Entries by

猶大王約哈斯和約雅敬

2021-12-22 in , /by

〈列王紀〉下 23:34法老尼哥立約西亞的兒子以利亞敬接續他父親約西亞作王，給他改名叫約雅敬，卻將約哈斯帶到埃及，他就死在那裡。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下 23:31-37   /   〈歷代志〉下 36:1-8

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→瑪拿西→亞捫→約西亞→約哈斯→約雅敬（以利亞敬，約哈斯的哥哥）→約雅斤

從主前約1050年，以色列人要求立王，掃羅成為第一任以色列的王，到約雅敬作王約主前604年。在這大約400年的期間證明了一件事，神是對的。以色列人想要學外邦人有王統治，有王率領，但是約400年的經歷，讓我們看到，除了神，沒有一個人是完全的。假如碰到一個好王，就國泰民安；若是碰到不好的王，那真是全國皆悲，一天不如一天。世界的政局也淘汰了君王制度，因為在一個有限的人管轄之下，百姓看不到希望。所有的人都要看一個人的臉色行事，太令人感到痛苦了。

約西亞想阻止埃及去攻打亞述，不僅阻擋不了埃及，並且約西亞也戰死沙場。這時原本獨立的猶大國變成受制於埃及了。法老尼哥二世打敗約西亞後就在哈馬地的利比拉安營，這是以色列北部的一個軍事重鎮。利比拉是軍隊安營的戰略地點，它操控了埃及和幼發拉底河之間的南北商業及軍事路線。當地水源充足，軍隊可以在周圍的山谷和森林搜集糧食和燃料，所以是兵家必爭之地。

I’m Not Negotiating

2021-12-22 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 10:1-20.  Let’s go!

Exodus 10:1-2 (NIV)
1  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them
2  that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD.”

On verses 1-2:  In previous chapters of Exodus we learned that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was not simply God’s doing, but Pharaoh’s choice as well (see Exodus 8:15; Exodus 8:32; Exodus 9:34).  Yet despite Pharaoh choosing to harden his heart toward God, God would use this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to perform His miracles so that the Israelites would have a greater story to tell, “that you may know that I am the Lord” (v2).  What can we learn from this?  Because God is sovereign (possessing supreme authority), God will use even our mistakes and the mistakes of others to write a greater story.  Of course we are always better off obeying God early and with a soft heart, but God being sovereign will find a way to show His power one way or the other.

What Will You Choose?

2021-12-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

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

Exodus 9:27-30 (NIV)
27  Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.
28  Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.”
29  Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.
30  But I know that you and your officials still do not fear the LORD God.”

On verses 27-30:  Though in verses 27-28 Pharaoh says all the right words, confessing that he has sinned and admitting that the Lord is right and he was wrong, we will see that Pharaoh evidently was still playing games with the Lord.  Pharaoh wasn’t really sorry for his sin.  If anything, perhaps, he was sorry that he was in the situation he was now in and was doing everything he can to get out of it.  It goes to show that anyone can say that they have sinned and speak the right-sounding words, but what counts is what is in the heart.

約西亞戰死沙場

2021-12-21 in , /by

〈列王紀〉下 23:3王站在柱旁，在耶和華面前立約，要盡心、盡性地順從耶和華，遵守他的誡命、法度、律例，成就這書上所記的約言。眾民都服從這約。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下 23:1-30   /   〈歷代志〉下 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→瑪拿西→亞捫→約西亞

在耶羅波安做第一任北國的以色列王時，他造了兩個金牛犢。神派了一位神人從猶大去伯特利警告他，並且預言：“大衛家裡必生一個兒子，名叫約西亞，他必將丘壇的祭司，就是在你上面燒香的，殺在你上面，人的骨頭也必燒在你上面。（王上13:2）”神的預言何等準確，連約西亞的名字都在預言之中。在預言發出的三百多年後，約西亞不但拆毀焚燒耶羅波安所的壇，殺假祭司，並且打發人將墳墓裡的骸骨取出來，燒在壇上。死人一般被認為不潔淨，將人的骸骨燒在祭壇上，是一種污穢異教祭壇的作法。

約西亞在位時所做的一切讓我們看到當時異教的風俗何等盛行：不僅拜巴力和亞舍拉，還向日、月、行星並天上萬象燒香。他們在聖殿裡拜巴力和亞舍拉以及天上的萬象，聖殿裡還有給孌童住的屋子，給婦女為亞舍拉織帳子的地方。在城裡山上，從所羅門到亞哈斯、瑪拿西、亞們為異教所築的丘壇，約西亞都把它們污穢了。欣嫩子谷是指在耶路撒冷以南的一個山谷，靠近耶撒冷城的哈珥西門口。亞哈斯和瑪拿西曾經在此向假神獻上自己的兒女，把他們活活燒死，因此又得名“陀斐特”，即焚燒之處。此處也拿來作為崇拜摩洛之處，神曾經藉著耶利米先知宣告此地將不再稱為欣嫩子谷或陀斐特，而要稱為“殺戳谷the Valley of Slaughter”（耶7:32），因為他們在這裡流無辜人的血。在約西亞王褻瀆那神龕，並禁止在那裡獻祭之後，這地方成為焚燒犯人、動物屍體和廢物的地方。因此欣嫩子谷日後被用作“地獄”的同義詞，猶太人的傳統曾把此地作為地獄的入口。

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。