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《聖經中各種審判》14— 對埃及的審判 之九

2021-12-11 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。

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節

2021-12-09 in , /by

〈歷代志〉下30:20耶和華垂聽希西家的禱告，就饒恕百姓。

閱讀經文：〈歷代志〉下30:1-27

自從所羅門王之後，猶大和以色列都沒有再過逾越節。假如華人不再過春節，你會有什麼感覺呢？春節好像是華人的特徵，就好像洋人若不過聖誕節，也就沒了洋味兒。再困難的時候，我們也會想起和家人一起度過的春節；秋天看到月圓時，也會聯想起中秋。神設立光體，可以分晝夜，做記號，定節令、日子，彷彿是為了提醒我們一些事情。不然的話，一日滾過一日，吃了三餐就睡覺，睡醒了又吃三餐，與動物何異？動物不過節，人是要過節的。因為節日給了人的生命和生活有一些基本的意義。

對以色列人和猶大人而言，逾越節便是一年之初最重要的節日。因為這節日提醒他們記念神和他們這個民族的關係，讓他們明白自己的生存和自由是何等可貴。在埃及人的眼中，他們是供人驅使的奴隸，但是在神的眼中，他們是神所揀選的珍貴的兒女。所以逾越節是他們的重生之日，重見天地之時，離開奴役成為自由身，重新與神立約的節期。當他們不再記念這個節日時，就彷彿忘記了自己的生日一樣，再次變成宇宙中沒有意義的存在。

希西家在潔淨了聖殿，獻上了各樣的祭禮和敬拜之後，立刻呼籲猶大人過逾越節。但是他不止呼籲猶大人，他沒有忘記那些已經亡國的以色列人。他寫信給以法蓮和瑪拿西人，又定了命令，傳遍以色列，從別是巴直到但，叫大家都來耶路撒冷過逾越節。假如我們記得以利亞在迦密山上獻祭以先，他先用十二塊石頭築壇，這十二塊石頭代表以色列的十二個支派，包括猶大支派。在神的眼中，這十二個支派是合一不可分的。所以假如只有猶大人在耶路撒冷守節，神的心不會得到滿足；神必要看到以色列的十二個支派都出現，祂的心才會得到滿足。就好像做父母的人，不會因為有一兩個兒女在身邊就很滿足，除非所有的兒女都回到他們身邊，他們的心才會得到滿足。

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。