We are living in challenging times. And it seems like one of the most difficult times to raise children. What about the children? Does God care about our children?

Sin, Evil, Death, Dying, and What Happens After We Die

This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.

Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.

But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again. 

From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)

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Inviting the Holy Spirit

Father, this world is tough, and it seems to worsen by the minute. The lives of our children are in jeopardy every day. We ask that you extend your hand of protection and cover them with your love. In Jesus’ Name Amen

In the previous lesson, Lesson 5, Day 3, we learned of the Phoenician women and the Shunammite women who lost their sons. They sought help from the prophets Elijah and Elisha and their sons were brought back to life again. You can review the details of what happened in Lesson 5, Day 3 at SabbathSchoolDaily.com

 Both the Phoenician women and the Shunammite women ask for help from God through the Prophet Elijah and Elisha with the confidence that God would resurrect their sons from the dead. But what happens when we feel unable or unworthy to ask God for help?

The Bible tells us in Acts 10:38 that man

“Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38).

The Bible is filled with accounts of Jesus and how He helped many people who were hurting and in need. What Jesus did to help those in need and help those who were hurting was the reason many Jews accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah. They saw Jesus as the one God had promised their forefathers would come to save their people from sin and death.

It is no wonder, for It is said that:

“There were whole villages where there was not a moan of sickness in any house, for He had passed through them and healed all their sick. His work gave evidence of His divine anointing. Love, mercy, and compassion were revealed in every act of His life; His heart went out in tender sympathy to the children of men. He took man’s nature so that He might reach man’s wants. The poorest and humblest were not afraid to approach Him. Even little children were attracted to Him.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, pp. 11, 12. 

Also indicating that Jesus was the Messiah, The Bible tells about Him in Galilee, a region in Israel, in which He healed the sick and cast out demons.

Moreover, revealing that Jesus had the power over death, Luke 7:11-17 is an account of Him raising a widow’s son back to life again. Read it and notice how this resurrection compares to the resurrection we studied on day 3. You can review day 3 at SabbathSchoolDaily.com. See if you can determine how this resurrection in Luke is different from the resurrection of the Phoenician woman’s son and the Shunammite woman’s son. 

11 Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.

12 And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. (Luke 7:11-12)

When Jesus and His followers approached the city of Nain, a village in Galilee, they notice that a funeral procession was going through the Gates of Nain. The people were carrying an open coffin that contain the body of the son of a widow. This widow marched along the coffin crying uncontrollably.  Luke tells us in Luke 7:13-15 that:

13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

14 Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.”

15 So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. (Luke 7:13–15, NKJV).

Luke tells us in Luke 7:16 that

6 Fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited His people!” (Luke 7:16).

Then in Luke 7:17, it says:

17 This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding districts. (Luke 7:17)

Thus, the people believed that God sent Jesus to show that He cared for His people.

In the case of the Phoenician widow in 1 King 17:8–24 and the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4:18–37 both asked for help from God’s servants Elijah and Elisha, respectively. But the widow of Nain got help without asking for it. This shows that God cares for us even when we don’t feel we are worthy to ask Him for help.

Here are some comforting words to the mother concerned about the care of her children, especially in these troubled times. 

Your compassionate Redeemer is watching you with love and sympathy, ready to hear your request and give you the assistance which you need. He knows the worries of every mother’s heart and is her best friend in every emergency. His everlasting arms support the God-fearing, faithful mother. When upon earth, He had a mother that struggled with poverty, having many anxious cares and perplexities, and He sympathizes with every Christian mother in her cares and anxieties…He who gave back to the widow her only son as he was carried to the burial is touched today by the woe of the bereaved mother. . . . He is a woman’s best friend today and is ready to help her in all the relations of life.—The Adventist Home, p. 204. 

Jesus does not limit his care to any specific ethnic group, race, social class, or gender. Evidence of this is found in Day 5: Jairus’s Daughter.

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