爱在低加波利

马太福音 15:32-39

32 耶稣叫门徒来,说:「我怜悯这众人,因为他们同我在这里已经三天,也没有吃的了。我不愿意叫他们饿著回去,恐怕在路上困乏。」 33 门徒说:「我们在这野地,哪里有这么多的饼叫这许多人吃饱呢?」 34 耶稣说:「你们有多少饼?」他们说:「有七个,还有几条小鱼。」 35 他就吩咐众人坐在地上, 36 拿着这七个饼和几条鱼,祝谢了,掰开,递给门徒,门徒又递给众人。 37 众人都吃,并且吃饱了,收拾剩下的零碎,装满了七个筐子。 38 吃的人,除了妇女孩子,共有四千。 39 耶稣叫众人散去,就上船,来到马加丹的境界。

爱在低加波利:因着爱,祂用七个饼和几条鱼,让四千人吃饱,零碎装满七个筐子。(太15:32-39,可8:1-10)

低加波利是由「十」和「城」两个字拼合而成,代表「十个城」,指一个地区而非一个城市。低加波利包括约旦河两岸的叙利亚区域,是罗马帝国的移民区,由外邦人建造,充满著希腊文化色彩。

They Don’t Compare to the King of Kings

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 17:1-21.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 17:1-2 (NIV) 
1  One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 
2  With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” 

On verses 1-2:  The key to properly interpreting the book of Revelation is correctly identifying the characters that appear in the book.  Who is “the great prostitute, who sits on many waters” (v1), who committed adultery with the kings of the earth and intoxicated earth’s inhabitants with her adulteries (v2)?  Many commentators believe that this great prostitute represents false religion.  What false religion are we talking about?  In this sharing, I will use the term “false religion” to mean every system of belief in the world that preaches that man by his own effort can reach God or become his own God.  The great prostitute of false religion has affected people all over the world for millennia.  It gives people a false hope and a false comfort that can be fairly described as “adultery” (v2a), for it involves running from the mercy and grace that God, our true lover, offers to us and running into the arms of a false religious system that is all about one’s own effort and exalting oneself.  The comfort of this false religion is like the false comfort of being “intoxicated” (v2b) in that the comfort is fleeting and does not last. 

爱在推罗西顿

马太福音 15:21-28

21 耶稣离开那里,退到推罗、西顿的境内去。 22 有一个迦南妇人,从那地方出来,喊著说:「主啊,大卫的子孙,可怜我!我女儿被鬼附得甚苦。」 23 耶稣却一言不答。门徒进前来求他,说:「这妇人在我们后头喊叫,请打发她走吧!」 24 耶稣说:「我奉差遣,不过是到以色列家迷失的羊那里去。」 25 那妇人来拜他,说:「主啊,帮助我!」 26 他回答说:「不好拿儿女的饼丢给狗吃。」 27 妇人说:「主啊,不错,但是狗也吃牠主人桌子上掉下来的碎渣儿!」 28 耶稣说:「妇人,你的信心是大的!照你所要的,给你成全了吧。」从那时候,她女儿就好了。

爱在推罗西顿:因着爱,祂成全迦南妇人的请求,赶出附着于小女儿身上的污鬼。(太15:21-28,可7:24-30)

推罗、西顿在加利利北边的腓尼基(现今的黎巴嫩)境内,是外邦人居住的地方,腓尼基人是迦南人的后裔。西顿是以挪亚的曾孙,迦南的长子命名(创10:15),并可能是他的后代定居之处。

How Do You Respond to God When You’re In Pain?

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 16:1-21.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!
 
Revelation 16:1-7 (NIV) 
1  Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.” 
2  The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. 
3  The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died. 

On verses 1-7:  A loud voice from the temple commands the seven angels to pour out their seven bowls containing God’s wrath on the earth (v1).  One by one, the first three angels pour out their bowls.  The first angel pours it on the land, resulting in ugly and painful sores to break out on the people who have the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image (v2).  The second angel pours his bowl on the sea, which turns the sea into blood and causes all marine life to die (v3).   The third angel pours his bowl on the rivers and springs, causing them to turn into blood as well.  These first three plagues strikingly resemble some of the plagues that God sent to Egypt in the book of Exodus.

Not Holding onto Wrath and Anger

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 14:14-15:8.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 14:14-20 (NIV) 
14  I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one “like a son of man” with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.
15  Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 
16  So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. 

On verses 14-20:  Who is the one “like a son of man” sitting on a white cloud with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand?  This is most likely a picture of Jesus.  The prophet Daniel, writing about a vision he had about the Messiah to come, says, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Daniel 7:13)  Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man.   Here John sees Jesus crowned with a victor’s gold crown (called a stephanus), often worn by athletes after winning a competition.

爱在差遣门徒

马太福音 9:35-38

35 耶稣走遍各城各乡,在会堂里教训人,宣讲天国的福音,又医治各样的病症。 36 他看见许多的人,就怜悯他们,因为他们困苦流离,如同羊没有牧人一般。 37 于是对门徒说:「要收的庄稼多,做工的人少。 38 所以,你们当求庄稼的主打发工人出去收他的庄稼。」

爱在差遣门徒:因着爱,祂怜悯许多人困苦流离,如同羊没有牧人一般(太9:35-38)。祂差遣门徒,给他们权柄,能赶逐污鬼,并医治各样病症(太10:1-42)。

太9:35-36摘要述说耶稣忙碌的工作:走遍各城各乡,在会堂里教训人,宣讲天国的福音,又医治各样的病症;也描述耶稣怜悯那时人们的光景:他们困苦流离,如同羊没有牧人一般。

耶稣的爱不仅临到尼哥底母、井边的妇人、百夫长的仆人、池旁的患者、寡妇的儿子、被污鬼附着的人、血漏的女人、睚鲁的女儿…,祂看见更多的需要,祂怜悯没有牧人牧养的群羊,于是祂差遣门徒与祂同工,给他们权柄,能赶逐污鬼,并医治各样病症。

God’s Message for Everyone

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 14:1-13.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 14:1-5 (NIV) 
1  Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 
2  And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 
3  And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 

On verses 1-5:  After his vision in chapter 13 of earth being controlled by the red dragon, the beast from the sea and the beast from the earth, John’s vision switches to heaven where John once again sees the 144,000 whom he saw earlier in Revelation 7.  These 144,000 are quite possibly Jewish Christians who came from the 12 tribes of Israel.  Here in these verses we learn more about these 144,000 and the role that they play in heaven:

爱在衣裳䍁子

马太福音 9:20-22

20 有一个女人患了十二年的血漏,来到耶稣背后,摸祂的衣裳穗子, 21 因为她心里说:「我只摸祂的衣裳,就必痊愈。」 22 耶稣转过来看见她,就说:「女儿,放心!你的信救了你。」从那时候,女人就痊愈了。

爱在衣裳䍁子:因着爱,祂对患十二年血漏的女人说:女儿,放心,妳的信救了妳。(太9:20-22,可5:25-34,路8:43-48)

这件事发生在耶稣和门徒正赶路,前往管会堂的睚鲁家(他的女儿快死了)的半途中,众人拥挤时,一个患了十二年血漏的女人,从耶稣背后,摸祂的衣裳䍁子。

患了十二年的血漏,在医生手里受了许多的苦,花尽了她一切养生的,病势没有好转,反倒更重,这是圣经对妇人极其绝望景况的描述。她心里想:「我只摸祂的衣裳,就必痊愈。」她摸著耶稣的衣裳䍁子,血漏立刻就止住了。

爱在毕士大池旁

约翰福音 5:1-15

 1这事以后,到了犹太人的一个节期,耶稣就上耶路撒冷去。

2 在耶路撒冷,靠近羊门有一个池子,希伯来话叫做毕士大,旁边有五个廊子, 3 里面躺着瞎眼的、瘸腿的、血气枯干的许多病人[a]。 5 在那里有一个人,病了三十八年。 6 耶稣看见他躺着,知道他病了许久,就问他说:「你要痊愈吗?」

爱在毕士大池旁:因着爱,祂在安息日医治三十八年患者,对他说:「起来,拿你的褥子走吧!」,又警戒他说:「你已经痊愈了,不要再犯罪,恐怕你遭遇的更加利害。」(约5:1-15)

病了三十八年的病人在毕士大池旁等候水动,好进入池子让病得痊愈,可是水动时,没有人把他放入池子里,正去时又有别人比他先下池去。耶稣看见他躺着,知道他病了许久,给他机会让他得医治。

面对生命或生活的困境,我们有如池旁等候水动的病人,自己抓不住机会,机会来了又被人捷足先登,只好将自己隐藏在蜗居(褥子)中,毫无希望。耶稣来了,祂给予机会,要我们「起来」,靠着信心,离开自怨自艾、逃避现实的「褥子」,「走吧!」,三十八年的病就得痊愈。

An Unholy Trinity

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Revelation 13:1-18.  As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

Revelation 13:1-2 (NIV) 
1  And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. 
2  The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.
 
On verses 1-2:  Picture this: While the red dragon representing Satan stands on the seashore, a beast rises out of the sea.  Like the dragon, this beast from the sea has 7 heads and 10 horns (compare Revelation 12:3 with 13:1).   Resembling a leopard but also having feet like a bear and a mouth like a lion, this beast is not for God but against God.  Each of the beast’s 7 heads displays a blasphemous name, making a false statement about God (v1b).  The dragon and the beast are clearly affiliated as the dragon gives the beast his power, his throne and great authority (v2).