1:18 我舉目觀看,見有四角。
1:19 我就問與我說話的天使說:「這是甚麼意思?」他回答說:「這是打散猶大、以色列,和耶路撒冷的角。」
1:20 耶和華又指四個匠人給我看。
1:21 我說:「他們來做甚麼呢?」他說:「這是打散猶大的角,使人不敢抬頭;但這些匠人來威嚇列國,打掉他們的角,就是舉起打散猶大地的角。」
And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold,
four horns! And I said to the angel who
talked with me, "What are these?" And he said to me, "These are
the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." Then the Lord showed me four craftsmen. And I said, "What are these coming to
do?" He said, "These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no
one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the
horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to
scatter it."
*******
這裡看見上帝刻意要消除以色列人的自我中心,使他們學習順服上帝,不再悖逆上帝,最好的方式就是滅國!
當然上帝滅國並不滅種,仍然讓猶太人在世上,使他們知道如何敬畏上帝!也成為萬國的借鏡。