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Lessons from Harder to Understand Verses

2022-07-17 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 22:1-12.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 22:1-4 (NIV)
1  If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to him.
2  If the brother does not live near you or if you do not know who he is, take it home with you and keep it until he comes looking for it. Then give it back to him.
3  Do the same if you find your brother’s donkey or his cloak or anything he loses. Do not ignore it.
4  If you see your brother’s donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet.
 
On verses 1-4:   Here Moses tells the current generation of Israelites to be good neighbours to each other, using illustrations about one Israelite losing something valuable to them.  Likewise, when you come across something that your neighbour has lost, “do not ignore it” (v1, 3).  Rather do for your neighbour what you would have them do for you.   

迎接另一回合的超越

2022-07-17 in , /by

〈箴言〉19:11    人有见识就不轻易发怒，宽恕人的过失便是自己的荣耀。

阅读经文：箴言19:8-11

8 得着智慧的爱惜生命，保守聪明的必得好处。 9 作假见证的不免受罚，吐出谎言的也必灭亡。 10 愚昧人宴乐度日是不合宜的，何况仆人管辖王子呢？ 11 人有见识就不轻易发怒，宽恕人的过失便是自己的荣耀。
第8节：得着智慧的爱惜生命，保守聪明的必得好处。Grow a wise heart—you’ll do yourself a favor; keep a clear head—you’ll find a good life.《The Message》

Grow a wise heart，谁不想有一颗智慧的心？问题是怎样才能得着智慧的心？智慧的心和爱惜生命之间又有什么关系？有的人以为得智慧是为了迈向成功之道，可以赚更多钱。假如不能赚钱的点子，即使是智慧，有谁要呢？keep a clear head，中文译为保守聪明，也可以说保持头脑清楚，意思就是不要让自己变笨。当然，变笨了对谁都没有好处，除了你的敌人。

“高举智慧，他就使你得高升。怀抱智慧，他就使你得尊荣” (箴4:8)，所以有智慧真是好。有智慧就能高升，得着智慧也就是爱惜生命，因为知道人生的取舍，所以才有尊荣。一个妄取妄求的人，怎能有尊荣？一个不知分辨轻重的人，何来机会高升？没有聪明，连到手的好处也会失去。在利益面前，在欲望挑战时，智慧便是一种来自神的，分辨和懂得取舍的能力。也只有圣灵的保守，使我们在黑暗的社会里，依然有清楚的头脑，去看清楚自己的道路，那便是聪明了。

财物使朋友增多

2022-07-15 in , /by

〈箴言〉19:4    财物使朋友增多，但穷人，朋友远离。

阅读经文：箴言19:4-7

4 财物使朋友增多，但穷人，朋友远离。 5 作假见证的必不免受罚，吐出谎言的终不能逃脱。 6 好施散的，有多人求他的恩情；爱送礼的，人都为他的朋友。 7 贫穷人，弟兄都恨他，何况他的朋友，更远离他。他用言语追随，他们却走了。

第4节：财物使朋友增多，但穷人，朋友远离。Wealth attracts friends as honey draws flies,     but poor people are avoided like a plague. 《The Message》

我们常想等有钱的时候，就可以帮助人；有高学历的时候，就可以教导人；有名的时候，就可以扶持人。其实，帮助人是从上帝得来的机会，扶持人是任何时刻都可能发生的事。即使是在野地，我们可以将石头当讲台，对蜥蜴、蚂蚁、仙人掌分享。

「财物使朋友增多，但穷人朋友远离。」(箴言19:4) 有钱可使需要财物支持的人，在富人的身边增多，但是真正有需要的人，却远离。后者，挤不进富人的周 边，也不想与谈钱的挤在一起。浅度需求的人，经常排走真正有需要的人。歌颂赞美的音大，经常遮掩忧伤的低泣。高知名度的讲员会吸引多人来，但是自卑自悔之 人会远离。后者，才是上帝要我们去帮助、看顾、扶持的人。许多上帝的重要仆人，是在我们想像不到的场合得救。

即使在痛苦、低调的时候，仍有可以帮助人的机会，不要放弃。世上成功的时候，反而失去机会。上帝给老鹰展趐上腾的热气团，让牠们远离地面一些。上帝，亲自看顾饥饿小乌鸦。（张文亮教授）

Marriage, Family and Jesus

2022-07-15 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 21:10-23.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 21:10-13 (NIV)
10  When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives,
11  if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.
12  Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails
13  and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.

On verses 10-13:  Here Moses tells the Israelites that when they conquer another nation and notice a beautiful woman from that nation, one of the Israelites may take her as his wife.  The woman must first do the things that signify her break from whatever faith she ascribed to before — shaving her head, trimming her nails, changing her clothes and mourning her parents.  After that, an Israelite could marry her.

卡森医生的母亲

2022-07-14 in , /by

〈箴言〉19:1    行为纯正的贫穷人，胜过乖谬愚妄的富足人。

阅读经文：箴言19:1-3

1行为纯正的贫穷人，胜过乖谬愚妄的富足人。 2 心无知识的乃为不善，脚步急快的难免犯罪。 3 人的愚昧倾败他的道，他的心也抱怨耶和华。

第1节：行为纯正的贫穷人，胜过乖谬愚妄的富足人。  Better to be poor and honest than a rich person no one can trust.《The Message》

这节经文使我想到《恩赐之手》一书里的班杰明‧卡森医生。他来自底特律的贫民区，八岁父母离异，由母亲独力抚养两兄弟长大。他的母亲虽然生活艰难又不识字，却懂得想办法让班杰明和他哥哥去图书馆借书，养成他们喜欢阅读的习惯，使他们从惨不忍睹的成绩突飞猛进，成为班上第一名。又借着信仰，教他们祷告，使他能治服已心，克制易怒的脾气。后来他成为世界闻名的约翰霍普金斯大学附属医院的小儿神经外科主任。

班杰明的母亲，一个十三岁就失学早婚的女人，因遇人不淑而饱受生活的折磨，经常要打三份工维持生活。但是借着对上帝的信仰，她的孩子成为最杰出的神经外科医生，救活了许多人。反观许多乖谬愚妄的富足人，骄傲行事，用钱养大的孩子又如何？到了四、五十岁还需要父母给钱养他们，否则就活不下去，连养活自己的本事都没有。人若把钱看得比上帝还重要，那么他总有一天会看到钱的真面目，不仅让他失去自我，不能相信他人，又让他的儿女失去做人之本事的真面目。

When You Face Tragedies You Can’t Explain

2022-07-14 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 21:1-9.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 (NIV)
1  If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,
2  your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns.
3  Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke
4  and lead her down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck.
5  The priests, the sons of Levi, shall step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.
6  Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
7  and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.
8  Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.
9  So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

On verses 1-9:  Here Moses describes what to do when a slain human body is found and no one knows who caused his or her death. The town nearest to the dead body had to sacrifice an unworked heifer to atone for the bloodshed (v3-4). The elders of the town also had to wash their hands to symbolize how their town was not guilty of the bloodshed (v6-7).

至好朋友是耶稣

2022-07-13 in , /by

〈箴言〉18:24    滥交朋友的自取败坏，但有一朋友比弟兄更亲密。。

阅读经文：箴言18:22-24

22得着贤妻的，是得着好处，也是蒙了耶和华的恩惠。23贫穷人说哀求的话，富足人用威吓的话回答。24滥交朋友的自取败坏，但有一朋友比弟兄更亲密。

第22节：得着贤妻的，是得着好处，也是蒙了耶和华的恩惠。Find a good spouse, you find a good life— and even more: the favor of God! 《The Message》

箴言19章 14说 :“房屋钱财是祖宗所遗留的，唯有贤惠的妻是耶和华所赐的。”这两节经文都强调得着贤妻的，是蒙了耶和华的恩惠。换句话说，想娶个好太太，必须向神祈求，而不是靠自己的眼光去选择。因为起初是神把夏娃带到亚当面前，所以当人寻求妻子时，也要如此祈求，求神把对象带到他面前。

“智慧妇人，建立家室；愚妄妇人，亲手拆毁” （箴14:1）。选妻子不是挑肥捡瘦，而是要看是不是神所配合的。因为只有神才知道我们真正的需要。人的选择往往以外表为主观，很难从短暂的相处去真正认识一个人，加上自己也不是完全人，所以宁可求神替你选。因为在圣经里是由智慧的女人去建立家室，所以若选了一个缺乏智慧的女人做妻子，会建立起怎样的家室就很难讲了。

这智慧不是指世上的学问或才华，因为“敬畏耶和华是智慧的开端”，所以选择一个敬畏神的女人，而不是一个风情万种的女人，你就蒙了耶和华的恩惠了。

Fear Can Be Contagious, But So Can Courage

2022-07-13 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

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

Deuteronomy 20:1-4 (NIV)
1  When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.
2  When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army.
3  He shall say: “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them.
4  For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

On verses 1-4:  In Deuteronomy 20:1-9, Moses prepares the Israelites for war against their enemies. His big message to the Israelite army: do not be afraid, for God is with you (v1-4).

Praise God that, similarly, we have every reason to live life with courage. That’s because God is with us. As Moses says, “do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you” (v1).

Respect People’s Boundaries

2022-07-12 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Deuteronomy 19:11-21.  Let’s go!

Deuteronomy 19:11-21 (NIV)
11  But if a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, assaults and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,
12  the elders of his town shall send for him, bring him back from the city, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die.
13  Show him no pity. You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.
14  Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
15  One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16  If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime,
17  the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time.

On verses 11-21:  Deuteronomy 19:11-13 says that if a person has stood trial and been convicted of murder, that person cannot continue to hide in the city of refuge.  Rather, the convicted murderer must be handed over to the avenger of blood to die (v12).

生死在舌头的权下

2022-07-12 in , /by

〈箴言〉18:21 生死在舌头的权下，喜爱它的必吃它所结的果子。

阅读经文：箴言18:19-21

19弟兄结怨，劝他和好比取坚固城还难，这样的争竞如同坚寨的门闩。 20人口中所结的果子必充满肚腹，他嘴所出的必使他饱足。 21生死在舌头的权下，喜爱它的必吃它所结的果子。

第19节：弟兄结怨，劝他和好比取坚固城还难，这样的争竞如同坚寨的门闩。Do a favor and win a friend forever; nothing can untie that bond. 《The Message》

你可能已经发现中译和英译有点不一样，中译的比较负面，英译的比较正面。中译的讲到兄弟结怨，要和好几乎不可能；《The Message》给了我们一个比较有鼓励性的翻译，看在弟兄的份上帮他一个忙，可以赢得一份长远的友谊，没有什么事能破坏这份情谊。

不管从正面或负面去理解，我们都能体会到要建立一份深厚的情谊，就必须付出代价；一旦有了误会或嫌隙，就很难恢复从前推心置腹的情况了。保罗说，爱是不做害羞的事。这句话我有很深的感受。因为有一两次我感觉到朋友忽然之间和我生疏了。过了一段时期，才间接得知，原来对方做了一些不好的事，以为我知道，所以就不敢来找我了。

背后说闲话或是做对不起人的事，反而会怕别人对自己不利，即使对方毫无所觉，自己却先害怕了，所以也无法再做朋友了。感谢神，我有许多可敬爱的朋友，因为大家都敬畏神，所以彼此信任，互相帮助。这是非常难得的福份。所以想要拥有长远相交的朋友，自己就要先敬畏神，做一个忠实的朋友。