The Forefathers of Faith & Obedience

The church of God is doing its best with the goal of “preaching to 7 billion people”. The number 7 billion is so great that it is hard to grasp. In front of this enormous goal; exhausted against all odds, but the footsteps of the saints preaching the gospel are always energetic. This is because in the minds of the saints, they have the conviction that 'preaching to 7 billion people' is God's command so it will most certainly be fulfilled.

The Church of God is a 'church that acts in accordance with the Bible.' This expression holds the meaning that the church keeps the many feasts God has commanded, and it also includes the resolution to follow the example of faith shown by the protagonists in the Bible.

There are many people in the Bible who are absolutely obedient to God's will. If it’s God's will, they do not add any of their own thoughts to it.

God commanded Noah to build an ark. The length of the ark, if we use today’s measurements, is about 140 meters long, about 23 meters wide, and about 13.5 meters high (Genesis 6:13-21). Ship engineers predict that it would take decades to build an ark of this size at the time of Noah.

It was not an easy command. In this day and age, if we are told to build an airplane, there wouldn’t be many people who would shout ‘Amen’ without a moment’s hesitation. However, Noah did not hesitate. The result, he was able to keep his family and himself safe from the flood.

Genesis 6:22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Abraham also had a moment of being tested. He received the command of God to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. The burnt offering is a sacrifice to God by burning the entire offering on the altar. Moreover, before the burnt offering was made, it had to be killed.

When Abraham had Isaac he was one hundred years old. Abraham did not hesitate, although God's command may have felt harsh. He believed that Almighty God could Isaac back to life again without any problem (Hebrews 11: 17-19). With that absolute faith, Abraham not only received Isaac's life, but also great blessings (Genesis 22: 12-18).

As God commanded Moses to “lead my people out of Egypt”, God told Moses to go to Pharaoh. Pharaoh was the king of Egypt, the most powerful country at that time. Compared to Pharaoh, Moses was an eighty-year-old shepherd. Pharaoh would never listen to what Moses had to say.

God already knew that Pharaoh would not release the Israelites all at once. Nevertheless, He sent Moses to Pharaoh several times. At first Moses feared Pharaoh. However, ironically, as Pharaoh continued to refuse Moses, Moses became less fearful of Pharaoh and instead, the Egyptians became increasingly fearful of Moses and considered him as a great man (Exodus 11: 3). The more obedient you are the more power God shows you. In the end, Pharaoh bowed before God's power and released the people of Israel.

Some people ask if preaching to 7 billion people is possible. It could seem like we are faced with a bigger and more difficult problem than that of Noah, Abraham, and Moses. However, preaching to 7 billion people is God's will that “…this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world…” (Matthew 24:14). The Church of God saints absolutely believe that these words will be fulfilled.

So, today too, the Church of God powerfully goes out to preach the gospel to 7 billion people.