Prophetic Authority and Relevance

Read for This Week’s Study

Exod. 4:10–16, Luke 8:22–25, John 3:1–10, Acts 16:25–34, 1 Cor. 5:1–5, Luke 7:28.

Memory Text: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, NKJV).

On November 9, 1989, Günter Schabowski’s statement on live TV in Communist East Germany set in motion the fall of the Berlin Wall. Speaking as East Germany’s press spokesperson, Schabowski botched a statement during the televised press conference. Instead of announcing that East Germans may be allowed to visit Western Europe after the lengthy and difficult process of obtaining the proper visas, he simply said that East Germans would be permitted to visit Western Europe. When a reporter asked when the policy change would take effect, Schabowski said, “As far as I know, this enters into force . . . immediately, without delay.” Within minutes people began pouring toward border checkpoints, demanding to be let through, as the government had announced.

People have often been delegated authority to speak for a company or even a country. But what about those who speak for God? This week we will examine what authority biblical prophets possess, and what, if any, authority is held by prophets who never wrote a book of the Bible, such as Nathan the prophet, John the Baptist, and, yes, even Ellen G. White.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 5.

Supplemental EGW Notes

In the commission to His disciples, Christ not only outlined their work, but gave them their message. Teach the people, He said, “to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” The disciples were to teach what Christ had taught. That which He had spoken, not only in person, but through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament, is here included. Human teaching is shut out. There is no place for tradition, for man’s theories and conclusions, or for church legislation. No laws ordained by ecclesiastical authority are included in the commission. None of these are Christ’s servants to teach. “The law and the prophets,” with the record of His own words and deeds, are the treasure committed to the disciples to be given to the world. Christ’s name is their watchword, their badge of distinction, their bond of union, the authority for their course of action, and the source of their success. Nothing that does not bear His superscription is to be recognized in His kingdom. The gospel is to be presented, not as a lifeless theory, but as a living force to change the life. God desires that the receivers of His grace shall be witnesses to its power. Those whose course has been most offensive to Him He freely accepts; when they repent, He imparts to them His divine Spirit, places them in the highest positions of trust, and sends them forth into the camp of the disloyal to proclaim His boundless mercy. He would have His servants bear testimony to the fact that through His grace men may possess Christlikeness of character, and may rejoice in the assurance of His great love. He would have us bear testimony to the fact that He cannot be satisfied until the human race are reclaimed and reinstated in their holy privileges as His sons and daughters. In Christ is the tenderness of the shepherd, the affection of the parent, and the matchless grace of the compassionate Saviour. His blessings He presents in the most alluring terms. He is not content merely to announce these blessings; He presents them in the most attractive way, to excite a desire to possess them. So His servants are to present the riches of the glory of the unspeakable Gift. The wonderful love of Christ will melt and subdue hearts, when the mere reiteration of doctrines would accomplish nothing. . . . Christ is sitting for His portrait in every disciple. Every one God has predestinated to be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). In every one Christ’s long-suffering love, His holiness, meekness, mercy, and truth are to be manifested to the world.—Lift Him Up, p. 220.

The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.