远离纷争是人的尊荣

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箴言20:3   远离纷争是人的尊荣，愚妄人都爱争闹。

阅读经文：箴言20:1-3

1酒能使人亵慢，浓酒使人喧嚷，凡因酒错误的，就无智慧。 2王的威吓如同狮子吼叫，惹动他怒的是自害己命。 3远离纷争是人的尊荣，愚妄人都爱争闹。

第1节：酒能使人亵慢，浓酒使人喧嚷，凡因酒错误的，就无智慧。 Wine makes you mean, beer makes you quarrelsome— a staggering drunk is not much fun. 《The Message》

酒实在是令人又爱又恨的饮料。从挪亚喝醉，赤身露体睡觉，后被小儿子含看见。含不为父亲遮掩，反而讲给哥哥们听，所以两个哥哥就拿衣服，倒退进挪亚的帐棚，为父亲盖上。挪亚醒来后，便咒诅含的儿子迦南。从此因酒生事就没有断过了。

有的人觉得喝啤酒不会有事。但是来看看毕德生牧师的译文：（浓）酒会让你变得卑鄙肮脏，啤酒会让你喜欢和人争吵，跟一个喝到脚步踉跄的人在一起，一点意思也没有。

很多家暴源于家里有个酒鬼老公或老婆，很多不应该发生的性关系，也都是因酒而起。更别说现在有多少车祸，是因为醉酒驾车，以致许多无辜的家庭受害。人喝酒后就会失控，说不该说的话，做不该做的事，好像被魔鬼附身。

虽然因为提摩太的胃不好，所以保罗劝提摩太要喝点酒（提前5:23），并不是鼓励他喝酒，而是把酒当成药物，稍微使用。这与酗酒是全然两回事，酗酒是把酒当作饮品，或麻醉自己的方法，不仅伤身，也会伤害到别人。

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The Strangest Verses in the Bible?

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 25:11-19.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 25:11-12 (NIV)
11  If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts,
12  you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.

On verses 11-12:  To us today, verses 11-12 might sound like two of the strangest verses you have ever read in the Bible.  Was it common in Moses’ time for a wife to intervene in a fight between her husband and another man by grabbing the other man’s private parts?  We don’t know, but you would think that it probably happened at least once for Moses to mention it.  Moses probably laid down this law to communicate to the Israelites what fair fighting looks like.  One should not try to “low blow” another so that it affects his ability to have children.  

How can we apply these strange sounding verses?  Unless it’s your job to intervene, try not to get involved in the fights and arguments that go on between two other people.  Otherwise, you might complicate the matter and get hurt in the process.

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洗肾蒙恩记

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箴言19:27    我儿，不可听了教训而又偏离知识的言语。

阅读经文：箴言19:27-29

27我儿，不可听了教训而又偏离知识的言语。 28匪徒做见证戏笑公平，恶人的口吞下罪孽。 29刑罚是为亵慢人预备的，鞭打是为愚昧人的背预备的。

张文亮教授最近写了一篇 [洗肾蒙恩记]：

有一天，我在校园遇到S.教授，他兴奋的握着我的手说道：「我要告诉你一个好消息，我信耶稣了。」。S.教授是很好的老师，二次担任系主任，经常关心农村，在那领域是非常著名的学者。我看他笑得愉快，不禁问他：「怎么信主呢？」

他说：「我的母亲肾脏病，每星期到医院洗肾三次，每次躺在那里数小时，很无聊。不去又不行，洗了几年之后，意志低沈。」「噢。」我静静的听。「有次洗肾时，旁边有位洗肾的老妇人，就对她传福音。母亲听久了，决心去教会，我陪她去。我在聚会时，受到感动，就成为基督徒。母亲也是如此。」他喜悦的说道，说到后面，还流下眼泪，完全不在乎下课时候，许多学生从旁经过。

「现在，我参加教会的主日聚会，也每星期参加主日学，周四的查经班，很有趣又很得帮助。我应该早一点信主，早一点读圣经。」他热情的说道。我的心里很感动，上帝的作为奇妙，能借由一个洗肾的老姐妹，将福音传给人，使人的一家都蒙恩得救。

「信耶稣之后，我的专业又有新的意义。我可以帮助许多的人。」他眼中闪著亮光，雄壮的说道。

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Justice, Compassion and Jesus My Kinsman Redeemer

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 25:1-10.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 25:1-3 (NIV)
1  When men have a dispute, they are to take it to court and the judges will decide the case, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty.
2  If the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall make him lie down and have him flogged in his presence with the number of lashes his crime deserves,
3  but he must not give him more than forty lashes. If he is flogged more than that, your brother will be degraded in your eyes.

On verses 1-3:  Here we see God’s heart for justice when people are charged with crimes.  God wants to make sure that: 

– the innocent are acquitted (v1)
– the guilty are convicted (v1)
– the punishment fits the crime (v2) and 
– the punishment is appropriate and not degrading to the person being punished (v3). 

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安全感

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箴言19:24   懒惰人放手在盘子里，就是向口撤回他也不肯。

阅读经文：箴言19:24-26

24懒惰人放手在盘子里，就是向口撤回他也不肯。 25鞭打亵慢人，愚蒙人必长见识；责备明哲人，他就明白知识。 26虐待父亲、撵出母亲的，是贻羞致辱之子。

第24节：懒惰人放手在盘子里，就是向口撤回他也不肯。

「懒惰人放手在盘子里，就是向口撤回，他也不肯。」(箴言19:24) 懒惰的人不一定是偷懒，而是贪而无厌，以致错失判断。将手放在食物盘子里，有时是拿多了，还想再拿更多，忘了拿食物的目的，是为了吃。如果嘴巴吃不了那么 多，手在盘子里取再多也没有用，不过是变成垃圾。但是我们经常要抓更多，取更多，而忘了自己吃的量有限。变成看重取的过程，忘记吃的目标。

我们经常在「吃到饱」的餐厅里，看到有些人一直取肉、拿菜。劝他们吃多少，拿多少，若不肯听劝，是另类的懒惰。吃东西、赚钱、争取权力，够了，就要停。不要成为在争取上积极；在享有上贫穷。

我也有这弱点，每年愁明年没钱作研究计划，总想多争取些。二十多年来，每年习惯性的发愁，很少享受拥有经费的喜悦。教授的头衔，像是乞丐的盘子，取这盘子到处向人求食物，自己没有吃到什么。这背后就是没有安全感。（张文亮教授）

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God’s Compassionate Heart

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Hi GAMErs! 
 
In Deuteronomy we get to see different layers to God’s heart.  Today’s passage, Deuteronomy 24:10-22, lets us in on another big layer to the heart of God.  Let’s go!
 
Deuteronomy 24:10-22 (NIV)
10  When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into his house to get what he is offering as a pledge.
11  Stay outside and let the man to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you.
12  If the man is poor, do not go to sleep with his pledge in your possession.
13  Return his cloak to him by sunset so that he may sleep in it. Then he will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the LORD your God.
14  Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns.
15  Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
16  Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.

On verses 10-22:  Why does Moses say not to go into the house of someone you’re lending money to in order to get what they are offering as a pledge (v10)?  Why instead wait outside and let the borrower bring the pledge out to you (v11)?  It’s to protect the dignity and honor of the person you’re lending to, so as not to embarrass them unnecessarily in front of their family.

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The Protecting Heart of God

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 24:1-9.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 24:1-4 (NIV)
1  If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house,
2  and if after she leaves his house she becomes the wife of another man,
3  and her second husband dislikes her and writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house, or if he dies,
4  then her first husband, who divorced her, is not allowed to marry her again after she has been defiled. That would be detestable in the eyes of the LORD. Do not bring sin upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

On verses 1-4:  What “indecent” thing could a husband find about his wife that would enable him to divorce her?  It wasn’t adultery or having premarital sex, since both of these meant death (see Deuteronomy 22:20-22).  So the answer to this question is not clear.  That said, whenever you read verses 1 to 4 where Moses allows divorce, always remember what Jesus said about these verses:

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计画永远赶不上变化

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箴言19:21    人心多有计谋，唯有耶和华的筹算才能立定。

阅读经文：箴言19:21-23

21人心多有计谋，唯有耶和华的筹算才能立定。 22施行仁慈的令人爱慕，穷人强如说谎言的。 23敬畏耶和华的得着生命，他必恒久知足，不遭祸患。

第21节：人心多有计谋，唯有耶和华的筹算才能立定。

最近看到一个朋友的见证，我心里有很多感慨。她有一个女儿，从小就带她到教会；她放弃工作，做全职母亲；家里不看电视，每周都有家庭聚会。父母两人都很爱女儿，以为她将一步步走上“荣（神）耀（父母）之路”。没想到，女儿在高二时交了男朋友，从此茶不思饭不想，只跟他谈话，只听他说话。眼看大学的学测在即，父母都非常着急。更没想到，女儿被男友甩了。这时她又开始听父母的话，在神面前悔改。结果学测放榜时，出乎大家的意料之外，她考上了一间国立大学。原是没指望的，神却恩待了。

我们多少有类似的经历，为自己或为儿女规划，忙到最后，才发现很多细节不在自己的考量之中。台湾企业家郭台铭曾说：“计画永远赶不上变化，变化抵不上客户一通电话。”

所以大卫说：“当将你的事交托耶和华，并倚靠祂，祂就必成全”（诗37:5）。当我们筹谋时，是凭自己的骄傲在行事；若把计划放在神的手中，并倚靠祂，便是有自知之明和智慧了。因为神知道明天，祂知道会有怎样的变化，祂有能力可以掌握一切的变数。

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趁有指望管教你的儿子

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箴言19:18    趁有指望管教你的儿子，你的心不可任他死亡。

阅读经文：箴言19:18-20

18趁有指望管教你的儿子，你的心不可任他死亡。 19暴怒的人必受刑罚，你若救他，必须再救。 20你要听劝教，受训诲，使你终久有智慧。

第18节：趁有指望管教你的儿子（女），你的心不可任他死亡。Discipline your children while you still have the chance; indulging them destroys them.《The Message》

圣经新译本把这节经文译为：“趁著还有指望的时候，要管教你的儿子；不可存心使他死亡。”换句话说，你不管教儿女，是存心的问题，是故意的，故意使儿女无法得知正路。这是何等大的指责啊！但也有几分贴切。

因为当我观察一些父母带儿女的方式时，发现有些人真的是故意，以放任的心态去让孩子成长。孩子做错事根本不教导，总是觉得他好可爱，长大就懂事了，惹他生气了才骂几句。这样的孩子长大之后，必使父母的心无法安息和喜乐，这叫咎由自取。以懒惰和不负责任的心态去带领儿女，却希望他们长大后能明白事理，这是何等愚昧和一厢情愿的想法。

所以我们若不想儿女朝着毁灭的路上走，就要带领他们走向得生命之路。因为你不教他们，他们好像海棉，看到什么就吸收什么，终会把社会上的垃圾拉一堆回来。那时后悔已经来不及了。所以父母要先把正确的观念放到儿女心中，使他们懂得怎样分辨。因为神是先把儿女放到你怀中的，就是期望你能把好东西教给他，好让他在面对这个社会时，能以自保，知所取舍。所以，做父母的也要先在神面前领受，才能有信心地教养儿女。

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Getting to Know God’s Heart

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Hi GAMErs! 

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 23:15-25.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 23:15-16 (NIV) 
15 If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand him over to his master. 
16 Let him live among you wherever he likes and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him. 

On verses 15-16:  These verses show God’s heart of compassion toward slaves who have run away from an oppressive master.  Similarly, we were all slaves to sin. but God rescued us and became our refuge, not wanting us to return to our previous master who oppressed us.  

Deuteronomy 23:17-18 (NIV) 
17 No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute. 
18 You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God to pay any vow, because the LORD your God detests them both. 

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