20251231 [새벽묵상] 시대가 저물 때 언약 백성이 해야 할 일 | What the Covenant People Must Do When an Era Comes to an End (수/Josh 24:25~33)

24:25 그 날에 여호수아가 세겜에서 백성과 더불어 언약을 맺고 그들을 위하여 율례와 법도를 제정하였더라

24:26 여호수아가 이 모든 말씀을 하나님의 율법책에 기록하고 큰 돌을 가져다가 거기 여호와의 성소 곁에 있는 상수리나무 아래에 세우고

25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord.

24:27 모든 백성에게 이르되 보라 이 돌이 우리에게 증거가 되리니 이는 여호와께서 우리에게 하신 모든 말씀을 이 돌이 들었음이니라 그런즉 너희가 너희의 하나님을 부인하지 못하도륵 이 돌이 증거가 되리라 하고

24:28 백성을 보내어 각기 기업으로 돌아가게 하였더라

27 “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”

28 Then Joshua dismissed the people, each to their own inheritance.

24:29 이 일 후에 여호와의 종 눈의 아들 여호수아가 백십 세에 죽으매

24:30 그들이 그를 그의 기업의 경내 딤낫 세라에 장사하였으니 딤낫 세라는 에브라임 산지 가아스 산 북쪽이었더라

Buried in the Promised Land

29 After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

24:31 이스라엘이 여호수아가 사는 날 동안과 여호수아 뒤에 생존한 장로들 곧 여호와께서 이스라엘을 위하여 행하신 모든 일을 아는 자들이 사는 날 동안 여호와를 섬겼더라

31 Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel.

24:32 또 이스라엘 자손이 애굽에서 가져 온 요셉의 뼈를 세겜에 장사하였으니 이곳은 야곱이 백 크시타를 주고 세겜의 아버지 하몰의 자손들에게서 산 밭이라 그것이 요셉 자손의 기업이 되었더라

32 And Joseph’s bones, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the tract of land that Jacob bought for a hundred pieces of silver from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem. This became the inheritance of Joseph’s descendants.

24:33 아론의 아들 엘르아살도 죽으매 그들이 그를 그의 아들 비느하스가 에브라임 산지에서 받은 산에 장사하였더라

33 And Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, which had been allotted to his son Phinehas in the hill country of Ephraim.

                  벌써 2025년의 마지막 날입니다. 마치 저희가 2025년을 마무리하고 2026년이라는 새로운 한해를 맞이하듯이 오늘 본문의 말씀도 여호수아의 시간이 마무리되는 것을 보여주고 있습니다. 그것은 여호수아 한 개인의 죽음이 아니라 한 세대가, 또, 한 시대가 저무는 것을 말하고 있는 것이지요. 오늘은 “시대가 저물 때 언약 백성이 해야 할 일”이라는 제목으로 말씀을 나누기 원합니다.

It is already the last day of 2025. Just as we are closing out the year 2025 and welcoming a new year, 2026, today’s passage also shows us the conclusion of Joshua’s time. This is not merely the death of one individual named Joshua, but the fading of an entire generation and an era. Today, I would like to share God’s Word under the title, “What the Covenant People Must Do When an Era Comes to an End.”

                  첫번째, 세대가 지나도 약속은 변치 않습니다. 여호와를 섬기겠다고 결정하는 이스라엘 백성들과 더불어 여호수아는 언약을 맺습니다. 자신의 삶의 마지막에서 그가 했던 행동은 자신이 세상에 없더라도 이들이 하나님을 부인하지 못하도록 약속하게 한 것이었습니다. 그러나 이들은 31절을 보면 여호수아가 살던 날과 그 뒤에 장로들이 사는 날 동안 여호와를 섬겼다고 하지요. 다른 말로 하면 그 뒤에는 하나님을 섬기지 않았다는 말입니다. 그렇다면 하나님은 어떠셨을까요? 28절은 언약을 맺은 후에 백성이 각기 기업으로 돌아갔다고 말하고 있습니다. 30절은 여호수아가 “그의 기업의 경내 딤낫세라에 장사”되었다고 말하고 있지요. 이들에게 기업을 주시겠다던 하나님의 약속은 말씀 그대로 이루어졌습니다. 32절도 마찬가지입니다. 갑자기 요셉의 뼈를 세겜에 장사하였다는 말이 나오지요. 그러면서 야곱이 돈을 주고 산 밭이라는 말이 나옵니다. 이는 이 땅이 합법적으로 이들의 소유라는 것을 증명하는 것이지요. 창세기의 아브라함에게 주셨던 하나님의 약속이 이삭을 지나고 야곱을 지나고 요셉을 지나서 이제 여호수아 세대에 이르기까지 세대가 지나도 변치 않고 이루어졌음을 말하고 있는 것입니다.

First, even as generations pass, God’s promise does not change.Joshua makes a covenant together with the Israelites who resolve to serve the LORD. At the very end of his life, his final action was to bind them by a promise so that even after he was gone, they would not deny God. However, verse 31 tells us that Israel served the LORD during the days of Joshua and during the days of the elders who outlived him. In other words, after that generation, they did not serve the LORD.

So how was God during all of this? Verse 28 says that after the covenant was made, the people returned to their respective inheritances. Verse 30 tells us that Joshua was buried “within the boundary of his inheritance, at Timnath-serah.” God’s promise to give them an inheritance was fulfilled exactly as He had spoken. The same is true in verse 32, where we suddenly read about the bones of Joseph being buried at Shechem. It mentions that the land was a field Jacob had bought for money, proving that this land legally belonged to them.

This shows that the promise God gave to Abraham in Genesis passed through Isaac, through Jacob, through Joseph, and was fulfilled in the generation of Joshua. Even as generations pass, God’s promise remains unchanged and is faithfully fulfilled.

                  두번째, 하나님의 말씀을 듣고 알아야 합니다. 25절, 여호수아가 언약을 맺고 율례와 법도를 제정하여, 26절, 그 모든 말씀을 하나님의 율법책에 기록하였습니다. 그 율법책이 우리에게까지 전해내려오는 것이 바로 성경이지요. 세대가 지나고 시대가 지나도 변함없는 하나님의 말씀입니다. 27절에서 여호수아는 이들이 맺은 언약의 증거로 돌을 세우면서 이렇게 말합니다 “여호와께서 우리에게 하신 모든 말씀을 이 돌이 들었음이라” 돌들도 하나님의 말씀을 들으면 그 말씀의 증거가 된다고 합니다. 우리도 시대를 뛰어넘으시는 하나님의 말씀을 들어 그 말씀의 증거가 되어야 할 것입니다. 또 31절에 장로들을 가르켜 “곧 여호와께서 이스라엘을 위하여 행하신 모든 일을 아는 자들” 이라고 정의하고 있습니다. 앞에서 이들이 사는 날 동안에 이스라엘이 여호와를 섬겼다고 하지 않았습니까? 그 말은 곧 여호와께서 행하신 일들을 모르게 되면 이들이 여호와를 섬기지 않게 된다는 말과 같지 않겠습니까? 사사기 2:10 “그 후에 일어난 다른 세대는 여호와를 알지 못하며 여호와께서 이스라엘을 위하여 행하신 일도 알지 못하였더라” 그래서 이들이 무엇을 하였습니까? 2:13 “곧 그들이 여호와를 버리고.” 여러분 오늘 말씀 29절에 여호수아를 가르켜 여호와의 종이라고 부르시는 것을 보실 수 있습니다. 이는 여호수아 1:1에서 모세의 수종자로 소개되었던 여호수아가 이제 진정한 여호와의 종으로 처음으로 인정받았음을 보여주는 장면입니다. 그러나 여호와의 종 여호수아도, 또 여호와를 알았던 장로들도 하나님의 말씀을 듣고 하나님을 아는 것의 중요성을 그 다음 세대에게 가르치지 못했습니다. 우리는 우리가 하나님의 말씀을 듣고 알아야 하는 것처럼 이제 다음 세대에게도 그 말씀을 듣는 것과 아는 것의 중요성을 가르쳐야 할 것입니다.

Second, we must listen to and know the Word of God.Verse 25 tells us that Joshua made a covenant and established statutes and ordinances, and verse 26 says that he wrote all these words in the Book of the Law of God. That Book of the Law has been passed down to us today as the Bible. It is God’s Word that does not change even as generations and eras pass.

In verse 27, as Joshua sets up a stone as a witness of the covenant, he says, “This stone has heard all the words that the LORD spoke to us.” Even stones become witnesses when they hear the Word of God. Likewise, we must hear the Word of God that transcends time and become witnesses to it.

Verse 31 also defines the elders as “those who knew all the work that the LORD had done for Israel.” Earlier, we were told that Israel served the LORD during the days of these elders. Does this not mean that when people no longer know what the LORD has done, they will no longer serve Him? Judges 2:10 says, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what He had done for Israel.” And what did they do as a result? Judges 2:13 says, “They forsook the LORD.”

In verse 29 of today’s passage, Joshua is called “the servant of the LORD.” This is significant, because in Joshua 1:1 he was introduced as the assistant of Moses, but here he is recognized for the first time as a true servant of the LORD. Yet even Joshua, the servant of the LORD, and the elders who knew the LORD, failed to teach the next generation the importance of hearing God’s Word and knowing Him.

Just as we ourselves must hear God’s Word and know Him, we must also teach the next generation the importance of hearing that Word and knowing God.

                  말씀을 맺습니다. 2025년이 저물고 있습니다. 2026년에는 세대가 지나도 변하지 않는 하나님의 말씀을 듣고 하나님이 행하신 모든 일을 알며 그 중요성을 가르치시는 여러분 되시기를 축복합니다.

In conclusion,The year 2025 is coming to an end. I pray that in 2026, you will be people who listen to God’s Word that does not change from generation to generation, who know all that God has done, and who teach the importance of these truths to the next generation. May God bless you.