創世記15:7-21

15:7 耶和華又對他說：「我是耶和華，曾領你出了迦勒底的吾珥，為要將這地賜你為業。」
15:8 亞伯蘭說：「主耶和華啊，我怎能知道必得這地為業呢？」
15:9 他說：「你為我取一隻三年的母牛，一隻三年的母山羊，一隻三年的公綿羊，一隻斑鳩，一隻雛鴿。」
15:10 亞伯蘭就取了這些來，每樣劈開，分成兩半，一半對著一半地擺列，只有鳥沒有劈開。
15:11 有鷙鳥下來，落在那死畜的肉上，亞伯蘭就把牠嚇飛了。
15:12 日頭正落的時候，亞伯蘭沉沉地睡了；忽然有驚人的大黑暗落在他身上。
15:13 耶和華對亞伯蘭說：「你要的確知道，你的後裔必寄居別人的地，又服事那地的人；那地的人要苦待他們四百年。
15:14 並且他們所要服事的那國，我要懲罰，後來他們必帶著許多財物從那裡出來。
15:15 但你要享大壽數，平平安安地歸到你列祖那裡，被人埋葬。
15:16 到了第四代，他們必回到此地，因為亞摩利人的罪孽還沒有滿盈。」
15:17 日落天黑，不料有冒煙的爐並燒著的火把從那些肉塊中經過。
15:18 當那日，耶和華與亞伯蘭立約，說：「我已賜給你的後裔，從埃及河直到幼發拉底大河之地，
15:19 就是基尼人、基尼洗人、甲摩尼人、
15:20 赫人、比利洗人、利乏音人、
15:21 亞摩利人、迦南人、革迦撒人、耶布斯人之地。」

  ⁷ He also said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
⁸ But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
⁹ So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”
¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.
¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
¹⁷ When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. ¹⁸ On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi^[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— ¹⁹ the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, ²⁰ Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, ²¹ Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”

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    上帝和亞伯拉罕在這裡立永約，並且表明祂必定遵守這約，正如17節的描述：「日落天黑，不料有冒煙的爐並燒著的火把從那些肉塊中經過」。而這些肉塊如10節所說：「亞伯蘭就取了這些來，每樣劈開，分成兩半，一半對著一半地擺列」。

    而這樣的排列是當時立約的規矩，告訴兩方要彼此守約，若不守約就會像這些牲畜一般被劈成兩半。也因此，既然是約，就有彼此提醒要遵守所約定的事情，不可以後悔或不願意達成。

    然而這段敘述也預言到將來出埃及的事件，相信上帝會拯救以色列人，並且要用以色列人來預備上帝的救恩。而這樣的應許，是透過「以色列人進入迦南地，並以迦南地為業」來顯明！

    對人好像是歷史的演進，對上帝而言早就已經命定！

創世記15章

         創世記15:1-6 ,  

         創世記15:1    ,

         創世記15:6 , 創世記15:6 ,

         創世記15:7-21  ,

創世記15:1-6

15:1 這事以後，耶和華在異象中有話對亞伯蘭說：「亞伯蘭，你不要懼怕！我是你的盾牌，必大大地賞賜你。」
15:2 亞伯蘭說：「主耶和華啊，我既無子，你還賜我甚麼呢？並且要承受我家業的是大馬士革人以利以謝。」
15:3 亞伯蘭又說：「你沒有給我兒子；那生在我家中的人就是我的後嗣。」
15:4 耶和華又有話對他說：「這人必不成為你的後嗣；你本身所生的才成為你的後嗣。」
15:5 於是領他走到外邊，說：「你向天觀看，數算眾星，能數得過來嗎？」又對他說：「你的後裔將要如此。」
15:6 亞伯蘭信耶和華，耶和華就以此為他的義。

  After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

“Do not be afraid, Abram.
    I am your shield,^[a]
    your very great reward.^[b]”

² But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³ And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” ⁵ He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring^[d] be.”
⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

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    亞伯拉罕所得的義，不是他做了什麼轟轟烈烈的偉大事蹟，只有一件非常平常的事情，就是亞伯拉罕「信」上帝！這就是一般人所理解的「因信稱義」，通常放在人的相信或信靠。

    其實亞伯拉罕面對的是上帝要賜福他，因為上帝主動向他應許：「亞伯蘭，你不要懼怕！我是你的盾牌，必大大地賞賜你。」

    然而亞伯拉罕卻為自己沒有後代有點微辭，向上帝抱怨：「主耶和華啊，我既無子，你還賜我甚麼呢？」

    也因為這樣，上帝應許亞伯拉罕：子孫要像天上的星星一樣的繁多！然而亞伯拉罕眼前沒有看見，心裡確信靠上帝必成這事！正如希伯來書11章1節所說：「信就是所望之事的實底，是未見之事的確據。」

箴言23:9

你不要說話給愚昧人聽，因他必藐視你智慧的言語。

Do not speak to fools,
    for they will scorn your prudent words.

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    說話也要看對象，尤其是關於敬虔的事情，不是一般人都聽得懂的，因為一般人通常是受到假智慧的影響，自以為是，自以為有辦法，沒有好好去倚賴上帝，以致於無法靠上帝所賜得恩典與能力來事奉。

    然而屬上帝的人有聖靈的引導，必賜下智慧的言語，也為有智慧的人會珍惜，並且身體力行，不敢違背從上帝來的命令，活出上帝同在的光彩！這是不境為上帝的人無法體會的！

    《箴言》的作者在這裡的提醒，事要我們多為身邊的禱告，使祂門在聖靈的開啟與引導中脫離愚昧，不然我們再怎樣宣揚上帝的話，他們都無法接受，因為他們心裡不明白！

創世記14:13-24

14:13 有一個逃出來的人告訴希伯來人亞伯蘭；亞伯蘭正住在亞摩利人幔利的橡樹那裡。幔利和以實各並亞乃都是弟兄，曾與亞伯蘭聯盟。
14:14 亞伯蘭聽見他姪兒【原文是弟兄】被擄去，就率領他家裡生養的精練壯丁三百一十八人，直追到但，
14:15 便在夜間，自己同僕人分隊殺敗敵人，又追到大馬士革北邊的何把，
14:16 將被擄掠的一切財物奪回來，連他姪兒羅得和他的財物，以及婦女、人民也都奪回來。
14:17 亞伯蘭殺敗基大老瑪和與他同盟的王回來的時候，所多瑪王出來，在沙微谷迎接他；沙微谷就是王谷。
14:18 又有撒冷王麥基洗德帶著餅和酒出來迎接；他是至高上帝的祭司。
14:19 他為亞伯蘭祝福，說：「願天地的主、至高的上帝賜福與亞伯蘭！
14:20 至高的上帝把敵人交在你手裡，是應當稱頌的！」亞伯蘭就把所得的拿出十分之一來，給麥基洗德。
14:21 所多瑪王對亞伯蘭說：「你把人口給我，財物你自己拿去吧！」
14:22 亞伯蘭對所多瑪王說：「我已經向天地的主─至高的上帝耶和華起誓：
14:23 凡是你的東西，就是一根線、一根鞋帶，我都不拿，免得你說：『我使亞伯蘭富足！』
14:24 只有僕人所吃的，並與我同行的亞乃、以實各、幔利所應得的分，可以任憑他們拿去。」

 ¹³ A man 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^[b] of Eshkol 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. ¹⁵ During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. ¹⁶ He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.
¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley).
¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, ¹⁹ and he blessed Abram, saying,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
    Creator of heaven and earth.
²⁰ And praise be to God Most High,
    who delivered your enemies into your hand.”

Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

²¹ The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”
²² But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, ²³ that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ ²⁴ I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.

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    亞伯拉罕為了救姪兒羅得，和那強壯的四王打起來，結果他打勝了！真的將姪兒救回來，展現了亞伯拉罕英勇的一面，表示他不是弱者！但是這一切都是上帝的幫助，所以要歸榮耀給上帝！

    亞伯拉罕打勝救回羅得之後，出現兩個王：一個是所多瑪王，另一個是撒冷王麥基洗德。這兩個王有不同的作為：撒冷王麥基洗德帶著餅和酒出來迎接；他是至高上帝的祭司。他為亞伯蘭祝福，說：「願天地的主、至高的上帝賜福與亞伯蘭！至高的上帝把敵人交在你手裡，是應當稱頌的！」亞伯蘭就把所得的拿出十分之一來，給麥基洗德。而所多瑪王對亞伯蘭說：「你把人口給我，財物你自己拿去吧！」亞伯蘭對所多瑪王說：「我已經向天地的主─至高的上帝耶和華起誓：凡是你的東西，就是一根線、一根鞋帶，我都不拿，免得你說：『我使亞伯蘭富足！』只有僕人所吃的，並與我同行的亞乃、以實各、幔利所應得的分，可以任憑他們拿去。」

    這兩位王的不同就是一位是屬上帝的，一位是屬於世界的。而屬上帝的王就是基督的預表，更是基督徒在世的樣式，要為人祝福並將榮耀歸給上帝！讓我們的一生也是如此！