〈申命記〉21章 15-17節 人若有二妻，一為所愛，一為所惡，所愛的、所惡的都給他生了兒子，但長子是所惡之妻生的。到了把產業分給兒子承受的時候，不可將所愛之妻生的兒子立為長子，在所惡之妻生的兒子以上，卻要認所惡之妻生的兒子為長子，將產業多加一分給他；因這兒子是他力量強壯的時候生的，長子的名分本當歸他。
你可能沒想到，在《聖經》裡居然會談到一個人同時有兩個妻子的事情。可見在神的眼裡心中，祂非常清楚人的情慾所帶來的罪惡及後果。神也明白人的有限，若碰到無法解決的謀殺案，以色列人應當怎樣行。神沒有說，祂會幫我們查清命案，但是神要人在神面前自表清白。
你會覺得很可笑，現在的人特愛說謊，上至美國總統下至平民小販，有誰不說謊？尤其是廣告，更是吹牛撒謊無所不用其極。你覺得神的方法管用嗎？
There’s a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror: your future matters more than your past. God’s grace is greater than your sin. You thought the problem was your calendar, your marriage, your job. In reality, it’s this unresolved guilt. Don’t indulge it. Don’t drown in the bilge of your own condemnation. What you did was not good, but your God is good, and he will forgive you. He is ready to write a new chapter in your life.
Say with Paul, “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us” (Phil 3:13-14 TLB). Your salvation has nothing to do with your work and everything to do with the finished work of Christ on the cross. Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy.
〈申命記〉 20:19你若許久圍困，攻打所要取的一座城，就不可舉斧子砍壞樹木。
在〈申命記〉20章裡講到以色列人作戰的條例，神先宣告祂的同在，但是也宣告若有人沒有準備好，就不要去參戰。這是一般人想像不到的。我們以為只要人多就有氣勢，但是神知道得勝乃在乎耶和華，不在乎人力或軍備，因此祂不要心懷二意的人加入祂的軍隊。
在以色列遭受周圍國家的虎視眈眈和不時的挑釁時，以色列人人皆兵。我們實在很難想像，他們能夠為了結婚或種葡萄園等等原因而拒絕去作戰。但這確實是神的本意，倘若心裡沒有準備好，就不要去作戰；倘若心裡有所掛念，也不要去作戰。因為不能專心去打戰很容易受傷，也會影響到整個團隊。因此，曾經有個人想要跟隨 耶穌，想先去跟家人告別時；耶穌說：「手扶著犁向後看的，不配進神的國。（路9:62） 」手扶著犁向後看的人，就像心存掛慮的人，別說打仗，連進神國的路也有可能看不清楚而走到歪路上。
Denalyn and I had enjoyed a nice dinner at a local restaurant. As we received our bill, a church member spotted us and came over. After we chatted a few moments, he took our bill. “I’ll take this,” he said. Guess what? I let him do what he wanted to do. I let him take it away.
Someday we will stand before God. All of us will be present. All of us will have to give an account for our lives. Every thought, every deed, every action. Were it not for the grace of Christ, I would find this to be a very terrifying thought.
Yet, according to Scripture, Jesus came to “take away the sins of the world” (John 1:29 Phillips). On that day, I will point to Christ. When my list of sins is produced, I will gesture toward him and say, “He took it.” Let him take yours.
〈申命記〉 19:2-3 要在耶和華─你 神所賜你為業的地上分定三座城。要將耶和華─你 神使你承受為業的地分為三段；又要預備道路，使誤殺人的，都可以逃到那裡去。
從該隱殺亞伯開始，人類就不斷地自相殘殺。在挪亞生了三個兒子之後，神看到世界敗壞，地上滿了強暴。就像該隱的子孫拉麥，對他妻子說：「壯年人傷我，我把他殺了；少年人損我，我把他害了。」因為人屬乎血氣，終日思想的盡都是惡，因此神說：「我的靈就不永遠住在他裡面，然而他的日子還可到一百二十年。（創6:3）」從那時開始，人類的壽命就越來越短了。神的靈雖然不要永遠住在人的裡面，但是神的靈依然要住在人的裡面一百廿年。假如你討厭一個人時，就會想盡辦法不要和他在一起；但是即始年日縮短，神的靈依然要和祂所賜予生命氣息的人在一起一百廿年。當然，為了某些原因，我們不能活到一百廿歲，那也沒有辦法。
〈申命記〉 18:15 耶和華你的神要從你們弟兄中間給你興起一位先知像我，你們要聽從他。
在《聖經》裡，這是一句很重要的預言。因為這句預言，伊斯蘭教(回教)認定穆罕默德就是摩西預言的那位先知，但事實上是否如此？
在以色列人要進迦南之前，摩西有太多話要交待。他帶領以色列人四十年，有時生氣，有時憤怒，有時委屈，有時焦急。但是他最害怕的還是以色列人進迦南後忘記神的話，得罪神。因為他明白神的心意，也明白百姓的反覆無常。人對神的信心不足，往往是因為自己的短視，以及不相信神對他們的愛。其實從神的教導裡，就可以明白耶和華是一位怎樣的神，從而產生信心。在這章裡摩西講到三方面的事，第一方面是照顧利未人。
I can bear witness to the power of God’s grace! I could take you to the church, to the section of seats in the church. I might even be able to find the very seat in which I was sitting when this grace found me.
I was a twenty-year-old college sophomore, living with a concrete block of guilt that had made a mess of my life. But then I heard a preacher describe the divine grace that is greater than sin. At the end of the message he asked if anyone would like to come forward and receive this grace. Iron chains couldn’t have held me back. Truth be told, chains had held me back. But mercy snapped the guilt chains and set me free.
I know this truth firsthand: Guilt frenzies the soul; grace calms it! The benefit of being a great sinner is dependence upon a great grace!
What kind of person does unresolved guilt create? An anxious one, forever hiding, running, denying, pretending. As one man admitted: “I was always living a lie for fear someone might see me for who I really was and think less of me. I hid behind my super spirituality but this lie was exhausting and anxiety producing.”
Unresolved guilt will turn you into a miserable, weary, angry, fretful mess. In a psalm David wrote after his affair with Bathsheba, the king said, “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat” (Psalm 32:3-4 NLT).
As Paul told Titus, “God’s grace is the fertile soul out of which courage sprouts! God’s readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation’s available for everyone!” (Titus 2:11, 15 MSG).
〈申命記〉 17:15 你總要立耶和華─你 神所揀選的人為王。必從你弟兄中立一人；不可立你弟兄以外的人為王。
在〈申命記〉 17章裡，摩西談到了一些神所憎惡的事。神最憎惡的事就是祂的子民或兒女遠離神去敬拜事奉別神，以及審判中要按神的律法，並聽從神的判語。比較特別的一點，便是教導以色列人要怎樣立他們的王。
有位在查經班學習了一段時期的慕道友問過一個問題：「假如神設定了一夫一妻制，那為什麼以色列人的王都娶了那麼多老婆？」他從大衛開始到所羅門，如數家珍。可見有很多慕道友對《聖經》的知識並不差。
在這章經文裡，神提到以色列人立王和做王的規矩。
Guilt sucks the life out of our souls. Grace restores it.
No one had more reason to feel the burden of guilt than did the apostle Paul. He had orchestrated the deaths of Christians, an ancient version of a terrorist. Yet, Paul gave his guilt to Jesus. Period. He surrendered it to Jesus. As a result he could write, “I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us” (Philippians 3:13-14 TLB).
What would the apostle say to the guilt-ridden? Simply this: Rejoice in the Lord’s mercy. Trust in his ability to forgive. Cast yourself upon the grace of Christ and Christ alone!
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