Title: The Watered Garden/Isaiah 58:6-14
For Jews, fasting is one of the religious ordinances. Not only when we are faced with a national disaster, sadness, or personal hardship, but it is also a routine thing we do in our daily lives. Therefore, fasting is an essential part of Jewish life. As a result, their fasting behavior is more ceremonial and formal than fasting in the true sense of the word, and is heavily biased toward showing off, showing off, and boasting. Moreover, even though Israel is now being held captive in Babylon for their sins, their faith was very pretentious and formal.
Although they had to beat their hearts, cry, repent, fast, cry out and worship God for the restoration of the nation and the future of the nation, their religious life was poor. I fasted diligently and worshiped every day, but it was nothing but a futile act that God could not accept. When you work hard on fasting and keeping Holy Week, you can see that the whip comes rather than a blessing. Isaiah 58 can be seen as a rebuke for the ceremonial and formalized faith of the Jews in captivity in Babylon. Then, what kind of worship life is pleasing to God and fasting that is pleasing to God?
First, you need to establish a good relationship with people.
The fast that pleases God is established when we consistently establish a right relationship with people. Free the oppressed, set the slaves free, release the captives, feed the hungry, give clothing to the naked, house the poor, show love and compassion to the poor. This is fasting and worship that pleases God. In other words, it is more important to give people the love and mercy they need than to formally fast, pray, and worship.
We need to build a horizontal relationship between the saints, but to do that, we need to work hard to get together and have fellowship. Whenever we meet, we should greet each other first, participate actively in all things, and fellowship, and do volunteer work in each institution.
The religious life is a communal life. Even the early church was not founded on its own, but was formed as a church when we gather together, and when we worship, break bread, and have true fellowship among the saints, growth and revival can occur.
In particular, praying for each other is the best way for a right relationship. So pray for your servants and pray for your church. Please pray for the temple building and revival of our church and the vision of 100,000 members. Also, please pray for the region and territory, for the saints in my neighborhood, and for the souls of unbelievers. Please pray for the salvation of their souls, embrace their problems, and ache together. At that time, we believe that the church will be revived and peaceful, and the hearts of the saints will be rich. God is pleased only when we first have a right relationship with people and then worship.
The Sabbath day must be kept holy.
On the Sabbath, we should participate in worship, remembering that God is the Creator of heaven and earth, the ruler of our life, the One who promised eternal heaven, and the one worthy of worship. Our God is omnipotent and there is nothing he cannot do. Almighty God, who cannot do anything, gave Isaac when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old. He brought the Israelites out of Egypt. He gave manna and quail in the wilderness, struck the rock and gave water, and even though he had been in the wilderness for 40 years, he kept his clothes and shoes from falling apart. You destroyed the walls of Jericho. He conquered the land of Canaan.
God created the heavens and the earth and is claiming all nature. He makes the sun stay still, makes the shadow of the sun move back ten degrees, and when the heavens are closed, it does not rain for three years and six months, and makes it rain for the first time in three years and six months. Life and death depend on God, and it is up to God to enjoy blessings or to suffer woes. I bless you all who believe in and remember this God as your Father and worship God reverently on Sundays.
And we must remember the Exodus incident. The Exodus is the day the nation of Israel was saved from slavery in Egypt for 430 years. We used to be slaves to sin and slaves to Satan. But now we are those who have been set free from the chains of the devil, and those who have achieved true freedom and liberation. On Sunday, we should remember these facts and become a day of worship.
We must also keep the Sabbath day holy. Isaiah exhorts us to ?쐊eep your foot from the sabbath, and do not entertain yourself on My holy days, do not walk in your own way, do not seek pleasure in your own way, do not speak privately??(verse 13). Sunday should be a day to worship God with the joy of forgiveness of sins and the thrill of receiving grace. I hope that you will make it a day to evangelize those who are still floating in the waves of the world without knowing the thrill of salvation. It should be kept as the day of saving lives where many souls meet God and experience God.
The Sabbath in the Bible today is Saturday. To be precise, the period from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday was called the Sabbath. But today, we Christians keep Sunday, not Saturday, as the Lord's Day, that is, Sunday. Then, why did we not keep the Sabbath, which is Saturday, but today, which is Sunday, as the Lord's Day? In fact, the Bible says to keep the Sabbath, but there is no Bible verse to keep the Sabbath. So heretics often use them as an excuse to deceive believers with weak faith very easily.
But, dear saints! Today, we Christians do not sacrifice sheep or cattle to atone for our sins as did the Israelites in the Old Testament. Also, they do not keep the many feasts specified in the Old Testament, such as the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. This is because our Savior Jesus became the last atoning lamb to accomplish perfect atonement, and also because Jesus, who is the substance of the true Sabbath and the Lord of the Sabbath, was resurrected on Sunday and fully fulfilled all the laws of the Old Testament and the true Sabbath. Therefore, we should make Sunday a day of rest and rest, a day of worship, and a day of fellowship with the Lord. Therefore, we must never miss Sunday even if the heavens fall and things like the heavens and earth are broken. No matter what happens, I hope that all of you will keep the Sunday holy.
There are blessings that God has promised.
He is promising some blessings that you will receive if you live a life that God is pleased with. First, it says, ?쏽our light will shine like morning??(verse 8). The dark and painful night will pass, and the grace of God and the morning sun will shine. This means that Israel's long-lost reputation will be restored. He also said, ?쏽our healing will be swift??(verse 8). It is saying that the suffering of the captivity suffered by Israel's crimes is viewed as a disease, and the cure for that disease will be rapid. And, ?쏽our righteousness will walk before you, and the glory of Yahweh will guard after you????(verse 8). Until now, injustice has stood before Israel, and sin has been the frontrunner, but from now on, the righteousness that pleases God will take the lead. It also means that the glory of God will escort you from behind.
Verse 9 says, ?쏻hen you call, I, YHWH, will answer; when you call, I will say, ?쁇ere I am. Here, ?쐗hen to call??or ?쐗hen to cry??means prayer. If you please God, understand His will, and do what is right in His sight, He will answer your prayers every time you pray. It is a promise and blessing that God will hear and answer our prayers while being very near.
Then, in verse 9 and below, it says, ?쏧f you take away the yoke, the pointing of the fingers, and the useless speech, and give a heart to the hungry and satisfy the heart of the afflicted, then your darkness will be changed and become like the day.??If you forbid pointing your finger at others to ridicule and criticize, do not lie in vain, do not turn away from the suffering of your neighbor, and show love and mercy, darkness will disappear and a bright light will shine on your way. It means that your soul will be satisfied with the fulness of grace and your life will be as secure as the bones are. In short, the blessings of life that God bestows will overflow to individuals, families, and society.
This blessed life was described as ?쏿 watered garden??and ?쏿 spring that never ceases to flow.??And he said, ?쏧t is like an unbroken fountain.??No matter how deep and large a spring is, if it does not spur water, it is just an unnecessary spring. In the meantime, the springs of Israel have dried up because of their crimes and the water has been cut off. However, with a new blessing from God, the well will burst and water will begin to gushing out, and living water from the spring will overflow and spread out to every corner of the garden to provide water to the garden.
In this way, today, I hope that the fountain of grace that does not cease to flow, overflows, waters the garden of your souls, and fills your homes, districts, and local gardens with water. In the name of the Lord, I pray in the name of the Lord that the miracles and blessings of life sprouting, blooming, fragrant, and bearing fruit will come to you as Dry Malaga supplies water to your business, workplace, and the gardens of this society.