撒母耳記上6:1-21

 

6:1 耶和華的約櫃在非利士人之地七個月。
6:2 非利士人將祭司和占卜的聚了來，問他們說：「我們向耶和華的約櫃應當怎樣行？請指示我們用何法將約櫃送回原處。」
6:3 他們說：「若要將以色列上帝的約櫃送回去，不可空空地送去，必要給他獻賠罪的禮物，然後你們可得痊癒，並知道他的手為何不離開你們。」
6:4 非利士人說：「應當用甚麼獻為賠罪的禮物呢？」他們回答說：「當照非利士首領的數目，用五個金痔瘡，五個金老鼠，因為在你們眾人和你們首領的身上都是一樣的災。
6:5 所以當製造你們痔瘡的像和毀壞你們田地老鼠的像，並要歸榮耀給以色列的上帝，或者他向你們和你們的神，並你們的田地，把手放輕些。
6:6 你們為何硬著心像埃及人和法老一樣呢？上帝在埃及人中間行奇事，埃及人豈不釋放以色列人，他們就去了嗎？
6:7 現在你們應當造一輛新車，將兩隻未曾負軛有乳的母牛套在車上，使牛犢回家去，離開母牛。
6:8 把耶和華的約櫃放在車上，將所獻賠罪的金物裝在匣子裡，放在櫃旁，將櫃送去。
6:9 你們要看看：車若直行以色列的境界到伯．示麥去，這大災就是耶和華降在我們身上的；若不然，便可以知道不是他的手擊打我們，是我們偶然遇見的。」
6:10 非利士人就這樣行：將兩隻有乳的母牛套在車上，將牛犢關在家裡，
6:11 把耶和華的約櫃和裝金老鼠並金痔瘡像的匣子都放在車上。
6:12 牛直行大道，往伯．示麥去，一面走一面叫，不偏左右。非利士的首領跟在後面，直到伯．示麥的境界。
6:13 伯．示麥人正在平原收割麥子，舉目看見約櫃，就歡喜了。
6:14 車到了伯．示麥人約書亞的田間，就站住了。在那裡有一塊大磐石，他們把車劈了，將兩隻母牛獻給耶和華為燔祭。
6:15 利未人將耶和華的約櫃和裝金物的匣子拿下來，放在大磐石上。當日伯．示麥人將燔祭和平安祭獻給耶和華。
6:16 非利士人的五個首領看見，當日就回以革倫去了。
6:17 非利士人獻給耶和華作賠罪的金痔瘡像，就是這些：一個是為亞實突，一個是為迦薩，一個是為亞實基倫，一個是為迦特，一個是為以革倫。
6:18 金老鼠的數目是照非利士五個首領的城邑，就是堅固的城邑和鄉村，以及大磐石。這磐石是放耶和華約櫃的，到今日還在伯．示麥人約書亞的田間。
6:19 耶和華因伯．示麥人擅觀他的約櫃，就擊殺了他們七十人；那時有五萬人在那裡（原文是七十人加五萬人）。百姓因耶和華大大擊殺他們，就哀哭了。
6:20 伯．示麥人說：「誰能在耶和華這聖潔的上帝面前侍立呢？這約櫃可以從我們這裡送到誰那裡去呢？」
6:21 於是打發人去見基列．耶琳的居民，說：「非利士人將耶和華的約櫃送回來了，你們下來將約櫃接到你們那裡去吧！」

 When the ark of the Lord had been in Philistine territory seven months, ² the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.”

³ They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.”

⁴ The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?”

They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers. ⁵ Make models of the tumors and of the rats that are destroying the country, and give glory to Israel’s god. Perhaps he will lift his hand from you and your gods and your land. ⁶ Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When Israel’s god dealt harshly with them, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

⁷ “Now then, get a new cart ready, with two cows that have calved and have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. ⁸ Take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and in a chest beside it put the gold objects you are sending back to him as a guilt offering. Send it on its way, ⁹ but keep watching it. If it goes up to its own territory, toward Beth Shemesh, then the Lord has brought this great disaster on us. But if it does not, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us but that it happened to us by chance.”

¹⁰ So they did this. They took two such cows and hitched them to the cart and penned up their calves. ¹¹ They placed the ark of the Lord on the cart and along with it the chest containing the gold rats and the models of the tumors. ¹² Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.

¹³ Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. ¹⁴ The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ The Levites took down the ark of the Lord, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the Lord. ¹⁶ The five rulers of the Philistines saw all this and then returned that same day to Ekron.

¹⁷ These are the gold tumors the Philistines sent as a guilt offering to the Lord—one each for Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. ¹⁸ And the number of the gold rats was according to the number of Philistine towns belonging to the five rulers—the fortified towns with their country villages. The large rock on which the Levites set the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh.

¹⁹ But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy^[a] of them to death because they looked into the ark of the Lord. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the Lord had dealt them. ²⁰ And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?”

²¹ Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to your town.”

 

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    耶和華的約櫃在非利士人中間造成不小的傷害，讓他們覺悟到不可以繼續將約櫃留在非利士，於是他們就找祭司和占卜的聚了來，問他們說：「我們向耶和華的約櫃應當怎樣行？請指示我們用何法將約櫃送回原處。」

 

    這些人或許明白上帝的心意，就告訴非利士人：「若要將以色列上帝的約櫃送回去，不可空空地送去，必要給他獻賠罪的禮物，然後你們可得痊癒，並知道他的手為何不離開你們。」

 

    非利士人說：「應當用甚麼獻為賠罪的禮物呢？」他們回答說：「當照非利士首領的數目，用五個金痔瘡，五個金老鼠，因為在你們眾人和你們首領的身上都是一樣的災。所以當製造你們痔瘡的像和毀壞你們田地老鼠的像，並要歸榮耀給以色列的上帝，或者他向你們和你們的神，並你們的田地，把手放輕些。你們為何硬著心像埃及人和法老一樣呢？上帝在埃及人中間行奇事，埃及人豈不釋放以色列人，他們就去了嗎？現在你們應當造一輛新車，將兩隻未曾負軛有乳的母牛套在車上，使牛犢回家去，離開母牛。把耶和華的約櫃放在車上，將所獻賠罪的金物裝在匣子裡，放在櫃旁，將櫃送去。你們要看看：車若直行以色列的境界到伯．示麥去，這大災就是耶和華降在我們身上的；若不然，便可以知道不是他的手擊打我們，是我們偶然遇見的。」

 

    可見這些人還有些小聰明，知道要尊重上帝的主權！因為上帝是照其主權行事的上帝，是任何力量都無法阻擋的！只可惜他們不認耶和華上帝為他們的主，當然人是無法靠自己的方式來和上帝建立合宜關係，這也是我們今日要有的認知，因為上帝是不受人控制，反過來是人要敬畏與順服上帝！

 

    在這裡另一個讓人震驚的事就是：「耶和華因伯．示麥人擅觀他的約櫃，就擊殺了他們七十人；那時有五萬人在那裡（原文是七十人加五萬人）。百姓因耶和華大大擊殺他們，就哀哭了。」

 

    由這樣的一件事，再次提醒我們上帝是聖的，也就是不可以侵犯的，尤其是我們有罪的人，怎能用眼觀看上帝的榮耀？就像以賽亞書6章2節的記載：「其上有撒拉弗侍立，各有六個翅膀：用兩個翅膀遮臉，兩個翅膀遮腳，兩個翅膀飛翔；」知道連侍立在上帝面前的天使都不敢看上帝的威嚴榮光，人豈可侵犯這樣的榮耀呢？

 

    當然在新約時代，正如希伯來書10章19-20節說：「弟兄們，我們既因耶穌的血得以坦然進入至聖所，是藉著他給我們開了一條又新又活的路，從幔子經過，這幔子就是他的身體。」

 

    雖然我們可以藉由主耶穌和上帝建立合宜的關係，被上帝接納為兒女，我們還對上帝要有敬畏的心，順服在祂大能的手下！不要自立權柄，唯有上帝是權柄！不要高舉自己，只有高舉主耶穌並尊上帝為大！

 

 

詩篇137篇

       詩篇137:1-9   ,

詩篇137:1-9

137:1 我們曾在巴比倫的河邊坐下，一追想錫安就哭了。
137:2 我們把琴掛在那裡的柳樹上；
137:3 因為在那裡，擄掠我們的要我們唱歌，搶奪我們的要我們作樂，說：給我們唱一首錫安歌吧！
137:4 我們怎能在外邦唱耶和華的歌呢？
137:5 耶路撒冷啊，我若忘記你，情願我的右手忘記技巧！
137:6 我若不記念你，若不看耶路撒冷過於我所最喜樂的，情願我的舌頭貼於上膛！
137:7 耶路撒冷遭難的日子，以東人說：拆毀！拆毀！直拆到根基！耶和華啊，求你記念這仇！
137:8 將要被滅的巴比倫城啊（城：原文是女子），報復你像你待我們的，那人便為有福！
137:9 拿你的嬰孩摔在磐石上的，那人便為有福！

 

¹ By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
² There on the poplars
    we hung our harps,
³ for there our captors asked us for songs,
    our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
    they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord
    while in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you, Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
    my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”
⁸ Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them against the rocks.

 

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    當亡國奴的心聲，詩人很深刻的表達出來：「我們曾在巴比倫的河邊坐下，一追想錫安就哭了。」

 

    但是很無奈的是：「我們把琴掛在那裡的柳樹上；因為在那裡，擄掠我們的要我們唱歌，搶奪我們的要我們作樂，說：給我們唱一首錫安歌吧！我們怎能在外邦唱耶和華的歌呢？」

 

    這好像是一個歌手在外演唱時，隨意人點歌，卻被點到一首讓歌手非常不願意唱的歌，這首歌讓歌者有椎心刺骨的痛！也因為這樣詩人說：「耶路撒冷啊，我若忘記你，情願我的右手忘記技巧！我若不記念你，若不看耶路撒冷過於我所最喜樂的，情願我的舌頭貼於上膛！」

 

    詩人一想起錫安心中就非常不平，因為上帝的殿和上帝的城被毀壞了！心中好像失去了一個倚靠，讓詩人馬上湧起心中的仇恨！想到以東人的惡行惡狀：他們雖是兄弟之邦，卻助紂為虐，還對巴比倫人喊：「拆毀！拆毀！直拆到根基！」

 

    當源冤有頭、債有主！最痛恨的還是巴比倫人！所以詩人說：「將要被滅的巴比倫城啊（城：原文是女子），報復你像你待我們的，那人便為有福！拿你的嬰孩摔在磐石上的，那人便為有福！」

 

    然而從這首詩歌，我們感受到信仰不是建立在城市或是敬拜的地方，更不是建立在象徵物上，而是要建立在上帝本身。當然這是在新約的時代，聖靈降下後，我們得著完全的啟示後所得著的理念！這也就是說我們的信仰對象是三一上帝，不在人事物上面！

 

    馬丁路德時代的教會的信仰放在聖物上面，以為收集了許多主耶穌和聖徒的遺物或骨骸就會有更多的福氣，所以他勇敢的提出宗教改革高舉五個唯獨：「唯獨聖經（Sola scriptura）、唯獨信心（Sola fide）、唯獨恩典（Sola gratia）、唯獨基督（Solus Christus or Solo Christo）、唯獨上帝的榮耀（Soli Deo gloria）」！

 

    今天許多基督徒已經忘卻這樣的精神，學習天主教徒還在看重聖徒的功績，推崇人的功德，看重人的感覺，所作所為以人為中心而不是以基督為中心，求主保守讓教會恢復宗教改革的精神，將信仰建立在基督是主，一生為主而活，這才是真正的背十字架跟隨主。

 

 

撒母耳記上5章

      撒母耳記上5:1-12 ,

撒母耳記上5:1-12

5:1 非利士人將上帝的約櫃從以便以謝抬到亞實突。
5:2 非利士人將上帝的約櫃抬進大袞廟，放在大袞的旁邊。
5:3 次日清早，亞實突人起來，見大袞仆倒在耶和華的約櫃前，臉伏於地，就把大袞仍立在原處。
5:4 又次日清早起來，見大袞仆倒在耶和華的約櫃前，臉伏於地，並且大袞的頭和兩手都在門檻上折斷，只剩下大袞的殘體。
5:5 （因此，大袞的祭司和一切進亞實突、大袞廟的人都不踏大袞廟的門檻，直到今日。）
5:6 耶和華的手重重加在亞實突人身上，敗壞他們，使他們生痔瘡。亞實突和亞實突的四境都是如此。
5:7 亞實突人見這光景，就說：「以色列上帝的約櫃不可留在我們這裡，因為他的手重重加在我們和我們神大袞的身上」；
5:8 就打發人去請非利士的眾首領來聚集，問他們說：「我們向以色列上帝的約櫃應當怎樣行呢？」他們回答說：「可以將以色列上帝的約櫃運到迦特去。」於是將以色列上帝的約櫃運到那裡去。
5:9 運到之後，耶和華的手攻擊那城，使那城的人大大驚慌，無論大小都生痔瘡。
5:10 他們就把上帝的約櫃送到以革倫。上帝的約櫃到了，以革倫人就喊嚷起來說：「他們將以色列上帝的約櫃運到我們這裡，要害我們和我們的眾民！」
5:11 於是打發人去請非利士的眾首領來，說：「願你們將以色列上帝的約櫃送回原處，免得害了我們和我們的眾民！」原來上帝的手重重攻擊那城，城中的人有因驚慌而死的；
5:12 未曾死的人都生了痔瘡。合城呼號，聲音上達於天。

 After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. ² Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. ³ When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. ⁴ But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. ⁵ That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

⁶ The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod and its vicinity; he brought devastation on them and afflicted them with tumors.^{[a] 7} When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” ⁸ So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and asked them, “What shall we do with the ark of the god of Israel?”

They answered, “Have the ark of the god of Israel moved to Gath.” So they moved the ark of the God of Israel.

⁹ But after they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against that city, throwing it into a great panic. He afflicted the people of the city, both young and old, with an outbreak of tumors.^{[b] 10} So they sent the ark of God to Ekron.

As the ark of God was entering Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They have brought the ark of the god of Israel around to us to kill us and our people.” ¹¹ So they called together all the rulers of the Philistines and said, “Send the ark of the god of Israel away; let it go back to its own place, or it^[c] will kill us and our people.” For death had filled the city with panic; God’s hand was very heavy on it. ¹² Those who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.

 

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    上帝的約櫃雖然不是上帝本身，但是上帝仍然要彰顯祂的威嚴，讓非利士人看見上帝不像他們的神明，也不像那些偶像，祂是有能力的，祂可以賜福也可以降禍，是沒有任何能力可以阻擋的，即使是非利士人戰勝以色列人，上帝仍然是勝過個邦國的神明！

 

    上帝是大有能力，並且是獨行奇事上帝！卻是不受人限制的上帝，人也無法限制上帝要做什麼！所以，非常不贊同有些說法說到：「不要讓你的想法限制上帝的作為！」這樣說起來好像上帝很小，受人的思想來限制！還有教導人說：「你想要上帝賜給你什麼，就要心中一值想像，讓它具體浮現在你的心中，上帝要你明確的禱告才會賜給你！」仔細想想這樣的教導並非聖經來的，聖經教導的是：「你們不可效法他們；因為你們沒有祈求以先，你們所需用的，你們的父早已知道了。」（馬太福音6:8）

 

    所以，要再次強調，我們不要讓一些無意義不合聖經的說法充斥在我們的頭腦，要好好思考上帝在聖經所啟示的是甚麼，不要人云亦云，隨著世俗之風飄東飄西，毫無定向！我們要像保羅所說的：「豈不知在場上賽跑的都跑，但得獎賞的只有一人？你們也當這樣跑，好叫你們得著獎賞。凡較力爭勝的，諸事都有節制，他們不過是要得能壞的冠冕；我們卻是要得不能壞的冠冕。所以，我奔跑不像無定向的；我鬥拳不像打空氣的。」（哥林多前書9:24-26）

 

 

詩篇135篇

      詩篇135:1-21  ,

      詩篇135:3 , 詩篇135:6  ,