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Take Care of Home Base

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 20:33-48.  For context, we’ll start at verse 29.

Judges 20:29-48 (NIV)
29  Then Israel set an ambush around Gibeah.
30  They went up against the Benjamites on the third day and took up positions against Gibeah as they had done before.
31  The Benjamites came out to meet them and were drawn away from the city. They began to inflict casualties on the Israelites as before, so that about thirty men fell in the open field and on the roads–the one leading to Bethel and the other to Gibeah.

On verses 33-48:  The Benjamites made this mistake:  they were so intent on defeating the Israelites that they directed all or most of their soldiers out of their home base of Gibeah and into the open field, leaving their own city of Gibeah vulnerable.  Little did the Benjamites know that the Israelites had other troops waiting for the city of Gibeah to be left alone so that the Israelites could ambush it from different directions.  This would lead to the Benjamites losing both their city as well as the war they were fighting outside of it.

Sometimes You Need to Lose Before You Can Win

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 20:18-32.  Let’s go!

Judges 20:18-28 (NIV)
18  The Israelites went up to Bethel and inquired of God. They said, “Who of us shall go first to fight against the Benjamites?” The LORD replied, “Judah shall go first.”
19  The next morning the Israelites got up and pitched camp near Gibeah.
20  The men of Israel went out to fight the Benjamites and took up battle positions against them at Gibeah.
21  The Benjamites came out of Gibeah and cut down twenty-two thousand Israelites on the battlefield that day.

On verses 18-28:  There are only a few times in the book of Judges where we see people inquiring of God.  In chapter 1 the Israelites inquire of the LORD after the death of Joshua (1:1).  In chapter 6 Gideon inquires of God with his famous fleece.  In chapter 13, Manoah the father of Samson inquires of the LORD regarding how to honour Him (13:17).  Whenever people in Judges inquired of the LORD, it seemed to be a God-pleasing thing, a move that would be followed immediately by a wise decision or an immediate victory.  Whenever you’re not sure what to do, the best thing you can do is inquire of the LORD.  He will lead the way for you.

But here in Judges 20, even though the Israelites inquire of the LORD repeatedly, notice that the first couple times that they follow the LORD’s directions, they lose, and lose badly.  After the first time that the Israelites inquire of the LORD (v18), God tells the tribe of Judah that they will be the first to go up against the Benjamites, and yet that day 22,000 of them are cut down (v21). 

神的話必定成就

以西結書 12:28b  主耶和華如此說:我的話沒有一句再耽延的,我所說的必定成就。

閱讀經文: 以西結書 12:1-28

1 耶和華的話又臨到我說: 2 「人子啊,你住在悖逆的家中,他們有眼睛看不見,有耳朵聽不見,因為他們是悖逆之家。 3 所以,人子啊,你要預備擄去使用的物件,在白日當他們眼前,從你所住的地方移到別處去。他們雖是悖逆之家,或者可以揣摩思想。 4 你要在白日當他們眼前帶出你的物件去,好像預備擄去使用的物件。到了晚上,你要在他們眼前親自出去,像被擄的人出去一樣。 5 你要在他們眼前挖通了牆,從其中將物件帶出去。 6 到天黑時,你要當他們眼前搭在肩頭上帶出去,並要蒙住臉看不見地,因為我立你做以色列家的預兆。」

你覺得以西結的演出是啞劇還是默劇?當年最出名的默劇演員是卓別林,看戲的人根本不需要懂英文或什麼文,一看就明白。不過在卓別林的默劇裡有各種聲音的配搭,啞劇裡就不能有聲音了。有人如此分啞劇和默劇:兩個聾啞人見面用手語對話,這個就屬於啞劇。他們無法說話,只能用肢體代替聲音表達。兩個脾氣暴燥的騎單車者不小心相撞,他們二話不說,上來就打架,這個屬於默劇。他們不需要說話,他們的行為就是為了解決衝突。默劇裡可以有啞劇,但啞劇裡不能有默劇(聲音的配搭)。現在你覺得以西結的作法是啞劇還是默劇?

《聖經》真是一本奇妙的書,不僅包含天文地理,醫學科學海洋學,連舞台劇都有,現成的背景。每天讀《聖經》,每天都有驚喜和發現。因為神的手貫穿了整個歷史,從過去到現在和未來,都是祂在主導。為了讓人明白祂的意思,祂真是費盡心思。被擄的猶大人在異鄉流浪,無法忘記家國曾有的榮美,總是盼望有一天猶大的王會帶領遺民打倒巴比倫,那時他們就可以歡喜快樂地返鄉了。不管耶利米在這之前的預言,也不管以西結說什麼,他們就像有眼睛看不見,有耳朵聽不見似的,不能明白先知的話,不肯接受耶路撒冷將被滅亡的現實。

神的榮耀離開聖城

以西結書 11:23 耶和華的榮耀從城中上升,停在城東的那座山上。

閱讀經文: 以西結書 11:1-25

1 靈將我舉起,帶到耶和華殿向東的東門,誰知,在門口有二十五個人,我見其中有民間的首領押朔的兒子雅撒尼亞和比拿雅的兒子毗拉提。 2 耶和華對我說:「人子啊,這就是圖謀罪孽的人,在這城中給人設惡謀。 3 他們說:『蓋房屋的時候尚未臨近,這城是鍋,我們是肉。』 4 人子啊,因此你當說預言,說預言攻擊他們。」

在第八章裡,神帶以西結看到在聖殿裡拜偶像的長老們,還有拜日頭的祭司犯罪的事實;在這一章裡則是民間的領袖給百姓設惡謀,圖謀罪孽,使眾百姓干罪,陷在罪孽之中。他們說:“這城是鍋,我們是肉”。這句話有幾種解釋。根據信息聖經的翻譯:They say, ‘We can make anything happen here. We’re the best. We’re the choice pieces of meat in the soup pot.’(MSG)他們自認可以使任何事發生,因為他們是城裡最聰明最有才幹的人。假如城是個鍋,他們就是鍋裡上好的肉。

也有聖經學者認為這句話的意思是,他們覺得這個城是鍋,他們就是裡面的肉,受到鍋的保護。當然還有第三種解釋,就是在鍋裡的肉怎樣也逃不掉,最後就是一鍋熟,被吃個精光。但是第三種解釋和上下文合不起來,比較不被採用。

Don’t Lose Your Credibility by Blaming Prematurely

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 20:1-17.  Let’s go!

Judges 20:1-17 (NIV)
1  Then all the Israelites from Dan to Beersheba and from the land of Gilead came out as one man and assembled before the LORD in Mizpah.
2  The leaders of all the people of the tribes of Israel took their places in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand soldiers armed with swords.
3  (The Benjamites heard that the Israelites had gone up to Mizpah.) Then the Israelites said, “Tell us how this awful thing happened.”
4  So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, said, “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

On verses 1-17:  As a result of Benjamites in Gibeah gang raping the concubine that we read about in Judges 19, all the other tribes of Israel gather together at Mizpah without the tribe of Benjamin, though the Benjamites had heard about this gathering (v3).  As a result of that gathering, the other tribes of Israel muster an army against the tribe of Benjamin demanding that the gang rapists be handed over and put to death.  When the Benjamites refuse to hand over the gang rapists, both the Benjamites on one hand and the rest of Israel on the other prepare to fight one another.

“Farewell My Concubine”

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 19:16-30.  Let’s go!

Judges 19:16-30 (NIV)
16  That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the men of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields.
17  When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”
18  He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me into his house.

On verses 16-30:  Here we read of one of the most shocking and vile crimes ever described in the Bible.  To protect themselves from a sadistic mob, the Levite and his old man host in Gibaeh offer up the Levite’s concubine to a sadistic mob who gang rapes the concubine all night, leaving her for dead.  Then the Levite takes his concubine and cuts her up into 12 pieces and disperses her body parts throughout Israel.  This raises a bunch of questions, not the least of which include:

(1) Which man was it – the old man or the Levite – who gave the concubine over to the sadistic mob in verse 25?  In any event, the fact is that this Levite allowed his concubine to be gang raped this way to protect himself.  Contrast this to Jesus who allowed himself to be abused, tortured and killed to protect us his bride, the church.

神的榮耀離開聖殿

以西結書 10:18 耶和華的榮耀從殿的門檻那裡出去,停在基路伯以上。

閱讀經文: 以西結書 10:1-22

1 我觀看,見基路伯頭上的穹蒼之中顯出藍寶石的形狀,彷彿寶座的形象。 2 主對那穿細麻衣的人說:「你進去,在旋轉的輪內,基路伯以下,從基路伯中間將火炭取滿兩手,撒在城上。」我就見他進去。 3 那人進去的時候,基路伯站在殿的右邊,雲彩充滿了內院。 4 耶和華的榮耀從基路伯那裡上升,停在門檻以上。殿內滿了雲彩,院宇也被耶和華榮耀的光輝充滿。 5 基路伯翅膀的響聲聽到外院,好像全能神說話的聲音。

在第一節所寫的基路伯,是以西結在第一章所看見的,從天降下來的基路伯,是活生生的,有生命的基路伯。在約櫃之上的基路伯是用金子錘出來的。所以〈希伯來書〉第9章裡說,人手所造的聖所,是真聖所的影像(伯9:24)。

在〈以賽亞書〉第6章裡,神命另一種天使撒拉弗拿從聖壇上取下來的紅(火)炭去沾以賽亞的嘴,除掉他的罪孽。在本章裡,神命穿細麻衣的人取基路伯中間的火炭,這火炭是為了撒在耶路撒冷城上,讓火燒起來,徹底破壞此城,也喻表巴比倫將焚燒此城,後來果然應驗。

不管神在哪裡,祂的榮耀就在那裡,雲彩充滿內院是指神的榮耀之充滿,神的榮耀從基路伯那裡上升,停在門檻以上,發號施令,然後基路伯上升,停在聖殿的東門口。這一章讓我們看到神的榮耀離開聖殿的情況,下一章會繼續看到神的榮耀往哪裡去。但是神要離開聖殿的決心不再更改了,何等悲傷的場景。

Don’t Strain a Gnat and Swallow a Camel

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 19:1-15.  Let’s go!

Judges 19:1a (NIV)
1  In those days Israel had no king…

On verse 1:  In chapters 17, 18 and 19 of Judges, this one phrase keeps coming up: “Israel had no king”.  This phrase can be taken in two ways.  First, on a political level, Israel was not yet a monarchy and was not governed by any human king.  Second, on a spiritual level, the phrase “Israel had no king” speaks of how Israel had abandoned the LORD, the very One who was always meant to rule and lead Israel.  Interestingly, in each chapter where Judges says “Israel had no king”, what comes right after or right before that phrase is a story of the Israelites falling deep into spiritual confusion, idolatry and immorality.  When there is an absence of strong, healthy leadership in any family, nation, workplace or other group, the result is confusion, sin and trouble.

神的榮耀離開寶座

以西結書 9:3  以色列神的榮耀本在基路伯上,現今從那裡升到殿的門檻。神將那身穿細麻衣、腰間帶著墨盒子的人召來。

閱讀經文: 以西結書 9:1-11

1 祂向我耳中大聲喊叫說:「要使那監管這城的人手中各拿滅命的兵器前來。」 2 忽然有六個人從朝北的上門而來,各人手拿殺人的兵器,內中有一人身穿細麻衣,腰間帶著墨盒子。他們進來,站在銅祭壇旁。

這一章裡讓人有好多驚奇的事。第一,是讓我們知道,原來每個城裡都有神所派的,監管城的人。想來,在溫哥華也有駐守的天使,向神傳遞這城裡所發生的事情。你說是不是很奇妙?!這六個監管城的人,各人手拿殺人的兵器。殺人的兵器,有的譯作“戰斧”或“鐵錘般武器”,表示這六人非同凡響,都很有力氣。其中有一人身穿細麻衣,腰間帶著墨盒子。細麻衣是祭司穿的衣服,表明他是神的僕人。墨盒子為文士的裝備,為書寫之用,是一個放在束腰帶裏,藏有蘆葦筆和墨水的盒子。

聖殿院子的建築是階梯式的,所以內院較高。“朝北的上門”指第八章裡,先知先前所看見進行偶像崇拜的門(結8:5)。銅祭壇是聖殿裡獻祭的地方,原本是安置在“殿和新壇的中間”,亞哈斯王把它搬到北面,好在原處另立祭偶像之壇(王下16:14)。

Always Be Alert

Hi GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Judges 18:14-31.  Let’s go!

Judges 18:14-20 (NIV)
14  Then the five men who had spied out the land of Laish said to their brothers, “Do you know that one of these houses has an ephod, other household gods, a carved image and a cast idol? Now you know what to do.”
15  So they turned in there and went to the house of the young Levite at Micah’s place and greeted him.
16  The six hundred Danites, armed for battle, stood at the entrance to the gate.

On verses 14-20:  Earlier when this priest needed a place to stay, Micah gave him a home and a job.  Now, upon being offered more opportunity and prestige by the Danites, this priest quickly abandons Micah and even takes Micah’s idols with him.  Micah must have felt utterly betrayed and sucker punched by this priest’s lack of loyalty and low EQ, as he did not even discuss the matter with Micah.

What’s the lesson here?

–    Before you decide to make a significant investment in someone as Micah did in this priest, make sure you get a good sense of that person’s character.  Otherwise, you may end up betrayed and sucker-punched the way Micah was by this priest.