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希西家定献祭之例

2021-12-12 in , /by

〈历代志〉下31:21 凡他所行的，无论是办神殿的事，是遵律法守诫命，是寻求他的神，都是尽心去行，无不亨通。

阅读经文：〈历代志〉下31:1-21
〈列王纪〉下18:1-4

在希西家带领以色列人和犹大人过完逾越节之后，以色列众人就到犹大的城邑打碎柱像，砍断木偶，甚至到以色列北国去拆毁丘坛和祭坛，这是犹大地和以色列地的信仰大复兴。希西家还打碎摩西所造的铜蛇，这是一件非常勇敢的创举。摩西是谁？他带领以色列人出埃及后，近迦南时所造的铜蛇，竟然有百姓还在拜它。希西家称那铜蛇为铜块，因为他知道那是一堆铜所塑造出来的东西，并不是耶和华神。这也帮助我们明白为何神要隐藏摩西的尸体，因为若有人找到摩西的尸体，或被魔鬼拿去，那么后果必然十分可怕。连个铜蛇过了几百年都还有人在膜拜，何况是以摩西形像出现的“人”，必然使人十分困惑，甚至远离真神。

以色列人和犹大人在耶路撒冷过了极为喜乐的双倍除酵节之后，这个喜乐和敬拜并没有因为节日的过去而停止，他们回家拆除偶像，并且遵行律法，按时献祭，供应利未人和祭司。所以和神建立关系之后，我们的喜乐并不是停留在教会或特会里，真正的敬虔是让圣灵继续带领之后的每天的生活，让神居首位。聚会时的“high”是情绪一时的兴奋，但是每天的生活才是真正与神同行。所以我们不要一直停留在对聚会时之高潮的怀念，也不要一直倚靠聚会或特会来使我们感觉神的同在，因为神是以马内利，永远与我们同在的神。我们若遵行神的话语，就是时时刻刻在“充电”了。

当人们不敬畏神时，祭司和利未人就少吃少穿，甚至无法生活下去，只好去兼差，好像〈士师记〉里有个利未人去米迦的家里做祭司一样，米迦的祭司后来还被但族人抢走。因此希西家下了谕旨，分咐百姓供应祭司和利未人应得的份。当百姓都乐意献上十分之一时，祭司和利未人就吃不完兜著走了（正面的意思）。当神的仆人不用再为生活而奔波时，自然可以专心侍奉。希西家继续吩咐，教导利未人和祭司管理所收到的奉献，并且公平地分给亚伦的子孙和一切载入家谱的利未人。

Because I Am, I Will

2021-12-12 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 6:1-13.  Let’s go!

Exodus 6:1 (NIV)
1  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

On verse 1:  Moses and Aaron had approached Pharaoh about letting the Israelite slaves go, but Pharaoh rejected their request and even increased the Israelite slaves’ workload as a result.  Moses could not understand why, especially when God had promised that Pharaoh would let the Israelites go (see Exodus 5:22-23).  God reassures Moses that Pharaoh will (eventually) let the Israelite people go.

What can we learn from this?  When God promises to do something, He will do it according to His timing, not your timing.  Rather than getting upset with God because God didn’t do things according to your way and timing, trust God that His way and His timing are perfect.  When God doesn’t do it in your way and your time, it means that He is writing a greater story than the one you have in mind.

Exodus 6:2-8 (NIV)
2  God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD.
3  I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.

《圣经中各种审判》14— 对埃及的审判 之九

2021-12-11 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。

Get Up After Every Fall

2021-12-10 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 5:1-23.  Let’s go! 

Exodus 5:1-23 (NIV)
1  Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.'”
2  Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go.”
3  Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”……

On verses 1-23:  Moses and Aaron step out in faith and approach Pharaoh with God’s demand to let His people go.  Pharaoh stone walls Moses and Aaron and, even worse, increases the workload expected of the Israelite slaves as a result.  This in turn causes the Israelite foremen themselves to be angry with Moses and Aaron for getting the entire Israelite community in trouble with Pharaoh.

What can we learn from this?  Whenever you step out in faith to undertake something great, don’t be surprised if at first you fall flat on your face. That’s what happened to Moses and Aaron. Moses tried to do what God asked of him, and yet rather than making the situation better for the Israelite slaves, at first things actually got worse!

He Hears Your Cry and Sends a Saviour

2021-12-09 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 4:18-31.  There are so many lessons we can learn from this passage.  In this GAME sharing we’ll deal only with verses 27-31 today . Let’s go!

Exodus 4:27 (NIV)
27  The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the desert to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain of God and kissed him.

On verse 27:  Aaron, Moses’ older brother who was 3 years Moses’ senior (see Exodus 7:7), hears from God that he should go to the desert to meet Moses.  So Aaron goes to meet Moses at “the mountain of God” (which is likely Mount Horeb where Moses first encountered God in the burning bush) and the brothers are reunited.  How was Aaron, an Israelite slave in Egypt, able to freely leave Egypt to visit Moses?  One theory is that Aaron was a respected elder among the Israelites and had the permission of Pharaoh to go.  Another theory is that Aaron escaped the slave camp without being discovered.

In any event, the fact that Aaron independently sensed from God that he should go see Moses, soon after Moses himself had heard God’s call to go back to Egypt, must have been very encouraging to both Moses and Aaron.  They both must have seen this as a sign from God.  It goes to show that when God wants to do something big, He tends to involve not just one person but multiple trusted leaders in the discerning of it. 

希西家和百姓守逾越节

2021-12-09 in , /by

〈历代志〉下30:20耶和华垂听希西家的祷告，就饶恕百姓。

阅读经文：〈历代志〉下30:1-27

自从所罗门王之后，犹大和以色列都没有再过逾越节。假如华人不再过春节，你会有什么感觉呢？春节好像是华人的特征，就好像洋人若不过圣诞节，也就没了洋味儿。再困难的时候，我们也会想起和家人一起度过的春节；秋天看到月圆时，也会联想起中秋。神设立光体，可以分昼夜，做记号，定节令、日子，仿佛是为了提醒我们一些事情。不然的话，一日滚过一日，吃了三餐就睡觉，睡醒了又吃三餐，与动物何异？动物不过节，人是要过节的。因为节日给了人的生命和生活有一些基本的意义。

对以色列人和犹大人而言，逾越节便是一年之初最重要的节日。因为这节日提醒他们记念神和他们这个民族的关系，让他们明白自己的生存和自由是何等可贵。在埃及人的眼中，他们是供人驱使的奴隶，但是在神的眼中，他们是神所拣选的珍贵的儿女。所以逾越节是他们的重生之日，重见天地之时，离开奴役成为自由身，重新与神立约的节期。当他们不再记念这个节日时，就仿佛忘记了自己的生日一样，再次变成宇宙中没有意义的存在。

希西家在洁净了圣殿，献上了各样的祭礼和敬拜之后，立刻呼吁犹大人过逾越节。但是他不止呼吁犹大人，他没有忘记那些已经亡国的以色列人。他写信给以法莲和玛拿西人，又定了命令，传遍以色列，从别是巴直到但，叫大家都来耶路撒冷过逾越节。假如我们记得以利亚在迦密山上献祭以先，他先用十二块石头筑坛，这十二块石头代表以色列的十二个支派，包括犹大支派。在神的眼中，这十二个支派是合一不可分的。所以假如只有犹大人在耶路撒冷守节，神的心不会得到满足；神必要看到以色列的十二个支派都出现，祂的心才会得到满足。就好像做父母的人，不会因为有一两个儿女在身边就很满足，除非所有的儿女都回到他们身边，他们的心才会得到满足。

犹大王希西家

2021-12-08 in , /by

〈历代志〉下29:10现在我心中有意与耶和华以色列的神立约，好使祂的烈怒转离我们。

阅读经文：〈历代志〉下29:1-35

犹大王：罗波安→亚比央→亚撒→约沙法→约兰→亚哈谢→（亚她利雅）→约阿施→亚玛谢→亚撒利雅（乌西雅）→约坦→亚哈斯→希西家

〈列王记〉下用了三章的篇幅记载希西家的事蹟，〈历代志〉下用了四章的篇幅记载希西家所做的，所以我们从〈历代志〉来看希西家王，应该会更详尽。他是一个怎样的王，竟然值得两本书的作者大书特书？在犹大王亚撒利雅（乌西雅）和以色列王耶罗波安二世那样兴盛的时代，作者也不过聊聊数语，还记下了亚撒利雅年老时因为忤逆神而染大痲疯之事，那么这个希西家究竟有何过人之处？

在希西家成长的年代里，亲眼看见以色列北国被亚述欺凌吞噬，也亲身经历到因为他父亲亚哈斯悖逆神，以致民不聊生，峰火四起，内乱外患的痛苦。在一个飘摇不定的世代里，他成长了，也思考了，倘若犹大人所敬拜的是真神，倘若这位耶和华神曾经把他们的祖先带离埃及为奴之地，为何今日的犹大国会沦落到被各方而来的敌人压制，而以色列北国又何至于灭亡？难道祂不再照顾祂的子民了吗？从希西家对祭司和利未人的训话里，我们可以看到希西家在他年轻的思想里，已经整理出一个该走的方向。

他的父亲亚哈斯关闭圣殿，但他在就位的元年正月，就去开了耶和殿的门，重新整理。希西家所做的事情，所说的话，表明他深深明白以色列和犹大子民，以及君王的罪过。所以当做的第一件事，便是叫祭司和利未人洁净自己。因为他们是信仰的领导者，他们若不洁净自己，就不能为百姓洁净他们的罪，罪若不除去，就无法和神重新立约。这个救恩的过程从旧约到新约一直没有改变过，便是人应当知道自己得罪神，必须悔改，才能重新被神接纳，与神和好，重新立约，再度蒙福。

What is in Your Hand?

2021-12-08 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 4:1-17.  Let’s go!

Exodus 4:1-5 (NIV)
1  Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?”
2  Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied.
3  The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it.
4  Then the LORD said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand.
5  “This,” said the LORD, “is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers–the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob–has appeared to you.”

On verses 1-5:  Moses wonders what to do when people question whether God really sent him.  God responds with a question of his own: “What is in your hand?” (v2).  Whenever God calls you to a great task, He doesn’t leave you empty handed. In fact the things that God wants you to use are often the very things God has already placed in your hand.  (For example, when Jesus asked his disciples to feed the 5,000, he simply asked them to give Him whatever was already in their hand.  When they gave him the little that they thought they had, God used it to feed a multitude.)

It’s not about how able you are, but how able God is

2021-12-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 3:11-22.  Let’s go!

Exodus 3:11-12 (NIV)
11  But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12  And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

On verses 11-12: In Exodus 3, we see one of the most significant moments in Israel’s history taking place: out of a burning bush God calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.  God calling Moses was not based on how good or strong Moses was, but based on how good and strong God is.  So when Moses questions who Moses is to think he can go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt (v11), God answers by simply saying, “I will be with you” and promising that Moses will be successful (v12). 

以色列北国亡

2021-12-07 in , /by

〈列王纪〉下17:41a 如此，这些民又惧怕耶和华，又侍奉他们的偶像。

阅读经文：〈列王纪〉下17:1-41

以色列王：耶罗波安（一世）→拿答→巴沙→以拉→心利→暗利→亚哈→亚哈谢→约兰→耶户→约哈斯→约阿施→耶罗波安(二世)→撒迦利雅→沙龙→米拿现→比加辖→比加→何细亚（主前930年－722年）

从主前930年－722年，大约是208年的时间里，神一直在容忍以色列，等待他们的悔改，盼望他们的归回，等了两百多年。有的人认为神是很残忍的神，喜欢舞枪弄剑，使人流血成河的神；只要想想神等了两百多年，还等不到以色列人的悔改，神能不施行审判吗？那些说耶和华神是嗜战之神的人，大概都没有想想，为何神要兴起战争？战争其实只是神审判的一种方式，神提醒人们，远离真神去拜偶像行恶，是要付代价的。

何细亚杀了比加之后，做王九年。在这九年之中，他先是奉行亲亚述的政策，后来可能因为亚述王提革拉毗列色过世，何细亚因而想趁机反叛，投靠埃及。不料，亚述王撒缦以色在主前722年来攻打以色列，可能在围攻以色列的三年之中也去世了，换成亚述王撒珥根最后攻取撒玛利亚。根据亚述年谱的记载，撒珥根在自己的年监上声称攻陷撒玛利亚，掳去其中二万七千二百九十人及五十辆战车。