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论以东

2023-08-02 in , /by

耶利米书 49:11  你撇下孤儿，我必保全他们的命，你的寡妇可以倚靠我。

阅读经文:  49:7-22

7 论以东。万军之耶和华如此说：「提幔中再没有智慧吗？明哲人不再有谋略吗？他们的智慧尽归无有吗？ 8 底但的居民哪，要转身逃跑，住在深密处！因为我向以扫追讨的时候，必使灾殃临到他。 9 摘葡萄的若来到他那里，岂不剩下些葡萄呢？盗贼若夜间而来，岂不毁坏直到够了呢？ 10 我却使以扫赤露，显出他的隐密处，他不能自藏。他的后裔、弟兄、邻舍尽都灭绝，他也归于无有。 11 你撇下孤儿，我必保全他们的命，你的寡妇可以倚靠我。」

以扫是以撒的长子，亚伯拉罕的孙子。以东是以扫的别名，也是“红”之意，因为以扫出生时身体发红，浑身有毛。以扫是雅各的哥哥，因为吃了雅各的红汤，卖了长子的名份；又被雅各欺骗，夺去了父亲对长子的祝福。因此这两兄弟之间说有“深仇大恨”也不为过；不过后来兄弟和好，各住一边，在世时也不再有争执；反而是其后裔不断为敌。

以东的居地地势很高，因此神说：“住在山穴中据守山顶的啊，论到你的威吓，你因心中的狂傲自欺；你虽如大鹰高高搭窝，我却从那里拉下你来。” 波斯拉是以东北方的一个小镇，以“不能靠近之城”而得名，虽然地势甚高，但是神必让她的仇敌像狮子从约但河边的丛林上来；又如大鹰飞起，展开翅膀攻击波斯拉。以东如大鹰高高搭窝，神却用如大鹰的仇敌把它拉下来。不管人自以为多么有保障，神都可以摧毁。

When You Have Limited Resources, Remember This

2023-08-02 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 7:1-12.  Let’s go!

Judges 7:1-8 (NIV)
1  Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
2  The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her,
3  announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
4  But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

On verses 1-8:  God intentionally whittles down the Israelite army from 32,000 to 300.  Why?  God explains it Himself in verse 2: “In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her”.  God wanted the Israelites to know that it was not their own strength that rescued them but God.  So when you are faced with limited resources and wonder why God does not give you more for the moment, remember that God loves to show His power through our limitations.  God loves to take those who are in the minority and do something powerful with them.

论亚扪

2023-08-01 in , /by

耶利米书  49:2b  先前得以色列地为业的，此时以色列倒要得他们的地为业。

阅读经文:  49:1-6

1 论亚扪人。耶和华如此说：「以色列没有儿子吗？没有后嗣吗？玛勒堪为何得迦得之地为业呢？属他的民为何住其中的城邑呢？」 2 耶和华说：「日子将到，我必使人听见打仗的喊声，是攻击亚扪人拉巴的喊声。拉巴要成为乱堆，属她的乡村要被火焚烧。先前得以色列地为业的，此时以色列倒要得他们的地为业。」这是耶和华说的。

亚扪是罗得酒醉后和小女儿生下的后裔。在〈申命记〉2章19节，神对预备进入迦南地的以色列人说：“走近亚扪人之地，不可扰害他们，也不可与他们争战。亚扪人的地，我不赐给你们为业，因我已将那地赐给罗得的子孙为业。”亚扪人住的地原是利乏音人住的。利乏音人身材高大，人又多，但是耶和华神帮助亚扪人得了他们的地，给他们居住。可惜亚扪人对耶和华神并无感激之情，自己去找了一个玛勒堪为神，有时也和摩押人一起拜摩洛或基抹等假神。

利乏音人这块土地位于约旦河南端以东，一度跟摩押人在死海东面高原的领土接壤。以色列人进入迦南以前，亚扪人的一些土地被亚摩利人夺走，他们被迫退到北面和东面去，本来跟摩押人接壤的边界也断开了。此后，亚扪人领土的边界从蜿蜒曲折的雅博溪谷上游起，一直往东伸延至荒漠地带，他们的王城设于雅博溪谷上游附近的拉巴（即现代的安曼）。考古学家在这一带发现了古代亚扪人的一些遗址和边防营垒。

God’s Strength Is Greater Than Your Weakness

2023-08-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 6:28-40.  Let’s go!

Judges 6:28-31 (NIV)
28  In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!
29  They asked each other, “Who did this?” When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”
30  The men of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31  But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.”
 
On verses 28-31:  Gideon obeys God’s command to tear down the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole that were erected on his house. The townspeople take exception to Gideon’s actions, saying that he must die.  Gideon’s father Joash comes to his son’s defense.  Joash basically makes two points. 

God Calls Us In Spite Of Us

2023-07-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 6:11-27.  Let’s go!

Judges 6:11-16 (NIV)
11  The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.
12  When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
13  “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

On verses 13-16:  God did not directly answer Gideon’s questions and doubts about why God seemed uninvolved and unconcerned when all this oppression was happening to his people (v13).  God could easily have pointed to all the ways that Gideon’s people had broken their covenant with God and how patient God had been with the Israelites up to this point.  But instead of focusing on that, instead of explaining anything, God gives Gideon a mission to save Israel from the hand of Midian (v14).

摩押的三大罪状

2023-07-31 in , /by

耶利米书  48:29     我们听说摩押人骄傲，是极其骄傲；听说她自高自傲，并且狂妄，居心自大。

阅读经文:  48:1-47

1 论摩押。万军之耶和华以色列的神如此说：「尼波有祸了，因变为荒场。基列亭蒙羞被攻取，米斯迦蒙羞被毁坏。 2 摩押不再被称赞，有人在希实本设计谋害她说：『来吧！我们将她剪除，不再成国。』玛得缅哪，你也必默默无声，刀剑必追赶你。 3 从何罗念有喊荒凉大毁灭的哀声。 4 摩押毁灭了，她的孩童[a]发哀声，使人听见。 5 人上鲁希坡随走随哭，因为在何罗念的下坡听见毁灭的哀声。 6 你们要奔逃，自救性命，独自居住，好像旷野的杜松。

罗得是亚伯拉罕的侄子，他跟着亚伯拉罕离开吾珥，到了迦南地，选择了水草丰富的平原，一直迁移，直到住进所多玛城。所多玛罪恶召彰，当神命天使毁灭所多玛城时，祂记念罗得，差遣天使用手拉着罗得一家，把他们强行带离所多玛。罗得的妻子在半路上回头观望，变成一根盐柱，只有罗得和两个女儿逃到了一座在山上的小城。他们住在一个山洞里，与世隔绝。为了从父亲得到后裔，两个女儿相继灌醉父亲，从他怀了孩子。大女儿生下摩押，二女儿生下亚扪。

在〈申命记〉2章9节里，在以色列人要进迦南地之前，神吩咐以色列人不可扰害摩押人，因祂已将亚珥赐给罗得的子孙摩押人为业（申），所以他们绕道而行。但是摩押人在以色列人进入迦南地时，不但不给予方便，反而雇术士巴兰咒诅他们。 因此神说：“亚扪人或是摩押人不可入耶和华的会；他们的子孙虽过十代，也永不可入耶和华的会”（申23:3）。

The Mercy and Compassion of God

2023-07-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 6:1-10.  Let’s go!

Judges 6:1-6 (NIV)
1  Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.
2  Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.
3  Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.
4  They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.
5  They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.
6  Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.
 
On verses 1-6:  Once again the Israelites reject God and become subject to the Midianites.  Experiencing oppression and impoverishment that they cannot get up from under, the Israelites cry out to God again.  Likewise, sin oppresses and impoverishes us, and we have no power by ourselves to get up from under it.  Our only hope is to cry out to God for help.  Praise God that He hears our cry and acts in response.

非利士人的存亡

2023-07-30 in , /by

耶利米书 47:4b  原来耶和华必毁灭非利士人，就是迦斐托海岛余剩的人。

阅读经文:  47:1-7

1 法老攻击加沙（迦萨）之先，有耶和华论非利士人的话临到先知耶利米。

2 耶和华如此说：「有水从北方发起，成为涨溢的河，要涨过遍地和其中所有的，并城和其中所住的。人必呼喊，境内的居民都必哀号。

从神的角度来看以色列的这两个隣居，实在是各有千秋。埃及，表面上是以色列的盟友，却是很不忠实的盟友，经常向以色列揩油，东拿一点，西抢一些；表面上好像是在帮助以色列，却又总是向她施威作福。非利士人更是以色列长期的敌人，从士师记开始，非利士人就不停地捣乱。在参孙、撒母耳、扫罗和大卫的时期都曾和非利士人发生大小的冲突，在扫罗的末期，以色列地几乎被非利士人全部占去，后来大卫王将之一一夺回，把非利士人赶回原来居住的沿海城镇。以色列人和非利士人之间几乎始终处于战争的状态。

在〈阿摩司书〉中，说到非利士人起源于迦斐托：「耶和华说，以色列人哪，我岂不看你们如古实人么？我岂不是领以色列人从埃及地上来，领非利士人从迦斐托出来，领亚兰人从吉珥出来么？」。后来，在前7世纪，〈耶利米书〉47章4节也说到他们与迦斐托的联系：「原来耶和华必毁灭非利士人，就是迦斐托海岛余剩的人。」学者们认为迦斐托是赛普勒斯、克里特岛或地中海东部的其他地点。

勇士的哀歌

2023-07-28 in , /by

耶利米书 46:24   埃及的民必然蒙羞，必交在北方人的手中。

阅读经文:  46:1-28

1 耶和华论列国的话临到先知耶利米。2 论到关乎埃及王法老尼哥的军队，这军队安营在幼发拉底河边的迦基米施，是巴比伦王尼布甲尼撒在犹大王约西亚的儿子约雅敬第四年所打败的：

3 「你们要预备大小盾牌，往前上阵！ 4 你们套上车，骑上马！顶盔站立，磨枪贯甲！

在耶利米书里有些经文的编辑并没有按著时间上的顺序，有时记述的是约雅敬年代发生的事情，有时记载的是西底家年代发生的事情。好像在这一章里记载的便是描写埃及军队在迦基米施被击败的情形(主前605)，其时正当耶利米中年时期(1-12)。耶利米预言尼布甲尼撒王将进攻埃及(13-26)，这预言是43章8-13节的引伸。

正如其他几个大先知专论外邦列国的信息，也是插在给选民的信息中间(参赛十三-廿三；结廿五-卅二)， 表明旧约一个重要的主题：耶和华不仅是以色列的神，也是统管列国的君王，外邦人的命运同样操在以色列的神手中，而巴比伦乃是神用来对付列国的鞭子。

迦基米施，在当年是个贸易重镇，位于幼发拉底河上游西岸的一处浅滩上。有一条重要的贸易路线从尼尼微上到哈兰，然后在迦基米施渡过幼发拉底河，再延伸到黎巴嫩山的奥龙特斯河谷，其他贸易路线再从这里通往地中海或巴勒斯坦以南和埃及。经过迦基米施的商队需要缴纳税款，所以这城看来收入不错，相当富足。由于迦基米施的地点在商业上和军事上都处于关键位置，所以在很早的时候，向外扩张的各国就力图控制这城。

True Hope vs. False Hope

2023-07-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 5:14-31.  Let’s go!

Judges 5:14-18 (NIV)
14  Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander’s staff.
15  The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.
16  Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart.
17  Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves.
18  The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field.
 
On verses 14-18:  The biggest theme of Deborah’s song in verses 2-13 was celebrating the willingness of the Israelites to go out and fight for their nation.  This theme continues as Deborah praises the willing tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, Zebulun and “Makir”, which scholars believe is a poetic reference to the tribe of Manasseh (v14).  Deborah also praises Issachar (v15a), Zebulun and Naphtali (v18).  However, Deborah calls out the tribe of Reuben for not going to fight and instead pictures them comforting themselves by a fire, having second thoughts (v15b-16).    Deborah also calls out “Gilead”, which probably is a reference to the tribe of Gad, as well as Dan and Asher (v17) for not participating.