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证坛

2021-04-29 in , /by

〈约书亚记〉 22:34 流便人、迦得人给坛起名叫证坛，意思说：「这坛在我们中间证明耶和华是神。」

阅读经文：〈约书亚记〉 22:1-34 

很奇妙的，当我们偏离神的话语时，我们很自然就会有不安全感，因而想尽办法要讨神的祝福。例如，借着功德或清修等等，希望得到神的悦纳。选了河东之地的以色列人就有这样的不安全感。他们看中了那块可以蓄牧的美丽草场，可是心里却明白，那不是神应许的迦南地，还差了一条河。虽然很近，但还是差了一点点。当你想要用自己的方法去寻求神的祝福时，你就要小心省察自己了。就好像有的丈夫买了花送妻子时，妻子问他：「你是不是做了什么亏心事？」

当以色列人的地业都分完之后，约书亚就勉励住在河东的两个半支派，让他们回家。没想到他们回到河东地之后，不久就建起了一座高大的坛，让迦南地居住的以色列人看到，不禁起了无名火。他们为什么要生气呢？他们生气到聚集在一起，要去攻打他们。这可不是小事，若真的打起来，就是以色列的第一场内战了。他们生气的原因是什么？他们觉得河东的以色列人做了悖逆神的事情。他们指出河东人的一个心结：是否觉得河东之地不洁净？因为不在神应许的迦南地之内。

他们到了基列地，见流便人、迦得人和玛拿西半支派的人，对他们说：「耶和华全会众这样说：你们今日转去不跟从耶和华，干犯以色列的神，为自己筑一座坛，悖逆了耶和华，这犯的是什么罪呢？从前拜毗珥的罪孽还算小吗？虽然瘟疫临到耶和华的会众，到今日我们还没有洗净这罪。你们今日竟转去不跟从耶和华吗？你们今日既悖逆耶和华，明日他必向以色列全会众发怒。 你们所得为业之地，若嫌不洁净，就可以过到耶和华之地，就是耶和华的帐幕所住之地，在我们中间得地业。只是不可悖逆耶和华，也不可得罪我们，在耶和华我们神的坛以外为自己筑坛。

利未人所得之邑

2021-04-28 in , /by

〈约书亚记〉 21:45 耶和华应许赐福给以色列家的话一句也没有落空，都应验了。

阅读经文：〈约书亚记〉 21:1-45

 事奉神的人得不到地上的基业，你觉得合情合理吗？你还敢事奉神吗？在卅几年前，温哥华刮起了传销之风，我们也被卷进去了。那时大家都有一个梦，好像再过几年都可以变成百万富翁了。但是逐渐地，我发现当自己的心思和时间都花在组织聚会和推销货品时，那种感觉就好像用生命去换钱。我问自己值不值得？答案是不值得。世界上的钱可以赚，但是若要用生命的时间去换，值得吗？事奉神虽然赚不到什么钱，但是神是我们的供应，赚到灵魂的喜乐，让人感到付出一生的光阴都值得。那种心灵的满足是没有什么物质可以替换的。物质和享受都会成为过去，但是神同在的满足却一生一世都不会消失。

利未人事奉神而不分地上的产业，因为他们有神的应许，神就是他们的产业。有神为产业，究竟是好是坏？神这份产业看不见，摸不著，怎能拥有呢？我觉得保罗把这种情况说得最好：「似乎贫穷，却是叫许多人富足的；似乎一无所有，却是样样都有的。（林后6:10）」神虽然没有分给利未人地上的产业，但是利未人还是有居住的地方；利未人虽然没有自己的产业，但是他们却让整个以色列民族与神联结，使他们能得到神的祝福，使他们成为富足。神虽然看不见摸不著，但是神的供应却历历可见。 所以想要事奉神的人一定要明白，他不必拥有世界，神却会供给他一切的需要。

在〈民数记〉卅五章里记载：「耶和华在摩押平原约旦河边，耶利哥对面，晓谕摩西说：『你吩咐以色列人，要从所得为业的地中把些城给利未人居住，也要把这城四围的郊野给利未人。 这城邑要归他们居住，城邑的郊野可以牧养他们的牛羊和各样的牲畜，又可以安置他们的财物。 你们给利未人的郊野，要从城根起，四围往外量一千肘。

Rely on the Holy Spirit’s Counsel

2021-04-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 8:1-12.  Let’s go!

Genesis 8:1-5 (NIV)
1  But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.
2  Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky.
3  The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down,
4  and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.
5  The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

On verses 1-5:  If God’s wrath is sometimes compared to a flood (e.g. Psalm 88:16-17), the fact that the floodwaters receded after 150 days reminds me that after God’s wrath comes God’s mercy.  It reminds me of this beautiful verse in Scripture: “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5; see also Isaiah 54:8).  In this case, 150 days of flooding would be followed by God re-establishing his covenant with mankind, a covenant that would last much, much longer than the flood.  It goes to show that in the great plan of God, as terrible as God’s judgment is, in the end “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 5:13b). 

Float Above the Flood

2021-04-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 7:11-24.  Let’s go!

Genesis 7:11-24 (NIV)
11  In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month–on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
12  And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13  On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark…….

On verses 11-24:  Here just as the Lord promised, the flood comes, destroying human life and land animal life except for Moses, his family and the animals in the ark.

From this I learn and am reminded of the following:

1.     As incredible as this event sounds, Jesus speaks on a number of occasions about the flood and gives no impression that it was anything but a real and historical event.  Jesus compares what happened at the flood to what will happen at his second coming.  For example, see Matthew 24:37-39 where Jesus says:

立逃城

2021-04-27 in , /by

〈约书亚记〉 20:3 使那无心而误杀人的可以逃到那里。这些城可以做你们逃避报血仇人的地方。

阅读经文: 〈约书亚记〉 20:1-9 

逃城，顾名思义，便是一个暂时可以躲藏起来的地方。你有没有过想逃的感觉呢？当你做错事被发现的时候，会不会想逃呢？在一些车祸现场，肇事者往往逃逸现场。但是现在许多人有行车记录仪，却往往就正好把肇事者的车牌号记了下来，令他不得不面对自己的罪行。台湾曾有个新闻头条，复兴航空七个月内接连在澎湖和台北发生空难，共酿成92人死亡，罹难者­尸骨未寒，赔偿善后也尚未和解。复航董事长林明升却开着保时捷跑车于山区飙车，甚至­在弯道跨越双黄线超车，逼得对向大型重型机车骑士无处可躲，被迫撞山壁受伤送医，林­视人命如草芥，未停车察看就肇事逃逸。好像这样的例子，林可否躲到逃城逃避责任呢？

逃城的「逃」这词在希伯来文原出自「miqlat」这字。 这字字根的意思就是「接纳，吸收」，就是「接纳逃亡者到自己的地方」或「庇护，藏匿」的意思。因此按希伯来文，逃城的本意乃是「收容」或「接纳」逃亡者的城市，就是「庇护的城市」，或「庇护城」。犹太人把旧约圣经译成希腊文时， 把这个字译成「流亡放逐的场所」，「可逃去的地方」。 这可能是翻译和合本的学者所以译成「逃城」的原因。 但「庇护城」是比较接近希伯来原文的译法。

庇护城是为了庇护谁呢？要庇护所有犯罪和做错事的人吗？只要杀了人就可以到逃城躲起来吗？在〈民数记〉卅五章里，神解释得很清楚，逃城是为了保护误杀人者，而不是为了谋杀者。杀人者有三种，一种是完全出于无心之失，例如在吵架时一时失手，以致对方死亡。二是没有尽到自己的责任，以致别人死亡。例如门前积雪，以致路人跌倒撞到头而死亡。这是疏忽致死。三是明知危险还故意去做，导致别人死亡。例如酒后开车，或故意飙车，使人无法逃避而致死。虽无伤人之心，却有伤人之实，是严重的过失杀人。

加利利的分地

2021-04-26 in , /by

〈约书亚记〉 19:49 以色列人按著境界分完了地业，就在他们中间将地给嫩的儿子约书亚为业。

阅读经文：〈约书亚记〉 19:1-51

〈约书亚记〉 18-20章依次记载了以色列人拈阄把土地分给便雅悯支派、西缅支派、西布伦支派、以萨迦支派、亚设支派、拿弗他利支派、但支派等七个支派，他们就都得了迦南地为业。他们的地大都在以色列的北边，围绕着加利利海，这些地区有何特色呢？

在〈列王记〉上第九章记载：「推罗王希兰曾照所罗门所要的，资助他香柏木、松木和金子，所罗门王就把加利利地的二十座城给了希兰。」但是推罗王看了这廿座城后，有何反应，你知道吗？他嗤之以鼻，对所罗门王说：「我兄啊，你给我的是什么城邑呢？」他称那廿座城为迦布勒，意思是无用的小城。在〈历代志〉下八章2节，希兰把这些城还给了所罗门。希兰是推罗的王，推罗是临海贸易之地，希兰对内地的城巿自然没有兴趣。但是所罗门王收回这廿座小城后，就重新建造它们（王上9:17-19）。

这廿座小城就在加利利境内。加利利因为水源充足，土地肥沃，所以当地人主要从事农业和渔业，还有纺织、石工、造船和制造陶器等行业。古时加利利森林密布，今天那里还生长着各种树木，包括雪松、柏树、冷杉、栎树、夹竹桃、棕榈树、松树、桑叶 无花果树和胡桃树。现在这里种植许多种类的蔬菜，以及小麦、大麦、无花果、 小米、槐蓝、橄榄、大米、甘蔗、柑橘、梨和杏。这样的鱼米之乡自然人口稠密，兴旺繁荣。因此有句犹太谚语说：「到北方（加利利）找财富，到南方（犹大地）求智慧」。那么以赛亚先知为何形容它是「受过痛苦的、被藐视的」？

以赛亚先知曾预言这些地方：「但那受过痛苦的，必不再见幽暗。从前神使西布伦地和拿弗他利地被藐视，末后却使这沿海的路，约旦河外，外邦人的加利利地，得着荣耀。（赛9:1）」古时的加利利地包括了亚设、以萨迦、拿弗他利和西布伦几个族的分地。

God Does The Saving

2021-04-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 7:1-10.  Let’s go!

Genesis 7:1 (NIV)
1  The LORD then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

On verse 1:  The Lord found Noah to be “righteous in his generation”.  I believe that is best understood to mean that compared to others in his generation, Noah was relatively more God fearing and tried harder to please God than the people of his generation.  That is why God decided to save Noah and his family and use them to repopulate the earth after the flood. 

What can we learn from this?

1.     While God loves everybody, to accomplish His purposes on earth God especially loves to use people who fear Him and who try hard to honour Him. 

2.     Does this mean that somehow we can earn our way to heaven by trying to be good?  No.  Noah being found relatively “righteous in his generation” and usable for God’s purposes on earth is different from Noah being found absolutely righteous according to God’s standards for heaven.  The fact is that none of us is deserving of heaven on our own merit because none of us is absolutely righteous in God’s eyes.  

Noah’s Ark, Jesus’ Body, My Salvation

2021-04-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 6:11-22.  Let’s go!

Genesis 6:11-13 (NIV)
11  Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence.
12  God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.
13  So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

On verses 11-13:  In Genesis 1, God saw that the earth He made was good.  Here, however, in verses 11-13 God saw how corrupt the earth had become due to the sins people would commit and the violence they would inflict on one another.  We’re only six chapters into the Bible, but we are now half way through the overarching story of the Bible:  “God made us.  We blew it.  Jesus came.  We need Him.”  This is the “we blew it” part.

余地绘图以备阄分

2021-04-25 in , /by

〈约书亚记〉 18:1以色列的全会众都聚集在示罗，把会幕设立在那里，那地已经被他们制伏了。

阅读经文：〈约书亚记〉 18:1-28

示罗是希伯来圣经中提到的一座古代城市，位于以法莲山地，位于伯特利东北的小山冈上，城的四周都是高山，东有大泉，从伯特利到示剑的大路由此经过。以色列人攻占迦南后，在此安营，会幕也设在示罗，成为固定的建筑物。在很长时期中，示罗是以色列人活动的中心，每年在此都举行一个特别节日。

约书亚从示罗派出各支派的代表，勘察迦南地的详细状况，然后按城邑分作七份，拈阉分给便雅悯、西缅、西布伦等七个未曾在约但河东岸取得土地的支派。其遗址是今伯特利东北 16公里、示剑东南18公里的赛依仑废墟。（资料来自以斯拉百科网）

示罗在以法莲境内，撒马利亚在玛拿西境内，可见这两族在以色列中举足轻重的地位。眼看五个宗族都有自己的领土了，为何其他七个支派还在观望等待呢？难道是约书亚忘了给他们拈阄？从雅各的十二个儿子来看，从大小排序是：流便、西缅、利未、犹大、但、拿弗他利、迦得、亚设、以萨迦、西布伦、约瑟、便雅悯。流便因为与雅各的妾有染，玷污了他父亲的床，失去了长子的位置。雅各把长子的名份给了约瑟，让他得两份的家产，又立以法莲在玛拿西之上。但是君王和弥赛亚从犹大而出，因此在约旦河东边，犹大、以法莲和玛拿西先得分地权，在吉甲分地；然后才轮到其他七个支派在示罗分地。

God Cares and God Is Watching

2021-04-23 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 6:1-10.  Let’s go!

Genesis 6:1-7 (NIV)
1  When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them,
2  the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
3  Then the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4  The Nephilim were on the earth in those days–and also afterward–when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
5  The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
6  The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
7  So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth–men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air–for I am grieved that I have made them.”

On verses 1-7:  At first glance verses 1-7 read to me like a fairy tale, speaking of a whimsical, romantic time when the “sons of God” mated with the “daughters of men” (v1-2), a time when the Nephilim, known to be a race of giants, lived.  According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary, what could actually be happening here in verses 1-7 is that the author of Genesis (many scholars say it was Moses) was addressing the widely held beliefs of pagan nations which taught that you could attain god-like immortality by engaging in great immorality  Along this line of teaching,