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Ask Big, Dream Big

2020-12-31 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 15:13-19.   Let’s go!

Joshua 15:13-19 (NIV) 
13  In accordance with the LORD’s command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah–Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) 
14  From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites–Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai–descendants of Anak. 
15  From there he marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). 
16  And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” 
17  Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him in marriage. 
18  One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?” 
19  She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

On verses 13-19:  I get a kick out of watching Caleb and his family.  Not once but twice (once in Joshua 14 and again here in Joshua 15), the book of Joshua describes how land is being distributed to the various tribes of Israel when this very formal process seems to be informally interrupted by Caleb and his family suddenly appearing and asking for land.  

Make the Most of What You’ve Been Given

2020-12-30 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 15:1-12.  Let’s go!

Joshua 15:1-12 (NIV) 
1  The allotment for the tribe of Judah, clan by clan, extended down to the territory of Edom, to the Desert of Zin in the extreme south. 
2  Their southern boundary started from the bay at the southern end of the Salt Sea, 
3  crossed south of Scorpion Pass, continued on to Zin and went over to the south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it ran past Hezron up to Addar and curved around to Karka. 
4  It then passed along to Azmon and joined the Wadi of Egypt, ending at the sea. This is their southern boundary. ……

On verses 1-12:  Having allotted land east of the Jordan River to 2.5 tribes of Israel (Joshua 14:1-5), here starting in Joshua 15 we read of how Joshua divided the land west of the Jordan River among the remaining 9.5 tribes of Israel.  We start with the tribe of Judah in verses 1-12.  According to historians, Judah, being the largest tribe in Israel, received the largest portion of the promised land.   Notice that the land given to Judah was flanked on different sides by water (for example, its eastern boundary was the Salt Sea (v5), its northern boundary was the bay at the mouth of the Jordan River (v5), and its western boundary was the “Great Sea”, or the Mediterranean Sea (v12)).  However, the land also had its share of deserts, like the Desert of Zin in verse 1.   The land had plenty of mountains and hills (v9-11) and also many valleys (v7-8). 

红母牛和除污秽的水

2020-12-30 in /by

〈民数记〉19:9 必有一个洁净的人收起母牛的灰，存在营外洁净的地方，为以色列会众调做除污秽的水，这本是除罪的。

神叫摩西要在营外烧一只红母牛成灰，加活水，做成除污秽的水。一切不洁净的人若要到圣殿去敬拜或服侍，都必须用除污秽的水洒在身上，才能成为洁净。若没有洒除污秽的水在他身上，他是不洁净的，就不可以进会幕或圣殿敬拜神。当然，也不可以参与服事，这也包括了祭司和大祭司。因为我们都是不洁净，沾染污秽的人。但是想找到一只全身红毛，没有任何杂毛的母牛，谈何容易？

有人说，要找到一头红母牛，就好像要在一堆干草里找一根针那么困难。根据犹太人的资料，从摩西到希律建的第二圣殿被毁，两千年来一共才烧了八头红母牛（有的说九头）。第一头红母牛是摩西烧的，以斯拉烧了第二头，大祭司公义的西缅和友加拿(Simon the Just and Yochanan) 曾经各烧了两头， Elioenai ben HaQayaph 和埃及人 Hanameel 曾经各烧了一头。可见这牛烧了以后，收集起来的灰不少，可以用很久。犹太人相信摩西烧了第一头红母牛，弥赛亚来了以后会烧最后一头红母牛。很可惜，他们不知道弥赛亚耶稣已经把自己献上，靠着祂完成的救恩，我们得以洁净，再也不需要除污秽的水了。当然，也不必再去找红母牛。

《米示拿》（Mishnah）是由犹太人口传下来的律法，集合成书。在《米示拿》这本律法书里记载了一些和红母牛相关的资料。先是红母牛的资格：必需没有残疾、未曾负轭、纯红的母牛。因此若知道某个地方有红母牛出生，犹太人的拉比就会专程去检查。一头牛的身上不可以有两根其他颜色的杂毛，例如，若是一头红母牛身上找到有两根黑色的毛，那就不合格了。同时，牛身上的毛必须都是直的，表示未曾负轭。红母牛若是超过三岁（有的说四岁）就不合格，太老了。人也不可以靠在红母牛身上，若是有什么东西曾放在牛背上，也是不合格。红母牛必是自然生产，不可以剖腹产或有人工帮忙。

结了熟杏的木杖

2020-12-29 in , /by

〈民数记〉17:8 第二天，摩西进法柜的帐幕去。谁知利未族亚伦的杖已经发了芽，生了花苞，开了花，结了熟杏。

可拉一党的叛乱，是因为不能进迦南地的失望，导至想夺权的意念。这样的心情不是一天两天的事，而是日积积月累形成的，所以他们才会来质问摩西和亚伦的权柄。究竟是谁让你们做头的？为何我们凡事都要听你的？我们难道没有话语权，决定权吗？这也是之前米利暗和亚伦对摩西的质问。

现在我们看到这样的情绪到处都有，大至国家的国会，小至家庭里的纷争，都是因为对权柄的渴望，想要别人听我的，而我不想听别人。在民主社会，以投票决定负；在极权国家，以控制决定输赢；在神权时代，神说了算，因为没有人可以大过神。

以色列的众首领和会众攻击摩西，质问亚伦的权柄。因为一切仿佛都是摩西说了算，神对摩西说什么，摩西就照做，谁也不晓得神究竟有没有告诉摩西，也不知道有没有摩西的私意。因为他们是一家人。

所以，神叫以色列的首领各拿一根自己的杖，写上名字，把这些杖放在法柜前，法柜就是约柜。神所拣选的那人，那人的杖必发芽。这些首领各个都是年高望众，要走旷野的路，怎能没有杖呢？十二支派的首领就照着做了，把杖交给摩西，放在法柜前面。

这些人的杖都是己经枯干了的树干。有一个弟兄在世时做了一根走路杖，用一根比较直的树干，去掉枝节，又把它打滑摩光，在底部加了套子。后来他把杖留给我们，外子去森林走路时就用它。若有人说这根杖还会发芽开花，我们也会觉得是神蹟。因为它早就「死」了。

To Follow the Lord Wholeheartedly, You Need to Do These 2 Things

2020-12-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 14:10-15.  Let’s go!

Joshua 14:10-15 (ESV) 
10  And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 
11  I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 
12  So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORDwill be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said.” 
13  Then Joshua blessed him, and he gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 
14  Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel. 
15  Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim.) And the land had rest from war.

可拉党之乱

2020-12-29 in /by

〈民数记〉16:30 倘若耶和华创作一件新事，使地开口，把他们和一切属他们的都吞下去，叫他们活活地坠落阴间，你们就明白这些人是藐视耶和华了。

在新闻上，我们有时候会看到某些国家的政变，有的国家可以和平转移政权，有的国家却不然。至于革命，我们也明白是怎么一回事，当权的太腐败，民不聊生，就会有强人兴起，推翻政府；至于逼宫，我们也宫庭电视电影上也见得多了。只是没有想到，会发生在一个这么年轻的「国家」里，其实，他们甚至还不能称为一个「国家」。

以色列人刚领受了神极重的刑罚，38年在旷野生活，那一代的男人，除了约书亚和迦勒，直到死都不能进迦南地。因为他们试探神，不信神。但是他们把怒气全算在摩西头上。

这是利未支派的争斗。

利未有三个儿子：革顺、哥辖、米拉利。哥辖的儿子是暗兰、以斯哈、希伯伦、乌薛。暗兰的儿女是米利暗，亚伦和摩西。以斯哈的儿子是可拉。

神把祭司的职份赐给亚伦和其后裔。圣所内的事奉工作，以及在祭坛主持献祭，都只限祭司才能做。因 祭司身上有膏油和坛上的血，使他们能成圣 （利8:30），所以可以进入圣所工作，并可主持献祭，以及包装与拆解圣物（民 4:5-6）。

利未人是祭司的助手，作协助祭司的工作。

How to Be Uncommonly Blessed

2020-12-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 14:1-9.  Let’s go!

Joshua 14:1-9 (NIV) 
1  Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. 
2  Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine-and-a-half tribes, as the LORD had commanded through Moses. 
3  Moses had granted the two-and-a-half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest, ……

On verses 1-9:  The previous chapter (Joshua 13) described the lands east of the Jordan River that would belong to two and a half tribes of Israel (Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh).  Now here in Joshua 14, attention turns to the lands west of the Jordan River that would belong to the remaining nine and a half tribes of Israel.  Before describing in detail how the lands west of the Jordan would be divided among the nine and a half tribes, Joshua 14 first notes three important facts that would affect how the land west of the Jordan would be divided:

安息日捡柴的人

2020-12-27 in /by

〈民数记〉15:40 使你们记念遵行我一切的命令，成为圣洁，归于你们的神。

假如你昨天(主日)在家里敬拜后就去超巿买菜，回家后就被抓去关，两天后执行死刑。你的家人和朋友们会有怎样的反应呢？

〈民数记〉15章记载了一件事：以色列人在旷野的时候，遇见一个人在安息日捡柴。遇见他捡柴的人，就把他带到摩西、亚伦并全会众那里，将他收在监内；因为当怎样办他，还没有指明。耶和华吩咐摩西说：「总要把那人治死；全会众要在营外用石头把他打死。」于是全会众将他带到营外，用石头打死他，是照耶和华所吩咐摩西的。

神告诫百姓，人若误犯了罪，赎罪后必得赦免；但那擅敢行事的，无论是本地人是寄居的，他亵渎了耶和华，必从民中剪除。因他藐视耶和华的言语，违背耶和华的命令，他的罪孽要归到他身上。

安息日捡柴，是为了烧火，可能是为了煮东西。守安息日是十诫中的第四诫，摩西己经告诫以色列人多次，不可干犯安息日。所以这个人在安息日去捡柴，是属于「擅敢行事的」，也就是「藐视耶和华的言语」，「违背耶和华的命令」，所以必须接受用石头打死的死刑。

这也是为何在耶路撒冷会议上，彼得说：「现在为什么试探神，要把我们祖宗和我们所不能负的轭放在门徒的颈项上呢？」所以使徒们没有要求外邦信徒按著律法行事，保罗也强调因信称义。所以今天我们做完礼拜就去饮茶，买菜，和亲友出游，都不妨事，因为我们是外邦信徒，不在律法之下。我们只要守三件事就行了，就是：「禁戒偶像的污秽和奸淫，并勒死的牲畜和血。」(徒15章)

Your Forever Inheritance

2020-12-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 13:24-33.  Let’s go!

Joshua 13:24-33 (NIV) 
24  This is what Moses had given to the tribe of Gad, clan by clan:
25  The territory of Jazer, all the towns of Gilead and half the Ammonite country as far as Aroer, near Rabbah;
26  and from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir;
27  and in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth and Zaphon with the rest of the realm of Sihon king of Heshbon (the east side of the Jordan, the territory up to the end of the Sea of Kinnereth)…….

On verses 24-33:  Verses 24 to 28 describe the lands that Moses had allotted to the tribe of Gad, and then verses 29 to 32 describe the lands that Moses had allotted to half of the tribe of Manasseh.  But then verse 33 makes a contrast between what Gad and Manasseh got and what the tribe of Levi got.  Just as verse 14 did earlier, here verse 33 tells of how the tribe of Levi did not receive any land from Moses.  Instead the inheritance given to the tribe of Levi was that they got to be priests who enjoyed a special relationship and closeness to God.  As verse 33 says, “to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance; the LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he promised them.”