Title: God Shows Great and Secret Things
Contents
“Oh, by the grace of God”
The year 2010, the long-awaited new year has arrived. I saw a photo of a child who participated in the ‘Winter Vacation Animal Experience Class’ at the Children’s Grand Park in Neung-dong, Seoul, holding a 100-day-old tiger and having fun. However, underneath the photo was written “Tiger, please take care of 2010”.
Each person has their own wishes and wishes. However, it is childish to ask the tiger for his long-awaited dream. And it is vague to expect that long-awaited future in an uncertain future. Our long-awaited request is not from the white tiger and white tiger, but from God who answers our cry.
Today's text, Jeremiah 33:1-9, is the word of God that the prophet Jeremiah received while still being imprisoned in the courtyard of the guards. God commanded Jeremiah to pray. Then he will show you great and secret things. It was the promise of Judah's destruction, restoration, and a glorious future. Here I realized that there is hope to overcome despair in God's promise to reveal great and secret things.
1. The God who reveals great and secret things is the God who heals and restores.
Jeremiah 30-33 is a book of comfort. Among them, chapter 33 is the verse corresponding to the conclusion. At that time, the nation of Israel was on the verge of being destroyed by Babylon. What they desperately needed was an answer to prayer and hope of recovery.
Just as Jeremiah was imprisoned in the court of the guards, Judah suffered four invasions and three captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. During the 4th invasion, the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem and built a wall of clay around it. And they waited for Jerusalem to be completely destroyed without breaking the siege for a year and a half. At that time, the Israelites tried to block the Babylonian army by tearing down their houses and royal palaces, but by repairing the walls. But these remedies were to no avail. Because the cause of their destruction was the religious corruption caused by idolatry and the sin of moral corruption, because God hid his face and did not visit the city. But God never gives up or turns away from His covenant people. God severely disciplines his people when they do something wrong. That discipline is God's love for salvation. That is why we believe that God can solve problems that humans cannot solve by self-reliance through His grace.
Let's look at Jeremiah 33:6-8. “But behold, I will heal and heal this city, and I will bring peace and abundance to them; I will bring back the captivity of Judah and Israel, and I will set them up as in the first place, and I will cleanse them from all their iniquity that I have committed against me. I will forgive all the iniquity I have committed.” Amen!
According to the prophecy, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed and the people were taken captive. But they never despaired. It was because he had hope and faith in the promise that God, who said that he would show them great and secret things, would surely heal them and restore them, and that he would forgive them all their sins and bring them peace. And finally, they returned to their homeland in 581 B.C.E. after 70 years (Jer 29:10), as Jeremiah foretold, to restore the temple and city of Jerusalem. I believe that this is the grace of healing and restoration that God, who shows great and secret things, will give to you and me as well.
In Job 5:18 it says, “God binds up wounds, and wounds, and heals with his hands.” And Isaiah 30:26 says, “In the day the Lord binds up the wounds of his people and heals their wounds, the moonlight will be like the sun, and the sun will be sevenfold as the light of seven days. That's right. We believe that the God who shows us great and hidden things is the God who heals and restores us when we cry out and pray. The theme of the special early morning prayer for the new year 2010 is “The Road to Recovery.” Dear brothers and sisters, I earnestly pray that you will experience the God who heals and restores you through awake and prayer, a God who reveals great and secret things.
2. The God who reveals great and secret things is the God who makes the nations praise and glory.
When Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the demonstrators, God's promises were not limited to the healing and restoration of Israel. Through Jeremiah, God not only restores Jerusalem, which will be destroyed by Babylon in the future, but also promises to bless him beyond compare with before. Because of this hope, Israel was able to persevere while building up the refinement of faith during that miserable captivity.
Let's look at Jeremiah 33:9-11. “This city will be a pleasing name to me before the nations of the world, and it will be a blessing and a glory, and they will hear all the blessings I have given this people, and they will tremble with fear and tremble at all the blessings and peace I have bestowed upon this city. Thus saith the LORD: Here in this place, where you have said of it, desolate, without man or beast, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, desolated, without man, without inhabitants, or without animals, the sound of rejoicing, the sound of rejoicing, the voice of the bridegroom. , the voice of the bride, and the voice of the bride, and the voice of thanksgiving to the LORD of hosts, the LORD is good, and his mercy endures forever, and the voices of those who offer thanksgiving in the temple of the LORD, because I have sent back the captives of this land, for he will make you like me. saith the LORD.” Amen!
The return of the people of Judah to captivity and the restoration of Jerusalem are historical miracles. God, who restored Israel through Cyrus, king of Persia, a new empire, said that he would give all blessings so that the city would become a pleasing name of God, praise and glory in front of the nations of the world. And he said that all the nations of the world will hear all the blessings that God has bestowed on his people and will be afraid and tremble. As a result, in cities and streets that had no inhabitants or animals, the voices of rejoicing, of rejoicing, of the bride and groom, of praising God for His goodness and mercy, and of those who offered thanksgiving, 'Give thanks to the Lord' The sound came back. I believe that this is the grace of God, who shows great and secret things, to become the praise and glory of the nations to you and me as well.
Someone expressed the speed of our country's economic growth, saying that modernization is on the way, industrialization is on the way, and informatization is on the way. However, we must remember and acknowledge that the ‘power of the gospel’ lies at the foundation of all such growth. This is because it is the work of God that He will reveal great and secret things to the praying people. I believe that God has given us all these blessings and all the peace so that our nation may become a pleasing name of God and praise and glory to God in front of the nations of the world.
Isaiah 43:21 says, “This people I have formed for myself, that they may praise me.” And 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” That's right. I believe that the God who reveals great and secret things is the God who gives us all blessings and all peace so that when we cry out and pray, we may become God's pleasing name in the sight of the nations of the world, and to be praise and glory to God. Dear brothers and sisters, I hope that you will receive all the blessings and all the peace that God has given you by watching and praying. Therefore, I earnestly pray that God will give praise and glory to God in front of the nations of the world.
There are proverbs about tigers.
“Tigers do not eat carrion.”
“When a tiger dies, he leaves his skin, and when he dies, he leaves his name.”
“Tigers usually hide their claws.”
“It’s going to go, but the wind is going.”
"To catch a tiger, you have to go into a tiger's den."
“Even if you are bitten by a tiger, you will live if you are alert.”
“There is no old old man who didn’t catch a tiger.”
In the Year of the Tiger, the ancients tried to avoid bad luck by putting a tiger painting on the front of the gate or carrying a tiger amulet in the new year. In one newspaper, a tiger amulet was printed on the paper and written, “Cut and keep a tiger amulet that will protect you this year.”
In the high-tech information age, I was disappointed with the newspaper that said, “Keep a tiger amulet to protect you.” The one who will protect us is the God who shows us great and secret things, not the tiger amulet. Dear brothers and sisters, I hope you receive the healing and restoration, blessings and peace of God who shows you great and secret things by praying in faith. Therefore, I earnestly pray in the name of the Lord that it may become the joy of God in front of the nations of the world, and the praise and glory of God. Amen!
“Only for the Glory of God”