Don’t Play the Blame Game

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 18:1-20. Let’s go!

Ezekiel 18:1-3 (NIV)
1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel: “‘The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel.

On verses 1-3: In Ezekiel’s day, this was a popular saying among the Israelites: “The fathers eat sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge” (v2). What did that saying mean and why would the Israelites say it? The Israelites would say this phrase as a way of blaming their ancestors for their current difficulties. When people would ask the Israelites, “Why are you going through such difficulties and suffering right now?” many Israelites would respond by saying, “It’s not my fault. It’s my father’s fault.” Here in chapter 18, God responds to this tendency of many Israelites to blame their problems on their parents.

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大衛的人生下半場

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歷代志上 29章20節 大衛對全會眾說：「你們應當稱頌耶和華—你們的　神。」

很多人奮鬥了大半生，有很好的成果，但是到了人生的下半場，因為舒坦了，一個不慎就再回頭己百年身。所以有的人把男人的中年階段起了個名字，就是中年危機。

大衛人生的前半場，雖然有點辛苦，但是他活得十分精采，也充滿了神同在的恩典。但是經過了與拔示巴這一段，神恕他死罪，卻難逃活罪。這活罪就是罪帶來的苦果，神的咒詛：1.刀劍必永不離開大衛的家，2.神要從大衛家中興起災禍攻擊大衛；神必在大衛眼前把他的妃嬪賜給他身邊的人，他要在光天化日下與大衛的妃嬪同寢。3. 大衛和拔示巴生的第一個孩子必定要死。

原本和諧安興旺的家，在一夕之間因為大衛的罪而變得危機四伏，殺機重重。第一個應驗的，便是大衛和拔示巴生的第一個孩子死了。接著大衛的長子暗嫰用計姦了同父異母的妹妹她瑪，她瑪的哥哥押沙龍存心報復，殺了暗嫰；後來更蓄意纂位，使大衛不得不逃離耶路撒冷。

大衛逃離耶路撒冷後，在光天化日下與大衛的妃嬪同寢的，便是大衛的兒子押沙龍。當押沙龍去追殺大衛時，因為他的頭髮太多太長，在森林裡被樹枝繞住，就懸掛起來，所騎的騾子便離他而去。約押收到報告，立刻趕去，拿三杆短槍刺透押沙龍的心，把他殺死。這才解了大衛的危機。

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God Alone Is Sovereign

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 17:11-24. Let’s go!

Ezekiel 17:11-14 (NIV)
11 Then the word of the LORD came to me:
12 “Say to this rebellious house, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles, bringing them back with him to Babylon.
13 Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He also carried away the leading men of the land,
14 so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty.

On verses 11-14: After capturing King Jehoichin of Judah and taking him to Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would appoint Zedekiah, Jehoichin’s uncle (“a member of the royal family” – v13), to stay in Jerusalem and to take Jehoichin’s place as ruler in Judah. Nebuchadnezzar would place Zedekiah under oath and make him sign a treaty promising that he would cooperate with Nebuchadnezzar’s policies.

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基督徒該守安息日嗎？

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一、我們首先來看聖經中第一次出現安息日的原因和意義：

創世記第一章記載神用六天創造了天地萬物，最後造了有神形像的人，神把人擺在祂所造的萬物當中，神看著非常滿意，說，「甚好。」（創1:31）。於是，「到第七日，神造作的工已經完畢，就在第七日歇了祂一切造作的工，安息了。神賜福給第七日，將其分別為聖，因為在這日神歇了祂一切創造和造作的工，就安息了。」（創2:2~3）

神為何在第七日歇了一切的工，安息了呢？

因為人有了神的形像，將會使祂的榮耀得著彰顯；神的權柄也將要施行，以征服祂的仇敵撒但。只要人彰顯神並對付神的仇敵，神就得著滿足而能安息。後來神在制定十誡時，就為以色列人制定了他們要在第七日記念為安息日。（出20:8∼11。）

因此，安息日不是休息日，而是神在創造時得著人，神滿足了；也在救贖了以色列人作神的子民，要他們記念神為他們所成功的救贖。

二、安息與休息完全不同

人做事會疲累的，累了就需要休息。人以為神作了六天的創造工作，一定也很累了，所以第七天神就需要休息。但是神會累嗎？

詩篇121:4 說，「看哪，保護以色列的，也不打盹，也不睡覺。」

希伯來書1:3說，「用祂大能的話維持、載著並推動萬有。」萬有的運作、維持是不能停頓一時一刻的。神的大能是人想像不到的，完全不需要休息。

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Shortcuts Can Be Deceiving

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 17:1-10.  Let’s go!

Ezekiel 17:1-2 (NIV) 
1  The word of the LORD came to me:
2  “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell the house of Israel a parable.

On verses 1-2:  Here the Lord gives Ezekiel another picture (also called an allegory or a parable – v2) to tell the house of Israel.  Both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, we see that God loves to use pictures and stories to communicate spiritual truths to His people.  For some reason God made us to be drawn to stories.  Keep this in mind the next time you want to communicate a spiritual truth to others.

Ezekiel 17:3a (NIV)
3  Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon…

On verses 3a:  Who is this great eagle?  Most scholars agree that the great eagle here symbolizes King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon who would come to Israel (that is, Lebanon).

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大衛和拔示巴

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詩篇51篇10節    神啊，求祢為我造清潔的心，使我裏面重新有正直的靈。

皮尤研究中心最近（Pew Research Center）進行一項全球調查發現，在歐洲過半數受訪者認為「沒有上帝都可以成為好人」，在較富裕和人民教育程度較高的國家更認為如此。但是在亞洲及印非國家的調查結果，更同意「上帝使人有良好的道德」。

當諸王還在出戰時，大衛派約押率領臣僕和以色列眾人出去，約押又打了勝仗，大衛高枕無憂，因此夜夜笙歌，睡到太陽平西才起床。太陽平西就是黃昏，有沒有人像大衛王一樣，夜裡不睡，白天睡？這在養生學裡是大大不好的習慣。

大衛在還沒有做全以色列王之前，他有很多問題要解決，有目標要前進，他非常倚靠神，做每件事都要求問神。現在他有了以色列最高的權力，內憂外患都有人管，他開始盡情享受人生，放縱自己。

我覺得大多數人都很像大衛，當我們有努力的目標時，生活裡會比較有節制；一旦擁有了渴望的一切之後，精神就渙散了。在物質享受的領域裡，很快就感到無聊和厭倦，因此慾望就向誘惑打開大門，只求能滿足想要的無底洞。所以「沒有上帝也可以成為好人」，這裡「好人」的標準是什麼？

大衛實在是個「好人」，他有很高的道德標準；在他看到拔示巴之前，所做的每件事都是眾人的模範。但是當「慾望」取代了「上帝」時，他就沒有標準和道德底線了。在社會新聞裡，我們看到很多「好人」做「壞事」。好像最近台灣有個巿長候選人，被人起底她當年的碩士論文有96%是抄襲的。她當然看起來是「好人」，才會去選巿長，可是一選就露底了。這就是人的本相，看起來都像「好人」，其實底子裡一大堆不可告人事。所以富裕和教育程度，不能使人成為神眼中的「好人」。大衛也是在富裕時，成了不好的人。

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Jesus Bore Our Disgrace

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 16:49-63.  Let’s go!

On verses 49-59:  Jerusalem had looked down on Sodom and Samaria as places of great wickedness (v56).  Yet here God says that Jerusalem’s sins have exceeded those of Sodom and Samaria, making those places which were known for their wickedness look righteous compared to Jerusalem.  God tells Jerusalem repeatedly to “bear your disgrace” (v52, 54) because not only did she pridefully judge others, but she proved herself to be a hypocrite and an even worse sinner than the people she judged.  God also tells Jerusalem later to “bear the consequences of your lewdness and detestable practices” (v58).

What can we learn from this?  Have you ever judged someone for doing something wrong, and then you ended up doing the same thing or worse?  That is called pride and hypocrisy.  In response to our pride and hypocrisy, God had every right to make us bear our disgrace and treat us as our sins deserve, just as God would do to Jerusalem.  However, in God’s mercy and love, God would send His Son Jesus to bear our disgrace instead, and to bear the consequences of our sin by dying on a cross.  What an amazing Saviour we have in Jesus, that He would bear our disgrace for us and suffer the consequences in our place.

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大衛制服亞捫人和亞蘭人

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撒母耳記下 10章5節    有人告訴大衛，他就派人去迎接他們，因為這些人覺得很羞恥。王說：「可以住在耶利哥，等到鬍鬚長出來再回來。」

你有沒有被人無緣無故惡待的經歷呢？張文亮老師最近發表了一篇文章，是他當教授以前的經歷。有一個土耳其人到他的學校上班，與他共用一個辦公室。一來就強佔了他的位子，然後又叫他幫忙做統計與繪圖，做完後又意見多多。這土耳其人不是整天發脾氣，把座位弄得咖啦咖啦響，就是繃著一張像死魚的臉，好像大家都得罪他。張老師當時跟負責的比爾教授抱怨了幾次，比爾教授只叫他忍耐再忍耐。

後來張老師覺得跟人說不管用，便向主禱告，求主解套。沒想到有一天，土耳其人拿著兩支乒乓球拍，問他會不會打乒乓球。張老師常常故意輸土耳其人一兩球，讓對方非常高興。後來兩人經常一起去打球，對方還在打球前幫他預備午餐、飲料、水果等。後來張老師在研究時預到一些瓶頸，土耳其人還教他如何思索，改善操作，兩人成為非常好的朋友。

這是一個敵人變成朋友的經歷。但是今天要讀的是，朋友變成敵人的故事。

亞捫人是亞伯拉罕侄兒羅得的後裔，神把地給了亞捫人，曾囑咐以色列人不可去干擾他們。在大衛做王之前，亞捫人的老王和大衛有交情，因此當大衛聽到老王過世，便派人去安慰新上任的小王哈嫩。沒想到亞捫人的領袖竟向哈嫩進惡言，把大衛的善意變惡意，更把大衛的臣僕的鬍鬚剃去一半，又割斷他們下半截的袍子，露出下體，然後放了他們。

這對大衛而言是奇恥大辱。但是大衛第一個採取的行動是保護那些受害被辱的臣僕，他派人去接他們，把他們安置在耶利哥，直等到鬍鬚長出來。

大衛雖然恨惡此事，沒想到亞捫人卻想先發兵制大衛。他們聯合亞蘭人，瑪迦人，陀伯人要攻打大衛。

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When Jesus Bore Our Stress and Shame

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Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Ezekiel 16:35-48.  Let’s go!

Ezekiel 16:35-42 (NIV) 
35  “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the LORD!
36  This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood,
37  therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness………

On verses 35-42:  Here God continues to paint the picture of Jerusalem as God’s unfaithful wife, this time focusing on the suffering and punishment Jerusalem would go through for her adulterous ways.  Here God speaks of gathering all of Jerusalem’s lovers and stripping Jerusalem in front of them (v37), of bringing blood vengeance upon Jerusalem (v38), of Jerusalem’s lovers tearing down her mounds and lofty shrines (v39), of bringing a mob against Jerusalem (v40) and burning down their houses (v41).  In talking this way, God is not speaking figuratively or poetically only.  Rather, much of this would actually happen within just a few short years when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon would invade and conquer Jerusalem in 58 B.C., fulfilling many of these prophetic images.  Thus these words in verses 35-42 are what would actually happen to Jerusalem as a result of their persistent idolatry.

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