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Are You Sowing the Wind?

2023-12-31 in /by

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

2023-12-29 in /by

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.   

公理顛倒的世界

2023-12-29 in , /by

哈巴谷書 1:3a  祢為何使我看見罪孽？祢為何看著奸惡而不理呢？

讀經文: 哈巴谷書 1:1-17

1先知哈巴谷所得的默示。

2 他說：耶和華啊，我呼求你，你不應允，要到幾時呢？我因強暴哀求你，你還不拯救。 3 你為何使我看見罪孽？你為何看著奸惡而不理呢？毀滅和強暴在我面前，又起了爭端和相鬥的事。 4 因此律法放鬆，公理也不顯明。惡人圍困義人，所以公理顯然顛倒。

〈哈巴谷書〉列在〈那鴻書〉之後，這兩卷小先知書的性質很相似，都說到神對祂子民的仇敵之審判。〈那鴻書〉預言亞述的結局，〈哈巴谷書〉預言迦勒底（巴比倫）的結局。本書中對作者的交代甚少，但是從本書的最後一節說：“這歌交於伶長，用絲弦的樂器”，可以猜測他可能是個祭司或利未人，在聖殿裡以音樂服侍，並且住在猶大，因為聖殿在耶路撒冷。從本章第一節可以知道，他本身也有先知的職份。

哈巴谷此名含有“擁抱”的意義，“擁抱”同時也包含“抓住”，像雅各一樣，緊緊地抓住神的使者，不給祝福就不讓離開；哈巴谷則是緊緊地抓住神，要神解答他的疑問。人很有限，很多問題得不到解答，有的答案還引人入歧途，迷失方向。所以能抓住神問問題的人最有福，因為神的答案才能滿足人心的饑渴，使人尋到人生的方向。

尼尼微荒涼了！

2023-12-28 in , /by

那鴻書 3:18  亞述王啊，你的牧人睡覺，你的貴胄安歇，你的人民散在山間無人招聚。

讀經文: 那鴻書 3:1-19

1禍哉，這流人血的城！充滿謊詐和強暴，搶奪的事總不止息。 2 鞭聲響亮，車輪轟轟，馬匹踢跳，車輛奔騰， 3 馬兵爭先，刀劍發光，槍矛閃爍，被殺的甚多，屍首成了大堆，屍骸無數，人碰著而跌倒； 4 都因那美貌的妓女多有淫行，慣行邪術，藉淫行誘惑列國，用邪術誘惑多族。

在先知那鴻預言後大約八年，亞述的命定就來到了無法挽回的地步。主前681年，希西家年間，西拿基立王從耶路撒冷幾乎是空身敗退，含羞回國後被他叛逆的兒子刺殺；他兒子以撒哈頓繼位（Esarhaddon）（以賽亞書37:36-38），從叛徒手中奪回了尼尼微城，遷都至迦拉城，並另建宮殿。

以撒哈頓王雖居住在迦拉城，他的兒子亞述尼帕（Assurbanipal），卻在尼尼微城，他在那裏接受教育，包括體能及軍事訓練。此人對亞述的古文化發生興趣，成為一位出色的古物研究家，熟悉亞甲和蘇默文。亞述尼帕繼位作王，在宮中建立當時最大圖書館，收藏有關亞述的書籍和文獻。

Press On To Know the Lord

2023-12-28 in /by

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

2023-12-27 in /by

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

2023-12-27 in , /by

那鴻書 2:10  尼尼微現在空虛荒涼，人心消化，雙膝相碰，腰都疼痛，臉都變色。

讀經文: 那鴻書 2:1-13

1尼尼微啊，那打碎邦國的上來攻擊你，你要看守保障，謹防道路，使腰強壯，大大勉力。 2 耶和華復興雅各的榮華，好像以色列的榮華一樣，因為使地空虛的已經使雅各和以色列空虛，將他們的葡萄枝毀壞了。 3 他勇士的盾牌是紅的，精兵都穿朱紅衣服。在他預備爭戰的日子，戰車上的鋼鐵閃爍如火，柏木把的槍也掄起來了。

在耶穌復活之後，有個出名的，有關以馬忤斯的故事。這件事發生在耶穌復活那天的傍晚，有兩個耶穌的門徒，從耶路撒冷朝著以馬忤斯而去，這地方離耶路撒冷約有25里路，他們在談論耶穌受害和復活一事時，耶穌靠近他們，參與了他們的談話，並引經據典地向他們解釋。在一起要吃晚餐時，他們才認出那是耶穌。耶穌隨即不見了。他們則心裡火熱地回去告訴其餘的門徒，他們見到了復活的主。

當這幾位門徒行走時，他們渾然不知主正與他們同行。就好像我們當中也有許多人，在生活裡也渾然不覺主的同在。何況是尼尼微人？他們當年只聽到約拿的一句話就悔改，雖然知道有神在鑑察，可是日子一久，這樣的警告之威力就逐漸消失了。我們對神的話語是否也有這樣的感覺？

Don’t Be So Quick To Judge

2023-12-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Hosea 4:1-19.  Let’s go!

Hosea 4:1-3 (NIV)
1  Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
2  There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.
3  Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.
 
On verses 1-3:  Hosea speaks of rampant sin in the land (v1-2).  As a result, the land and all who live in it – not only people but animals as well – suffer (v3).  This suggests that sin has this way of not just separating human beings from God, but also of bringing destruction and death to all of creation.

論尼尼微的默示

2023-12-26 in , /by

那鴻書 1:7  耶和華本為善，在患難的日子為人的保障，並且認得那些投靠祂的人。

讀經文: 那鴻書 1:1-15

1論尼尼微的默示，就是伊勒歌斯人那鴻所得的默示。

2 耶和華是忌邪施報的神，耶和華施報大有憤怒，向祂的敵人施報，向祂的仇敵懷怒。 3 耶和華不輕易發怒，大有能力，萬不以有罪的為無罪。他乘旋風和暴風而來，雲彩為他腳下的塵土。 4 他斥責海，使海乾了，使一切江河乾涸。巴珊和迦密的樹林衰殘，黎巴嫩的花草也衰殘了。

在伊拉克北方靠近土耳其的地區，有個小城叫做伊勒歌斯（Alqosh），居民大多是亞述與迦勒底 (巴比倫)的基督徒。這個城靠在山邊，面對廣闊的尼尼微平原。在過去的兩年中，伊斯蘭國(ISIS)席捲伊拉克北方。伊勒歌斯離摩蘇爾（Mosul）只有30英里的距離，卻抵擋住了伊斯蘭國的攻擊，沒有陷落，成為那一帶唯一仍然高舉十字架的城鎮。

伊勒歌斯有將近3千年悠久的歷史，一直是亞述人居住的地方。那裡的房子大多都是石頭蓋的，沿著山坡往上攀附。山的最頂端，有個12米高的十字架。亞述人從第一世紀起，就全民改信基督教，一直至今。更久遠的是，它還是舊約先知那鴻的故鄉。《那鴻書》第一章記載，先知那鴻是伊勒歌斯人。他的墳墓至今還在城中心的舊猶太人會堂裡。

我要仰望耶和華

2023-12-25 in , /by

彌迦書 7:7 至於我，我要仰望耶和華，要等候那救我的神，我的神必應允我。

讀經文: 彌迦書  7:1-20

1哀哉！我好像夏天的果子已被收盡，又像摘了葡萄所剩下的，沒有一掛可吃的，我心羨慕初熟的無花果。 2 地上虔誠人滅盡，世間沒有正直人。各人埋伏要殺人流血，都用網羅獵取弟兄。

3 他們雙手作惡，君王徇情面，審判官要賄賂，位分大的吐出惡意，都彼此結聯行惡。 4 他們最好的不過是蒺藜，最正直的不過是荊棘籬笆。你守望者說降罰的日子已經來到，他們必擾亂不安。

在列治文有間印度人開的農夫巿場，每到春天就開始營業，一直到每年的12月下旬就關了。那時原本到處都是水果蔬菜的盛況成為一片空曠的地方，十分荒涼。當先知形容以色列(我 ) 好像夏天的果子已被收盡，又像摘了葡萄所剩下的地方，就讓我想起冬天裡空空如也的農夫巿場，什麼也沒有。連心裡期待會有的初熟的無花果也沒有。

先知以此比喻以色列中一個正直公義的人也沒有。他們都用網羅獵取弟兄。不是獵取外邦人或敵人，而是獵取自己人。獵取不是個好字眼，表示虧待、惡待、陷害、欺負自己人。因位領導者都聯結行惡。在此不免想起當年主耶穌潔淨聖殿時，就是因為大祭司和祭司們的允許，所以買賣才能在聖殿的外院中進行，並且用欺騙的手段去賺取利益，和上位者同分。