Entries by

第七封信：给老底嘉教会 (下)

2021-07-16 in , /by

(续) 2.主第二次责备他们：17节「你说，我是富足，已经发了财，一样都不缺。却不知你是那困苦、可怜、贫穷、瞎眼、赤身的。」老底嘉教会看自己是甚么？他们看高了自己，以为富足，一样都不缺。他说我是富足，已经发了财，一样都不缺。老底嘉教会是怎样情形呢，教堂建筑华丽，教友多。自夸教秩序好，合主心意。自夸教友多，自夸歌诗班好，所唱的诗好听。自夸牧师传道够资格，教友地位高，有学问，有财富。各位，但主不喜欢人自夸。团体自夸，个人自夸主都不欢喜。如〈路加福音〉18章所记载那法利赛人，说到自己如何好，不像别人勒索不义，奸淫，也不像这个税吏。把自己提得何等高。不知这是中了魔鬼的诡计。你们想想撒但的结局何等可悲。

从前有一个南方人，很羡慕学说北方话，所以他到了北方学说官话，因为记忆力不好，学来学去，只学了六个字，就是「是我」「不错」「好的。」他认为很满意，就大摇大摆的回来。来到他的家门前，敲门，他的妻子认不出是谁，不敢开门。就门内问：「谁呀？他用官话回答：「是我。」他的妻子听了吓了一跳，以为北洋军来惧怕得很。但他走是在门外用官话大声说：「是我，是我，是我……」后来他妻子留心听，才认出是自己的丈夫，于是快快的开门，把他接入来，知道他学懂了说官话，更欢喜。于是遇见人就说自己的丈夫学懂了说官话。因此周围的人知道他会说官话。有一天，发生了案，有人被谋杀。官府就来调查，但这官府是北方人，那地方的人于是请他出来代回答官府的问话。官长问他：「谁杀死这个人。」他说：「是我。」又问：「真的是你？」他答：「不错。」官长说：「你杀死人就要偿命。」他说：「好的。」他因此被判了死刑。各位，把自己提得太高，就会有大危险。主怎样批评他们呢？主说：「却不知你是那困苦、可怜、贫穷、瞎眼、赤身的。」在主的眼睛看来，他们是何等困苦、可怜、贫穷、瞎眼赤身的。

三、主对他们的劝勉──18至20节「我劝你向我买火炼的金子，叫你富足。又买白衣穿上，叫你赤身的羞耻不露出来，又买眼药擦你的眼睛，使你能看见。凡我所疼爱的，我就责备管教他，所以你要发热心，也要悔改。看哪，我站在门外叩门，若有听见我声音就开门的，我要进到他那里去，我与他，他与我一同坐席。」这三节经文里面，给我们见到主对老底嘉教会的劝勉，主对他们有三样劝勉：

You’re Not Bound By Your Past Mistakes

2021-07-15 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 44:18-34.  Let’s go!

Genesis 44:18-34 (NIV)
18  Then Judah went up to him and said: “Please, my lord, let your servant speak a word to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, though you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
19  My lord asked his servants, ‘Do you have a father or a brother?’
20  And we answered, ‘We have an aged father, and there is a young son born to him in his old age. His brother is dead, and he is the only one of his mother’s sons left, and his father loves him.’
21  “Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me so I can see him for myself.’……

In fact you could argue that there is no one in the book of Genesis who is recorded as making more mistakes than Judah.  Yet here in this passage Judah does something noble, loving and sacrificial.  With Benjamin on the verge of being taken as a slave, Judah recounts to the Egyptian authority how Judah promised his father that he would make sure nothing bad happened to his brother Benjamin.  He offers to serve as a slave for the rest of his life in place of Benjamin so that Benjamin can go free.

大卫匿于亚杜兰洞

2021-07-15 in , /by

〈撒母耳记〉上 22:1    大卫就离开那里，逃到亚杜兰洞。他的弟兄和他父亲的全家听见了，就都下到他那里。

阅读经文：〈撒母耳记〉上 22:1-23 

这章的经文里记述了一个小人物的堀起，和一个大人物的自堀坟墓。从表面上看来，大卫好像是落魄了，但是跟随他的人从各地而来。大卫从一个逃犯变成了一个小头目。扫罗命令人去杀祭司，却没有人肯做，只有以东人多益才敢做如此得罪神的事情。扫罗的作为使他失去人心，使他成为一个残杀子民的王，一个走向末日的王。从来是，得人心者得天下，失人心者失天下。大卫和扫罗的情形正反映了这句话的真实。

大卫欺骗亚希米勒大祭司以求饼，又装疯欺骗非利士王亚吉以求生，当他想得到人的帮助时，他发现除了欺骗没有别的办法。即使如此，欺骗不仅没有为他解决问题，反而让他要面对更大的问题。挪伯一城的血债都由他而起，何等沉重！大卫离开亚吉之后，就逃到亚杜兰洞。他再也无法倚靠任何人。有时候，神会把我们逼到一个地步，让我们只能倚靠祂。反而是当大卫开始倚靠神时，他就成了别人可以倚靠的人。这真是很奇妙的事，当我们什么都没有，只能倚靠神时，神就因而彰显荣耀，让我们可以成为他人的帮助。

亚杜兰在希伯伦西北约16公里，以拉谷的南侧， 介于迦特和伯利恒中间，在犹大高原上，该地区的山中有很多石灰岩洞穴，洞穴彼此互通，可容人居住。最出名的洞穴就是大卫住过的亚杜兰洞。大卫逃到亚杜兰洞时，他的弟兄和父亲的全家都去投靠他，很可能因为扫罗也开始逼迫他们，要他们说出大卫的所在。大卫有三个哥哥都在扫罗的军队里，一旦扫罗以大卫为敌，他的哥哥们在军队里可能也受到莫须有的对待，以致他们宁可叛逃也不要在军队里呆下去；他们一逃，其他的家人岂能不逃？

大卫逃至挪伯和迦特

2021-07-14 in , /by

〈撒母耳记〉上 21:10  那日大卫起来，躲避扫罗，逃到迦特王亚吉那里。

阅读经文：〈撒母耳记〉上 21:1-15 

这是大卫的人生里比较多苦难的一段日子。虽然没有做错什么，虽然全心全意地在为以色列人争战，虽然尽心尽意地服侍扫罗，却换来怀疑、嫉恨和追杀，甚至有家归不得。你说他冤不冤？世界上感到自己很委屈，很冤枉的人到处都是，但是能像大卫在感到委屈和冤枉时仰望神的人就不多了。扫罗坐在王位上，却因为没有神的同在，因而疑神疑鬼；大卫虽在逃亡途中，但因为有神的同在，在苦境中亦可领略到神的恩典。

挪伯是便雅悯地一座祭司居住的小镇，在约柜被非利士人抢走后，会幕就从示罗搬到挪伯，约柜则继续留在基列耶琳。亚希米勒是以利的孙子，有解经家认为他就是十四章第三节里穿着以弗得的亚西亚祭司。在十四章里，亚西亚（即亚希米勒）是跟着扫罗的祭司，换句话说，他是扫罗的“御用”祭司。所对政治也有点敏感度。当他看到大卫独自前来时，就感觉得有点不对劲，因此战战兢兢地出来迎接大卫。

大卫是战士长的身份，理当有人随侍左右，怎么他会独自一人前来？大卫可能为了寻得亚比米勒的帮助，而向他撒谎。经常有人认为撒一下白谎无所谓，又不会害人。为了保护自己，编一下故事又何妨？但是我们若知道亚希米 勒和整个挪伯城都因为大卫的白谎而被扫罗屠城，可能对白谎会有更深的认识。

The Testing Before The Blessing

2021-07-14 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 44:1-17.  Let’s go!

Genesis 44:1-17 (NIV)
1  Now Joseph gave these instructions to the steward of his house: “Fill the men’s sacks with as much food as they can carry, and put each man’s silver in the mouth of his sack.
2  Then put my cup, the silver one, in the mouth of the youngest one’s sack, along with the silver for his grain.” And he did as Joseph said.
3  As morning dawned, the men were sent on their way with their donkeys.
4  They had not gone far from the city when Joseph said to his steward, “Go after those men at once, and when you catch up with them, say to them, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?……

On verses 1-17:  Here Joseph plants his own silver cup into his brother Benjamin’s sack without Benjamin knowing.  Then after sending the brothers off, Joseph gets his men to chase after the brothers, alleging that one of them had stolen his silver cup.  It turns out that Joseph, a son of Jacob the original trickster, has a trick up his own sleeve.  Yet we will see that Joseph ultimately had a good intention by playing this trick on his brothers.

God Sees Right Through

2021-07-13 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 42:1-20.  Let’s go!

Genesis 42:1-2 (NIV)
1  When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why do you just keep looking at each other?”
2  He continued, “I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy some for us, so that we may live and not die.”

On verses 1-2:  Jacob by this point was old, but his penchant for wanting to get things done and finding that the people around him were too slow was alive and well.

Genesis 42:3-20 (NIV)
3  Then ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt.
4  But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with the others, because he was afraid that harm might come to him.
5  So Israel’s sons were among those who went to buy grain, for the famine was in the land of Canaan also.
6  Now Joseph was the governor of the land, the one who sold grain to all its people. So when Joseph’s brothers arrived, they bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

约拿单与大卫结盟

2021-07-13 in , /by

〈撒母耳记〉上 20:42   愿耶和华在你我中间，并你我后裔中间为证，直到永远！

阅读经文：〈撒母耳记〉上 20:1-42 

约拿单和大卫的友谊是神很奇妙的安排。因为一般而言，要做朋友大多是年龄相当，背景类似，才容易谈得来。但是约拿单是王子，大卫是平民，而且是个放羊的，两人的地位甚为悬殊；年龄上约拿单也比大卫大许多，约拿单是扫罗的长子，大卫是耶西的么儿。当约拿单已经是个奔驰于彊场的勇士时，大卫还只是个放羊的小孩。但是大卫对神的信心吸引了约拿单，使他们一见如故，其实说是约拿单特别疼爱大卫，也不为过。因为大卫在一开始很可能不敢高攀，是约拿单的诚意使大卫可以放心跟他做朋友。

约拿单是敬畏神的人，因此他在灵里的感觉也很敏锐。他说的每一句话都好像在交代遗嘱，虽然他自己不知道将会发生何事。我们教会里有一位老妈妈在过世之前的主日，不知为何，就站在教会门口跟每一个人打招呼。等她过世后，大家猛一回想，才觉得那天早上她的行为很特别，仿佛是在向大家告别。虽然她自己也不知道那周之间她会返回天家。约拿单和大卫结盟的内容是：“你要照耶和华的慈爱恩待我，不但我活着的时候免我死亡，就是我死后，耶和华从地上剪除你仇敌的时候，你也永不可向我家绝了恩惠。”他是王子，为何需要大卫免他死亡？他仿佛在预言，有一天大卫的权位会比他高，可以有生杀之权。倘若他死了，也不可向他家绝了恩惠。仿佛他已经知道，有一天他的家会需要大卫的保护。

当约拿单明白他的父亲非杀大卫不可的决心后，他更加求大卫记念他们之间的约，“愿耶和华在你我中间，并你我后裔中间为证，直到永远！”所以约拿单显然已经查觉，耶和华神已经不再与他的父亲同在，因为他说：“愿耶和华与你同在，如同从前与我父亲同在一样”。他很清楚，神与大卫同在，神已经不再和他父亲同在。

God Prepares Before He Promotes

2021-07-12 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 41:37-57.  Let’s go!

Genesis 41:37-44 (NIV)
37  The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials.
38  So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”
39  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you.
40  You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
41  So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.”
42  Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
43  He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
44  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.”

On verses 37-44:  Joseph goes from a prisoner to being put in charge of the whole land of Egypt.  For the first time since he was a child, Joseph is even given a robe that speaks of his favoured status (v42).  What a promotion.  You could make the argument that God was preparing Joseph for a role like this his whole life, whether Joseph knew it or not.  Before God promotes a person, He prepares them.  

大卫逃避扫罗

2021-07-12 in , /by

〈撒母耳记〉上 19:12    于是米甲将大卫从窗户里缒下去，大卫就逃走，躲避了。

阅读经文: 〈撒母耳记〉上 19:1-24 

扫罗隐藏的杀机终于再也无法隐瞒，他把这个想法公诸于世，向众臣仆和约拿单说他要杀大卫。但是就像约拿单说的，大卫不但没有犯错，反而拚命杀非利士人，他对扫罗是有益、有帮助的，少了一个这样的英雄，以色列人能打得过非利士人吗？除了扫罗，大家都能看得清楚，以色列人需要大卫这样勇敢的战士。我们有时会不会想，神的同在和不同在，于我们有何关系？为何《圣经》常常强调神的同在，好像那是一件很重要的事？

扫罗和大卫是个很好的例子，让我们看到一个人有神同在和没有神同在的光景。扫罗失去了神的同在，虽然位极王尊，却一点安全感也没有，整天活在害怕和恐惧之中。他的表面很风光，有很多人侍候左右，有很多人听从他的调度，他想怎样就怎样，甚至想杀人时就去杀人。他有极大的生杀之权，但是他一点平安也没有。因此恶魔时时来找他，其实更正确的说法是，因为没有神的同在，他无从求告，被自己的愁烦和嫉恨所缠绕，所以自己一个人时，越想越着急，就有精神错乱的现象出现，变成一个失去理智的人，忘恩负义的人。

大卫每遇非利士人来争战，他就出去努力抗敌，扫罗却视他为眼中钉。嫉恨使人失去正确的判断，扫罗不感谢大卫的功劳或苦劳，只是不断地担心自己的声誉下降，大卫的声誉升隆。有时候我们在服侍神时也会碰到这样的情况，害怕别人的表现出色，取代了自己的位置，因而对心里嫉妒的人百般掣肘，甚至不给服侍的机会。扫罗和大卫的事发生在神所拣选的子民国度里，所以在神的家里，人若没有神的同在，就会发生比社会上的人更不公平的现象，使人对神的家灰心失望。

Wisdom Is…

2021-07-11 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 41:1-36.  Let’s go!

Genesis 41:1-8 (NIV)
1  When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile,
2  when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds.
3  After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank.
4  And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5  He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk.
6  After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted–thin and scorched by the east wind.
7  The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
8  In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.

On verses 1-8:  Here we see that a problem that Pharaoh could not understand and could not solve himself would ultimately lead him to God and give an opportunity for someone from among God’s people to bring a God-inspired solution.  When you face a problem for which you and others don’t have a simple solution, see it as an opportunity for God to use His people to bring the help needed.