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空前的試探與挑戰

2023-11-03 in , /by

但以理書11: 35  智慧人中有些仆倒的，為要熬煉其餘的人，使他們清淨潔白，直到末了，因為到了定期，事就了結。

閱讀經文:  但以理書 11:28-45

28 「北方王必帶許多財寶回往本國，他的心反對聖約，任意而行，回到本地。 29 到了定期，他必返回，來到南方，後一次卻不如前一次。 30 因為基提戰船必來攻擊他，他就喪膽而回，又要惱恨聖約，任意而行。他必回來聯絡背棄聖約的人。 31 他必興兵，這兵必褻瀆聖地，就是保障，除掉常獻的燔祭，設立那行毀壞可憎的。 32 作惡違背聖約的人，他必用巧言勾引；唯獨認識神的子民，必剛強行事。

在兩約之間的四百年裡，猶太人與外邦統治者在政治及文化上的衝突，以及猶太人相互之間，因外來勢力的干擾所造成的摩擦，促成了原本團結內斂的猶太人，分裂為不同的宗教集團和黨派，醞釀了400年末期同族兄弟自相殘殺的血腥史。

亞歷山大是個英勇明智的帝王，深深明白武力的征服只是一時，唯有文化的改變才能長久，因此他立志要把希臘文化傳遍當時的世界。他沿著征服之地建築希臘化的城巿，鼓勵馬其頓人與當地的女子通婚，凡他的軍隊所到之處，都感受到希臘文化的震撼，巴勒斯坦也不例外。

Greater Is He Who Is In You

2023-11-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 4:1-6.  Let’s go!

1 John 4:1-3 (NIV) 
1  Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 
2  This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 
3  but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

On verses 1-3:  Why is John telling his readers to “test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (v1)?  It’s because in John’s day false prophets were preaching messages that contradicted the gospel message, the message that Jesus Christ the Son of God came into this world, died for our sins, and rose again.  For example, historians report that a man called Cerinthus taught that Jesus was not divine and that he was not supernaturally born of a virgin but that he was the naturally born son of Joseph and Mary. 

卑鄙的人做王

2023-11-02 in , /by

但以理書11: 23  與那君結盟之後，他必行詭詐，因為他必上來以微小的軍成為強盛。

閱讀經文:  但以理書 11:20-27

20 那時，必有一人興起接續他為王，使橫征暴斂的人通行國中的榮美地。這王不多日就必滅亡，卻不因憤怒，也不因爭戰。

21 必有一個卑鄙的人興起接續為王，人未曾將國的尊榮給他，他卻趁人坦然無備的時候，用諂媚的話得國。 22 必有無數的軍兵勢如洪水，在他面前沖沒敗壞，同盟的君也必如此。

希望大家還分得清楚，南方王是指埃及的多利買王朝；北方王是敘利亞的西流古王朝，西流古是王的稱號，其姓氏為安提阿哥。安提阿哥三世和羅馬大戰之後，因為潰不成軍，只好把所佔領的小亞細亞之地全數歸還羅馬。羅馬不僅要求他要付大量的賠款和土地，每年要進貢，還命令他將王弟安提阿哥四世（以彼芬尼）送到羅馬做人質。他建立大帝國的夢粉碎了，又受到這樣的侮辱，灰心喪志地回國後，第二年就死了。傳說他在以攔的彼勒神廟裡搶劫寶器時，被大臣希利奧當斯所殺。其子西流古四世繼位。

因為西流古三世長年爭戰，等西流古四世繼位時，國庫空空如也，又得每年向羅馬進貢一千他連得銀子。一他連得的銀子約現值6606美元，一千他連得的銀子便是6606,000美元，六百六十多萬的美元。所以他只好横徵暴斂，無所不用其極地苛征重稅。

What to Do with a Self-Condemning Heart

2023-11-02 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:18-24.  Let’s go!
 
1 John 3:18 (NIV) 
18  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

On verse 18:  One of the big themes of 1 John is that true love is shown not just with our words but with our actions.  When it comes to love, actions speak louder than words.  I encourage you to memorize this verse.
 
1 John 3:19-20 (NIV) 
19  This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence
20  whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

On verses 19-20:   Has your own heart ever condemned you?  Have you ever wrestled with the thought, “maybe I’m not a child of God after all or maybe God is not with me”? The first way John says we can reassure ourselves is by focusing on the fruit of our lives, instead of on our feelings. 

南方王和北方王的爭戰之二

2023-11-01 in , /by

但以理書11: 10 北方王的二子必動干戈，招聚許多軍兵。這軍兵前去，如洪水氾濫，又必再去爭戰，直到南方王的保障。

閱讀經文:  但以理書 11:10-19

10 「北方王的二子必動干戈，招聚許多軍兵。這軍兵前去，如洪水氾濫，又必再去爭戰，直到南方王的保障。 11 南方王必發烈怒，出來與北方王爭戰，擺列大軍，北方王的軍兵必交付他手。 12 他的眾軍高傲，他的心也必自高，他雖使數萬人仆倒，卻不得常勝。

在新舊約之中的四百年，實在是腥風血雨。巴勒斯坦，神賜給以色列人的那塊地，成了列強爭奪的戰場。剛開始在埃及的三個多利買王對以色列人還算友善，巴勒斯坦歸埃及所管，所以猶大省的猶大人漸漸多起來。他們很有作生意的頭腦，加上那時推羅已衰敗，所以他們都變得很富有。到了埃及多利買王朝的後期，巴勒斯坦變成一塊令人垂涎的肥肉。

多利買三世打敗西流古二世之後，西流古二世的兩個兒子決意雪洗前恥，繼承父志，打敗埃及。這兩個兒子是指西流古三世和他的弟弟安提阿哥三世，為要振興國勢，他們招兵買馬剷除異己，準備向外侵略。西流古三世在小亞細亞攻打別迦摩的戰事中陣亡，安提阿哥三世繼承哥哥的王位，又稱為大安提阿哥。

Let God’s Word Bring Us To Our Knees

2023-11-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:9-17.  Let’s go!
 
1 John 3:9-11 (NIV) 
9  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 
10  This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 
11  This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
 
On verses 9-11:  John puts it in such black and white terms: 
 · Those who do what is right belong to God.  Those who sin don’t belong to God.  (v9-10)
 · Those who love their fellow brothers and sisters belong to God.  Those who hate their fellow brothers and sisters don’t belong to God (v10b-11).
So say you’re someone who has trusted Jesus as your Saviour. 

南方王和北方王的爭戰之一

2023-10-31 in , /by

但以理書11: 5  南方的王必強盛，他將帥中必有一個比他更強盛，執掌權柄，他的權柄甚大。
閱讀經文:  但以理書 11:5-9

5 「南方的王必強盛，他將帥中必有一個比他更強盛，執掌權柄，他的權柄甚大。 6 過些年後，他們必互相聯合，南方王的女兒必就了北方王來立約。但這女子幫助之力存立不住，王和他所倚靠之力也不能存立。這女子和引導她來的，並生她的，以及當時扶助她的，都必交於死地。

在亞歷山大死去後，希臘帝國被四個將軍分為四國：馬其頓和希臘（安提帕特和卡山德）；脫拉西及小亞西亞（賴西馬克）：敘利亞（西流古一世）；巴勒斯坦和埃及（多利買一世）。但是在但以理書裡則著重在南王與北王之爭。南王指佔領埃及的多利買王，北王指佔領敘利亞的西流古王。這從希臘出來的二強互相爭霸，歷時約160多年，以致生靈塗炭。以色列位在巴勒斯坦，正好夾在埃及和敘利亞中間，因此飽受戰火之禍。

在第5節說到，南方的王必強盛，便是指佔領埃及的多利買一世蘇他Ptolemy Soter　自封為王。亞歷山大生前曾冊封一名將帥在巴比倫作王，那便是在敘利亞稱王的西流古一世尼卡特Seleucus Nicator。他的權柄甚大，遠勝於多利買一世。

he More You Look at Jesus, the More Like Jesus You Become

2023-10-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 3:1-8.

1 John 3:1a
1  How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

On verse 1a:  When our sin had disqualified us from God’s presence and we had no right to have anything to do with God, God lavished His love on us when He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross.  It is through Jesus Christ that we can be called children of God.   That’s the identity changing love of our God.  Because of His love, we’re no longer the same.  We go from sinners to saints, from excluded to included, from being orphaned to being part of His family.  It’s not because of anything we have done but because of His grace.

1 John 3:1b (NIV) 
1…The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

On verse 1b:  Through faith in Christ we are children of God, but of course the world does not know that or acknowledge that.  As we looked at in 1 John 2:15-17, the world is a system of thinking, feeling and living that does not acknowledge Christ.  It’s a system that pervades our society.  Since the world does not acknowledge God, the world will not acknowledge you as a child of God.  Instead the world will try to define you in other ways that are sometimes contradictory to what God’s Word says about you.  

You Can’t Have God Without Jesus

2023-10-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is 1 John 2:18-29.  Let’s go!

1 John 2:18-28 (NIV)
18  Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
19  They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20  But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

On verses 18-28:  The apostle John is warning his readers about false teachers.  These false teachers were originally part of the church that John led, but they left the church (v19) and were now teaching that Jesus is not the Christ (that is, not the Messiah that the Jews were waiting for nor the Saviour that we all need) (v22).

These teachers were likely telling the people in John’s church, “You do not know the truth” (v21), accusing John and the other apostles of lying to them.  In response, John reassures his people that “you have an anointing form the Holy One, and all of you know the truth” (v20). 

四百年沉默時期的序幕

2023-10-30 in , /by

但以理書11: 2 現在我將真事指示你，波斯還有三王興起，第四王必富足遠勝諸王。他因富足成為強盛，就必激動大眾攻擊希臘國。

閱讀經文:  但以理書 11:1-4

1 又說：「當瑪代王大流士（大利烏）元年，我曾起來扶助米迦勒，使他堅強。

2 「現在我將真事指示你，波斯還有三王興起，第四王必富足遠勝諸王。他因富足成為強盛，就必激動大眾攻擊希臘國。 3 必有一個勇敢的王興起，執掌大權，隨意而行。 4 他興起的時候，他的國必破裂，向天的四方分開，卻不歸他的後裔，治國的權勢也都不及他，因為他的國必被拔出，歸於他後裔之外的人。

在《聖經》的舊約與新約之間有一段沉默的時期，這沉默指的是神不再有話語給猶大人。這段時期大約有四百年，其間所發生的事都記載在但以理書11章裡，那時巴比倫已經被滅，波斯成為世界的霸主。因此舊約的記事中止於波斯帝國；當新約聖經開始時，已是羅馬帝國統治的時候。自先知瑪拉基之後，到施洗約翰出生，神在以色列（包括猶大），沒有再興起先知。此時猶大人散居在埃及、巴比倫和波斯，有一部份得到古列王的允許，已經回到耶路撒冷重建聖城和聖殿。

因著但以理迫切的禱告，神把將來要發生的事一一告知但以理。神學家D.K. Campbell 說在這一章的前35節裡，已經有135個預言在歷史上應驗了。也因為這部份的預言和歷史是那樣絲絲相扣，後來的史學家竟有人不願意相信那是神在數百年前的預言，而說是有馬加比族的人按著歷史所編造的。但是智者總應該明白，唯有耶和華才是真神，也是宇宙的主宰。