约伯自诅其生辰

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〈约伯记〉3:23 人的道路既然遮隐，神又把他四面围困，为何有光赐给他呢？

阅读经文：〈约伯记〉3 章

已故的喜剧泰斗罗宾威廉斯的遗孀苏珊施耐德接受访问，首次提到罗宾曾患有路易氏体型失智症，而抑郁症只是其中的一个小症状。路易氏体型失智症会让患者身体僵硬、走路不稳，导致经常跌倒受伤、手震、焦虑及幻觉等。罗宾虽然努力抵抗病魔，但是难敌病痛，深感绝望，因而选择自杀。不知道您可曾想过自杀，以这样的方式来为自己找出路，希望不用再受苦；我曾经在沮丧时也想过自杀。好像不再活下去，就可以了无牵挂，不再被忧虑所困。这是人基本的愿望，自由，不管是心智或肉体都希望自由。

因此我们可以稍微去体会约伯当年的沮丧。他觉得丧失了做人的尊严，坐在炉灰中刮脓疮，像一只人人讨厌的癞皮狗。没有作为，没有功能，活着的意义和作人的目的尽都丧失，那么活着还有什么意思？罗宾在患病时感觉到不再行动自如时，变得非常敏感，觉得不管到哪里，人人都对他指指点点，好像都在讨论他有多糟糕。当然，那是出于他的自我幻觉。但是人在生病中，经常也会变得对他人的举止更加敏感，好像凡事都是针对自己，给自己更大的压力。

我想这就是疾病的可怕，撒旦不止让人的肉体软弱，也因而使人的精神软弱。当人失去独立自主的能力时，恐惧便占满了其心灵。害怕不再有人爱他（她），害怕成为别人的负担，惹人讨厌。这时才明白原来人是何等在意被接纳被需要，因此觉得不再被接纳也不再被需要，会让人失去活下去的志气。因此约伯咒诅自己的生日，他希望自己从来没有活过。你有没有这样想过呢？

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The Winning Combination

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 35:20-35.  Let’s go!

Exodus 35:20-35 (NIV)
20  Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence,
21  and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments.
22  All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewelry of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments. They all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD…..

On verses 1-35:  As we saw yesterday at THRIVE Church online looking at these verses, God’s house is built on the willingness of God’s people to give what they have.  God doesn’t always use the most talented, the most experienced, or the most qualified, but the most willing.  It all starts with the heart.

But willingness is not the only thing God looks for.  We see from Exodus 35 that God looks for people with skill to do the jobs necessary to build His house (v10), whether it’s the skilled women who spun the linen (v25), or the women skilled in spinning goat hair (v26), or Bezalel the chief artistic designer of the tabernacle (v31) or the craftsmen at his side (v35).  God uses excellent materials and the work of “master craftsmen and designers” (v35) to build His house.  May this encourage us to give our best to the Lord every time we serve Him, not giving Him the scraps, but giving Him our utmost.

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Sabbath Regulations

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 35:1-19.  Let’s go!

1. (vv. 1-3) The command to keep the Sabbath.

Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the LORD has commanded you to do: Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

a. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD: In the coming chapters, there was a lot of work for Israel to do. They had to build a complex and exact tabernacle of meeting. Yet before they did anything, they should be reminded to enter into God’s rest and to respect the Sabbath.

i. The same principle holds true for our walk with God. Anything we do for the LORD must grow out of our rest in Him, and rest in His finished work on our behalf.

b. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death: This was a strict call to obedience. Before they did the work of building the tabernacle, God first called Israel to the work of simple obedience. Basic obedience is a pre-requisite for doing work for the LORD.

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约伯全身长毒疮

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〈约伯记〉2:6耶和华对撒旦说：「他在你手中，只要存留他的性命。」

阅读经文：〈约伯记〉2 章

这章里撒旦说的话，其实也是对所有信徒的挑战。“人以皮代皮，情愿舍去一切所有的，保全性命。你且伸手伤他的骨头和他的肉，他必当面弃掉祢”。我们在失去一切，又患重症时，会不会弃掉神？曾经ISIS专门去杀害基督徒，甚至美国Oregon俄勒冈州的校园杀手也专门挑衅基督徒（2015年10月1日），叫他们站起来，再一一枪杀。一枪毙命虽然令人痛惜失去的性命，但比起约伯的苦难，似乎后者更为痛苦。疼痛，是神赐给人的礼物，可以救人也可以使人发疯。

在《圣经》里的记载，有一些事很难领会。例如，神的众子是指谁？撒旦为何也参与其中？神难道不知道撒旦在哪里，还要问牠？神何必为了撒旦而让约伯受苦？一般而言，神的众子也指神创造的天使或使者，或者是那些已经到了天堂的人，例如肉身不死的以诺。撒旦也可以去见神，而且可以到神面前去控诉属神的人。神允许撒旦的存在，并且利用撒旦，使牠成为神手中的反面器皿。从第一章到第二章，甚至到最后一章，神和撒旦都在约伯的事上角力。

我相信当约伯受苦时，神也心痛，但是祂自始至终在看（顾）著约伯；正如耶稣降世之后，圣灵一直与祂同在。神没有让耶稣降生在富人家里，因此耶稣从一出生就要忍受物质的缺乏，过贫苦的日子，被人耻笑是私生子；被捕后被虐打、钉十字架，一直到复活，都在父神的眼目之中，但是父神必须让祂走完全程，才能让罪人因祂得赎。很苦，却是一个特别的使命。约伯要完成的，也是一个特别的使命，因着他的受苦，许多人在患难中得到安慰和鼓励，坚守了对神的信心。

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Glowing from God’s Presence

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 34:21-35.  Let’s go!

Exodus 34:21-24 (NIV)
21  “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.
22  “Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.
23  Three times a year all your men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD, the God of Israel.
24  I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the LORD your God.

On verses 21-24:  Once again God reiterates His command to the Israelites to work 6 days and to rest on the 7th day, even during plowing season and harvest (v21).  He also reiterates His command that they celebrate the Feast of Weeks, giving God the firstfruits of their wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering (v22).  These two feasts, together with the Feast of the Passover, would mark three times when the Israelites were to appear before the LORD (v23).  There must have been some Israelites who thought “we don’t have time to rest or time to appear before God because we are too busy, especially during plowing season and harvest”, but nonetheless the LORD tells the Israelites to rest on the 7th day and to gather together 3 times before Him.  God wanted the Israelites to trust in Him rather than in themselves, to remember that the LORD is more important than their business of plowing and harvesting, and that the LORD in fact is the ultimate source of their success and prosperity.  God promised that as the Israelites gathered three times before the LORD, He would not just protect their land but enlarge it and drive out the nations before them (v24).

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约伯的拥有和失去

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〈约伯记〉1:21 我赤身出于母胎，也必赤身归回；赏赐的是耶和华，收取的也是耶和华。耶和华的名是应当称颂的！

阅读经文：〈约伯记〉1章

约伯是什么时候的人呢？这是许多人很好奇的一个问题，根据李道生牧师的《旧约圣经问题总解（上）》中指出，约伯友人以利法是以扫的后裔（创36:10/11）；比勒达是亚伯拉罕和基土拉的儿子书亚的后裔（创25:2）；以利户是亚伯拉罕的兄弟拿鹤之子布斯的后裔（创22:21），因此约伯的年代大约是在雅各之后，摩西之前的那一段时间。这个故事对人类的世界产生很大的影响，让人类知道苦难的来源，有时是出于神的允许。这是人很难接受的一个事实，为何敬虔像约伯这样的人，竟然成为神和撒旦比试的一个“器皿”？人没有办法理解，神怎么可以让撒旦把灾难加诸于约伯身上，以测验约伯的信心之真实与否？难道没有其他更理性的方法去测验人对神的信心吗？

读了约伯的故事，人人自危，深怕自己也成为神和撒旦之间的试验品。因为人都不喜欢苦难，只希望拥有，永远地拥有。但这个故事让我们重新思想人的定位和神、物质的关系。大多数人都希望做王，做自己的王，一想到人只不过是神的受造物，人权在神权之下，那种冲击之大，使他们不断地咒骂神，觉得神对约伯的作为十分无理。神知道人的软弱，人的恐惧和害怕。但是不管撒旦怎样恶劣，也不敢跨出神给牠规定的范围；同时，人也始终在神的看顾之下，在神的眼目之中。

世人大多喜爱雅比斯的祷告甚于约伯的苦难：“甚愿祢赐福与我、扩张我的境界、常与我同在、保佑我不遭患难、不受艰苦。” （代上 4:10）。约伯其实也怕苦难，因此他非常警醒，他不仅自己远离恶事，也怕儿女犯罪弃掉神而遭祸患，因此在儿女的筵宴之后，总要替他们献祭赎罪。就像尼希米，为了避免神再次对以色列人发怒，所以很努力地要让以色列人遵行律法，守安息日，等等。这是人的本性，不想要有灾难。

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以色列人重蹈覆辙

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〈尼希米记〉13:22b 我的神啊，求祢因这事记念我，照祢的大慈爱怜恤我。

阅读经文：〈尼希米记〉13章

一幌12年，当尼希米再回到耶路撒冷时，己是物是人非，在这一章里，我们仿佛看到自己就是以色列人的化身，有那么多的软弱。虽然曾经在主前立誓定约，要一生跟随主，要效法耶稣，要做主所喜悦的事，让主的旨意成就在我们的身上。可是就像保罗的感叹：“有谁软弱我不软弱呢？（林后11:29a）”也正像他说的：“立志为善由得我，只是行出来由不得我。故此，我所愿意的善，我反不做；我所不愿意的恶，我倒去做。（罗7:18-19）”

在尼希米做第一任省长时，百姓在先知的激励和尼希米的榜样带领，以斯拉用律法教导时，他们爱神的心何等火热，首领都去签约要守律法，百姓也发誓要遵从神的律例典章，但是当尼希米离开耶路撒冷，再从巴比伦回到耶路撒冷时，一切都不再一样了。最基本的，要与闲杂人绝交的誓言，就像一阵风，无影无踪。曾经带领众祭司建立羊门，安立门扇，又筑城墙到哈米亚楼直到哈楠业楼的祭司以利亚实竟然监守自盗。先是和亚扪人多比雅结为亲家，又把圣殿里的一间大屋子给多比雅住。

以利亚实是圣殿中管库房的，反而把库房里敬拜要用的素祭、乳香、器皿，以及供应利未人、歌唱和守门的要吃的五谷、新酒和油都搬到别的地方去了。他很可能把这些东西和食物都贪为己用，以致于那些服侍神的人无粮可吃，只好回去自己的田地去耕种。如此一来，圣殿就形同虚设，因为没有人做事了。

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Don’t Waste Your Life

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 34:10-20.  Let’s go!

Exodus 34:10-16 (NIV)
10  Then the LORD said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you.
11  Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
12  Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you.
13  Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.
14  Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
15  “Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.
16  And when you choose some of their daughters as wives for your sons and those daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, they will lead your sons to do the same.

On verses 10-16:  God was committed to doing wonders among the Israelites never before done in any other nation (v10).  His plan was that other nations would see how awesome is the work that God would do on behalf of the Israelites (v10) and as part of this to drive out six of the nations that the Israelites would encounter (v11).  However, God needed the Israelites’ cooperation for this plan to fully be realized and thus God tells them to “Obey what I command you today” (v11).  In particular, God tells the Israelites not to make treaties with other nations (v12) and not to worship other gods (v13-14).  

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Go to God with a Blank Slate

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 34:1-9.  Let’s go!

Exodus 34:1-4 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
2  Be ready in the morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the mountain.
3  No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.”
4  So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands.

On verses 1-4:  Moses had broken the first tablets containing the LORD’s writing, and so the LORD take the initiative to instruct Moses to bring to Him new tablets of stone for the LORD to write on again.  What can we learn from this?  First, God is in the business of taking what we have broken and making it new again.  He is a restorer.

Second, just as the LORD told Moses to appear privately before Him with two blank stone tablets for the LORD to write on, every day may we privately appear before the LORD with a blank slate, ready and waiting to hear from God and open to letting Him speak in whatever way He wants. While we have the privilege of coming to God with our cares and our burdens, just as often if not more often, we need to come to God without any agenda, except to simply be with God and to let Him speak into our lives and write into our hearts whatever He thinks we need.

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城墙告成之礼

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〈尼希米记〉12:27耶路撒冷城墙告成的时候，众民就把各处的利未人招到耶路撒冷，要称谢、歌唱、敲钹、鼓瑟、弹琴，欢欢喜喜地行告成之礼。

阅读经文：〈尼希米记〉12章

看到今天的经文，你会不会像我一样，发出一声哀号惨叫：天啊，又是一堆人名！这些人名好像跟我们一点关系也没有，可是对以色列人而言，却是十分重要的记录。因为安排事工，追寻祖源都要靠它。这些人名也表示了当时记录的人之工作心态，何等认真一点也不马虎。我们现在虽然不知道他们是谁，但相信有一天到了天父那里，还有机会跟他们打招呼，变成好朋友。

从听到回归之人的苦境到建立城墙，尼希米和同代之人深深明白为什么先知撒迦利亚说：“万军之耶和华说：不是倚靠势力，不是倚靠才能，乃是倚靠我的灵方能成事”（亚4:6）。从外邦人对他们的轻视、扰乱，甚至性命的威胁，到城墙的完工，充满了紧张和压力的52天，他们终于在神的恩典里把耶路撒冷的城墙修建好了，敌人不能随便地进来，他们总算稍微可以喘一口气，过几天安心的日子。

因此他们要称谢，要欢呼，要把心里的喜乐和苦楚都释放出来。他们要借着歌唱、敲钹、鼓瑟、弹琴，欢欢喜喜地行告成之礼。从这个告成之礼，我们可以看到大卫王所设立的制度对以色列人的影响深远。以色列的音乐之所以特殊迷人，不在于轻快的乐音，还有许多灵魂深处的倾诉和交托，他们和神之间那种相依相附的亲密，飘荡在无数个世代的悖逆与归回交结中，充满感伤却又十分甜蜜。从大卫的诗篇里，就传达了这种对神的无比渴慕之情。这称谢、歌唱、敲钹、鼓瑟、弹琴的祭祷方式，便是从大卫王开始的。

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