Title: Those Who Fear God
one who fears God
Today is Macchu Thanksgiving Day. Macchu Thanksgiving Day is a day to give thanks for giving the first fruits. Another name for Thanksgiving Day is the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22). This is because it is after seven Sabbaths (7x7) from the Passover. It is also called the Feast of Firstfruits (Ex 34:22) because of thanks for giving the firstfruits. In the New Testament, Thanksgiving Day is called Pentecost (Acts 2:1) because it is the 50th day after the seven Sabbaths have passed.
Thanksgiving is called Thanksgiving-day in English. In English, the word “thanks” and the word “think” come from the same root. If you think deeply, you can be grateful. The more you think about it, the more conditions for gratitude come out.
1. Thank you for being saved
The first thanksgiving is thanksgiving for salvation.
The greatest thanksgiving among gratitude is the thanksgiving for salvation. If we did not believe in Jesus, we would be condemned to eternal hell, but by believing in Jesus we were saved and received eternal life. The greatest thanksgiving among gratitude is the thanksgiving for salvation. Hallelujah! We are saved.
In the history of the people of Israel, the Exodus event is the event of salvation. Exodus 1:6 says, “Joseph and all his brothers and all the men of his time died.” When Israel was starving because of lack of food, 66 members of his family emigrated to Egypt because of Joseph, who became the prime minister of Egypt. At that time, King Pharaoh granted the Israelites the Goshen region and gave them special treatment as the prime minister's family. However, as time passed, King Pharaoh died, all the people of that time died, and the Israelites gradually became slaves. Verses 8-11, “A new king rose up, who did not know Joseph, and he said to his subjects, “This people, the children of Israel, are many and mightier than we are. Let us fight together and leave this land.” And he set over them over them and placed heavy burdens on them, tormenting them, and causing them to build the state treasuries of Pidom and Rameses for Pharaoh.” King Pharaoh commissioned the people of Israel to make clay and bake bricks, and put them into building the state treasury.
Despite the hard work, the number of the Israelites continued to grow. As their numbers continued to grow, Pharaoh became worried. Worried about what would happen if a war broke out and the Israelites joined hands with their enemies and attacked us, he ordered additional killings of all male children born. It was because he thought that if the boy was killed, there would be no worries if a war broke out because the number of soldiers would be small. However, despite the king's orders, boys continued to be born and lived without dying. One of them is Moses. Moses lived in an environment where he had no choice but to die.
2. Gratitude for those sent for my salvation
God mobilized women to save Moses.
① Hebrew midwife
In order to reduce the number of the Israelites, King Pharaoh ordered that all male children be killed. Verses 15-17 say, “Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, who were called Shipbra and Puah, saying, “Take care of the Hebrew women when they give birth, and put to death the male, but let the female live.”
At that time, when a boy was born, all of them had to die, but Moses did not die and survived. Why did Moses live without dying? Verse 17 says, “But the midwives feared God and disobeyed the command of the king of Egypt, and let the man live.” God mobilized the Hebrew midwives to bring Moses back to life. The midwives violated the king's orders and did not kill the boy, but kept him alive. The reason is that the midwives feared God rather than the king's command (verse 17), the midwives feared God (verse 21), and God showed them favor (verse 20).
② Sister Miriam and mother
The name Moses is a compound of the words ‘Mo (water)’ and ‘Uses (rescued)’, meaning that he was rescued from water. Moses lived 120 years, but coincidentally, he lived for 40 years as a prince in the palace of Egypt, 40 years for spiritual training in the Midian wilderness, and 40 years as a leader who led the people of Israel.
Exodus 2:2-4, “The woman conceived and gave birth to a son, and when she saw that she was in good health, she hid him for three months, and when she could not hide it any longer, she took a box for her, and covered it with bitumen and wood, and laid the child there. She put it on the shore of the river and put it among the reeds, and stood afar off to see what was going on with her sister.” Moses' sister Miriam followed the box to go, and while the princess was looking at the baby, she ran and introduced her mother as a nanny. While breastfeeding Moses, my mother gave him national education, ideological education, and religious education. Dear saints, I hope you don't just shake children's cradles, but shake their minds.
③ Pharaoh's daughter
Exodus 2:5 says, “As Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the river to bathe, and her maids were walking by the river, when she saw a box among the reeds, she sent her maid to bring it. At that time, the Nile River was an object of worship, and people believed that bathing in the river would bring fertility and an abundant harvest. According to Bible scholars, Pharaoh's daughter was married, but had no children, so she went out to bathe in the Nile River to have a child. If it hadn't been for the princess who had just come out to bathe when Moses came out of the water, Moses might have died. The princess took Moses and raised him as a son.
God sent these women to save Moses. The reason I was saved today is because of the mobilization of many people around me. I was saved because God mobilized my parents, family, relatives, and neighbors. When we think of the grace of salvation, we have nothing but gratitude.
3. A life of gratitude
We should be thankful for everything. Be grateful for the little things. And you have to be grateful in your life. A kind-hearted farmer and a greedy farmer lived in a village. A good farmer worked hard and grew a large radish. He picked up the largest radish and presented it to Go-eul, saying that he could farm peacefully thanks to Won-nim's good control of the country. Then the Wonnim sent a servant to give him a bull as a gift from among the items brought into the palace.
When the greedy farmer heard this, he thought, 'I gave one radish to get an ox, so if I donate one ox, I will get a few yards of paddy fields.' But the monk who received the bull said, “Hello! I asked him, “Is there anything that has come into the house these days?” He said that he had a large radish he had just received a week ago, so the greedy farmer offered a bull and received the radish as a gift. We must give thanks from the heart.
Dear saints, I pray that you will be able to give genuine thanks from the heart to God in your life (Amen).