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圣灵浇灌的启示

2023-03-21 in , /by

以赛亚书32:17   公义的果效必是平安，公义的效验必是平稳，直到永远。

阅读经文：以赛亚书 32:1-20

1看哪，必有一王凭公义行政，必有首领藉公平掌权。 2 必有一人像避风所和避暴雨的隐密处，又像河流在干旱之地，像大磐石的影子在疲乏之地。 3 那能看的人，眼不再昏迷；能听的人，耳必得听闻。 4 冒失人的心必明白知识，结巴人的舌必说话通快。 5 愚顽人不再称为高明，吝啬人不再称为大方。 6 因为愚顽人必说愚顽话，心里想做罪孽，惯行亵渎的事，说错谬的话攻击耶和华，使饥饿的人无食可吃，使口渴的人无水可喝。 7 吝啬人所用的法子是恶的，他图谋恶计，用谎言毁灭谦卑人，穷乏人讲公理的时候，他也是这样行。 8 高明人却谋高明事，在高明事上也必永存。

本段为第五个「祸哉」的第二部份，主要经文为第卅二章，本章主要论到神必兴起一王（可能指的是22:20-22的以利亚敬，他也是弥赛亚的预表），他要凭公义治理犹大。从更远一点的焦距观察，先知透过此王的统治，透视到弥赛亚对普世列国的掌权。先知说「必有一人」（原文为『每个人』）像避风所和避暴雨的隐密处，意指在弥赛亚的统治之下，每一个属于祂的领袖，都能反映出祂的公平与公义，因着此一理想统治群的治理，使得每一位百姓都如沐春风，安居乐业。先知形容这群领袖要成为百姓的避风所，百姓在他们的统治之下，好像「河流在干旱之地，像大磐石的影子在疲乏之地」，不但能够滋润百姓干旱的心田，更使在战乱中身心疲惫的百姓，好似获得处可以憩息的阴凉处所。

The Incomparable God Who Renews Our Strength

2023-03-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 40:15-31.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 40:15-17 (NIV)
15  Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
16  Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
17  Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
 
On verses 15-17:  The biggest theme coming out of verses 15-28 is that God is the incomparable one.  Nothing can compare to Him.  The nations can’t compare to Him (v15-17).  Even Lebanon, which is a fertile, wooded area of Judah, lacks the wood or animals needed to bring the size of offering that God deserves (v16).

倚靠神得拯救

2023-03-20 in , /by

以赛亚书31:6   以色列人哪，你们深深地悖逆耶和华，现今要归向祂。 

阅读经文：以赛亚书31:1-9

1祸哉，那些下埃及求帮助的！是因仗赖马匹，倚靠甚多的车辆，并倚靠强壮的马兵，却不仰望以色列的圣者，也不求问耶和华。 2 其实耶和华有智慧，他必降灾祸，并不反悔自己的话，却要兴起攻击那作恶之家，又攻击那作孽帮助人的。 3 埃及人不过是人，并不是神；他们的马不过是血肉，并不是灵。耶和华一伸手，那帮助人的必绊跌，那受帮助的也必跌倒，都一同灭亡。

本段为第五个「祸哉」（包含31至32两章），旨在阐述倚靠埃及的不智。因为「埃及人不过是人，并不是神」（31:3），那真正能拯救犹大脱离亚述手的，唯有那「有火在锡安，有炉在耶路撒冷的耶和华」（George Arthur Buttrick  认为火与炉乃是象征锡安祭坛的神圣与毁灭性）。

第卅一章主要论到倚靠埃及不如倚靠万军的耶和华，亚述终必倾倒，不是出于埃及的帮助，而是因耶和华手中的刀。

Let the King of Glory Come In

2023-03-20 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 40:1-14.  Let’s go!

Here in chapter 40 we come to one of the most beloved chapters in all of Isaiah.  Some early church fathers (like Eusebius of Caesarea, Ephrem of Syria and Cyril of Alexandria) seem to have interpreted Isaiah 40 as an immediate response to Isaiah 39 where Hezekiah unwittingly reveals his nation’s top secrets to the Babylonians.  This would have happened before 701 B.C. However, in the more recent centuries, Christian commentators have interpreted Isaiah 40-55 to be Isaiah talking about a much later event in the future, namely, the time from about 580 to 540 B.C. when the Jewish people were exiles in Babylon and how one day God was going to bring them back to their homeland of Judah.  I will approach Isaiah 40 with this Babylonian exile in mind as the historical background for these verses.  With this approach, I think you’ll find that, like a flower blooming, Isaiah 40 opens up in some beautiful and powerful ways.

The Hero of Your Story

2023-03-19 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 39.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 39:1 (NIV)
1  At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery.
 
On verse 1:  “At that time” refers to the time when Hezekiah miraculously recovered from his life-threatening sickness.  According to the New American Commentary, Merodach-Baladon II was ruler of Babylon until 703 B.C. when Assyria’s King Sennacherib ousted him from power.  This, together with Isaiah 38:6, tells us that the events described in Isaiah 38 and here in Isaiah 39 happened before God delivered Jerusalem from Assyria in 701 B.C.  But why would Isaiah order these events this way?  Why talk about God delivering Jerusalem from Assyria first in Isaiah 36-37 and then flashback to the earlier events of Hezekiah’s recovery from illness and the Babylonians’ visit to Hezekiah in Isaiah 38 and 39?  Scholars have posited many different theories, but the most important reason I believe is that Isaiah is trying to show that this Messiah that Isaiah 1-35 have been talking about is not Hezekiah but someone else.  So rather than end on a note of tremendous victory for Hezekiah, Isaiah ends his account of Hezekiah’s life by talking about his weakness in Isaiah 38 as well as a major mistake that Hezekiah makes here in Isaiah 39.  Let’s see what that mistake was.

得救在乎归回安息

2023-03-19 in , /by

以赛亚书30:29   你们必唱歌，像守圣节的夜间一样；并且心中喜乐，像人吹笛，上耶和华的山，到以色列的磐石那里。   

阅读经文：以赛亚书30:15-33

15 主耶和华以色列的圣者曾如此说：「你们得救在乎归回安息，你们得力在乎平静安稳。」你们竟自不肯！ 16 你们却说：「不然，我们要骑马奔走。」所以你们必然奔走。又说：「我们要骑飞快的牲口。」所以追赶你们的也必飞快。 17 一人叱喝必令千人逃跑，五人叱喝你们都必逃跑，以致剩下的好像山顶的旗杆，冈上的大旗。

先知在谴责犹大密谋与埃及结盟的政客之后，接着就论述到与埃及的结盟是完全没有用处的。本段为第四个「祸哉」。计分为两部份，第一部份为30:1-14，第二部份为30:15-33。

在第一部份先知再度重申与埃及结密盟，并不是求问神的结果，也不是出于神的心意（30:1-2），他们倚靠埃及却不仰望神的举动，无异于「罪上加罪」。因此耶和华神要让他们的使臣在埃及人面前蒙羞，因为埃及原本就不利于犹大，犹大却满载礼物曲承它（30:3-5）。

Are You Facing A Wall?

2023-03-17 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

There are so many powerful lessons we can learn from today’s passage in Isaiah 38.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 38:1-2 (NIV)
1  In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
2  Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
 
On verses 1-2:  After receiving some grim news that he will soon die, Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays to the LORD.  You may be facing a wall right now as well, but you can pray to the LORD who is greater than that wall you are facing.

坐而不动的拉哈伯

2023-03-17 in , /by

以赛亚书30:7  埃及的帮助是徒然无益的，所以我称他为『坐而不动的拉哈伯』。  

阅读经文：以赛亚书30:1-14

1耶和华说：「祸哉，这悖逆的儿女！他们同谋却不由于我，结盟却不由于我的灵，以致罪上加罪。 2 起身下埃及去，并没有求问我，要靠法老的力量加添自己的力量，并投在埃及的荫下。 3 所以法老的力量必做你们的羞辱，投在埃及的荫下要为你们的惭愧。 4 他们的首领已在琐安，他们的使臣到了哈内斯。 5 他们必因那不利于他们的民蒙羞，那民并非帮助，也非利益，只做羞耻凌辱。」

先知在谴责犹大密谋与埃及结盟的政客之后，接着就论述到与埃及的结盟是完全没有用处的。本段为第四个「祸哉」。计分为两部份，第一部份为30:1-14，第二部份为30:15-33。

在第一部份先知再度重申与埃及结密盟，并不是求问神的结果，也不是出于神的心意（30:1-2），他们倚靠埃及却不仰望神的举动，无异于「罪上加罪」。因此耶和华神要让他们的使臣在埃及人面前蒙羞，因为埃及原本就不利于犹大，犹大却满载礼物曲承它（30:3-5）。

God Did It All

2023-03-16 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

There are so many lessons we can learn from today’s passage, Isaiah 37:8-38.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 37:8-13 (NIV)
8  When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9  Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king [of Egypt], was marching out to fight against him. When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:

On verses 8-13:  More trash talking from Assyria, this time from King Sennacherib personally.  Sennacherib’s message is similar to tone to that of his field commander in chapter 36, except that instead of bringing up four points to shake Hezekiah’s confidence, Sennacherib focuses on one point: he tells Hezekiah, “do not let the god you depend on deceive you”.  In other words, Sennacherib goes one step further than the field commander by directly attacking the God that Hezekiah worships.  Sennacherib accuses the LORD of deceiving Hezekiah into thinking that Hezekiah can get out of this alive.  As we will see, God will take issue with Sennacherib’s pride-fueled blasphemy.

夜郎自大的遗憾

2023-03-16 in , /by

以赛亚书29:18    那时，聋子必听见这书上的话，瞎子的眼必从迷蒙黑暗中得以看见。  

阅读经文：以赛亚书29:15-24

15 祸哉！那些向耶和华深藏谋略的，又在暗中行事，说：「谁看见我们呢？谁知道我们呢？」 16 你们把事颠倒了！岂可看窑匠如泥吗？被制作的物岂可论制作物的说「他没有制作我」？或是被创造的物论造物的说「他没有聪明」？

本段经文记载第三个「祸哉」的内容，祸源主要是来自一批政客，他们自以为深藏谋略，深思熟虑，行事隐密，甚至连耶和华神都可以瞒过，他们得意的窃窃私语说：「谁看见我们呢？谁听见我们呢？」（29:15当然这是指他们密谋与埃及结盟的诡计）。却没有想到，一山还有一山高，因为真正的计划掌握在耶和华神的手中，犹大的命运全然系乎眷顾它的神。先知指出这批政客的愚昧自大，好比「看窑匠如泥」，被造物论断制造他的主人，被造者批评造物主没有比自己更聪明一般的夜郎自大（29:16）。因此先知拆穿这批短视的政客的无知，并且接着向他们宣告神将临到的拯救。