Entries by meiling

從水裡拉出來的

2020-05-25 in /by

出埃及記二章10節  孩子漸長，婦人把他帶到法老的女兒那裡，就做了她的兒子。她給孩子起名叫摩西，意思說：「因我把他從水裡拉出來。」

在幾千年前的一個炎熱的下午，法老美麗的女兒帶著幾個侍女來到尼羅河邊，準備痛快地洗個澡。那時還沒有自來水，尼羅河也尚未被污染，在河中洗澡是個非常好的選擇。讓緩緩流淌的河水洗淨一身的熱氣，加上一點埃及女人用的高級精油，洗完後一身清香。在公主下水前要有一些準備，至少確定四周沒人躲著，免得公主危險。

這時公主眼尖，發現河水旁的蘆荻裡有個東西。蘆荻是一種直立的莖稈，有著蓬鬆的花絮，它的花到了秋天會變成白色，微風吹拂，花絮飄蕩就像下了一場雪，故有「秋蘆飛雪」的描述。它也是一種良好的防沙、固堤植物。公主叫婢女把蘆荻裡的東西拿來，原來是個箱子，她好奇地打開來，卻突然聽到一個嬰兒的哭聲。嬰兒原是安靜地躺在箱子裡，一看到公主就哭了，讓公主好心疼。

聰明的公主立刻明白過來，說：「這是希伯來人的一個孩子。」這時有一個小女孩跑到公主身邊， 問她：「我去在希伯來婦人中叫一個奶媽來，為你奶這孩子，可以不可以？」公主同意了。這女孩便去把嬰兒的母親找來，公主答應付這奶媽錢，幫忙養這嬰兒，嬰兒的母親便快快樂樂地，光明正大地把自己的嬰兒抱回家了。

事情為何如此曲折呢？原來神給亞伯拉罕的應許己經實現了幾乎一半。在〈創世記〉15章裡，神應許亞伯蘭：「你要的確知道，你的後裔必寄居別人的地，又服侍那地的人，那地的人要苦待他們四百年。並且他們所要服侍的那國，我要懲罰，後來他們必帶著許多財物從那裡出來。」

Welcome to Revelation

2020-05-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today we begin the book of Revelation.  Written in approximately 95 A.D., the book of Revelation was written by the apostle John while he was in exile on the island of Patmos for preaching about Jesus.  While on Patmos, John receives multiple visions which he understands to be from Jesus Christ and is told to write them down.  The result is the book of Revelation, a highly significant book that describes what will happen before, during and after the return (second coming) of Jesus Christ.  This book also shows how many Old Testament prophecies will be fulfilled.

Today’s passage is Revelation 1:1-8.  Let’s go!

Revelation 1:1-2 (NIV) 
1  The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2  who testifies to everything he saw–that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

On verses 1-2:  Here John makes clear that what he is writing about is not something he himself manufactured.  Rather what John is writing down is “the revelation of Jesus Christ”.  What John is about to share is what was revealed to him as “the word of God” and “the testimony of Jesus Christ”.

如睡一覺

2020-05-25 in /by

創世記24章26-27節      那人就低頭向耶和華下拜， 說：「耶和華我主人亞伯拉罕的神是應當稱頌的！因祂不斷地以慈愛、誠實待我主人。至於我，耶和華在路上引領我，直走到我主人的兄弟家裡。」

摩西說：「祢叫他們如水沖去，他們如睡一覺。早晨他們如生長的草，早晨發芽生長，晚上割下枯乾。(詩90:5-6)」他們是指世人，摩西形容人的一生如生長的草，你同意嗎？撒拉在127歲時，息了地上的勞苦。最近有兩位神重用的僕人都安息主懷了，一個是大衛.鮑森牧師；另一位是拉維.撒迦利亞牧師。前者90歲，後者74歲。所以撒拉活到127歲，在世人的眼中算是很長壽了；那麼亞伯拉罕呢？你猜猜看，待會告訴你。

撒拉死時，以撒37歲，未婚。亞伯拉罕終於想到該幫以撒娶個妻子了，以撒的性情可能有點內向，所以也沒有出去和當地的迦南女子鬼混。亞伯拉罕希望找個本家的孩子，但是又不想讓以撒遠行，所以就找了一個老僕人去美索不達米亞，也就是亞伯拉罕的原居地，到了亞伯拉罕的兄弟居住的拿鶴的城。

亞伯拉罕在老僕人臨走前囑咐他，要把女子帶回來，不可把以撒帶回去。因為，「耶和華天上的主曾帶領我離開父家和本族的地，對我說話，向我起誓說：『我要將這地賜給你的後裔。』」，此時亞伯拉罕雖然還沒有看到神的話應驗，可是他皂信心己經非常堅定。

堅定到一個地步，他向僕人說：『祂必差遣使者在你面前，你就可以從那裡為我兒子娶一個妻子。」所以當他的僕人到了拿鶴的城，就開始禱告。

Jesus Makes All The Difference

2020-05-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Zephaniah 3:1-19.  Let’s go!

Zephaniah 3:1-7 (NIV) 
1  Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
2  She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the LORD, she does not draw near to her God.
3  Her officials are roaring lions, her rulers are evening wolves, who leave nothing for the morning…….

On verses 1-7:  Chapter 3 of Zephaniah begins with God expressing His utter displeasure with the city of Jerusalem.  He describes the people of Jerusalem as rebellious and unholy (v1), disobedient and unteachable (v2a), refusing to trust God or draw near to Him (v2b).  He describes Jerusalem’s political and military leaders as lions and wolves (v3), her prophets as arrogant and deceitful (v4), and her priests as hypocrites (v5).  The only One righteous in Jerusalem is the Lord Himself (v5), who “does no wrong” (v5) and who continues to act justly despite the unrighteousness around Him (v5).  In verses 6 and 7, the Lord laments how despite disciplining Jerusalem with hardship, the people of Jerusalem continued to act corruptly.

來吧，我的愛! (Lecha Dodi)

2020-05-22 in /by

雅歌 6章3節   我屬我的良人 ，我的良人也屬我 (ani ledodi vedodi li)

來吧，我的愛! ( Lecha Dodi) 這是一首以色列人在安息日唱的歌，也就是迎接安息日的新娘進場歌。是由以色列美角網站的約阿咪所介紹。

「來吧！我的愛！」( L’cha Dodi)，這麼浪漫的歌，居然是猶太人每週都要唱的歌！誰是那個愛呢？而且是大家一起在會堂裡唱這首歌唷！為什麼會有這個特別的傳統呢？

每週五晚上，就是安息日(Shabbat)，猶太人這天會不工作，以紀念安息日，因為神創造天地的時候在第七天就休息了。猶太人會來到會堂一起守安息日，而其中一個很重要的環節就是「迎接」安息日。

因為卡巴拉的傳統，安息日就如要迎接一個美麗的新娘，所以這首在夕陽時刻要唱的「來吧！我的愛！」( L’cha Dodi)，就是在迎接美麗的安息日。

Plunder Hell, Populate Heaven

2020-05-22 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Zephaniah 2:1-15.  Let’s go!

On verses 1-3:  Here Zephaniah implores the people of Judah to seek the Lord and to humble themselves before it is too late, “before the day of the Lord’s wrath comes upon you” (v2).  Later on in this chapter, Zephaniah will introduce the idea of the “remnant”, that is, a group within the people of Judah who continued to seek the Lord and humble themselves before Him despite the widespread sin and rebellion around them.  Zephaniah and other Old Testament prophesy about how the Lord will preserve and rescue this remnant from the destruction He pronounced on the land of Judah.

耶和華以勒

2020-05-21 in /by

創世記 22章14節 亞伯拉罕給那地方起名叫耶和華以勒，直到今日人還說：「在耶和華的山上必有預備。」

聖經裡給我們看到的亞伯拉罕，並不是像一般人想的，一直都是信心滿溢。相反地，亞伯拉罕之所以成為信心之父，是經過了許多的考驗和失敗。神讓我們看到亞伯拉罕跟隨祂的點點滴滴，讓我們明白，祂知道我們不過是人，祂知道我們的軟弱和不足，即使我們失敗，祂仍然願意陪伴我們，等待我們，牽著我們的手一直到永恒。所以，明白這事之後，我們若再看到有人沒有信心的表現，也就不用太憤怒了，這就是人的本相，神允許我們慢慢成長，我們也要容忍別人的不足，讓他們慢慢成長。

在神和亞伯拉罕討論過所多瑪和蛾摩拉的存亡之後，你可能會想，有過與神面對面的經歷，這個人應該不會再犯錯了。你一定沒想到，他真的又說謊了。當他們搬到非利士地的基拉耳時，他又騙人說撒拉是他的妹妹。結果基拉耳王亞比米勒來把撒拉取去，結果全家遭天譴，婦女都不能生育了。亞比米勒知錯後向亞伯拉罕道歉，又賠他一筆錢，亞伯拉罕又賺了。神真的很憐憫恩待亞伯拉罕。

在亞伯拉罕一百歲，撒拉九十歲時，以撒出生了。大家都高興得不得了，撒拉更是欣喜若狂。在以撒斷奶後，亞伯拉罕擺設豐盛的筵席之際，撒拉看到以實瑪利在逗以撒，中文是寫戲笑，英文是mocking /poking fun，兩者都有不懷好意的成份在內。因此她即刻要求亞伯拉罕把他們母子趕出去。

Beyond Appearances, God Looks at the Heart

2020-05-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today we begin the book of Zephaniah, a short book with a powerful message and part of what is sometimes known as the “Minor Prophets” section of the Old Testament.

Today’s passage is Zephaniah 1:1-19. Let’s go!

Zephaniah 1:1 (NIV)
1 The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, during the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah:

On verse 1: Who was Zephaniah? According to some scholars, the fact that Zephaniah traces his ancestry back four generations in verse 1 suggests that Zephaniah was a man of high social standing and quite possibly the great grandson of King Hezekiah. Zephaniah received this word from the Lord and wrote this book during the reign of Josiah, who reigned from 640 and 609 B.C.

亞伯拉罕的代禱

2020-05-20 in /by

創世記 19章29節   當神毀滅平原諸城的時候，祂記念亞伯拉罕，正在傾覆羅得所住之城的時候，就打發羅得從傾覆之中出來。

在舊約裡，猶太人有接待陌生人的習俗，據說就是從亞伯拉罕開始的。因為亞伯拉罕接待三個陌生人，卻沒想到是接待了神和祂的使者，因為大家都希望也有這樣的福氣，因此這習俗便流傳下來了。

神向亞伯拉罕說明，應許之子要從撒拉出生；這次神再來跟他們確定此事：「到明年這時候，我必要回到你這裡，你的妻子撒拉必生一個兒子。」我在想，為何神要三番四次地告訴他們?是否因為亞伯拉罕和撒拉在這事裡也有當盡的責任？假如他們都沒有同房，神又沒有預備讓耶穌那時降生，那麼神豈不為難？所以神是在暗示明示，你們兩個不要拖拖拉拉的。

上次聽到這個宣告，亞伯拉罕在心裡偷笑；這次聽到宣告，撒拉在那人身後的帳篷門口偷笑。因為兩人都覺得不可能，不合邏輯。不過，這次他們兩個人總算明白了神的暗示明示。當他們完成此行的任務要離開時，亞伯拉罕就送他們一程。

Finding Hope Even When Things Aren’t Going Your Way

2020-05-20 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Habakkuk 2:1-20.  Let’s go!

Habakkuk 3:1 (NIV) 
1  A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth.
 
On verse 1:  The book of Habakkuk reads like an ongoing dialogue between Habakkuk and the Lord.  In chapter 1 Habakkuk complains about why there is injustice and evil in the world, and the Lord responds.  Then Habakkuk questions how God could use the evil Babylonians as His chosen instrument.  In chapter 2 the Lord responds by saying that He will hold the Babylonians to account for their sin as well. In chapter 3 the book of Habakkuk ends with a song of praise from Habakkuk.  On “shigionoth” is probably a musical instruction for the musicians playing this song.