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God Is Never Too Early and Never Too Late

2020-11-29 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 4:11-24.  We’ll include verse 10 in here too.  Let’s go!

Joshua 4:10-18 (NIV) 
10  Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over,
11  and as soon as all of them had crossed, the ark of the LORD and the priests came to the other side while the people watched.
12  The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, armed, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them…….

On verses 10-18:  If I was one of the priests carrying the ark, and I had to remain standing in the middle of the Jordan River while everyone else is passing through, I would probably be more than a little nervous, thinking, “Can we go over already?  What if the river collapses on us and washes us away?”  But the priests stayed until all 40,000 Israelites crossed over the Jordan River (v13).  It wasn’t until all the soldiers crossed over that God gave the command for the priests to come out of the Jordan (v13-17), and the moment the priests stepped foot on the other side of the Jordan River the river waters returned to flood stage as before (v18).

Remember and Celebrate What God Has Done

2020-11-28 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 4:1-10.  Let’s go!

Joshua 4:1-9 (NIV) 
1  When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 
2  “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 
3  and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.” 
4  So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 
5  and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, …….

On verses 1-9:  Why did Joshua tell the twelve representatives from the twelve tribes of Israel to take a stone from the middle of the Jordan River where the priests were standing.  It’s because these stones were “to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever” (v7).  In other words, these large stones, which they would carry on their shoulders (v5) from the bottom of the Jordan River, would serve as a long-lasting reminder that God had cut off the flow of the Jordan and that the people crossed the Jordan on dry land.

兩種光—「外面的光」與「裡面的光」 　　

2020-11-27 in /by

箴言3章6節  在你一切所行的事上都要認定祂，祂必指引你的路。

兩種光——「外面的光」與「裡面的光」

聖經給我們看見我們身上有兩種的光，一種就是眼睛看得見的「外面的光」，一種是照明我們心腸肺腑、代表上帝對我們進行道德審判的「裡面的光」，這是良知所發出來的光，這兩種光能使一個人的生命產生非常大的價值。

人看人的時候，一定先看人的眼睛，因為眼睛是人的面孔中唯一能反照出光的地方。眼睛是人身上的燈，人看你，就從你綻放光彩的眼睛建立他對你的印象。如果你的眼睛明亮，人看見你，就看見你美麗的外表與光彩。裡面的光，使人從裡面看見自己，這一點是許多宗教都注意到的。

沒有光，就無法顯明事物的模樣與真實的情況。以弗所書5章13節告訴我們：「一切能顯明的就是光。」你到倉庫找東西，一定要先打開燈，因為光能顯明倉庫裡有什麼。人的心也需要光，才知道什麼當存留、什麼當去除，詩篇139篇24節說：「看在我裡面有什麼惡行沒有，引導我走永生的道路」。

「眼睛」是「外面的光」，「良知」是「裡面的光」。箴言告訴我們：「人的靈是耶和華的燈」（箴20:27），上帝把光放在你的裡面，照亮你的內在，使你有自知之明，知道你的心存著什麼。人之所以遮住他裡面的光，是因為他不願意聽良心對他所說的話，也不願意聽良心對他所做的見證。

裡面的光——「良心」

挪威神學家哈列斯比（Ole Kristian Hallesby, 1879-1961）的論文「良心論」說：「人之所以為人，因為人有一個向上帝負責的良心。良心是上帝的代表，是上帝的光，是上帝的聲音，照明我們，指責我們，使我們自知我們裡面有什麼。」

The Walk of Faith

2020-11-27 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 3:9-17.  Let’s go!

Joshua 3:9-14 (NIV) 
9  Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God. 
10  This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites. 
11  See, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go into the Jordan ahead of you. 
12  Now then, choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 
13  And as soon as the priests who carry the ark of the LORD–the Lord of all the earth–set foot in the Jordan, its waters flowing downstream will be cut off and stand up in a heap.” 
14  So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them.

On verses 9-14:  The priests carrying the ark of the covenant go ahead of the people to lead the way through the Jordan River.  What can we learn from this?  A good leader will not tell his or her people to do what he himself is unwilling to do.  The best leaders lead not just with their words but also with their example.  

患漏症的處理

2020-11-26 in /by

利未記15章11節   患漏症的人沒有用水涮手，無論摸了誰，誰必不潔淨到晚上，並要洗衣服，用水洗澡。

可能有的人看到這章經文的主題會覺得很不自在，怎麼在這樣神聖的一本書裡，會出現這樣的主題呢？這種事情不是都隱秘不宣的嗎？但是當我們再讀下去時，就會發現原來只有造人的神才知道人的每一層需要；也相對地發現，耶穌所講的：「從人裡面出來的，那才能污穢人。」這句話何等真實。原來人的裡面是那樣地藏污納垢，從亞倫的兩個兒子取凡火獻祭，到人長大痲瘋，以及屋子長大痲瘋如何潔淨，讓我們充份體會到人的本質是何等地骯髒悖逆。也讓我們明白，原來罪的本質，非用血不能得以潔淨。

英文比較能表達這一章所要說的，有關人身體產生的分泌物discharge，一旦到了體外便是不潔，需要注意如何去潔淨，以免細菌到處感染，使人生病。因為分泌物包括的不只是男女性器官流出的東西，分泌物也包括口裡吐出的痰。只要我們思想一下，便會承認凡是從肉體裡出來的東西，都是不潔的。以前有些老祖母把食物在嘴裡嚼爛了，再放到嬰兒或小孩嘴裡，雖是一番好意，但是給現代母親看到，一定會大叫，「不要這樣，太髒了。」為什麼口水在自己嘴裡不覺得髒，一旦到了嘴巴外面就變髒了？以前的華人比較沒有衛生的概念，上至君王，下至販夫走卒，走到哪兒就吐痰吐到哪兒。有的人還洋洋得意，練得一口吐痰的痰功，一口飛痰可以把人打暈。但我想，也有可能是被嚇暈的，想到一口髒兮兮的痰向你飛來，能不先嚇暈嗎？

When You’re Not Sure Which Way to Go

2020-11-26 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 3:1-8.  Let’s go!

Joshua 3:1-4a (NIV) 
1  Early in the morning Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan, where they camped before crossing over. 
2  After three days the officers went throughout the camp, 
3  giving orders to the people: “When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 
4  Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.

On verses 1-4a:  Here Joshua and the Israelites are preparing to cross the Jordan River on their way to Canaan, also known as the promised land.  Joshua orders his officers, who in turn order the people to move out and follow two things: (1) the ark of the covenant, which was an ornate, gold-plated box that symbolized the presence of God; and (2) and the priests carrying that ark.  That way they knew which way to go (v4).

染疾之宅潔淨之例

2020-11-25 in /by

利未記 14: 34 -36    你們到了我賜給你們為業的迦南地，我若使你們所得為業之地的房屋中有大痲瘋的災病，房主就要去告訴祭司說：『據我看，房屋中似乎有災病。』祭司還沒有進去察看災病以前，就要吩咐人把房子騰空，免得房子裡所有的都成了不潔淨；然後祭司要進去察看房子。

這一段經文是神給以色列人的預備，讓他們知道進了迦南地之後，若是碰到屋子有問題時，應該如何處理。因為以色列人在曠野住帳蓬，到迦南地居住的情況就會不一樣。因為在曠野裡經常有太陽在晒，帳蓬裡十分乾燥，而且經常移動，比較不會有發黴的問題；但是屋子不一樣，屋子住久了就會有問題，因為屋子是不移動的，例如浴室或衛生間若是一直很潮濕，牆壁和天花板縫隙便會逐漸產生黴菌，影響到居住者的健康。有人說，黴菌和潮濕的牆壁是孿生兄弟，因此神把處理房子的一些問題事先教導他們，免得他們的健康受影響。

但是神既然帶領以色列人進迦南，又應允他們所得為業之地房屋，為何會領他們到發霉的屋子裡去住呢？在〈申命記〉六章10-11節，摩西說：「耶和華你的神領你進祂向你列祖亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各起誓應許給你的地，那裡有城邑，又大又美，非你所建造的；有房屋，裝滿各樣美物，非你所裝滿的；有鑿成的水井，非你所鑿成的；還有葡萄園、橄欖園，非你所栽種的，你吃了，而且飽足。」就像以色列人出埃及時，神讓埃及人因為懼怕，而把所有的美物都給了以色列人；神也應許，不僅把迦南地賜給以色列人，就連迦南人的房屋和美物也都要賜給以色列人。

因此當以色列人戰勝趕走一些迦南人之後，便順理成章住進迦南人的房屋裡，但是神知道那些房屋有的有問題 ，可能連迦南人住了生病，自己都不知道是怎麼一回事。有許多潔淨的概念和作法都是從《聖經》最先開始的，例如洗手再吃東西的概念。

Your Scarlet Cord + When Making Big Decisions

2020-11-25 in /by

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is Joshua 2:14-24.  Let’s go!

Joshua 2:14-21 (NIV) 
14  “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land.” 
15  So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall. 
16  Now she had said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.” ……

On verses 14-21:  So that the Israelite army would know which house to spare, the Israelite spies tell Rahab to tie a scarlet cord to her window.  That way when the Israelites were attacking the city of Jericho, they would see the scarlet cord in Rahab’s window and know to leave that house alone.

This reminds me of an earlier incident in Exodus 12, where Moses instructs each Israelite family to take the blood of a lamb and put the blood on the doorframe of their house.  That way, when God was going through the land, He would see the blood of the lamb, pass over that house and spare the family inside.