Prepared by William Earnhardt, for Sabbath School class, 29 November 2025.

Central Theme: This week, we will examine theological concepts related to the Promised Land and their spiritual implications for those who claim all the promises found in Jesus.

Read in Class: Exodus 3:8, Leviticus 20:22, Leviticus 25:23, and Numbers 13:27.

Study: What was the special relationship between God, Israel, and the Promised Land?

Apply: In the light of 1 Peter 2:11 and Hebrews 11:9-13, what does it mean to you personally to live as a stranger and sojourner looking forward to the city whose designer and builder is God Himself?

Share: Your friend asks what it means to be an heir of a promise. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Joshua 13:1-7. Ask the class to identify the main idea of this passage.

Study: Even though the land of Canaan was a gift from God, what were some of the challenges that came with possessing it?

Apply: How do Christians today encounter similar challenges to those related to occupying the Promised Land? See Phil. 2:12, Heb. 12:28.

Share: Your friend says that when she was younger, she believed with all her heart that Jesus was coming soon and one day she would receive the promise of having eternal life on the New Earth. But decades later, she is now wondering if it is all just make-believe. Jesus hasn’t come yet, and she wonders whether she can still trust the Bible’s promises about the second coming and the new earth. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Leviticus 25:1-5, Leviticus 25:8-13. Ask the class to identify the main idea of these passages.

Study: What was the purpose of the Sabbatical year and of the Year of Jubilee?

Apply: How can the principles of the Israelite land allotment and the Sabbath remind us that, in God’s eyes, we are all equal? How can the Sabbath help us say “no” to the exploitive, vicious cycles of consumerism that plague many societies?

Share: your friend says we should be just as gracious with others as God has been generous with us, and yet we have to be practical too. You can’t make a profit in business by being generous to everyone. What do you tell your friend?

Read in Class: Jeremiah 24:6, Jeremiah 31:16, and Ezekiel 11:17.

Study: What was the promise of God concerning the return of Israel to the Promised Land, and how was it fulfilled?

Apply: Read John 14:1-3, Titus 2:13, and Revelation 21:1-3. What ultimate hope is found for us here in these verses, and why does the death of Jesus guarantee us the fulfillment of this hope?

Share: Can you think of a friend who would be encouraged by some of the Scripture we studied this week? Can you reach out to them and share these wonderful promises?