Leviticus 23:1-14 (NIV)
1 The LORD said to Moses,
2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘These are my appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the LORD, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.
3 “‘There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.
4 “‘These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times:
5 The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. ……
On verses 1-14: When you read in Leviticus 23of all the various feasts that God told the Israelites to observe, let it be a reminder that God loves to party. Notice that in Leviticus 23God doesn’t tell the people to stop and complain about everything that’s wrong with their life or wrong with the world. (That’s something we do quite naturally without anybody telling us.) Instead, God tells the people to stop what they’re doing and celebrate! It’s like God’s saying, “Focus on the good things I have done in your life and have a celebration.” In fact, God is so much about celebrating that He tells His people to schedule it into their calendars.
Certainly there are times we need to weep and mourn (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4), but as our lifestyle and as a daily habit, the God of the Bible much prefers that we rejoice always and celebrate (give thanks) in all circumstances (1Thessalonians 5:18).
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Leviticus 22:17-25 (NIV)
17 The LORD said to Moses,
18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: ‘If any of you–either an Israelite or an alien living in Israel–presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD, either to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering,
19 you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf.
20 Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. ……
On verses 17-25: Once again we see that God’s holiness requires that almost all sacrifices need to be without defects in order to be acceptable in God’s sight. This reminds me that:
– When we serve God, let’s give God our very best – not the leftovers, but the first portion.
– While we were unable to give God a perfect offering because we ourselves are not perfect, God would send His perfect Son Jesus to be the perfect atoning sacrifice for us.
When food is left over, it spoils. By eating all the thanksgiving food right away and completely, we keep it from spoiling. In the same way, when we don’t give thanks to God right away and completely, our thanksgiving “spoils”. That is, over time we will be tempted to explain away God’s hand on our lives, giving the credit to ourselves, attributing it to our own efforts or to luck or to coincidence, or simply forgetting altogether that anything good happened. Don’t let your thanksgiving spoil. Don’t ziplock it and save it for another day. Instead offer your thanks to God right away and completely.
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今天我們要介紹的這位主角丹尼爾·韋伯斯特·懷特（Daniel Webster Whitte，以下簡稱“丹尼爾”）1840年11月22日出生於美國馬薩諸塞州的契科彼瀑布（Chicopee Fall）。他出生的那個月正好是美國新誕生不久的輝格黨（Whig Party）總統候選人威廉·亨利·哈裏森(William Henry Harrison)，擊敗在任的民主黨總統馬丁·範布倫（Martin V. Buren），贏得美國第九屆總統選戰勝利的關鍵時間。丹尼爾的父親因為特別崇敬那位協助哈裏森打贏選戰，後來擔任總統國務卿的著名律師丹尼爾·韋伯斯特（Daniel Webster），特地給兒子取了與前者一樣的名字，也叫丹尼爾·韋伯斯特，希望有朝一日兒子也能成為像他這樣有出息的一個政治家；但他的母親卻是一位虔誠的基督徒，只希望自己的孩子將來成為一個被神所用的人。
後來丹尼爾的人生發展也確實如此，戰爭結束後丹尼爾作為一名英雄凱旋回到了家鄉芝加哥。許多地方都紛紛邀請他去為民眾做戰鬥經歷報告，大家也都按他在部隊裏因赫赫戰功而晉升的軍銜繼續稱呼他為“懷特少校”；之後他入職於一家大公司，並在那裏一直做到財務主管的位置。這時候的他，在眾人的眼裏顯然已經屬於功成名就，前途似錦之人。可就在1873年，他毅然放棄了所有的一切，蒙召加入到同在芝加哥的著名佈道家穆迪(D. L. Moody)的團隊，成為一名全職的傳道人。
丹尼爾加入到穆迪團隊後參與的工作是多方面的，其中重要的一項就是福音音樂事奉。他在年輕時就因為有一副男高音的好嗓音而名聲在外，但在穆迪團隊裏，他除了在詩班唱歌也開始嘗試聖詩的創作。這時候的丹尼爾已人到中年，以往的學歷也只有中學畢業，外加右手殘疾，只能靠左手來寫作，但神卻大大地使用他，讓這位曾經是拿槍桿子的戰鬥英雄成功地轉化為一名多產的優秀詩人。經他所創作的讚美詩歌中有許多首成為經典，其中包括我們大家熟悉的《基督活在我心》（ Christ Liveth In Me）、《恩雨大降》（There Shall Be Showers of Blessing)、《高舉主旗》（The Banner of the Cross），《時刻蒙恩》（Movement by movement）,以及今天我要介紹的這首《我知我所信的是誰》(I Know Whom I Have believed) 等。
當然，作為讚美詩作者的丹尼爾無疑是幸運的，因為他得天獨厚在所事奉的穆迪團隊裏就現成有著許多著名的音樂家。先後為他所寫的詩歌配曲的名家包括：寫過《我心靈得安寧》（It is well with my soul）、《哈利路亚，奇妙救主！》（Hallelujah! What a Savior!）、《耶穌愛我》（Jesus Loves Me）等名曲的菲利普·保羅·貝力斯 (Philip Paul Bliss)，和曾經為《耶穌我來》（Jesus, I Come》、《歌頌救贖主》（I Will Sing of My Redeemer）等詩歌譜曲的詹姆斯·麥格拉納漢(James McGranahan)，以及作為詩歌《我知我救贖者活著》（I Know That My Redeemer Lives）、《耶穌今召你》 （Jesus is Calling） 《復興主工 》（Revive Thy Work, O Lord! ）譜曲者的喬治·科爾斯·斯特賓斯(George Coles Stebbin)。他們都是那個時代大名鼎鼎的聖樂家。而為丹尼爾這首代表作《我知我所信的是誰》譜曲的就是其中的詹姆斯·麥格拉納漢。
Leviticus 21:1-4 (NIV)
1 The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean for any of his people who die,
2 except for a close relative, such as his mother or father, his son or daughter, his brother,
3 or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband–for her he may make himself unclean.
4 He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage, and so defile himself.
On verses 1-4: Leviticus 21:1-4 says that a priest could not touch or get near a dead person unless that person was a close relative, lest he become ceremonially unclean himself and unable to approach God. Amazingly, in contrast, in the gospels we see Jesus’ touching dead people and making them alive. Rather than Jesus being negatively affected by other people’s “deadness”, Jesus’ “aliveness” made dead people come to life. In Jesus Christ we have a high priest like no other.
Leviticus 21:5-6 (NIV)
5 “‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.
6 They must be holy to their God and must not profane the name of their God. Because they present the offerings made to the LORD by fire, the food of their God, they are to be holy.
Leviticus 19:23-25 (NIV)
23 “‘When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten.
24 In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.
25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God.
On verses 23-25: Why would God forbid the Israelites from eating the fruit from a fruit tree they planted for the first three years? Isn’t this a waste? Why is God depriving His own people of food? God’s purpose was not to deprive His people but opposite: so that “your harvest will be increased” (v25). Apparently, according to some horticulturists, fruit trees that are not stripped of their fruit in their first few years but are maintained with care have the ability to produce much more fruit in subsequent years.
What can we learn from this? When God is seemingly depriving you or keeping you from enjoying a blessing, it’s not to be cruel to you but ultimately to bless you. Also, the fact that the Israelites were told to give the fourth year’s harvest to the Lord before eating of the fruit themselves suggests one more truth: that the land that the Israelites were going to live in ultimately does not belong to them but to God. It’s a reminder for us that whatever we think we own actually belongs to God. We are just stewards and trustees of what God has given to us.
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Leviticus 19:11-22 (NIV)
11 “‘Do not steal. “‘Do not lie. “‘Do not deceive one another.
12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
13 “‘Do not defraud your neighbor or rob him. “‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired man overnight.
14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the LORD.
15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly…….
On verses 11-22: What do we do with a passage like Leviticus 19:11-22? On one hand, the first half (verses 11-18) lists commands that are easy for us to understand and that we can easily see applying just as much today as in Moses’ time: do not steal, do not lie, do not pervert justice, do not slander others, etc. You’ll find that in verses 11-18, every other verse is punctuated with the statement “I am the LORD”, encouraging us to remember who it is who gives these commands and who it is we are accountable to – not just anyone, but God Himself.
But then in the second half (verses 19-22) we come across commands that may sound strange and foreign to us. For example, verse 19 says to not plant two kinds of seed in the same field. Is it wrong for you to plant tomatoes AND cucumbers in your backyard? And how about this: do not wear clothing woven with two kinds of material (verse 19)? Is God offended if I wear a shirt that is 50% cotton and 50% polyester?
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