Title Who Am I? who am i
Contents
Who am I? Who am I?
2007. 09. 23. / Jeon Hyo-sik
Text: Joshua 5:2~9
Introduction
Do you know the story of ‘the goose that lays golden eggs’? In the story, if the owner of the goose was really to have many golden eggs, he had to raise the goose well so that it lays eggs. But he cuts the goose's belly so that even a fool can get a lot of golden eggs. So the goose died and no longer had golden eggs. The owner thought that increasing the production of golden eggs was the way to become rich. So I split the goose's belly. But more importantly, we should have paid more attention to the production capacity to raise geese so that the geese lay good golden eggs.
As such, looking at the Bible we read today, I think that the most important thing for the Israelites is to prepare for war and to raise the morale of the soldiers. But God was not that important, but something else was more important. God had instructed Joshua to do something to increase his productive capacity to better fight war. Let's take a look at what this is (????).
Main subject
1. The people of Israel practiced circumcision
When the Israelites were camping in a tent in Gilgal, God called Joshua and gave him a command. It is to make knives out of flint and tell the Israelites to circumcise themselves. Circumcision refers to today's circumcision. Nowadays, there is no semi-compulsory circumcision in schools, but in the past, elementary school/middle school/high school students were circumcised on a large scale for “medical” reasons. Boys tend to be reluctant to wash, so they circumcised them because they didn't wash well, which caused germs in the peppers. However, most Koreans say that circumcision is not necessary, so these days, surgery is only performed on those who have the will. However, in the age we live in, circumcision was performed for medical reasons, but in the age of Joshua, circumcision was performed for other reasons.
You can think of circumcision as making a covenant with God. What covenant is made, "I am God's people." It is to leave evidence between God and man. So the Israelites performed circumcision on the eighth day after birth to show that they were God's people. But now, God calls Joshua and tells the people of Israel to circumcise again. It is to start practicing circumcision again, just as the people of Israel practiced circumcision in the past. There is a reason for saying this.
The Israelites escaped from Egypt and spent 40 years in the wilderness. All men were circumcised when they escaped from Egypt. However, it was not possible to circumcise the babies born after they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. He stopped walking every day, and stopped walking every day, so he could not afford to be circumcised. So, 40 years after the exodus from Egypt, almost all the men who had been circumcised died or became old men, and all the men who were going to participate in the war did not perform the circumcision. That is why God had the men of Israel to be circumcised.
2. When to perform circumcision
(1) What to do when Jindo Dog 1 is issued
(2) If you practice circumcision...
If you are circumcised, you will not be able to walk well for 5 days. And it takes quite a while to fully fly. If the current situation is Jindo Dog 1, if the soldiers cannot walk well, they will all be killed when they are attacked. If we practice circumcision, the soldiers who are supposed to fight in the war will lose their strength and have no choice but to lose. Once upon a time, when Jacob took his family to a place called Shechem, one of the Shechemites had raped Jacob's daughter Danah. So his brothers, Simeon and Levi, tricked the Shechemites into circumcision, and then killed all the Shechemites when they couldn't move. To perform circumcision at the time of war like this is the same as simply claiming to be killed in war. Then, why does God require circumcision to be performed in such a situation? And did the people of Israel simply obey God's word without complaining even in a situation they did not understand at all?
3. What God considers important
Because what is very important to God is that the people of Israel practice circumcision, he must have commanded them to perform circumcision before the war. Obviously, because circumcision is what God considers very important, he must have told us to do it before war. character! What did you mean by circumcision? Circumcision is the evidence of the covenant between God and us. In any covenant, the Israelites are God's people. It is said that the Israelites practiced circumcision as a proof of the covenant that they were God's people. In other words, it was very important to God that the people of Israel knew who they were. They say, “Oh! I am God's people! Our people are God's people.” It means that God took it very seriously.
Knowing who I am and knowing what kind of person I am is said to be knowing one's identity in difficult words. What is the good thing about knowing one's identity, so that God thought it important for the Israelites to know their identity?
(1) God considers it important to know who I am.
character! First of all, God wanted the Israelites to know who He was. The people of Israel are the people of God. A king has the right to rule over his people, but he also has the right to protect and protect them. In other words, the fact that the people of Israel are God's people means that God is the one who rules Israel, and he is the one who protects and guides Israel. Therefore, when the Israelites confess, “Ah, I am God’s people!”, the meaning is “Ah, God is the one who protects and guides me.” So, the Israelites were able to obey when they were told to perform circumcision because they had faith that God would protect and protect them despite the Jindo dog situation. . In other words, when the Israelites know who they are, they can always obey God and live. So God wanted the Israelites to know who they were, so he circumcised.
(2) God considers it important to know what kind of person I am.
Second, God wanted to know what kind of people the Israelites were. The people of Israel are God's people. So, what kind of people are God's people? God's people