使徒行傳11:1-18

 

11:1 使徒和在猶太的眾弟兄聽說外邦人也領受了上帝的道。
11:2 及至彼得上了耶路撒冷，那些奉割禮的門徒和他爭辯說：
11:3 「你進入未受割禮之人的家和他們一同吃飯了。」
11:4 彼得就開口把這事挨次給他們講解說：
11:5 「我在約帕城裡禱告的時候，魂遊象外，看見異象，有一物降下，好像一塊大布，繫著四角，從天縋下，直來到我跟前。
11:6 我定睛觀看，見內中有地上四足的牲畜和野獸、昆蟲，並天上的飛鳥。
11:7 我且聽見有聲音向我說：『彼得，起來，宰了吃！』
11:8 我說：『主啊，這是不可的！凡俗而不潔淨的物從來沒有入過我的口。』
11:9 第二次，有聲音從天上說：『神所潔淨的，你不可當作俗物。』
11:10 這樣一連三次，就都收回天上去了。
11:11 正當那時，有三個人站在我們所住的房門前，是從凱撒利亞差來見我的。
11:12 聖靈吩咐我和他們同去，不要疑惑（或譯：不要分別等類）。同著我去的，還有這六位弟兄，我們都進了那人的家。
11:13 那人就告訴我們，他如何看見一位天使站在他屋裡，說：『你打發人往約帕去，請那稱呼彼得的西門來，
11:14 他有話告訴你，可以叫你和你的全家得救。』
11:15 我一開講，聖靈便降在他們身上，正像當初降在我們身上一樣。
11:16 我就想起主的話說：『約翰是用水施洗，但你們要受聖靈的洗。』
11:17 上帝既然給他們恩賜，像在我們信主耶穌基督的時候給了我們一樣；我是誰，能攔阻上帝呢？」
11:18 眾人聽見這話，就不言語了，只歸榮耀與上帝，說：「這樣看來，上帝也賜恩給外邦人，叫他們悔改得生命了。」

 

The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ² So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him ³ and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

⁴ Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story: ⁵ “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. ⁶ I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles and birds. ⁷ Then I heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’

⁸ “I replied, ‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’

⁹ “The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.

¹¹ “Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. ¹² The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. ¹⁴ He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.’

¹⁵ “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with^[a] water, but you will be baptized with^[b] the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸ When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

 

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    彼得和那些同來的猶大基督徒知道到哥尼流家傳福音將會遇到許多的質問，可能有一些心理準備了。所以，彼得在他們面前將事件的始末詳細說了一遍，尤其是自己和哥泥流看見異象的過程，以及講道中聖靈降臨的事，最後下結論說：「就想起主的話說：『約翰是用水施洗，但你們要受聖靈的洗。』上帝既然給他們恩賜，像在我們信主耶穌基督的時候給了我們一樣；我是誰，能攔阻上帝呢？」

 

    這樣的述說也讓這一群質疑的人不言語了，只歸榮耀與上帝，說：「這樣看來，上帝也賜恩給外邦人，叫他們悔改得生命了。」

 

    而這樣的事件，讓我們感受到異文化之宣教，不是靠人的熱心開始的，是上帝的作為。雖然在西方的教會有「海外宣教運動」，好像是出於人的行動，其實背後還是上帝的作為！

 

    今日我們進行宣教或許不一定要到異文化的地方，但是跟隨上帝的引導是必要的，目的不只是讓人喜歡聽我們的信息，而是要人真正皆被聖靈引導而願意接受耶穌基督成為救主，願意將生命交託在上帝的手中，並且存著盼望到永生！這一切都要聖靈藉著教會生活來完成，人只能作栽培與澆灌的工作，甚至栽培和澆灌人都要順從聖靈的工作呢！

 

    讓我們預備好自己成為主可用的澆灌和栽培的人！

 

 

 

以斯拉記6:19-22

 

6:19 正月十四日，被擄歸回的人守逾越節。
6:20 原來，祭司和利未人一同自潔，無一人不潔淨。利未人為被擄歸回的眾人和他們的弟兄眾祭司，並為自己宰逾越節的羊羔。
6:21 從擄到之地歸回的以色列人和一切除掉所染外邦人污穢、歸附他們、要尋求耶和華─以色列上帝的人都吃這羊羔，
6:22 歡歡喜喜地守除酵節七日；因為耶和華使他們歡喜，又使亞述王的心轉向他們，堅固他們的手，作以色列上帝殿的工程。

 

 ¹⁹ On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. ²⁰ The priests and Levites had purified themselves and were all ceremonially clean. The Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their relatives the priests and for themselves. ²¹ So the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. ²² For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

 

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    逾越節有救贖的意義：以色列人脫離埃及為奴之地，成為屬上帝的子民！

 

    被擄歸回的逾越節，更是見證上帝成就祂的應許，使被擄的猶太人歸回故地並重建聖殿！

 

    而主耶穌被害的逾越節，更是讓所有基督徒想到主耶穌的救贖大功！也因為有這逾越節，讓我們盼望將來上帝國完全實現的大宴席，一同在新天新地同享榮耀，並將榮耀歸給主！

 

   讓我們同來敬拜逾越節的羔羊主耶穌和在寶座上的天父，讓我們永永遠遠歸榮耀於三一上帝！

 

 

以斯拉記6:13-18

6:13 於是，河西總督達乃和示他‧波斯乃，並他們的同黨，因大流士王所發的命令，就急速遵行。
6:14 猶大長老因先知哈該和易多的孫子撒迦利亞所說勸勉的話就建造這殿，凡事亨通。他們遵著以色列上帝的命令和波斯王塞魯士、大流士、亞達薛西的旨意，建造完畢。
6:15 大流士王第六年，亞達月初三日，這殿修成了。
6:16 以色列的祭司和利未人，並其餘被擄歸回的人都歡歡喜喜地行奉獻上帝殿的禮。
6:17 行奉獻上帝殿的禮就獻公牛一百隻，公綿羊二百隻，綿羊羔四百隻，又照以色列支派的數目獻公山羊十二隻，為以色列眾人作贖罪祭；
6:18 且派祭司和利未人按著班次在耶路撒冷事奉上帝，是照摩西律法書上所寫的。

 

 ¹³ Then, because of the decree King Darius had sent, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and their associates carried it out with diligence. ¹⁴ So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. ¹⁵ The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

¹⁶ Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy. ¹⁷ For the dedication of this house of God they offered a hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred male lambs and, as a sin offering^[b] for all Israel, twelve male goats, one for each of the tribes of Israel. ¹⁸ And they installed the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their groups for the service of God at Jerusalem, according to what is written in the Book of Moses.

 

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    聖殿終於重建完成，讓回歸的猶太人可以聚集敬拜，恢復原有的信仰生活，讓人感受到上帝大能。

 

    這樣的恢復也是成為基督救恩的預表，讓我們看見上帝的再造，也就是救贖之功。雖然人曾經因罪而敗壞，然而上帝要透過基督甦醒我們的生命，正如上帝使以色列人歸回重建聖殿一般！

 

    我們未遇見基督是滅亡的人，如同以色列與猶大被滅一般，然而死了的國竟然復生，同樣死了的人因基督又有了新生命！想到這些，我們不禁讚美上帝：哈利路亞！

 

 

以斯拉記6章

       以斯拉記6:1-12  ,

       以斯拉記6:13-18  ,

       以斯拉記6:19-22  ,

以斯拉記6:1-12

 

6:1 於是大流士王降旨，要尋察典籍庫內，就是在巴比倫藏寶物之處；
6:2 在米底亞省亞馬他城的宮內尋得一卷，其中記著說：
6:3 「塞魯士王元年，他降旨論到耶路撒冷上帝的殿，要建造這殿為獻祭之處，堅立殿的根基。殿高六十肘，寬六十肘，
6:4 用三層大石頭，一層新木頭，經費要出於王庫；
6:5 並且上帝殿的金銀器皿，就是尼布甲尼撒從耶路撒冷的殿中掠到巴比倫的，要歸還帶到耶路撒冷的殿中，各按原處放在上帝的殿裡。」
6:6 「現在河西的總督達乃和示他‧波斯乃，並你們的同黨，就是住河西的亞法薩迦人，你們當遠離他們。
6:7 不要攔阻上帝殿的工作，任憑猶大人的省長和猶大人的長老在原處建造上帝的這殿。
6:8 我又降旨，吩咐你們向猶大人的長老為建造上帝的殿當怎樣行，就是從河西的款項中，急速撥取貢銀作他們的經費，免得耽誤工作。
6:9 他們與天上的上帝獻燔祭所需用的公牛犢、公綿羊、綿羊羔，並所用的麥子、鹽、酒、油，都要照耶路撒冷祭司的話，每日供給他們，不得有誤；
6:10 好叫他們獻馨香的祭給天上的上帝，又為王和王眾子的壽命祈禱。
6:11 我再降旨，無論誰更改這命令，必從他房屋中拆出一根樑來，把他舉起，懸在其上，又使他的房屋成為糞堆。
6:12 若有王和民伸手更改這命令，拆毀這殿，願那使耶路撒冷的殿作為他名居所的上帝將他們滅絕。我─大流士降這旨意，當速速遵行。」

 

 King Darius then issued an order, and they searched in the archives stored in the treasury at Babylon. ² A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana in the province of Media, and this was written on it:

Memorandum:

³ In the first year of King Cyrus, the king issued a decree concerning the temple of God in Jerusalem:

Let the temple be rebuilt as a place to present sacrifices, and let its foundations be laid. It is to be sixty cubits^[a] high and sixty cubits wide, ⁴ with three courses of large stones and one of timbers. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. ⁵ Also, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, are to be returned to their places in the temple in Jerusalem; they are to be deposited in the house of God.

⁶ Now then, Tattenai, governor of Trans-Euphrates, and Shethar-Bozenai and you other officials of that province, stay away from there. ⁷ Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let the governor of the Jews and the Jewish elders rebuild this house of God on its site.

⁸ Moreover, I hereby decree what you are to do for these elders of the Jews in the construction of this house of God:

Their expenses are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from the revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. ⁹ Whatever is needed—young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and olive oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem—must be given them daily without fail, ¹⁰ so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons.

¹¹ Furthermore, I decree that if anyone defies this edict, a beam is to be pulled from their house and they are to be impaled on it. And for this crime their house is to be made a pile of rubble. ¹² May God, who has caused his Name to dwell there, overthrow any king or people who lifts a hand to change this decree or to destroy this temple in Jerusalem.

I Darius have decreed it. Let it be carried out with diligence.

 

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    上帝透過大流士的命令，使聖殿的建造能夠繼續。

 

    有許多時候，我們推動教會的事功會受阻礙。但是，不可灰心，上帝若執意要行的，必定會成就，我們要做的就是持續禱告和仰望上帝，不畏懼困難堅忍下去！

 

    求主幫助我們，有一顆永不放棄的心，堅定地跟隨祂！