20261112 | 새벽묵상 | 제사대신 의로운 삶을 Righteous Living Instead of Sacrifice | 암/Amos 5:18~27

5:18 화 있을진저 여호와의 날을 사모하는 자여 너희가 어찌하여 여호와의 날을 사모하느냐 그 날은 어둠이요 빛이 아니라

5:19 마치 사람이 사자를 피하다가 곰을 만나거나 혹은 집에 들어가서 손을 벽에 대었다가 뱀에게 물림 같도다

5:20 여호와의 날은 빛 없는 어둠이 아니며 빛남 없는 캄캄함이 아니냐

The Day of the Lord

18 Woe to you who long

    for the day of the Lord!

Why do you long for the day of the Lord?

    That day will be darkness, not light.

19 It will be as though a man fled from a lion

    only to meet a bear,

as though he entered his house

    and rested his hand on the wall

    only to have a snake bite him.

20 Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light—

    pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

5:21 내가 너희 절기들을 미워하여 멸시하며 너희 성회들을 기뻐하지 아니하나니

5:22 너희가 내게 번제나 소제를 드릴지라도 내가 받지 아니할 것이요 너희의 살진 희생의 화목제도 내가 돌아보지 아니하리라

5:23 네 노랫소리를 내 앞에서 그칠지어다 네 비파 소리도 내가 듣지 아니하리라

5:24 오직 정의를 물 같이, 공의를 마르지 않는 강 같이 흐르게 할지어다

21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;

    your assemblies are a stench to me.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

    I will not accept them.

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

    I will have no regard for them.

23 Away with the noise of your songs!

    I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice roll on like a river,

    righteousness like a never-failing stream!

5:25 이스라엘 족속아 너희가 사십 년 동안 광야에서 희생과 소제물을 내게 드렸느냐

5:26 너희가 너희 왕 식굿과 기윤과 너희 우상들과 너희가 너희를 위하여 만든 신들의 별 형상을 지고 가리라

5:27 내가 너희를 다메섹 밖으로 사로잡혀 가게 하리라 그의 이름이 만군의 하나님이라 불리우는 여호와께서 말씀하셨느니라

25 “Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings

    forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?

26 You have lifted up the shrine of your king,

    the pedestal of your idols,

    the star of your god—

    which you made for yourselves.

27 Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,”

    says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.

            20년도 더 지난 2003년 12월, 서울 동작대교 다리 중간에서 자신의 자녀들을 한강으로 내던지고 달아난 유아 투기 살인 사건이 있었습니다. 매우 유명한 사건이라 아마 많이들 관련된 자료들을 이미 보셨을 것이라 생각합니다. 사건 그 자체보다는 범인의 인터뷰가 더 유명하지요. 살 방법이 없어서 자식들을 한강에 내던졌지만 정작 자신은 기독교인이라 자살 할 수 없었다. 그러면 기독교인인데 사람을 죽이는 건 괜찮냐는 질문에 죄는 씻을 수 있다고 대답한 그 인터뷰말입니다. 참으로 참담한 이야기지요. 그러나 우리도 정도만 다를 뿐이지 이와 비슷한 생각과 행동을 하는 경우가 있습니다. 우리의 삶의 행위와 우리의 종교적인 행위가 일치하지 않는 것이지요. 오히려 우리의 추악한 죄악을 종교적인 행위로 정당화하거나 무마해버리는 경우마저 있습니다. 마치 우리의 종교적인 행위가 의로운 삶을 대신 할 수 있는 것처럼 말입니다. 그러나 하나님께서는 오늘 말씀하십니다. 너희의 예배모임, 너희의 제사, 너희의 음악소리, 나는 기뻐하지 않는다. 오직 정의와 공의가 마르지 않고 흐르게하라. 종교적인 행위가 아닌 이들의 삶이 의롭기를 원하시는 것입니다. 오늘은 “제사대신 의로운 삶”을 이라는 제목으로 말씀을 나누기 원합니다.

Introduction: When Religion and Life Don’t Match

More than twenty years ago, in December 2003, a horrifying crime took place at the Dongjak Bridge in Seoul. A father threw his own young children into the Han River and fled. It was such a well-known case that many of you have probably seen the coverage. More than the crime itself, the perpetrator’s interview became infamous. He said he had no way to survive, so he threw his children into the river, but that he could not take his own life because he was a Christian. Asked whether it was acceptable for a Christian to kill, he answered that sins can be washed away. It is a devastating story.

But we, too, sometimes think and act in similar ways, differing only in degree. What we do in our lives and what we do in our religious practice do not match. We even use religious activity to justify or cover up our ugly sins, as if our religious acts could stand in for a righteous life.

Today, however, God says: Your worship gatherings, your sacrifices, the sound of your music, I take no delight in them. Let justice and righteousness flow and never run dry. God wants their lives to be righteous, not just their religion to look right. So today I’d like to share a message titled “Righteous Living Instead of Sacrifice.”

                본문은 “화 있을진저” 라고 시작합니다. 마치 앞으로 닥칠 일을 알리는 선고처럼 들립니다. 그러나 같은 단어를 열왕기상에서는 “오호라,” 예레미야에서는 “슬프도다”라고 번역했습니다. 5장 첫 시작에 하나님께서 이스라엘을 향한 장송곡을 부르시는 것, 기억하시지요? 그 장례식의 연장선입니다. 이들을 향해 아직 오지 않은 형벌을 경고하는 것이 아니라 이미 상을 당하여 죽음 당한 이들을 슬퍼하는 소리인 것입니다. 그러면서 물으십니다. “여호와의 날을 사모하는 자여 너희가 어찌하여 여호와의 날을 사모하느냐?” 이들은 여호와의 날을 갈급하고 강렬하게 사모했습니다. 왜 입니까? 그 날이 오면 여호와께서 여호와의 백성인 이스라엘의 대적들을 모두 심판하시고 이스라엘을 세상의 중심에 놓으실 것이라고 믿었기 때문입니다. 그렇다면 대체 이들의 이런 자신감은 어디서 나왔던 것일까요? 분명 우리는 지금까지 이들이 약자를 억압하고 가난한 자를 탈취하며 죄가 없는 사람을 옥에 가두는 삶을 살아왔음을 보았습니다. 그래서 하나님께서 이들에게 심판을 명하시는 것 아닙니까? 그런데 어떻게 그런 삶을 살고 있으면서도 하나님께서 그 날에 우리가 아니라 우리의 대적들을 심판하시리라 믿었던 걸까요? 그들이 그렇게 믿을 수 있었던 것은 그들이 종교 생활을 열심히 하였기 때문입니다. 곧이어 나오겠지만 그들은 절기를 지키고 종교 모임을 하고 각종 회개의 번제와 소제를 드리고 하나님께 화목제를 드리며 각양 악기와 노래로 찬양의 제사까지 드렸습니다. 신앙생활 정말 열심히 하는 것이지요. 그러나 하나님은 그들에게 여호와의 날은 어둠이며 빛이 아니라고 말씀하십니다. 그들에게 임할 여호와의 날은 그 누구도 피할 수 없는 심판이 될 것입니다. 19절을 보면 사람이 사자를 피하다가 곰을 만난답니다. 여러분 사자도 무섭지만 곰은 사람을 찢습니다. 다행히 사자를 어찌어찌 피해서 집에 들어오면 숨어있던 뱀에게 물린답니다. 피할 수 있다는 말입니까? 아니요. 피할 수 없다는 말입니다. 그들에게 임할 이 빛이 없는 어둠, 귀를 기울이면 귀가 멀 것 같은 어둠은 그들에게 임할 완전한 죽음을 말씀하고 계시는 것이지요.

1. The Day of the LORD Is Darkness (vv. 18-20)

The passage begins with the word “Woe.” It sounds like a verdict announcing what is about to happen. But the same word is translated “Alas” in 1 Kings and “Ah” in Jeremiah. Remember how, at the start of chapter 5, God sang a funeral dirge over Israel? This is a continuation of that funeral. It is not a warning about a punishment that has yet to come. It is the sound of mourning for people who have already died.

Then God asks: “Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD?”

These people longed for the day of the LORD with fierce, burning desire. Why? Because they believed that when that day came, the LORD would judge all the enemies of Israel, His people, and set Israel at the center of the world.

So where did that confidence come from? We have seen all along that they oppressed the weak, plundered the poor, and threw innocent people into prison. Isn’t that exactly why God pronounced judgment on them? How could they live like that and still believe God would judge our enemies on that day, not us?

They could believe it because they were devoted to religious life. As we will see in the verses that follow, they kept the festivals, held religious assemblies, offered burnt offerings and grain offerings of repentance, presented peace offerings to God, and even brought sacrifices of praise with all kinds of instruments and songs. They were very diligent in their faith.

But God tells them that the day of the LORD is darkness, not light. The day of the LORD that will come upon them will be a judgment no one can escape. Verse 19 says it is as if a man fled from a lion and a bear met him. A lion is terrifying, but a bear tears people apart. Suppose he somehow escapes the lion and goes into his house, only to be bitten by a snake hiding in the wall. Is that a picture of escape? No. It is a picture of no escape. This lightless darkness, so dark that if you listened closely you would feel your hearing going, speaks of the total death that will come upon them.

                21절, 하나님께서는 너희 절기들을 혐오하고 너희의 성회, 즉, 종교모임을 기뻐하지 아니한다고 말씀하십니다. 여기서 “기뻐하지 아니하나니” 라는 표현은 레위기 26:31에서 “너희의 향기로운 냄새를 내가 흠향하지 아니하고” 라고 말씀하시는 것을 그대로 빌려온 표현입니다. 그들의 제사를 거절하신다는 말씀이지요. 그 맥락이 무엇인지 아십니까? 이들이 여호와의 말씀을 순종하지 않을 때에 이들이 받을 저주의 일부입니다. 무슨 뜻입니까? 이들의 종교 행위가 하나님 앞에서 불순종과 죄악으로 여겨진다는 것입니다. 22절, 이들이 회개의 번제와 헌신의 소제를 드린다고 해도, 또 이들이 회개하였으니 하나님과 교제를 나누기 위해 화목제를 드린다고 해도 받으시거나 돌아보지 않으신다고 말씀하십니다. 심지어 이들의 찬양의 제사, 음악소리도 듣지 않으신다고 하십니다. 왜 그렇습니까? 왜 하나님께서 이들이 이렇게 열심히 물심양면으로 신앙생활을 하는데 오히려 이들의 이러한 신앙생활을 불순종과 죄악으로 여기신다는 것입니까? 이들은 신앙은 고백했지만 정작 하나님의 뜻대로 살지 않았습니다. 제사는 드렸지만 정의와 공의를 버리고 우상을 섬겼습니다. 25-26절이 말하지 않습니까? 하나님께서 비웃으십니다. “너희가 사십 년 동안 광야에서 희생과 소제물을 내게 드렸느냐?” 하나님께서 이들의 종교생활을 비웃고 계시지요. 왜냐하면 26절, 이들이 하나님을 섬긴다고 하면서 정작 마음으로 이들이 의지하고 있던 것은 자신들을 위해 만든 신들의 형상, 우상이였기 때문입니다. 이들은 예배의 겉모양만 있었을 뿐, 자신들의 이익을 위해 세상을 의지하고 악한 행실을 버리지 않았습니다.

2. God Rejects Their Worship (vv. 21-23, 25-26)

In verse 21, God declares that He hates and despises their feasts and takes no delight in their religious assemblies. The phrase “take no delight” is borrowed directly from Leviticus 26:31, where God says, “I will not smell your pleasing aromas.” It means He rejects their sacrifices.

Do you know the context of that verse? It belongs to the curses that would fall on the people when they disobeyed the LORD’s word. What does that mean? It means their religious acts were counted before God as disobedience and sin.

Verse 22 says that even when they bring burnt offerings of repentance and grain offerings of devotion, and even when they bring peace offerings to enjoy fellowship with God because they have supposedly repented, He will not accept them or even look at them. He says He will not listen even to their sacrifices of praise, the sound of their music.

Why? These people were pouring themselves into their faith with all their time and resources. Why would God count that faith as disobedience and sin? Because they confessed faith but did not live according to God’s will. They offered sacrifices but abandoned justice and righteousness and served idols.

Isn’t that what verses 25 and 26 say? God mocks them: “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?” God is laughing at their religious life. Why? Because, as verse 26 tells us, while they claimed to serve God, what they actually trusted in their hearts were the images of gods they had made for themselves, their idols.

Their worship had only the outward form. They relied on the world for their own advantage and never abandoned their evil ways.

그렇다면 어떻게 해야합니까? 이런 그들에게 하나님께서 진정으로 원하셨던 것은 무엇입니까? 24절 말씀입니다. 다함께 읽어보겠습니다. “오직 정의를 물같이 공의를 마르지 않는 강같이 흐르게 할지어다.” 이 말씀은 5장에 나오는 하나님의 세가지 권면 중 그 마지막 권면입니다. “하나님을 찾으라,” “악을 미워하고 선을 사랑하라,” 그리고 여기, “오직 정의를 물같이 공의를 마르지 않는 강같이 흐르게 할지어다.” 하나님께서는 이들이 당신의 말씀을 따라 살기를 원하셨습니다. 종교행위가 아니라 선행과 정의와 공의로운 삶을 살기 원하셨습니다. 악한 행실을 버리고 연약한 자를 변호하라고 말씀하셨습니다. 이런 하나님의 말씀은 각 선지서에 반복되어 나옵니다. 이사야서 1:14-18, 미가서 6:7-8, 모두 제사가 아니라 하나님의 정의와 공의를 이 땅 가운데에 흐르게 하는 것을 말씀하십니다. 우리가 예배에서 고백한 믿음이 우리의 가정과 일터, 모든 관계 가운데 온전히 드러나야 하는 것입니다. 이것이 하나님께서 말씀하신 우리가 살 길 그 마지막 권면입니다.

3. Let Justice Roll Down (v. 24)

So what should they have done? What did God truly want from them? Verse 24. Let’s read it together: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

This is the last of the three exhortations God gives in chapter 5. First, “Seek the LORD.” Second, “Hate evil, and love good.” And here, third, “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

God wanted them to live according to His word. He wanted not religious activity but a life of good deeds, justice, and righteousness. He told them to abandon their evil ways and to defend the vulnerable.

This message appears again and again throughout the prophets. Isaiah 1:14-18 and Micah 6:7-8 both speak of the same thing. It is not sacrifices God wants, but His justice and righteousness flowing through the land.

The faith we confess in worship must be fully displayed in our homes, our workplaces, and all our relationships. This is the last exhortation in the way to live that God has given us.

                말씀을 맺습니다. 이스라엘 백성들은 자신들의 종교적인 행위로 자신들의 악행과 죄악을 가려버렸습니다. 그리고는 자신들이 의롭다고 생각하며 하나님께서 저 불의한 우리의 대적들을 다 무찔러주실 그 날을 기다렸습니다. 그러나 하나님께서는 다르게 말씀하십니다. 너희들의 삶이 일치하지 않는 제사와 희생을 나는 싫어한다. 나를 속이려 하지 마라. 나는 속지 않는다. 나를 섬긴다고 하면서 너희가 진짜로 의지하고 있는 것이 무엇이냐? 나를 찾아라. 악을 떠나고 선을 구하라. 정의와 공의가 어떤 상황에도 멈추지 않는 격류처럼 굽이치게 하라. 예배의 모습과 삶이 일치하여 하나님이 기뻐하시는 여러분 되시기를 주님의 이름으로 축원합니다. 

Conclusion

The people of Israel used their religious practices to cover up their wrongdoing and sin. Then they considered themselves righteous and waited for the day when God would crush all of our unjust enemies. But God says something different. I hate sacrifices and offerings that don’t match the way you live. Don’t try to deceive Me. I am not deceived. You say you serve Me, but what do you really rely on? Seek Me. Turn away from evil and seek good. Let justice and righteousness surge like a torrent that no circumstance can stop.

May you be people whose lives match their worship and who please God. I pray this in the name of the Lord.