35:1 以利戶又說:
35:2 你以為有理,或以為你的公義勝於上帝的公義,
35:3 才說這與我有甚麼益處?我不犯罪比犯罪有甚麼好處呢?
35:4 我要回答你和在你這裡的朋友。
35:5 你要向天觀看,瞻望那高於你的穹蒼。
35:6 你若犯罪,能使上帝受何害呢?你的過犯加增,能使上帝受何損呢?
35:7 你若是公義,還能加增他甚麼呢?他從你手裡還接受甚麼呢?
35:8 你的過惡或能害你這類的人;你的公義或能叫世人得益處。
35:9 人因多受欺壓就哀求,因受能者的轄制(原文是膀臂)便求救,
35:10 卻無人說:造我的上帝在哪裡?他使人夜間歌唱,
35:11 教訓我們勝於地上的走獸,使我們有聰明勝於空中的飛鳥。
35:12 他們在那裡,因惡人的驕傲呼求,卻無人答應。
35:13 虛妄的呼求,上帝必不垂聽;全能者也必不眷顧。
35:14 何況你說,你不得見他;你的案件在他面前,你等候他吧。
35:15 但如今因他未曾發怒降罰,也不甚理會狂傲,
35:16 所以約伯開口說虛妄的話,多發無知識的言語。
Then Elihu said:
2 “Do
you think this is just?
You say, ‘I am in the right, not God.’
3 Yet you ask him, ‘What profit is it to me,[a]
and what do I gain by not sinning?’
4 “I
would like to reply to you
and to your friends with you.
5 Look up at the heavens and see;
gaze at the clouds so high above you.
6 If you sin, how does that affect him?
If your sins are many, what does that do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what do you give to him,
or what does he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself,
and your righteousness only other people.
9 “People
cry out under a load of oppression;
they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful.
10 But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than he teaches[b] the beasts
of the earth
and makes us wiser than[c] the birds
in the sky?’
12 He does not answer when people cry out
because of the arrogance of the wicked.
13 Indeed, God does not listen to their empty plea;
the Almighty pays no attention to it.
14 How much less, then, will he listen
when you say that you do not see him,
that your case is before him
and you must wait for him,
15 and further, that his anger never punishes
and he does not take the least notice of wickedness.[d]
16 So Job opens his mouth with empty talk;
without knowledge he multiplies words.”
*************
以利戶的話算是有智慧,因為人的好壞並不影響上帝,上帝是超然的上帝,也是絕對者,祂是永不改變!所以,上帝絕對不會受到人類或其他的受造物而有所改變,反倒是人需要倚靠上帝!
然而上帝並非渺茫不可知,人對上帝的期盼就是上帝伸手來救人脫離苦難,還期盼上帝豐富的賞賜,使人可以有幸福和快樂的日子。這也是許多人信靠上帝所企求的,但是上帝要給人的不只是脫離苦難和豐盛的物質,更重要的是要賜給人智慧,使人靠上帝所賜的智慧活出上帝喜悅的生命!
正如以利戶所說:「人因多受欺壓就哀求,因受能者的轄制(原文是膀臂)便求救,卻無人說:造我的上帝在哪裡?他使人夜間歌唱,教訓我們勝於地上的走獸,使我們有聰明勝於空中的飛鳥。」
然而卻像以利戶所說的:「他們在那裡,因惡人的驕傲呼求,卻無人答應。虛妄的呼求,上帝必不垂聽;全能者也必不眷顧。」
以利戶在這裡要約伯去思考:上帝讓他遇見的每一件事是要將智慧賜給他,使他來尋求上帝的面而使這些受苦變成有意義,而不是開口說虛妄的話,多發無知識的言語。
因此,我們從這裡學習到,要尋求上帝好得智慧的心,而不是一直辯駁:「自己是多麼品格高超,多麼聖潔公義,上帝實在不公平,讓那麼多苦難臨到呢?那些不公義的惡人都過得幸福快樂,豐衣足食,還可以長命百歲!」
是的!我們要求上帝賜下智慧的心,勝過財富萬貫,也唯有上帝所賜的智慧,我們才可以「常常喜樂,不住地禱告,凡事謝恩;因為這是上帝在基督耶穌裡向你們所定的旨意。」(帖撒羅尼迦前書5:16-18)
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