Sabbath School lessons are part of a global study initiative undertaken by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As we enter the fourth quarter of 2025, we will explore the theme “Joshua” This week’s lesson, titled “Heirs of Promises, Prisoners of Hope” covers the period from November22 - November 28. Join Pastor Mark Finley for a brief preview of what to expect in this week’s study.

<p>Sabbath School lessons are part of a global study initiative undertaken by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As we enter the fourth quarter of 2025, we will explore the theme “Joshua” This week’s lesson, titled “Heirs of Promises, Prisoners of Hope” covers the period from November22 - November 28. Join Pastor Mark Finley for a brief preview of what to expect in this week’s study.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

HopeLives365

Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2025: Lessons of Faith from Joshua

Mark Finley

01 Recipe for Success

02 Surprised by Grace

03 Memorials of Grace

04 The Conflict Behind All Conflicts

05 God Fights for You

06 The Enemy Within

07 Ultimate Loyalty: Worship in a War Zone

08 Giants of Faith: Joshua and Caleb

09 Heirs of Promises, Prisoners of Hope


Welcome back to another 1 of our Sabbath School lessons on the book of Joshua. The title of lesson 9 is Heirs of Promises, Prisoners of Hope. All through the Old Testament, God made the promise to Abraham, to the sons of Abraham, ultimately to the tribes of Israel, that they would possess the land. And as God made that promise, God's promises never fail. As Paul says, the promises of God are yes and no.

In other words, God means what he says. When God makes a statement, we can rely on that statement. We can trust that statement. As we study this lesson now, Heirs of promises, prisoners of hope. We may be prisoners of hope, but there is a promise of God.

Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for the great promises of the Word of God. We thank you that we can rely on them, that we can stake our lives on them, that what you have promised will come to pass. And we praise your name for that. In Jesus' name, amen.

When you look at Joshua chapter 13 through chapter 21, you'll find a long list of geographical boundaries. Sometimes that reading is quite hard, it's quite difficult, you want to skip over it. There'll be a tribe, and then the boundaries of that tribe given in the chapter. And it goes on chapter after chapter after chapter, and you say, why? What's the significance of this?

The significance is very simple. God and his people are united in the land. In other words, the land of Israel established their identity. Just like when you come to your home and people say, where do you live? What's your address?

And as your children come home from school, your home, your abode is a place of identity. It's a place that gives security, a place that gives welcome. And so the land that God had given to Israel was a place of security, a place of fellowship with him, a place where they could deepen their relationship with him, a place that was theirs, a place that they could call home. When we jump into Sunday's lesson, it might seem a little bit out of place, Eden and Canaan, but when you look at it, it's right on target. When God placed Adam and Eve in Eden, we read in Genesis chapter 2, verse 15, then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

So it was God that gave Adam and Eve the garden, the beauties of the garden, the flowers that bloomed, the fruit trees that gave off their abundant fruit, the magnificent lakes and ponds and scenery, the birds that sang in the trees, the animals that played around their feet. These were all gifts of God, created by God for the enjoyment and blessing of Adam and Eve. So Eden was a gift from God. When you look, though, at Genesis 3, verse 17 to 24, the scripture says, Genesis 3.17, Then to Adam he said, Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of, cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of dust you were taken, and for dust you are, and to dust you'll return." Then you remember if you skip down to verse 24, so he drove man out of the garden and he placed Cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way of the tree of life." When you look at God's gift of Eden, Adam and Eve's sin and rebellion against God, when their relationship with God changed, their relationship with the garden changed. Before, the garden brought only joy and delight. Now, they would leave that garden home.

They would go out into this world. They would till soil and get calluses on their hands and weeds would grow up that they'd have to till. When their relationship with God changed, their relationship with the garden or the land changed. That which was their home was no longer their home. They wandered in a sinful earth, the beautiful flowers began to die, the leaves on the trees began to fade, the fruit rotted, the earth was difficult to till, the character of the animals changed.

What God is pointing out here is this, throughout Old Testament history, when Israel was faithful to God, they were to be led into the land. But when they were disobedient to God, that land which was a gift of God, the relationship to the land changed because their enemies came across, they were attacked. This idea of the land being a gift of God is brought out throughout the Old Testament and Israel's identity with the land. The land is a gift. Monday's lesson, we begin with Exodus 3, verse 8.

Exodus 3, verse 8. God is going to lead Israel out of Egyptian bondage into the land of promise. Notice what God says here in Exodus 3 verse 8. He says, so I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good large land to a land flowing with milk and honey the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perusites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. God says to Israel, when they're coming out of Egypt, I have come to deliver you.

And what does he say here in Leviticus 25, verse 23? God is the mighty deliverer. Leviticus 25, verse 23, the land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is mine. Now That's the point that Scripture makes. The land was a gift of God to Israel.

The land given to them came as a gracious gift from a loving Heavenly Father. You remember what it says in Psalm 24, verse 1. Psalm 24, verse 1. We can apply this to the new heavens and the new earth. God has promised the new heavens and the new earth, His promises will not fail.

As we are faithful to God and trust him, he will lead us into the new heavens and the new earth. But the new heavens and the new earth are a gift of God. Once again, the sun will shine. Once again, the skies will be blue. Once again, pure crystal brooks will babble along their way and sing their happy song.

Once again, the birds will sing in the heavens. Flowers will dot the landscape of every color, shape. Fruit trees will be laden with fruit. All of Eden that was a gift to Adam and Eve, the new Eden, the new Canaan, the promised land that we're headed to, is not something we achieve by our works, but it too will be a gift of God. The Bible says in Psalm 24, verse 1, the earth is the Lord's in all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein.

So the earth is the Lord's. Notice this note under Monday's lesson. There was a special relationship among God, Israel, and the land. Israel received the land from God as a gift, not as an inalienable right. The chosen people could own the land as long as they were in a covenant relationship with Yahweh and respected the precepts of the covenant.

In other words, they could not have the land and its blessings without the blessing of God. So It's the blessing of God through his promises that would give Israel the land. It is the blessing of God through the promises of a new heaven and a new earth that will give us Canaan land. But the land faced a challenge. Israel was to be given that land as a gift.

But if you look at Joshua chapter 13, 1 to 7, we find in Joshua 13, 1 to 7, that this land that is a gift of God was what needed to have Israel cooperate with God if they were going to conquer the land. The land is a gift, but they had to receive that gift by participating with God. Look, Joshua 13, verse 1 and 2. "'Now Joshua was old, advanced in years, "'and the Lord said to him, "'You are old and advanced in years, and there remains very much land to be possessed. This is the land that remains, all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the Geziorites.

And God tells him what that land is. And he says to them, verse 6, all the inhabitants of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the brook of Mishraf and all the Sidonians, them I will drive out from before the children of Israel, only divided by a lot to Israel as an inheritance as I've commanded you. So Israel was to enter that land. God would be with them to strengthen them, go before them and give them the promise of the land, but they had to cooperate with God. Now look, under the challenge of the land, Tuesday's lesson, Given that for centuries, first paragraph, the Israelites had been living as slaves, their military skills were inadequate to conquer the land.

Not even their slave masters, the Egyptians, with their skilled and well-equipped armies, were able to occupy it permanently. The Egyptians never conquered Canaan completely because of the impregnability of the walled cities. Now a nation of former slaves is told to conquer a land that their former masters were unable to subdue, if they are ever to possess the land. It will be through God's grace alone, not through their own effort." Continuing to read, The Israelites, this is 4 sentences down, the second paragraph, the Israelites can securely live in the land that God has given them as an inheritance. They are the rightful and legitimate tenants of the land under God's ownership.

Yet, God's initiative must be matched by human response. God's initiative must be matched by human response. God's initiative must be matched by human response. God's grace is free. We are saved by grace and not by works.

The cross of Calvary has provided salvation for every human being who will choose the gift of God. As we cooperate with God in the Christian life, the Bible says in James 4, verse 7 and 8, submit yourselves to the Lord and resist the devil and he will flee from you. I say submit and resist. We can't do it without God, but he won't do it without us. When temptations come to you, my friend, submit yourself to God.

Ask him for strength to overcome and choose by the grace of God to resist the powers of the evil 1. Israel's conquering the land is a great object lesson for us of how God drives Satan out of our lives. They could not do it on their own. They were powerless, they were weak. We too are powerless and weak.

They could not face the enemy on their own, we cannot face the enemy on our own. But through the grace of God, he would fight the battle. They cooperated with him, but through his mighty strength, they were overcomers. We come to Wednesday's lesson and the subject of the Jubilee. This is a fascinating subject.

Every 6 years they were to allow the land to rest. We find that in Leviticus 25 verse 1 to 5. But after 49 years, on the 50th year, we read in Leviticus 25 verse 8 to 13. Leviticus 25 and we're looking there at verse 8 to 13. Here we read about the Jubilee.

And notice what scripture says. Leviticus chapter 25, starting with verse 8. "'And you shall count 7 Sabbaths of years for yourself, "'seven times, 7 years. "'In the time of the seventh Sabbaths of years shall be to you 49 years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month and the day of atonement.

You shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his possession, and each shall return it to the family." Notice the Jubilee was a year of liberty. Why a year of liberty? Slaves set free.

Why a year of liberty? The marginalized now are able to be exalted. Look, it's wonderful to read here under the Jubilee Wednesday's lesson. In essence, this is the main purpose of the gospel, to erase distinction between rich and poor, employer and employee, privileged and the underprivileged, putting all us on equal footing. See, that's the Jubilee.

Land ownership was returned. Legislation provided for every Israelite with opportunity to be freed from inherited or self-induced oppressive circumstances and to have a fresh start in life. So the Jubilee is joy. It's joy for those who are marginalized. It's joy for those who are dispossessed.

It's joy for those who were enslaved. Here in the Jubilee time, now we need to mention this, that when you look at modern slavery in the 19th century in America, it was 1 of the most despicable, horrible things 1 could ever imagine. But in ancient times here in the Old Testament, slave owners, we might call these masters, they were considered the people that were much more servants. And here in the Old Testament we find that these masters would have laws, rituals to care for their servants. But you know, the Jubilee year let every family go back to their own land.

And there were no divisions here. You know, it's amazing to me how God has so clearly in the Bible said that God has made of 1 blood, all nations. You know, we have a set of beliefs in the Seventh-day Adventist Church that are based on the Bible. And belief number 14 is called unity in the body of Christ. And let me read that for you in the light of the Jubilee year.

Every year for us is a Jubilee year right now, in the sense that we rejoice that we are 1 in Christ. I read belief number 14. The church is 1 body with many members called from every nation, kindred, tongue and people. In Christ, we are a new creation. Distinctions of race, culture, learning, and nationality and differences between high and low, rich, poor, male and female, must not be divisive among us.

We are all equal in Christ, who by 1 spirit has bonded us into 1 fellowship with him and with 1 another. We are to serve and be served without partiality or reservation. Through the revelation of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, we share the same faith and hope and reach out in 1 witness to all. This unity has its source in the oneness of the triune God who has adopted us as his children. You see, in Christ there can be no tribalism, 1 tribe higher than the other, 1 tribe dominating, no, in Christ he's broken down the middle wall of petition between us.

In Christ there can be no caste, you know in some countries there is the caste system, but in Christ we are 1 body. In Christ, our racial profiling, racism, is gone in Christ, why? Because just as the scripture says that the cross of Christ unites humanity, breaks down the walls of partition before us. So the cross of Christ does that for us. So what was the Jubilee year?

In the Jubilee year, it was a time of rejoicing because people got their land back. Land was a sense of identity. And the Jubilee year, as our lesson so accurately puts it, was to erase distinction between rich and poor, employer and employee, privileged and underprivileged, putting us all on an equal footing. In Thursday's lesson, God promises through Jeremiah that even in the captivity of Israel, the land would be restored 1 day. Even when they were in captive.

Look, Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 16. Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 16. And here we read from Jeremiah about the restoration of the land. Thus says the Lord, refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord, and They shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the Lord, that your children shall come back to their own border.

There is hope. There is hope, my friend, for Israel in captivity, that they could come back to the land. Ezekiel chapter 28, verse 25. All through the Old Testament we read it. Ezekiel chapter 28, verse 25.

Notice what Scripture says here. Thus says the Lord, when I've gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered and hallowed in them in the sight of the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land, which I gave to my servant Jacob." God's people would come back. They would dwell in the land. We today are in the land of the enemy. All around us is sickness and suffering and sorrow.

All around us is disease and disaster and death. All around us we see injustice, we see poverty. All around us we see heartache and sorrow. The ultimate fulfillment of the returning back to the land is the promise that God's people 1 day will enter into Canaan land, new heavens, new earth. Last paragraph, Thursday's lesson.

The ultimate fulfillment of the divine promise of rest, abundance and well-being in the land will take place on the new earth, liberated from sin and its consequences. In that sense, as Christians, our hope is based on Christ's promise that he'll return and after 1000 year period in heaven, establish his eternal kingdom on the earth made new. This will be the ultimate fulfillment of all the promises about the land. You know, in the Bible, the inheritance of that new heaven and new earth is called a country. In Great Controversy, page 675, I read an incredibly amazing statement.

In the Bible, the inheritance of the saved is called a country. Hebrews 11, verse 14 to 16, there the heavenly shepherd leads his flock to fountains of living waters. The tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths prepared for the ransom to the Lord. There the widespread plains swell into the hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty summits.

On those peaceful plains beside those living streams, God's people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home. This world is not our home, but 1 day we will live with Jesus forever in a land that he gives us as a gift, and it will be our home through the ceaseless ages of eternity. Let's pray. Father in heaven, We thank you that you will give us eternity, that you give us the new heavens and the new earth, that you restore us Eden made new, and that we will return from the land of the enemy and live with you forever. Thank you, Jesus, for the promise of that gift.

We want to be faithful now and forever. Just 1 day see you face to face in Christ's name, amen. This media was brought to you by AudioVerse, a website dedicated to spreading God's Word through free sermon audio and much more. If you would like to know more about Audioverse or if you would like to listen to more sermons, please visit www.audioverse.org.

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Series

Sabbath School 4th Quarter 2025: Lessons of Faith from Joshua

09 Heirs of Promises, Prisoners of Hope

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

01 Recipe for Success

27m

02 Surprised by Grace

25m

03 Memorials of Grace

24m

04 The Conflict Behind All Conflicts

25m

05 God Fights for You

25m

06 The Enemy Within

22m

07 Ultimate Loyalty: Worship in a War Zone

24m

08 Giants of Faith: Joshua and Caleb

24m

09 Heirs of Promises, Prisoners of Hope

23m

Sound Doctrine