14:1 人為婦人所生,日子短少,多有患難;
14:2 出來如花,又被割下,飛去如影,不能存留。
14:3 這樣的人你豈睜眼看他嗎?又叫我來受審嗎?
14:4 誰能使潔淨之物出於污穢之中呢?無論誰也不能!
14:5 人的日子既然限定,他的月數在你那裡,你也派定他的界限,使他不能越過,
14:6 便求你轉眼不看他,使他得歇息,直等他像雇工人完畢他的日子。
14:7 樹若被砍下,還可指望發芽,嫩枝生長不息;
14:8 其根雖然衰老在地裡,幹也死在土中,
14:9 及至得了水氣,還要發芽,又長枝條,像新栽的樹一樣。
14:10 但人死亡而消滅;他氣絕,竟在何處呢?
14:11 海中的水絕盡,江河消散乾涸。
14:12 人也是如此,躺下不再起來,等到天沒有了,仍不得復醒,也不得從睡中喚醒。
14:13 惟願你把我藏在陰間,存於隱密處,等你的忿怒過去;願你為我定了日期,記念我。
14:14 人若死了豈能再活呢?我只要在我一切爭戰的日子,等我被釋放(或譯:改變)的時候來到。
14:15 你呼叫,我便回答;你手所做的,你必羨慕。
14:16 但如今你數點我的腳步,豈不窺察我的罪過嗎?
14:17 我的過犯被你封在囊中,也縫嚴了我的罪孽。
14:18 山崩變為無有;磐石挪開原處。
14:19 水流消磨石頭,所流溢的洗去地上的塵土;你也照樣滅絕人的指望。
14:20 你攻擊人常常得勝,使他去世;你改變他的容貌,叫他往而不回。
14:21 他兒子得尊榮,他也不知道,降為卑,他也不覺得。
14:22 但知身上疼痛,心中悲哀。
“Mortals,
born of woman,
are of few days and full of trouble.
2 They spring up like flowers and wither away;
like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
3 Do you fix your eye on them?
Will you bring them[a] before you
for judgment?
4 Who can bring what is pure from the impure?
No one!
5 A person’s days are determined;
you have decreed the number of his months
and have set limits he cannot exceed.
6 So look away from him and let him alone,
till he has put in his time like a hired laborer.
7 “At
least there is hope for a tree:
If it is cut down, it will sprout again,
and its new shoots will not fail.
8 Its roots may grow old in the ground
and its stump die in the soil,
9 yet at the scent of water it will bud
and put forth shoots like a plant.
10 But a man dies and is laid low;
he breathes his last and is no more.
11 As the water of a lake dries up
or a riverbed becomes parched and dry,
12 so he lies down and does not rise;
till the heavens are no more, people will not awake
or be roused from their sleep.
13 “If
only you would hide me in the grave
and conceal me till your anger has passed!
If only you would set me a time
and then remember me!
14 If someone dies, will they live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal[b] to come.
15 You will call and I will answer you;
you will long for the creature your hands have made.
16 Surely then you will count my steps
but not keep track of my sin.
17 My offenses will be sealed up in a bag;
you will cover over my sin.
18 “But
as a mountain erodes and crumbles
and as a rock is moved from its place,
19 as water wears away stones
and torrents wash away the soil,
so you destroy a person’s hope.
20 You overpower them once for all, and they are gone;
you change their countenance and send them away.
21 If their children are honored, they do not know it;
if their offspring are brought low, they do not see it.
22 They feel but the pain of their own bodies
and mourn only for themselves.”
*************
約伯和朋友的對話的第一階段再次結束,然而我們看見約伯的話根本不是回答他的朋友,而是與上帝的對話。這是為甚麼呢?約伯清楚他所要尋找的對象是上帝,不是人!這些人自以為是的替上帝回應,對約伯來說感覺十分厭煩,也覺得很沒有意義!所以,我們看見約伯的話語都是針對上帝說的!
約伯在上帝面前因為災難感到冤屈,又想到生命有限,那一天過世之後,被上帝隱藏在陰間對世上的事情一概不知,上帝是否有申冤完全不知,上帝會不因此就敷衍過去?約伯覺得這樣會讓他覺得不甘心!
對約伯而言覺得生命有限,讓他覺得沒有申冤的盼望!這就像許多壞人以為殺人就可以滅口,因為死人不會說話!上帝會不會故意將他的冤情埋藏起來?尤其是在約伯沒有生命的時候!
約伯這樣的顧忌,讓我們有一個認識,人必須要永生,才能不會被惡者欺負與壓迫而無法申冤,因為惡人常常以「死人不會說話」為護身符!然而聖經向我們說,死人還是會申冤的,正如亞伯被該隱所殺害時,耶和華上帝說:「你做了甚麼事呢?你兄弟的血有聲音從地裡向我哀告。」(創世記4:10)
啟示錄6章9-10節,也說到關於被迫害者的聲音:揭開第五印的時候,我看見在祭壇底下,有為上帝的道、並為作見證被殺之人的靈魂,大聲喊著說:「聖潔真實的主啊,你不審判住在地上的人,給我們伸流血的冤,要等到幾時呢?」
可見上帝是不會掩蓋與隱藏屬祂的人的冤情,祂必聽見!只是他透過使者安慰:「於是有白衣賜給他們各人;又有話對他們說,還要安息片時,等著一同作僕人的和他們的弟兄也像他們被殺,滿足了數目。」(啟示錄6章11節)
是的,我們不要因為現實的狀況而沮喪,時間到了上帝必定會做事,必照祂的應許成就的!所以,聖徒必須堅忍,相信上帝恆保守,必定不會忘記為我們伸冤的,祂是正義的上帝!
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