哈巴谷书 2:4 迦勒底人自高自大，心不正直，唯义人因信得生。
读经文: 哈巴谷书 2:1-8
1我要站在守望所，立在望楼上观看，看耶和华对我说什么话，我可用什么话向他诉冤。 2 他对我说：「将这默示明明地写在版上，使读的人容易读。 3 因为这默示有一定的日期，快要应验，并不虚谎。虽然迟延，还要等候，因为必然临到，不再迟延。
〈哈巴谷书〉虽然只有三章，但是它里面有一些经文都是经常被引用，被人看重的，所以我们要分别来看它们的重要性，好好地理解它们。在今天这段短短的经文里，你猜得到哪一节是中心经节吗？我想你一定猜到了，因为它就是今天的标题：唯义人因信得生。
使徒保罗用这节经文写信给罗马的教会，也写给加拉太的教会；〈希伯来书〉的作者也引用这节经文。〈罗马书〉1:17“因为神的义正在这福音上显明出来，这义是本于信以至于信，如经上所记：‘义人必因信得生’。” 〈加拉太书〉3:11“没有一个人靠着律法在神面前称义，这是明显的，因为经上说：‘义人必因信得生’。” 〈希伯来书〉10:38“只是义人必因信得生；他若退后，我心里就不喜欢他。”
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Hosea 8:1-14. Let’s go!
Hosea 8:1-14 (NIV)
1 “Put the trumpet to your lips! An eagle is over the house of the LORD because the people have broken my covenant and rebelled against my law.
2 Israel cries out to me, ‘O our God, we acknowledge you!’
3 But Israel has rejected what is good; an enemy will pursue him.
4 They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
On verses 1-14: In these verses, Hosea gives his people a word of warning for breaking their covenant with God and rebelling against His law (v1). The images in verse 1 of sounding a trumpet and an eagle hovering over the house of the Lord are meant to communicate a sense of urgency and warning.
What does it mean when verse 7 says, “They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind”? In this case “the wind” represents vain pursuits, anything that doesn’t have any eternal value. When I sow the wind, it means I’m chasing after vain things that don’t last. Are you sowing the wind?
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Hosea 7:1-16. Let’s go!
Hosea 7:1-2 (NIV)
1 “Whenever I would restore the fortunes of my people, whenever I would heal Israel, the sins of Ephraim are exposed and the crimes of Samaria revealed. They practice deceit, thieves break into houses, bandits rob in the streets;
2 but they do not realize that I remember all their evil deeds. Their sins engulf them; they are always before me.
On verses 1-2: These verses describe how every time God would restore and heal Israel, Israel (also known as Ephraim) would take God’s mercy for granted and go back to its same old sins again. Examples of those sins include deceit, thievery, robbery (v1), lying (v3), adultery (v4), and one more sin we will describe below.
哈巴谷书 1:3a 祢为何使我看见罪孽？祢为何看着奸恶而不理呢？
读经文: 哈巴谷书 1:1-17
1先知哈巴谷所得的默示。
2 他说：耶和华啊，我呼求你，你不应允，要到几时呢？我因强暴哀求你，你还不拯救。 3 你为何使我看见罪孽？你为何看着奸恶而不理呢？毁灭和强暴在我面前，又起了争端和相斗的事。 4 因此律法放松，公理也不显明。恶人围困义人，所以公理显然颠倒。
〈哈巴谷书〉列在〈那鸿书〉之后，这两卷小先知书的性质很相似，都说到神对祂子民的仇敌之审判。〈那鸿书〉预言亚述的结局，〈哈巴谷书〉预言迦勒底（巴比伦）的结局。本书中对作者的交代甚少，但是从本书的最后一节说：“这歌交于伶长，用丝弦的乐器”，可以猜测他可能是个祭司或利未人，在圣殿里以音乐服侍，并且住在犹大，因为圣殿在耶路撒冷。从本章第一节可以知道，他本身也有先知的职份。
哈巴谷此名含有“拥抱”的意义，“拥抱”同时也包含“抓住”，像雅各一样，紧紧地抓住神的使者，不给祝福就不让离开；哈巴谷则是紧紧地抓住神，要神解答他的疑问。人很有限，很多问题得不到解答，有的答案还引人入歧途，迷失方向。所以能抓住神问问题的人最有福，因为神的答案才能满足人心的饥渴，使人寻到人生的方向。
那鸿书 3:18 亚述王啊，你的牧人睡觉，你的贵胄安歇，你的人民散在山间无人招聚。
读经文: 那鸿书 3:1-19
1祸哉，这流人血的城！充满谎诈和强暴，抢夺的事总不止息。 2 鞭声响亮，车轮轰轰，马匹踢跳，车辆奔腾， 3 马兵争先，刀剑发光，枪矛闪烁，被杀的甚多，尸首成了大堆，尸骸无数，人碰著而跌倒； 4 都因那美貌的妓女多有淫行，惯行邪术，藉淫行诱惑列国，用邪术诱惑多族。
在先知那鸿预言后大约八年，亚述的命定就来到了无法挽回的地步。主前681年，希西家年间，西拿基立王从耶路撒冷几乎是空身败退，含羞回国后被他叛逆的儿子刺杀；他儿子以撒哈顿继位（Esarhaddon）（以赛亚书37:36-38），从叛徒手中夺回了尼尼微城，迁都至迦拉城，并另建宫殿。
以撒哈顿王虽居住在迦拉城，他的儿子亚述尼帕（Assurbanipal），却在尼尼微城，他在那里接受教育，包括体能及军事训练。此人对亚述的古文化发生兴趣，成为一位出色的古物研究家，熟悉亚甲和苏默文。亚述尼帕继位作王，在宫中建立当时最大图书馆，收藏有关亚述的书籍和文献。
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Hosea 6:1-11. Let’s go!
Hosea 6:1-2 (NIV)
1 “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
On verses 1-2: In chapter 5 Hosea had prophesied that God would punish the nation of Israel for their sins, and now in chapter 6, Hosea urges the nation of Israel to return to the LORD. He says “He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.” Why would you go to the very person who has torn you to pieces for healing; why would you go to the very person who injured you to be restored? You would only do so if you believed that somehow that person (1) had a good purpose in bringing the injury; and (2) is able to heal you. So here we see Hosea’s faith in both the goodness of God’s heart and the ability of God’s healing, restoring power. Hosea urges the people to come back to God, believing that God had a good purpose in allowing their punishment and was just, fair and wise in executing that punishment. He urges the people to come back to God, believing that God is fully able to restore and revive them.
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Hosea 5:1-15. Let’s go!
Hosea 5:1-7 (NIV)
1 “Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, O royal house! This judgment is against you: You have been a snare at Mizpah, a net spread out on Tabor.
2 The rebels are deep in slaughter. I will discipline all of them.
3 I know all about Ephraim; Israel is not hidden from me. Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution; Israel is corrupt.
4 “Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the LORD.
On verses 1-7: Hosea brings a message from the LORD to the priests and all of Israel (v1). Calling Israel by the nickname Ephraim, the message is that Israel’s sins and corruption are not hidden from God (v3). Because of their deeds and their failure to acknowledge God, Israel cannot return to God (v4). The Israelites have in them “a spirit of prostitution” (v4), the LORD says.
那鸿书 2:10 尼尼微现在空虚荒凉，人心消化，双膝相碰，腰都疼痛，脸都变色。
读经文: 那鸿书 2:1-13
1尼尼微啊，那打碎邦国的上来攻击你，你要看守保障，谨防道路，使腰强壮，大大勉力。 2 耶和华复兴雅各的荣华，好像以色列的荣华一样，因为使地空虚的已经使雅各和以色列空虚，将他们的葡萄枝毁坏了。 3 他勇士的盾牌是红的，精兵都穿朱红衣服。在他预备争战的日子，战车上的钢铁闪烁如火，柏木把的枪也抡起来了。
在耶稣复活之后，有个出名的，有关以马忤斯的故事。这件事发生在耶稣复活那天的傍晚，有两个耶稣的门徒，从耶路撒冷朝着以马忤斯而去，这地方离耶路撒冷约有25里路，他们在谈论耶稣受害和复活一事时，耶稣靠近他们，参与了他们的谈话，并引经据典地向他们解释。在一起要吃晚餐时，他们才认出那是耶稣。耶稣随即不见了。他们则心里火热地回去告诉其余的门徒，他们见到了复活的主。
当这几位门徒行走时，他们浑然不知主正与他们同行。就好像我们当中也有许多人，在生活里也浑然不觉主的同在。何况是尼尼微人？他们当年只听到约拿的一句话就悔改，虽然知道有神在鉴察，可是日子一久，这样的警告之威力就逐渐消失了。我们对神的话语是否也有这样的感觉？
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Hosea 4:1-19. Let’s go!
Hosea 4:1-3 (NIV)
1 Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2 There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3 Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.
On verses 1-3: Hosea speaks of rampant sin in the land (v1-2). As a result, the land and all who live in it – not only people but animals as well – suffer (v3). This suggests that sin has this way of not just separating human beings from God, but also of bringing destruction and death to all of creation.
那鸿书 1:7 耶和华本为善，在患难的日子为人的保障，并且认得那些投靠祂的人。
读经文: 那鸿书 1:1-15
1论尼尼微的默示，就是伊勒歌斯人那鸿所得的默示。
2 耶和华是忌邪施报的神，耶和华施报大有愤怒，向祂的敌人施报，向祂的仇敌怀怒。 3 耶和华不轻易发怒，大有能力，万不以有罪的为无罪。他乘旋风和暴风而来，云彩为他脚下的尘土。 4 他斥责海，使海干了，使一切江河干涸。巴珊和迦密的树林衰残，黎巴嫩的花草也衰残了。
在伊拉克北方靠近土耳其的地区，有个小城叫做伊勒歌斯（Alqosh），居民大多是亚述与迦勒底 (巴比伦)的基督徒。这个城靠在山边，面对广阔的尼尼微平原。在过去的两年中，伊斯兰国(ISIS)席卷伊拉克北方。伊勒歌斯离摩苏尔（Mosul）只有30英里的距离，却抵挡住了伊斯兰国的攻击，没有陷落，成为那一带唯一仍然高举十字架的城镇。
伊勒歌斯有将近3千年悠久的历史，一直是亚述人居住的地方。那里的房子大多都是石头盖的，沿着山坡往上攀附。山的最顶端，有个12米高的十字架。亚述人从第一世纪起，就全民改信基督教，一直至今。更久远的是，它还是旧约先知那鸿的故乡。《那鸿书》第一章记载，先知那鸿是伊勒歌斯人。他的坟墓至今还在城中心的旧犹太人会堂里。
如果您希望通过电子邮件，收看我们的最新文章，我们将会为您订阅『福音快讯』，每周五发送。
每日亲近神 2012-2018 数据整理中