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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.

以利亞預言旱荒

2021-10-26 in , /by

列王紀上 17:24   婦人對以利亞說：「現在我知道你是神人，耶和華藉你口所說的話是真的。」

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〈列王紀〉上17:1-24

這是一個讓人津津樂道的故事。從主日學到現在，我聽這故事不下百遍了，可是到現在還是喜歡它。以前喜歡的是以利亞行的神蹟，現在可以從這些神蹟裡去認識神，越讀越有意思。以前讀的時候覺得不降露不下雨與我無關，不癢不痛。有一年回台灣省親時，正好碰上台灣缺雨少水，水庫的水位一直下降，人心惶惶，政府一直呼籲大家節約用水。回到溫哥華，也碰上了難得的幾個月都天晴，沒想到從一級禁水令一直升到三級禁水令。水庫的水一點一點地減少，天上一滴水也沒掉下來。草地已經枯黃，樹葉也垂頭喪氣，泳池不可注水，家裡不可洗車。正在這緊要關頭，下雨了。每個人都歡欣鼓舞。

至於不降露有何嚴重性呢？幾年前我去過非洲的野生動物園，那裡的地也乾旱得很。但是導遊說，因為清早一些枝葉上有甘露，所以動物們只要吃了露水，就夠一天的水份了。所以沒下雨動物還能存活。所以若是沒有露水，不僅動物活不了，連植物都活不了。神為何要用乾旱來處罰以色列人呢？說實在的，在等待下雨的日子裡，我有時候會想到，是不是最近有人做了一些事情得罪神，以致神懲罰我們？甘露時雨都是上天所賜，當上天不再賜下甘露恩雨時，人就要好好地反省了。

所以當以利亞對亞哈王說：“我指著所侍奉永生耶和華以色列的神起誓：這幾年我若不禱告，必不降露不下雨”。是神藉著以利亞來使亞哈思想，並不是以利亞本身有能力做此事。神總是喜歡讓人與祂同工，使人自覺有價值。以利亞對亞哈王預言之後，神就叫以利亞住到基立溪旁，喝溪裡的水，等待烏鴉的供養。烏鴉早晚給他叼餅和肉來，這些和餅從哪裡來呢？沒人知道。會不會有的大戶人家每天都覺得少了一點肉和幾片餅，但是查來查去都察不出是誰偷吃的？過了些日子，溪水就乾了，是不是被以利亞喝乾了？當然不是，因為沒有下雨，太陽天天曬，把這條溪都曬到見底了。於是神叫以利亞去西頓的撒勒法。去那裡做什麼？去找一個寡婦。

巴沙／以拉／心利／暗利／亞哈

2021-10-25 in , /by

〈列王紀〉上 16:2  我既從塵埃中提拔你，立你做我民以色列的君，你竟行耶羅波安所行的道，使我民以色列陷在罪裡，惹我發怒。

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〈列王紀〉上15:25-34

  〈列王紀〉上 16:1-34

今天的經文是講到以色列北國，王權一連串轉換的歷史。

以色列王：耶羅波安（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）→亞哈（子）（22年）。

我們要先解決兩個年數上的小問題：第一個是暗利做王的年數：在耶羅波安做王第20年時，猶大王亞撒登基；到了亞撒王第38年時，以色列王亞哈登基。照年數算有時比較不準，因為有時不夠兩年，或是前後連接也算一年，就算了兩次。暗利做王是從亞撒27年算起，而不是從亞撒31年算起，頭尾相加共12年。

第二個問題，是巴沙何時攻擊猶大？在〈歷代志下〉16章1-6節記載：“亞撒36年，以色列王巴沙上來攻擊猶大”。但是在〈列王記上〉15章33節記載：“猶大王亞撒第三年，亞希雅的兒子巴沙在得撒登基做以色列眾人的王，共24年”。那麼，巴沙在亞撒27年時就已經去世了，不可能在亞撒36年還來攻擊猶大。這個時間很模糊。在無法確定時間時，我們主要看發生的事件和其影響。也可以明白，不管人怎樣盡心盡力，總會出錯。以色列人抄聖經是出名的嚴謹，翻譯聖經的人當然也存著非常慎重的心態來做這事，但不管人怎樣努力，總會找出一些可以改進的地方，使我們不能不謙卑，因為人實太有限了。

在亞撒做王時，正是耶羅波安年老快退位時，耶羅波安傳位給兒子拿答。基比頓是迦南中部的一座城，原是非利士人的城，以色列人進軍迦南時奪了此城，劃給利未支派中的哥轄子孫為業。不久，又被非利士人佔據，故又稱為：非利士的基比頓。王國分裂後，拿答試圖拿回此城，在圍困基比頓，和非利士人戰得難解難分時，部下巴沙背叛了拿答，殺了他，自己做起以色列王。廿幾年以後，巴沙的兒子以拉做王，他的元帥在攻打基比頓時，他被一個管戰車的臣子心利殺掉。拿答在圍困基比頓時，巴沙篡位；暗利在攻打基比頓時，心利在得撒殺了巴沙的兒子以拉篡位。因為臣子們在基比頓戰得很辛苦時，以拉卻在得撒喝到酒醉，看來以拉也不是一個好王。

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.

猶大王亞撒和以色列王巴沙

2021-10-24 in , /by

歷代志下 15:2b   你們若順從耶和華，耶和華必與你們同在。

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列王紀上 15:9-34 (亞撒登基，巴沙篡位殺拿答)

  歷代志下 14:9-15 (亞撒與古實王爭戢)

  歷代志下15:1-19 (亞撒利亞鼓勵亞撒)

  歷代志下 16:1-14 (亞撒拿聖殿的金銀送便哈達)

猶大王：羅波安→亞比央→亞撒。以色列王：耶羅波安（父）→拿答（子）→巴沙（篡位）。

為何神要特別把這些君王的歷史放在《聖經》裡呢？我想，每一個王都是一個人，從這些王的事蹟裡，我們都可以發現有一個小小的自己在裡面，也從而找到自己應該遵循的方向，和應該棄絕的想法。人生好比一條路，若跟隨主走下去，便可回到父家；反之，若被誤導到不同的路上，就要趕快回頭，免得回不到家。在猶大南國，雖然有好幾個王都三心二意地跟隨神，但至少在碰到困難時還會尋求神倚靠神；但是在以色列北國已經完全漠視神的存在和主權。

在猶大南國，因著神的應許，大衛的子孫一個個接續著坐上王位；在以色列北國的王就沒有這樣的幸運了，耶羅波安的兒子做王兩年就被巴沙殺掉篡位。巴沙不只是殺拿答，順手就把耶羅波安的全家也都殺得淨光，凡有氣息的沒有留下一個。神對耶羅波安的咒詛全應驗了：“我必使災禍臨到耶羅波安的家，將屬耶羅波安的男丁，無論困住的、自由的，都從以色列中剪除，必除盡耶羅波安的家，如人除盡糞土一般。凡屬耶羅波安的人，死在城中的必被狗吃，死在田野的必被空中的鳥吃。（王上14:10-11）”。被殺而來不及掩埋的，就被狗和鳥爭相覓食。可見人的肉體何等沒用，一旦失去了生命，就什麼也保不住了。

猶大王亞撒的一生分為三個階段。第一個階段記載亞撒做王後的第一個10年，他很積極地行神眼中看為善為正的事。他除掉外邦神的壇和丘壇，打碎柱像，砍下木偶；也吩咐猶大人尋求耶和華他們列祖的神，遵行祂的律法，誡命。亞撒全心尋求神，神就賜給猶大國平安。亞撒也趁著國泰民安，著手建造堅固的城邑和建立強大的軍隊。這就是亞撒做王第一階段的成就。

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).

《聖經中各種審判》7 — 對埃及的審判

2021-10-22 in , /by

論及歷史上的帝國

聖經的各種審判的講解，讓我們明白上帝如何在歷史中，透過祂運行在世上的權柄以及管教全世界的作為，彰顯祂的公義與聖潔。在整個源遠流城的歷史洪流中，中東以及北非的歷史上出現幾個最大的帝國，最先是阿卡帝國，以後是巴比倫、埃及、亞述、波斯、馬其頓、羅馬帝國，這些帝國的氣派與統治的範圍幾乎沒有可相比的。如今，無論東方或西方，已經沒有帝國的存在，昔日偉大的帝國都消滅了，現今還存在有王權但沒有統治實權的王族，挪威、瑞典、丹麥還有王族，昔日掌有大權的英國皇家現在也沒有太大的實權。日本的皇族與中國的皇族不一樣的地方，在於中國的皇族常常換姓，但日本的天皇制度一直傳下來，沒有換姓，日本皇族與日本社會非常敬重自己王族的傳習。中國最先的唐堯虞舜，是禪讓制度；禹之後，傳子不傳賢，之後夏朝被商朝推翻，商朝再被周朝推翻，異性的政權傳到滿族，最後被孫中山推翻。西方的帝國，國祚最長的，是二千多年的羅馬帝國；東方的王朝，國祚最長的，是五千多年的中國王朝。

君士坦丁促使羅馬帝國成為基督教國家

國祚綿延的羅馬帝國起初反對基督教，殺害基督徒，逼迫教會，直到第四世紀某一天的晚上，君士坦丁（Constantine, c.272-337）做夢，夢到他打仗的時候，有十字架的旗號在空中飛揚，說：「你要得著基督，才能得勝」，君士坦丁照著去做，果然全軍大勝，因而改信基督教。【編按：教會史家優西比烏（Eusebius of Caesarea, c.260-340）撰寫的《君士坦丁的一生》（Life of Constantine），書中曾提及君士坦丁與勢均力敵的對手對敵，在一場決定性戰役前夜曾做一個夢，夢中君士坦丁看見耶穌對他說：「只要以基督十字架作為部隊旌旗，就一定會戰勝敵軍」，夢醒之後的君士坦丁就照著夢中得到的指示更改旌旗，他的軍隊果然在這場決定性的戰役中大獲全勝。有另一說：在決戰前，君士坦丁望向天空，看見太陽之上有十字架的形狀，同時也出現一段文字說明；「以此記號，你必征服」，於是君士坦丁命令士兵在盾牌上畫上十字架的記號，他的軍隊果然戰勝。資料來源：台灣教會公報】君士坦丁改信基督教，使得原先反對基督教、殺害基督徒、逼害教會的帝國，舉國上下改信基督教，這是天大的事情。

描繪〈君士坦丁靠基督得勝〉的圖我們教會有，因為我請一位畫家從中國搬到印尼，在這裡吃、住、作畫，其中一幅畫作就是這幅。我在深圳遇到這位畫家，發現他繪畫的長才，便問他願不願到印尼作畫。那時他才二十三、四歲，他曾到印尼幫有錢人畫圖，他其中一個作品是畫在屋頂上。在屋頂上作畫是很難的，從前的人要建木架，躺在那邊，臉朝向屋頂，把漆放上去，如果漆掉進眼睛，可能會瞎的。米開朗基羅（Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475 -1564）就是這樣在西斯汀禮拜堂的屋頂，畫了全世界著名的〈創世記〉，有一次漆掉在他的眼睛旁，險些使他瞎眼；還有一次，他從木架摔下來，差一點殘廢。義大利人認為他比里奧納多達芬奇（Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519）更偉大。我用自己的錢把這名畫家五、六張的圖畫買回來，其中一張大到我沒有辦法從香港帶回來，長度六公尺四，比你的床大兩、三倍，這樣大的圖畫不能折，帶上飛機也很困難。於是，我邀請他到印尼住，在這裡畫，傳福音給他。這位畫家因而待在印尼二年多的時間，他所畫的其中兩項畫作，其一是在教會建築最高的二十四層樓，他畫了六公尺四米〈最後的審判〉的複製品，還有一張長五公尺半、高三公尺四，我放在二十四樓音樂廳外的一座牆上，那是第二張最大的圖，叫做〈君士坦丁靠基督得勝〉。如果你們有機會上去看一下，我很樂意解釋給你們聽。這個教會有世界最好的音樂、圖畫、神學，都是為你們預備。

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.

Clean Because of Jesus

2021-10-21 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Leviticus 13:40-59.  Let’s go!

Leviticus 13:40-46 (NIV)
40  “When a man has lost his hair and is bald, he is clean.
41  If he has lost his hair from the front of his scalp and has a bald forehead, he is clean.
42  But if he has a reddish-white sore on his bald head or forehead, it is an infectious disease breaking out on his head or forehead.
43  The priest is to examine him, and if the swollen sore on his head or forehead is reddish-white like an infectious skin disease,
44  the man is diseased and is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head.
45  “The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’
46  As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp.

On verses 40-46:  In Leviticus 13:45-46 we read of the way in which people with leprosy were kept away from the rest of society: they would need to tear their clothes, cover their faces, cry out “unclean!” whenever anyone came near, and live alone outside the camp away from everyone.  Sadly, for the protection of the rest of the community, lepers were treated as the untouchables of Israelite society.

Given this, it is amazing to read about the way Jesus treated lepers.  In Luke 5:12-16, a man covered in leprosy sees Jesus and falls with his face to the ground and begs Jesus, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus’ response is, literally, touching.  The Bible says Jesus reached out his hand and touched this man, who probably had not felt the touch of another human being in a very long time.  When no one else was willing to get near him, let alone touch him, Jesus touched and said, “I am willing.  Be clean!”  And when Jesus touched the leper, the leprosy left him immediately.