Sermons

This passage deals with what kind of life the judges of Israel had to live in order to be trusted by the people. In particular, through the foolish choices of Jephthah, who went to war in anger at the complaints and insults of the tribe of Ephraim and offered his daughter as a burnt offering for his own glory, it shows human greed and limits, and the emptiness of life.

The sermon traces how the judges became corrupt as they pursued human recognition, riches and honor rather than God. It points out that as Jephthah and the judges after him concentrated on strengthening their own power and that of their families, the people too were corrupted and left God. This shows that the corruption of leaders leads directly to the spiritual decline of the people, and that in the end God judged them and put them through forty years of refining.

We are led to think about what faith we must keep in order to be people approved by God first, and how we should live today so that we have no regrets as we come to the end of our lives.

This passage deals with how the judge Jephthah, before the war with Ammon, made a vow with God as his witness. Jephthah had once been driven out by his family and lived among the lowest of society, but when the elders of Israel asked for his help and offered him the position of leader, he took it as a chance to regain power. He vowed that if God promised him victory, he would offer as a burnt offering whoever came out of his house first, dressing up his ambition as a sacred oath.

The sermon points out that Jephthah made his vow not out of true repentance or gratitude, but for revenge and to satisfy his pride. He expected a servant to become the offering, but unexpectedly his only daughter was the first to come out to meet him. It shows that Jephthah's pride and arrogance, having grown so used to the culture of idolatry that he did not count offering a human sacrifice as a great sin, ended up bringing his family to ruin. Through Jephthah's wrong vow, God exposes the flaws in his character and the distortion of his faith.

Through Jephthah's mistake, we must realize how dangerous it is to treat God as our own tool. True faith does not begin with setting conditions for our own benefit or misusing vows, but with fully acknowledging God's sovereignty and obeying him. Looking at Jephthah's tragic end, we must earnestly examine whether our vows and prayers come from God, or whether our own greed is deceiving God.

This passage deals with the situation of the people of Israel in the time of the judges, who abandoned God, served many idols, and sinned. Reminding them of the history of salvation that goes back to Egypt, God firmly declares that because they have served other gods, he will save them no more. God coldly points out that, in the suffering brought on by their own choices, the people should go and ask their idols for help. This is the result of cutting off their relationship with God through human greed and pride, and it shows that idols are empty things that can never save.

The sermon draws insight by comparing Israel's behavior with modern people who live only for themselves and cut themselves off from relationships and community. It warns that God does not restrict human freedom, but when we fall for Satan's temptation and lose God at our center, we end up tied by the cords of sin. Through the examples of Abimelech, Gideon's betrayer, and the judge Jair, who boasted of his wealth, it also shows how a life that seeks only its own benefit leads to ruin. By contrast, through the faith of the judge Tola, who without any great events was faithful in his place and brought peace to the people, it points to the kind of true devotion that God remembers.

We are meant to live receiving teaching and rebuke through Scripture, but if we do not know God's word, we cannot see our own sins and we end up worshiping the riches and honors of the world. Even though God died for us on the cross, we must look back on whether we still stand in the place of abandoning God for our own righteousness and desires. Before the warning that God will save no more, we must judge for ourselves what choices we are making as we live now.

Today's passage is about Ezekiel, living in exile, pointing out that Israel's leaders ruined the nation with a ‘gluttonous’ attitude that looked after their own interests instead of the people's, and proclaiming that God himself will become their shepherd, seek out his scattered sheep, and restore them by giving them a new spirit and a new heart.

The sermon points out that this lesson from Israel's history is no different from the reality of today. It points to the sad situation in which spiritual and political leaders exploit others only for themselves, while believers are shaken by Satan's temptations and defile God's name. It warns that even though God sent his only Son to atone for sin and win the victory of the resurrection, people are still caught up in greed and partisan fighting, going down a road on which the nation is collapsing.

It stresses that believers must go beyond simply attending church: they must receive the new spirit of the Holy Spirit, be changed into people of holy character, and live discerning God's ordinances. It says that if we do not pray for this crumbling nation and its people, we cannot escape God's judgment, and that the prayers and exemplary lives of believers are the only way to restore this nation.

This passage deals with the story of Gideon, who won a great victory in the war against Midian. He wisely defuses the complaints of the tribe of Ephraim, subdues the people of Succoth who had mocked him, and establishes his authority as a judge. But at the very moment the glory of victory lifts him to the highest place, Gideon, rather than giving thanks to God, first takes the crescent ornaments that symbolized foreign gods.

He gathers the people's spoils to make an ephod and places it in his own town, seeking to show off his greatness and take revenge on his former enemies. In times of hardship God had guided him with his word, but once Gideon became proud, God no longer rebuked him with the word and fell silent. This silence is not a blessing but the beginning of a judgment that cuts off the relationship, and in the end it brings about the tragedy of the ruin of Gideon's house.

We must be on guard against forgetting God in the place of success and glory and sinking into our own satisfaction and boasting. We must understand what it means when God is silent toward us, and live giving thanks for the grace we have received and obeying the Word. What should we choose so that we do not fall at the height of glory as Gideon did?

This passage deals with the inner struggle the judge Gideon goes through before the battle against the Midianite army, and with his relationship with God. Even though Gideon had already seen God's power through several miracles, he still tests God out of fear and unbelief and asks for his patience. God knows his weakness yet does not abandon him, and makes his heart firm by having him go down into the enemy camp and overhear the enemy's conversation.

The sermon points out that Gideon's behavior was not simply a way of coping with circumstances, but revealed his unchanging character and attitude of faith. He was always inclined to move only once he had certainty and understanding first, and this led in the end to his inability to rely on God completely. God was patient with him and helped him to the end because of love, but unless this mold of character is broken, it is hard for it to lead to true obedience and victory.

Through Gideon, we look back on how far our own faith is bound to an imperfect character. We consider what we must break for the sake of the victory God has prepared, and what change we need in order to boldly hold up a torch in the darkness.

This passage deals with the judge Gideon treating God with disrespect and testing him to the end, and with God's love that nevertheless works to raise him up. Gideon shows his weakness: out of fear he tears down the idol secretly at night, hides behind his father in the face of the people's anger, and tests God yet again. It helps us realize that Gideon's faith is our own faith, and shows God's earnest love, which knows human weakness and patiently protects us.

Alongside Gideon's story, the sermon offers as an illustration the story of a father who, to understand his child's pain, pretended to have injured his own leg and walked on a crutch for four years. This connects with the love of Jesus Christ, who became like sinners, experienced human suffering firsthand, and sacrificed himself on the cross. It stresses that God chose Gideon not because of his ability but because God knew that, given grace and patience, he could grow. It also points out that the burnt offering Gideon made was not just a gift but a decision to give everything he had to God, and says that believers too must live lives of obedience, offering their wealth and honor as a burnt offering.

It reminds us that God answered Gideon's requests not because of his faith but because of a greater plan of salvation. Seeing Gideon's life, which ended in misfortune after he tested God to the end, we must show God an honest faith and not take salvation lightly. It asks whether we are doing our best to carry out the mission God has given us, and whether we have a faith that sees God's work as great.

The people of Israel have worshiped idols and left God, and as a result they have been severely oppressed by the Midianites for seven years. In their suffering the people cried out to God, but this was less true repentance than a cunning attempt to escape their pain. God sent a prophet to remind them of his grace in the past, but the people still did not understand.

At this time the angel of the Lord appears to Gideon, who was hiding in fear and threshing wheat in a cave, and calls him ‘mighty man of valor.’ God declared that the one God is with is the true man of valor. But even though his hardship came from his own sin, Gideon complained that God had not protected him and shifted the blame onto God. He claimed that if God's presence were guaranteed, none of this would have happened, revealing an attitude that sought instead to order God around like a servant.

Gideon refused the mission, excusing himself as weak and small, and tested God by asking for a sign to confirm God's presence. Despite his complaints and doubts, God patiently answered him, and Gideon built an altar and named it ‘Yahweh is Peace.’ Even so, he still tried to avoid his mission, using his weakness as an excuse. When we lack the assurance that God is with us, with what attitude should we respond?

This passage deals with the story of the victory in which the judge Deborah, following the word God had given, defeated Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite king Jabin. After winning the battle Deborah sings praise to God, but behind it lies a contrast with the army commander Barak, who obeyed God's command selectively and tried to look after his own safety. Barak tried to lean on Deborah's faith and go together with her, but in the end, because of his own lack of resolve, the credit for the victory was taken from him and went to another.

The sermon points to how Barak's selective obedience made him miss the chance of blessing. The blessing God gives comes with conditions and obedience, and an attitude that only looks forward to the result while avoiding the sacrifice along the way ends up losing the reward. It also stresses that, unlike the tribes that stayed out of the battle and guarded only their own comfort, God's blessing follows those who willingly sacrificed themselves for their people.

Deborah trusted God even amid fear and temptation and went forward boldly, and as a result God sent rain from heaven to confirm the victory. Sisera's mother and her ladies, on the other hand, held fast only to the world's power and logic, turned away from God's will, and met the tragedy of defeat. Why do we need to sacrifice ourselves right away and keep striving to the end in order to receive the reward God has prepared, and can we, like Deborah, overcome fear and live boldly, believing that God will work for us?

Today's passage is the scene in which, during the twenty years that Israel was oppressed by Sisera, the commander of the army of the Canaanite king Jabin, God calls the judge Barak through the prophet Deborah and commands him to go to war. God clearly promised to give Sisera and his nine hundred chariots of iron into Barak's hand, but because of his weakness and fear, Barak refused to go out alone and demanded that Deborah go with him.

Deborah warns that because Barak did not fully obey, he will not enjoy the glory of the victory himself. Despite Barak's disobedience, God flooded the Kishon River and defeated the enemy army, but the task of killing Sisera fell to Jael the Kenite, in the gap left because Barak, having not obeyed, was not in his place. Although Barak saw God's work with his own eyes, human judgment and fear caused him to miss the reward God had prepared.

We look back on whether, though we pray and wait for an answer, we hesitate out of fear or attach conditions when God's command actually comes. We must consider whether there have been times when, even though God promised to go before us, our weakness stood in the way of our obedience and we missed important grace.

This passage deals with the situation in which, when the people of Israel forgot God, served idols and became corrupt, God handed them over to Cushan Rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, and they suffered for eight years. When the people cried out in their suffering, God raised up Othniel as a judge and saved them, but once peace came they again forgot to be thankful and turned back to sin.

To discipline their pride, God made Eglon king of Moab strong, and raised up Ehud, a left-handed man whom the world looked down on, as their deliverer. This was to put the world's wisdom and strength to shame and to work by God's unseen power. Through the example of Shamgar, who defeated the Philistines with a single ox goad, it also shows that God uses those who give themselves with full faith, not according to their qualifications or possessions.

Are we living a repeated pattern of seeking God only in hard times and abandoning him once things are comfortable? Rather than measuring our worth by the world's standards and possessions, it asks whether we will move toward a life of fulfilling God's will by becoming a judge for the weak.

Today's passage deals with the background of God leaving the Canaanite peoples in the land after Israel entered Canaan, in order to train them. When the people failed to live out their faith and compromised with a worldly life, God used hardship and circumstances as tools to test whether their faith was right. This shows that it was not simply punishment, but a process of God's deep love and training, so that believers would have a true faith that does not change in any situation.

It also brings out the meaning of testing through the story of Daniel, who did not leave God and lived uprightly even in exile. Daniel did not stop praying even at the risk of his life, and as a result he experienced God's protection even in the lions' den. This shows that a faith that keeps God's word amid the world's mockery and threats in the end reveals God's glory and becomes the way to overcome the hardships one is given.

When we remember that the difficulties and tests we go through are God's training for the growth of our faith, what choice should we make?