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What Are You Standing On?

2023-02-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 7:1-25. Let’s go!

Isaiah 7:1-3 (NIV)
1  When Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
2  Now the house of David was told, “Aram has allied itself with Ephraim”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3  Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub, to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Washerman’s Field.

On verses 1-3:  By now years have passed since the events described in Isaiah 6.  Many scholars estimate the date to be 734 B.C.  To help protect themselves against the threat of Assyria, the nation of Aram led by King Rezin and the nation of Israel led by King Pekah form an alliance.  Aram and Israel want the nation of Judah to join their alliance, but when Judah’s King Ahaz refuses, Aram and Israel threaten to attack Judah and replace King Ahaz with a new king of their choosing, a man called Tabeel (v6).  King Ahaz and the people of Judah are terrified, like “trees of the forest…shaken by the wind” (v2).

A Taste of The Splendor

2023-02-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 6:1-13.

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. — Isaiah 6:1

One summer during my teen years, the King Tut exhibit came to a city only five hours’ drive away from our farming community, and a group of us took the challenge of trying to get in to view it. Since the exhibit was highly advertised, it drew people from hundreds of miles around. We left home in the middle of the night to make the journey, arriving early in the morning. Even so, we waited in an extremely slow line for many, many hours before entering the front doors of the museum.

Once we were inside, we were quite thrilled at what we saw! The magnificence of those displays was beyond anything my little country girl’s heart could imagine. There was more gold in one place than I will probably ever see again in my lifetime. King Tutankhamen’s burial mask was shaped of smooth gold, and painted with the youthful, elegant features we have come to associate with these rulers of long ago. Aside from the sheer value of the gold, there was the priceless significance of these centuries-old treasures. My opportunity to view this amazing collection was certainly the chance of a lifetime.

光明在云中变为昏暗

2023-02-06 in , /by

以赛亚书5:26  祂必竖立大旗招远方的国民，发嘶声叫他们从地极而来。看哪，他们必急速奔来！

阅读经文：以赛亚书5:18-30

18祸哉，那些以虚假之细绳牵罪孽的人，他们又像以套绳拉罪恶，19说：「任他急速行，赶快成就他的作为，使我们看看！任以色列圣者所谋划的临近成就，使我们知道！」20祸哉，那些称恶为善，称善为恶，以暗为光，以光为暗，以苦为甜，以甜为苦的人！21祸哉，那些自以为有智慧，自看为通达的人！22祸哉，那些勇于饮酒，以能力调浓酒的人！23他们因受贿赂，就称恶人为义，将义人的义夺去。

在第五章里先知谴责了以色列人的六项罪：1.剥削他人；2.酗酒；3.在罪中持嘲笑的骄傲态度；4.颠倒道德水准；5.自欺；6.歪曲正义。因着这些罪，神使用亚述毁灭以色列，惩罚了他们。 如果犹大不脱离这些罪恶的话，等待他们的将是同样命运。

18-19节：有些人带着他们的罪到处走，有些人还以此来炫耀。但是对于其他人来说，这些人的罪对他们造成的坏影响，会把他们腐蚀掉。你有没有拉着一车你不愿放弃的罪到处走呢？我们在自己被腐蚀掉之前就要悬崖勒马并转向神。神已应许要除去我们的罪恶重担，并换上一个充满快乐的人生目标（参太28-30）。

葡萄园之歌

2023-02-05 in , /by

以赛亚书5:4    我为我葡萄园所做之外，还有什么可做的呢？我指望结好葡萄，怎么倒结了野葡萄呢？

阅读经文：以赛亚书5:1-17

1我要为我所亲爱的唱歌，是我所爱者的歌，论他葡萄园的事。我所亲爱的有葡萄园，在肥美的山冈上。2他刨挖园子，捡去石头，栽种上等的葡萄树，在园中盖了一座楼，又凿出压酒池，指望结好葡萄，反倒结了野葡萄。

3「耶路撒冷的居民和犹大人哪，请你们现今在我与我的葡萄园中断定是非。4我为我葡萄园所做之外，还有什么可做的呢？我指望结好葡萄，怎么倒结了野葡萄呢？5现在我告诉你们，我要向我葡萄园怎样行。我必撤去篱笆，使它被吞灭；拆毁墙垣，使它被践踏。

在〈以赛亚书〉里，神用葡萄园比喻以色列人；在新约里，主耶稣比喻祂自己是真葡萄树。为什么祂们都选用葡萄树，而不选用无花果树或橄榄树呢？后两种树在以色列也是经常见到的树。张文亮教授在《圣经与植物》一书里说：人类在1970年代遇到能源缺乏的危机；1980年代普世发生粮食不足的动荡。能源不够，供水不足，加上气候不稳定，许多农、园艺作物受害减产之际，葡萄树仍然按照自己的节奏，继续结果子。在恶劣的环境中，依然保持正常生理代谢，称为“逆境回避stress avoidance”的物种，是物逆境生理学非常有趣的探索。(p.108)

This Is Not Your Ordinary Love Song

2023-02-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 5:1-30.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 5:1-7 (NIV)
1  I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside.
2  He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.

On verses 1-7:  A masterful communicator, Isaiah takes the message that God has given him and communicates it to the people of Judah in the form of a love song.  But this is no ordinary love song.  What is the point of this musical parable that Isaiah is singing?  As Isaiah explains, the vineyard represents the people of Israel and Judah (v7), and the vineyard owner represents God.  The point of Isaiah’s parable is that God had done everything a person in his position could be expected to do to care for his vineyard – that is, the people of Israel and Judah – and to make them fruitful.  As God says in verse 4, “What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” Yet the people of Israel and Judah still remained unfruitful, persisting in bloodshed, injustice and idolatry.  So God intends to change His approach.  Instead of caring so much for His vineyard, He’s going to remove His protecting hand from the vineyard (“take away its hedge…break down its wall” – v5) and let the vineyard be destroyed (v6).

Saved by the Branch

2023-02-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

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

Isaiah 4:1 (NIV)
1  In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, “We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!”

On verse 1:  Even though both verses 1-2 of chapter 4 both begin with the words “in that day”, verses 1 and 2 appear to be talking about two very different things.  Also, verse 1 of chapter 4 seems to continue the final verses of chapter 3 which describe the shame and desperation that the women of Judah would face when Jerusalem and Judah fall to the Babylonians.  For this reason it is best to group verse 1 of chapter 4 with the rest of chapter 3.

Keep in mind that Isaiah himself did not insert the chapter and verse references himself; rather these were added in later for convenience and general reference.  So the chapter and verse references can often, though not always, serve as a helpful guide, but they are not inspired the way we believe the actual Scriptures themselves are.

耶和华的苗

2023-02-03 in , /by

以赛亚书4:2  到那日，耶和华发生的苗必华美尊荣，地的出产必为以色列逃脱的人显为荣华茂盛。

阅读经文：以赛亚书4:1-6

1在那日，七个女人必拉住一个男人，说：「我们吃自己的食物，穿自己的衣服，但求你许我们归你名下，求你除掉我们的羞耻！」

2到那日，耶和华发生的苗必华美尊荣，地的出产必为以色列逃脱的人显为荣华茂盛。3主以公义的灵和焚烧的灵，将锡安女子的污秽洗去，又将耶路撒冷中杀人的血除净。那时，剩在锡安留在耶路撒冷的，就是一切住耶路撒冷在生命册上记名的，必称为圣。5耶和华也必在锡安全山并各会众以上，使白日有烟云，黑夜有火焰的光，因为在全荣耀之上必有遮蔽。6必有亭子，白日可以得荫避暑，也可以作为藏身之处，躲避狂风暴雨。

在这章经文里，把以色列人的救恩讲得何等清楚啊！以色列（包括犹大）原本该是灭亡的，她将会落到一个地步，七个女人拉住一个男人，因为她们没有了男人的保护，没有家，也没有国。她们不在任何人的名下，也不属于任何人。从现代人的眼光来看，一个女人没有男人有什么问题呢？她们可以自己去工作，赚钱，养活自己，甚至也像男人一样穿起军服，接受训练去打仗，为何非要归在男人名下才不羞耻？

So Much Depends on Leadership

2023-02-02 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 3:1-26.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 3:1-3 (NIV)
1  See now, the Lord, the LORD Almighty, is about to take from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: all supplies of food and all supplies of water,
2  the hero and warrior, the judge and prophet, the soothsayer and elder,
3  the captain of fifty and man of rank, the counselor, skilled craftsman and clever enchanter.

Verses 1-3:  Isaiah warns that in response to Jerusalem and Judah’s sins, God is about to take away from Jerusalem and Judah the things which they used to rely on for supply and support.  In addition to a famine (v1), there would also be a leadership drought in Jerusalem and Judah (v2-3), such that everyone that Jerusalem and Judah would otherwise rely on for leadership and guidance will be taken away by the Lord.

颠倒的社会

2023-02-02 in , /by

以赛亚书3:13   耶和华起来辩论，站着审判众民。

阅读经文：以赛亚书3:1-26

1主万军之耶和华从耶路撒冷和犹大除掉众人所倚靠的、所仗赖的，就是所倚靠的粮、所仗赖的水；2除掉勇士和战士，审判官和先知，占卜的和长老，3五十夫长和尊贵人，谋士和有巧艺的，以及妙行法术的。4主说：「我必使孩童做他们的首领，使婴孩辖管他们。5百姓要彼此欺压，各人受邻舍的欺压。少年人必侮慢老年人，卑贱人必侮慢尊贵人。6人在父家拉住弟兄说：『你有衣服，可以做我们的官长，这败落的事归在你手下吧！』7那时，他必扬声说：『我不做医治你们的人，因我家中没有粮食，也没有衣服，你们不可立我做百姓的官长。』」8耶路撒冷败落，犹大倾倒，因为他们的舌头和行为与耶和华反对，惹了他荣光的眼目。9他们的面色证明自己的不正，他们述说自己的罪恶，并不隐瞒，好像所多玛一样。他们有祸了！因为作恶自害。10你们要论义人说，他必享福乐，因为要吃自己行为所结的果子。11恶人有祸了！他必遭灾难，因为要照自己手所行的受报应。

查尔斯.史丹利牧师曾说：“圣经中的诗人大卫曾这么说：‘耶和华阿，我知道你的判语是公义的，你使我受苦是以诚实待我。’有些苦难临到的时候，我们常会想，神在做什么？事实上，祂正忠实于祂的话语。神极爱我们，因此不希望我们犯罪、得罪祂、悖逆祂，所以有的时候祂会怎么做呢？祂会用苦难引起我们注意，使我们改变心态，然后开始顺服神，这也就是为什么诗人会说‘祢使我受苦，是以诚实待我’的缘故了。有时我们认为苦难和艰辛都是坏事，都不是从神而来的，但是我们错了，有些苦难的确是从神而来的管教，那事实上是神信实的举动，为了使我们归正，活在神的心意中”。

What Pressure Reveals About Us

2023-02-01 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Isaiah 2:6-22.  Let’s go!

Isaiah 2:6-22 (NIV)
6  You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans.
7  Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.
8  Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
9  So man will be brought low and mankind humbled– do not forgive them.

On verses 6-22:  When my sister and I were much younger, we would take a bunch of our favourite stuffed animals, put them on a large blanket, and with a hand on each corner of the blanket, we would shake the blanket up and down.  The animals would bounce high in the air before coming down either back onto the blanket or onto the ground.  We would keep shaking that blanket until only one animal was left on the blanket, and that surviving animal we called the winner of our “animal battle royal”.