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Training for Battle

2021-05-11 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage  s Genesis 14:13-24. Let’s go! 

Genesis 14:13-14 (NIV)
13  One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram.
14  When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

On verses 13-14:  The moment Abram heard about his nephew Lot being taken captive, Abram was able to call out 318 trained men born in his household to go and rescue Lot.  Notice that though Abram did not yet have a son of his own, he had over 300 men born in his household trained for battle.    

It’s a reminder that we want the people born in our home to be trained well for battle.  The Bible teaches that we are in the middle of a war between God and Satan.  If we do not train those in our homes and churches to fight and do battle against our enemy Satan, Satan will inevitably take captive the people and things we hold dear, and we will have no idea how to recover what he has stolen.  That’s why it is so important to grow up spiritually and to arm yourself in the ways Ephesians 6:10-20 describes.  One of those ways is knowing and declaring God’s Word for it is the sword of the Spirit, our weapon in battle.   

底波拉和巴拉之歌

2021-05-11 in , /by

〈士師記〉  5: 4 耶和華啊， 祢從西珥出來，由以東地行走，那時地震天漏，雲也落雨。

閱讀經文：〈士師記〉  5:1-31

在許多爭戰之後，每個民族都有不同的記錄方式。亞述人用浮雕，雕刻戰爭的戰況和得勝；以色列人則多用詩歌記錄當時的情形。這首詩歌是底波波和巴拉一起作的，但有的人把它稱為底波拉之歌。這首詩歌分成六段，每一段都有一個主題。

第一段是讚美耶和華神，因為當神介入這場戰爭時，祂的威嚴無以倫比。那時「地震天漏，雲也落雨」，描寫當時戰爭時的天氣。這天氣和戰事大有關係，因為「地震」，以致基順古河漲溢，把敵軍沖没；因為「天漏」下雨，因此地上泥濘不堪，使敵人的九百輛鐵車在泥中動彈不得，以致夏瑣的大將軍西西拉最後不得不下車奔逃。神怎麼會怕鐵車呢？是以色列人怕，神一點都不怕。再多幾百輛，也讓它變成廢鐵一堆。

有一篇寫關於以色列的文章，說以色列的國土是沙漠，一年只下卅天雨，竟然成了農業大國。在當年被警告大旱將臨時，她毫無反應，反而勸人民不用省水。因為他們有四百座把海水變為能飲用的淡水工廠。他們還能設計人造雪賣給阿爾卑斯山，維持他們的觀光經濟。以色列人的神給他們有智慧把沙漠變成綠野，也可以把別人引以為傲的前進武器鐵車變成一堆廢鐵。1948年以色列立國後，埃及、敘利亞和阿拉伯國家屢次趁其不備進攻，卻都被以色列反擊到領土被佔。以色列的領土雖看起來微不足道，卻有一個很強勢的神眷顧著他們。所以我們即使渺小，也有同一個最強勢的神眷顧著我們。這個最強勢的神卻以最卑微的方式來為我們的罪死，以無可比擬的愛來愛我們，我們怎能不降服？

士師底波拉

2021-05-10 in , /by

〈士師記〉 4:4   有一位女先知名叫底波拉，是拉比多的妻，當時做以色列的士師。

閱讀 經文：〈士師記〉 4:1-23 

有一位牧師說，底波拉的出現，是當時男人的恥辱。我覺得他太言過其實了，那麼柴契爾夫人做英國宰相時，所有的英國男人不都羞愧死了？很多男人沒有辦法接受底波拉是士師的事實，當他們在解釋這段經文時，一定要把巴拉也作為士師加進來。事實上，〈士師記〉的作者寫得很清楚，底波拉是一名女先知，又是當時的士師，而巴拉是一位將軍。所以解釋《聖經》時，若把人的意思放進去，就會變得不必要的複雜。神可以使用「左撇子以笏」，也可以讓珊迦使用趕牛棍打敗非利士人，任何人任何東西，只要神要使用，有什麼不可以呢？女人或男人是否可以服侍神，是在於神的揀選和呼召，而不在於其性別。

底波拉的工作從為以色列人作判斷開始，以色列人有糾紛就去找她，可見她有從神來的智慧，才能為人排解糾紛，並且使人樂意聽從。她也有從神來的呼召，才能當上女先知，因為神的話語臨到她。《聖經》裡有不少女先知，可見神的話語要臨到誰，是出於神的主權。男人若是沒有對神的信心，即使有神的呼召，也無法在他所做的事上得到榮耀。當神呼召一個人時，其實是讓他和神同工，因為神要與他同在，讓他得榮耀。但是巴拉不明白這一點，他看到的是可怕的敵人和九百輛鐵車，他覺得他不行，他沒有把握打這個仗。他只看自己，而沒想到，這是神吩咐他去打的仗，若是出於神的吩咐，神必負責到底。但是巴拉只看到自己的有限和無能，沒有看到神的全能和無限。這就是底波拉和巴拉不同的地方。

底拉波傳達神的話：「我必使耶賓的將軍西西拉率領他的車輛和全軍往基順河，到你那裡去。我必將他交在你手中。」但是巴拉的反應是：「你若同我去，我就去；你若不同我去，我就不去。」他居然相信底波拉勝過相信神的應許！因為他的小信，以致於神把得勝的榮耀交在另一個女人的手中。神沒有要求我們做大事，祂只要求我們相信祂，因為在每一件神要我們做的事情上，神親自要完成奇妙的工作，祂所求於人的，便是要對祂有信心。

Don’t Be Undone By Greed

2021-05-10 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 14:1-12.  Let’s go!

Genesis 14:1-12 (NIV)
1  At this time Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goiim
2  went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar).
3  All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (the Salt Sea).
4  For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled…….

On verses 1-12:  These verses describe a war between two alliances of kings.  On one side we have Kedorlaomer king of Elam, the strongest king in the region plus three other kingdoms allied with him (Shinar, Ellasar, and Goyim).  On the other side, we have an alliance of five kingdoms consisting of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zebooi, and Bela/Zoar.  At the Valley of Siddim, these two alliances battle, resulting in Kedorlaomer’s alliance defeating Sodom and Gomorrah.  As part of their victory over Sodom and Gomorrah, Kedorlaomer’s alliance kidnaps Abram’s nephew Lot, since Lot was a resident of Sodom (v12).

What can we learn from this?  These verses are setting the stage for Abram to come to Lot’s rescue and defeat Kedorlaomer, which we will read about in the next verses.  For now it is worth noting that if Kedorlaomer had just taken the goods and food of Sodom and Gomorrah as plunder and had left Lot untouched, Abram would never have gone to fight Kedorlaomer and defeat him.  Apparently Kedorlaomer’s greed may have been his undoing.

以笏和珊迦

2021-05-09 in , /by

〈士師記〉 3:28a    對他們說：「你們隨我來，因為耶和華已經把你們的仇敵摩押人交在你們手中。」

閱讀經文：〈士師記〉 3:12-31

摩押人是羅得的大女兒和羅得的後裔，羅得是亞伯拉罕的侄子，以色列人是亞伯拉罕的後裔，所以摩押人和以色列人有親戚關係。他們之間的關係時好時壞，在〈路得記〉裡記載當伯利恒有饑荒時，有的以色列人就跑到摩押地避災；大衛逃難時，也曾把父母放到摩押地去避難。但是在這章裡，摩押人約了亞捫人和亞瑪力人一起去攻打以色列人，占據了棕樹城，也就是耶利哥城。棕樹城是耶利哥城的別名，因為在耶利哥城裡有許多棕樹。

這三族人戰勝以色列人，以色列人就服侍摩押王伊磯倫十八年。以色列人何時離開神，何時就失去力量，被敵人所勝。我們也是一樣，我們何時離開神，就會失足，或失敗。主耶穌說：「因為離了我，你們就不能做什麼。（約15:5c）」〈士師記〉裡的以色列人，正像有些相信主耶穌的人，雖然身在迦南地，卻不一定肯遵行神的話去生活，反而偏行已意，以致常被試探所勝，跌入苦難之中。但是愛我們的神卻從不曾離開我們，總是等著我們回轉，等著向我們伸出援手。

神會使用誰去拯救以色列人呢？在我們的心中，能拯救一個民族的豈不是超人嗎？現在電視電影上不僅有男超人、女超人，還有蜘蛛人、蝙蝠俠，不勝枚舉。在人的心中，能拯救人的必然有超凡的力量，一隻手可以舉起一架坦克，一跑可以快過飛機，但那些都是假的，是人幻想出來的。以色列的「超人」，都是神興起的。

God’s Plan Is Greater Than Our Mistakes

2021-05-09 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 13:1-18.  Let’s go!

Genesis 13:1-2 (NIV)
1  So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him.
2  Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

Verses 1-2:  Remember who Lot is.  Lot was Abram’s nephew, the son of Abram’s deceased brother Haran (Genesis 11:27).  After Haran died, Lot and Abram lived together in one household under care of Abram’s dad Terah (Genesis 11:31).  When Terah died, Abram took Lot under his wing and became a father figure in Lot’s life.  Practically speaking, because they lived so close to each other for much of their lives, Abram saw Lot like a younger brother and cared for him that way (see verse 8).

Genesis 13:3-4 (NIV)
3  From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier
4  and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD.

第一封信：給以弗所(2)(上)

2021-05-08 in , /by

主對以弗所教會的責備（啟2:4-7）

當一個教會什麼都有，卻缺乏愛

　　以弗所教會有眾多的榜樣，是亞細亞最大的城市，是政治、娛樂、文化、經濟中心，但以弗所教會在這些大城市許多不同的人之中，在行為、勞碌、忍耐、不能容忍惡人上都做信徒的榜樣。主看見以弗所教會的好處，也看見她的缺點，因此主說：「有一件事，我要責備你」，這件事使主心裡難過，「你已經離棄了起初的愛心」。當一個教會什麼都有，卻缺乏愛，在最重要的事情上有了錯失，那麼，他愛心的生活是主動的？還是被動的？

你經常覺悟什麼？

　　你失去起初的愛心，但你不容易覺悟。在人生過程中，我們有些很難覺悟的毛病，無法單單透過悟性察覺。有些事情，我們很容易覺悟，有些事情，我們不容易覺悟。

　　我們生病的時候，我們很容易覺悟，我們痊癒的時候，我們不容易覺悟。我們飯後打嗝，我們很容易覺悟；但五分鐘後，當你不再打嗝，你卻沒有覺悟，因為你感到打嗝是不正常的，沒有打嗝才是正常的，你對感到是不正常、帶給你痛苦的事，馬上覺悟，這表示我們常常在恩中不知恩，在福中不知福，等到恩典失去了，福氣減少了，突然感到生活很不舒服，「我正在困難中，受疾病的纏擾」，這種只對艱難有敏銳的覺悟，是相當不正常的，因為我們應該常常覺悟的是恩典，這樣我們才能常常感恩。

對恩典的不覺悟

　　我們不覺悟的事情有哪些？第一，對恩典不覺悟。很多人不感恩，因為對恩典不覺誤，卻對患難深有所悟。今天早上五點我起來思想一個問題，今天有很多神學生在這裡住、在這裡吃，他們不覺悟他們住的樓是世界最新式、最漂亮的樓，他們住的房間是有冷氣的房間，而他們付的價錢是全世界最便宜的價錢，這是一個恩典，

Don’t Give Into Fear

2021-05-07 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 12:10-20.  Let’s go!

Genesis 12:10-20 (NIV)
10  Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
11  As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are.
12  When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.
13  Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14  When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman……

On verses 10-20:  One of the things I appreciate about Genesis is its honesty; that is, when it comes to characters like Abram or Noah, the Bible tells it like it is.  Rather than pretending that these great figures in the Bible did not have their share of flaws and weaknesses, Genesis openly talks about their flaws and weaknesses, not to smear their name but to show that all of us are sinners who need a Saviour.  Here, Abram, whose faith is in many ways an example for us, does something here that no man of faith would be proud of:  fearing what the Egyptians might do to him if they found out he was married to the beautiful Sarai, Abram lies to everyone he meets in Egypt about his marriage to Sarai, saying that they are siblings rather than husband and wife.  He also tells Sarai to do the same.  As a result, Pharaoh king of Egypt takes Sarai into his palace, presumably to be his concubine.  While Abram seems to profit initially from his lie (v16), eventually God sends diseases on Pharaoh and his household, evidently to protect His plans for Abram and Sarai.  Angry at how Abram lied to him, Pharaoh returns Sarai to Abram and sends them away from Egypt.

When God Speaks to You

2021-05-06 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Genesis 12:1-9.  Let’s go!

Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV)
1  The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
2  “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

On verses 1-3:  Everything that Abram might otherwise use to anchor his identity before – his country, his people and his family – God asks Abram to leave in order to go to the land that He will show him (v1).  The only assurance God gives Abram is a promise that God will bless Abram and make Abram into a great nation, and that through him all peoples on earth will be blessed (v2-3). 

How would all peoples on earth be blessed through Abram (v3)?  In a number of ways:  

–        Abram (later known as Abraham) would be regarded as the father of the Jewish people (Mark 12:26; John 8:39; Acts 3:13).

–        From Abram’s blood line Jesus Christ would be born (Matthew 1).   

–        Abraham’s example shows that we are justified (that is, declared righteous and not guilty in God’s sight) simply by having faith in God’s promise, not by the good things we do (Romans 4:1-15).  In this way, Abraham is a father in faith to all who have trusted in Jesus Christ (Romans 4:16; Galatians 3:6-7).  

第一個士師俄陀聶

2021-05-06 in , /by

〈士師記〉 3:9 以色列人呼求耶和華的時候，耶和華就為他們興起一位拯救者救他們，就是迦勒兄弟基納斯的兒子俄陀聶。

閱讀經文: 〈士師記〉 3:1-14 

在《聖經》裡，我們處處可看到神的主權和權柄。正如神說的：「你們如今要知道，我，唯有我是神！在我以外並無別神。我使人死，我使人活，我損傷，我也醫治，並無人能從我手中救出來。(申32:39)」神可以幫助以色列人趕出迦南地所有的外邦人，也可以留下幾族不趕出去。看起來似乎是以色列人不遵從神的旨意，缺乏信心；但是作者卻讓我們看見，凡事都有神的旨意。即使人不遵從神的旨意，神也可以使壞事變好事。

例如，以色列人在約書亞死後各自為政，不再像以前那樣同心抗敵，神也可以藉著他們趕不出去的外邦人去達到一些目的。其一，可以使用這些外族人來試驗以色列人肯不肯遵行神的道；其二，可以讓以色列人的後代學習戰事。所以從巴力黑門山直到哈馬口，都有零零落落的外族人居住其間。黑門山在舊約時是巴珊王噩的屬地，迦南人把它認為是敬拜巴力的聖山，因此被稱為巴力黑門山；但是在耶穌登山變像之後，它就有了新的意義，變成跟從耶穌之人的聖山了。

哈馬口曾是亞蘭（敘利亞）境內的一座城，在利巴嫩山脈和安替利巴嫩山脈之間的谷地中，是自南方進入哈馬地區的惟一孔道。也就是說，在迦南境內由南至北，神留下非利士五個首領，也就是五座城；還有西頓人、希未人，等等。

以色列人不僅和外族人立約，去拜他們的巴力和亞斯她錄，並且與迦南人通婚，侍奉他們的神。在《聖經》裡我們經常會看到這句話：「以色列人行耶和華眼中看為惡的事」。你可能會不以為然。因為現在和異族通婚簡直是司空見慣，怎麼會變成神眼中的惡事？神難道不希望全世界的人都彼此相愛，成為一家嗎？可能有的人會覺得神的心胸太狹隘了。