Title: God's Grace Matters.
Contents
People do it to win when they play.
You can even see the determination of the players in the World Cup finals.
Farmers expect a bountiful harvest, and those who sow seeds and invest in the so-called jackpot.
Kang Tae-gong, who likes fishing, endures a long period of time with a big picture in their minds.
In this way, people want to win and to do well in one form or another.
So, I try to get ahead of others a little faster, and even go to a shaman or a fortune teller to find out about my future.
Example) A businessman's prayer
The content of today's text is that when Israel was defeated in the battle with the Philistines, the elders of Israel set up the ark of the covenant of God at the vanguard of the battle and went out to fight.
But instead, they take a bigger blow and lose.
The ark of the covenant in the Old Testament symbolizes God.
But even though the ark of the covenant of God had gone out, why did more people die and lose the war than when only humans went out?
First, because of superstitious beliefs.
Verse 3 reads, “When the people returned to the camp, the elders of Israel said to them, “Why has the Lord caused us to be defeated before the Philistines today? Let us save them from the hand of the field.” The leaders of Israel had knowledge of the Ark of the Covenant.
But they had no complete faith in God and no confession entirely that “the war belongs to the Lord.”
Based on the story that the Jordan River split when the Ark of the Covenant, which had been heard in the past, went ahead, Israel had a false and superstitious element that if God's Ark of the Covenant went in front of it, they would win unconditionally.
It was an ignorant tradition.
The ark of the covenant of God is not an amulet. What do you say come out? And it's not even the bat that comes out.
Rather, the Philistines had the knowledge of the Ark of the Covenant at the level that the Israelites knew.
Verse 8, “Woe to us, who will deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods, the gods who struck the Egyptians with many plagues in the wilderness.”
What is the difference between the ark of the covenant that Israel and the Philistines knew?
Not much.
It is not a matter of knowing, but a matter of faith about how much you love and believe in God.
Ex) Characteristics of heresies - uniformity
Second, God was not with us.
The historical background of this text is before Saul became the first king of Israel and established a monarchy.
Before there was a king, it was a time when the judges set up by God were judging and leading, and this time is called the Age of Judges.
But the Bible refers to this time, saying, “There was no king in Israel, so every man did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).
In other words, he lived his life the way he wanted to.
God's Word was not the standard, but his thoughts and experiences were given priority.
There are also verses to prove this in the text.
Verse 4, “The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of the covenant of God.”
Why are Hophni and Phinehas with the Ark of the Covenant?
Because he is a priest. (1 Samuel 1:3)
Even more sadly, 1 Samuel 2:12 says, “The sons of Eli were wicked, and they did not know the Lord.”
Not only this, but also verses 13-17, “This is the custom of the priests to the people: When anyone offers a sacrifice and boils the meat, the priest’s servant comes with a three-year-old hook in his hand and uses it in a pot or a pot. The priest shall take as his own what is pierced in a pot or a furnace and caught on the hook, and this is what he does to all the Israelites in Shiloh.
Even before the oil was burned, the priest's servant came and said to the sacrificer, "Give the priest meat for roasting, and he wants you raw, not boiled."
The man said, "Be sure to burn the oil first, and then take whatever you desire." He said, "No, give it to me now, otherwise I will take it by force."
The sin of these young men was exceeding great before the LORD, because they despised the sacrifice of the LORD.”
Hophni and Phinehas, who were in charge of the priesthood, were evil in their disrespect for the sacrifices and worship offered to God and directly opposing the Word.
How must God's heart be broken to the extent that the priests who are to serve God have reached this point?
In the end, God allowed Israel to lose the war against the Philistines, and Hophni and Phinehas died.
Priest Eli also heard this news, fell from his chair and broke his neck, and the family collapsed with his death.
Verses 10-11 read, “The Philistines struck, and Israel was defeated, and each fled to their tents, and the slaughter was so great that thirty thousand of the Israelite infantry fell.
The ark of God was taken, and Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.” Here, 30,000 is a number similar to the number of the tribes of Manasseh and Benjamin.
The tribe of Manasseh was 32.200 and the tribe of Benjamin was 35,400 (Numbers 1:34, 37).
In other words, one tribe was broken up to the point of extinction.
And when Phinehas's wife died, he named his son Ichaboth.
Verses 20-22: “As he was dying, the women standing by said to him, “Do not be afraid, you have given birth to a son.” But he did not answer, nor did he think anything.
They say, Glory has departed from Israel. And they called the child Ichabod, because the ark of God was taken, and her father-in-law and her husband died.
And they said, 'The glory has departed from Israel, because the ark of God has been taken.'"
If God is not with us, we need to remember that these disastrous consequences will happen to us as well, and we should ask God to walk with us.
No matter how difficult or difficult it is, if God is with you, there is hope.
You will win.
But no matter how much you have, if God is not there, you are nothing.
Watch the video - Footprints
Organize your words.
This is a time when we need God's presence, God's presence and grace.
In order for God to be with us, we must remove the false superstitious elements and move forward looking to the Lord with complete faith.
David repented of his adultery with Bathsheba and prayed that the Spirit of God would not leave him.
Psalm 51:11 “Do not cast me out of your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me!”
Because David knew that when God left, nothing in this world would be nothing more than midday dust.
No matter how difficult and difficult our lives are, if God walks with us, the desert wilderness will become green pastures, and even in hopeless places like the Valley of Achor, dry bones will come to life and become God's army.
I sincerely hope that all of you will be overflowing with victory and joy in life through God's walk and grace.