- Memorial Stones: 12 stones from the Jordan bed become a tangible zikkaron ("memorial") to provoke questions and faith transmission across generations.
- Active Remembrance: Biblical memory (zakar) demands action - each generation must personally internalize God’s deeds to avoid dead traditionalism.
- Wednesday: Forgetfulness (Joshua 4:20–24; Deuteronomy 8:2, 18)
- Spiritual amnesia leads to idolatry and mission drift (Judges 8:34).
- Ellen White: "We have nothing to fear... except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us" (Life Sketches, p. 196).
- Antidote: Daily communion with God reinforces past faithfulness in present experience.
- Thursday: Beyond the Jordan (Psalm 66:6; Matthew 3:16–17)
- Jordan crossings symbolize transition:
- Old Testament: Slavery → freedom (Red Sea); wandering → nationhood (Jordan).
- New Testament: Jesus’ baptism inaugurates His ministry; prefigures Christian "rest" (Hebrews 3–4).
- Eschatological Link: Sabbath rest points to eternal Canaan (Hebrews 4:8–11).
- Jordan crossings symbolize transition:
Final Thoughts (Friday):
- Memorials as Guardians: Stones, Sabbath, and Communion (1 Corinthians 11:24–25) combat forgetfulness by making grace tangible.
- Idolatry Warning: Modern "idols" (career, comfort, tradition) threaten more subtly than ancient paganism.
- Sabbath’s Dual Role:
- Remembrance: Recalls Creation and redemption.
- Hope: Foretells eternal rest in God’s kingdom.
rob
Active member
6:08 So, when you look at this uh jar of manna, it represents God's chosen diet
for his people. God desired the Hebrews to be healthy. And of course, Jesus Christ likened himself to that manna that fell from heaven. He was the bread of life. So God's law of love,his chosen leadership,his health message, all of these were in the ark and therefore they were all there representing God's purpose for us.
Why does 3NBN lesson say the manna is a "health message" ? Manna is more a literal lesson demonstrating faith in Jesus.
Not only did Israel not understand, nor does the average SDA also not understand.
EGW: "The Word of His grace is the manna from heaven to all who will eat of it in faith. In Christ Jesus is fulness of joy. “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house: thou shalt make them to drink of the rivers of thy pleasure.” [Psalm 36:8.] {Ms10a-1898.}
Shalom
for his people. God desired the Hebrews to be healthy. And of course, Jesus Christ likened himself to that manna that fell from heaven. He was the bread of life. So God's law of love,his chosen leadership,his health message, all of these were in the ark and therefore they were all there representing God's purpose for us.
Why does 3NBN lesson say the manna is a "health message" ? Manna is more a literal lesson demonstrating faith in Jesus.
Not only did Israel not understand, nor does the average SDA also not understand.
EGW: "The Word of His grace is the manna from heaven to all who will eat of it in faith. In Christ Jesus is fulness of joy. “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house: thou shalt make them to drink of the rivers of thy pleasure.” [Psalm 36:8.] {Ms10a-1898.}
Shalom
Chief
Chief of Sinners.
Christ declares that He’s the bread of life, and that His flesh is bread indeed - whoever feeds on his flesh shall hunger no more (John 6:35). For man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Mathew 4:4).
Israelites had to learn a faith lesson in that if they did contrary to God’s word, it backfired on them - any extra manna collected went bad except on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:20).
As they journeyed, a bowl of manna was kept as a memorial to remind them of God’s providence. Remember, it reached a point when they complained about the manna and God sent them the meat they were craving. They ate the meat and got sick - sickness had not been mentioned among them throughout their journey (except during the serpents plague - Numbers 21:4-9).
God’s wish is that His children should prosper health wise even as they do so spiritually (3 John 1:2). Isaiah 7:15 paints a picture of diet (health message) as a means for having a discerning spirit - "He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good."
Above all was the mercy seat to demonstrate that God’s grace transcends all human acts and effort. It is by grace that we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). The mementos in the ark of covenant are memorials of faith. The ark of covenant is under the mercy seat.
Israelites had to learn a faith lesson in that if they did contrary to God’s word, it backfired on them - any extra manna collected went bad except on the Sabbath (Exodus 16:20).
As they journeyed, a bowl of manna was kept as a memorial to remind them of God’s providence. Remember, it reached a point when they complained about the manna and God sent them the meat they were craving. They ate the meat and got sick - sickness had not been mentioned among them throughout their journey (except during the serpents plague - Numbers 21:4-9).
God’s wish is that His children should prosper health wise even as they do so spiritually (3 John 1:2). Isaiah 7:15 paints a picture of diet (health message) as a means for having a discerning spirit - "He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good."
Above all was the mercy seat to demonstrate that God’s grace transcends all human acts and effort. It is by grace that we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). The mementos in the ark of covenant are memorials of faith. The ark of covenant is under the mercy seat.
There is a riddle that helped me understand something about communion. "What only can turn a mouse into an eagle?" I could not come up with an answer at the time but it has everything to do with the bread of life, communion, the plan of redemption and the incarnation of God in humanity. the answer had to be given to me.
Only an eagle can turn a mouse into an eagle. Can you see how that is? When the eagle eats the mouse it is digested and assimilated into the flesh, blood and bones of the eagle.
"The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water spring. All this Christ has taught in appointing the emblems of His great sacrifice. The light shining from that Communion service in the upper chamber makes sacred the provisions for our daily life. The family board becomes as the table of the Lord, and every meal a sacrament." DA 660
Looking deeper: Who alone can turn the food we eat into the body of Christ?
We are the human body or the temple of the divine Son who is a spirit being. He has been given to us. He is the one who animates our human bodies, for in Him we live and move and find our being. It is He who works in us to will and to do according to his good pleasure.
Our body belongs to Him.
The Protestant religions hold the communion table as only symbols. They represent something divine, His body and blood.
Catholicism believes that the priest, by some magical incantation transubstantiates the symbols into the actual body and blood of the Son of God.
I believe that there is a third option. We are His body and transubstantiation takes place when a believer eats and drinks those things that come from the hand of the Lord. As the bread and wine are eaten, digested and assimilated it is turned into His body. We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 1 Cor 12:12
Yes, Christ has a human body and Jesus is the head of that body, we are all the other parts that comprise that one body. He will take His collective human body triumphantly through the gates of the new Jerusalem.
Only an eagle can turn a mouse into an eagle. Can you see how that is? When the eagle eats the mouse it is digested and assimilated into the flesh, blood and bones of the eagle.
"The cross of Calvary is stamped on every loaf. It is reflected in every water spring. All this Christ has taught in appointing the emblems of His great sacrifice. The light shining from that Communion service in the upper chamber makes sacred the provisions for our daily life. The family board becomes as the table of the Lord, and every meal a sacrament." DA 660
Looking deeper: Who alone can turn the food we eat into the body of Christ?
We are the human body or the temple of the divine Son who is a spirit being. He has been given to us. He is the one who animates our human bodies, for in Him we live and move and find our being. It is He who works in us to will and to do according to his good pleasure.
Our body belongs to Him.
The Protestant religions hold the communion table as only symbols. They represent something divine, His body and blood.
Catholicism believes that the priest, by some magical incantation transubstantiates the symbols into the actual body and blood of the Son of God.
I believe that there is a third option. We are His body and transubstantiation takes place when a believer eats and drinks those things that come from the hand of the Lord. As the bread and wine are eaten, digested and assimilated it is turned into His body. We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 1 Cor 12:12
Yes, Christ has a human body and Jesus is the head of that body, we are all the other parts that comprise that one body. He will take His collective human body triumphantly through the gates of the new Jerusalem.
rob
Active member
I thought this discussion is about what 3ABN said about Joshua in the lesson study.
Chief you seem to reply that manna is a symbol of faith - that is nice - but why does the 3ABN speakers speak of manna as a health message, when primarily it is about faith, not health?
Leroy, I have no idea what you are saying and why? You seem to be suggesting that something literal of this world becomes something else in this world. Agree. Assimilation and biology substances are well known science themes.
Quote" Catholicism believes that the priest, by some magical incantation transubstantiates the symbols into the actual body and blood of the Son of God.
I do not understand this big word, sometimes Ps 131:1-2 is necessary - things to high for me.
Not sure of the third option, but my two pennies is when you appropriate to yourself by faith a precious promises, as EGW defines faith, than the flow of Divine Power is assimilate in a mystery way into your human powers of living. What this means I dunno.
All the sinless creatures of heaven, including angels live and do using Divine powers. This is achieved by faith, the same we achieved living in Jesus via faith. In fact the moral law is based on faith principles. How this works I dunno. Like saying how the breath of life from God works in all living things - it just does. Rather than speculating how faith works in us, I suggest we practice doing faith every day, and leave the mysteries as mysteries. Shalom
Chief you seem to reply that manna is a symbol of faith - that is nice - but why does the 3ABN speakers speak of manna as a health message, when primarily it is about faith, not health?
Leroy, I have no idea what you are saying and why? You seem to be suggesting that something literal of this world becomes something else in this world. Agree. Assimilation and biology substances are well known science themes.
Quote" Catholicism believes that the priest, by some magical incantation transubstantiates the symbols into the actual body and blood of the Son of God.
I do not understand this big word, sometimes Ps 131:1-2 is necessary - things to high for me.
Not sure of the third option, but my two pennies is when you appropriate to yourself by faith a precious promises, as EGW defines faith, than the flow of Divine Power is assimilate in a mystery way into your human powers of living. What this means I dunno.
All the sinless creatures of heaven, including angels live and do using Divine powers. This is achieved by faith, the same we achieved living in Jesus via faith. In fact the moral law is based on faith principles. How this works I dunno. Like saying how the breath of life from God works in all living things - it just does. Rather than speculating how faith works in us, I suggest we practice doing faith every day, and leave the mysteries as mysteries. Shalom