撒母耳記上14:1-52

14:1 有一日，掃羅的兒子約拿單對拿他兵器的少年人說：「我們不如過到那邊，到非利士人的防營那裡去。」但他沒有告訴父親。
14:2 掃羅在基比亞的儘邊，坐在米磯崙的石榴樹下，跟隨他的約有六百人。
14:3 在那裡有亞希突的兒子亞希亞，穿著以弗得。（亞希突是以迦博的哥哥，非尼哈的兒子，以利的孫子。以利從前在示羅作耶和華的祭司。）約拿單去了，百姓卻不知道。
14:4 約拿單要從隘口過到非利士防營那裡去。這隘口兩邊各有一個山峰：一名播薛，一名西尼；
14:5 一峰向北，與密抹相對，一峰向南，與迦巴相對。
14:6 約拿單對拿兵器的少年人說：「我們不如過到未受割禮人的防營那裡去，或者耶和華為我們施展能力；因為耶和華使人得勝，不在乎人多人少。」
14:7 拿兵器的對他說：「隨你的心意行吧。你可以上去，我必跟隨你，與你同心。」
14:8 約拿單說：「我們要過到那些人那裡去，使他們看見我們。
14:9 他們若對我們說：『你們站住，等我們到你們那裡去』，我們就站住，不上他們那裡去。
14:10 他們若說：『你們上到我們這裡來』，這話就是我們的證據；我們便上去，因為耶和華將他們交在我們手裡了。」
14:11 二人就使非利士的防兵看見。非利士人說：「希伯來人從所藏的洞穴裡出來了！」
14:12 防兵對約拿單和拿兵器的人說：「你們上到這裡來，我們有一件事指示你們。」約拿單就對拿兵器的人說：「你跟隨我上去，因為耶和華將他們交在以色列人手裡了。」
14:13 約拿單就爬上去，拿兵器的人跟隨他。約拿單殺倒非利士人，拿兵器的人也隨著殺他們。
14:14 約拿單和拿兵器的人起頭所殺的約有二十人，都在一畝地的半犁溝之內。
14:15 於是在營中、在田野、在眾民內都有戰兢，防兵和掠兵也都戰兢，地也震動，戰兢之勢甚大。
14:16 在便雅憫的基比亞，掃羅的守望兵看見非利士的軍眾潰散，四圍亂竄。
14:17 掃羅就對跟隨他的民說：「你們查點查點，看從我們這裡出去的是誰？」他們一查點，就知道約拿單和拿兵器的人沒有在這裡。
14:18 那時上帝的約櫃在以色列人那裡。掃羅對亞希亞說：「你將上帝的約櫃運了來。」
14:19 掃羅正與祭司說話的時候，非利士營中的喧嚷越發大了；掃羅就對祭司說：「停手吧！」
14:20 掃羅和跟隨他的人都聚集，來到戰場，看見非利士人用刀互相擊殺，大大惶亂。
14:21 從前由四方來跟隨非利士軍的希伯來人現在也轉過來，幫助跟隨掃羅和約拿單的以色列人了。
14:22 那藏在以法蓮山地的以色列人聽說非利士人逃跑，就出來緊緊地追殺他們。
14:23 那日，耶和華使以色列人得勝，一直戰到伯‧亞文。
14:24 掃羅叫百姓起誓說，凡不等到晚上向敵人報完了仇吃甚麼的，必受咒詛。因此這日百姓沒有吃甚麼，就極其困憊。
14:25 眾民進入樹林，見有蜜在地上。
14:26 他們進了樹林，見有蜜流下來，卻沒有人敢用手取蜜入口，因為他們怕那誓言。
14:27 約拿單沒有聽見他父親叫百姓起誓，所以伸手中的杖，用杖頭蘸在蜂房裡，轉手送入口內，眼睛就明亮了。
14:28 百姓中有一人對他說：「你父親曾叫百姓嚴嚴地起誓說，今日吃甚麼的，必受咒詛；因此百姓就疲乏了。」
14:29 約拿單說：「我父親連累你們了。你看，我嘗了這一點蜜，眼睛就明亮了。
14:30 今日百姓若任意吃了從仇敵所奪的物，擊殺的非利士人豈不更多嗎？」
14:31 這日，以色列人擊殺非利士人，從密抹直到亞雅崙。百姓甚是疲乏，
14:32 就急忙將所奪的牛羊和牛犢宰於地上，肉還帶血就吃了。
14:33 有人告訴掃羅說：「百姓吃帶血的肉，得罪耶和華了。」掃羅說：「你們有罪了，今日要將大石頭滾到我這裡來。」
14:34 掃羅又說：「你們散在百姓中，對他們說，你們各人將牛羊牽到我這裡來宰了吃，不可吃帶血的肉得罪耶和華。」這夜，百姓就把牛羊牽到那裡宰了。
14:35 掃羅為耶和華築了一座壇，這是他初次為耶和華築的壇。
14:36 掃羅說：「我們不如夜裡下去追趕非利士人，搶掠他們，直到天亮，不留他們一人。」眾民說：「你看怎樣好就去行吧！」祭司說：「我們先當親近上帝。」
14:37 掃羅求問上帝說：「我下去追趕非利士人可以不可以？你將他們交在以色列人手裡不交？」這日上帝沒有回答他。
14:38 掃羅說：「你們百姓中的長老都上這裡來，查明今日是誰犯了罪。
14:39 我指著救以色列─永生的耶和華起誓，就是我兒子約拿單犯了罪，他也必死。」但百姓中無一人回答他。
14:40 掃羅就對以色列眾人說：「你們站在一邊，我與我兒子約拿單也站在一邊。」百姓對掃羅說：「你看怎樣好就去行吧！」
14:41 掃羅禱告耶和華─以色列的上帝說：「求你指示實情。」於是掣籤掣出掃羅和約拿單來；百姓盡都無事。
14:42 掃羅說：「你們再掣籤，看是我，是我兒子約拿單」，就掣出約拿單來。
14:43 掃羅對約拿單說：「你告訴我，你做了甚麼事？」約拿單說：「我實在以手裡的杖，用杖頭蘸了一點蜜嘗了一嘗。這樣我就死嗎（或譯：吧！）？」
14:44 掃羅說：「約拿單哪，你定要死！若不然，願上帝重重地降罰與我。」
14:45 百姓對掃羅說：「約拿單在以色列人中這樣大行拯救，豈可使他死呢？斷乎不可！我們指著永生的耶和華起誓，連他的一根頭髮也不可落地，因為他今日與上帝一同做事。」於是百姓救約拿單免了死亡。
14:46 掃羅回去，不追趕非利士人；非利士人也回本地去了。
14:47 掃羅執掌以色列的國權，常常攻擊他四圍的一切仇敵，就是摩押人、亞捫人、以東人，和瑣巴諸王，並非利士人。他無論往何處去，都打敗仇敵。
14:48 掃羅奮勇攻擊亞瑪力人，救了以色列人脫離搶掠他們之人的手。
14:49 掃羅的兒子是約拿單、亦施韋、麥基舒亞。他的兩個女兒：長女名米拉，次女名米甲。
14:50 掃羅的妻名叫亞希暖，是亞希瑪斯的女兒。掃羅的元帥名叫押尼珥，是尼珥的兒子；尼珥是掃羅的叔叔。
14:51 掃羅的父親基士，押尼珥的父親尼珥，都是亞別的兒子。
14:52 掃羅平生常與非利士人大大爭戰。掃羅遇見有能力的人或勇士，都招募了來跟隨他。

 

 ¹ One day Jonathan son of Saul said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

² Saul was staying on the outskirts of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree in Migron. With him were about six hundred men, ³ among whom was Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh. No one was aware that Jonathan had left.

⁴ On each side of the pass that Jonathan intended to cross to reach the Philistine outpost was a cliff; one was called Bozez and the other Seneh. ⁵ One cliff stood to the north toward Mikmash, the other to the south toward Geba.

⁶ Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”

⁷ “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”

⁸ Jonathan said, “Come on, then; we will cross over toward them and let them see us. ⁹ If they say to us, ‘Wait there until we come to you,’ we will stay where we are and not go up to them. ¹⁰ But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands.”

¹¹ So both of them showed themselves to the Philistine outpost. “Look!” said the Philistines. “The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in.” ¹² The men of the outpost shouted to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come up to us and we’ll teach you a lesson.”

So Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Climb up after me; the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.”

¹³ Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. ¹⁴ In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

¹⁵ Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.

¹⁶ Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. ¹⁷ Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.

¹⁸ Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.) ¹⁹ While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”

²⁰ Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords. ²¹ Those Hebrews who had previously been with the Philistines and had gone up with them to their camp went over to the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. ²² When all the Israelites who had hidden in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were on the run, they joined the battle in hot pursuit. ²³ So on that day the Lord saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.

²⁴ Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.

²⁵ The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. ²⁶ When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out; yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. ²⁷ But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. ²⁸ Then one of the soldiers told him, “Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food today!’ That is why the men are faint.”

²⁹ Jonathan said, “My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. ³⁰ How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

³¹ That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Mikmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted. ³² They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood. ³³ Then someone said to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the Lord by eating meat that has blood in it.”

“You have broken faith,” he said. “Roll a large stone over here at once.” ³⁴ Then he said, “Go out among the men and tell them, ‘Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood still in it.’”

So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there. ³⁵ Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had done this.

³⁶ Saul said, “Let us go down and pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.”

“Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied.

But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.”

³⁷ So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day.

³⁸ Saul therefore said, “Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. ³⁹ As surely as the Lord who rescues Israel lives, even if the guilt lies with my son Jonathan, he must die.” But not one of them said a word.

⁴⁰ Saul then said to all the Israelites, “You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here.”

“Do what seems best to you,” they replied.

⁴¹ Then Saul prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, “Why have you not answered your servant today? If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault, respond with Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared. ⁴² Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken.

⁴³ Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.”

So Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now I must die!”

⁴⁴ Saul said, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.”

⁴⁵ But the men said to Saul, “Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.” So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.

⁴⁶ Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land.

⁴⁷ After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them. ⁴⁸ He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

⁴⁹ Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. ⁵⁰ His wife’s name was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of Saul’s army was Abner son of Ner, and Ner was Saul’s uncle. ⁵¹ Saul’s father Kish and Abner’s father Ner were sons of Abiel.

⁵² All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.

 

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    掃羅雖然貴為以色列的國王，卻展現出他的無知、不敬畏上帝、沒有領導力、處事不當、...等等！雖然最後還是在上帝的保守下打勝仗，但是他的一切缺點全部暴露出來了！

 

    當然，不是要我們批評掃羅，而是要以此為借鏡。因為，我們若不好好讀聖經，我們是無法明白人常常是處於愚蠢和無知的狀態，甚至於常常自以為是、自以為敬虔、自以為有愛心、自以為有才幹、自以為有能力可以領導別人、…許多的自以為，其實常常是利用上帝和別人，最後的結果只是害人與害己，就如同掃羅一樣！

 

    聖經常常如同一面鏡子，藉著所描寫的人物的行徑，讓我們看了也反思自己的狀態，是不是像聖經所描寫的人物，一直活在錯誤之中，卻自我感覺良好，以為自己是很偉大（「掃羅」的字義就是偉大），然而事實並非如此！在這樣的情況下，自己都無法改變自己，只能在上帝面前承認自己的不是，求上帝的大能徹底改變我們，是我們完全更新！

 

    因此，我們需要「重生」！需要透過耶穌基督的拯救，使我們有新的生命，活出上帝真正要我們活的樣式！

 

詩篇146:1-10

 

146:1 你們要讚美耶和華！我的心哪，你要讚美耶和華！
146:2 我一生要讚美耶和華！我還活的時候要歌頌我的上帝！
146:3 你們不要倚靠君王，不要倚靠世人；他一點不能幫助。
146:4 他的氣一斷，就歸回塵土；他所打算的，當日就消滅了。
146:5 以雅各的上帝為幫助、仰望耶和華─他上帝的，這人便為有福！
146:6 耶和華造天、地、海，和其中的萬物；他守誠實，直到永遠。
146:7 他為受屈的伸冤，賜食物與飢餓的。耶和華釋放被囚的；
146:8 耶和華開了瞎子的眼睛；耶和華扶起被壓下的人。耶和華喜愛義人。
146:9 耶和華保護寄居的，扶持孤兒和寡婦，卻使惡人的道路彎曲。
146:10 耶和華要作王，直到永遠！錫安哪，你的上帝要作王，直到萬代！你們要讚美耶和華！

 

¹ Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

² I will praise the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³ Do not put your trust in princes,
    in human beings, who cannot save.
⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
    on that very day their plans come to nothing.
⁵ Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord their God.

⁶ He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.
⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed
    and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
⁸     the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
    the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the foreigner
    and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
    but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

¹⁰ The Lord reigns forever,
    your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

 

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    這也是一首前後都是「哈利路亞」的讚美詩！是的，我們要先呼喊「哈利路亞」來讚美上帝，讓我們的心被揚起來到上帝面前！因為上帝是配得讚美的，雖然我們感覺人生有許多的考驗，讓我們覺得上帝好像不眷顧我們！其實這是短暫的，魔鬼只是暫時掌權，暫時囂張來攻擊我們，真正永恆的勝利是屬乎上帝，祂並不會棄我們於不顧之狀態！

 

    正如詩人在這裡宣告：「耶和華造天、地、海，和其中的萬物；他守誠實，直到永遠。」

 

    我們常常把上帝想得太小了，甚至拿祂和人造的偶像來對等看待，以至於覺得祂的能力很小，只是人心中幻想的產物！其實這太小看上帝了，祂是創造天地的主，我們也是祂手所造的，我們怎能用自己的想像來揣摩祂呢？

 

    那我們怎能認識祂呢？除了從祂所創造的宇宙萬物來認識祂之外，我們更要認識祂是一位啟示自己的上帝，祂如何啟示自己呢？就是透過聖經和聖靈的內住！若不是因為聖靈的啟示使我們明白聖經，我們就不知道上帝在基督裡的救恩，就不知道祂是何等的愛我們，對我們有永恆的計畫，在創世以先就在基督裡揀選了我們！我們能夠信靠主耶穌成為上帝的兒女，不是按照自己或別人的心意，完全是上帝的旨意和恩典！

 

    也因為如此，我們要樂意讓上帝在我們的心中作王，掌管我們的生命，正如詩人在此所說：「耶和華要作王，直到永遠！錫安哪，你的上帝要作王，直到萬代！你們要讚美耶和華！」

 

    想到上帝的恩典是永恆且浩大的，我們更是要讚美祂，向祂歡呼「哈利路亞」道永永遠遠，阿們！

 

撒母耳記上13章

         撒母耳記上13:1-23  ,

撒母耳記上13:1-23

 

13:1 掃羅登基年四十歲；作以色列王二年的時候，
13:2 就從以色列中揀選了三千人：二千跟隨掃羅在密抹和伯特利山，一千跟隨約拿單在便雅憫的基比亞；其餘的人掃羅都打發各回各家去了。
13:3 約拿單攻擊在迦巴的非利士人的防營，非利士人聽見了。掃羅就在遍地吹角，意思說，要使希伯來人聽見。
13:4 以色列眾人聽見掃羅攻擊非利士人的防營，又聽見以色列人為非利士人所憎惡，就跟隨掃羅聚集在吉甲。
13:5 非利士人聚集，要與以色列人爭戰，有車三萬輛，馬兵六千，步兵像海邊的沙那樣多，就上來在伯‧亞文東邊的密抹安營。
13:6 以色列百姓見自己危急窘迫，就藏在山洞、叢林、石穴、隱密處，和坑中。
13:7 有些希伯來人過了約旦河，逃到迦得和基列地。掃羅還是在吉甲，百姓都戰戰兢兢地跟隨他。
13:8 掃羅照著撒母耳所定的日期等了七日。撒母耳還沒有來到吉甲，百姓也離開掃羅散去了。
13:9 掃羅說：「把燔祭和平安祭帶到我這裡來。」掃羅就獻上燔祭。
13:10 剛獻完燔祭，撒母耳就到了。掃羅出去迎接他，要問他好。
13:11 撒母耳說：「你做的是甚麼事呢？」掃羅說：「因為我見百姓離開我散去，你也不照所定的日期來到，而且非利士人聚集在密抹。
13:12 所以我心裡說：恐怕我沒有禱告耶和華。非利士人下到吉甲攻擊我，我就勉強獻上燔祭。」
13:13 撒母耳對掃羅說：「你做了糊塗事了，沒有遵守耶和華─你上帝所吩咐你的命令。若遵守，耶和華必在以色列中堅立你的王位，直到永遠。
13:14 現在你的王位必不長久。耶和華已經尋著一個合他心意的人，立他作百姓的君，因為你沒有遵守耶和華所吩咐你的。」
13:15 撒母耳就起來，從吉甲上到便雅憫的基比亞。掃羅數點跟隨他的，約有六百人。
13:16 掃羅和他兒子約拿單，並跟隨他們的人，都住在便雅憫的迦巴；但非利士人安營在密抹。
13:17 有掠兵從非利士營中出來，分為三隊：一隊往俄弗拉向書亞地去，
13:18 一隊往伯‧和崙去，一隊往洗波音谷對面的地境向曠野去。
13:19 那時，以色列全地沒有一個鐵匠；因為非利士人說，恐怕希伯來人製造刀槍。
13:20 以色列人要磨鋤、犁、斧、鏟，就下到非利士人那裡去磨。
13:21 但有銼可以銼鏟、犁、三齒叉、斧子，並趕牛錐。
13:22 所以到了爭戰的日子，跟隨掃羅和約拿單的人沒有一個手裡有刀有槍的，惟獨掃羅和他兒子約拿單有。
13:23 非利士人的一隊防兵到了密抹的隘口。

 

 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty- two years.

² Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

³ Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand^[c] chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. ⁶ When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. ⁷ Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. ⁸ He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹ So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

¹¹ “What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, ¹² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³ “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

¹⁶ Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. ¹⁷ Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸ another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.

¹⁹ Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. ²¹ The price was two-thirds of a shekel^[g] for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel^[h] for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

²² So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

²³ Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.

 

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    掃羅在這裡開始顯現他的狂妄，和自以為是，因為他是國王並不是祭司，更不是像撒母耳是拿細耳人，或是從小受到祭司職務的訓練，竟然自己獻起燔祭和平安祭來，正如經文的描述：掃羅照著撒母耳所定的日期等了七日。撒母耳還沒有來到吉甲，百姓也離開掃羅散去了。掃羅說：「把燔祭和平安祭帶到我這裡來。」掃羅就獻上燔祭。

 

    這完全不尊重專業，套現在的話說！他以為他是君王，自己想做什麼就可以做甚麼！他甚是不知獻祭的程序，更是不知道要怎樣獻祭，怎麼可以做這事呢？真是膽大妄為！他可能不知道這樣做，已經得罪上帝了！所以，撒母耳對他說：「「你做了糊塗事了，沒有遵守耶和華─你上帝所吩咐你的命令。若遵守，耶和華必在以色列中堅立你的王位，直到永遠。現在你的王位必不長久。耶和華已經尋著一個合他心意的人，立他作百姓的君，因為你沒有遵守耶和華所吩咐你的。」

 

    這是一件很可惜的事情！上帝是輕慢不得的，就像亞倫的兒子拿答、亞比戶各拿自己的香爐，盛上火，加上香，在耶和華面前獻上凡火，是耶和華沒有吩咐他們的，就有火從耶和華面前出來，把他們燒滅，他們就死在耶和華面前。(利未記10:1-2)希伯來書的作者也警告說：「因為我們的上帝乃是烈火。」(希伯來書12:29)

 

     掃羅後來的情況真的越來越糟，這也是今日教會的警戒，我們一定要按照上帝的話而行，不可以任意妄為！因為上帝的啟示已經完全了，就是在聖經，不需要再有任何的先知受感來說話了！而長老教會有很好的屬靈資產，就是《韋斯敏斯特信條》，第一章是論聖經，第1節說到：「本性之光與創造護理之工，雖彰顯上帝的善良、智慧和權能，叫人無可推諉；但都不足以將得救所必須的，有關上帝及其旨意的知識賜予人。所以上帝願意多次多方將自己啟示給他的教會，並向教會宣佈他的旨意；以後，為了更加保守並傳揚真理的緣故，而且為了更堅立教會，安慰教會，抵擋肉體的敗壞，並撒但與世界的惡意起見，遂將全部啟示筆之於書。於是，上帝先前向他百姓啟示自己旨意的方法已經停止，故聖經成為我們最必要的。」

 

    第二節更指明：「在聖經，或筆之於書的上帝之言的名義下，包括舊新約全書，即舊約卅九卷，新約廿七卷（書名於此從略）。這些書都是出於上帝的默示，為信仰與生活的準則。」

 

    親愛的弟兄姊妹，求主幫助，讓我們不要再走掃羅任意妄為的路，好好研讀聖經，照聖經的教導而行，尊基督為大，一生一世為榮耀上帝而活！將來，我們必靠基督的恩典，進入上帝榮耀的國中，與基督一同做王到永遠！