Conquering the Giant in Your Life

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Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 3:1-17.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 3:1-17 (NIV)
1  Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei.
2  The LORD said to me, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon.”
3  So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors.
4  At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them–the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan.
5  All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages.

On verses 1-17:  In Deuteronomy 3, Moses recounts Israel’s victory over Og king of Bashan.  While Moses recounted this same victory in Numbers 21, here in Deuteronomy 3 Moses mentions an additional detail about Og that he didn’t mention in Numbers: Og was a giant.  Verse 11 says:

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敬畏誡命的必得善報

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〈箴言〉13:12    所盼望的遲延未得，令人心憂；所願意的臨到，卻是生命樹。

閱讀經文：箴言13:12-15

12所盼望的遲延未得，令人心憂；所願意的臨到，卻是生命樹。13藐視訓言的自取滅亡，敬畏誡命的必得善報。14智慧人的法則是生命的泉源，可以使人離開死亡的網羅。15美好的聰明使人蒙恩，奸詐人的道路崎嶇難行。

第12節：所盼望的遲延未得，令人心憂；所願意的臨到，卻是生命樹。

《現代中文譯本》：希望幻滅，心靈隨之破碎；願望實現，心裡充滿生機。

《當代聖經》：盼望遲遲不實現，使人憂傷；理想達到，就會為人帶來快樂的人生。

《The Message》: Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick, but a sudden good break can turn life around.

這句經文非常寫實。楊世禮醫生說：“信就是所望之事的實底，是未見之事的確據”（來11:1），不少信徒常常引用這節經文，作為信心的定義。以為所有“所望的事”及“未見的事”，只要加上信心，便會變成事實，誤以為這是上帝給信徒“心想事成”的應允，如此釋經非常危險。其實這一節所謂“所望之事”，並非人意所希望得到的事情，而是神的話語。因為神如此說，我們便如此盼望，所以第一節的中心是神的應許，也是信心的起點。”

當我們誤會神的話時，有時帶來的不只是希望的幻滅，心靈的破碎，更會失去對神的信仰。但是當我們願天父的旨意得以成全時，事情反而會有轉機。因為萬事互相效力，叫愛神的人得益處。神若不照我們的心願去做，往往是因為祂的計劃勝過我們的希望。

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Let God’s Mercy Keep Us Humble

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Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 2:16-37.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 2:16-23 (NIV)
16  Now when the last of these fighting men among the people had died,
17  the LORD said to me,
18  “Today you are to pass by the region of Moab at Ar.
19  When you come to the Ammonites, do not harass them or provoke them to war, for I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites. I have given it as a possession to the descendants of Lot.”
20  (That too was considered a land of the Rephaites, who used to live there; but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites.
21  They were a people strong and numerous, and as tall as the Anakites. The LORD destroyed them from before the Ammonites, who drove them out and settled in their place.
22  The LORD had done the same for the descendants of Esau, who lived in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them. They drove them out and have lived in their place to this day.
23  And as for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorites coming out from Caphtor destroyed them and settled in their place.)
 
On verses 16-23:  When you read these verses it becomes clear that the Israelites were not the only ones that God had been protecting and leading the way for.  In verses 18-21 we read about how God was with the Ammonites and enabled them to drive out a strong and formidable force in the Rephaites, who were known to be much larger in size, and takeover their land.  In verse 22 we read about how God was with the descendants of Esau and enabled them to drive out the Horites and takeover their land.  Moses speaks to the Israelites this way to drive home a number of points that are good for us to learn as well:

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