Title: The sacrifice of praise
Contents
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Judges 12:1-6
1. The Ephraimites gathered together and went to the north, and said to Jephthah, "Why did you not call us to go with you when you went over to fight the Ammonites? We will surely burn you and your house with fire."
2. Jephthah said to them, "When I and my people had a great quarrel with the children of Ammon, I called you, because you did not save me from their hand.
3. When I saw that you were not saving me, I did not look back on my life, but went over and struck the Ammonites, and the Lord delivered them into my hand. Why do you want to come up to me today to fight with me?
4. Jephthah gathered all the Gileadites and fought against Ephraim, and the Gileadites defeated Ephraim and destroyed it, because Ephraim said, “You Gileadites were originally those who fled from Ephraim, and are among Ephraim and Manasseh.
5. When the Gileadites seize and guard the Jordan Narutuk before the Ephraimites, and the Ephraimite fugitive says, “Let me cross over,” he asks him, “Are you an Ephraimite?
6. Say to him, "Shipbolet." If the Ephraimite was not able to speak correctly, and if it was Chebolet, the Gileadites immediately seized him and killed him at the port of the Jordan. At that time the Ephraimites died forty-two thousand.
Hebrews 13:12-17
12. Therefore Jesus also suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people with his own blood.
13. So, let us go out to him outside the camp, carrying his reproach.
14. We do not have a permanent city here, but we seek what is to come.
15. Therefore let us always offer sacrifices of praise to God through Jesus, which are the fruits of our lips that testify of his name.
16. But do not forget to do good and to share with one another, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
17. Be obedient to those who lead you and be submissive, for they watch for your souls as they are judges. Let them do this with joy, and not with sorrow, otherwise it is of no benefit to you.
Content
Title: the sacrifice of praise
Text: Isaiah 12:1-6, Hebrews 13:12-17,
There is a saying that ‘he who likes to sing finds a song anytime, anywhere’ (Swedish proverb). One of the characteristics of Christians that the Bible and Christian history conveys is that they are “singers.” Therefore, the Old Testament, the canon of Judaism, contains 150 psalms called “hymns of Israel.” Of the 66 books of the Bible, it is the longest, at 104 pages. In the Jewish religion, Psalms were sung in almost every worship service and ceremony. These are the songs that were offered to God along with prayer in the life of faith. In this sense, hymns are sometimes called 'praying with melody'. These are the words of Kanzo Uchimura. 'Hymns are the voice of the soul of a Christian believer. The special feelings that arise with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit cannot be expressed in ordinary words. A Christian's hymn is a song of the soul that contains all the stories of joy and sorrow.'
In addition to the psalms, the Bible also contains hymns. These are sacrifices of praise offered to God by experiencing the grace of salvation given by God and giving thanks to Him. The oldest hymn recorded in the Bible was in the Garden of Eden. This is the exclamation that Adam sang when God saw that Adam was alone and made Eve as a helper for Adam and brought him to Adam. “This is bone of my bones. live among the years Because it was taken from a man, it will be called woman” (Genesis 2:23). Next is the festival song sung by about 2 million people who witnessed God's miracle through the Red Sea crossing (Exodus 15:1-21). There is a ‘Song of Deborah’, a prophetess in the period of the Judges (Judges 5:1-31). There is also the mother ‘Hannah’s song (prayer)’ (1 Samuel 2).
When it comes to the New Testament, the beginning and the end will be hymns. Almost all of the records are about meeting the Messiah of salvation. There is a song of Mary receiving the Annunciation (Luke 1:46-55). There is also the song of Zacharias (Luke 1:68-79). The song of angels and heavenly hosts announcing the birth of the Messiah resounded in the night sky of Bethlehem (Luke 2:14). Simeon, who is old and old, holds the newborn Jesus in his arms and praises God (Luke 2:29-32). Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples, praised God, and climbed the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30). Paul and Silas praised God in prison in Philippi. “About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and praising God, and the prisoners were listening” (Acts 16:25). At the end of the New Testament and the end of mankind, there is a praise from heaven that announces the end of the world (Rev 19:1-8).
Today's Old Testament text (Isaiah 12:1-6) is a song of thanksgiving for salvation in the age of the Messiah. This is the content that the world will sing together, and it is the content that the chosen people will sing first. Today's New Testament text (Hebrews 13:12-17) tells us what kind of life the church and the community on earth should practice toward heaven. According to the laws of the Old Testament times, the obligatory sacrifices ended with the cross of Jesus (John 19:30). Along with the sin offerings that were offered endlessly for the forgiveness of sins, burnt offerings were offered with commitment to devotion, grain offerings with commitment to service and loyalty, and peace offerings to thank God for grace. However, a new era began with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sacrifice we must offer, living in the age of the Holy Spirit, is not a return to the Old Testament. We must offer a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15). It is the fruit of our lips that we must give. It is good deeds (Hebrews 13:16) and obedience to authority (Hebrews 13:17).