FOURTH QUARTER 2023
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #11
DECEMBER 16, 2023
“MISSION TO THE UNREACHED: PART 2”

 

“Then Jesus answered and said to her, 'O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed from that very hour” (Matthew 15:28, NKJV, here and throughout).

 

This memory text highlights our mission to the unreached. Jesus had just had a difficult encounter with the Scribes and Pharisees. He left Capernaum, retired to the border of Phoenicia, from where He could see the ancient cities of Tyre and Sidon. From this vantage point He could see their heathen temples, magnificent palaces, and shipping harbors. As He reflected on this sight, He knew that the time was coming when the disciples would be called to bear the message of the gospel to these heathen lands, but the time was not yet. His work was to prepare His disciples for their mission. This is the context of this story. “Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed’” (Matthew 15:21-22). This lady was from a nation of idolaters. She was a heathen, and the Jews despised them. She had gone to see Jesus on purpose, because she had heard that, “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them” (Matthew 4:23-24). That was good enough for her, and she went to find Jesus. This did not take Jesus by surprise. In fact, He went to Tyre and Sidon on purpose. He placed Himself in her path and this was the reason He brought the disciples to this region. Ellen White comments on the reason for this visit. “The people who had been given every opportunity to understand the truth were without a knowledge of the needs of those around them. No effort was made to help souls in darkness. The partition wall which Jewish pride had erected, shut even the disciples from sympathy with the heathen world. But these barriers were to be broken down.” —Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 400.

 

The end of the story is that Jesus heals the daughter of the Canaanite woman, “a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth.” Ellen White comments on this story further. “This was the only miracle that Jesus wrought while on this journey. It was for the performance of this act that He went to the borders of Tyre and Sidon. He wished to relieve the afflicted woman, and at the same time to leave an example in His work of mercy toward one of a despised people for the benefit of His disciples when He should no longer be with them. He wished to lead them from their Jewish exclusiveness to be interested in working for others besides their own people.”— ibid, p. 402.

 

The redemptive love, mercy, goodness, and grace of God was always for everyone on planet earth. Genesis 3:15 was for all. Through Abraham, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Exodus 19:6 tells us that Israel was to be a kingdom of priests, leading the surrounding nations to Christ. In other words, they were to be a light to all the Gentiles. Sadly, this seemed to have been lost on them and they became unfaithful to the mission. The lesson draws our attention to three passages, Judges 3:1-6, 1 Kings 5:1-12, and 1 Kings 11:1-6. Putting these passages together, we see that Israel’s disobedience and unfaithfulness was so significant that God needed to test them. He did this by leaving heathen nations among whom they would dwell. These were the Canaanites, the Sidonians, the Philistines, the Hittites, the Amorites, to name a few. “And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses” (Judges 3:4). Sadly, their rebellion was so severe that King Solomon, who had such a noble and exemplary start, mingled too much, and ended up marrying all kinds of heathen wives.

 

Israel’s mission to the unreached was clear: “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. ‘Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to you’” (Isaiah 60:1-4). Isaiah describes a glorious work that was to be accomplished by Israel. This was the divine plan for ancient Israel, but they rejected the needed inner revival, reformation, and repentance, such that God was unable to use them as His agents to bring the gospel of His grace to the Gentiles. Spiritual Israel is now the recipient of this glorious promise outlined in these verses by the prophet Isaiah. Before the return of Jesus, according to Revelation 18:1, the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be proclaimed with such power that all the earth will be lightened with its glory. God Himself said, in Numbers 14:21, “truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.”

 

“It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted. At this time a message from God is to be proclaimed, a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. His character is to be made known. Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth….

 

“The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love. The children of God are to manifest His glory. In their own life and character, they are to reveal what the grace of God has done for them.” —Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 415.

 

The reflected light of God’s glory is to be seen upon God’s people in their transformed lives. The revelation of God’s character in us, together with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, will be attractive to all people. Isaiah asks us to lift up our eyes all around and see what great things God will do when the gospel is not simply preached but lived. We are to reach the unreached. The call to the church today is to cease from the mundane way in which we do things and catch a glimpse of the uplifted Saviour in this end time, and having done so, to set about the task of preparing the world for the soon return of Jesus Christ. Other sheep He has which are not currently of this fold, but them also He will bring.

 

Jesus gave the end-time church His specific mission to the unreached. “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 18:18-20). Peter gives us our mission to the unreached. “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

 

The Apostle Paul was convinced that he was called to minister to the Gentiles, and this conviction took him outside the borders of the Jewish comfort zone. He says something interesting in 2 Timothy 2:8-9: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained” (emphasis supplied). Why is this significant? Like Paul, preachers and teachers may be silenced, but the word of God continues through other teachers faithful to the gospel. Throughout the centuries of Christendom, we see this principle. Martin Luther was imprisoned, but the word of God marched on. The message of righteousness by faith was “not bound.” William Tyndale was martyred for translating the Scriptures into the common language, but within a year of his death the Tyndale Bible was printed in England. The “word of God is not bound.” The light of truth has progressed over centuries with increased and greater clarity, and nothing or no man can prevent its fulfilment. The Seventh-Day Adventist church has been raised up with a special message for the final days. “The word of God is not chained.” Isaiah 60:1-4 will be fulfilled as promised by God Himself.

 

At the General Conference meeting in 1888, the Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. Ellen White said, “This is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel's message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure. —Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, p. 91.

 

The mission to the unreached is the same as it is to every saint or sinner. It is a message illuminating in its influence and saving in its power. It is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. The lesson ends this week as all the rest have, with a challenge and a challenge up, and here they are:

 

Challenge: Open your heart in prayer for a greater portion of faith with which to share your love for those near and far.

 

Challenge Up: How did you come to know Jesus and the precious three angel’s messages? Prepare to share with your Sabbath School class.

 

Let us all prepare to share the most precious message this week.

 

Blessings,

Lyndi Schwartz