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猶大王約西亞

2021-12-21 in /by

〈列王紀〉下22:2  約西亞行耶和華眼中看為正的事，行他祖大衛一切所行的，不偏左右。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下22:1-20
/ 〈歷代志〉下34:1-7

一個八歲的孩子做王，若是沒有旁人的扶持，怎能知道如何主理國政？正好比一個八歲的孩子，怎能知道如何選擇人生的信仰？不管父母覺得是否應當幫助他們先做選擇，從約西亞的例子上來看，有人幫助，好過他自己去摸索。所以在記載猶大歷任的王時，都會記載他們的母親是誰，雖然無從查考每一個母親的背景，但是在隱約之中，似乎在提醒我們，一個母親對孩子的成長有很大的影響。約西亞能行耶和華眼中看為正的事，行他祖大衛所行的，不偏左右，不能不歸功於他的母親。因為他的父親亞捫是一個不敬虔的君王，在他八歲時就己經過世了。

約西亞在十六歲時，尚且年幼，就尋求大衛的神，而不是學傚他父親亞們所拜的偶像。可見當時在約西亞旁邊也有一些敬虔的人在輔佐他，引導他走正路。十六歲正是開始思想的年記，很多父母發現這年記的孩子已經不聽他們的話了。因為他們已經開始有了獨立的心靈，要去探討人生。他們要找出自己的路，所以父母最好是多聽他們的分享，在必要時點出他們的盲點（假如父母能查覺），不要提供自己很多已經過時的想法，這樣孩子才會願意和父母交流。有的父母不知道時代的改變有多快，每一年和前一年的制度或教育體系都有很大的不同，何況與父母當年的學習環境更是天壤之別，提出一大堆不合時的意見，孩子聽了，以後就不想再和父母交流了。

約西亞尋求神，到了廿歲時，開始潔淨猶大和耶路撒冷，除掉丘壇、木偶、雕刻的像和鑄造的像。這是出於一個廿歲青年的決定，立志跟隨神，不拜偶像。就好像現在很多基督徒青年，當他們決志跟隨神時，就立志過聖潔的生活，不隨波逐流，不在婚前與異性（或同性）發生性關係，立志過神所喜悅的生活。這樣的心志實在非常寶貴。在年輕時就立志跟隨神的人何等有福，因為他們可以躲過很多引誘，遠離惡人惡事，過著蒙神祝福，沒有後悔的人生。

Safe in the Storm

2021-12-20 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage: Exodus 9:13-26.  Let’s go!

Exodus 9:13-15 (NIV)
13  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me,
14  or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.
15  For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth.

On verses 13-15:  These verses show us that the 10 plagues are evidence not just of God’s wrath, but of God’s patience, mercy and love.  For God could have easily wiped out all of Egypt with one single plague and rescued Israel that way, but instead God chose to turn up the heat of His wrath incrementally.  Why?  To give the Egyptians time to repent.  Thus God started with gentler plagues, so gentle that even Egyptians’ magicians could replicate them.  God would rather lose a bit of face if it meant He could save the softer hearted among the Egyptians with relatively gentler signs and wonders.  That’s the heart of God: to save and to rescue not just the Israelites, but all people.

猶大王亞們

2021-12-19 in /by

〈列王紀〉下21:24   但國民殺了那些背叛亞們王的人，立他兒子約西亞接續他做王。

閱讀經文：〈列王記〉下21:19-26 / 〈歷代志〉下33:21-25

在《聖經》裡非常強調:“行耶和華眼中看為惡的事”。我們若仔細想想，“耶和華眼中看為惡的事”和“人眼中看為惡的事”似乎有些不同，因此還沒有信主的人會覺得“我做的都比xx信徒還好，他可以上天堂，我反而不能？這樣不公平的神，我不信！”。那麼這兩者究竟有何不同？為什麼“耶和華眼中看為惡的事”有那麼糟糕？亞們所做的事和瑪拿西悔改之前所做的事一樣，瑪拿西究竟做了哪些事？

1.瑪拿西重建希西家毀壞的丘壇，那些丘壇原是百姓用來獻祭給偶像的。希西家毀了丘壇，希望百姓按著神的意思去聖殿獻祭。所以瑪拿西此舉，使百姓不再尊重神。

2.他為巴力築壇，做亞舍拉像，又敬拜侍奉天上的萬象；並且更在聖殿中築壇，不是敬拜耶和華神，而是天上的萬象和亞舍拉像。此舉等於是污穢聖殿，讓神無法留在殿中，把神趕出祂自己的家。在新聞裡，我們有時會看到一些父母被兒女把錢騙光後，逐出家門，還換了鑰匙，讓老人流浪街頭，無家可歸。此舉太可惡了。背棄神的人也是如此!

3.瑪拿西用自己的兒子獻給假神，活活把他燒死，以求假神的祝福；並且也讓百姓如此做，使猶大人陷在罪裡，又流許多無辜人的血。

4. 他不尋求神的心意和帶領，反而去觀兆，用法術，立交鬼的和行巫術的。就好像北美的學校拒絕讓學生讀《聖經》，卻允許巫師進學校去教巫術。有的人為了得到黑暗的權柄，讓自己變得比普通人更有能力，可以去為害或操控他人，也會去參加撒旦教。

Don’t Let Pride Get in the Way

2021-12-19 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage: Exodus 9:1-12.  Let’s go!

Exodus 9:1-12 (NIV)
1  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: “Let my people go, so that they may worship me.”
2  If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back,
3  the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field–on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats…….

On verses 1-12:  The plagues seem to be getting worse in their severity.  Plagues 2 through 4 consisting of the frogs, the gnats, and the flies were probably minor irritations compared plague 5 where God starts hitting the Egyptians’ bank accounts by killing off their livestock as well as plague 6 with the boils.  At this point you need to wonder what Pharaoh was thinking: the people he is leading are suffering greatly, so why does he not surrender to the Lord to save his own people?  It seems that Pharaoh would rather let his people suffer than swallow his own pride.  Beware of pride, for if we’re not careful, pride can cause us to make very foolish decisions that unnecessarily harm those we are called to protect. 

Also, another lesson we learn here is that the longer we delay in obeying God and the longer we keep playing games with Him, the more painful it gets for us and those closest to us.  We’re always better off obeying God earlier than later.

A Matter of the Heart

2021-12-17 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 8:16-32.  Let’s go!

Exodus 8:16-19 (NIV)
16  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.”
17  They did this, and when Aaron stretched out his hand with the staff and struck the dust of the ground, gnats came upon men and animals. All the dust throughout the land of Egypt became gnats.
18  But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not. And the gnats were on men and animals.
19  The magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he would not listen, just as the LORD had said.

On verses 16-19:  This plague of gnats marks the first time the Egyptian magicians are not able to replicate the miracle the Lord was doing.  The magicians are convinced that God is with Moses and Aaron, but Pharaoh’s heart remains hard.  It goes to show that faith, or lack thereof, is in the end more an issue of the heart than the head.  That is not to say that people who have faith in God are stupid.  Rather, what I mean is that intellectually you can have sufficient evidence to believe, but in the end whether you actually believe and submit to God will boil down to whether or not your heart is willing.

《聖經中各種審判》15— 對埃及的審判 之十

2021-12-17 in , /by

在上帝主權統管下的意志

　　聖經說：「我要使法老的心剛硬」，我們怎麼理解？上帝的主權超越人的意志，人心能否順從都在神主權的統管下。聖經說：「耶和華說：『我要顯我一切的恩慈，在你面前經過，宣告我的名。我要恩待誰就恩待誰；要憐憫誰就憐憫誰。』」（出 33:19）一個人的生命要敗壞下去，不是他決定就可以，也要上帝的許可。

有關上帝的主權與旨意，我分成四大階層：一、上帝計劃中的旨意，二、上帝許可中的自由，三、上帝引導人的轉變，四、上帝任憑人的滅亡，這四樣都在神的主權之下。你說：「我自己決定，所以我有這樣的地步」，你沒有想到你所打的主意有上帝的主權在你身上的彰顯，如果你能好，是因為上帝施恩給你，如果你不好，是上帝任憑你硬著你的心，因著上帝的主權與施恩決定一個人能領受多少恩典，如果上帝沒有施恩，我們只能抵擋上帝，剛硬著心。聖經說：「我要使法老的心剛硬」，這不是指硬心是上帝的決定，而是說這其中有上帝的許可，甚至是上帝的任憑。人自己本意的敗壞是上帝的任憑，不讓你悔改，繼續硬心下去。人以為他的抵擋連上帝都束手無策，把上帝的干涉當作是對自己的攪擾，在蒙蔽之中不知道自己犯了什麼錯，不知道如果上帝不施恩，他也無法悔改。

聖經說：「我使法老的心剛硬，要在他身上顯出我的榮耀」，因為法老的剛硬，人看見上帝憑己意行萬事 ，上帝行事使祂的百姓得恩典，祂施行審判使祂的仇敵受災殃。

十災顯明埃及諸神非真神

　　上帝降下十災最大的目的只有一個：顯明埃及人所敬拜的是假神，不能造福人群，解救百姓。在降災的事上，術士可以模仿先知所做的事 ，無論是杖變蛇或水變血，假先知所做的事情與神的僕人好像一樣，但在結局上，你看見法老的術士只能降災，顯明邪惡的能力無法施行拯救，這是聖經記載正邪之間真正的分別。

猶大王瑪拿西

2021-12-16 in , /by

〈歷代志〉下 33:13他祈禱耶和華，耶和華就允准他的祈求，垂聽他的禱告，使他歸回耶路撒冷，仍坐國位。瑪拿西這才知道唯獨耶和華是神。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下 21:1-18
〈歷代志〉下 33

瑪拿西是舊約聖經裡出名的浪子。就像耶穌所說的浪子比喻，瑪拿西用盡了神藉著希西家留給他的美好產業，最後被亞述擄去。敵人用鐃鉤鉤住他，用銅鏈鎖住他，他失去一切，成為階下囚，連尊嚴也失去。在急難時，他和浪子一樣，想起了他的父親。但瑪拿西想起的是天上的父親，神。當他自卑，悔改時，神就饒恕他。奇蹟似地，讓他能夠回到耶路撒冷，仍舊做王。這時瑪拿西才知道唯獨耶和華是真神。這是很多拜偶像、信假神的人，成為基督徒時所做的類似的見證。

可能有很多人不覺得拜偶像是罪，拜假神是可咒詛的。放眼社會上，那麼多人都在拜偶像，親近邪靈，要是說他們都在行惡，很可能會被套上一頂蔑視他人的大帽子，甚至還可能琅璫入獄。最近有一些拒絕為同性戀服務的例子，都遭到了麻煩。用這樣的尺度來看瑪拿西，你實在不會覺得他有多壞。不過就是不信耶和華神罷了，他豈沒有選擇宗教信仰的自由？這也是一些父母的想法，不要在孩子年幼時帶他們去教堂，讓他們長大成人時，自己去做選擇。他們覺得從小教孩子學《聖經》是剝奪了他們的人權。

問題是，我看到很多父母親因為愛小孩，在孩子尚未出生之前，已經很注意母親的飲食和生活習慣；在孩子出生後，更是要孩子吃最天然的食品，準備最好的環境，甚至在孩子出生後就開始選最好的幼稚園，以便上最好的小學，最好的中學，最好的大學。但是誰知道今年“最好的”，明年或後年是否還是“最好的”？在世界上的選擇，父母都要選最好的給孩子，為何獨獨漏掉孩子靈魂之所依？為何要孩子認識他們的父母、父母、外祖父母，甚至姑姑、伯伯、叔叔、舅舅，卻單單不要他們認識賜予他們生命的主？

God and Sex

2021-12-16 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 8:1-15.  Let’s go!

Exodus 8:1-6 (NIV)
1  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
2  If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.
3  The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs.
4  The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.'”
5  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.'”
6  So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land.

On verses 1-6:  The ancient Egyptians worshiped Heket, who was known as the goddess of fertility and was represented by the frog.  Sculptures and paintings of Heket depict her with the face of a frog.  Apparently the worship of Heket informed the way Egyptians viewed sex and having babies.  By causing frogs to appear everywhere in Egypt – in people’s bedrooms and homes – and later causing the frogs to die in verse 13, the Lord was communicating that the Lord is far greater than Heket and that it is the Lord, not Heket, who reigns over the issues of sex and fertility.

God is Gentle with You

2021-12-15 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 7:14-25.  Let’s go!

Exodus 7:14-21 (NIV)
14  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.
15  Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.
16  Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened.
17  This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.

On verses 14-21:  The Egyptians worshiped the god Hapy as the god who had power over the Nile. By turning the Nile River into blood, God was communicating that He had power over the Nile, that He alone was the one true God, and that life ultimately comes from Him, not the Nile.

Also, I find it interesting that the first miracle God enables Moses to perform in the sight of all the Egyptians (and not just in Pharaoh’s court) is turning water into blood.  It was a message of warning and judgment that God was sending to Pharaoh and all of Egypt.   Fast forward to the New Testament and you’ll find that the first miracle Jesus performs is turning water into wine.  It’s a message of joy, life and restoration, where God is not taking away the water supply but enhancing it.  Why the difference?  Didn’t the same God send both Moses and Jesus?  

希西家的感恩之歌

2021-12-15 in , /by

〈以賽亞書〉 38:17 看哪，我受大苦本為使我得平安，祢因愛我的靈魂，便救我脫離敗壞的坑，因為祢將我一切的罪扔在祢的背後。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下 20
〈歷代志〉下 32:24-31

希西家是一個很有信心的君王，但君王也是凡胎俗體，免不了會生病。希西家病得要死，當以賽亞先知去看他時，也是這樣告訴他：“你當留遺命於你的家，因為你必死，不能活了。”倘若是你聽到這樣的宣告，怎麼辦呢？死路一條。希西家不敢說什麼，轉臉朝牆，向神禱告。他希望神因為他對神所存完全的心，又做神所喜悅的事，希望神能夠憐憫他。希西家是希望神因為他的“用功和成績”，或許給他一點額外的恩惠。神不是因為希西家的作為而醫治他，因為人做好是應當的，在神面前沒有功德這一論。就像主耶穌說的，我們只當說，這是僕人當做的。神醫治希西家是因為希西家的祈求，神聽見了他的禱告，看見了他的眼淚，因而醫治他。

但是這樣祈求來的壽命也是有限的。此事讓我們明白，神聽得見我們的禱告，也看得見我們流下的眼淚。但神要用什麼方法幫助或醫治，我們不知道，因為在神每個人身上的計劃都不一樣，但是信徒的禱告必不徒然，眼淚也不會白流。以賽亞離開希西家，還沒走到皇宮的中院，都還沒出門，神就告訴他，要增加希西家十五年的壽數。有的人得了癌症，卻可以不立刻死，又活了好幾年，但不管神再給多少年的壽命，都是有限的。神給人最好的禮物是永生，在世上多少年就不用太計較了。

希西家喜出望外，擦乾眼淚不哭了，像小孩子一樣，向以賽亞求兆頭。因為一個病重得快死的人，兩天之後就會好起來，第三天就可以上聖殿，簡直不可思議。希西家要求一個日影往後退十度的兆頭，神就讓亞哈斯的日晷向前進的日影往後退了十度。以賽亞叫人拿一塊無花果餅貼在希西家的瘡上，王便痊癒了。現在我們已經知道食用無花果對人有很多好處，也可以醫痔瘡，把無花果餅貼在瘡上，不知有沒有人試過？但是只要神願意醫治，凡物都可作為媒介。