Let it "Shema" be over flown (Deuteronomy 6: 4-9)

 

Let it "Shema" be over flown (Deuteronomy 6: 4-9)

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

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Introduction)

 

1. As we live in this world, We only care about the following; money, love, children, honor, and power.

However, the question is, Can we love God more than these things?  

Why do people love money, love, children, honor and power more than God. Is it because it's easier to obtain?

① The first reason is because we cannot physically see God. The things we do see with our own eyes are attractive to us. If God reigned the universe with his physical presence then there would be more believers.  If people still didn't believe God even after his physical appearance on this earth, then this would be shocking.

② The second reason is because God doesn't physically speak to us.

 If God speaks to us in a language that we understand ( Korean, English or Chinese ...) then there is no doubt that we would praise him  and pray to him because he will always answer us.

 But the truth is that God doesn't speak to us physically. In some rare cases there have been people who have been able to hear the voice of God, but It's very rare. Most people do not hear the words of God's voice so these people don't really live with God's words in their lives.

③ The third reason is that we think God is far away and out of reach from us.

 God is always with us in spirit, but we do not really grasp this idea because to almost all human beings "seeing is believing." A lot of people believe that God lives far up in the sky in heaven, but the truth is he lives in spirit somewhere we cannot physically travel to as human beings.

The three reasons I stated above are the reasons why people don't really believe in God.

A). So, why should we love God the most?

① It is because of God's Words.
Shema came from the Hebrew word meaning "listen" The word was first used in the bible in Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear O Israel"

"v.5 says , And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might."

70 years before Jesus was born, Jerusalem was invaded by the Roman army. The people in Jerusalem were facing starvation deaths began to multiply, and the Romans were about to occupy Jerusalem. The taking over of Jerusalem was inevitable.

 All of a sudden one of the most famous rabbi , Ahkipba lied down in the city and told his servants to spread a rumor to the Romans that he was suffering from an illness and was dying. Later on they spread another rumor and said he had died. They spread this rumor so that he may leave Jerusalem because they would have to "bury" his body outside of the castle.

As soon as Ahkipba's body was out of danger and out of the castle, he got out and paid a visit to the Roman commander and chief, 'Beseubejan'.

Ahkipba met with him and spoke with Beseubejan.  He told him"Tomorrow  morning, we'll open the gates of  Jerusalem for you and the Roman soldiers, but I have a favor to ask you. '
'Beseubejan'  replied, 'What is  your request? "
'Ahkipba' said. "Jerusalem has a small house in the city, do not touch this house. Promise me, please. '
'Beseubejan'  asked . "What is the importance of this small house?"
'Ahkipba' said. "There are many books in this house" 'Beseubejan' answered  "No problem , I'll keep that promise."

'Ahkipba'  promised that He would open the gate in the morning for Roman troops and  he came back to the castle. The small house was not a royal palace or a temple, but it was a school to teach the word of God.

 This event in history happened about 2,000 years ago after all, but now Israel is an independent country. 1/3 of the Nobel prizes recipients have been Jewish. In the past there have been Arab nations that are 40 times bigger in population than Israel and they tried to invade, but Israel always won.

Israel a very small nation, but they are a strong race and a powerful nation.

How did this nation become so powerful? What is their secret?
The answer lies in Ahkipba's actions that day. The Israeli people have a concept that they can give up anything and everything, but they will never give up the teachings of God's words.

 Teaching the word of God continuously and diligently was the secret to build a successful Israel.
So if someone asked, How would you overthrow Israel? You'd probably have to destroy their schools in order to do it.

The foundation of spiritual education today "Shema" which means "to listen or hear"

'Shema' is a summary of the entire Bible, which is the core of the entire bible.

Who could be the best teacher of faith? Who is the best teacher of religious education? The best possible educators of faith and religious education are parents of children.

In Israel, it is the parents who educate their children about faith and religion.
This all started from the time of Abraham.

In Israel, there are four different courses that are taught.

Course 1) When children start the day they recite words in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The superiority of the Jews is not an exaggeration to say that in memorization. Today, Rabbis recite the 'tora'(Jewish law) without stopping once.

Course 2) Parents attend morning prayer meeting  with kids. This is called 'Terikt", to wear over a Long shirts and put on the blue cloth(' jijit" ). Because these children have the habit of prayer and meditation since childhood , these habits will be with them when they become parents.

Course 3)'tepirin' (Small box)called by creating a small box worn on your wrist, another on the head with the leash tied on the forehead. There is the paper which has 'Shema' written in the  box. and the leather in the tying the hands, no matter what job it will have the grace of God, , and attached to the forehead means  God's word must have come first rather than knowledge or experience of human wisdom.

Course 4)People in Israel make a wooden or iron box and install it at the door of their house.

 And write 'Shema' on parchment and to keep it in there. They call it  as 'mejuja'.

 And when they leave the house each and every time, they touch the 'mejuja' ,while they repeat from memory of 'Shema'.
                 

Israeli parents will not forget the oppression of  their ancestor's

 So, at Passover, a lamb must be killed ,and the bitter herbs and unleavened bread is eaten without yeast.

The children would then ask. "Mother! Why we can't eat something that tastes better?"

 The parent's answer is, "Ah, Our ancestors were once slaves in Egypt, but because of God's kindness we were set free. So We never forget the grace of God, right? So once a year we have these kinds of food."
Then after hearing the words of their parents they chewed the bitter herbs and ate the tasteless bread.

 Even now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles, once, they leave the house for a week and make a tent outside and live in uncomfortable conditions. If their children ask the reason why we have to these uncomfortable things, the parents reply again "Our ancestors was freed from the Egyptians by God, and they walked through the desert, They lived a very uncomfortable life ! " their parents teach their children this history and let their children remember the history

After Israel was destroyed by the Tes From Babylon, and taken captive to Babylon. They made the Israeli people build 'synagogues' instead of temples . They were allowed to teach the bible and worship god, but they must do so in the synagogue not the temple.

When it's time to go to elementary school for children in Israel, The parents admit their children into ''Badger hot cells'' school. At this school they only memorize and recite verses from the bible. This is like in Korea where Korean children recite the cheon-ja-moon(千字文) .

If  any Israeli child recites the verses well, then the Rabbis praise them and award them with honey pastry.
In the past there weren't as many delicious snacks as today. Thus, making the reward of reciting bible verses great. The Rabbis made cookies with honey and wrote a note with the word of God. They did this so while enjoying this sweet snack they would also take in God's words.

when children get older, there is a middle school students course, called 'Bet hot Talmud' It's a description law course. They  learn about the Talmud.

When the children reach the age to go to high school, they attend higher law course called  'Bet hot Midrash' and research of the law, and self-study will be realized.

But three of the school curriculum is only Bible study in the morning. And in the afternoon, until now, they can learn English language or other lessons. So the amount of general knowledge that is taught  is very few compared to other countries.
Nevertheless, the finest people in the world comes from Israel. Why is that? The wisdom of God in the Bible. The wisdom of God  is the most precious Knowledge in this world .

B) How to love God and deserved?

① with the whole man must love God.
The body of Section 4-5: "4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.."

It says here, but you love God, to love with all heart and soul and strength has Heart and soul and strength, these three all the efforts of all human personality. It's a kind of emphasizing representation of grammatically.  It means human needs full devotion and love for God.

② Must love God through human's entire life.
v.v. 6-7 saying; "6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Methodist founder John Wesley's mother Susanna, by the force of the faith , her 19 children grew up well.

  Mrs. Susanna's main concept of educating her children was that if "Before the age of three you should be training your children to obey their parents" .

And thoroughly from childhood adds that the training of piety strongly.

 Our parents have to raise their children by  the right biblical values.

Anywhere, anytime, no matter what time we must teach them to love God.

③ Must love God in the specific field of our life .

v.v. 8-9:says . "8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."

" bind the word of God on his wrist" means  all of our actions must follow the instructions of God.

Word of God between the eyebrows (= 眉间)  attached to the word of God means  all the thinking and judging  must be in God. In other words, the word of God throughout their thoughts.
Then the "doorposts of your house and take note on outside doors," the Word of God means to ten thousand and two homes are ever completely subjective & means always be visible.
Why is that? This is because human beings are a species with amnesia.
These days, older people as well as younger people will not remember too well.

One of the most shocking things today is when you ask someone for their phone number and they don't even know their own number. As the world gets more comfortable, people don't really remember things.

 

7 .Conclusion

Psalm 127:3 says , "a child of the Lord has given companies."
But before my child is my own child, they are a child of God. God can raise godly children, even after the fact that they have left my home they should not forget that. "I am the parent in body but your true father is God. Heart and soul and strength to love their God, dear," he will be able to teach. I met God the Father and God the Father in love. With that, the secret is a good parent.
② According to Talmund "Parents and children are both knowledgeable, but when wise parents leave their children with faith then they too become wise."
In this generation, it is not the children who should be wise, it should be the parents because it is the parents who must teach their children to become wise. Therefore, we have to be educated spiritually and about God. It's not just the schools and churches who have to teach the children, but the parents! So When "Shema" is a part of your daily life You, your family, and the next generation will be blessed.

08/19/2012.  Ik sun

 

translated by Cho young hoon & Thomas Jung