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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。

猶大王瑪拿西

2021-12-16 in , /by

〈歷代志〉下 33:13他祈禱耶和華，耶和華就允准他的祈求，垂聽他的禱告，使他歸回耶路撒冷，仍坐國位。瑪拿西這才知道唯獨耶和華是神。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下 21:1-18
〈歷代志〉下 33

瑪拿西是舊約聖經裡出名的浪子。就像耶穌所說的浪子比喻，瑪拿西用盡了神藉著希西家留給他的美好產業，最後被亞述擄去。敵人用鐃鉤鉤住他，用銅鏈鎖住他，他失去一切，成為階下囚，連尊嚴也失去。在急難時，他和浪子一樣，想起了他的父親。但瑪拿西想起的是天上的父親，神。當他自卑，悔改時，神就饒恕他。奇蹟似地，讓他能夠回到耶路撒冷，仍舊做王。這時瑪拿西才知道唯獨耶和華是真神。這是很多拜偶像、信假神的人，成為基督徒時所做的類似的見證。

可能有很多人不覺得拜偶像是罪，拜假神是可咒詛的。放眼社會上，那麼多人都在拜偶像，親近邪靈，要是說他們都在行惡，很可能會被套上一頂蔑視他人的大帽子，甚至還可能琅璫入獄。最近有一些拒絕為同性戀服務的例子，都遭到了麻煩。用這樣的尺度來看瑪拿西，你實在不會覺得他有多壞。不過就是不信耶和華神罷了，他豈沒有選擇宗教信仰的自由？這也是一些父母的想法，不要在孩子年幼時帶他們去教堂，讓他們長大成人時，自己去做選擇。他們覺得從小教孩子學《聖經》是剝奪了他們的人權。

問題是，我看到很多父母親因為愛小孩，在孩子尚未出生之前，已經很注意母親的飲食和生活習慣；在孩子出生後，更是要孩子吃最天然的食品，準備最好的環境，甚至在孩子出生後就開始選最好的幼稚園，以便上最好的小學，最好的中學，最好的大學。但是誰知道今年“最好的”，明年或後年是否還是“最好的”？在世界上的選擇，父母都要選最好的給孩子，為何獨獨漏掉孩子靈魂之所依？為何要孩子認識他們的父母、父母、外祖父母，甚至姑姑、伯伯、叔叔、舅舅，卻單單不要他們認識賜予他們生命的主？

God and Sex

2021-12-16 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 8:1-15.  Let’s go!

Exodus 8:1-6 (NIV)
1  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.
2  If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs.
3  The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs.
4  The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.'”
5  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.'”
6  So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land.

On verses 1-6:  The ancient Egyptians worshiped Heket, who was known as the goddess of fertility and was represented by the frog.  Sculptures and paintings of Heket depict her with the face of a frog.  Apparently the worship of Heket informed the way Egyptians viewed sex and having babies.  By causing frogs to appear everywhere in Egypt – in people’s bedrooms and homes – and later causing the frogs to die in verse 13, the Lord was communicating that the Lord is far greater than Heket and that it is the Lord, not Heket, who reigns over the issues of sex and fertility.

God is Gentle with You

2021-12-15 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 7:14-25.  Let’s go!

Exodus 7:14-21 (NIV)
14  Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go.
15  Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake.
16  Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened.
17  This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.

On verses 14-21:  The Egyptians worshiped the god Hapy as the god who had power over the Nile. By turning the Nile River into blood, God was communicating that He had power over the Nile, that He alone was the one true God, and that life ultimately comes from Him, not the Nile.

Also, I find it interesting that the first miracle God enables Moses to perform in the sight of all the Egyptians (and not just in Pharaoh’s court) is turning water into blood.  It was a message of warning and judgment that God was sending to Pharaoh and all of Egypt.   Fast forward to the New Testament and you’ll find that the first miracle Jesus performs is turning water into wine.  It’s a message of joy, life and restoration, where God is not taking away the water supply but enhancing it.  Why the difference?  Didn’t the same God send both Moses and Jesus?  

希西家的感恩之歌

2021-12-15 in , /by

〈以賽亞書〉 38:17 看哪，我受大苦本為使我得平安，祢因愛我的靈魂，便救我脫離敗壞的坑，因為祢將我一切的罪扔在祢的背後。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下 20
〈歷代志〉下 32:24-31

希西家是一個很有信心的君王，但君王也是凡胎俗體，免不了會生病。希西家病得要死，當以賽亞先知去看他時，也是這樣告訴他：“你當留遺命於你的家，因為你必死，不能活了。”倘若是你聽到這樣的宣告，怎麼辦呢？死路一條。希西家不敢說什麼，轉臉朝牆，向神禱告。他希望神因為他對神所存完全的心，又做神所喜悅的事，希望神能夠憐憫他。希西家是希望神因為他的“用功和成績”，或許給他一點額外的恩惠。神不是因為希西家的作為而醫治他，因為人做好是應當的，在神面前沒有功德這一論。就像主耶穌說的，我們只當說，這是僕人當做的。神醫治希西家是因為希西家的祈求，神聽見了他的禱告，看見了他的眼淚，因而醫治他。

但是這樣祈求來的壽命也是有限的。此事讓我們明白，神聽得見我們的禱告，也看得見我們流下的眼淚。但神要用什麼方法幫助或醫治，我們不知道，因為在神每個人身上的計劃都不一樣，但是信徒的禱告必不徒然，眼淚也不會白流。以賽亞離開希西家，還沒走到皇宮的中院，都還沒出門，神就告訴他，要增加希西家十五年的壽數。有的人得了癌症，卻可以不立刻死，又活了好幾年，但不管神再給多少年的壽命，都是有限的。神給人最好的禮物是永生，在世上多少年就不用太計較了。

希西家喜出望外，擦乾眼淚不哭了，像小孩子一樣，向以賽亞求兆頭。因為一個病重得快死的人，兩天之後就會好起來，第三天就可以上聖殿，簡直不可思議。希西家要求一個日影往後退十度的兆頭，神就讓亞哈斯的日晷向前進的日影往後退了十度。以賽亞叫人拿一塊無花果餅貼在希西家的瘡上，王便痊癒了。現在我們已經知道食用無花果對人有很多好處，也可以醫痔瘡，把無花果餅貼在瘡上，不知有沒有人試過？但是只要神願意醫治，凡物都可作為媒介。

The End of Myself

2021-12-14 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 7:1-13.  For context, we’ll also include Exodus 6:28-30.  Let’s go! 

Exodus 6:28-Exodus 7:1 (NIV)
28  Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt,
29  he said to him, “I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.”
30  But Moses said to the LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?”
1  Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet.

On Exodus 6:28-Exodus 7:1:  Notice the difference in the way Moses saw himself and the way God saw Moses.  Moses focuses on his inability and weakness, his “faltering lips” (v30).  God says He has made Moses to be like God to Pharaoh and Aaron to be Moses’ prophet (v1). It goes to show that God sees us differently than the way we naturally see ourselves.  If like Moses you have a tendency to focus on your weaknesses and limitations, know that God sees you in a completely different light: He sees you as forgiven, strong, an overcomer (see 1 John 2:12-14).  Part of becoming more godly is learning to see yourself the way God sees you.

Exodus 7:2-7 (NIV)
2  You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country.
3  But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt,
4  he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites.
5  And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”
6  Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them.

亞述王西拿基立被殺

2021-12-14 in , /by

〈列王記下〉下 19:30猶大家所逃脫餘剩的，仍要往下扎根，向上結果。

閱讀經文：〈列王紀〉下19:1-37

這真是每個遇到霸凌的人最高興的結局，霸凌被解決掉了，從此可以高枕無憂了。但是在霸凌被除掉之前，我們要先明白必須有怎樣的信心才能度過面對霸凌的日子。希西家盡全心去建築工事和裝備，也勉勵百姓要倚靠神。但是當眼前的局勢越變越糟時，他的信心還站立得住嗎？靠近非利士邊境的拉吉被亞述佔據了，而亞述正在攻擊立拿。這兩個地方都是軍事重鎮，可以阻擋從埃及來的軍隊。亞述王聽到古實王要出來與他爭戰的話，更希望趕快攻下耶路撒冷，免得兩面受敵，因此要先拿下立拿和拉吉，好讓埃及軍隊不能經過。有人說這位古實王其實是古實籍的埃及王，也有人說是埃及尼羅河北部的古實之王。因為埃及離猶大和以色列比較近，所以有時會向他們求援。

希西家派家宰和書記披上麻布去見先知以賽亞，說：「今日是急難、責罰、凌辱的日子，就如婦人將要生產嬰孩，卻沒有力量生產。或者耶和華你的神聽見拉伯沙基的一切話，就是他主人亞述王打發他來辱罵永生神的話，耶和華你的神聽見這話就發斥責。故此，求你為餘剩的民揚聲禱告」。在等待的時候，在危難中看不見希望之際，希西家沒有離棄神，他派人去找神的僕人，請他代禱。在急難、責罰、凌辱的日子裡，希西家依然仰望神。有的人看到情勢不對，就去算命、抽籤，希望從別處得到指引。但是希西家認定了唯有耶和華是真神，他就不像其他的王轉向假神，反而去找神的僕人。

這樣的信心得到神的肯定，因此神藉著先知回應希西家：「你聽見亞述王的僕人褻瀆我的話，不要懼怕。我必驚動他的心，他要聽見風聲，就歸回本地，我必使他在那裡倒在刀下」。哇，多麼令人得安慰的話，神終於應允要出手了。但是亞述王給希西家的信卻令他傷痛不已。不是為了國勢的危險，而是他所敬畏的神被亞述王眨得一文不值，被亞述王拿來與其他國家的假神相比。希西家把信件拿到聖殿，在神的面前展開，求神救猶大脫離亞述的手，使天下萬國都知道，唯獨耶和華是神。希西家的禱告蒙神垂聽了，因為神必不讓自己和其他的假神做比較。我們若要為霸凌事件禱告，也要這樣禱告，讓耶和華神彰顯祂自己的榮耀，使世上的人都知道，我們倚靠的是真神。

Bigger Than Our Brokenness

2021-12-13 in /by

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Exodus 6:14-30.  For context, we’ll start at Exodus 6:13.  Let’s go!

Exodus 6:13-27 (NIV)
13  Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt.
14  These were the heads of their families: The sons of Reuben the firstborn son of Israel were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi. These were the clans of Reuben.
15  The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon.

On verses 13-27:  Just before we get into the big action scenes of Exodus, we are first given a genealogy (i.e. a summary of the family line) for Moses and Aaron.  The purpose of this genealogy was to show future generations of Israelites where exactly Moses and Aaron fit under the family tree of their nation’s patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (also known as Israel).  It is an abbreviated, selective genealogy that does not show every name and every generation in Moses and Aaron’s family tree, but just enough to show that Moses and Aaron were descendants of Israel’s third son Levi, and the origins of some of Aaron’s descendants like Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Phinehas, who would play prominent roles in Israel later on.