以賽亞書35:1-10

35:1 曠野和乾旱之地必然歡喜；沙漠也必快樂；又像玫瑰開花，
35:2 必開花繁盛，樂上加樂，而且歡呼。黎巴嫩的榮耀，並迦密與沙崙的華美，必賜給它。人必看見耶和華的榮耀，我們上帝的華美。
35:3 你們要使軟弱的手堅壯，無力的膝穩固。
35:4 對膽怯的人說：你們要剛強，不要懼怕。看哪，你們的上帝必來報仇，必來施行極大的報應；他必來拯救你們。
35:5 那時，瞎子的眼必睜開；聾子的耳必開通。
35:6 那時，瘸子必跳躍像鹿；啞巴的舌頭必能歌唱。在曠野必有水發出；在沙漠必有河湧流。
35:7 發光的沙（或譯：蜃樓）要變為水池；乾渴之地要變為泉源。在野狗躺臥之處，必有青草、蘆葦，和蒲草。
35:8 在那裡必有一條大道，稱為聖路。污穢人不得經過，必專為贖民行走；行路的人雖愚昧，也不致失迷。
35:9 在那裡必沒有獅子，猛獸也不登這路；在那裡都遇不見，只有贖民在那裡行走。
35:10 並且耶和華救贖的民必歸回，歌唱來到錫安；永樂必歸到他們的頭上；他們必得著歡喜快樂，憂愁歎息盡都逃避。

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,

the desert shall rejoice and blossom;

like the crocus ²it shall blossom abundantly,

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,

the majesty of our God.

3

Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

4

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

“Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you.”

5

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

6

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

7

the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

8

A highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Holy Way;

the unclean shall not travel on it,

but it shall be for God’s people;

no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

9

No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,

but the redeemed shall walk there.

10

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain joy and gladness,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

?

***********

    喜樂是得上帝救贖的表現，正如先知所宣告：「在那裡必有一條大道，稱為聖路。污穢人不得經過，必專為贖民行走；行路的人雖愚昧，也不致失迷。在那裡必沒有獅子，猛獸也不登這路；在那裡都遇不見，只有贖民在那裡行走。並且耶和華救贖的民必歸回，歌唱來到錫安；永樂必歸到他們的頭上；他們必得著歡喜快樂，憂愁歎息盡都逃避。」

    的確，被上帝所救贖的人，心中因為感謝上帝，就有喜樂完全在心中，就會感到滿足與幸福，就會受上帝的愛所充滿，於是對前程充滿信心與盼望！就感到安穩自在，心中沒有恐懼，一切黑影全部掃除了！

    親愛的弟兄姊妹，我們今天透過主耶穌，正走在這個充滿喜樂的救贖之路！我們可以勇敢的享受與歡呼，因為上帝在基督裡的應許永遠是「是」！不僅如此，透過「信」我們就領受了基督的一切了，基督有的，也是我們所有的！因為，在永恆裡，上帝以基督為我們的獎賞了！

以賽亞書34章

       以賽亞書34:1-17  ,

以賽亞書34:1-17

34:1 列國啊，要近前來聽！眾民哪，要側耳而聽！地和其上所充滿的，世界和其中一切所出的都應當聽！
34:2 因為耶和華向萬國發忿恨，向他們的全軍發烈怒，將他們滅盡，交出他們受殺戮。
34:3 被殺的必然拋棄，屍首臭氣上騰；諸山被他們的血融化。
34:4 天上的萬象都要消沒；天被捲起，好像書卷。其上的萬象要殘敗，像葡萄樹的葉子殘敗，又像無花果樹的葉子殘敗一樣。
34:5 因為我的刀在天上已經喝足；這刀必臨到以東和我所咒詛的民，要施行審判。
34:6 耶和華的刀滿了血，用脂油和羊羔、公山羊的血，並公綿羊腰子的脂油滋潤的；因為耶和華在波斯拉有獻祭的事，在以東地大行殺戮。
34:7 野牛、牛犢，和公牛要一同下來。他們的地喝醉了血；他們的塵土因脂油肥潤。
34:8 因耶和華有報仇之日，為錫安的爭辯有報應之年。
34:9 以東的河水要變為石油，塵埃要變為硫磺；地土成為燒著的石油，
34:10 晝夜總不熄滅，煙氣永遠上騰，必世世代代成為荒廢，永永遠遠無人經過。
34:11 鵜鶘、箭豬卻要得為業；貓頭鷹、烏鴉要住在其間。耶和華必將空虛的準繩，混沌的線鉈，拉在其上。
34:12 以東人要召貴冑來治國；那裡卻無一個，首領也都歸於無有。
34:13 以東的宮殿要長荊棘；保障要長蒺藜和刺草；要作野狗的住處，鴕鳥的居所。
34:14 曠野的走獸要和豺狼相遇；野山羊要與伴偶對叫。夜間的怪物必在那裡棲身，自找安歇之處。
34:15 箭蛇要在那裡做窩，下蛋，菢蛋，生子，聚子在其影下；鷂鷹各與伴偶聚集在那裡。
34:16 你們要查考宣讀耶和華的書。這都無一缺少，無一沒有伴偶；因為我的口已經吩咐，他的靈將他們聚集。
34:17 他也為他們拈鬮，又親手用準繩給他們分地；他們必永得為業，世世代代住在其間。

Draw near, O nations, to hear;

O peoples, give heed!

Let the earth hear, and all that fills it;

the world, and all that comes from it.

2

For the Lord is enraged against all the nations,

and furious against all their hordes;

he has doomed them, has given them over for slaughter.

3

Their slain shall be cast out,

and the stench of their corpses shall rise;

the mountains shall flow with their blood.

4

All the host of heaven shall rot away,

and the skies roll up like a scroll.

All their host shall wither

like a leaf withering on a vine,

or fruit withering on a fig tree.

5

When my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,

lo, it will descend upon Edom,

upon the people I have doomed to judgment.

6

The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood,

it is gorged with fat,

with the blood of lambs and goats,

with the fat of the kidneys of rams.

For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah,

a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7

Wild oxen shall fall with them,

and young steers with the mighty bulls.

Their land shall be soaked with blood,

and their soil made rich with fat.

8

For the Lord has a day of vengeance,

a year of vindication by Zion’s cause.

9

And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch,

and her soil into sulfur;

her land shall become burning pitch.

10

Night and day it shall not be quenched;

its smoke shall go up forever.

From generation to generation it shall lie waste;

no one shall pass through it forever and ever.

11

But the hawk and the hedgehog shall possess it;

the owl and the raven shall live in it.

He shall stretch the line of confusion over it,

and the plummet of chaos over its nobles.

12

They shall name it No Kingdom There,

and all its princes shall be nothing.

13

Thorns shall grow over its strongholds,

nettles and thistles in its fortresses.

It shall be the haunt of jackals,

an abode for ostriches.

14

Wildcats shall meet with hyenas,

goat-demons shall call to each other;

there too Lilith shall repose,

and find a place to rest.

15

There shall the owl nest

and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow;

there too the buzzards shall gather,

each one with its mate.

16

Seek and read from the book of the Lord:

Not one of these shall be missing;

none shall be without its mate.

For the mouth of the Lord has commanded,

and his spirit has gathered them.

17

He has cast the lot for them,

his hand has portioned it out to them with the line;

they shall possess it forever,

from generation to generation they shall live in it.

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    以東和以色列應該是兄弟之邦，但是以並沒有善待以色列，有時還落井下石。也因為如此，上帝要大大的懲罰以東，使他們知道：沒又善待以色列，上帝也不會善待的。

    這也向我們告知，在教會內的弟兄姐妹，要彼此善待，不可以虧負，不然上帝是會追究的，就像祂追究以東一樣。正如公義的最低要求，就是不可以虧欠人！有虧欠就沒有正義了！沒有正義，就沒有平安！

    求主幫助我們，讓我們透過遵行正義的要求，而可以享受主所賜的平安！

以賽亞書33:17-24

33:17 你的眼必見王的榮美，必見遼闊之地。
33:18 你的心必思想那驚嚇的事，自問說：記數目的在哪裡呢？平貢銀的在哪裡呢？數戍樓的在哪裡呢？
33:19 你必不見那強暴的民，就是說話深奧，你不能明白，言語呢喃，你不能懂得的。
33:20 你要看錫安─我們守聖節的城！你的眼必見耶路撒冷為安靜的居所，為不挪移的帳幕，橛子永不拔出，繩索一根也不折斷。
33:21 在那裡，耶和華必顯威嚴與我們同在，當作江河寬闊之地；其中必沒有盪槳搖櫓的船來往，也沒有威武的船經過。
33:22 因為，耶和華是審判我們的；耶和華是給我們設律法的；耶和華是我們的王；他必拯救我們。
33:23 你的繩索鬆開：不能栽穩桅杆，也不能揚起篷來。那時許多擄來的物被分了；瘸腿的把掠物奪去了。
33:24 城內居民必不說：我病了；其中居住的百姓，罪孽都赦免了。

17

Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;

they will behold a land that stretches far away.

18

Your mind will muse on the terror:

“Where is the one who counted?

Where is the one who weighed the tribute?

Where is the one who counted the towers?”

19

No longer will you see the insolent people,

the people of an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,

stammering in a language that you cannot understand.

20

Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals!

Your eyes will see Jerusalem,

a quiet habitation, an immovable tent,

whose stakes will never be pulled up,

and none of whose ropes will be broken.

21

But there the Lord in majesty will be for us

a place of broad rivers and streams,

where no galley with oars can go,

nor stately ship can pass.

22

For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our ruler,

the Lord is our king; he will save us.

23

Your rigging hangs loose;

it cannot hold the mast firm in its place,

or keep the sail spread out.

Then prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;

even the lame will fall to plundering.

24

And no inhabitant will say, “I am sick”;

the people who live there will be forgiven their iniquity.

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    上帝的國是基督徒心中唯一的盼望！那麼甚麼是上帝的國呢？就是上帝王權張顯的地方，也就是：世上的國，成了我主和主基督的國！而在這樣的國，我們也要與基督一同做王，這是真正民主的地方。

    當然，這個國的實現是在上帝的手中，而且這樣的國永遠堅立，正如先知在這裡所形容的：「你要看錫安─我們守聖節的城！你的眼必見耶路撒冷為安靜的居所，為不挪移的帳幕，橛子永不拔出，繩索一根也不折斷。」

    上帝更是應許：「在那裡，耶和華必顯威嚴與我們同在，當作江河寬闊之地；其中必沒有盪槳搖櫓的船來往，也沒有威武的船經過。因為，耶和華是審判我們的；耶和華是給我們設律法的；耶和華是我們的王；他必拯救我們。」

    是的！耶和華是我們的王；祂必拯救我們。讓我們藉由信心領受耶穌基督所成就的！