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Don’t Just Weep and Cry. Repent.

2023-09-04 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 21:1-25.  Let’s go!

Judges 21:1-4 (NIV)
1  The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
2  The people went to Bethel, where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly.
3  “O LORD, the God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”
4  Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.

On verses 1-4:  The Israelites weep bitterly before God when they realize that one tribe of Israel, the Benjamites, is nearly extinct.  In verse 3 they ask, “O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing from Israel today?”  According to scholars like Daniel Block from the New American Commentary, the tone of the Israelites’ questioning of God is one of accusation.  In other words, rather than seeing how their actions resulted in this heart-breaking result, they blame God.  Isn’t that so like us humans to do?  We make a mess of our own situation and then we blame God for the mess.

责备假先知

2023-09-03 in , /by

以西结书 13:9  我的手必攻击那见虚假异象，用谎诈占卜的先知。他们必不列在我百姓的会中，不录在以色列家的册上，也不进入以色列地，你们就知道我是主耶和华。

阅读经文: 以西结书 13:1-23

1 耶和华的话临到我说： 2 「人子啊，你要说预言攻击以色列中说预言的先知，对那些本己心发预言的说：『你们当听耶和华的话！ 3 主耶和华如此说：愚顽的先知有祸了！他们随从自己的心意，却一无所见。 4 以色列啊，你的先知好像荒场中的狐狸， 5 没有上去堵挡破口，也没有为以色列家重修墙垣，使他们当耶和华的日子在阵上站立得住。 6 这些人所见的是虚假，是谎诈的占卜。他们说「是耶和华说的」，其实耶和华并没有差遣他们，他们倒使人指望那话必然立定。 7 你们岂不是见了虚假的异象吗？岂不是说了谎诈的占卜吗？你们说「这是耶和华说的」，其实我没有说。

去年十月有一对住在德州的老夫妇想去犹他州包威尔湖旅游，他们靠着GPS（导航）的指示而行，路越来越难行。妻子劝丈夫不如回头，丈夫执意继续开下去，没想到有个轮胎爆炸。他们只好下车去求援。走了一段路后，76岁的贝勒先生因双腿疼痛无法继续。78岁的太太决定继续往前走找人来帮忙，没想到走了五天都见不到半个人影。最后有一位牧场主人出门查看放牧的牛时，才在荒野的道路上发现已经严重脱水，且意识不清的贝勒太太。幸好这一对老夫妇经过急救后，最后都脱离险境。

Take Care of Home Base

2023-09-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 20:33-48.  For context, we’ll start at verse 29.

Judges 20:29-48 (NIV)
29  Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah.
30  They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before.
31  The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads–the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

On verses 33-48:  The Benjamites made this mistake:  they were so intent on defeating the Israelites that they directed all or most of their soldiers out of their home base of Gibeah and into the open field, leaving their own city of Gibeah vulnerable.  Little did the Benjamites know that the Israelites had other troops waiting for the city of Gibeah to be left alone so that the Israelites could ambush it from different directions.  This would lead to the Benjamites losing both their city as well as the war they were fighting outside of it.

Sometimes You Need to Lose Before You Can Win

2023-09-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 20:18-32.  Let’s go!

Judges 20:18-28 (NIV)
18  The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?” The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”
19  The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah.
20  The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah.
21  The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day.

On verses 18-28:  There are only a few times in the book of Judges where we see people inquiring of God.  In chapter 1 the Israelites inquire of the LORD after the death of Joshua (1:1).  In chapter 6 Gideon inquires of God with his famous fleece.  In chapter 13, Manoah the father of Samson inquires of the LORD regarding how to honour Him (13:17).  Whenever people in Judges inquired of the LORD, it seemed to be a God-pleasing thing, a move that would be followed immediately by a wise decision or an immediate victory.  Whenever you’re not sure what to do, the best thing you can do is inquire of the LORD.  He will lead the way for you.

But here in Judges 20, even though the Israelites inquire of the LORD repeatedly, notice that the first couple times that they follow the LORD’s directions, they lose, and lose badly.  After the first time that the Israelites inquire of the LORD (v18), God tells the tribe of Judah that they will be the first to go up against the Benjamites, and yet that day 22,000 of them are cut down (v21). 

神的话必定成就

2023-09-01 in , /by

以西结书 12:28b  主耶和华如此说：我的话没有一句再耽延的，我所说的必定成就。

阅读经文: 以西结书 12:1-28

1 耶和华的话又临到我说： 2 「人子啊，你住在悖逆的家中，他们有眼睛看不见，有耳朵听不见，因为他们是悖逆之家。 3 所以，人子啊，你要预备掳去使用的物件，在白日当他们眼前，从你所住的地方移到别处去。他们虽是悖逆之家，或者可以揣摩思想。 4 你要在白日当他们眼前带出你的物件去，好像预备掳去使用的物件。到了晚上，你要在他们眼前亲自出去，像被掳的人出去一样。 5 你要在他们眼前挖通了墙，从其中将物件带出去。 6 到天黑时，你要当他们眼前搭在肩头上带出去，并要蒙住脸看不见地，因为我立你做以色列家的预兆。」

你觉得以西结的演出是哑剧还是默剧？当年最出名的默剧演员是卓别林，看戏的人根本不需要懂英文或什么文，一看就明白。不过在卓别林的默剧里有各种声音的配搭，哑剧里就不能有声音了。有人如此分哑剧和默剧：两个聋哑人见面用手语对话，这个就属于哑剧。他们无法说话，只能用肢体代替声音表达。两个脾气暴燥的骑单车者不小心相撞，他们二话不说，上来就打架，这个属于默剧。他们不需要说话，他们的行为就是为了解决冲突。默剧里可以有哑剧，但哑剧里不能有默剧（声音的配搭）。现在你觉得以西结的作法是哑剧还是默剧？

《圣经》真是一本奇妙的书，不仅包含天文地理，医学科学海洋学，连舞台剧都有，现成的背景。每天读《圣经》，每天都有惊喜和发现。因为神的手贯穿了整个历史，从过去到现在和未来，都是祂在主导。为了让人明白祂的意思，祂真是费尽心思。被掳的犹大人在异乡流浪，无法忘记家国曾有的荣美，总是盼望有一天犹大的王会带领遗民打倒巴比伦，那时他们就可以欢喜快乐地返乡了。不管耶利米在这之前的预言，也不管以西结说什么，他们就像有眼睛看不见，有耳朵听不见似的，不能明白先知的话，不肯接受耶路撒冷将被灭亡的现实。

神的荣耀离开圣城

2023-08-31 in , /by

以西结书 11:23 耶和华的荣耀从城中上升，停在城东的那座山上。

阅读经文: 以西结书 11:1-25

1 灵将我举起，带到耶和华殿向东的东门，谁知，在门口有二十五个人，我见其中有民间的首领押朔的儿子雅撒尼亚和比拿雅的儿子毗拉提。 2 耶和华对我说：「人子啊，这就是图谋罪孽的人，在这城中给人设恶谋。 3 他们说：『盖房屋的时候尚未临近，这城是锅，我们是肉。』 4 人子啊，因此你当说预言，说预言攻击他们。」

在第八章里，神带以西结看到在圣殿里拜偶像的长老们，还有拜日头的祭司犯罪的事实；在这一章里则是民间的领袖给百姓设恶谋，图谋罪孽，使众百姓干罪，陷在罪孽之中。他们说：“这城是锅，我们是肉”。这句话有几种解释。根据信息圣经的翻译：They say, ‘We can make anything happen here. We’re the best. We’re the choice pieces of meat in the soup pot.’(MSG)他们自认可以使任何事发生，因为他们是城里最聪明最有才干的人。假如城是个锅，他们就是锅里上好的肉。

也有圣经学者认为这句话的意思是，他们觉得这个城是锅，他们就是里面的肉，受到锅的保护。当然还有第三种解释，就是在锅里的肉怎样也逃不掉，最后就是一锅熟，被吃个精光。但是第三种解释和上下文合不起来，比较不被采用。

Don’t Lose Your Credibility by Blaming Prematurely

2023-08-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 20:1-17.  Let’s go!

Judges 20:1-17 (NIV)
1  Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah.
2  The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords.
3  (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4  So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

On verses 1-17:  As a result of Benjamites in Gibeah gang raping the concubine that we read about in Judges 19, all the other tribes of Israel gather together at Mizpah without the tribe of Benjamin, though the Benjamites had heard about this gathering (v3).  As a result of that gathering, the other tribes of Israel muster an army against the tribe of Benjamin demanding that the gang rapists be handed over and put to death.  When the Benjamites refuse to hand over the gang rapists, both the Benjamites on one hand and the rest of Israel on the other prepare to fight one another.

“Farewell My Concubine”

2023-08-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 19:16-30.  Let’s go!

Judges 19:16-30 (NIV)
16  That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields.
17  When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”
18  He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me into his house.

On verses 16-30:  Here we read of one of the most shocking and vile crimes ever described in the Bible.  To protect themselves from a sadistic mob, the Levite and his old man host in Gibaeh offer up the Levite’s concubine to a sadistic mob who gang rapes the concubine all night, leaving her for dead.  Then the Levite takes his concubine and cuts her up into 12 pieces and disperses her body parts throughout Israel.  This raises a bunch of questions, not the least of which include:

(1) Which man was it – the old man or the Levite – who gave the concubine over to the sadistic mob in verse 25?  In any event, the fact is that this Levite allowed his concubine to be gang raped this way to protect himself.  Contrast this to Jesus who allowed himself to be abused, tortured and killed to protect us his bride, the church.

神的荣耀离开圣殿

2023-08-30 in , /by

以西结书 10:18 耶和华的荣耀从殿的门槛那里出去，停在基路伯以上。

阅读经文: 以西结书 10:1-22

1 我观看，见基路伯头上的穹苍之中显出蓝宝石的形状，仿佛宝座的形象。 2 主对那穿细麻衣的人说：「你进去，在旋转的轮内，基路伯以下，从基路伯中间将火炭取满两手，撒在城上。」我就见他进去。 3 那人进去的时候，基路伯站在殿的右边，云彩充满了内院。 4 耶和华的荣耀从基路伯那里上升，停在门槛以上。殿内满了云彩，院宇也被耶和华荣耀的光辉充满。 5 基路伯翅膀的响声听到外院，好像全能神说话的声音。

在第一节所写的基路伯，是以西结在第一章所看见的，从天降下来的基路伯，是活生生的，有生命的基路伯。在约柜之上的基路伯是用金子锤出来的。所以〈希伯来书〉第9章里说，人手所造的圣所，是真圣所的影像（伯9:24）。

在〈以赛亚书〉第6章里，神命另一种天使撒拉弗拿从圣坛上取下来的红（火）炭去沾以赛亚的嘴，除掉他的罪孽。在本章里，神命穿细麻衣的人取基路伯中间的火炭，这火炭是为了撒在耶路撒冷城上，让火烧起来，彻底破坏此城，也喻表巴比伦将焚烧此城，后来果然应验。

不管神在哪里，祂的荣耀就在那里，云彩充满内院是指神的荣耀之充满，神的荣耀从基路伯那里上升，停在门槛以上，发号施令，然后基路伯上升，停在圣殿的东门口。这一章让我们看到神的荣耀离开圣殿的情况，下一章会继续看到神的荣耀往哪里去。但是神要离开圣殿的决心不再更改了，何等悲伤的场景。

Don’t Strain a Gnat and Swallow a Camel

2023-08-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 19:1-15.  Let’s go!

Judges 19:1a (NIV)
1  In those days Israel had no king…

On verse 1:  In chapters 17, 18 and 19 of Judges, this one phrase keeps coming up: “Israel had no king”.  This phrase can be taken in two ways.  First, on a political level, Israel was not yet a monarchy and was not governed by any human king.  Second, on a spiritual level, the phrase “Israel had no king” speaks of how Israel had abandoned the LORD, the very One who was always meant to rule and lead Israel.  Interestingly, in each chapter where Judges says “Israel had no king”, what comes right after or right before that phrase is a story of the Israelites falling deep into spiritual confusion, idolatry and immorality.  When there is an absence of strong, healthy leadership in any family, nation, workplace or other group, the result is confusion, sin and trouble.