Title: The Ultimate Solver
Judges (21) The ultimate solution (Judges 8:18-28)
< Gideon making the ephod of gold >
God created man first among all creation. However, it would be foolish for a human being, who was created to rule over all things, to rely on gold that is inferior to him. If the higher-order depends on the lower-level, it is useless and gradually deteriorates. On the other hand, if the lower ones depend on the higher ones, they will benefit greatly and gradually prosper. In that sense, among all things, there is no object on which humans can depend. This is because man is a creature that is superior to all things.
A person can live a blessed life only when they depend on God, who is the Almighty above. In the end, man's dependence on money is leading his life to ruin. People should use money as an object of lower rank, not idolizing money as a higher level. At that moment, his life becomes unhappy and miserable without satisfaction. Even once-faithful saints can become idols of money or other creatures if they are not careful.
After leading the war against Midian to a great victory, the Israelites asked Gideon to become their king (verse 22). Gideon refused the request, saying that only the Lord God was the king of Israel (verse 23). It was good to refuse honor like that, but instead of becoming king because he could not refuse materially, Gideon asked for the gold earrings of the Ishmaelites he had stolen (verse 24). The people gave them gold earrings at their request, so they made an ephod, a garment for the high priest, out of the gold. Then people came to the point of worshiping the dress.
As a result of the war, Midian's strength was greatly weakened, and the land was at peace during Gideon's forty years (verse 28). However, the Israelites pursued the evil deed of worshiping the ephod as an idol even during Gideon's lifetime, but after Gideon's death, they fervently worshiped Baal as if waiting. This scene shows how deep-rooted the desire for idolatry in man is. The golden omnipotence that is prevalent today is, after all, a form of idolatry.
< The ultimate solver >
What is the happiest life? The happiest life is neither a life of wealth nor a life without money, but a life of walking with God. The standard of happiness is God. So, although there are a lot of material capital in the world, there is virtually no capital as great as a life that pursues God. If you look closely at the wealthy people who live unhappy around you, they are not unhappy because they are rich, but because they are rich who worship money.
An American denial, Howard Hughes valued wealth more than his own life. So, with the psychotic thought that someone might poison him to take away his property, he distanced himself from everyone and ended up in isolation, spreading jam on bread and eating it in an isolated glass tube. How unhappy are you?
The sin that God hates the most is idolatry. Idolatry is giving to creation the energy, thoughts, and affections that should be attributed to God. For example, if you love your children more than God, your children become idols. If you love money more than God, that money becomes an idol. So always ask this question. “What do I see money as? Do you not distance yourself from God, the ultimate Creator, because of money?” If you distance yourself from God because of your greed for money, then money becomes the root of all evil.
The more material we possess, the more alienated the mind is. This is because the existence of God rather than material existence determines the alienation of the spirit. Even if you have a lot of material, “The Lord is my shepherd, and I lack nothing. As long as he can confess the poor heart, "I cannot live without God," his spirit will never be alienated. On the other hand, if we cling to material things without God, our spiritual life is ruined.
Don't let your attachment to material things take precedence over your passion for God. In Revelation 21:21, the way to heaven is described as pure gold like clear glass. The gold that the people of the world desperately want to obtain is the sole of the foot in heaven. If you wish for such a heaven and achieve the heaven of your heart, do not always pursue your greed in material matters, but only pursue your mission.
People misunderstand that matter is the solution to all problems, but the ultimate solution to all problems is God. Therefore, the saints should strive not to be deprived of the material realm by Satan, seek material things, and use those materials for the good of the community, so that materials do not only be used as a tool for our comfort. Material things can give ‘comfort’, but not ‘peace’. Peace can only be given by God.