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认识耶和华的荣耀

哈巴谷书 2:14   认识耶和华荣耀的知识要充满遍地,好像水充满洋海一般。

读经文: 哈巴谷书 2:9-14

9 为本家积蓄不义之财,在高处搭窝,指望免灾的有祸了! 10 你图谋剪除多国的民,犯了罪,使你的家蒙羞,自害己命。 11 墙里的石头必呼叫,房内的栋梁必应声。12 以人血建城,以罪孽立邑的有祸了!

哈巴谷向神发出两个问题:第一个问题: 为什么神不惩罚恶人 (1:1-4)?神说,要派迦勒底人来惩罚犹大。哈巴谷对神的回答不满意,又问了第二个问题,想到迦勒底人的凶残和暴虐,他反过来要捍卫犹大子民,反对神透过迦勒底人将带来的严酷审判。但是神回答哈巴谷,不管神的审判是用怎样的方法,全世界的人只有一种保存自己性命的方法,那就是义人因信得生。

哈巴谷从异象中指出了迦勒底人也在神的审判之中,并指出其中的五祸,也可以算是五罪。第一祸是给醉酒的和掠夺的 (2:5):迦勒底人因酒诡诈、狂傲,不住在家中,扩充心欲好像阴间。他如死不能知足,聚集万国,堆积万民,都归自己。

7 Results of Rebelling Against God

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Hosea 9:1-17.  Let’s go!
 
Hosea 9:1-17 (NIV)
1  Do not rejoice, O Israel; do not be jubilant like the other nations. For you have been unfaithful to your God; you love the wages of a prostitute at every threshing floor.
2  Threshing floors and winepresses will not feed the people; the new wine will fail them.
3  They will not remain in the LORD’s land; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.
4  They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, nor will their sacrifices please him. Such sacrifices will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat them will be unclean. This food will be for themselves; it will not come into the temple of the LORD.

However, as we hear about over and over in the book of Hosea, the Israelites lived in persistent rebellion against God and repeatedly broke God’s heart.

God’s broken heart is not the only result of the Israelites’ rebellion.  As Pastor Jon Courson wisely notes, Hosea 9 shows us a number of problems that the Israelites would experience as a result of continually rebelling against God.  These are the same problems we experience when we keep ignoring or forgetting about God. 

唯义人因信得生

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。”

Are You Sowing the Wind?

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?

Two Crowds You Should Not Let Influence You Too Much

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.   

公理颠倒的世界

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。

尼尼微荒凉了!

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。

Press On To Know the Lord

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.  

See the Gospel in Hosea

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. 

尼尼微的命定

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?