2019年3月25日 星期一

箴言24:19-20


24:19 不要為作惡的心懷不平,也不要嫉妒惡人;
24:20
因為,惡人終不得善報;惡人的燈也必熄滅。

19 Do not fret because of evildoers
    or be envious of the wicked,
20 for the evildoer has no future hope,

    and the lamp of the wicked will be snuffed out.

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    在一般人的眼中感覺做惡的人因為有辦法,搶奪別人的成為自己的,讓人覺得他們好像很富足,於是十分羨慕!然而上帝告訴我們:不要為作惡的心懷不平,也不要嫉妒惡人!」

    惡人雖然一時囂張,但是做惡得一定會受到報應的,這是真的!在我的年歲中的確靠到許多;惡人的燈也必熄滅,這也是真的,因為做惡的人不蒙上帝的喜悅,哪有明天可言呢?

    因此,我們一定要敬畏耶和華,並且要遠離惡事,如此我們才能蒙上帝賜福和得人的喜歡,如此我們的生命才是有意義的!



2019年3月24日 星期日

創世記26:23-35


26:23 以撒從那裡上別是巴去。
26:24
當夜耶和華向他顯現,說:「我是你父親亞伯拉罕的上帝,不要懼怕!因為我與你同在,要賜福給你,並要為我僕人亞伯拉罕的緣故,使你的後裔繁多。」
26:25
以撒就在那裡築了一座壇,求告耶和華的名,並且支搭帳棚;他的僕人便在那裡挖了一口井。
26:26
亞比米勒,同他的朋友亞戶撒和他的軍長非各,從基拉耳來見以撒。
26:27
以撒對他們說:「你們既然恨我,打發我走了,為甚麼到我這裡來呢?」
26:28
他們說:「我們明明地看見耶和華與你同在,便說,不如我們兩下彼此起誓,彼此立約,
26:29
使你不害我們,正如我們未曾害你,一味地厚待你,並且打發你平平安安地走。你是蒙耶和華賜福的了。」
26:30
以撒就為他們設擺筵席,他們便吃了喝了。
26:31
他們清早起來彼此起誓。以撒打發他們走,他們就平平安安地離開他走了。
26:32
那一天,以撒的僕人來,將挖井的事告訴他說:「我們得了水了。」
26:33
他就給那井起名叫示巴;因此那城叫做別是巴,直到今日。
26:34
以掃四十歲的時候娶了赫人比利的女兒猶滴,與赫人以倫的女兒巴實抹為妻。
26:35
她們常使以撒和利百加心裡愁煩。

23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 That night the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”
25 Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. There he pitched his tent, and there his servants dug a well.
26 Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces. 27 Isaac asked them, “Why have you come to me, since you were hostile to me and sent me away?”
28 They answered, “We saw clearly that the Lord was with you; so we said, ‘There ought to be a sworn agreement between us’—between us and you. Let us make a treaty with you 29 that you will do us no harm, just as we did not harm you but always treated you well and sent you away peacefully. And now you are blessed by the Lord.”
30 Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning the men swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they went away peacefully.
32 That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!” 33 He called it Shibah, and to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba.
34 When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah.

************

    「別是巴」的意思是「七倍誓的井」,因為以撒在這裡鑿井的時候,亞比米勒,同他的朋友亞戶撒和他的軍長非各,從基拉耳來見以撒。他們來的目的,是建立和平的約,彼此發誓要遵守條約。

    而立約的原因是什麼呢?是這一群人所說的:「我們明明地看見耶和華與你同在,便說,不如我們兩下彼此起誓,彼此立約,使你不害我們,正如我們未曾害你,一味地厚待你,並且打發你平平安安地走。你是蒙耶和華賜福的了。

    這有點讓人覺得「惡人先告狀」的感覺,因為是這些人與以撒不和,不是以撒與他們不合!但是,這是以撒那天晚上夢境的憑據,上帝在夢中對他說:「我是你父親亞伯拉罕的上帝,不要懼怕!因為我與你同在,要賜福給你,並要為我僕人亞伯拉罕的緣故,使你的後裔繁多。

    上帝的同在是屬上帝的人重要的記號,在今日這個記號就是聖靈,有聖靈的人就是稱耶穌基督為主為上帝的人!因為,沒有聖靈的人,認為耶穌基督只不過是人。而有聖靈的人必定認出耶穌基督就是主,就是上帝!而耶穌基督之所以能拯救我們,是因為祂是完全的人,也是完全的上帝!



創世記26:12-22


26:12 以撒在那地耕種,那一年有百倍的收成。耶和華賜福給他,
26:13
他就昌大,日增月盛,成了大富戶。
26:14
他有羊群牛群,又有許多僕人,非利士人就嫉妒他。
26:15
當他父親亞伯拉罕在世的日子,他父親的僕人所挖的井,非利士人全都塞住,填滿了土。
26:16
亞比米勒對以撒說:「你離開我們去吧。因為你比我們強盛得多。」
26:17
以撒就離開那裡,在基拉耳谷支搭帳棚,住在那裡。
26:18
當他父親亞伯拉罕在世之日所挖的水井因非利士人在亞伯拉罕死後塞住了,以撒就重新挖出來,仍照他父親所叫的叫那些井的名字。
26:19
以撒的僕人在谷中挖井,便得了一口活水井。
26:20
基拉耳的牧人與以撒的牧人爭競,說:「這水是我們的。」以撒就給那井起名叫埃色(就是相敵的意思),因為他們和他相爭。
26:21
以撒的僕人又挖了一口井,他們又為這井爭競,因此以撒給這井起名叫西提拿(就是為敵的意思)。
26:22
以撒離開那裡,又挖了一口井,他們不為這井爭競了,他就給那井起名叫利河伯(就是寬闊的意思)。他說:「耶和華現在給我們寬闊之地,我們必在這地昌盛。」

12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
16 Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”
17 So Isaac moved away from there and encamped in the Valley of Gerar, where he settled. 18 Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them.
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”

************

    以撒和父親亞伯拉罕不同之處就是「挖井」,但是每挖一口井就有人來相爭,以致於他一直在挖井,可能也因為這樣練就一身挖井的工夫!

    然而這一段記載不在於以撒的挖井或鑿井技術,而是在於他處理衝突的態度,他是退讓、不去爭吵或爭戰,有人認為他很懦弱,可是對於一位生活在外族人當中的人,他必須與人相安無事,這是免不了的,而且上帝喜悅他如此行,已如主耶穌所說:「所以,無論何事,你們願意人怎樣待你們,你們也要怎樣待人,因為這就是律法和先知的道理。」(馬太福音7:12

    然而這樣一次一次的退讓,最後終於沒有人來和他相爭了,正如他鑿最後一口井稱為利河伯」,自己說明了用意:「耶和華現在給我們寬闊之地,我們必在這地昌盛。

    我們也當求上帝讓我們在世上有寬闊之地」,又不違背上帝的命令。讓我們可以不僅得人喜悅,更得上帝的喜悅!

2019年3月22日 星期五

創世記26:7-11


26:7 那地方的人問到他的妻子,他便說:「那是我的妹子。」原來他怕說:「是我的妻子」;他心裡想:「恐怕這地方的人為利百加的緣故殺我」,因為她容貌俊美。
26:8
他在那裡住了許久。有一天,非利士人的王亞比米勒從窗戶裡往外觀看,見以撒和他的妻子利百加戲玩。
26:9
亞比米勒召了以撒來,對他說:「她實在是你的妻子,你怎麼說她是你的妹子?」以撒說:「我心裡想,恐怕我因她而死。」
26:10
亞比米勒說:「你向我們做的是甚麼事呢?民中險些有人和你的妻同寢,把我們陷在罪裡。」
26:11
於是亞比米勒曉諭眾民說:「凡沾著這個人,或是他妻子的,定要把他治死。」

When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”
When Isaac had been there a long time, Abimelek king of the Philistines looked down from a window and saw Isaac caressing his wife Rebekah. So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”
Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.”
10 Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.”
11 So Abimelek gave orders to all the people: “Anyone who harms this man or his wife shall surely be put to death.”

************

    以撒和父親亞伯拉罕也有些相似的地方,正如他們怕老婆太漂亮而喪命,常常要假裝是兄妹。還好亞比米勒上次吃了一次虧,現在他可小心了,他有注意去觀察以撒和利百家之間的互動,以致沒有鑄下大錯。

    上帝也透過亞比米勒保護了以掃夫婦,因為他下命令:凡沾著這個人,或是他妻子的,定要把他治死。

    這真是上帝的恩典,可以保守以撒夫妻,可以好好的享受上帝所賜的婚姻!上帝也是這樣恩待我們,讓我們有美好的婚姻生活!