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犹大王亚们

2021-12-19 in /by

〈列王纪〉下21:24   但国民杀了那些背叛亚们王的人，立他儿子约西亚接续他做王。

阅读经文：〈列王记〉下21:19-26 / 〈历代志〉下33:21-25

在《圣经》里非常强调:“行耶和华眼中看为恶的事”。我们若仔细想想，“耶和华眼中看为恶的事”和“人眼中看为恶的事”似乎有些不同，因此还没有信主的人会觉得“我做的都比xx信徒还好，他可以上天堂，我反而不能？这样不公平的神，我不信！”。那么这两者究竟有何不同？为什么“耶和华眼中看为恶的事”有那么糟糕？亚们所做的事和玛拿西悔改之前所做的事一样，玛拿西究竟做了哪些事？

1.玛拿西重建希西家毁坏的丘坛，那些丘坛原是百姓用来献祭给偶像的。希西家毁了丘坛，希望百姓按著神的意思去圣殿献祭。所以玛拿西此举，使百姓不再尊重神。

2.他为巴力筑坛，做亚舍拉像，又敬拜侍奉天上的万象；并且更在圣殿中筑坛，不是敬拜耶和华神，而是天上的万象和亚舍拉像。此举等于是污秽圣殿，让神无法留在殿中，把神赶出祂自己的家。在新闻里，我们有时会看到一些父母被儿女把钱骗光后，逐出家门，还换了钥匙，让老人流浪街头，无家可归。此举太可恶了。背弃神的人也是如此!

3.玛拿西用自己的儿子献给假神，活活把他烧死，以求假神的祝福；并且也让百姓如此做，使犹大人陷在罪里，又流许多无辜人的血。

4. 他不寻求神的心意和带领，反而去观兆，用法术，立交鬼的和行巫术的。就好像北美的学校拒绝让学生读《圣经》，却允许巫师进学校去教巫术。有的人为了得到黑暗的权柄，让自己变得比普通人更有能力，可以去为害或操控他人，也会去参加撒旦教。

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.

《圣经中各种审判》15— 对埃及的审判 之十

2021-12-17 in , /by

在上帝主权统管下的意志

　　圣经说：「我要使法老的心刚硬」，我们怎么理解？上帝的主权超越人的意志，人心能否顺从都在神主权的统管下。圣经说：「耶和华说：『我要显我一切的恩慈，在你面前经过，宣告我的名。我要恩待谁就恩待谁；要怜悯谁就怜悯谁。』」（出 33:19）一个人的生命要败坏下去，不是他决定就可以，也要上帝的许可。

有关上帝的主权与旨意，我分成四大阶层：一、上帝计划中的旨意，二、上帝许可中的自由，三、上帝引导人的转变，四、上帝任凭人的灭亡，这四样都在神的主权之下。你说：「我自己决定，所以我有这样的地步」，你没有想到你所打的主意有上帝的主权在你身上的彰显，如果你能好，是因为上帝施恩给你，如果你不好，是上帝任凭你硬着你的心，因着上帝的主权与施恩决定一个人能领受多少恩典，如果上帝没有施恩，我们只能抵挡上帝，刚硬着心。圣经说：「我要使法老的心刚硬」，这不是指硬心是上帝的决定，而是说这其中有上帝的许可，甚至是上帝的任凭。人自己本意的败坏是上帝的任凭，不让你悔改，继续硬心下去。人以为他的抵挡连上帝都束手无策，把上帝的干涉当作是对自己的搅扰，在蒙蔽之中不知道自己犯了什么错，不知道如果上帝不施恩，他也无法悔改。

圣经说：「我使法老的心刚硬，要在他身上显出我的荣耀」，因为法老的刚硬，人看见上帝凭己意行万事 ，上帝行事使祂的百姓得恩典，祂施行审判使祂的仇敌受灾殃。

十灾显明埃及诸神非真神

　　上帝降下十灾最大的目的只有一个：显明埃及人所敬拜的是假神，不能造福人群，解救百姓。在降灾的事上，术士可以模仿先知所做的事 ，无论是杖变蛇或水变血，假先知所做的事情与神的仆人好像一样，但在结局上，你看见法老的术士只能降灾，显明邪恶的能力无法施行拯救，这是圣经记载正邪之间真正的分别。

犹大王玛拿西

2021-12-16 in , /by

〈历代志〉下 33:13他祈祷耶和华，耶和华就允准他的祈求，垂听他的祷告，使他归回耶路撒冷，仍坐国位。玛拿西这才知道唯独耶和华是神。

阅读经文：〈列王纪〉下 21:1-18
〈历代志〉下 33

玛拿西是旧约圣经里出名的浪子。就像耶稣所说的浪子比喻，玛拿西用尽了神借着希西家留给他的美好产业，最后被亚述掳去。敌人用铙钩钩住他，用铜链锁住他，他失去一切，成为阶下囚，连尊严也失去。在急难时，他和浪子一样，想起了他的父亲。但玛拿西想起的是天上的父亲，神。当他自卑，悔改时，神就饶恕他。奇蹟似地，让他能够回到耶路撒冷，仍旧做王。这时玛拿西才知道唯独耶和华是真神。这是很多拜偶像、信假神的人，成为基督徒时所做的类似的见证。

可能有很多人不觉得拜偶像是罪，拜假神是可咒诅的。放眼社会上，那么多人都在拜偶像，亲近邪灵，要是说他们都在行恶，很可能会被套上一顶蔑视他人的大帽子，甚至还可能琅珰入狱。最近有一些拒绝为同性恋服务的例子，都遭到了麻烦。用这样的尺度来看玛拿西，你实在不会觉得他有多坏。不过就是不信耶和华神罢了，他岂没有选择宗教信仰的自由？这也是一些父母的想法，不要在孩子年幼时带他们去教堂，让他们长大成人时，自己去做选择。他们觉得从小教孩子学《圣经》是剥夺了他们的人权。

问题是，我看到很多父母亲因为爱小孩，在孩子尚未出生之前，已经很注意母亲的饮食和生活习惯；在孩子出生后，更是要孩子吃最天然的食品，准备最好的环境，甚至在孩子出生后就开始选最好的幼稚园，以便上最好的小学，最好的中学，最好的大学。但是谁知道今年“最好的”，明年或后年是否还是“最好的”？在世界上的选择，父母都要选最好的给孩子，为何独独漏掉孩子灵魂之所依？为何要孩子认识他们的父母、父母、外祖父母，甚至姑姑、伯伯、叔叔、舅舅，却单单不要他们认识赐予他们生命的主？

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

〈以赛亚书〉 38:17 看哪，我受大苦本为使我得平安，祢因爱我的灵魂，便救我脱离败坏的坑，因为祢将我一切的罪扔在祢的背后。

阅读经文：〈列王纪〉下 20
〈历代志〉下 32:24-31

希西家是一个很有信心的君王，但君王也是凡胎俗体，免不了会生病。希西家病得要死，当以赛亚先知去看他时，也是这样告诉他：“你当留遗命于你的家，因为你必死，不能活了。”倘若是你听到这样的宣告，怎么办呢？死路一条。希西家不敢说什么，转脸朝墙，向神祷告。他希望神因为他对神所存完全的心，又做神所喜悦的事，希望神能够怜悯他。希西家是希望神因为他的“用功和成绩”，或许给他一点额外的恩惠。神不是因为希西家的作为而医治他，因为人做好是应当的，在神面前没有功德这一论。就像主耶稣说的，我们只当说，这是仆人当做的。神医治希西家是因为希西家的祈求，神听见了他的祷告，看见了他的眼泪，因而医治他。

但是这样祈求来的寿命也是有限的。此事让我们明白，神听得见我们的祷告，也看得见我们流下的眼泪。但神要用什么方法帮助或医治，我们不知道，因为在神每个人身上的计划都不一样，但是信徒的祷告必不徒然，眼泪也不会白流。以赛亚离开希西家，还没走到皇宫的中院，都还没出门，神就告诉他，要增加希西家十五年的寿数。有的人得了癌症，却可以不立刻死，又活了好几年，但不管神再给多少年的寿命，都是有限的。神给人最好的礼物是永生，在世上多少年就不用太计较了。

希西家喜出望外，擦干眼泪不哭了，像小孩子一样，向以赛亚求兆头。因为一个病重得快死的人，两天之后就会好起来，第三天就可以上圣殿，简直不可思议。希西家要求一个日影往后退十度的兆头，神就让亚哈斯的日晷向前进的日影往后退了十度。以赛亚叫人拿一块无花果饼贴在希西家的疮上，王便痊愈了。现在我们已经知道食用无花果对人有很多好处，也可以医痔疮，把无花果饼贴在疮上，不知有没有人试过？但是只要神愿意医治，凡物都可作为媒介。

The End of Myself

2021-12-14 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 7:1-13.  For context, we’ll also include Exodus 6:28-30.  Let’s go! 

Exodus 6:28-Exodus 7:1 (NIV)
28  Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,
29  he said to him, “I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
30  But Moses said to the LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
1  Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

On Exodus 6:28-Exodus 7:1:  Notice the difference in the way Moses saw himself and the way God saw Moses.  Moses focuses on his inability and weakness, his “faltering lips” (v30).  God says He has made Moses to be like God to Pharaoh and Aaron to be Moses’ prophet (v1). It goes to show that God sees us differently than the way we naturally see ourselves.  If like Moses you have a tendency to focus on your weaknesses and limitations, know that God sees you in a completely different light: He sees you as forgiven, strong, an overcomer (see 1 John 2:12-14).  Part of becoming more godly is learning to see yourself the way God sees you.

Exodus 7:2-7 (NIV)
2  You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.
3  But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt,
4  he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.
5  And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”
6  Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them.

亚述王西拿基立被杀

2021-12-14 in , /by

〈列王记下〉下 19:30犹大家所逃脱余剩的，仍要往下扎根，向上结果。

阅读经文：〈列王纪〉下19:1-37

这真是每个遇到霸凌的人最高兴的结局，霸凌被解决掉了，从此可以高枕无忧了。但是在霸凌被除掉之前，我们要先明白必须有怎样的信心才能度过面对霸凌的日子。希西家尽全心去建筑工事和装备，也勉励百姓要倚靠神。但是当眼前的局势越变越糟时，他的信心还站立得住吗？靠近非利士边境的拉吉被亚述占据了，而亚述正在攻击立拿。这两个地方都是军事重镇，可以阻挡从埃及来的军队。亚述王听到古实王要出来与他争战的话，更希望赶快攻下耶路撒冷，免得两面受敌，因此要先拿下立拿和拉吉，好让埃及军队不能经过。有人说这位古实王其实是古实籍的埃及王，也有人说是埃及尼罗河北部的古实之王。因为埃及离犹大和以色列比较近，所以有时会向他们求援。

希西家派家宰和书记披上麻布去见先知以赛亚，说：「今日是急难、责罚、凌辱的日子，就如妇人将要生产婴孩，却没有力量生产。或者耶和华你的神听见拉伯沙基的一切话，就是他主人亚述王打发他来辱骂永生神的话，耶和华你的神听见这话就发斥责。故此，求你为余剩的民扬声祷告」。在等待的时候，在危难中看不见希望之际，希西家没有离弃神，他派人去找神的仆人，请他代祷。在急难、责罚、凌辱的日子里，希西家依然仰望神。有的人看到情势不对，就去算命、抽签，希望从别处得到指引。但是希西家认定了唯有耶和华是真神，他就不像其他的王转向假神，反而去找神的仆人。

这样的信心得到神的肯定，因此神借着先知回应希西家：「你听见亚述王的仆人亵渎我的话，不要惧怕。我必惊动他的心，他要听见风声，就归回本地，我必使他在那里倒在刀下」。哇，多么令人得安慰的话，神终于应允要出手了。但是亚述王给希西家的信却令他伤痛不已。不是为了国势的危险，而是他所敬畏的神被亚述王眨得一文不值，被亚述王拿来与其他国家的假神相比。希西家把信件拿到圣殿，在神的面前展开，求神救犹大脱离亚述的手，使天下万国都知道，唯独耶和华是神。希西家的祷告蒙神垂听了，因为神必不让自己和其他的假神做比较。我们若要为霸凌事件祷告，也要这样祷告，让耶和华神彰显祂自己的荣耀，使世上的人都知道，我们倚靠的是真神。