Prepared by William Earnhardt for Sabbath School Class, November 8, 2025.

Central Theme: While we are on the border of the Promised Land, our faithfulness is tested, and we can be victorious only through surrender to Jesus Christ.

Read in Class: Joshua 7. Ask the class to summarize this chapter.

Study: What were the two major causes of Israel’s defeat by the inhabitants of Ai?

Apply: What are ways whole communities can suffer, and have suffered, from the bad acts of individuals within the community? What examples can you think of, and how was the community impacted?

Share: Your friend says that she has heard that there is no such thing as “private sin.” Your friend asks you if you agree with that statement. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Joshua 7:16-21. Ask the class to share a thought on this passage.

Study: What does the entire procedure tell us about both God and Achan? What is Joshua asking Achan to do? What is the significance of such a request? How do we understand his confession?

Apply: How does the realization that God knows all that you do, even your hidden things, impact how you live? How should it affect how you live?

Share: Your friend asks how we can overcome covetousness in such a materialistic society? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Joshua 8:1-8. Ask the class to share the main idea of this passage.

Study: What does this story tell us about how God can change our worst failures into opportunities?

Apply: How important is it that our church members obey all the statutes and judgments in our lives in witness to those outside the church? 

Share: Your friend asks, when Jesus was baptized, was He just giving us a good example, or was He also repenting on behalf of the human race He was now representing, even though He had never sinned? In other words, was He giving us an example of corporate repentance? What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Daniel 2:24. Ask the class to share the main idea of this passage.

Study: While Achan’s sin brought disaster upon the whole nation, what effect did Daniel’s prayer and faithfulness have on his contemporaries, even the evil ones?

Apply: Read Matthew 5:13-16. As Christians, how should our lives, even our private lives, be influencing the world around us?

Share: Your friend asks what the saying means, “We are our own worst enemy.” In light of this week’s lesson, what do you tell your friend?