葡萄園之歌

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以賽亞書5:4    我為我葡萄園所做之外，還有什麼可做的呢？我指望結好葡萄，怎麼倒結了野葡萄呢？

閱讀經文：以賽亞書5:1-17

1我要為我所親愛的唱歌，是我所愛者的歌，論他葡萄園的事。我所親愛的有葡萄園，在肥美的山岡上。2他刨挖園子，撿去石頭，栽種上等的葡萄樹，在園中蓋了一座樓，又鑿出壓酒池，指望結好葡萄，反倒結了野葡萄。

3「耶路撒冷的居民和猶大人哪，請你們現今在我與我的葡萄園中斷定是非。4我為我葡萄園所做之外，還有什麼可做的呢？我指望結好葡萄，怎麼倒結了野葡萄呢？5現在我告訴你們，我要向我葡萄園怎樣行。我必撤去籬笆，使它被吞滅；拆毀牆垣，使它被踐踏。

在〈以賽亞書〉裡，神用葡萄園比喻以色列人；在新約裡，主耶穌比喻祂自己是真葡萄樹。為什麼祂們都選用葡萄樹，而不選用無花果樹或橄欖樹呢？後兩種樹在以色列也是經常見到的樹。張文亮教授在《聖經與植物》一書裡說：人類在1970年代遇到能源缺乏的危機；1980年代普世發生糧食不足的動盪。能源不夠，供水不足，加上氣候不穩定，許多農、園藝作物受害減產之際，葡萄樹仍然按照自己的節奏，繼續結果子。在惡劣的環境中，依然保持正常生理代謝，稱為“逆境迴避stress avoidance”的物種，是物逆境生理學非常有趣的探索。(p.108)

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This Is Not Your Ordinary Love Song

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 5:1-30.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 5:1-7 (NIV)
1  I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2  He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.

On verses 1-7:  A masterful communicator, Isaiah takes the message that God has given him and communicates it to the people of Judah in the form of a love song.  But this is no ordinary love song.  What is the point of this musical parable that Isaiah is singing?  As Isaiah explains, the vineyard represents the people of Israel and Judah (v7), and the vineyard owner represents God.  The point of Isaiah’s parable is that God had done everything a person in his position could be expected to do to care for his vineyard – that is, the people of Israel and Judah – and to make them fruitful.  As God says in verse 4, “What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” Yet the people of Israel and Judah still remained unfruitful, persisting in bloodshed, injustice and idolatry.  So God intends to change His approach.  Instead of caring so much for His vineyard, He’s going to remove His protecting hand from the vineyard (“take away its hedge…break down its wall” – v5) and let the vineyard be destroyed (v6).

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Saved by the Branch

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 4:1-6.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 4:1 (NIV)
1  In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”

On verse 1:  Even though both verses 1-2 of chapter 4 both begin with the words “in that day”, verses 1 and 2 appear to be talking about two very different things.  Also, verse 1 of chapter 4 seems to continue the final verses of chapter 3 which describe the shame and desperation that the women of Judah would face when Jerusalem and Judah fall to the Babylonians.  For this reason it is best to group verse 1 of chapter 4 with the rest of chapter 3.

Keep in mind that Isaiah himself did not insert the chapter and verse references himself; rather these were added in later for convenience and general reference.  So the chapter and verse references can often, though not always, serve as a helpful guide, but they are not inspired the way we believe the actual Scriptures themselves are.

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耶和華的苗

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以賽亞書4:2  到那日，耶和華發生的苗必華美尊榮，地的出產必為以色列逃脫的人顯為榮華茂盛。

閱讀經文：以賽亞書4:1-6

1在那日，七個女人必拉住一個男人，說：「我們吃自己的食物，穿自己的衣服，但求你許我們歸你名下，求你除掉我們的羞恥！」

2到那日，耶和華發生的苗必華美尊榮，地的出產必為以色列逃脫的人顯為榮華茂盛。3主以公義的靈和焚燒的靈，將錫安女子的污穢洗去，又將耶路撒冷中殺人的血除淨。那時，剩在錫安留在耶路撒冷的，就是一切住耶路撒冷在生命冊上記名的，必稱為聖。5耶和華也必在錫安全山並各會眾以上，使白日有煙雲，黑夜有火焰的光，因為在全榮耀之上必有遮蔽。6必有亭子，白日可以得蔭避暑，也可以作為藏身之處，躲避狂風暴雨。

在這章經文裡，把以色列人的救恩講得何等清楚啊！以色列（包括猶大）原本該是滅亡的，她將會落到一個地步，七個女人拉住一個男人，因為她們沒有了男人的保護，沒有家，也沒有國。她們不在任何人的名下，也不屬於任何人。從現代人的眼光來看，一個女人沒有男人有什麼問題呢？她們可以自己去工作，賺錢，養活自己，甚至也像男人一樣穿起軍服，接受訓練去打仗，為何非要歸在男人名下才不羞恥？

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So Much Depends on Leadership

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 3:1-26.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 3:1-3 (NIV)
1  See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water,
2  the hero and warrior, the judge and prophet, the soothsayer and elder,
3  the captain of fifty and man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.

Verses 1-3:  Isaiah warns that in response to Jerusalem and Judah’s sins, God is about to take away from Jerusalem and Judah the things which they used to rely on for supply and support.  In addition to a famine (v1), there would also be a leadership drought in Jerusalem and Judah (v2-3), such that everyone that Jerusalem and Judah would otherwise rely on for leadership and guidance will be taken away by the Lord.

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顛倒的社會

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以賽亞書3:13   耶和華起來辯論，站著審判眾民。

閱讀經文：以賽亞書3:1-26

1主萬軍之耶和華從耶路撒冷和猶大除掉眾人所倚靠的、所仗賴的，就是所倚靠的糧、所仗賴的水；2除掉勇士和戰士，審判官和先知，占卜的和長老，3五十夫長和尊貴人，謀士和有巧藝的，以及妙行法術的。4主說：「我必使孩童做他們的首領，使嬰孩轄管他們。5百姓要彼此欺壓，各人受鄰舍的欺壓。少年人必侮慢老年人，卑賤人必侮慢尊貴人。6人在父家拉住弟兄說：『你有衣服，可以做我們的官長，這敗落的事歸在你手下吧！』7那時，他必揚聲說：『我不做醫治你們的人，因我家中沒有糧食，也沒有衣服，你們不可立我做百姓的官長。』」8耶路撒冷敗落，猶大傾倒，因為他們的舌頭和行為與耶和華反對，惹了他榮光的眼目。9他們的面色證明自己的不正，他們述說自己的罪惡，並不隱瞞，好像所多瑪一樣。他們有禍了！因為作惡自害。10你們要論義人說，他必享福樂，因為要吃自己行為所結的果子。11惡人有禍了！他必遭災難，因為要照自己手所行的受報應。

查爾斯.史丹利牧師曾說：“聖經中的詩人大衛曾這麼說：‘耶和華阿，我知道你的判語是公義的，你使我受苦是以誠實待我。’有些苦難臨到的時候，我們常會想，神在做什麼？事實上，祂正忠實於祂的話語。神極愛我們，因此不希望我們犯罪、得罪祂、悖逆祂，所以有的時候祂會怎麼做呢？祂會用苦難引起我們注意，使我們改變心態，然後開始順服神，這也就是為什麼詩人會說‘祢使我受苦，是以誠實待我’的緣故了。有時我們認為苦難和艱辛都是壞事，都不是從神而來的，但是我們錯了，有些苦難的確是從神而來的管教，那事實上是神信實的舉動，為了使我們歸正，活在神的心意中”。

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What Pressure Reveals About Us

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Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 2:6-22.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 2:6-22 (NIV)
6  You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans.
7  Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.
8  Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
9  So man will be brought low and mankind humbled– do not forgive them.

On verses 6-22:  When my sister and I were much younger, we would take a bunch of our favourite stuffed animals, put them on a large blanket, and with a hand on each corner of the blanket, we would shake the blanket up and down.  The animals would bounce high in the air before coming down either back onto the blanket or onto the ground.  We would keep shaking that blanket until only one animal was left on the blanket, and that surviving animal we called the winner of our “animal battle royal”.

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預備自己迎向將來

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以賽亞書2:5    雅各家啊，來吧，我們在耶和華的光明中行走！

閱讀經文：以賽亞書2:1-22

1亞摩斯的兒子以賽亞得默示，論到猶大和耶路撒冷。2末後的日子，耶和華殿的山必堅立超乎諸山，高舉過於萬嶺，萬民都要流歸這山。3必有許多國的民前往，說：「來吧！我們登耶和華的山，奔雅各神的殿。主必將他的道教訓我們，我們也要行他的路，因為訓誨必出於錫安，耶和華的言語必出於耶路撒冷。」4他必在列國中施行審判，為許多國民斷定是非。他們要將刀打成犁頭，把槍打成鐮刀。這國不舉刀攻擊那國，他們也不再學習戰事。

“你有沒有想過，幾年後我們的生活跟現在有多麼不一樣？憑什麼敢說「我們將來的生活與工作，一定這樣過」？” 在《遠見雜誌》最近的一篇文章裡說，2020年因人工智慧的發展，市場行銷部的分析業務、行程調整等辦公室業務都自動化了。我相信到那個時候，不僅是市場行銷部的分析業務、行程調整等辦公室業務都自動化，很多工作都會被電腦取代。所以有很多人想到將來就想到失業，也不知道現在應該叫孩子們學什麼，將來才能找到好工作。

以前我們想到的“將來”，就是隔著遙遠的太平洋，也能和家人面對面地說話；就是家裡有事，不管人在哪裡，都可以立刻送錢過去支援；不必再等信，只要手指一按，立即收到，等等。我們以前想望的“將來”，現在都實現了。還有更多的“將來”帶給人許多憧憬，也帶給人許多憂心。但是在這裡，先知要讓我們看到更遙遠的“將來”，知道這個“將來”，會影響我們對生命的看法，影響我們在人生中所做的選擇。

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