撒母耳記上12:1-25

 

12:1 撒母耳對以色列眾人說：「你們向我所求的，我已應允了，為你們立了一個王；
12:2 現在有這王在你們前面行。我已年老髮白，我的兒子都在你們這裡。我從幼年直到今日都在你們前面行。
12:3 我在這裡，你們要在耶和華和他的受膏者面前給我作見證。我奪過誰的牛，搶過誰的驢，欺負過誰，虐待過誰，從誰手裡受過賄賂因而眼瞎呢？若有，我必償還。」
12:4 眾人說：「你未曾欺負我們，虐待我們，也未曾從誰手裡受過甚麼。」
12:5 撒母耳對他們說：「你們在我手裡沒有找著甚麼，有耶和華和他的受膏者今日為證。」他們說：「願他為證。」
12:6 撒母耳對百姓說：「從前立摩西、亞倫，又領你們列祖出埃及地的是耶和華。
12:7 現在你們要站住，等我在耶和華面前對你們講論耶和華向你們和你們列祖所行一切公義的事。
12:8 從前雅各到了埃及，後來你們列祖呼求耶和華，耶和華就差遣摩西、亞倫領你們列祖出埃及，使他們在這地方居住。
12:9 他們卻忘記耶和華─他們的上帝，他就把他們付與夏瑣將軍西西拉的手裡，和非利士人並摩押王的手裡。於是這些人常來攻擊他們。
12:10 他們就呼求耶和華說：『我們離棄耶和華，事奉巴力和亞斯她錄，是有罪了。現在求你救我們脫離仇敵的手，我們必事奉你。』
12:11 耶和華就差遣耶路．巴力、比但、耶弗他、撒母耳救你們脫離四圍仇敵的手，你們才安然居住。
12:12 你們見亞捫人的王拿轄來攻擊你們，就對我說：『我們定要一個王治理我們。』其實耶和華─你們的上帝是你們的王。
12:13 現在，你們所求所選的王在這裡。看哪，耶和華已經為你們立王了。
12:14 你們若敬畏耶和華，事奉他，聽從他的話，不違背他的命令，你們和治理你們的王也都順從耶和華─你們的上帝就好了。
12:15 倘若不聽從耶和華的話，違背他的命令，耶和華的手必攻擊你們，像從前攻擊你們列祖一樣。
12:16 現在你們要站住，看耶和華在你們眼前要行一件大事。
12:17 這不是割麥子的時候嗎？我求告耶和華，他必打雷降雨，使你們又知道又看出，你們求立王的事是在耶和華面前犯大罪了。」
12:18 於是撒母耳求告耶和華，耶和華就在這日打雷降雨，眾民便甚懼怕耶和華和撒母耳。
12:19 眾民對撒母耳說：「求你為僕人們禱告耶和華─你的上帝，免得我們死亡；因為我們求立王的事正是罪上加罪了。」
12:20 撒母耳對百姓說：「不要懼怕！你們雖然行了這惡，卻不要偏離耶和華，只要盡心事奉他。
12:21 若偏離耶和華去順從那不能救人的虛神是無益的。
12:22 耶和華既喜悅選你們作他的子民，就必因他的大名不撇棄你們。
12:23 至於我，斷不停止為你們禱告，以致得罪耶和華。我必以善道正路指教你們。
12:24 只要你們敬畏耶和華，誠誠實實地盡心事奉他，想念他向你們所行的事何等大。
12:25 你們若仍然作惡，你們和你們的王必一同滅亡。」

 

 Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you said to me and have set a king over you. ² Now you have a king as your leader. As for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have been your leader from my youth until this day. ³ Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord and his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a bribe to make me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these things, I will make it right.”

⁴ “You have not cheated or oppressed us,” they replied. “You have not taken anything from anyone’s hand.”

⁵ Samuel said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and also his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.”

“He is witness,” they said.

⁶ Then Samuel said to the people, “It is the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors up out of Egypt. ⁷ Now then, stand here, because I am going to confront you with evidence before the Lord as to all the righteous acts performed by the Lord for you and your ancestors.

⁸ “After Jacob entered Egypt, they cried to the Lord for help, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

⁹ “But they forgot the Lord their God; so he sold them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hands of the Philistines and the king of Moab, who fought against them. ¹⁰ They cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned; we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtoreths. But now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve you.’ ¹¹ Then the Lord sent Jerub-Baal,^[a] Barak,^[b] Jephthah and Samuel,^[c] and he delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around you, so that you lived in safety.

¹² “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king. ¹³ Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you. ¹⁴ If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! ¹⁵ But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

¹⁶ “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! ¹⁷ Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”

¹⁸ Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel.

¹⁹ The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”

²⁰ “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. ²¹ Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. ²² For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own. ²³ As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. ²⁴ But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”

 

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    當掃羅王的角色顯明的時候，撒母耳透過這樣的一次講話，讓政權轉到掃羅的身上，自己轉到另一個角色就是先知和祭司。他一方面向百姓宣告上帝的話，教導王和百姓敬畏上帝；另一方面，他獻祭和禱告。這樣，王做審判和治理的事，讓國家進入次序和抵擋外侮，正如附近各個國家！

 

    然而撒母耳還是提醒以色列人，雖然掃羅為王，但是真正的王是耶和華上帝！就是亞伯拉罕、以撒和雅各的上帝，也是呼召摩西帶領以色列出埃及，經過曠野後來進入迦南地的上帝。更是在士師時代，興起眾多士師來拯救以色列人的上帝！

 

    撒母耳要以色列人感念上帝是君王，我們也是要以上帝為我們的君王！正如聖經說到：「世上的國成了我主和主基督的國；他要作王，直到永永遠遠。」(啟示錄11:15)不僅如此，聖經也說：「不再有黑夜；他們也不用燈光、日光，因為主上帝要光照他們。他們要作王，直到永永遠遠。」(啟示錄22:5)

 

    也因此信靠主耶穌的人，將來也是要做王！讓我們靠著主耶穌的恩典，培養王者的風範，就是做萬族萬民敬畏上帝的風範，如同大衛王一般！