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猶大王希西家

2021-12-08 in , /by

〈歷代志〉下29:10現在我心中有意與耶和華以色列的神立約，好使祂的烈怒轉離我們。

閱讀經文：〈歷代志〉下29:1-35

猶大王：羅波安→亞比央→亞撒→約沙法→約蘭→亞哈謝→（亞她利雅）→約阿施→亞瑪謝→亞撒利雅（烏西雅）→約坦→亞哈斯→希西家

〈列王記〉下用了三章的篇幅記載希西家的事蹟，〈歷代志〉下用了四章的篇幅記載希西家所做的，所以我們從〈歷代志〉來看希西家王，應該會更詳盡。他是一個怎樣的王，竟然值得兩本書的作者大書特書？在猶大王亞撒利雅（烏西雅）和以色列王耶羅波安二世那樣興盛的時代，作者也不過聊聊數語，還記下了亞撒利雅年老時因為忤逆神而染大痲瘋之事，那麼這個希西家究竟有何過人之處？

在希西家成長的年代裡，親眼看見以色列北國被亞述欺凌吞噬，也親身經歷到因為他父親亞哈斯悖逆神，以致民不聊生，峰火四起，內亂外患的痛苦。在一個飄搖不定的世代裡，他成長了，也思考了，倘若猶大人所敬拜的是真神，倘若這位耶和華神曾經把他們的祖先帶離埃及為奴之地，為何今日的猶大國會淪落到被各方而來的敵人壓制，而以色列北國又何至於滅亡？難道祂不再照顧祂的子民了嗎？從希西家對祭司和利未人的訓話裡，我們可以看到希西家在他年輕的思想裡，已經整理出一個該走的方向。

他的父親亞哈斯關閉聖殿，但他在就位的元年正月，就去開了耶和殿的門，重新整理。希西家所做的事情，所說的話，表明他深深明白以色列和猶大子民，以及君王的罪過。所以當做的第一件事，便是叫祭司和利未人潔淨自己。因為他們是信仰的領導者，他們若不潔淨自己，就不能為百姓潔淨他們的罪，罪若不除去，就無法和神重新立約。這個救恩的過程從舊約到新約一直沒有改變過，便是人應當知道自己得罪神，必須悔改，才能重新被神接納，與神和好，重新立約，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). 

以色列北國亡

2021-12-07 in , /by

〈列王紀〉下17:41a 如此，這些民又懼怕耶和華，又侍奉他們的偶像。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下17:1-41

以色列王：耶羅波安（一世）→拿答→巴沙→以拉→心利→暗利→亞哈→亞哈謝→約蘭→耶戶→約哈斯→約阿施→耶羅波安(二世)→撒迦利雅→沙龍→米拿現→比加轄→比加→何細亞（主前930年－722年）

從主前930年－722年，大約是208年的時間裡，神一直在容忍以色列，等待他們的悔改，盼望他們的歸回，等了兩百多年。有的人認為神是很殘忍的神，喜歡舞槍弄劍，使人流血成河的神；只要想想神等了兩百多年，還等不到以色列人的悔改，神能不施行審判嗎？那些說耶和華神是嗜戰之神的人，大概都沒有想想，為何神要興起戰爭？戰爭其實只是神審判的一種方式，神提醒人們，遠離真神去拜偶像行惡，是要付代價的。

何細亞殺了比加之後，做王九年。在這九年之中，他先是奉行親亞述的政策，後來可能因為亞述王提革拉毗列色過世，何細亞因而想趁機反叛，投靠埃及。不料，亞述王撒縵以色在主前722年來攻打以色列，可能在圍攻以色列的三年之中也去世了，換成亞述王撒珥根最後攻取撒瑪利亞。根據亞述年譜的記載，撒珥根在自己的年監上聲稱攻陷撒瑪利亞，擄去其中二萬七千二百九十人及五十輛戰車。

Moses And The Burning Bush

2021-12-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Exodus 3:1-10.  Let’s go!

A. God’s call to Moses from the burning bush.
1. (1-3) Moses and the burning bush on Mount Horeb.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

a. Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law: For 40 years Moses lived as an obscure shepherd in the desert of Midian. At this point his life was so humble that he didn’t even have a flock of sheep to call his own – the sheep belonged to his father-in-law.

i. Tending the flock: “The Hebrew suggests that this was his habitual occupation.” (Cole)

b. The back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God: Moses brought the sheep to this mountain, also later called Mount Sinai. Horeb probably means “desert” or “desolation,” and the name gives an idea of the terrain.

c. The bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed: It wasn’t just that Moses saw a bush burning; apparently, it is not uncommon for a plant like this to spontaneously ignite out in that desert. Nevertheless, two things were distinctive about that bush:

· The Angel of the LORD appeared… from the midst of the bush.

猶大王亞哈斯

2021-12-06 in , /by

〈歷代志〉下28:11現在你們當聽我說，要將擄來的弟兄釋放回去，因為耶和華向你們已經大發烈怒。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下  16:1-20
〈歷代志〉下28:1-27

猶大王：羅波安→亞比央→亞撒→約沙法→約蘭→亞哈謝→（亞她利雅）→約阿施→亞瑪謝→亞撒利雅（烏西雅）→約坦→亞哈斯

以色列王：耶羅波安（一世）→拿答→巴沙→以拉→心利→暗利→亞哈→亞哈謝→約蘭→耶戶→約哈斯→約阿施→耶羅波安(二世)→撒迦利雅→沙龍→米拿現→比加轄→比加

亞哈斯有一個很敬虔的父親約坦，但是他卻反其道而行。他的曾曾祖父約阿施拆毀巴力廟，又殺了巴力的祭司（王下11:18），但是亞哈斯竟重鑄巴力的像，在欣嫩子谷燒香，用火焚燒他的兒女，並在丘壇上、山岡上、各青翠樹下獻祭燒香，效法外邦人所行可憎之事。有的人認為那是學摩押人向假神基抹獻祭。在三王（以色列王約蘭、猶大王約沙法和以東王）去聯合攻打摩押時，摩押王在兵敗如山倒時，在城上把自己的長子獻為燔祭。因此以色列人遭到神的大怒，三王才退兵（王下3:27）。亞哈斯那時面對以色列王和亞蘭王的攻擊，自知無法取勝，可能以為把自己的兒女經火，可以求得摩押假神基抹的幫助，卻沒想到觸犯了神的大忌。

亞蘭人攻擊猶大，佔据以拉他。以拉他位於紅海北部亞喀巴灣的頂端，這裡是亞拉巴路的起點，從阿拉伯半島南部和埃及直達腓尼基的路線由此經過，是兵家必爭之地。以色列人出埃及後繞行曠野時在西珥山住了很長時間；他們遵循耶和華的吩咐，離開以掃子孫所住之地，從亞拉巴路經過以拉他、以旬迦別，轉向摩押曠野。大衛征服以東時，一併奪得以拉他；所羅門在紅海的商船以此為基地。猶大王約沙法試圖在此恢復航業，但他的船卻毀壞了；在亞哈斯時，以他拉被亞蘭奪去。後來又被以東搶走。

猶大王約坦

2021-12-05 in , /by

〈歷代志〉下27:6約坦在耶和華他神面前行正道，以致日漸強盛。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下  15:32-38
〈歷代志〉下27

猶大王：羅波安→亞比央→亞撒→約沙法→約蘭→亞哈謝→（亞她利雅）→約阿施→亞瑪謝→亞撒利雅（烏西雅）→約坦

在猶大王中，約坦不是一個很出名的王，甚至是很少被人提起的王，但也是唯一一個沒有顯著過失的王，因為他是一個可以從歷史去學習教訓的王。自從他的父親亞撒利雅（烏西雅）因為進聖殿，想要取代祭司向神燒香獻祭，因而被神懲罰額頭長大痲瘋之後，約坦就開始代替父親料理國事。但是直到亞撒利雅過世之後，約坦才登基做王。亞撒利雅除了獻祭這件事，一生向神心存誠實，所以約坦效法父親所行的正事，但是不入聖殿，免得得罪耶和華神。

約坦怎樣效法他父親呢？在〈歷代志〉下27章裡說：“約坦在耶和華他神面前行正道，以致日漸強盛”，原文則是說：“他在耶和華他神面前‘預備’行正道。”中文沒有把‘預備’這兩個字譯出來。這個‘預備’在其他地方有時被譯為：‘堅立’、‘堅定’、‘建立’、‘立定’、‘準備’。這些字曾用在四個王身上，第一位是猶大王羅波安：羅波安行惡、因他不‘立定’心意尋求 耶和華；神稱讚約沙法，因為因為他‘立定’心意尋求神；希西家也是‘立定’心意尋求神；也是約坦‘立定’心意尋求神的王。有‘立定’心意，必有準備的工作，所以有譯者把它譯為：“約坦在耶和華他神面前‘預備’行正道。”我們若想立定心志跟隨神，也需要有預備行正道的心。有預備，才能立定心意，才能實行。

約坦王在位期間，以賽亞、何西阿和彌迦在國內做先知。雖然約坦在神面前行正道，只是還沒有廢去丘壇，百姓仍在那裡向假神獻祭燒香。因為這個罪根沒有除去，所以百姓也無法全心倚靠神。這是一個很大的遺憾。一般而言，上樑不正下樑歪，但若是上樑正下樑歪，那個建築物也不建全。因此先知們在猶大國裡不斷地立言，希望使百姓能歸向耶和華神，能明白神的心意。也因而我們回頭再看約沙法派人到各城鎮去教導百姓律法，是一件何等難能可貴的事。

Prepared for Something Greater

2021-12-05 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Exodus 2:11-25.  Let’s go!

Exodus 2:11-14 (NIV)
11  One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.
12  Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
13  The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”
14  The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

On verses 11-14:  There is so much packed into these verses that if you fail to read between the lines there is so much you could miss.

First of all, this passage jumps from Moses as an infant in verse 10 to Moses as an adult in verse 11.  We’ve just fast forwarded past the rest of Moses’ childhood, adolescence and early adulthood.  According to Acts 7:23-24, Moses was 40 years old by this time. 

Second, this passage shows Moses’ transition from identifying himself as an Egyptian to identifying as a Hebrew.  Keep in mind that Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s royal palace and called Pharaoh’s daughter “mom”.  

Thank God for His Protection

2021-12-03 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Exodus 2:1-10.  Let’s go!

Exodus 2:1-10 (NIV)
1  Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman,
2  and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months.
3  But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
4  His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him…….

On verses 1-10:  Exodus 2:1-10 is a beautiful picture of God’s protection.  Remember what the Nile River represented starting in Exodus 1:22. Intent on destroying the Israelites, Pharaoh ordered his people to throw every Hebrew boy into the Nile (see Exodus 1:22). So for the Israelites, the Nile River represented death.

Ironically, when Moses was a few months old, his mother hid him in a basket among the reeds of the Nile. But unlike other boys, when Moses went into the Nile River, he didn’t die. He came out alive!

《聖經中各種審判》12 — 對埃及的審判 之七

2021-12-03 in , /by

上帝審判干犯人權之極權

上帝曾用洪水毀滅地上的活物，僅存留八個人，這是全世界第一次廣泛的審判，上帝應許以後不再用洪水毀滅世界，就以彩虹為記，與挪亞立約。耶穌再來時，白色大寶座的審判是用永遠的烈火來審判。上帝對埃及的審判，是對帝國的審判。當百姓受當權者逼迫，上帝憐憫受逼迫的百姓，聽見被奴役的以色列百姓的哀聲，就紀念與亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各所立的約，因而干預人的政權，行了神蹟，超自然的上帝干預自然，顯明祂是掌管宇宙萬物的上帝，是天地的主宰。自然界的規律為上帝所定，當人違背上帝的心意，超自然的上帝干預自然界的規律，顯明祂超越萬有的能力，干預政界的不公。

在埃及之前，有所多瑪、蛾摩拉被上帝毀滅，這是局部的區域被審判，然而埃及帝國國力強大的程度超越各國，甚至超越當時的中國，當時的中國還沒有建造最宏偉的建築，而埃及卻已經建造很大的金字塔，是四千年前已有的建築。中國的秦始皇於二千二百年前建立阿房宮【編按：阿房宮被譽為「天下第一宮」，是中國歷史上第一個統一多民族的中央集權國家——秦朝修建的新朝宮，始建於秦始皇三十五年（前212年），與萬里長城、秦始皇陵、秦直道並稱為「秦始皇的四大工程」】，被放火燒了九十天還沒有燒完，但阿房宮不高，也沒有雄偉的石碑與高塔，然而埃及的金字塔歷經風吹雨打的摧殘，仍有高一百五十多公尺的建築矗立在那，更何況是四千年前在沒有現代科技的輔助下，動用二十萬到四十萬名工人建成的。這些帝王的墳墓、皇宮的建造真是令人感到不可思議，是古代建築的典範，足見埃及是國力雄厚的帝國。

如此偉大的帝國，為什麼遭受上帝的審判呢？上帝對埃及的審判關係著人類宗教自由、神人關係的基本人權，因為上帝所賦予的政權不應濫用其權，隨意欺壓百姓。當政權用人為的方法控制人的宗教自由、神人關係，這是上帝所不喜悅的。上帝審判埃及，差遣摩西面見法老並逐次降下各種災難，法老總是剛硬著心，直等到第十大災難臨到埃及，法老才終於鬆手讓以色列人離去。