Entries by

No Longer a Slave to Fear

2020-12-14 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 9:15-27.  Let’s go!

Joshua 9:15-21 (NIV) 
15  Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. 
16  Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them. 
17  So the Israelites set out and on the third day came to their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath Jearim. 
18  But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the assembly had sworn an oath to them by the LORD, the God of Israel. The whole assembly grumbled against the leaders, 
19  but all the leaders answered, “We have given them our oath by the LORD, the God of Israel, and we cannot touch them now. 
20  This is what we will do to them: We will let them live, so that wrath will not fall on us for breaking the oath we swore to them.”
21  They continued, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for the entire community.” So the leaders’ promise to them was kept. 

On verses 15-21:  Just as the Israelites kept their promise not to attack the Gibeonites, you and I should do everything we can to be those who keep our word or fulfill our promises, even when it hurts (Psalm 15:4). 

神的拣选

2020-12-14 in /by

民数记 3:41 我是耶和华。你要拣选利未人归我，代替以色列人所有头生的；也取利未人的牲畜，代替以色列所有头生的牲畜。

这是摩西和亚伦生命中很重要的时刻。神呼召亚伦和摩西同工，但是摩西一离开，亚伦就帮助百姓造金牛犊。当摩西质问他时，他把所有的责任都推到百姓身上。但是神没有离弃他，神饶恕他，再给他一个机会，是一个极大的荣耀。

神拣选他做第一任的大祭司，让他的儿子们做第一批的祭司。神命定祭司必须是亚伦的后裔，所以第一批的祭司只有亚伦的四个儿子。没想到拿答和亚比户一开始事奉就没有按照神的吩咐，献凡火，以致神当场把他们烧死。亚伦接受了最高的荣誉，也承受了最大的悲伤。

现在只剩下以利亚撒和以他玛两个祭司了。神不在乎事奉的人少，祂宁可要忠心的仆人，也不要任意妄为、自以为大的祭司。这是一个神接受人的敬拜之开始，不能出错，神若任凭他们，不予管教，以后就会全盘皆错。亚伦在这些事上，怎样看他和神的关系呢？他开始明白，敬拜神不是儿戏。

他看到神召集所有利未支派的人来服侍他，协助他献祭和办理帐幕的事，他发现神竟然把他和他的家放在以色列人最崇高的位置上，甚至胜过摩西的后裔。他开始明白，神不是故意杀死拿答和亚比户，而是在神的圣洁上，容不得人的罪之审判。审判从神的家开始(彼前4:17)，也就是从他的家开始。

他也因而明白，自己和后裔成了神和人之间的桥梁，在这个位置上若不谨慎，就会有生命危险。因为神在鉴察。亚伦的属灵生命开始改变，开始有了敬畏之心。

Inquire of God before Making a Big Decision

2020-12-13 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

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

Joshua 9:1-14 (NIV) 
1  Now when all the kings west of the Jordan heard about these things–those in the hill country, in the western foothills, and along the entire coast of the Great Sea as far as Lebanon (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites)– 
2  they came together to make war against Joshua and Israel. 
3  However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 
4  they resorted to a ruse: They went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. ……

On verses 1-14:  Unlike the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites who form an alliance to fight Joshua and the Israelites (v1-2), the Gibeonites take another approach (v3).  Believing they are no match for the Israelites, they decide instead to send a worn out looking delegation pretending to come from a far away country and wanting to make a peace treaty with the Israelites (v4-6).  Without looking into the issue too much, and without praying and asking God for guidance, the Israelites eventually make the peace treaty with the Gibeonites (v7-14).  Only later do you they discover that the Gibeonites actually lived very close to the Israelites.

不忧虑的秘诀(上)

2020-12-11 in /by

马太福音6章33-34节    你们要先求祂的国和他的义，这些东西都要加给你们了。所以，不要为明天忧虑，因为明天自有明天的忧虑；一天的难处一天当就够了。

挂虑侵蚀生命

　　我相信这段经文是有关人生在世真正过一个平稳生活的最好写照。没有人没有困难或没有忧虑的地方，因为人是有限的，我们对将来如何没有把握，我们就经常挂虑，把思想用错地方。忧虑是不需要的，计画是需要的，但许多时候我们没有计画，没有思考怎样尽心尽力预备应对可能来到的困难的能力，我们尝试把思想放在不需要的挂虑上。

　　信仰排除挂虑，一个有真正信心依靠上帝的人应该不是被挂虑綑绑的人，但因为我们的软弱，我们常常看不清，没有把握地相信上帝一定照顾、一定引导、一定赐福、保全我们的生活。缺乏信心让挂虑侵蚀我们生命的中心点，使我们受不信的影响，天天不平安，没有真正的信仰产生有把握的生活。心理学告诉我们人一生挂虑的事情百分之七十五以上没有发生过，换句话说我们有一大堆的思想是用在不应该用的地方。如果我们增强信心，我们的信仰就能把挂虑排除出去。

　　我这一生可以说相当仰望上帝、依靠上帝，知道上帝施恩，我的挂虑应当比别人更少，但仍然无法完全。好像前天我孩子撞车的事情，我感觉孩子应当感谢上帝，因为没有任何人死就是一个大恩典，也没有撞死任何人，也是一个大恩典。我们一生撞车可能好几次，如果有一次撞死别人，我们以后良心将何等痛苦，要怎样过生活呢？

Take a Moment to Be Still and Worship

2020-12-11 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 8:28-35.  Let’s go!

Joshua 8:28-29 (NIV) 
28  So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 
29  He hung the king of Ai on a tree and left him there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take his body from the tree and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

On verses 28-29:  Whenever there is a change in regime, the leader of that old regime must “die”.  In ancient cultures and in times of war, this has been expressed through the king or leader of the losing nation to be killed, as in the case here where the king of Ai is hung and buried under a pile of rocks at the entrance of Ai’s city gate (v29).  In more modern times, the “death” of the old regime’s leader could mean, depending on the context, deposing the incumbent leader in the case of politics, firing the president and CEO in the case of a business, or changing general managers or head coaches in the case of sports. The same goes for the regime change that took place in your heart when you invited Jesus Christ into your life.  On that day, Jesus Christ took over as king of your life and the old leader, the old king – that is, you – died.  Christian, may you always remember who is now the king of your life.

在旷野里

2020-12-10 in /by

〈民数记〉2:34   以色列人就这样行，各人照他们的家室、宗族归于本纛，安营起行，都是照耶和华所吩咐摩西的。

根据维基百科，〈民数记〉（Numbers）这个名字采自《通俗拉丁文本圣经》中纽米利(Numeri)一词，而这个字词则从希腊文《七十士译本》的阿利夫摩依(Arithmoi′)演变而来。然而，犹太人更贴切地将这本书称为必密巴(Bemidhbar′)，意即「在旷野里」。密巴(midh•bar′)这个希伯来字是指一个没有城镇的旷野之地。这卷书的拉丁名是Numeri，希腊名是Arithmoi「在荒漠」，希伯来语Bemidbar，「in the wilderness of” [Sinai] 」在西乃的旷野。数点民众这件事发生于此旷野，本书内容讲述以色列百姓「在旷野」历时 38 年漂流迁徙「信心拉扯」的经历。

〈出埃及记〉的第19章第1节说：「以色列人出埃及地以后，满了三个月的那一天，就来到西奈的旷野。」而在〈民数记〉的第1章第1节已经是「第二年二月初一日」，他们在西乃山下已经住了整整十个月了。在这段时间里，神没有急急忙忙地把他们带到迦南地，而是要他们停下来，学习神的律法，做好会幕，建立与神的关系。

这是我们在圣灵里经常要学习的功课，便是停下来。我们渴望成功，巴不得立刻就离开旷野到迦南。但是神要我们先建立和祂的关系，学习聆听神的声音，等候神的带领。神并不把“成功”作为人生的里程碑，因为在神有什么成功不成功，只要是在神的手里，就没有失败。在今年的疫情里，我们都在学这个功课，停下来，等待神的带领。

做好会幕之后，神要摩西计算所有能出去打仗的男丁。神让以色列人在埃及，从家族变成一个民族，现在要把这个民族变成一个国家。国家需要法律，也需要军队；有律法才能建规矩，有军队才能御外侮，保护国民。「耶和华怎样吩咐摩西，他就怎样在西奈的旷野数点他们。」摩西在神面前何等谦卑。可能有人会觉得，数点人数有什么困难，让我来吧。因而没办法听到神说，数点廿岁以上的就好啊！想要学摩西，不能不学会安静的听。

以色列人和华人有一个很相似之处，华人的生肖以动物为记号；以色列人出埃及之后，好几个支派的徽记都以动物为记号。犹大的旗纛上是狮子，流便的旗纛是水，以法莲的旗纛是牛，但的旗纛是鹰，以萨迦是驴，便雅悯是狼，拿弗他利是鹿；希布仑是船，迦得和西缅是不一样的城堡，亚设是粮食，约瑟是结果子的树枝，等等，都是按著雅各给十二个儿子的祝福而设立的记号。

Stretch It Out

2020-12-10 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 8:18-27.  Let’s go!

Joshua 8:18-27 (NIV) 
18  Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out his javelin toward Ai. 
19  As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire. 
20  The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising against the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction, for the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the desert had turned back against their pursuers. 
21  For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from the city, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. 
22  The men of the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. ……

On verses 18-27:  Here we see Joshua and the Israelites achieving a dominant and overwhelming victory over the city of Ai and its king.  The ambush strategy God gave Joshua works perfectly, as the king of Ai and his troops are caught outside of their city walls and being attacked both from the front and from behind by Israelite forces.

What can we learn from this?  For me the image of Joshua obeying God’s command and stretching out his javelin toward the city of Ai (v18, 26) is a powerful one.  It reminds me of the time when Moses and the Israelites were fleeing from the Egyptians and God tells Moses to “[r]aise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.” (Exodus 14:16)  

挺身而走

2020-12-10 in /by

〈利未记〉26章13节    我是耶和华─你们的　神，曾将你们从埃及地领出来，使你们不作埃及人的奴仆；我也折断你们所负的轭，叫你们挺身而走。

现在我们己经到了〈利未记〉的尾声，你可以猜猜看，以色列人现在在哪里吗？你有没有发现从到了西乃山下之后，以色列人到现在都还没有动。所以〈利未记〉是何意呢？就是在西乃山下，神把律法和典章传给以色列人的一段时期。

为何神要在西乃山下做这件耗时耗力的工作呢？因为这个地方人烟稀少，以后越走，敌人越多，要考虑的事也更多。之前是埃及，之后是迦南，只有在旷野里，神能跟祂的百姓好好交心。

试想神若不把这些典章律例都教他们，那他们中间的判断从何而来？所以神的律法典章就是以色列立国的根基。神做事情很有计划，都先把话讲在前头，顺不顺服由你，后果自付，这就是成长和成熟要付的代价。

有的人不要信神，因为怕束缚。但是提摩太.凯勒牧师说：「To insist doctrine doesn’t matter is really a doctrine itself. 」坚持不要教义(教条或学说)，这本身就是一种教义或教条。另外一种说法是，跟随耶稣要付出代价，不跟随耶稣也要付出代价。你可以想像这两种代价是什么吗？你愿意付出哪种代价？一种是今生远离罪恶的代价，一种是远离神的家，进入撒旦权势领域，最后跟着牠下地狱的代价。

神在〈利未记〉的结束之前也把两种代价诉诸以色列民。神总是给人有选择的权利，因为祂尊重我们，有尊重的爱才是真正的爱。就好像有的父母强制要儿女按着他们安排的「最好计划」去过他们的人生，造成很多年轻人受不了压力而轻生或怨恨或反目的例子。那不是真爱，因为不尊重他们儿女的选择，或根本不给他们选择。但是神真的爱我们，即使我们选得不好，祂还是爱我们，一路引导我们，直到我们回归正路。

Watch Your Back

2020-12-09 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 8:9-17.  Let’s go!

Joshua 8:9-17 (NIV) 
9  Then Joshua sent them off, and they went to the place of ambush and lay in wait between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai–but Joshua spent that night with the people. 
10  Early the next morning Joshua mustered his men, and he and the leaders of Israel marched before them to Ai. 
11  The entire force that was with him marched up and approached the city and arrived in front of it. They set up camp north of Ai, with the valley between them and the city. 
12  Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city. 
13  They had the soldiers take up their positions–all those in the camp to the north of the city and the ambush to the west of it. That night Joshua went into the valley. ……

On verses 9-17:  When the king of Ai saw that Joshua had stationed troops in front of the city, he hurried to meet them for battle (v14).  Then when Joshua’s men began to retreat (v15), King Ai told all his men to pursue them (v16), thus leaving the city of Ai open and vulnerable to attack from behind (v17).  Because the king of Ai was in a hurry, he made a rushed decision that exposed his city to attack.  Like a quarterback in football who gets sacked from behind, King Ai didn’t watch his back, and thus he didn’t see ambushers coming (v14).