2020年11月6日 星期五
撒母耳記下11:1-27
11:1 過了一年，到列王出戰的時候，大衛又差派約押，率領臣僕和以色列眾人出戰。他們就打敗亞捫人，圍攻拉巴。大衛仍住在耶路撒冷。
11:2 一日，太陽平西，大衛從床上起來，在王宮的平頂上遊行，看見一個婦人沐浴，容貌甚美，
11:3 大衛就差人打聽那婦人是誰。有人說：「她是以連的女兒，赫人烏利亞的妻拔示巴。」
11:4 大衛差人去，將婦人接來；那時她的月經才得潔淨。她來了，大衛與她同房，她就回家去了。
11:5 於是她懷了孕，打發人去告訴大衛說：「我懷了孕。」
11:6 大衛差人到約押那裡，說：「你打發赫人烏利亞到我這裡來。」約押就打發烏利亞去見大衛。
11:7 烏利亞來了，大衛問約押好，也問兵好，又問爭戰的事怎樣。
11:8 大衛對烏利亞說：「你回家去，洗洗腳吧！」烏利亞出了王宮，隨後王送他一分食物。
11:9 烏利亞卻和他主人的僕人一同睡在宮門外，沒有回家去。
11:10 有人告訴大衛說：「烏利亞沒有回家去。」大衛就問烏利亞說：「你從遠路上來，為甚麼不回家去呢？」
11:11 烏利亞對大衛說：「約櫃和以色列與猶大兵都住在棚裡，我主約押和我主（或譯：王）的僕人都在田野安營，我豈可回家吃喝、與妻子同寢呢？我敢在王面前起誓（原文是我指著王和王的性命起誓）：我決不行這事！」
11:12 大衛吩咐烏利亞說：「你今日仍住在這裡，明日我打發你去。」於是烏利亞那日和次日住在耶路撒冷。
11:13 大衛召了烏利亞來，叫他在自己面前吃喝，使他喝醉。到了晚上，烏利亞出去與他主的僕人一同住宿，還沒有回到家裡去。
11:14 次日早晨，大衛寫信與約押，交烏利亞隨手帶去。
11:15 信內寫著說：「要派烏利亞前進，到陣勢極險之處，你們便退後，使他被殺。」
11:16 約押圍城的時候，知道敵人那裡有勇士，便將烏利亞派在那裡。
11:17 城裡的人出來和約押打仗；大衛的僕人中有幾個被殺的，赫人烏利亞也死了。
11:18 於是，約押差人去將爭戰的一切事告訴大衛，
11:19 又囑咐使者說：「你把爭戰的一切事對王說完了，
11:20 王若發怒，問你說：『你們打仗為甚麼挨近城牆呢？豈不知敵人必從城上射箭嗎？
11:21 從前打死耶路‧比設（就是耶路‧巴力，見士師記九章一節）兒子亞比米勒的是誰呢？豈不是一個婦人從城上拋下一塊上磨石來，打在他身上，他就死在提備斯麼？你們為甚麼挨近城牆呢？』你就說：『王的僕人─赫人烏利亞也死了。』」
11:22 使者起身，來見大衛，照著約押所吩咐他的話奏告大衛。
11:23 使者對大衛說：「敵人強過我們，出到郊野與我們打仗，我們追殺他們，直到城門口。
11:24 射箭的從城上射王的僕人，射死幾個，赫人烏利亞也死了。」
11:25 王向使者說：「你告訴約押說：『不要因這事愁悶，刀劍或吞滅這人或吞滅那人，沒有一定的；你只管竭力攻城，將城傾覆。』可以用這話勉勵約押。」
11:26 烏利亞的妻聽見丈夫烏利亞死了，就為他哀哭。
11:27 哀哭的日子過了，大衛差人將她接到宮裡，她就作了大衛的妻，給大衛生了一個兒子。但大衛所行的這事，耶和華甚不喜悅。
In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.
10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents,[a] and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.
18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth[b]? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”
22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”
25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.
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聖經的傳記不像中國人的傳記：中國人的傳記對於偉人的描述都是歌功頌德，只寫好的事情，不會記力不好的事情；然而聖經中的傳記並不是如此，不僅記錄豐功偉業，也會記錄見不得人的事件，一點也不會顧及情面，就是那麼公正！
就像大衛的傳記，描寫大衛的各樣成就、豐功偉業，也會擠路大衛的失敗與黑暗的一面。就如這裡，描寫他和拔示巴發生不倫的姦情，甚至要掩蓋這一份姦情，還讓拔示巴的先生烏利亞有些額外的福利。那知烏利亞是那樣忠貞的人，一點都不領情，大衛只好利用職務的便利，藉由敵人的手將烏利亞處理掉，大衛反而名正言順與拔示巴結婚。但是這件事，上帝全看在眼裡，聖經在這裡說：「但大衛所行的這事，耶和華甚不喜悅。」連《列王記上》15章5節也記上一筆：「因為大衛除了赫人烏利亞那件事，都是行耶和華眼中看為正的事，一生沒有違背耶和華一切所吩咐的。」
可見大衛也有失敗的地方，然而上帝看為嚴重的不是姦情，是他用計將烏利亞害死的這一件事，上帝看為非常不喜悅！可是，姦情卻是促成他殺人的動機，以致上帝紀念他殺人的事件！
然而講道的人常常沒有注意殺人事件，為了迎合人喜愛腥羶的口味，用盡辦法描述姦情，卻忽略了上帝看重人性命的事情。這樣的事情，我們要照上帝的心意在講台說明清楚，使人尊重人的生命，千萬不可以為了目的不擇手段，危害人的性命！
希伯來書5:12-14
5:12 看你們學習的工夫，本該作師傅，誰知還得有人將上帝聖言小學的開端另教導你們，並且成了那必須吃奶、不能吃乾糧的人。
5:13 凡只能吃奶的都不熟練仁義的道理，因為他是嬰孩；
5:14 惟獨長大成人的才能吃乾糧；他們的心竅習練得通達，就能分辨好歹了。
12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
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許多時候我們的努力並沒有讓我們進深到某種預期的程度，就像作者說：「看你們學習的工夫，本該作師傅，誰知還得有人將上帝聖言小學的開端另教導你們，並且成了那必須吃奶、不能吃乾糧的人。」
為什麼會有這樣的事情發生呢﹖是因為我們被既定的規矩或觀念所限制，以至於無法接受新的觀念和規矩。之所以如此，是因為我們不願意改變，不願意嘗試新的，對於真理的認識不清楚，以至於墨守陳規，認為這樣才是穩當的。
然而作者在這裡指明人不改變的原因是「不熟練仁義的道理」，這也就是說智慧上不夠，只學習到表面，沒有學習到精髓，已至於對新的觀念與規矩無法有正確的判斷力，作者認為一為成熟的人應該「心竅習練得通達」，如此「就能分辨好歹了」！
這對我們基督徒也有很大的提醒，我們只是學習信仰的表面呢﹖還是操練自己與聖靈相通，明白上帝的心意，可以明辨是非！這也就是說，基督信仰不是反智，只是知識或規矩的灌輸，而不做智慧的判斷之操練！
所以，傳道人甚至於信徒本身，不只是將信仰的知識或經歷放進腦袋來炫耀自己內在的豐富而已，更要在聖靈的引導下來應用這些，能幫助自己或弟兄姊妹有是當的應用與判斷，好在瞬息萬變的世界，面對兇猛狡詐的仇敵能夠得勝有餘，為主做美好見證，使主的名得著稱讚與高舉！
2020年11月5日 星期四
約伯記23:1-17
23:1 約伯回答說：
23:2 如今我的哀告還算為悖逆；我的責罰比我的唉哼還重。
23:3 惟願我能知道在哪裡可以尋見上帝，能到他的臺前，
23:4 我就在他面前將我的案件陳明，滿口辯白。
23:5 我必知道他回答我的言語，明白他向我所說的話。
23:6 他豈用大能與我爭辯嗎？必不這樣！他必理會我。
23:7 在他那裡正直人可以與他辯論；這樣，我必永遠脫離那審判我的。
23:8 只是，我往前行，他不在那裡，往後退，也不能見他。
23:9 他在左邊行事，我卻不能看見，在右邊隱藏，我也不能見他。
23:10 然而他知道我所行的路；他試煉我之後，我必如精金。
23:11 我腳追隨他的步履；我謹守他的道，並不偏離。
23:12 他嘴唇的命令，我未曾背棄；我看重他口中的言語，過於我需用的飲食。
23:13 只是他心志已定，誰能使他轉意呢？他心裡所願的，就行出來。
23:14 他向我所定的，就必做成；這類的事他還有許多。
23:15 所以我在他面前驚惶；我思念這事便懼怕他。
23:16 上帝使我喪膽；全能者使我驚惶。
23:17 我的恐懼不是因為黑暗，也不是因為幽暗蒙蔽我的臉。
Then Job replied:
2 “Even today my complaint is bitter;
his
hand[a] is heavy in spite of[b] my groaning.
3 If only I knew where
to find him;
if
only I could go to his dwelling!
4 I would state my case
before him
and
fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would find out what
he would answer me,
and
consider what he would say to me.
6 Would he vigorously
oppose me?
No,
he would not press charges against me.
7 There the upright can
establish their innocence before him,
and
there I would be delivered forever from my judge.
8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there;
if
I go to the west, I do not find him.
9 When he is at work in
the north, I do not see him;
when
he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him.
10 But he knows the way
that I take;
when
he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.
11 My feet have closely
followed his steps;
I
have kept to his way without turning aside.
12 I have not departed
from the commands of his lips;
I
have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.
13 “But he stands alone, and who can oppose him?
He
does whatever he pleases.
14 He carries out his
decree against me,
and
many such plans he still has in store.
15 That is why I am
terrified before him;
when
I think of all this, I fear him.
16 God has made my heart
faint;
the
Almighty has terrified me.
17 Yet I am not silenced
by the darkness,
by
the thick darkness that covers my face.
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約伯心裡是敬畏上帝的，而且是尊主為大的，正如在這裡他說明自己是如何的敬畏上帝：「我腳追隨他的步履；我謹守他的道，並不偏離。他嘴唇的命令，我未曾背棄；我看重他口中的言語，過於我需用的飲食。」
約伯這樣說的意義，就是敬畏上帝的基本就是：看重上帝的話語遵行上帝的命令！若是不以上帝的話為中心，而以自以為是的想法為中心，則是很可怕的！因為我們的心早就被罪惡所汙染，已經對不準上帝的心意，除非透過上帝明確的啟示，也就是祂的話！也因為如此，我們需要聖靈來開啟我們的心，好明白上帝的話語－－聖經。
然而這個世代已經漸漸忘記上帝話（聖經）語的重要性，仍然受到一些人認為是先知的影響，認為他們講的是上帝的話語、上帝的啟示，取代了聖經的地位，忘記當初宗教改革的精神，不在以「惟獨聖經」的精神建立信仰，於是教會的信徒又處在不可確定得當中，不敢把握聖靈在心中內住的引導，於是失去以基督為中心的信仰，成為飄忽不定的隨機主義者，這是多麼可惜啊！