Title: What Matters to God
Contents
What is important to God
2007. 10. 14. / Jeon Hyo-sik
Text: Joshua 7:22~26
Introduction
1. Example 1 - An exam at a nursing school
A woman who has been admitted to nursing school for two months is taking an exam instead of a lecture in class. It was a surprise test. As a woman who listened to the class diligently, she was able to solve the problem without much difficulty. But I'm stuck on the last question. "What is the name of the lady who cleans our school?" Can this be called a test question? She had seen this old lady many times. He was tall with black hair and looked about fifty years old. What's his name? She left the answer to the last question blank and submitted the answer sheet. After all the answer sheets were submitted, one student asked if the last question was also reflected in the score. “Of course, as a nurse, you will be dealing with a lot of people in the future. Each and every one of them is important. They deserve your special attention and consideration. In any case, you should always give them a smile. You have to smile first and say hello first." said the professor. Even now, she said, "I never forget that lecture. The cleaning lady's name was 'Dorothy'." is said to be a confession.
For the professor, the most important thing for the nurses was the attitude towards people. However, the students did not know it and were only trying to learn about nursing work. The people of Israel also failed to fulfill what is important to God, so they were defeated in the battle for Ai. Let's take a look at what was important to God that caused Israel to lose the war.
Main subject
2. Amorites (Ai) vs Israelis
(1) Israel defeated in the city of Ai: After winning the battle of Jericho, the Israelites were full of morale. After experiencing the presence of God, the Israelites chose the city of Ai as their next occupation. So Joshua sent spies to the city of Ai to find out what their military strength was. The men who spies on the city of Ai returned and told Joshua that the city of Ai could not be defeated by sending 2,000 to 3,000 soldiers because there were no mothers to fight with them. So Joshua sent about 3,000 men to the battle of Ai. However, Israel was defeated at the Battle of Ai, and 36 people were killed while fleeing.
Joshua did not understand. I pondered why Israel was defeated. Obviously, God commanded us to subdue the land of Canaan, and even sent the commander of the Lord's army to fight ahead of us. So Joshua prayed to God like this. “God, the Lord, allowed our people to cross the Jordan River. But why do you have us come all the way here to be killed by the Amorites? It would have been better for us to stay beyond the Jordan. When all who live on the earth hear of this, they will soon besiege us and kill us all. What will be the great name of the Lord? When Joshua prayed like this, God told Joshua that Israel was defeated because of their sins.
3. The message of this event
(1) What God considers important: What we can learn from this incident is whether we obey or disobey God's Word. As I said last week, what did you say is important? Yes! The important thing is to think about what's important. What God cares about is living a life of obedience to God. The reason God sends the people of Israel into the land of Canaan is to subdue the land of Canaan so that the people of Israel can live in obedience with God's guidelines for life in the land of Canaan. So, in order to test their obedience in the battle of Jericho, the first war in Canaan, He had them go around Jericho. What God really cares about is living in obedience to God, and this is why disobedience to God occurred from the first battle of Jericho.
(3) Results and content of prayer: In the end, Achan was stoned to death along with his family, and the bodies were burnt in the presence of many people. God was trying to cut the wages of sin completely. If the sin of disobedience still remained in the people of Israel, victory in the Canaanite War would be meaningless, so the sin was completely cut off. So he and his whole family were killed.
Through the incident of Achan, we can see that the most important thing that God cares about is obedience to God's word, and the thing that God hates the most is disobedience. That is why we should always pray like this. "God, please help me to become a person who always obeys God's Word. Let me always read the Bible so that I know what to obey.
conclusion
4. Illustration 3 - Obedience
An army recruit said to a later sergeant. "I want to lead an exemplary enlisted life during my military service. If there is anything essential in military life, please tell me." The sergeant's reply was as follows. "Dear friend, my advice is very simple. 'Anytime obey your orders' and that's all." "But what if several people give orders at once? Whose orders should they obey?" "It probably won't happen. But if it happens, you must obey the orders of the highest rank." For Christians, the highest and ultimate authority is God. Long ago, the powers of this earth called Peter and John, and commanded them, "Do not speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus." But they boldly answered, "We ought to obey God rather than men."
We must live a life of obedience to the Most High God. In my mind, "I want that Babylonian cloak! Wouldn't it be great if I could steal silver and gold?" Instead of obeying the command that shouts, "Give me all the loot from the first battle!" We must obey God who says, In my heart, "I want to be more interested in enjoying things in the world than getting close to God. Instead of obeying the commands of my heart, I must obey God who says, "Come close to me." It is right to obey God rather than man.