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迦密山上试真神

2021-10-27 in , /by

列王纪上 18: 21   以利亚前来对众民说：「你们心持两意要到几时呢？若耶和华是神，就当顺从耶和华；若巴力是神，就当顺从巴力。」

阅读经文：〈列王纪〉上18:1-46

温哥华三个月不下雨，大家都已经开始着急，何况三年不下雨。有些地方碰到这种情形，就会开始求雨，好像澳洲土著、俄罗斯的先民、北美的印第安人都有求雨舞；在中国古代有的君王，例如明太祖朱元璋就曾经为了祈雨跪了三天。可见一旦没有雨，人就懂得要向上天求雨，因为雨是从天上降下来的，不向上天求，向谁求呢？可见人的心里有“天”，人相信这“天”能懂得人的祈求。这“天”是有意识的，是活的，是有能力的，换句话说就是人相信天上有“神”。人平时很骄傲，说没有神；但是只要几个月不下雨，他都会开始求神了。那时就知道人是何等有限，神是何等恩慈。

亚哈很骄傲，他不要神，不要创造宇宙、带领以色列先祖出埃及的真神。但是三年没有雨，他就顶不住了，再不下雨，他连王都做不成了。百姓都饿死了渴死了，没有百姓，他怎么做王呢？他拜的金牛犊、巴力、亚舍拉通通不能帮他，他急得到处找以利亚。因为只有以利亚的神可以解决这个问题，耶和华神若说不下雨，连魔鬼都没办法。

亚哈和他的家宰俄巴底去找青草，因为他的牲畜再没草吃就都会死了。家宰是指管理王的家之事务的高官；俄巴底的名字之意是「耶和华的仆人」。果然，这个俄巴底没有辜负为他取名字的人，他虽然在亚哈的家里做事，却暗中保护耶和华的先知。在最黑暗的地方，仍然有神的仆人在那里做光做盐。这也是为何主教导我们不要论断或批评别人，因为有许多事是我们不知道的，只有神知道，所以只有神才有资格审判每一个人。

Made Clean With A Touch

2021-10-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 15:16-33.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 15:16-24 (NIV)
16  “‘When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
17  Any clothing or leather that has semen on it must be washed with water, and it will be unclean till evening.
18  When a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening.
19  “‘When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.
20  “‘Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean…….

On verses 16-24:  Why is it that a man’s emission of semen (v16-18) would cause a man and the woman he lay with to be ceremonially unclean?  Why is it that a woman’s period (v19-24) or a woman bleeding outside of her regular period (v25-27) would cause the woman and anything the woman sits on to be ceremonially unclean?  Are these bodily discharges sinful in God’s eyes?  No.  Remember that “sinful” and “unclean” are not the same thing.  To be ceremonially unclean meant that you could not enter the sanctuary where the Israelites worshipped for the period of the uncleanness.

Why would God impose such a rule on the Israelites?  Many scholars say that the main purpose of these regulations was to set the Israelites apart from other nations who regularly practiced cult prostitution and engaged in fertility rituals within the temples where they would worship their gods.  

Washing the Most Private Areas of Our Lives

2021-10-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

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

Leviticus 15:1-15 (NIV)
1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean.
3 Whether it continues flowing from his body or is blocked, it will make him unclean. This is how his discharge will bring about uncleanness:
4 “‘Any bed the man with a discharge lies on will be unclean, and anything he sits on will be unclean.
5 Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening.
6 Whoever sits on anything that the man with a discharge sat on must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean till evening…….

On verses 1-15: What discharge is Leviticus 15:1-15 talking about? Many scholars believe that the discharge is probably gonorrhea, a sexually transmitted disease. The fact that God’s Word would touch on such an issue shows that God is concerned about the private areas of our lives, those parts of our lives which no one else would know about unless we told them. When we experience hurt or discomfort in a secret area of our lives, God does not turn a blind eye; rather, His heart is for you to experience healing, cleansing, and restoration.

Speaking of cleansing, it was not until the 1800s with the revolutionary work of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis that Western medicine realized the importance of washing with water when treating patients. Yet notice how much these verses emphasize washing with water. (The idea of washing or bathing with water comes up no less than 9 times in these verses.) In this respect the Bible was thousands of years ahead of the medical industry — just one more example of how God’s Word is ahead of its time.

以利亚预言旱荒

2021-10-26 in , /by

列王纪上 17:24   妇人对以利亚说：「现在我知道你是神人，耶和华藉你口所说的话是真的。」

阅读经文：

〈列王纪〉上17:1-24

这是一个让人津津乐道的故事。从主日学到现在，我听这故事不下百遍了，可是到现在还是喜欢它。以前喜欢的是以利亚行的神蹟，现在可以从这些神蹟里去认识神，越读越有意思。以前读的时候觉得不降露不下雨与我无关，不痒不痛。有一年回台湾省亲时，正好碰上台湾缺雨少水，水库的水位一直下降，人心惶惶，政府一直呼吁大家节约用水。回到温哥华，也碰上了难得的几个月都天晴，没想到从一级禁水令一直升到三级禁水令。水库的水一点一点地减少，天上一滴水也没掉下来。草地已经枯黄，树叶也垂头丧气，泳池不可注水，家里不可洗车。正在这紧要关头，下雨了。每个人都欢欣鼓舞。

至于不降露有何严重性呢？几年前我去过非洲的野生动物园，那里的地也干旱得很。但是导游说，因为清早一些枝叶上有甘露，所以动物们只要吃了露水，就够一天的水份了。所以没下雨动物还能存活。所以若是没有露水，不仅动物活不了，连植物都活不了。神为何要用干旱来处罚以色列人呢？说实在的，在等待下雨的日子里，我有时候会想到，是不是最近有人做了一些事情得罪神，以致神惩罚我们？甘露时雨都是上天所赐，当上天不再赐下甘露恩雨时，人就要好好地反省了。

所以当以利亚对亚哈王说：“我指著所侍奉永生耶和华以色列的神起誓：这几年我若不祷告，必不降露不下雨”。是神借着以利亚来使亚哈思想，并不是以利亚本身有能力做此事。神总是喜欢让人与祂同工，使人自觉有价值。以利亚对亚哈王预言之后，神就叫以利亚住到基立溪旁，喝溪里的水，等待乌鸦的供养。乌鸦早晚给他叼饼和肉来，这些和饼从哪里来呢？没人知道。会不会有的大户人家每天都觉得少了一点肉和几片饼，但是查来查去都察不出是谁偷吃的？过了些日子，溪水就干了，是不是被以利亚喝干了？当然不是，因为没有下雨，太阳天天晒，把这条溪都晒到见底了。于是神叫以利亚去西顿的撒勒法。去那里做什么？去找一个寡妇。

巴沙／以拉／心利／暗利／亚哈

2021-10-25 in , /by

〈列王纪〉上 16:2  我既从尘埃中提拔你，立你做我民以色列的君，你竟行耶罗波安所行的道，使我民以色列陷在罪里，惹我发怒。

阅读经文：

〈列王纪〉上15:25-34

  〈列王纪〉上 16:1-34

今天的经文是讲到以色列北国，王权一连串转换的历史。

以色列王：耶罗波安（父）（22年）→拿答（子）（2年）→巴沙（篡）(24年)→以拉（子）（2年）→心利（篡）（7日）→暗利（篡）（12年）→亚哈（子）（22年）。

我们要先解决两个年数上的小问题：第一个是暗利做王的年数：在耶罗波安做王第20年时，犹大王亚撒登基；到了亚撒王第38年时，以色列王亚哈登基。照年数算有时比较不准，因为有时不够两年，或是前后连接也算一年，就算了两次。暗利做王是从亚撒27年算起，而不是从亚撒31年算起，头尾相加共12年。

第二个问题，是巴沙何时攻击犹大？在〈历代志下〉16章1-6节记载：“亚撒36年，以色列王巴沙上来攻击犹大”。但是在〈列王记上〉15章33节记载：“犹大王亚撒第三年，亚希雅的儿子巴沙在得撒登基做以色列众人的王，共24年”。那么，巴沙在亚撒27年时就已经去世了，不可能在亚撒36年还来攻击犹大。这个时间很模糊。在无法确定时间时，我们主要看发生的事件和其影响。也可以明白，不管人怎样尽心尽力，总会出错。以色列人抄圣经是出名的严谨，翻译圣经的人当然也存著非常慎重的心态来做这事，但不管人怎样努力，总会找出一些可以改进的地方，使我们不能不谦卑，因为人实太有限了。

在亚撒做王时，正是耶罗波安年老快退位时，耶罗波安传位给儿子拿答。基比顿是迦南中部的一座城，原是非利士人的城，以色列人进军迦南时夺了此城，划给利未支派中的哥辖子孙为业。不久，又被非利士人占据，故又称为：非利士的基比顿。王国分裂后，拿答试图拿回此城，在围困基比顿，和非利士人战得难解难分时，部下巴沙背叛了拿答，杀了他，自己做起以色列王。廿几年以后，巴沙的儿子以拉做王，他的元帅在攻打基比顿时，他被一个管战车的臣子心利杀掉。拿答在围困基比顿时，巴沙篡位；暗利在攻打基比顿时，心利在得撒杀了巴沙的儿子以拉篡位。因为臣子们在基比顿战得很辛苦时，以拉却在得撒喝到酒醉，看来以拉也不是一个好王。

Why Does God Care About Mildew?

2021-10-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 14:33-57.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 14:33-48 (NIV)
33  The LORD said to Moses and Aaron,
34  “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a spreading mildew in a house in that land,
35  the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like mildew in my house.’
36  The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house…….

On verses 33-48:  Here the Lord gives Moses and Aaron regulations about how to inspect houses containing mildew.  As you read Leviticus, you’ll find that priests in ancient Israel wore many hats – spiritual leader, teacher, butcher, skin examiner, social worker, and here house inspector.  Here the priests are given a protocol for dealing with houses containing mold.  That protocol could be summed as follows: clear the house (v36), examine it (v37), close it up and leave it for seven days (v38), and re-inspect (v39).  If the mildew has spread, tear out the contaminated stones (v40), scrape off all the mold and dump the mold in an authorized dump zone outside of the town (v41), and re-plaster (v42).  If the mildew reappears after that, tear down the house (v43-45).  If the mildew does not reappear, pronounce the house clean (v48).

What can we learn from this?  When facing a situation that has gone wrong, work hard to fix it.  But if the problem still won’t go away, you may need to consider tearing down and starting again.  May God give you wisdom to know how to apply this principle in a way that honours His Word and bears fruit in your life, because it is also possible to misapply this principle.

犹大王亚撒和以色列王巴沙

2021-10-24 in , /by

历代志下 15:2b   你们若顺从耶和华，耶和华必与你们同在。

阅读经文：

列王纪上 15:9-34 (亚撒登基，巴沙篡位杀拿答)

  历代志下 14:9-15 (亚撒与古实王争戢)

  历代志下15:1-19 (亚撒利亚鼓励亚撒)

  历代志下 16:1-14 (亚撒拿圣殿的金银送便哈达)

犹大王：罗波安→亚比央→亚撒。以色列王：耶罗波安（父）→拿答（子）→巴沙（篡位）。

为何神要特别把这些君王的历史放在《圣经》里呢？我想，每一个王都是一个人，从这些王的事蹟里，我们都可以发现有一个小小的自己在里面，也从而找到自己应该遵循的方向，和应该弃绝的想法。人生好比一条路，若跟随主走下去，便可回到父家；反之，若被误导到不同的路上，就要赶快回头，免得回不到家。在犹大南国，虽然有好几个王都三心二意地跟随神，但至少在碰到困难时还会寻求神倚靠神；但是在以色列北国已经完全漠视神的存在和主权。

在犹大南国，因着神的应许，大卫的子孙一个个接续著坐上王位；在以色列北国的王就没有这样的幸运了，耶罗波安的儿子做王两年就被巴沙杀掉篡位。巴沙不只是杀拿答，顺手就把耶罗波安的全家也都杀得净光，凡有气息的没有留下一个。神对耶罗波安的咒诅全应验了：“我必使灾祸临到耶罗波安的家，将属耶罗波安的男丁，无论困住的、自由的，都从以色列中剪除，必除尽耶罗波安的家，如人除尽粪土一般。凡属耶罗波安的人，死在城中的必被狗吃，死在田野的必被空中的鸟吃。（王上14:10-11）”。被杀而来不及掩埋的，就被狗和鸟争相觅食。可见人的肉体何等没用，一旦失去了生命，就什么也保不住了。

犹大王亚撒的一生分为三个阶段。第一个阶段记载亚撒做王后的第一个10年，他很积极地行神眼中看为善为正的事。他除掉外邦神的坛和丘坛，打碎柱像，砍下木偶；也吩咐犹大人寻求耶和华他们列祖的神，遵行祂的律法，诫命。亚撒全心寻求神，神就赐给犹大国平安。亚撒也趁著国泰民安，着手建造坚固的城邑和建立强大的军队。这就是亚撒做王第一阶段的成就。

God’s Provision When I Couldn’t Afford It

2021-10-24 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 14:19-32.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 14:19-32 (NIV)
19  “Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness. After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering
20  and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for him, and he will be clean.
21  “If, however, he is poor and cannot afford these, he must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for him, together with a tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil for a grain offering, a log of oil,
22  and two doves or two young pigeons, which he can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering…….

On verses 19-32:  Leviticus 14:1-32 is talking about the process by which a leper who was once quarantined from the community due to his skin condition could be restored to the community.

Verses 10 through 18 talk about the sacrifice that the now restored leper is to bring, consisting of two male lambs and a one year old female lamb (also called an ewe).  But what if the leper was poor and could not afford two male lambs and a female lamb?  Verses 19-32 allow the leper instead to bring one single male lamb and two birds (either doves or pigeons) as the leper’s sacrifice.  The one single male lamb would serve as the leper’s guilt offering (v21) and the two birds would serve as the leper’s sin offering and burnt offering (v22).

《圣经中各种审判》7 — 对埃及的审判

2021-10-22 in , /by

论及历史上的帝国

圣经的各种审判的讲解，让我们明白上帝如何在历史中，透过祂运行在世上的权柄以及管教全世界的作为，彰显祂的公义与圣洁。在整个源远流城的历史洪流中，中东以及北非的历史上出现几个最大的帝国，最先是阿卡帝国，以后是巴比伦、埃及、亚述、波斯、马其顿、罗马帝国，这些帝国的气派与统治的范围几乎没有可相比的。如今，无论东方或西方，已经没有帝国的存在，昔日伟大的帝国都消灭了，现今还存在有王权但没有统治实权的王族，挪威、瑞典、丹麦还有王族，昔日掌有大权的英国皇家现在也没有太大的实权。日本的皇族与中国的皇族不一样的地方，在于中国的皇族常常换姓，但日本的天皇制度一直传下来，没有换姓，日本皇族与日本社会非常敬重自己王族的传习。中国最先的唐尧虞舜，是禅让制度；禹之后，传子不传贤，之后夏朝被商朝推翻，商朝再被周朝推翻，异性的政权传到满族，最后被孙中山推翻。西方的帝国，国祚最长的，是二千多年的罗马帝国；东方的王朝，国祚最长的，是五千多年的中国王朝。

君士坦丁促使罗马帝国成为基督教国家

国祚绵延的罗马帝国起初反对基督教，杀害基督徒，逼迫教会，直到第四世纪某一天的晚上，君士坦丁（Constantine, c.272-337）做梦，梦到他打仗的时候，有十字架的旗号在空中飞扬，说：「你要得着基督，才能得胜」，君士坦丁照着去做，果然全军大胜，因而改信基督教。【编按：教会史家优西比乌（Eusebius of Caesarea, c.260-340）撰写的《君士坦丁的一生》（Life of Constantine），书中曾提及君士坦丁与势均力敌的对手对敌，在一场决定性战役前夜曾做一个梦，梦中君士坦丁看见耶稣对他说：「只要以基督十字架作为部队旌旗，就一定会战胜敌军」，梦醒之后的君士坦丁就照着梦中得到的指示更改旌旗，他的军队果然在这场决定性的战役中大获全胜。有另一说：在决战前，君士坦丁望向天空，看见太阳之上有十字架的形状，同时也出现一段文字说明；「以此记号，你必征服」，于是君士坦丁命令士兵在盾牌上画上十字架的记号，他的军队果然战胜。资料来源：台湾教会公报】君士坦丁改信基督教，使得原先反对基督教、杀害基督徒、逼害教会的帝国，举国上下改信基督教，这是天大的事情。

描绘〈君士坦丁靠基督得胜〉的图我们教会有，因为我请一位画家从中国搬到印尼，在这里吃、住、作画，其中一幅画作就是这幅。我在深圳遇到这位画家，发现他绘画的长才，便问他愿不愿到印尼作画。那时他才二十三、四岁，他曾到印尼帮有钱人画图，他其中一个作品是画在屋顶上。在屋顶上作画是很难的，从前的人要建木架，躺在那边，脸朝向屋顶，把漆放上去，如果漆掉进眼睛，可能会瞎的。米开朗基罗（Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475 -1564）就是这样在西斯汀礼拜堂的屋顶，画了全世界著名的〈创世记〉，有一次漆掉在他的眼睛旁，险些使他瞎眼；还有一次，他从木架摔下来，差一点残废。义大利人认为他比里奥纳多达芬奇（Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519）更伟大。我用自己的钱把这名画家五、六张的图画买回来，其中一张大到我没有办法从香港带回来，长度六公尺四，比你的床大两、三倍，这样大的图画不能折，带上飞机也很困难。于是，我邀请他到印尼住，在这里画，传福音给他。这位画家因而待在印尼二年多的时间，他所画的其中两项画作，其一是在教会建筑最高的二十四层楼，他画了六公尺四米〈最后的审判〉的复制品，还有一张长五公尺半、高三公尺四，我放在二十四楼音乐厅外的一座墙上，那是第二张最大的图，叫做〈君士坦丁靠基督得胜〉。如果你们有机会上去看一下，我很乐意解释给你们听。这个教会有世界最好的音乐、图画、神学，都是为你们预备。

The Work Jesus Does to Restore You

2021-10-22 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 14:1-18.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 14:1-18 (NIV)
1  The LORD said to Moses,
2  “These are the regulations for the diseased person at the time of his ceremonial cleansing, when he is brought to the priest:
3  The priest is to go outside the camp and examine him. If the person has been healed of his infectious skin disease,
4  the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.
5  Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot.
6  He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water…….

In Leviticus 14 we read of what a priest would do for a leper who had been banished from society because of their skin condition.  The priest was to go outside the camp to find the leper, to examine the leper, to confirm the leper’s healing, to make sacrifices on the leper’s behalf and to restore the leper back into the community.  Notice that it is the priest who does all the work on behalf of the leper so that the leper could be restored.

Similarly, when we were lost and cut off from God’s presence and God’s community because of our sin condition, Jesus our great high priest went outside of heaven’s borders to find us, to search our hearts, to proclaim our healing, to make costly sacrifices for us, and to bring us back to God and God’s community.  Jesus did all the work on behalf of us so that we could be restored.