Nations fall short of God's ideals, but removing government usually leads to anarchy.

When listing the nations descended from Noah, Genesis 10 points out that Nimrod built a kingdom including places such as Babel and Ninevah. That's somewhat foreboding given our knowledge of the subsequent stories. Although it is good to be counter cultural, is the government (or government in general) always bad?

Marriage is a strong but tricky image throughout the Bible.

It is interesting to see that God is able to reveal aspects of himself through this image both when marriage is at its best and also when it doesn't go as hoped.

Genesis is a foundation for many of the symbols and images that become significant throughout the Bible.

But it is fascinating to reconsider just how detailed these introductions actually are. What is the resolution of the imagery in Genesis, and does it add value forwards through time? Could some of it only make sense in retrospect? We focus particularly on themes of "the lamb" and sacrifice, and it seems much is left unresolved (from our Christian perspective) in the book of Genesis itself.

One principle of prophecy is that God wants to be understood.

But it does sometimes seem strange then that He chooses such mysterious analogies and images. This new season will explore a few of these allusions, images, and symbols. One key issue with prophecy is whether these aspects should be interpreted literally or figuratively, but there are numerous other contrasts that could be explored: prosaic-vs-poetic, understated-vs-exaggerated, right-vs-wrong, etc. Maybe some Biblical passages don't neatly fit into some of these categories.

"Love and Justice" is often narrowed to "Love or Commandments".

This may not be the most helpful juxtaposition. The Adventist lesson guide this week asks "how could we express love to God, or love to others, if we are violating any one of the Ten Commandments?" In one sense this seems reasonable (the Commandments do relate to loving God and others). But in the light of Jesus famous Sermon on the Mount it seems equally reasonable to suggest that no sinner truly "keeps" the Ten Commandments. Does that really mean we are incapable of expressing love?

What does God's concern for justice mean for us today?

This Psalm is only brief, but resonates deeply with numerous bible passages about God's passion for justice. How can we engage with Him in "upholding the cause of the poor and the oppressed", and how do we make sure to avoid "defending the unjust"?

How much does understanding actually help us to cope with suffering?

An interesting feature of the Sabbath School lesson this quarter is that it consistently assumes there is comfort in knowing why bad things happen. This may well be true in some situations, but we ponder on the story of Job who was never told the answer to this question. The question of what more God could have done is posted in Isaiah 5, but not about God's actions to prevent suffering. Instead, it is an expression of God's yearning for his people to exhibit justice and become "the vines he delights in". Perhaps we can do this even without really understanding pain and suffering.

Are there rules for the Cosmic Conflict?

The lesson this week sets out to explore the "rules of engagement" in the conflict between God and Satan. Is this a helpful framing of the situation if Satan - the great deceiver - disregards any rules and tries to cheat? The idea has value in attempting to explain why God might not step in sometimes as we wish, but we explore a surprising alternative idea.