- 2009 North American Bible Conference, December 29, 2009Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. … For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  2 Corinthians 5:17, 21     A while ago, I worked all day on the hill behind my house where the air is clean. At that time, I noticed that my body felt a little better than usual.     The night before I went up to the hill, I only had four hours of sleep. I woke up that morning and saw that the sky was clear and the sun was shining. I told some of the people I was with that we might get sunburned as we went up the hill. We spent the whole day under the hot sun, walking through the forest and the open fields until the sun went down. We had not taken a bite to eat nor had a sip of water, except for the milk tea we drank before we left. We did not do it intentionally. It just happened that we did not eat all day. While we were walking, we examined the kinds of grasses, flowers and animals that were there and I noticed something strange. When I spent my days in the city breathing in the exhaust fumes, I usually felt tired even if I had eaten well. But that day, I had not eaten anything and I still felt normal.Generally, it is not in my nature to sing hymns aloud, and I never sing hymns in front of others. But on that day, as I walked the fields all day long, the words of this hymn flowed from my mouth: A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord,A wonderful Savior to me;He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,Where rivers of pleasure I see.He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rockThat shadows a dry, thirsty landHe hideth my life in the depths of His love,And covers me there with His hand,And covers me there with His hand.  A wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord by Fanny J. Crosby As I walk along, my feet sank into the soil with every step and thorns pricked through my clothes. Yet, despite not eating all day and carrying several heavy cameras around, I sang this hymn quietly to myself as I walked. I believe it is wrong to get lost in the melody or the tune of a hymn before thinking about its words. I have said in the past that just as a preacher evangelizes with the Bible, a choir evangelizes through hymns. So when they sing hymns, they must sing in such a way as to plant the words in the ears of the listeners. As I sang hymns that day, I wanted to teach children to sing hymns properly while surrounded by nature. I also thought of this hymn: While the Lord is my Shepherd and I’m kept in His care,Like a lamb, dear and precious in His sight, By the soft flowing waters and the grass growing thereI find pasture and shelter day and night.  While the Lord is my Shepherd by B.C. Choi As I sang this hymn, the sun began to set slowly in the west and a shadow was cast over where I was standing, but on the other side of the field, I could see the sun still shining. Before the sun completely set, we all got into the car and moved to the field where there was still some light and there we enjoyed the scenery. While we all stood on the grass, which was radiant from the sunlit and waving in the wind, I thought of the line of a hymn, “Far and near their gold is gleaming o’er the sunny slope and plain” (Far and near the fields are teeming by James O. Thompson). While we stood in the middle of the plain, we saw the red sun slipping down below the horizon. But on the opposite side of the plain, the moon hung white in the sky. On one side, the sun was glowing red as it was setting, but the moon became brighter and brighter on the other side. I stood there as the sun was setting until it became so dark that I could not see anything.When I think of my body in regard to the conditions that day, I should have been completely exhausted, but I did not feel tired at all. It occurred to me that it was because I was able to get a lot of sun that I did not feel hungry or tired. I thought to myself, “I must have been too concerned about my face getting burned in the sun. I didn’t do enough things that were good for me. I must get more sun from now on.” On the first day of God’s creation, when the earth was formless and void and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the earth and then there was light, all things appeared through the power of God’s word. When we eat foods made through the combining of light and water, the mitochondria within each cell divides the food to use as fuel to create energy. Our bodies are also mostly made up of water and so I thought this must be why we tend to feel less tired when we are exposed to a lot of sunshine. As I thought about how the heavens and the earth were created, I also thought about myself as a human being. While I spent the whole day moving around in the sun, I had a thought that lingered as my body was in constant motion. Although I was not dancing around making large movements or exercising, I was able to move the joints that I would not normally move, and I was able to get the sun exposure that I normally do not get. So my energy level did not go down as much as usual. The Bible says that “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). It seemed to me that these things could not only be seen but also felt. When we think about the body, there is something quite profound that makes us think about God. As I spent the day in the midst of God’s creation, I was able to organize my thoughts on the Bible I had read and the hymns I had sung until now. It is necessary for us to take the time once in a while to organize the many thoughts that we have. What do we really know? We need to be thankful for the opportunity given to us to think about and discuss the words of the Bible and who God is. When you spend time in nature, in God’s creation, it helps erase the desire to put on a show and cover up your true nature. Every time I stand in the middle of nature, I think about these things. As I returned home after spending my day outside, my heart sang the hymn that includes the line, “Gentiles and Jews the blest vision behold” (Hail to the brightness of Zion's glad marning by Thomas Hastings). Also, I thought about great people like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, and Jeremiah, who walked and lived on the dry, thirsty land, and about the book of Judges.   The Duties of the Kings, Prophets, and PriestsAs we read through the book of Judges, we find that there were many impressive who appeared during that time, but in the middle of the book and right at the very end, it says that, since there was no king in Israel, the people did what was right in their own eyes (see Judges 17:6, 21:25). In other words, the Israelites acted as they pleased. The Israelites passed through the wilderness and then, under the leadership of Joshua, they entered the land of Canaan, where they divided the land up amongst their tribes and they lived separately. Then, for about 300 years, the people lived as they pleased since they had no king. If we look at the historical events in order from the time of the judges, through the book of Ruth, and until First Samuel chapter 17, we can see that the image of the Israelites as they waited for the coming of the Messiah is very similar to that of the Israelites during the time of the judges. The story of the family of Jacob who belonged to the tribe of Judah continues to be related in the Bible even during the time of the judges when the people acted as they pleased. We find this account in the book of Ruth. The Israelites in Old Testament times had kings, priests, and prophets, but they still acted in ways they deemed right. Because of this they needed a true king, and so it was that Jesus appeared. Through the short records of the books of Judges and Ruth, we are able to consider the long journey of the Israelites that is shown through their history throughout the Bible. The book of Ruth tells the story of a foreign woman named Ruth who married a man from the house of Judah and bore a child. Against the background of the history of Israel with its twelve tribes, this book shows how the house of Judah was protected and became the leaders in readiness for the birth of the Messiah. The entire Old Testament contains a history that is revealed to the outside, as well as a history that flows within. This is why the New Testament begins with the words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers” (Matthew 1:1-2).The judges were not kings but leaders of the tribes. To use a more modern expression, you might say that they were military generals. At that time, as the Israelites were living in the land of Canaan, they fought continuous battles with other nations, such as the Philistines. Because of this, after Joshua died, God appointed judges and they ruled over the people. This was the age of the Judges, but there were also times when there was no judge, and the judges themselves did not all come from one family, but multiple families. The first judge was Othniel. He was from the tribe of Judah, and Gideon was from the tribe of Manasseh. There was a judge from the tribe of Issachar, and others from other tribes. After that, the kings were from the lineage of David.Israel existed as one nation, and they were intended to worship God. In the eyes of other people, they were a religious nation. So, amongst the rulers of the nation of Israel, there were kings but there were also prophets. The prophets were able to reprimand the king when the king made mistakes. The Bible tells us how the prophet Nathan rebuked David (see 2 Samuel chapter 12). Also, there were laws which the kings and prophets had to observe, and there were priests who had the duty of making sacrificial offerings. In this way, the duties of the kings, prophets, and priests came together and the history of the Israelites continued.When God carries out certain works, He demonstrates what He desires through historical events. He first used the incident of there Passover to show the reason for the existence of the law. He presented an image of the priests through the image of the person by the name of Melchizedek. When there was something that God was intending to do, He alway demonstrated it first in this way. It is the same when it comes to the kings. Of course, God acknowledged as kings the kings of Israel who came from the house of Judah. Nevertheless, God said clearly, “He was King in Jeshurun” (see Deuteronomy 33:5). God said that even though He was the King of the Israelites, they would ask for a person to be appointed as their king (see 1 Samuel 8:5).There were kings within the history of Israel, but the king that God had in mind and intended to establish amongst them was different from the kings they had had beginning with David. This is why Jesus said, how can people say that Christ is the descendant of David. Jesus said, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool’”? If David then calls Him “Lord,” how is He his son?”. The Bible says that no one was able to answer Him (see Matthew 22:41-46). If we take the history of Israel and the twelve tribes of this nation as the standard, David was clearly their king and a great ruler., but this was not the kind of king that God wanted.The prophets did not just predicted future events. They played a role in explaining the events of the past, present and future and how the past would affect forthcoming events. This is also the role of the Bible. The rulers who had such duties and abilities were the prophets. Also, the priest would slaughter an animal and offer up for his own sins first. Then he would take the blood into the Most Holy Place and offer it up there for the sins of the people. Similarly, the Bible is showing us that the true King is the One who is not only king but also appears in the form of the prophets and priests who led the Israelites in Old Testament times, perfecting those duties.This is why prophets and priests appear in the Bible from the beginning. God said to Moses, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren” (Deuteronomy 18:15). He has also said, “he is a prophet,” referring to Abraham (Genesis 20:7). First we have the mysterious image of Melchizedek, and then the priests appeared, taken from amongst the Israelites. Then after a long history of such events, Jesus was born into the world. When He taught the people, His words such as, “Brood of vipers!” (Matthew 12:34), were like knives piercing their hearts. Also, when He told a woman to bring her husband, she replied that she did not have a husband, and Jesus said, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly” (see John 4:16-18). He spoke in such a way as to reveal how the Israelites were living their lives committing sins. Jesus was born as a King, as testified by the wise men when they asked, “Where is He who has been born King of Jews?” (Matthew 2:2), but there was a path that He had to walk. The path that this one Man by the name of Jesus had to take, was presented first of all through the history of Israel. So Jesus carried out His work as He lived in the world as a Prophet. Then He delivered up His body to the cross where He shed His blood and died, and then later He was raised from the dead in a glorious body. The Bible tells us that even now He is seated at the right hand of the throne of God as the High Priest, making intercession for us (see Hebrews 7:20-25). When the One who endured such suffering and was then glorified comes again to the land of Israel, He will come as the true King. This is the true King that God had in mind and it is the reaso

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