首先我们谈谈巴比伦大城的倾倒，她的行淫的一项是指过于奢华追久物质的享受，基督徒知道贪财是万恶之根！有人贪恋钱财，就被引诱离了真道。第二，基督徒是要从那城出来，不要去追求物质的享受，从世界分别出来。我们也谈到神在定时中审判她的时间到了，她要得到加倍的报应。第三，和她行淫的地上的君王和她一样都追求物质的享受，看到了她的刑罚一时之间就来到，兔死狐悲。第四，我们看到地上的客商所做，尤其是他们的货物中包括了奴仆和人口，他们能幸免吗？第五，靠海为业的也都因她享受了物质的丰盛，现在追求物质享受的价值观一时之间就改变了！第六，从巴比伦大城的最后遭遇，我们从而知道神的爱是包括公义的，而不是溺爱，神带著爱的公义就因此成就了！我们也顺便一提读经要能读对！读经是要读出来神借圣经要告诉我们什么，而不是从人的角度读进去!  我们举了一个启示录的例子来说明这点。

1. 巴比伦大城的倾倒       

『此后，我看见另有一位有大权柄的天使从天降下，地就因他的荣耀发光。他大声喊著说：「巴比伦大城倾倒了！倾倒了！成了鬼魔的住处和各样污秽之灵的巢穴，并各样污秽可憎之雀鸟的巢穴。因为列国都被她邪淫大怒的酒倾倒了。地上的君王与她行淫，地上的客商因她奢华太过就发了财。」』(启示录 18:1-3)     

我们看到是天使，他带属天的荣耀。上次我们看到兽与十角联合废掉了控制地上的政权大淫妇，就是巴比伦大城倾倒了，因此这地方成了鬼魔的住处等等。显然，她的行淫的包括了这一项，就是指过于奢华的去追久物质的享受，这样的价值观结果自然会使地上的客商发了财，在现今的世界中的价值观不就是如此吗？     

而基督徒是要『…敬虔加上知足的心便是大利了，因为我们没有带甚么到世上来，也不能带甚么去，只要有衣有食，就当知足。但那些想要发财的人，就陷在迷惑、落在网罗和许多无知有害的私欲里，叫人沉在败坏和灭亡中。贪财是万恶之根！有人贪恋钱财，就被引诱离了真道，用许多愁苦把自己刺透了。』(提摩太前书 6:6-10) 基督徒是要从世界分别出来！     

这并不是说基督徒非要过得贫穷不可，亚伯拉罕不是很有钱吗？但他不是贪财，是神的祝福。如果知道是神的祝福而去过舒适的生活，硬是不要是对的吗？这是不顺服神，是从人的角度看，而不是从神的角度看。

2. 不要和恶者同行及定时       

『我又听见从天上有声音说：「我的民哪，你们要从那城出来，免得与她一同有罪，受她所受的灾殃；因她的罪恶滔天，她的不义，神已经想起来了。她怎样待人，也要怎样待她，按她所行的加倍地报应她，用她调酒的杯加倍地调给她喝。她怎样荣耀自己，怎样奢华，也当叫她照样痛苦悲哀，因她心里说：『我坐了皇后的位，并不是寡妇，决不至于悲哀。』所以在一天之内，她的灾殃要一齐来到，就是死亡、悲哀、饥荒。她又要被火烧尽了，因为审判她的主神大有能力。』(启示录 18:4-8)        

对的，基督徒是要从那城出来，不要去追求物质的享受，要从世界分别出来。我们上次谈过，是神在定时中审判她的时间到了，她要得到加倍的报应，经文相当清楚的说明她会遭到什么样的报应。从人的角度看，她以为自己已坐了皇后的位，怎么会有一天得著报应呢？但她忘了神是大有能力的神，当祂的时间到时，审判会立时来临，一天之内立刻来到。想想看，神怎么会不能做到这点呢？如果神允许，连撤但都可以在一天之内，让约伯失去了所有的子女和绝大部份的财产，不是所有的财产，至少留了一人去通风报信，我们也看在其中也包括了从天上降下火来。(参约伯记 1:12-19) 所以是真正的被火烧尽了。

3. 地上的君王所行       

『地上的君王，素来与她行淫、一同奢华的，看见烧她的烟，就必为她哭泣哀号。因怕她的痛苦，就远远地站著说：『哀哉！哀哉！巴比伦大城，坚固的城啊！一时之间你的刑罚就来到了。』』(启示录 18:9-10)     

 一时之间就是那说的一天之内。和她行淫的地上的君王只能远远的看著，他们和她一样都追求物质的享受，看到了她的刑罚一时之间就来到，她没了，兔死狐悲。圣经虽然没有明说，但神是公平的，下一个就会轮到他们，不会是只刑罚她而跳过了和她一样所行的他们。不知道他们会不会想到这点而悔改？还是仍然硬著心？

4. 地上的客商所做      

「地上的客商也都为她哭泣悲哀，因为没有人再买他们的货物了；这货物就是金、银、宝石、珍珠、细麻布、紫色料、绸子、朱红色料、各样香木、各样象牙的器皿，各样极宝贵的木头和铜、铁、汉白玉的器皿，并肉桂、豆蔻、香料、香膏、乳香、酒、油、细面、麦子、牛、羊、车、马和奴仆、人口。「巴比伦哪，你所贪爱的果子离开了你！你一切的珍馐美味和华美的物件也从你中间毁灭，决不能再见了！贩卖这些货物、借著她发了财的客商，因怕她的痛苦，就远远地站著哭泣悲哀，说：『哀哉！哀哉！这大城啊！素常穿著细麻、紫色、朱红色的衣服，又用金子、宝石和珍珠为妆饰。一时之间，这么大的富厚就归于无有了。』」…』(启示录 18:12-17)        

地上的客商当然会为她哭泣悲哀，因为一时之间，没有人再买他们的货物了，这实在是为自己悲伤。他们远远的悲伤，不想沾染到自己！他们能幸免吗？看他们的货物，是超越的奢华，而不是知道，『因为我们没有带甚么到世上来，也不能带甚么去。』(提摩太前书 6:7) 他们的价值观是去享爱世间的荣华。尤其是他们的货物中包括了奴仆和人口，他们能幸免吗？

5. 靠海为业的所为

『…凡船主和坐船往各处去的并众水手，连所有靠海为业的，都远远地站著，看见烧她的烟，就喊著说：『有何城能比这大城呢？』他们又把尘土撒在头上，哭泣悲哀，喊著说：『哀哉！哀哉！这大城啊！凡有船在海中的，都因她的珍宝成了富足，她在一时之间就成了荒场！』(启示录 18:17-19)        

罗马时期的许多货物的交易都是靠船运，今日如此，未来亦然，靠海为业的都因她成富足，享受了物质的丰盛。现在追求物质享受的价值观一时之间就改变了，他们也不能因此再富足了。不知他们有没有想到，『主所应许的尚未成就，…乃是宽容你们，不愿有一人沉沦，乃愿人人都悔改。』(彼得后书 3:9)

6. 巴比伦大城的最后遭遇       

『天哪，众圣徒、众使徒、众先知啊！你们都要因她欢喜，因为神已经在她身上伸了你们的冤！』」有一位大力的天使举起一块石头，好像大磨石，扔在海里，说：「巴比伦大城也必这样猛力地被扔下去，决不能再见了！弹琴、作乐、吹笛、吹号的声音，在你中间决不能再听见。各行手艺人，在你中间决不能再遇见。推磨的声音，在你中间决不能再听见。灯光在你中间决不能再照耀。新郎和新妇的声音，在你中间决不能再听见。你的客商原来是地上的尊贵人，万国也被你的邪术迷惑了。先知和圣徒并地上一切被杀之人的血，都在这城里看见了。」』(启示录 18:20-24)        

我们以前提到，『揭开第五印的时候，我看见在祭坛底下，有为神的道并为作见证被杀之人的灵魂，大声喊著说：「圣洁真实的主啊！你不审判住在地上的人给我们伸流血的冤，要等到几时呢？」』(启示录 6:9-10) 第一段经文很清楚的说到神的伸冤的时间到了！我们在最后一节中也明显的说到她的行淫也包括了杀害圣徒。这些经文中很清楚的描述了巴比伦大城所受的刑罚，我们就不重复了。        

有人说，神不是爱世人吗？这是爱吗？要知道神的爱是包括公义的，而不是溺爱，诗篇说得很清楚，『公义和公平，是你宝座的根基；慈爱和诚实，行在你前面。』(诗篇 89:14) 现在不是相当多的教会只教导神的爱，而常常忘了神的公义，尤其是成功神学的教导，造就了许多启示录中说的老底嘉的教会，以为自己什么都有，却在神的眼中正好相反，把主耶稣关在门外而不自知！(参启示录 3:14-22) 这里是说最后的审判，神带著爱的公义成就了！在新约的时代中，耶稣因爱为我们付上了代价，成就了救恩，信而受洗只是开始，我们仍要走上成圣之路，有信心的行为，『总要趁著还有今日，天天彼此相劝，免得你们中间有人被罪迷惑，心里就刚硬了。』(希伯来书 3:13)     

顺便一提读经要能读对！我们就举一段和启示录有关的经文。底马曾是保罗同工的基督徒，但圣经明说，他堕落了回到世界。如果底马不是曾经得救的基督徒，他怎么会是保罗的同工，除非是保罗瞎了眼! 而保罗是很清楚的，他说，「我劝友阿蝶和循都基要在主里同心。我也求你这真实同负一轭的，帮助这两个女人，因为她们在福音上曾与我一同劳苦；还有革利免，并其余和我一同做工的，他们的名字都在生命册上。」(圣经．和合本, 腓立比书 4:2-3) 她们行为虽会在白色大宝座前受审判，但她们仍和生命册有份。底马也是如此，只是在生命册上有份，但回到世界的人绝不能在新天新地时进新耶路撒冷城!     

读经是要读出来神借圣经要告诉我们什么，而不是从人的角度读进去! 人认为不可能而不相信的事，不见得是对的! 约伯记说，「神…将大地悬在虚空。」(约伯记 26:7) 你想当时的人会信吗？现在有太空船，可以看到这点了! 人有自由意志，是别人勉强不得的，甚至神最多也是任凭人自己做决定，不会强逼人做决定，看亚当的例子就知道这点。    

圣经明说，「若有人用金、银、宝石、草木、禾稭在这根基上建造，各人的工程必然显露，因为那日子要将它表明出来，有火发现，这火要试验各人的工程怎样。人在那根基上所建造的工程若存得住，他就要得赏赐；人的工程若被烧了，他就要受亏损，自己却要得救；虽然得救，乃像从火里经过的一样。」(哥林多前书 3:12-15) 所以是一次得救就永远得救，神不会骗人，是在生命册上有份，但不能进新耶路撒冷城，会在城外哀哭切齿。如果你看油管上的视频 ，就会发觉有人曾经是基督徒，甚至是神学教授，现在堕落到错解圣经以致于甚于底马，到了说谎的地步。怎么会曾是基督的人不可能是，「城外有那些犬类、行邪术的、淫乱的、杀人的、拜偶像的，并一切喜好说谎言编造虚谎的。」(启示录 22:15)    

神在作工，撒但也不会停止牠的工作，「务要谨守、警醒，因为你们的仇敌魔鬼，如同吼叫的狮子，遍地游行，寻找可吞吃的人。」(彼得前书 5:8) 撒但和牠的差役都会利用人性装作光明的天使 ! 温水炖青蛙 !

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)  

       首先我們談談巴比倫大城的傾倒，她的行淫的一項是指過於奢華追久物質的享受，基督徒知道貪財是萬惡之根！有人貪戀錢財，就被引誘離了真道。第二，基督徒是要從那城出來，不要去追求物質的享受，從世界分別出來。我們也談到神在定時中審判她的時間到了，她要得到加倍的報應。第三，和她行淫的地上的君王和她一樣都追求物質的享受，看到了她的刑罰一時之間就來到，兔死狐悲。第四，我們看到地上的客商所做，尤其是他們的貨物中包括了奴僕和人口，他們能倖免嗎？第五，靠海為業的也都因她享受了物質的豐盛，現在追求物質享受的價值觀一時之間就改變了！第六，從巴比倫大城的最後遭遇，我們從而知道神的愛是包括公義的，而不是溺愛，神帶著愛的公義就因此成就了！我們也順便一提讀經要能讀對！讀經是要讀出來神藉聖經要告訴我們什麼，而不是從人的角度讀進去!  我們舉了一個啓示錄的例子來說明這點。

1. 巴比倫大城的傾倒

       『此後，我看見另有一位有大權柄的天使從天降下，地就因他的榮耀發光。他大聲喊着說：「巴比倫大城傾倒了！傾倒了！成了鬼魔的住處和各樣污穢之靈的巢穴，並各樣污穢可憎之雀鳥的巢穴。因為列國都被她邪淫大怒的酒傾倒了。地上的君王與她行淫，地上的客商因她奢華太過就發了財。」』(啓示錄 18:1-3)

     我們看到是天使，他帶屬天的榮耀。上次我們看到獸與十角聯合廢掉了控制地上的政權大淫婦，就是巴比倫大城傾倒了，因此這地方成了鬼魔的住處等等。顯然，她的行淫的包括了這一項，就是指過於奢華的去追久物質的享受，這樣的價值觀結果自然會使地上的客商發了財，在現今的世界中的價值觀不就是如此嗎？

     而基督徒是要『…敬虔加上知足的心便是大利了，因為我們沒有帶甚麼到世上來，也不能帶甚麼去，只要有衣有食，就當知足。但那些想要發財的人，就陷在迷惑、落在網羅和許多無知有害的私慾裏，叫人沉在敗壞和滅亡中。貪財是萬惡之根！有人貪戀錢財，就被引誘離了真道，用許多愁苦把自己刺透了。』(提摩太前書 6:6-10) 基督徒是要從世界分別出來！

     這並不是說基督徒非要過得貧窮不可，亞伯拉罕不是很有錢嗎？但他不是貪財，是神的祝福。如果知道是神的祝福而去過舒適的生活，硬是不要是對的嗎？這是不順服神，是從人的角度看，而不是從神的角度看。

2. 不要和惡者同行及定時

       『我又聽見從天上有聲音說：「我的民哪，你們要從那城出來，免得與她一同有罪，受她所受的災殃；因她的罪惡滔天，她的不義，神已經想起來了。她怎樣待人，也要怎樣待她，按她所行的加倍地報應她，用她調酒的杯加倍地調給她喝。她怎樣榮耀自己，怎樣奢華，也當叫她照樣痛苦悲哀，因她心裏說：『我坐了皇后的位，並不是寡婦，決不至於悲哀。』所以在一天之內，她的災殃要一齊來到，就是死亡、悲哀、饑荒。她又要被火燒盡了，因為審判她的主神大有能力。』(啓示錄 18:4-8)

        對的，基督徒是要從那城出來，不要去追求物質的享受，要從世界分別出來。我們上次談過，是神在定時中審判她的時間到了，她要得到加倍的報應，經文相當清楚的說明她會遭到什麼樣的報應。從人的角度看，她以為自己已坐了皇后的位，怎麼會有一天得著報應呢？但她忘了神是大有能力的神，當祂的時間到時，審判會立時來臨，一天之內立刻來到。想想看，神怎麼會不能做到這點呢？如果神允許，連撤但都可以在一天之內，讓約伯失去了所有的子女和絕大部份的財產，不是所有的財產，至少留了一人去通風報信，我們也看在其中也包括了從天上降下火來。(參約伯記 1:12-19) 所以是真正的被火燒盡了。

3. 地上的君王所行

       『地上的君王，素來與她行淫、一同奢華的，看見燒她的煙，就必為她哭泣哀號。因怕她的痛苦，就遠遠地站着說：『哀哉！哀哉！巴比倫大城，堅固的城啊！一時之間你的刑罰就來到了。』』(啓示錄 18:9-10)

      一時之間就是那說的一天之內。和她行淫的地上的君王只能遠遠的看著，他們和她一樣都追求物質的享受，看到了她的刑罰一時之間就來到，她沒了，兔死狐悲。聖經雖然沒有明說，但神是公平的，下一個就會輪到他們，不會是只刑罰她而跳過了和她一樣所行的他們。不知道他們會不會想到這點而悔改？還是仍然硬著心？

4. 地上的客商所做

       「地上的客商也都為她哭泣悲哀，因為沒有人再買他們的貨物了；這貨物就是金、銀、寶石、珍珠、細麻布、紫色料、綢子、朱紅色料、各樣香木、各樣象牙的器皿，各樣極寶貴的木頭和銅、鐵、漢白玉的器皿，並肉桂、豆蔻、香料、香膏、乳香、酒、油、細麪、麥子、牛、羊、車、馬和奴僕、人口。「巴比倫哪，你所貪愛的果子離開了你！你一切的珍饈美味和華美的物件也從你中間毀滅，決不能再見了！販賣這些貨物、藉着她發了財的客商，因怕她的痛苦，就遠遠地站着哭泣悲哀，說：『哀哉！哀哉！這大城啊！素常穿着細麻、紫色、朱紅色的衣服，又用金子、寶石和珍珠為妝飾。一時之間，這麼大的富厚就歸於無有了。』」…』(啓示錄 18:12-17)

        地上的客商當然會為她哭泣悲哀，因為一時之間，沒有人再買他們的貨物了，這實在是為自己悲傷。他們遠遠的悲傷，不想沾染到自己！他們能倖免嗎？看他們的貨物，是超越的奢華，而不是知道，『因為我們沒有帶甚麼到世上來，也不能帶甚麼去。』(提摩太前書 6:7) 他們的價值觀是去享愛世間的榮華。尤其是他們的貨物中包括了奴僕和人口，他們能倖免嗎？

5. 靠海為業的所為

       『…凡船主和坐船往各處去的並眾水手，連所有靠海為業的，都遠遠地站着，看見燒她的煙，就喊着說：『有何城能比這大城呢？』他們又把塵土撒在頭上，哭泣悲哀，喊着說：『哀哉！哀哉！這大城啊！凡有船在海中的，都因她的珍寶成了富足，她在一時之間就成了荒場！』(啓示錄 18:17-19)

        羅馬時期的許多貨物的交易都是靠船運，今日如此，未來亦然，靠海為業的都因她成富足，享受了物質的豐盛。現在追求物質享受的價值觀一時之間就改變了，他們也不能因此再富足了。不知他們有沒有想到，『主所應許的尚未成就，…乃是寬容你們，不願有一人沉淪，乃願人人都悔改。』(彼得後書 3:9)

6. 巴比倫大城的最後遭遇

       『天哪，眾聖徒、眾使徒、眾先知啊！你們都要因她歡喜，因為神已經在她身上伸了你們的冤！』」有一位大力的天使舉起一塊石頭，好像大磨石，扔在海裏，說：「巴比倫大城也必這樣猛力地被扔下去，決不能再見了！彈琴、作樂、吹笛、吹號的聲音，在你中間決不能再聽見。各行手藝人，在你中間決不能再遇見。推磨的聲音，在你中間決不能再聽見。燈光在你中間決不能再照耀。新郎和新婦的聲音，在你中間決不能再聽見。你的客商原來是地上的尊貴人，萬國也被你的邪術迷惑了。先知和聖徒並地上一切被殺之人的血，都在這城裏看見了。」』(啓示錄 18:20-24)

        我們以前提到，『揭開第五印的時候，我看見在祭壇底下，有為神的道並為作見證被殺之人的靈魂，大聲喊着說：「聖潔真實的主啊！你不審判住在地上的人給我們伸流血的冤，要等到幾時呢？」』(啓示錄 6:9-10) 第一段經文很清楚的說到神的伸冤的時間到了！我們在最後一節中也明顯的說到她的行淫也包括了殺害聖徒。這些經文中很清楚的描述了巴比倫大城所受的刑罰，我們就不重複了。

        有人說，神不是愛世人嗎？這是愛嗎？要知道神的愛是包括公義的，而不是溺愛，詩篇說得很清楚，『公義和公平，是你寶座的根基；慈愛和誠實，行在你前面。』(詩篇 89:14) 現在不是相當多的教會只教導神的愛，而常常忘了神的公義，尤其是成功神學的教導，造就了許多啓示錄中說的老底嘉的教會，以為自己什麼都有，卻在神的眼中正好相反，把主耶穌關在門外而不自知！(參啓示錄 3:14-22) 這裏是說最後的審判，神帶著愛的公義成就了！在新約的時代中，耶穌因愛為我們付上了代價，成就了救恩，信而受洗只是開始，我們仍要走上成聖之路，有信心的行為，『總要趁着還有今日，天天彼此相勸，免得你們中間有人被罪迷惑，心裏就剛硬了。』(希伯來書 3:13)

     順便一提讀經要能讀對！我們就舉一段和啓示錄有關的經文。底馬曾是保羅同工的基督徒，但聖經明說，他墮落了回到世界。如果底馬不是曾經得救的基督徒，他怎麼會是保羅的同工，除非是保羅瞎了眼! 而保羅是很清楚的，他說，「我勸友阿蝶和循都基要在主裏同心。我也求你這真實同負一軛的，幫助這兩個女人，因為她們在福音上曾與我一同勞苦；還有革利免，並其餘和我一同做工的，他們的名字都在生命冊上。」(聖經．和合本, 腓立比書 4:2-3) 她們行為雖會在白色大寶座前受審判，但她們仍和生命册有份。底馬也是如此，衹是在生命册上有份，但回到世界的人絕不能在新天新地時進新耶路撒冷城! 

     讀經是要讀出來神藉聖經要告訴我們什麼，而不是從人的角度讀進去! 人認為不可能而不相信的事，不見得是對的! 約伯記說，「神…將大地懸在虛空。」(約伯記 26:7) 你想當時的人會信嗎？現在有太空船，可以看到這點了! 人有自由意志，是別人勉強不得的，甚至神最多也是任憑人自己做決定，不會强逼人做決定，看亞當的例子就知道這點。

     聖經明說，「若有人用金、銀、寶石、草木、禾稭在這根基上建造，各人的工程必然顯露，因為那日子要將它表明出來，有火發現，這火要試驗各人的工程怎樣。人在那根基上所建造的工程若存得住，他就要得賞賜；人的工程若被燒了，他就要受虧損，自己卻要得救；雖然得救，乃像從火裏經過的一樣。」(哥林多前書 3:12-15) 所以是一次得救就永遠得救，神不會騙人，是在生命册上有份，但不能進新耶路撒冷城，會在城外哀哭切齒。如果你看油管上的視頻 ，就會發覺有人曾經是基督徒，甚至是神學教授，現在墮落到錯解聖經以致於甚於底馬，到了說謊的地步。怎麼會曾是基督的人不可能是，「城外有那些犬類、行邪術的、淫亂的、殺人的、拜偶像的，並一切喜好說謊言編造虛謊的。」(啓示錄 22:15)

    神在作工，撒但也不會停止牠的工作，「務要謹守、警醒，因為你們的仇敵魔鬼，如同吼叫的獅子，遍地遊行，尋找可吞吃的人。」(彼得前書 5:8) 撒但和牠的差役都會利用人性裝作光明的天使 ! 溫水燉青蛙 !

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

First, let’s talk about the fall of the great city of Babylon. One of her fornications refers to excessive luxury and pursuit of material enjoyments. Christians know that the love of money is the root of all evil!  Some people are tempted away from the truth because they are greedy for money.  Second, Christians must come out of that city, not pursue material enjoyments, and separate themselves from the world.  We also talked about how God would judge her in due time and she would receive double retribution.  Third, the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her also pursued material enjoyments like her, and when they saw her punishment coming in an instant, just like if the rabbit died and the fox was sad.  Fourth, we see what the merchants on earth did, especially since their goods included slaves and people. No reason that they’ll be spared. Fifth, those who make a living by the sea have enjoyed material abundance because of her. Now the values ​​​​of pursuing material enjoyments have changed in an instant!  Sixth, from the final encounter with the great city of Babylon, we know that God’s love includes justice, not doting. This is how God’s justice with love has been accomplished!  We also mention by the way that we need to be able to read the Bible correctly!  Reading the Bible is to read out what God wants to tell us through the Bible, not to read into it from a human perspective! We gave an example from the Book of Revelation to illustrate this point.

1. The fall of the great city of Babylon

“After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.””(Revelation 18:1-3)

 ​

We see the angel with heavenly glory.  Last time we saw that the beast and the ten horns united to destroy the political power that controlled the earth, the great harlot. That means that the great city of Babylon fell. As the result, this place became the residence of demons and so on.  Obviously, her prostitution includes this item, which refers to pursuing material enjoyment with excessive luxury. Such kind of values ​​will naturally make merchants on the earth rich. Isn’t this the same as the values ​​in today’s world for many to pursue? ​

Christians should pursue godliness, since “…godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”(1 Timothy 6:6-10) Christians must be separated from the rest world!

This does not mean that Christians must live in poverty. Wasn’t Abraham very rich?  But he is not greedy for money; he is a blessing from God.  If we live a comfortable life knowing that it is God’s blessing, is it right not to insist on it?  This is disobedience to God and is viewed from a human perspective rather than from God’s perspective.

2. Don’t walk with the evil one

 ​

“I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ For this reason in one day her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her is strong.”(Revelation 18:4-8)

Yes, Christians must come out of that city, stop pursuing material enjoyment, and separate themselves from the world.  As we talked about last time, it reached the God’s appointed time to judge her. The verses says clearly that she would receive double retribution and also clearly stated what kind of retribution she would receive.  From a human perspective, she thought she had already taken the position of queen, so how could she get retribution in one day?  But she forgot that God is a powerful God, and when His time comes, judgment will come immediately, in one day.  Think about it, how could God not be able to do so?  If God had allowed it, even Satan could have caused Job to lose all his children and most of his property in one day. Not all of his property though since at least one person would be left to inform the news. We also see that this includes fire came down from heaven.  (See Job 1:12-19) So the city was truly consumed by fire.

3. What the kings of the earth did

“And the kings of the earth, who committed acts of immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’”(Revelation 18:9-10)

 ​

The kings of the earth who committed adultery with her could only watch from a distance. Like her, they pursued material enjoyment, and when they saw her punishment, it came in an instant. She was gone, and surely if the rabbit dies, the fox grieves. Although the Bible does not say that it will be their turn next, their turn should come since God is fair.  He will not just punish her and skip them who have done the same thing as her.  I wonder if they will think of this and repent?  Or are you still hard-hearted?

 ​

4. What merchants on earth did

​“And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more⁠— cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of citron wood and every article of ivory and every article made from very costly wood and bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. The fruit you long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them. The merchants of these things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste!’…”(Revelation 18:11-17)

Of course, the merchants on the ground will cry and mourn for her, because no one will buy their goods anymore, which means that they are really sad for themselves.  They are sad from afar and don’t want to contaminate themselves!  Will they be spared?  To look at their goods is to see transcendent luxury, rather than to know, “For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.”(1 Timothy 6:7) Their value is to enjoy the glory of the world.  Especially since their cargo included slaves and humans, could they be spared?

5. Doing business based on the sea

“…And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like the great city?’ And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste!’”(Revelation 18:17-19)

Many of the goods in the Roman period depend on shipping in sea. This is the case today.  Now the value of pursuing material enjoyment has changed suddenly, and they can no longer be rich because of it.  I wonder if they have ever thought, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”(2 Peter 3:9)

6. The final encounter with the great city of Babylon

“Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced judgment for you against her.” Then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer. And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer; and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.””(Revelation 18:20-24)

We mentioned before, “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?””(Revelation 6:9-10) The first verse clearly states that God’s time for vengeance has come!  We also see clearly in the last verse that her adultery also included the killing of saints.  These verses clearly describe the punishment of the great city of Babylon, so we will not repeat it.

Some people may say, doesn’t God love the world?  Is this love?  You must know that God’s love includes justice, not doting. The Psalm makes it clear, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.”(Psalm 89:14) Nowadays, many churches only teach the love of God, but often forget the justice of God.  Especially from the teaching of prosperity gospel, it has created many churches like what the church in Laodicea which is mentioned in the Book of Revelation. They think that they have everything, but in the eyes of God, it is just the opposite. They have shut out the Lord Jesus without even realizing it!  (See Revelation 3:14-22) What described is about the final judgment, and God’s love with righteousness is accomplished! In the era of the New Testament, Jesus paid the price for us because of His love and accomplished salvation. Believing and being baptized is just the beginning. We still have to embark on the road to sanctification and have acts of faith, so “…encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”(Hebrews 3:13)

By the way, you must be able to read the Bible correctly!  Let’s take a passage related to the Book of Revelation.  Demas was a Christian who was a co-worker of Paul, but the Bible clearly says that he fell and returned to the world.  If Demas was not a saved Christian, how could he be Paul’s co-worker, unless Paul was blind! And Paul knew very well. He said, “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”(Philippians 4:2-3) Although their actions will be judged before the great white throne, they are still partakers of the book of life.  The same is true for Demas. He only has a share in the book of life, but those who return to the world will never enter the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth!

Reading the Bible is to read out what God wants to tell us through the Bible, not to read into it from a human perspective! What people think is impossible and thus do not believe it may not be right! The Book of Job says, ““He (God) …hangs the earth on nothing.”(Job 26:7) Do you think the people at that time would believe it?  Now that we have spaceships, we can see this! People have free will, which cannot be forced by others. Even God allows people to make their own decisions and will not force people to make decisions. You can know this by looking at the example of Adam.​

The Bible clearly says, “Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”(1 Corinthians 3:12-15) So once you are saved, you are saved forever. God will not lie to you. You have a share in the book of life, but you cannot enter the New Jerusalem. You will be outside the city, weeping and gnashing of teeth.  If you watch the videos on YouTube, you will find that there are people who used to be a Christian, even a professor of theology, and now he has fallen to the point of misinterpreting the Bible significantly, even worse than Demas, even to the point of thus lying even maybe he thinks that he was telling the truth from his viewpoints.  How could it be that the man who was a Christian could not be, “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”(Revelation 22:15)

God is at work, and Satan will not stop his work too. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) Satan and his servants will use human nature and pretend to be angels of light! It is the ‘boiling frog’ effect, where to avoid of jumping out they put people in water and boils slowly so the people wouldn’t realize it until it is too late.

 ​(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

首先我们看到第七碗的烈怒成就了神的大怒，和祂定时审判巴比伦大城的时候到了，再一次看到了人心是何等的刚硬。第二，圣经明说那大淫妇就是大巴比伦，经文描述又她，也在此说明了那女人骑在兽上是指什么，也看到了神为祭坛下的魂伸冤的时候到了。第三，我们讨论了大淫妇和駄著她的兽的奥秘，也又一次看到了圣经没有明讲的事情，会是众说纷芸的。我们也举了一个例子，说到如果人以为自己是猜对了，那只能迷惑人。最后我们谈到了羔羊的得胜和大淫妇的结局，看到了即使十角和兽同心协力，仍究会败于羔羊和教会，这是注定的结局。我们也看到了那淫妇和他们的自相残杀，从神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的来看，很清楚的知道，神是任凭诸王选择同心同意，而不是使他们同心同意。

1. 第七碗的烈怒和巴比伦大城   

『第七位天使把碗倒在空中，就有大声音从殿中的宝座上出来，说：「成了！」又有闪电、声音、雷轰、大地震，自从地上有人以来，没有这样大、这样厉害的地震。那大城裂为三段，列国的城也都倒塌了。神也想起巴比伦大城来，要把那盛自己烈怒的酒杯递给他。各海岛都逃避了，众山也不见了。又有大雹子从天落在人身上，每一个约重一他连得。为这雹子的灾极大，人就亵渎神。』(启示录 16:17-21)       

「成了」就是以前说的，『…神的大怒在这七灾中发尽了。』(启示录 15:1) 那大地震等，也代表了即将来临的审判，这审判完全摧毁了巴比伦大城。「想起来」不是说神以前忘记了巴比伦大城所行的恶，『…神必审判义人和恶人，因为在那里，各样事务，一切工作，都有定时。』(传道书 3:17) 是那定时要审判巴比伦大城的时候到了。我们再一次看到了人心何等刚硬，审判的结果不能让人悔改，人却更加亵渎神。

2. 大淫妇就是大巴比伦的描述    

『拿著七碗的七位天使中，有一位前来对我说：「你到这里来，我将坐在众水上的大淫妇所要受的刑罚指给你看。地上的君王与她行淫，住在地上的人喝醉了她淫乱的酒。」我被圣灵感动，天使带我到旷野去，我就看见一个女人骑在朱红色的兽上；那兽有七头十角，遍体有(充满了, full, G1073)亵渎的名号。那女人穿著紫色和朱红色的衣服，用金子、宝石、珍珠为妆饰；手拿金杯，杯中盛满了可憎之物，就是她淫乱的污秽。在她额上有名写著说：「奥秘哉！大巴比伦，作世上的淫妇和一切可憎之物的母。」我又看见那女人喝醉了圣徒的血和为耶稣作见证之人的血。 …』(启示录 17:1-6)     

这一段开始就很清楚的说明了巴比伦大城受罚的原因，以后就用那女人描述巴比伦大城所做的事。那女人骑在兽上是指什么呢？我们先看那兽应该是海兽，过去是说，海兽有『…有十角七头，…七头上有亵渎的名号。』(启示录 13:1) 现在原文用的是G1073，充满了的意思，七头上都有亵渎的名号，的确是充满了！只是现在说那兽是朱红色的，以前没说。我们看见了那女人骑在兽上，所以海兽往那个方向走，那女人就只能往同样的方向走，从神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的来看，就很清楚不是在说那女人控制了兽的方向，是先讲海兽的功能，然后巴比伦大城是在兽的控制下。     

那女人从世界看来，一切都很华丽，为人所羡慕，但行的是可憎的事，也包括了杀死圣徒，以前不是说，『揭开第五印的时候，我看见在祭坛底下，有为神的道并为作见证被杀之人的(灵)魂(souls, G5590)，大声喊著说：「圣洁真实的主啊！你不审判住在地上的人给我们伸流血的冤，要等到几时呢？」于是有白衣赐给他们各人，又有话对他们说：「还要安息片时，等著一同作仆人的和他们的弟兄，也像他们被杀，满足了数目。」』(启示录 6:9-11) 现在是审判世界的时候了，为他们伸冤的时候，很清楚的看到，『凡事都有定期，天下万务都有定时。』(传道书 3:1) 著急也没有用，神有自己订的时间。

3. 大淫妇和駄著她的兽   

『…我看见她，就大大地希奇。天使对我说：「你为甚么希奇呢？我要将这女人和驮著她的那七头十角兽的奥秘告诉你。你所看见的兽，先前有，如今没有，将要从无底坑里上来，又要归于沉沦。凡住在地上、名字从创世以来没有记在生命册上的，见先前有、如今没有、以后再有的兽，就必希奇。「智慧的心在此可以思想。那七头就是女人所坐的七座山，又是七位王；五位已经倾倒了，一位还在，一位还没有来到；他来的时候，必须暂时存留。那先前有、如今没有的兽，就是第八位；他也和那七位同列，并且归于沉沦。「你所看见的那十角就是十王，他们还没有得国，但他们一时之间要和兽同得权柄，与王一样。他们同心合意将自己的能力权柄给那兽。」』(启示录 17:6-13)     

我们看到了女人和海兽的奥秘，那时的罗马就是全世界，是坐落在七座山上，世界的宗教部份已有地兽的假先知处理，这女人是指世界的政权。至于那七位王是指什么，圣经没有明说，因此众说纷芸，我们不是又看了一次，圣经没有明说且没有概念的事情，不会猜到唯一的结论的！     

重要是那时，一位还在，一位还没来到，然后会有最后仍归于沉沦的第八位的兽。那十角是一时之间要和兽同得权柄，与王一样，所以是指未来的事，圣经没有明说，人更猜不到了，不如不猜。如果以为自己是猜对了，那只能迷惑人，犹如有人肯定的说到耶稣的再来的时间，没有一个是对的。圣经明讲，『看哪！我来像贼一样。那警醒、看守衣服、免得赤身而行叫人见他羞耻的有福了！』(启示录 16:15) 居然还有人去猜！当然猜不出来。很清楚的，是要我们时时警醒，就像彼得所说的，『务要谨守、警醒，因为你们的仇敌魔鬼，如同吼叫的狮子，遍地游行，寻找可吞吃的人。』(彼得前书 5:8)

4. 羔羊的得胜和大淫妇的结局    

『「他们与羔羊争战，羔羊必胜过他们，因为羔羊是万主之主，万王之王。同著羔羊的，就是蒙召、被选、有忠心的，也必得胜。」天使又对我说：「你所看见那淫妇坐的众水，就是多民、多人、多国、多方。你所看见的那十角与兽必恨这淫妇，使她冷落赤身，又要吃她的肉，用火将她烧尽。因为神使诸王同心合意，遵行他的旨意，把自己的国给那兽，直等到神的话都应验了。你所看见的那女人就是管辖地上众王的大城。」』(启示录 17:14-18)     

我们看到，即使十角和兽同心协力，仍究败于羔羊和教会，这是注定的结局。我们看到那淫妇坐在众水之上是指世间的政权，更在最后一节明说了这一点。我们也看到那淫妇的利用价值完了，那淫妇和兽及十角的自相残杀，兽及十角站的是同一立场，我们可从他们把自己的国给那兽就可看到这点，而这一切都在神的掌控之中。   

和合本翻译说，神「使」诸王同心合意，这使字是不对的。我们上次讲过，神从亚当夏娃开始，就任凭他们的自由意志做决定，而不是干涉他们，使他们做正确的决定。在法老遭遇十灾时也是如此，我们以前在『2103「同在」第一期的反思 – 人能战胜神 创世记 32 章 23-26』中的『5. 雅各与与神与人较力都得了胜』，详细的说明了这一点，有兴趣的人可到『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的网站后，按『对属灵生命的了解』，找到这篇文章。    

所以照神告诉我们是一致的来讲，非常的清楚看到这翻译有问题。那么圣经到底怎么说呢？按照汇编(Strong’s Concordance)的原文是说，「放进」(put G1325 in G1519)他们的心里完成神旨意的想法。即使神把这想法放入了他们的心中，他们仍有自由意思，神是任凭他们自作决定，因此是可以做出和神的旨意不同的决定，但他们正好做出了符合神心意的决定。这和亚当的情况不同，神甚至给他命令，但任凭他作决定，他决定的结果却是违反神的旨意。不要忘了，神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的！ 

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)  

    首先我們看到第七碗的烈怒成就了神的大怒，和祂定時審判巴比倫大城的時候到了，再一次看到了人心是何等的剛硬。第二，聖經明說那大淫婦就是大巴比倫，經文描述又她，也在此說明了那女人騎在獸上是指什麼，也看到了神為祭壇下的魂伸冤的時候到了。第三，我們討論了大淫婦和駄著她的獸的奧秘，也又一次看到了聖經沒有明講的事情，會是眾說紛芸的。我們也舉了一個例子，說到如果人以為自己是猜對了，那只能迷惑人。最後我們談到了羔羊的得勝和大淫婦的結局，看到了即使十角和獸同心協力，仍究會敗於羔羊和教會，這是注定的結局。我們也看到了那淫婦和他們的自相殘殺，從神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的來看，很清楚的知道，神是任憑諸王選擇同心同意，而不是使他們同心同意。

1. 第七碗的烈怒和巴比倫大城

    『第七位天使把碗倒在空中，就有大聲音從殿中的寶座上出來，說：「成了！」又有閃電、聲音、雷轟、大地震，自從地上有人以來，沒有這樣大、這樣厲害的地震。那大城裂為三段，列國的城也都倒塌了。神也想起巴比倫大城來，要把那盛自己烈怒的酒杯遞給他。各海島都逃避了，眾山也不見了。又有大雹子從天落在人身上，每一個約重一他連得。為這雹子的災極大，人就褻瀆神。』(啓示錄 16:17-21)

    「成了」就是以前說的，『…神的大怒在這七災中發盡了。』(啓示錄 15:1) 那大地震等，也代表了即將來臨的審判，這審判完全摧毀了巴比倫大城。「想起來」不是說神以前忘記了巴比倫大城所行的惡，『…神必審判義人和惡人，因為在那裏，各樣事務，一切工作，都有定時。』(傳道書 3:17) 是那定時要審判巴比倫大城的時候到了。我們再一次看到了人心何等剛硬，審判的結果不能讓人悔改，人卻更加褻瀆神。

2. 大淫婦就是大巴比倫的描述

    『拿着七碗的七位天使中，有一位前來對我說：「你到這裏來，我將坐在眾水上的大淫婦所要受的刑罰指給你看。地上的君王與她行淫，住在地上的人喝醉了她淫亂的酒。」我被聖靈感動，天使帶我到曠野去，我就看見一個女人騎在朱紅色的獸上；那獸有七頭十角，遍體有(充滿了, full, G1073)褻瀆的名號。那女人穿着紫色和朱紅色的衣服，用金子、寶石、珍珠為妝飾；手拿金杯，杯中盛滿了可憎之物，就是她淫亂的污穢。在她額上有名寫着說：「奧秘哉！大巴比倫，作世上的淫婦和一切可憎之物的母。」我又看見那女人喝醉了聖徒的血和為耶穌作見證之人的血。 …』(啓示錄 17:1-6)

     這一段開始就很清楚的說明了巴比倫大城受罰的原因，以後就用那女人描述巴比倫大城所做的事。那女人騎在獸上是指什麼呢？我們先看那獸應該是海獸，過去是說，海獸有『…有十角七頭，…七頭上有褻瀆的名號。』(啓示錄 13:1) 現在原文用的是G1073，充滿了的意思，七頭上都有褻瀆的名號，的確是充滿了！只是現在說那獸是朱紅色的，以前沒說。我們看見了那女人騎在獸上，所以海獸往那個方向走，那女人就只能往同樣的方向走，從神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的來看，就很清楚不是在說那女人控制了獸的方向，是先講海獸的功能，然後巴比倫大城是在獸的控制下。

     那女人從世界看來，一切都很華麗，為人所羨慕，但行的是可憎的事，也包括了殺死聖徒，以前不是說，『揭開第五印的時候，我看見在祭壇底下，有為神的道並為作見證被殺之人的(靈)魂(souls, G5590)，大聲喊着說：「聖潔真實的主啊！你不審判住在地上的人給我們伸流血的冤，要等到幾時呢？」於是有白衣賜給他們各人，又有話對他們說：「還要安息片時，等着一同作僕人的和他們的弟兄，也像他們被殺，滿足了數目。」』(啓示錄 6:9-11) 現在是審判世界的時候了，為他們伸冤的時候，很清楚的看到，『凡事都有定期，天下萬務都有定時。』(傳道書 3:1) 著急也沒有用，神有自己訂的時間。

3. 大淫婦和駄著她的獸

    『…我看見她，就大大地希奇。天使對我說：「你為甚麼希奇呢？我要將這女人和馱着她的那七頭十角獸的奧秘告訴你。你所看見的獸，先前有，如今沒有，將要從無底坑裏上來，又要歸於沉淪。凡住在地上、名字從創世以來沒有記在生命冊上的，見先前有、如今沒有、以後再有的獸，就必希奇。「智慧的心在此可以思想。那七頭就是女人所坐的七座山，又是七位王；五位已經傾倒了，一位還在，一位還沒有來到；他來的時候，必須暫時存留。那先前有、如今沒有的獸，就是第八位；他也和那七位同列，並且歸於沉淪。「你所看見的那十角就是十王，他們還沒有得國，但他們一時之間要和獸同得權柄，與王一樣。他們同心合意將自己的能力權柄給那獸。」』(啓示錄 17:6-13)

     我們看到了女人和海獸的奧秘，那時的羅馬就是全世界，是坐落在七座山上，世界的宗教部份已有地獸的假先知處理，這女人是指世界的政權。至於那七位王是指什麼，聖經沒有明說，因此眾說紛芸，我們不是又看了一次，聖經沒有明說且沒有概念的事情，不會猜到唯一的結論的！

     重要是那時，一位還在，一位還沒來到，然後會有最後仍歸於沉淪的第八位的獸。那十角是一時之間要和獸同得權柄，與王一樣，所以是指未來的事，聖經沒有明說，人更猜不到了，不如不猜。如果以為自己是猜對了，那只能迷惑人，猶如有人肯定的說到耶穌的再來的時間，沒有一個是對的。聖經明講，『看哪！我來像賊一樣。那警醒、看守衣服、免得赤身而行叫人見他羞恥的有福了！』(啓示錄 16:15) 居然還有人去猜！當然猜不出來。很清楚的，是要我們時時警醒，就像彼得所說的，『務要謹守、警醒，因為你們的仇敵魔鬼，如同吼叫的獅子，遍地遊行，尋找可吞吃的人。』(彼得前書 5:8)

4. 羔羊的得勝和大淫婦的結局

    『「他們與羔羊爭戰，羔羊必勝過他們，因為羔羊是萬主之主，萬王之王。同着羔羊的，就是蒙召、被選、有忠心的，也必得勝。」天使又對我說：「你所看見那淫婦坐的眾水，就是多民、多人、多國、多方。你所看見的那十角與獸必恨這淫婦，使她冷落赤身，又要吃她的肉，用火將她燒盡。因為神使諸王同心合意，遵行他的旨意，把自己的國給那獸，直等到神的話都應驗了。你所看見的那女人就是管轄地上眾王的大城。」』(啓示錄 17:14-18)

     我們看到，即使十角和獸同心協力，仍究敗於羔羊和教會，這是注定的結局。我們看到那淫婦坐在眾水之上是指世間的政權，更在最後一節明說了這一點。我們也看到那淫婦的利用價值完了，那淫婦和獸及十角的自相殘殺，獸及十角站的是同一立場，我們可從他們把自己的國給那獸就可看到這點，而這一切都在神的掌控之中。

    和合本翻譯說，神「使」諸王同心合意，這使字是不對的。我們上次講過，神從亞當夏娃開始，就任憑他們的自由意志做決定，而不是干涉他們，使他們做正確的決定。在法老遭遇十災時也是如此，我們以前在『2103「同在」第一期的反思 – 人能戰勝神 創世記 32 章 23-26』中的『5. 雅各與與神與人較力都得了勝』，詳細的說明了這一點，有興趣的人可到『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的網站後，按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』，找到這篇文章。

    所以照神告訴我們是一致的來講，非常的清楚看到這翻譯有問題。那麼聖經到底怎麼說呢？按照彙編(Strong’s Concordance)的原文是說，「放進」(put G1325 in G1519)他們的心裏完成神旨意的想法。即使神把這想法放入了他們的心中，他們仍有自由意思，神是任憑他們自作決定，因此是可以做出和神的旨意不同的決定，但他們正好做出了符合神心意的決定。這和亞當的情況不同，神甚至給他命令，但任憑他作決定，他決定的結果卻是違反神的旨意。不要忘了，神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的！ 

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

First of all, we see that the wrath of the seventh bowl has fulfilled God’s wrath, and that His time has come to judge the great city of Babylon. We once again see how hard the human heart is.  Second, the Bible clearly says that the great harlot is Babylon the great. The scripture describes her, and we also explains what the woman riding on the beast means. It shows that the time has come for God to avenge the souls under the altar.  Third, we discussed the mystery of the great harlot sitting on the beast. Once again we see that there are things that the Bible does not clearly say, and there will be different opinions if we try to guess.  We also gave an example, saying that if people think they have guessed correctly, it can only confuse people.  Finally, we talk about the victory of the Lamb and the ending of the great harlot. We saw that even if the ten horns and the beast work together, they will still be defeated by the Lamb and the church. This is a destined outcome.  We have also seen the harlot and their fratricide. Judging from the consistency that God tells us through the Bible, it is clear that God allowed the kings to choose to agree instead of making them agree.

​

1. The wrath of the seventh bowl and the great city of Babylon

“Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, “It is done.” And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.”(Revelation 16:17-21)

“It is done” is what was said before, “…seven plagues, which are the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.”(Revelation 15:1) The great earthquake and so on also represent the coming judgment, which completely destroyed the great city of Babylon. 

“Was remembered” does not mean that God has forgotten the evil done by the great city of Babylon, “…God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.”(Ecclesiastes 3:17) The time has come for the judgment of the great city Babylon.  Once again we see how hard the human heart is. The results of the judgment cannot make people repent, but they only blaspheme God even more.

2. The description regarding the great harlot is Babylon the great

“Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. …”(Revelation 17:1-6)

This paragraph begins with a clear explanation of the reason why the great city of Babylon was punished, and from now on the woman will be used to describe what the great city of Babylon did.  So what does it mean for a woman to ride on a beast?  Let us first see that the beast should be a sea beast. In the past, it was said that the sea beast had “ten horns and seven heads, …and on his heads were blasphemous names.”(Revelation 13:1) It is indeed full!  But now it is said that the beast is scarlet, which was not said before.  We saw the woman riding on the beast, so if the sea beast goes in that direction, the woman can only go in the same direction. From the fact that God tells us what through the Bible is consistent, it is clear that it is not saying that the woman controls which way to go for the beast. We first talk about the function of the sea beast, and then the great city of Babylon is under the control of the beast.

From the perspective of the world, everything about that woman was gorgeous and she was admired by others, but she did abominable things, including killing the saints. Didn’t it say before, “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”(Revelation 6:9-11) Now it is the time to judge the world and avenge them. It is clear that “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven.”(Ecclesiastes 3:1) There is no point in being anxious, God has His own time.

​3. The great harlot sitting on the sea beast

“…When I saw her, I wondered greatly. And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.”(Revelation 17:6-13)

We have seen the mystery of the woman and the sea beast. At that time, Rome was the whole world and was located on seven mountains. The religious part of the world had been dealt with by the false prophet of the beast of the earth. This woman refers to the political power of the world.  As for what the seven kings refer to, the Bible does not clearly say it, so there are different opinions. We see again that if the Bible does not say anything clearly and has no corresponding concept, we would not have guessed the only conclusion!

The important thing is that at that time, one is still there, and the other has not yet come, and then there will be the eighth beast who will eventually perish.  The ten horns are for a time to have the same authority as the beast and to be the same as the king, so they refer to things in the future. The Bible does not say it clearly, and people can’t guess it. It is better not to guess.  If you think you have guessed correctly, it will only confuse people. It is like someone saying for sure about the time of Jesus’ return, but no one is right.  The Bible clearly says, “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”(Revelation 16:15) There are still people guessing!  Of course you can’t guess.  It is very clear that we are required to be alert at all times, just as Peter said, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8)

4. The victory of the Lamb and the end of the great harlot

“​These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” And he said to me, “The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.””(Revelation 17:14-18)

We see that even if the ten horns and the beast work together, they will still be defeated by the Lamb and the church. This is the destined outcome.  We see that the harlot sitting on the waters refers to the government of the world, and this is made clear in the last verse.  We also see that the use value of the harlot is over. The harlot, the beast and the ten horns are fighting each other. The beast and the ten horns are on the same side. We can see this from the fact that they gave their kingdom to the beast. This, and this is all under God’s control.

The Union Version translation says that God “made” all the kings to be of one mind. This word “make” is incorrect.  We talked about it last time. Starting from Adam and Eve, God allowed them to make decisions of their own free will instead of interfering with them to make them make correct decisions.  The same was true when Pharaoh suffered the ten plagues.  In “5. Jacob struggled with God and men and prevailed” of “1103 Reflections on the first issue of “With Thee” – Man can defeat God Genesis 32:23-26,” we explained this in detail. Those who are interested can go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/” and click “Understanding of Spiritual Life” to find this article.

Therefore, according to what God tells us is consistent, and it is very clear that there is a problem with this translation.  So what does the Bible say?  According to the original text of Strong’s Concordance, it is “put” (put G1325 in G1519) in their hearts the idea of ​​accomplishing God’s will. Even though God puts this idea into their hearts, they still have free will. God allows them to make their own decisions, so they can make decisions that are different from God’s will, but they just make the decision that is in line with God’s will.  This is different from Adam’s situation. God even gave him commands, but allowed him to make decisions, but the results of his decisions were contrary to God’s will.  Don’t forget, what God tells us through the Bible is consistent! ​

 ​(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

如果你還沒有在「https://youtu.be/rvK1Nzn7WBg?si=lEVPlG1pEOdxmctr」看過，談以上話題的「同在」第一期視頻，建議你花不到三十分鐘的時間看看，這樣比較容易知道為什麼我會如此討論。

       在第一期的視頻中約 26:05 分鐘說到，希望能和我們一起成長，我相信他不只是說說而已，因此在以下的視頻中，我就將這次我因沒看到而學習到的東西，和那視頻中不按照聖經話語講的部份，相當詳細的放在這視頻中。

       在知道神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的前提下，也請你們看一看我們基於聖經話語的邏輯是否有錯誤？謝謝。

        以下的討論是基於這些經文，所以我們先列出經文：『他夜間起來，帶着兩個妻子、兩個使女，並十一個兒子都過了雅博渡口。先打發他們過河，又打發所有的都過去，只剩下雅各一人。有一個人來和他摔跤，直到黎明。那人見自己勝不過他，就將他的大腿窩摸了一把，雅各的大腿窩正在摔跤的時候就扭了。那人說：「天黎明了，容我去吧！」 雅各說：「你不給我祝福，我就不容你去。」』(創世記 32:22-26)

1. 對不懂原文的人讀經時，有時有必要看原文和用彙編

          約在第一期的視頻 4 分鐘的時候，他提到要多看幾個版本，這是對的，但說到看那一版本都沒有問題，這樣的敘述就會有問題。如果你多看不同的版本，可能就會發覺，沒有問題的地方是大同小異，但有問題的地方，翻譯會很不相同，在英文的版本中，甚至還會找到意義正好完全相反的例子，所以讀經有時非要看原文不可，才有可能不強解聖經。他舉了一個必須看原文經文的例子，就是『那人見自己勝不過他，就將他的大腿窩摸了一把(H5060)，雅各的大腿窩正在摔跤的時候就扭了。』(創世記 32:25, 和合本)

        我不懂原文，就用工具書如彙編(Strong’s Concordance)來瞭解原文的字義。可能你已經知道，彙編對作者選定的那一個原文版本，基本上每一個都有編號，也就是用一個數目來表示這個字，所以括弧內的 H5060 就是這字「摸了一把」的編號。因為舊約多數是用希伯來文(Hebrew)寫的，少數是用亞蘭文寫的，因此舊約的字都是以 H 開始。新約是用希臘文(Greek)寫的，因此開始都是用 G，譬如說，『因為他預先所知道的人，就預先定下效法(G4832, 模成, to be conformed, 彙編)他兒子的模樣，使他兒子在許多弟兄中作長子。』(羅馬書 8:29, 和合本) 順便一提的是，原文不是說效法，因為效法是可以包括表面上的模仿的效法，或是有真正裏面的改變的效法，後者就是模成的意思，也就是原文的意思，所以會說，變成基督徒後會有生命本質的改變。

        在這裏，就分享一下對不懂原文的人，彙編是可以如何的使用。彙編的作者既然把每一個字都編了號，就很容易查出聖經中所有用同一個字的經文，如果那些經文足夠多的話，就可以從那些經文中看出那個字的意義。以剛才的 H5060 為例，按照彙編，那個字在舊約中出現了150 次，雖然只在創世記出現了 8 次，但也足夠知道那個字的意義。一個典型的例子就是，『於是亞比米勒曉諭眾民說：「凡沾着(H5060)這個人，或是他妻子的，定要把他治死。」』(創世記 26:11) 新譯本翻成打了一下，你想這個字怎麼會是「打了一下」呢？很明顯的是新譯本的翻譯錯了。

       彙編是用英文寫的，如果你瞭解英文，最好用英文的。如果不懂英文，你可到我們以前討論過的文章『2041 如何用彙編使不懂原文的人用原文讀經？』 找這篇文章，你可以到『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的網站後，按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。

2. 神沒有說雅各詭詐，反而有人如此說

        在約 17:10 分鐘的時候，他說到看遍聖經，你看到了神給雅各的定罪嗎？這是對的，神沒有定罪的，我們從人的角度看就把雅各定罪嗎？

        我們先從以掃的角度來看，『以掃說：「他名雅各豈不是正對嗎？因為他欺騙了我兩次，他從前奪了我長子的名分；你看，他現在又奪了我的福分。」…』(創世記 27:36) 從發生的事情中，我們就可以看到以掃的錯誤在那裏。

        第一次是『雅各說：「你今日把長子的名分賣給我吧！」』(創世記 25:31) 『雅各說：「你今日對我起誓吧！」以掃就對他起了誓，把長子的名分賣給雅各。』(創世記 25:33) 雅各騙了他嗎？沒有，是如第一期所說的，以掃發過誓但現在卻不認帳了！我們再看聖經怎麼定罪以掃更會知道這點，『…這就是以掃輕看了他長子的名分。』(創世記 25:34) 在以掃的眼中，長子的名分就只值一碗紅豆湯，他最後得到的比他要求的多一點，包括了餅(參創世記 25:34)。

        第二次是以撒年老時想為以掃祝福，我沒有看到以撒是一意孤行。就如第一期所說的，在雅各出生的時候，以撒就應該已經知道，『…將來大的要服事小的。』(創世記 25:23) 他也應該知道以掃已經將長子的名份賣給了雅各，但他仍要從人的角度看，一意孤行的要給以掃長子的祝福，只因為他愛以掃。一直到他祝福完了雅各，才醒悟這是神的旨意，是不能更改的，我們看他戰兢的反應就可以知道這點，『以撒就大大地戰兢說：「你未來之先，是誰得了野味拿來給我呢？我已經吃了，為他祝福，他將來也必蒙福。」』(創世記 27:33)

        我們再從利百加的角度來看，她是付了代價幫雅各得到他所應得的。雅各本是不敢用欺騙父親的手段，但『他母親對他說：「我兒，你招的咒詛歸到我身上；你只管聽我的話去把羊羔給我拿來。」』(創世記 27:13) 聖經沒明說她是否因此而得到咒詛，我們只知道在雅各離開她到他母舅拉班那裏後，終其餘生，她都沒有再見到雅各，這對她來說是相當難過的。但我們知道，『不要自欺，神是輕慢不得的。…』(加拉太書 6:7) 既然聖經沒有明說，我們就不要亂猜，猜也沒有用，我們是不會得到唯一的結論的。其實，如果不是神的作為，一個人即使欺騙別人成功，他能夠因此騙到神的祝福嗎？

     『以掃因他父親給雅各祝的福，就怨恨雅各，心裏說：「為我父親居喪的日子近了，到那時候，我要殺我的兄弟雅各。」有人把利百加大兒子以掃的話告訴利百加，她就打發人去，叫了她小兒子雅各來，對他說：「你哥哥以掃想要殺你，報仇雪恨。現在，我兒，你要聽我的話：起來逃往哈蘭我哥哥拉班那裏去，同他住些日子，直等你哥哥的怒氣消了。』(創世記 27:41-44) 雅各的確因利百加的堅持而欺騙了他的父親，也因此必須逃到拉班那裏去，我們後面能看到雅各的逃避，也是神的旨意，因祂的旨意就這樣成全了。

     『耶和華說：「我的意念非同你們的意念，我的道路非同你們的道路。天怎樣高過地，照樣，我的道路高過你們的道路，我的意念高過你們的意念。』(以賽亞書 55:8-9) 這就是這樣的一個例子。其實在新約中也可常常看到這一點，譬如說，在使徒行傳中，基督徒受到逼害，但福音就因此傳開了。真正的相信這點，就會在遭遇困難時仍然堅持信仰，知道『你們所遇見的試探，無非是人所能受的。神是信實的，必不叫你們受試探過於所能受的。在受試探的時候，總要給你們開一條出路，叫你們能忍受得住。』(哥林多前書 10:13) 如果有需要的話，神會親自介入的，一個例子是在約伯記中，神在旋風中對約伯說話。所以這樣做是會蒙福的。

        再說拉班，聖經是這樣說，『你們(拉結和利亞)的父親欺哄我，十次改了我的工價，然而神不容他害我。』(創世記 31:7) 是拉班欺哄了雅各，而神幫助了雅各，拉班欺哄雅各的事實，更在利亞和拉結的事上很明顯的看出來(參創世記 29:16-25)。但聖經不是明說，以色列就因此有了十二支派嗎？神的旨意不就是因此成就了嗎？所以說，雅各的逃避，也是神的旨意。

3. 關於只剩雅各一人的經文註釋

        關於他對這經文的解釋，『只剩下雅各一人。…』(創世記 32:24)，約從 4:35 開始，相當的長。你們看過原先的視頻，就知道我們不太可能每次都引用他講的大約時間，所以我們的討論是整體性的。

        我以前也聽過別人說過雅各是奸詐的，預備在情況不對就要跑，看他的視頻，我相信他說雅各不是準備要跑是對的。雅各這次的回來是神要他回來的，經文說得很清楚，『耶和華對雅各說：「你要回你祖你父之地，到你親族那裏去，我必與你同在。」』(創世記 31:3) 我沒有注意到這視頻中引用的經文，『雅各仍舊行路，神的使者遇見他。雅各看見他們就說：「這是神的軍兵。」於是給那地方起名叫瑪哈念。』(創世記 32:1-2)  神的確是如祂所應許的，與雅各同在。

        我們看到雅各這次已準備好見他哥哥以掃，解決他們之間的宿怨，因為『雅各打發人先往西珥地去，就是以東地，見他哥哥以掃。』(創世記 32:3) 既使是神要他回來，他也大可偷偷回來，雖然聖經沒有明講，我們可以從結局看出神是要雅各回來達到這目的，面對這宿怨且解決它。

        我們先看到『所打發的人回到雅各那裏說：「我們到了你哥哥以掃那裏，他帶着四百人，正迎着你來。」』(創世記 32:6) 以掃如果是歡迎雅各而來，你想用得著四百人嗎？尤其，『雅各就甚懼怕，而且愁煩…』(創世記 32:7) 很顯然的，雅各是認為以掃原是不懷好心的，於是他從人的角度做了他認為最好的事情，送給以掃大禮物(參創世記 32:13-21)，『…因雅各心裏說：「我藉着在我前頭去的禮物解他的恨，然後再見他的面，或者他容納我。」』(創世記 32:20) 你想雅會是準備跑嗎？尤其是我們知道，『雅各就為拉結服事了七年。他因為深愛拉結，就看這七年如同幾天。』(創世記 29:20) 如果說他是準備要拋棄拉結和利亞及兒女逃跑，他怎麼會這樣的向神禱告呢？『求你救我脫離我哥哥以掃的手，因為我怕他來殺我，連妻子帶兒女一同殺了。』(創世記 32:11)  從神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的來看，就會很清楚的知道，雅各不是準備情況不好就跑！

        最後是『他自己在他們(妻子和孩子)前頭過去，一連七次俯伏在地，才就近他哥哥。以掃跑來迎接他，將他抱住，又摟着他的頸項與他親嘴，兩個人就哭了。』(創世記 33:3-4) 他怎麼會準備要跑呢？我想是以掃改變了主意，神聽了雅各的禱告，成就了祂的應許，『你曾說：『我必定厚待你，使你的後裔如同海邊的沙，多得不可勝數。』』(創世記 32:12) 意念中告訴我說，這是以掃想起了兄弟之情，我懷疑這是從聖靈來的，因為如果以掃會如此，怎麼會一開始帶四百人來？如果以掃是看了禮物才想到兄弟之情，這叫什麼兄弟之情？要分辨，尤其是超自然的事，要不就會像提幔人以利法一樣，做了撒但的工還以為在為神作工呢？(參約伯記 4:12-21 中對錯相雜的話)

     要分辨，不要一直做屬靈的嬰孩，『…成了那必須吃奶、不能吃乾糧的人！凡只能吃奶的，都不熟練仁義的道理，因為他是嬰孩；惟獨長大成人的，才能吃乾糧，他們的心竅習練得通達，就能分辨好歹了。』(希伯來書 5:12-14) 要長大成人，一定要知道只有神能讓生命生長，就像經文所說，『我(保羅)栽種了，亞波羅澆灌了，惟有神叫他生長。可見栽種的算不得甚麼，澆灌的也算不得甚麼，只在那叫他生長的神。』(哥林多前書 3:6-7)

        我相信神的確是作了工，成就了祂的應許，所以我們看到了以掃的改變，但聖經沒有明說祂是如何做的工。猶如保羅和西拉在宣道時，聖經記載，『聖靈既然禁止他們在亞西亞講道，他們就經過弗呂家、加拉太一帶地方，到了每西亞的邊界，他們想要往庇推尼去，耶穌的靈卻不許。他們就越過每西亞下到特羅亞去。』(使徒行傳 16:6-8) 只說禁止他們，沒有說到用何法，這裏不是也這樣嗎？

 4.  這個和雅各摔角的人是誰？

       我們來看這經文，『那人說：「你的名不要再叫雅各，要叫以色列，因為你與神(H430, 複數, 原文為 elohiym)與人較力，都得了勝。」』(創世記 32:28) 經文最開始只是說，『…有一個人來和他(雅各)摔跤…』(創世記 32:24)，但這裏明說了雅各是和神摔跤，所以那人是三位一體的神中的一位。因耶和華對摩西說：『…你不能看見我的面，因為人見我的面不能存活。』(出埃及記 33:20) 所以雅各看見的不可能是耶和華。加上人不可能看見聖靈，所以雅各看見的是道成肉體前的基督。

        其實在舊約裏，有不止一處的地方都可以看見有這樣的敍述，耶和華在舊約中有時是指道成肉身前的基督，如亞伯拉罕看見的耶和華(參創世記 18:22-33)。當我們看到舊約說到耶和華，有時是指道成肉身前的基督，我們就能從神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的，看清楚一些經文所要表示的。

5. 雅各與與神與人較力都得了勝

        『那人說：「你的名不要再叫雅各，要叫以色列，因為你與神與人較力，都得了勝。」』(創世記 32:28) 我一直不懂這節經文，因為神是大能的神，人怎麼能與神較力而得勝呢？一直到我看見了視頻的解說才明白了。對的，與神較力而能得勝是指屬靈的事，人如果選擇不要神，神真是沒有辦法，因為神給了人自由意志，祂沒有強迫人選擇過。一開始亞當和夏娃可以選擇不順服神，對於法老所遭遇的十災，顯示出祂可以製造環境，但不強迫法老的決定。前九災都不會真正的和法老自己的人身有關，到第十災時，法老的長子死了，他倔服了，讓摩西帶領以色列人出了埃及。所以從神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的來看，神都是任憑(H7185)法老自己做所有的決定。

        這字 H7185 出現 29 次，在出埃及只出現兩次，就是『我要使(H7185)法老的心剛硬，也要在埃及地多行神蹟奇事。』(出埃及記 7:3) 和『那時法老幾乎不容(H7185)我們去，耶和華就把埃及地所有頭生的，無論是人是牲畜，都殺了，…』(出埃及記 13:15)  當我們看所有的這 29 次時，沒有一次是神使人心剛硬的。我們再看這一節經文，『法老心裏剛硬，不肯聽從摩西、亞倫，正如耶和華所說的。』(出埃及記 7:13) 是法老自己心剛硬，神只是任憑他的心剛硬。

        我們再看一節經文，『耶和華對摩西說：「你回到埃及的時候要留意，將我指示你的一切奇事，行在法老面前，但我要使(H2388, 或作任憑)他的心剛硬，他必不容百姓去。』(出埃及記 4:21) 這字 H2388 出現了 290 次，從神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的來看，在這裏顯然是應該翻作任憑。 

        視頻也說明了以掃和雅各的不同，以掃是輕看長子的名份不要神，而雅各是一心要抓住神，也用要神祝福的行動表示出來。難怪『（雙子還沒有生下來，善惡還沒有作出來，只因要顯明神揀選人的旨意，不在乎人的行為，乃在乎召人的主。）神就對利百加說：「將來大的要服事小的。」』(羅馬書 9:11-12) 這是預定。這也正是這預言所說的相同，『耶和華對她(利百加)說：「兩國在你腹內，兩族要從你身上出來；這族必強於那族，將來大的要服事小的。」』(創世記 25:23) 因神早已預知他們將來的行為，也就是為什麼這樣說，『…雅各是我所愛的，以掃是我所惡的。』(羅馬書 9:13) 難怪羅馬書說同時有預知和預定，『…他預先所知道的人，就預先定下效法(模成)他兒子的模樣…』(羅馬書 8:29)  所以說預知和預定是一體的兩面。

        至於視頻談到的神為什麼一開始不摸他一下，我們就可以看到在開始時是神在讓他，也看到了視頻所說的那摸他一下是神的恩典，雅各的確是沒有選擇的跛了，但他選擇沒有抱怨神，因為他知道這是神的心意，讓他完全依靠神。雅各過雅博渡口是跛的，即使他想和以掃爭戰也是不可能，所以他非要完全依靠神不可。當人這樣，神會有需要時親自作工的。

        最後要提一下的是視頻約 8 分鐘的時候，提到了以掃帶領四百人來「迎接」雅各，我相信這是口誤，因為不論和合本和新譯本都翻成「迎著你」。這個字不能讀錯，如果以掃原先就是迎接，我們就看不見他的改變，看不見神的工作。有人會說，這有什麼關係，這和救恩的計劃無關，不會影響我相信耶穌是神的兒子。不會這樣影響相信是對的，，但救恩的計劃不只是如此，如大使命所說的，『…使萬民作我的門徒，…凡我所吩咐你們的，都教訓他們遵守，…』(馬太福音 28:19-20) 也就是說，這樣只是救恩的開始，要能走上成聖的道路，持續的得著生命。不是一個人信而受洗就立刻改變的，而會有持續的生命改變。就像預知和預定是一體的兩面一樣，不強解聖經並活出來、和生命的成長也是一體的兩面。我們知道，『…信道是從聽道來的，聽道是從基督的話來的。』(羅馬書 10:17) 有些人不識字不能讀經，只能用聽的。對一個能讀經的人，生命改變的程度，常常反應在讀經仔細的程度上，所以讀經時要非常謹慎，「讀出來」神要藉著聖經告訴我們什麼，不要讀進去自己的想法。

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

我们看到基督徒行出来、吃饭前要谢饭的教导，为地上的食物而感谢神。如果是心甘情愿、而内心真正感谢赞美神，不把谢饭当作是一种仪式，会是蒙神兑纳的一个感谢祭。但要知道，圣经并没有要基督徒如此谢饭，这只是约定俗成。如果我们要谢饭，也应该至少按照圣经的教导去感谢赞美神！        

有人的第一个反应可能会是，怎么会是这样呢？目前的教会不都是如此做，不是因圣经的教导要我们谢饭吗？不是的，目前谢饭的形式只是约定俗成，所以要请你们听我们娓娓道来，看看圣经是怎么讲。        

要了解这一点，我们必须相信神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的，要了解圣经的一致性不是指字句上的，如果是，就会看到字句上会有明显的矛盾。相信神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的，就会看到神要借著这明显的矛盾告诉我们什么，知道不是默示或印刷的错误，所以我们首先要看的是，神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的。第二，我们就用这样的圣经一致性，来看看圣经到底是怎么说主祷文中的饮食，同时我们也讨论了犹太人的传统，和相关吗哪的议题。第三，网路上有许多错误的讯息，我们一定不要不思考的全盘接受，要用圣经的话语和其中有的概念，作为绝对的标准去分辩，我们指出在何处可以找到以前所作的一个如此的见证。 关于圣经的概念这一点，我们是指如三位一体这辞一样，在圣经没有用过这辞，但绝对有神是三位一体的神的概念。我们也用圣经作为绝对的标准去讨论了预知和预定的对错，看到撤但用对错相杂的话去引诱人，说明为什么他对提幔人以利法所说的就是这样的话。圣经应许基督徒如果直求的话，一定会被圣灵充满，只是没有说时间。我们要追求的是要如司提反般的满有圣灵，看到了人只要打开心门，每一个人都会有机会。

 1. 神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的        

当一个人真正相信，神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的，就可能会看见一些别人看不到的事情，我就举一个自己所遭过的例子来说明这一点。在一次团契的聚会中，有一位姊妹提到了一个我以前有的一个问题，就是这两个经文似乎是矛盾的！先是神对挪亚说，『凡有血肉的活物，每样两个，一公一母，你要带进方舟，好在你那里保全生命。』(创世记 6:19) 然后又说，『凡洁净的畜类，你要带七公七母；不洁净的畜类，你要带一公一母。』(创世记 7:2) 只从这两节经文，我们会很自然的问，到底进方舟的洁净的畜类是一公一母还是七公七母？        

另一位姊妹回答说，前面是说种类，后者是讲实际上方舟的数目。在这点上，这位姊妹是相信神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的，知道不是默示或印刷的错误，所以她看到了我们没有看到的事情。事后我也意识到了，这是和圣经话语相符合的，因前者接著说，『飞鸟各从其类，牲畜各从其类，地上的昆虫各从其类，每样两个，要到你那里，好保全生命。』(创世记 6:20) 这的确是在讲种类。后者的确是在讲实际的数目，要不在洪水后，怎么能有『挪亚为耶和华筑了一座坛，拿各类洁净的牲畜、飞鸟献在坛上为燔祭。』(创世记 8:20) 如果进方舟洁净的牲畜只有一公一母，那洁净的牲畜不是会因此而绝种了吗？        

我们再另提一个经文，『谁知道人的灵(H7307, spirit)是往上升，兽的魂(H7307)是下入地呢？』(传道书 3:21) 这里原文用的都是灵，我们会很自然的问兽怎么会有灵呢？对的，兽没有灵，只有人在创造时才有，『耶和华神用地上的尘土造人，将生气吹在他鼻孔里，他就成了(有灵)的活人，名叫亚当。』(创世记 2:7) 在这节经文中原文没有提到灵，首先提到人有灵的经文是在这里，『耶和华说：「人既属乎血气，我的灵就不永远住在他里面，然而他的日子还可到一百二十年。』(创世记 6:3) 这里明明在原文都是用灵字，相信神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的，就会知道这不是圣经的错误，而会想到在希伯来文中，魂和灵是可以互用的。在中文的传统中，只说灵魂，没有分开说的，所以和合本常常灵和魂不分，看到灵魂，必须看英文或是原文才行。      

我们以前在『3096 于宏洁的新人门训  –  不合乎圣经的地方  (1) 』中的『2. 圣经的一致性是指神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的』，详细的讨论过这一点，并举了一个圣经上有明显的矛盾的例子，且讨论了神借著这样的矛盾要告诉我们什么。有兴趣的人可以到『https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的网站后，按『对属灵生命的了解』，找到这篇文章。

2. 圣经怎么说到粮食？       

旧约很清楚的说到，『…使你知道人活著不是单靠食物，乃是靠耶和华口里所出的一切话。』(申命记 8:3) 这也是耶稣受洗后受试探时所引用的，『…经上记著说：『人活著，不是单靠食物，乃是靠神口里所出的一切话。』』(马太福音 4:4) 是的，圣经是说，基督徒活著不是单靠著地上的食物，还要靠灵粮，缺一不可。       

有人可能会问，耶稣不是在主祷文中说，『我们日用的饮食，今日赐给我们。』 (马太福音 6:11) 对的，但请注意耶稣接著又说，『…不要忧虑说：『吃甚么？喝甚么？穿甚么？』这都是外邦人所求的。…』(马太福音 6:31-32) 如果饮食是指地上的食物，对基督徒而言，这岂不是矛盾的吗？但我们相信神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的，所以这里的饮食不是指地上的饮食，耶稣的话不会自相矛盾的，唯一逻辑上的解释是这食物是如前所述的，包括了地上的食物和灵粮。其实我们也可看到，在主祷文的这节经文前，都是在讲属天的事，在这经文后，都是讲属地的事，这节经文同时讲属天和属地的事，也是合情合理的。        

有人就会问，依照犹太人的传统他们会谢饭，他们不是基于这经文吗？『你吃得饱足，就要称颂耶和华你的神，因他将那美地赐给你了。』(申命记 8:10) 在这之前很清楚的说到人活著的，不是单靠食物，只是为吃得饱足而感谢，不会是全部！更重要的是，我们不能说是犹太人的习俗就是对的。如果是这样，以色列就不会在复国之前，灭国这么久，耶稣也不会在新约中这么严厉的审判法利赛人。我们实在是要用圣经的话语作为我们绝对的标准去分辩！       

我们知道，『他苦炼你，任你饥饿，将你和你列祖所不认识的吗哪赐给你吃，…』(申命记 8:3) 我们就来看一个旧约关于吗哪的经文，『他们每日早晨，按著各人的饭量收取，日头一发热，就消化了。』(出埃及记 16:21) 有人就基于这经文，说这是属灵的原则，我们必须一大早去领受灵粮，否则就消化了。鼓励人早起，用早上最好的时间去读经祷告是好的，但圣经从没有说灵粮只有早上有！而且这是假设每一个人最好的时间都是早上起来时，但有些人最好的时间不是这样，且教导人在新约时代去守律法，是非常不合宜的。        

新约时代的教导是，『不要消灭圣灵的感动。』(帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:19) 且说，『不住地祷告。』(帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:17) 如果祷告不在早上而有圣灵的感动，那么就不能得到灵粮吗？绝对不是！不要忘了，神有绝对的主权，『因他对摩西说：「我要怜悯谁，就怜悯谁；要恩待谁，就恩待谁。」』(罗马书 9:15) 其实圣经有很多地方都提到这点，我们现在只看这经文，『这一切都是这位圣灵所运行、随己意分给各人的。』(哥林多前书 12:11) 看上下文我们就知道这一切在这里是指什么？我要强调的是随己意，圣灵是三位一体的神中的一位，这经文不是说祂有绝对的主权吗？在新约时代，只要神愿意，我们是可以随时随地领受灵粮的，这样教导人需要早起去领受灵粮，是不符合圣经的！

3. 用圣经的话语作绝对的标准来分辩        

我们知道，『圣经都是神所默示的，…』(提摩太后书 3:16) 当保罗写下这句子的时候，新约如启示录尚不存在，所以保罗说的这句话绝不是指全部新约。但基督徒相信，整本圣经都是神所默示的，基督徒是要在信心中的。当一个人完全相信圣经是神所默示的，就不会把圣经的话打折扣，不会因自己没看见就更改圣经的话语去适合自己的理论，知道是我们的错，不是神的错。不把圣经的话打折扣上，这是很不容易的！我们就在下面看一个这样的例子。        

圣经在这经文说得很清楚，同时有预知和预定，『因为他预先所知道的人，就预先定下效法(be conformed to, 模成)他儿子的模样，使他儿子在许多弟兄中作长子。』(罗马书 8:29) 所以预知和预定是一体的两面，就像一枚硬币，有头和尾，但仍是一枚硬币。马丁路德只看见有预知，而喀尔文只说有预定，都是把这句经文打了折扣，在这一点上跌倒了！       

其实圣经说得很清楚，当一个公认为属灵的人犯了错误时，影响会非常的大。我们就看一个例子，所罗门建造圣殿应该是一个公认属灵的人，但『所罗门年老的时候，他的妃嫔诱惑他的心去随从别神，…所罗门为摩押可憎的神基抹和亚扪人可憎的神摩洛，在耶路撒冷对面的山上建筑邱坛。他为那些向自己的神烧香献祭的外邦女子，就是他娶来的妃嫔也是这样行。』(列王纪上 11:4-8) 他建的邱坛到约西亚年间才除掉(参列王纪下 23:13-14)，那时犹大已经快灭亡了，我们看到这错误影响有多大！现在呢？很多人在争论到底是预知或是预定对，按照圣经，两个都不对！     

我们再看看网路说要谢饭的一些例子是怎么说。有人引用这经文，『到了坐席的时候，耶稣拿起饼来，祝谢了，擘开，递给他们(去以马忤斯的两门徒)。』(路加福音 24:30) 于是结论说，耶稣不是吃饭前要谢饭吗！如果我们继续看后面的经文，『两个人就把路上所遇见，和擘饼的时候怎么被他们认出来的事，都述说了一遍。』(路加福音 24:35) 我们就知道祝谢只是为了擘饼，不是为谢饭。      

擘饼礼是耶稣自己设立的，就像这样的如经文所述，『又拿起饼来，祝谢了，就擘开，递给他们，说：「这是我的身体，为你们舍的，你们也应当如此行，为的是记念我。」』(路加福音 22:19) 这也是先祝谢了，然后象征著身体为我们擘开了。又有人说保罗在吃饭前是先谢饭，他们引用的是保罗遇见船难后发生的事，在船上，『保罗说了这话，就拿著饼，在众人面前祝谢了神，擘开吃。』(使徒行传 27:35) 他那里是在谢饭，他是在擘饼！早期的教会都是在擘饼，就如这经文所说，『都恒心遵守使徒的教训，彼此交接，擘饼，祈祷。』(使徒行传 2:42) 他们也『…在家中擘饼，存著欢喜、诚实的心用饭。』(使徒行传 2:46) 没有说吃饭前要谢饭的，但是要为著擘饼而祝谢，记念主耶稣为我们身体擘开。 

人有自由意志，我们不知道网路上到底有多少不同的看法，即使我们知道，大概也不可能在这一篇文章中回答所有的问题，所以我们最后就看一个提到的问题，是有人引用了和五饼二鱼的神迹有关的经文，『于是吩咐众人坐在草地上，就拿著这五个饼、两条鱼，望著天祝福，擘开饼，递给门徒，门徒又递给众人。他们都吃，并且吃饱了，把剩下的零碎收拾起来，装满了十二个篮子。』(马太福音 14:19-20) 另外七饼数鱼的神迹也有类似的经文，『他就吩咐众人坐在地上，拿著这七个饼和几条鱼，祝谢了，擘开，递给门徒，门徒又递给众人。』(马太福音 15:35-36) 于是就结论说，耶稣吃饭前不是要先谢饭吗？我们就从神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的来看这事。      

首先我们注意到喂饱五千人的神迹非常重要，在四本福音中都有，但喂饱四千人的神迹在约翰福音没有，不是那不重要，而是约翰福音就著约翰选择的标准只选择了七个神迹，『但记这些事，要叫你们信耶稣是基督，是神的儿子，并且叫你们信了他，就可以因他的名得生命。』(约翰福音 20:31) 所以他说得很清楚，『耶稣在门徒面前另外行了许多神迹(signs, G4592)，没有记在这书上。』(约翰福音 20:30) 我们就看神迹这个字，原文用的是 G4592，是记号的意思，所以约翰是在用五饼二鱼的神迹作记号，作什么记号呢？       

我们看见，耶稣显这记号的原因是和众人理解的不同的，『耶稣回答说：「我实实在在地告诉你们：你们找我，并不是因见了神迹，乃是因吃饼得饱。不要为那必坏的食物劳力，要为那存到永生的食物劳力，就是人子要赐给你们的，因为人子是父神所印证的。」』(约翰福音 6:26-27) 祂说得很清楚，『…我就是生命的粮，…』(约翰福音 6:35) 所以耶稣除了供给他们地上的食物外，主要的是要他们意识到祂就是天上赐与他们的灵粮，是祂也要供给他们的，但群众并没有意识到这点，因为在第二天的一番话后，『从此，他门徒中多有退去的，不再和他同行。』(约翰福音 6:66) 在这里，望著天祝福，擘开饼，是和擘饼礼相同，不是谢饭，擘开饼是象征著祂的身体为我们擘开，成为我们的供给，当祂钉十字架时，『耶稣大声喊叫，气就断了。殿里的幔子从上到下裂为两半。』(马可福音 15:37-38) ) 祂的身体的确是为我们擘开了！希伯来书这样说，『弟兄们，我们既因耶稣的血，得以坦然进入至圣所，是借著他给我们开了一条又新又活的路，从幔子经过，这幔子就是他的身体。』(希伯来书 10:19-20) 从神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的来看，祝福不是在谢饭，擘开饼也是在供给我们灵粮。真的，要用圣经的话语作为绝对的标准，我们才可能分辩！

我们特别强调，不要中了撒但(魔鬼)的诡计，当初那古蛇(魔鬼)引诱夏娃不是用对错相杂的话吗？(参创世记 3:4-5)  在约伯记中，撒但借著对提幔人以利法说的话，去对约伯作灵界的攻击时，对他说的话也是对错相杂的，以致于他以为是从神来的！当一个人看到对错相杂的话对的部份时，常常不会注意到其中含有一部份是错的，而会全盘接受，就正中了撤但的计谋。      

我们就看看为什么我们会说以利法得到夜中异象是对错相杂的。经文说：『我暗暗地得了默示，我耳朵也听其细微的声音。在思念夜中异象之间，世人沉睡的时候，恐惧、战兢临到我身，使我百骨打战。有灵从我面前经过，我身上的毫毛直立。那灵停住，我却不能辩其形状；有影像在我眼前，我在静默中听见有声音说：『必死的人岂能比神公义吗？人岂能比造他的主洁净吗？主不信靠他的臣仆，并且指他的使者为愚昧；何况那住在土房、根基在尘土里被蠹虫所毁坏的人呢？早晚之间就被毁灭，永归无有，无人理会。他帐棚的绳索岂不从中抽出来呢？他死，且是无智慧而死。』』(约伯记 4:12-21)     

我们先看那灵是如何有声音说的，这些话好像都很对，的确，必死的人岂能比神公义，等等。但如果说主不信靠他的臣仆，则是不全对的，因那只是对那些堕落的天使如撒但般而言。以天使米迦勒为例，在旧约中说，『但我要将那录在真确书上的事告诉你，除了你们的大君米迦勒之外，没有帮助我抵挡这两魔君的。』(但以理书 10:21) 新约的启示录更明讲，『在天上就有了争战。米迦勒同他的使者与龙争战，龙也同牠的使者去争战。』(启示录 12:7) 如果说神不相信米迦勒，你想这样的事会发生吗？我们再看看天使加百列，旧约说到，『我但以理见了这异象，愿意明白其中的意思，忽有一位形状像人的站在我面前。我又听见乌莱河两岸中有人声呼叫说：「加百列啊，要使此人明白这异象。」』(但以理书 8:15-16) 在新约中，『…天使加百列奉神的差遣往加利利的一座城去，这城名叫拿撒勒。』(路加福音 1:26) 如果主不信靠加百列，怎么会让加百列传递讯息呢？其实一开始以利法就应该知道，那灵不是从神来的，圣灵怎么会使他百骨打战呢？      

如果我们看约伯记最后的结局，就知道那灵是撒但，由结局反过来看，也会知道那灵说的话有问题。这有一点像一个做研究的人，先预测结果，然后看可不可以推导出这结果来，如果可以，就正面的发表结果，让别人了解，这不就是从结局看到那灵是撒但，而神借圣经告诉我们是一致的，就知道那些话一定是对错相杂的，然后就会比较容易去找错的部份。我不是说圣经就是这样写的，但是从人的角度这样想，常常可以看到一些平常看不到的事情。当然做研究时不能推导出预测的结果，就只好放弃，重新来过。      

我们就看另一句话，『…他死，且是无智慧而死。』(约伯记 4:21) 这是在说每一个人的死，但『在耶和华眼中，看圣民之死极为宝贵。』(诗篇 116:15) 所以不是所有圣民都是无智慧而死，我们从新约就可以找到一个反例，所以这句话是错的。这反例是在司提反身上显出来，『司提反是以智慧和圣灵说话，众人敌挡不住。』(使徒行传 6:10) 司提反是一个满有圣灵的人。       

那么有人可能会问，圣经为什么说他死时仍是有智慧的呢？基督徒是要如刚才罗马书 8:29 所说，要模成耶稣的形像，我们也知道，『…神本性一切的丰盛，都有形有体地居住在基督里面，你们在他里面也得了丰盛。…』(歌罗西书 2:9-10) 而耶稣基督是以圣灵的形式内住在我们里面，祂的丰盛绝对包括了智慧，所以不要讶异司提反是有智慧的人。我们看看他死时的情景，『他们正用石头打的时候，司提反呼吁主说：「求主耶稣接收我的灵(魂)(G4151)！」又跪下大声喊著说：「主啊，不要将这罪归于他们！」说了这话，就睡了。…』(使徒行传 7:59-60) 这不是和耶稣在十字架上说的类似吗？ 『当下耶稣说：「父啊，赦免他们！因为他们所做的，他们不晓得。」…』(路加福音 23:34) 且『耶稣大声喊著说：「父啊！我将我的灵(魂)(G4151)交在你手里。」说了这话，气就断了。』(路加福音 23:46) 所以他是一个模成耶稣形像的人。   

如果有人还有疑问，我们可以再看看其他经文，『但司提反被圣灵充满，定睛望天，看见神的荣耀，又看见耶稣站在神的右边，就说：「我看见天开了，人子站在神的右边！」』(使徒行传 7:55-56) 司提反是第一个为主殉道的人，耶稣站著迎接他，平时都是基督献了一次永远的赎罪祭后，『…就在神的右边坐下了…等候他仇敌成了他的脚凳。』(希伯来书 10:12-13)  新约就只有他是唯一被主站著迎接的人。而且，被圣灵充满的人，怎么会没有智慧呢？   

所以我们所要追求的是如司提凡般的满有圣灵而不是一次性的被圣灵充满。关于被圣灵充满，圣经应许我们，只要是基督徒照著圣经去求都可做到，『因为，凡祈求的，就得著；寻找的，就寻见；叩门的，就给他开门。』(路加福音 11:10) 这是指一次性的圣灵充满而言，因接著经文就说，『你们虽然不好，尚且知道拿好东西给儿女，何况天父，岂不更将圣灵给求他的人吗？』(路加福音 11:13) 那么要如何求呢？圣经是这样说，『我告诉你们：虽不因他是朋友起来给他，但因他情词迫切地直求(G335, imporunity, persistence)，就必起来照他所需用的给他。』(路加福音 11:8) 直求这个字在原文的意思是说坚持，坚持到一个甚至使人觉得毫无羞耻而反感的地步，所以有些英文译本会说他的无耻。  

为什么会这样讲呢？如果你看前面的经文，我们可以看到那人已告诉朋友他在床上了，不想起来，而他的朋友一定要他起来！在我们来说，我们明知自己是罪人，不配得圣灵充满，但我们可以直求天父，祂应许会以圣灵充满我们的。请注意，这里没有说何时会充满我们，因神有绝对的主权，凡事有定时，祂会选祂认为最好的时间充满我们的，我们只要做的是直求。     

有一位弟兄做过这样的见证，他看了这些经文后就在某天跪在地上跟神祷告说，如果祢今天不充满了，我就不起来，最后他只好起来，这是他没有注意到这是没有说时间的应许，但他的确做到了直求。最终虽然我不知在什么时候，他的确被圣灵充满了，因他做了撒但都不能做的预知，只有神能做。如果撒但能预知的话，他就不会介入耶稣的钉十字架去完成救恩，他的确是介入了，因经文很清楚说，『他(加略人西门的儿子犹大)吃了以后，撒但就入了他的心。 …』(约翰福音 13:27)     

说到被圣灵充满，我们一定要分辩，不要被邪灵充满，而做了连自己都不知道的撒但的工作，犹如约伯记中的提幔人以利法一样。圣灵的工作一定会使你更相信圣经，因经文说的很清楚，『但保惠师，就是父因我的名所要差来的圣灵，他要将一切的事指教你们，并且要叫你们想起我对你们所说的一切话。』(约翰福音 14:26) 邪灵会常常让人膨胀自我，以为自己看见了别人看不见的东西，摩门经就是这样来的。     

回到刚才那位弟兄，我相信他是至少堕落了一部份，因他有些事不照圣经所说的去行，会更改圣经的话，这是不对的。其实神在工作撒但也在作工，彼得不是这样说吗？『务要谨守、警醒，因为你们的仇敌魔鬼，如同吼叫的狮子，遍地游行，寻找可吞吃的人。』(彼得前书 5:8) 不能说我知道以前总是如此，就以后全盘接受，这实在是错的。不要因被圣灵充满而骄傲，要谦卑的追求满有圣灵，知道生命只能从神来，如经文所说，『我栽种了，亚波罗浇灌了，惟有神叫他生长。可见栽种的算不得甚么，浇灌的也算不得甚么，只在那叫他生长的神。』(哥林多前书 3:6-7)    

我们每个人都有机会的，像启示录中没有得胜者的最差的老底嘉教会，把耶稣关在门外，耶稣仍然这样说，『看哪，我站在门外叩门，若有听见我声音就开门的，我要进到他那里去，我与他，他与我一同坐席。』(启示录 3:20) 只要我们打开心门，祂就会工作在我们身上。要知道，神是无限，人是有限，是人都会犯错误的。但神给了我们一个悔改的机会，『我们若认自己的罪，神是信实的，是公义的，必要赦免我们的罪，洗净我们一切的不义。』(约翰一书 1:9) 一个人教导别人说，在查经时，自己只能讲神要他讲的话，会是一个骄傲到看不到自己骄傲的人，这样的人实在是应该悔改。

在『3092 能听的耳，属灵和属老我的分辩方法』中的『3. 属老我分辩的方法』，我们作了一个简短的见证，说明如何用圣经的话语作为绝对的标准去分辩。对这话题有兴趣的人，可到『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的网站后，按『对属灵生命的了解』，找到这篇文章。

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)  

We have seen Christians practice the teaching of thanking God before eating, thanking God for the food on earth.  If you do it willingly and truly thank and praise God in your heart, and don’t regard thanking the meal as a ritual, it will be a thank-you offering accepted by God.  But you must know that the Bible does not require Christians to say thank you for meals in this way, it is just a convention.  If we want to thank God for food, we should at least thank and praise God according to the teachings of the Bible!

Someone’s first reaction might be, how could this be?  Isn’t this what the current churches do? Isn’t it because the Bible teaches us to give thanks for meals?  No, the current form of giving thanks for meals is just a convention, so please listen to our explanation and see what the Bible says.

To understand this, we must believe that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent. We must understand that the consistency of the Bible does not refer to the consistency of words. If it did, we would see obvious contradictions in the words.  If we believe that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent, we will see what God wants to tell us through this obvious contradiction, which doesn’t imply a wrong inspiration or a printing error. Therefore, the first thing we must look at is the fact about what God tells us through the Bible is consistent.  Second, we use this biblical consistency to see what the Bible actually says about daily bread in the Lord’s Prayer. We also discuss Jewish tradition and issues related to manna.  Third, there is a lot of wrong information on the Internet. We must not accept it all without thinking. We must use the words of the Bible and the concepts contained in it as the absolute standard to distinguish. We point out where we can find such a previous article with a testimony about this.  Regarding the concept of the Bible, we mean that, like the word Trinity, this word is not used in the Bible, but there is definitely a concept of God as a Trinity.  We also used the Bible as the absolute standard to discuss the right and wrong of foreknowledge and predestination. We saw that Satan used a mixture of right and wrong words to seduce people, explaining why he said such words to Eliphaz the Temanite.  The Bible promises that Christians will be filled with the Holy Spirit if they ask persistently, but it does not say when.  What we should pursue is to be full of the Holy Spirit like Stephen. We also observe that as long as people open their hearts, everyone will have an opportunity.

1. What God tells us through the Bible is consistent

When a person truly believes that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent, he may see some things that others cannot see. I will give an example of what happened to me to illustrate this point.  During a fellowship meeting, a sister mentioned a question I had before, that is, these two scriptures below seemed to be contradictory!  First, God said to Noah, “And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.”(Genesis 6:19) Then He said, “You shall take with you of every clean animal by sevens, a male and his female; and of the animals that are not clean two, a male and his female.”(Genesis 7:2) From these two verses, particularly in Chinese Union Version, we will naturally ask, were the clean animals that entered the ark one male and one female, or seven males and seven females? 

Another sister replied that the former is talking about the kind as the added word says, and the latter is talking about the actual number entering the ark.  For this issue, this sister believes that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent and knows that it is not an error due to inspiration or printing, so she sees things that we do not see.  Afterwards, I also realized that this was in line with the words of the Bible, because the former went on to say, “Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.”(Genesis 6:20) This is indeed talking about species.  The latter is indeed talking about the actual number. Otherwise, how could there be “Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”(Genesis 8:20) If there were only one male and one female that went into the ark to be clean, wouldn’t the clean animals become extinct because of this?

Let us mention another scripture, “Who knows that the breath (H7307, spirit) of man ascends upward and the breath (H7307) of the beast descends downward to the earth?”(Ecclesiastes 3:21) The original text here uses the word spirit. We will naturally ask how can animals have spirits?  That’s right, beasts have no spirit, only when man was created there had the breath of life from God, “Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”(Genesis 2:7) The first verse that mentions that humans have a spirit is here, “Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.””(Genesis 6:3) I believe that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent. I know that this is not an error in the Bible, but I think that in Hebrew, soul and spirit can be used interchangeably. In the Chinese tradition, spirit and soul are only spoken together, so the Union Version often does not distinguish between spirit or soul. To see the distinguish, one must read it in English or the original text.

We have previously discussed this point in detail in “2. The consistency of the Bible means that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent” in “1096 Yu Hongjie’s Discipleship of Newcomers – Unbiblical Places (1),” and gave an example of an obvious contradiction in the Bible, and discussed what God was trying to tell us through such a contradiction.  Those who are interested can go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/” and click “Understanding of Spiritual Life” to find this article.

2. What does the Bible say about bread?

The Old Testament says very clearly, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.”(Deuteronomy 8:3) This was also quoted by Jesus when He was tempted after His baptism, “…‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”(Matthew 4:4) Yes, the Bible says that Christians do not live by earthly food alone, but also by spiritual food, both of which are indispensable.

Someone may ask, didn’t Jesus say in the Lord’s Prayer, “‘Give us this day our daily bread.”(Matthew 6:11) Yes, but notice that Jesus went on to say, “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; …”(Matthew 6:31-32) If the bread refers to earthly food, wouldn’t this be a contradiction for Christians?  But we believe that what God tells us through the Bible is consistent, so the bread here does not refer to food on earth. Jesus’ words will not contradict each other. The only logical explanation is that this btead is as mentioned above, including food on earth and spiritual food.  In fact, we can also see that before this verse of the Lord’s Prayer, everything talks about heavenly things, and after this verse, everything talks about earthly things. This verse in between talks about both heavenly and earthly things, which is very reasonable.

According to Jewish tradition, they will give thanks for meals, aren’t they based on this scripture? ” When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you.”(Deuteronomy 8:10) Before this verse, it was clearly stated that people do not live by earthly food alone. They are just thankful for earthly food alone, and apparently that is not all!  More importantly, we cannot say that Jewish customs are correct.  If this was the case, Israel would not have been destroyed for so long before being restored, and Jesus would not have judged the Pharisees so harshly in the New Testament.  We really need to use the words of the Bible as our absolute standard for discernment!

We know, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, …”(Deuteronomy 8:3) Let’s look at a verse in the Old Testament regarding manna, “They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.”(Exodus 16:21) Based on this scripture, some people say that this is a spiritual principle. We must go to receive spiritual food early in the morning, otherwise it will be disappeared.  It is good to encourage people to get up early and use the best time in the morning to read the Bible and pray, but the Bible never says that spiritual food is only available in the morning!  And this also assumes that everyone’s best time is when they get up in the morning, but some people’s best time is not like this. Furthermore, it is very inappropriate to teach people to keep the law in the New Testament era.

What is then the teaching of the New Testament era, “Do not quench the Spirit.”(1 Thessalonians 5:19) And it says, “pray without ceasing.”(1 Thessalonians 5:17) If prayer is not done in the morning but is inspired by the Holy Spirit in the other time, can’t we get spiritual food?  Absolutely yes, we can get it!  Don’t forget, God has absolute sovereignty, “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.””(Romans 9:15) In fact, there are many things in the Bible. This has been mentioned in various places, and now we look at one more verse, “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”(1 Corinthians 12:11) Looking at the context, we can see what all this means here?  What I want to emphasize is that the Holy Spirit is one of the Trinity. Doesn’t this scripture say that He has absolute sovereignty since it says “just as He wills”?  In the New Testament era, as long as God is willing, we can receive spiritual food anytime and anywhere. It is not in line with the Bible to teach people that they need to get up early to receive spiritual food!

3. Use the words of the Bible as the absolute standard for discernment

We know that “All Scripture is inspired by God …”(2 Timothy 3:16). When Paul wrote this sentence, the New Testament such as the Book of Revelation did not yet exist, so what Paul said was absolutely not referring to the entire New Testament.  But Christians believe that the entire Bible is inspired by God, thus Christians must have faith.  When a person completely believes that the Bible is inspired by God, he will not discount the words of the Bible or change the words of the Bible to suit his own theory just because he does not see it. He will know that it is our fault, not God’s.  It is not easy not to discount the words of the Bible!  Let’s look at an example of this below.

The Bible says very clearly in this verse that it has both foreknowledge and predestination, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”(Romans 8:29) So foreknowledge and predestination are two sides of the same coin, like a coin that has a head and a tail, but it is still the same coin.  Martin Luther only saw foreknowledge, while Calvin only said there was predestination. They both discounted this verse and fell down on this point! In short, they are both wrong at this point according to the Bible.

In fact, the Bible makes it very clear that when a person who is recognized as spiritual makes a mistake, the impact will be very great.  Let’s look at an example. Solomon should have been a recognized spiritual man when he built the temple, but “For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods…Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.”(1 Kings 11:4-8) The high place he built was not removed until the reign of Josiah (see 2 Kings 23:13-14). At that time, Judah was about to be destroyed. We can see the impact of this mistake. How big!  What now?  Many people are debating whether foreknowledge or predestination is right. According to the Bible, neither is right!

Let’s take a look at some examples of people, who says that thanks God for meals is correct on the Internet.  Someone quoted this scripture, “When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them (the two disciples on their way to Emmaus).” (Luke 24:30) So their conclusion is, didn’t Jesus want to thank God before eating?  If we continue to look at the following verse, “The two men related what they had met on the road and how they had recognized them when they were breaking bread.”(Luke 24:35) We know that blessing is only for breaking bread, not for giving thanks for meals.

The breaking of bread was instituted by Jesus Himself, as the scripture says, “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.””(Luke 22:19) This is also a blessing first, and then symbolizes the breaking of the body for us.  Others say that Paul thanked God before eating. They quoted what happened after Paul was shipwrecked. On the ship, “Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.”(Acts 27:35) That he gave thanks is for breaking bread!  The early church was also about breaking bread, as this scripture says, “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”(Acts 2:42) They also “…breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart”(Acts 2:46) There is no saying that we should give thanks before eating, but we should give thanks for breaking bread, remembering that the Lord Jesus broke His body for us.

People have free will. We don’t know how many different opinions there are on the Internet. Even if we knew, it is probably impossible to answer all the questions in this article, so we will finally look at a mentioned question that someone quoted. Look at the verses related to the miracle of five loaves and two fish, “Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets.”(Matthew 14:19-20) So they concluded, didn’t Jesus have to thank the food before eating?  Let us look at this matter based on what God tells us through the Bible is consistent.

First of all, we notice that the sign of feeding the five thousand is very important. It is found in all four Gospels, but the sign of feeding the four thousands is not in the Book of John. It’s not that it’s not important, but that the Book of John only selects seven signs according to John’s selection criteria, “but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”(John 20:31) So he said very clearly, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book.”(John 20:30) What sign is it in feeding five thousands?

We see that the reason why Jesus showed this sign was different from what everyone understood. “Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.””(John 6:26-27) He said very clearly, “…I am the bread of life; …”(John 6:35)

So in addition to providing them with food on earth, the main thing Jesus wanted them to realize was that He was the spiritual food given to them in heaven, which is also the thing He would provide for them, but the crowd did not realize this. Because after some words the next day, “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.”(John 6:66) Here, looking at the sky to bless and breaking the bread is the same as the breaking of bread ceremony. It is not a thank you for the meal. Breaking the bread symbolizes that His body was broken for us and became our supply. When He was crucified, “And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”(Mark 15:37-38) His body was indeed broken for us!  The Book of Hebrews says this, “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.”(Hebrews 10:19-20) Judging from the consistency of what God tells us through the Bible, blessing is not about giving thanks for food, but breaking bread is also about providing us with spiritual food.  Really, only by using the words of the Bible as the absolute standard can we discern!

We especially emphasize not to fall into Satan’s (devil’s) tricks. Didn’t the ancient serpent (the devil) tempt Eve with mixed words of right and wrong?  (See Genesis 3:4-5) In the Book of Job, when Satan attacked Job in the spiritual realm by speaking to Eliphaz the Temanite, what he said to him was also right and wrong. He didn’t recognized it and thought it came from God!  When a person sees a mixture of right and wrong, he will often not notice that part of it is wrong, but will accept it entirely, thus falling into Satan’s plan. ​

Let’s look at why we say that Eliphaz received the visions of the night is a mixture of right and wrong.  The scripture says: ““Now a word was brought to me stealthily,

And my ear received a whisper of it. “Amid disquieting thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falls on men, Dread came upon me, and trembling, And made all my bones shake. “Then a spirit passed by my face; The hair of my flesh bristled up. “It stood still, but I could not discern its appearance; A form was before my eyes; There was silence, then I heard a voice: ‘Can mankind be just before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker? ‘He puts no trust even in His servants; And against His angels He charges error. ‘How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, Whose foundation is in the dust, Who are crushed before the moth! ‘Between morning and evening they are broken in pieces; Unobserved, they perish forever. ‘Is not their tent-cord plucked up within them? They die, yet without wisdom.’”(Job 4:12-21)

We first look at how the spirit speaks with a voice. These words seem to be correct. Indeed, “Can mankind be just before God?” etc. But it is not entirely correct to say that “He puts no trust even in His servants,” because that is only for those fallen angels like Satan.  Take the angel Michael as an example. He said in the Old Testament, “However, I will tell you what is inscribed in the writing of truth. Yet there is no one who stands firmly with me against these forces except Michael your prince.”(Daniel 10:21) The Book of Revelation in the New Testament makes it even clearer, “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war.”(Revelation 12:7) If God didn’t believe Michael, do you think this would happen?  Let’s look at the angel Gabriel then. The Old Testament says, “When I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man. And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, and he called out and said, “Gabriel, give this man an understanding of the vision.””(Daniel 8:15-16) In the New Testament, “… the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth.”(Luke 1:26) If the God did not trust Gabriel, why would He let Gabriel deliver the message?  In fact, Eliphaz should have known from the beginning that the spirit did not come from God. How could the Holy Spirit make his bones shake? ​

If we look at the final ending of the Book of Job, we will know that the spirit is Satan. Looking at the ending in reverse, we will also know that there is something wrong with what the spirit said.  This is a bit like a researcher who first predicts the results and then sees if he can deduce the results. If so, he publishes the results in a positive way so that others can understand. Isn’t this the same as seeing from the outcome that the spirit is Satan? Since what God tells us through the Bible is consistent, we know that those words must be a mixture of right and wrong, and then it will be easier to find the wrong parts.  I’m not saying that the Bible is written like this, but if you think about it from a human perspective, you can often see things that you can’t usually see.  Of course, when doing research, you cannot deduce the predicted results, then you have to give up what you derive at least partially and start over.

Let’s look at another sentence, “…They die, yet without wisdom.”(Job 4:21) This is talking about everyone’s death, but “Precious in the sight of the LORD

Is the death of His godly ones.”(Psalm 116:15) Therefore, not all saints die without wisdom. We can find a counterexample from the New Testament, so this sentence is wrong.  This counterexample was shown in Stephen, “But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he (Stephen) was speaking.”(Acts 6:10) Stephen was a man full of the Holy Spirit.

Then someone may ask, why does the Bible say that Stephen was still wise when he died?  Christians are to be conformed to the image of Jesus as Romans 8:29 just said, and we also know that “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, …”(Colossians 2:9-10) And Jesus Christ lives in us in the form of the Holy Spirit, and His fullness definitely includes wisdom, so don’t be surprised that Stephen is a wise man.  Let’s look at the scene when he died. “They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.”(Acts 7:59-60) Isn’t this similar to what Jesus said on the cross? “But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” …”(Luke 23:34) “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.”(Luke 23:46) So he was a person conformed to the image of Jesus.

If anyone still has questions, we can look at other scriptures, “But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.””(Acts 7:55-56) Stephen was the first martyr for the Lord. Jesus stood to greet him. Normally, “… He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.”(Hebrews 10:12-13) Stephen is the only person in the New Testament who is greeted by the Lord standing up.  Moreover, how can a person filled with the Holy Spirit lack wisdom?

So what we should pursue is to be full of the Holy Spirit like Stephen rather than being filled with the Holy Spirit at least one time. Regarding that, the Bible promises that we can do it as long as Christians ask according to the Bible, “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.”(Luke 11:10) This refers to the one-time filling of the Holy Spirit, because a few verse down says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”(Luke 11:13) So how do you ask for it?  The Bible says this, “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.”(Luke 11:8) Persistence is the key word, to the point even making people feel shameless, so some English translations will say that his friend is shameless when asking.

Why do we say this?  If you look at the previous verses, you can see that the man had told his friend that he was in bed and didn’t want to get up, and his friend made sure he got up!  For us, we know that we are sinners and do not deserve to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but we can directly ask the Heavenly Father with persistence and He promises to fill us with the Holy Spirit.  Please note that it does not say when it will fill us, because God has absolute sovereignty and has a time for everything. He will choose the time that He thinks is best to fill us. All we have to do is ask directly with persistence.

A brother has given such a testimony. After reading these scriptures, he knelt on the ground and prayed to God one day, saying, ‘If You are not fill me today, I will not get up.’ In the end, he had to get up. This is because he did not pay attention there was no promise of time, but he did fulfill the direct request with persistence.  In the end, although I don’t know when, he was indeed filled with the Holy Spirit, because he did foreknowledge that even Satan could not do, and only God could do.  If Satan could have predicted it, he would not have intervened in Jesus’ crucifixion to complete salvation. He did intervene, because the scripture clearly says, “After the morsel, Satan then entered into him (Judas, son of Simon Iscariot). …”(John 13:27)

When it comes to being filled with the Holy Spirit, we must be discerning and not be filled with evil spirits and thus do the work of Satan that we are not even aware of, just like Eliphaz the Temanite in the Book of Job.  The work of the Holy Spirit will definitely make you believe in the Bible more, because the scriptures say very clearly, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”(John 14:26) Evil spirits often make people inflate their egos, thinking that they have seen things that others cannot see. This is how the Book of Mormon came about.

Back to the brother mentioned, I believe that he has at least partially fallen because he does not do some things according to what the Bible says and will change the words of the Bible, which is wrong.  In fact, God is at work and Satan is also at work. Isn’t that what Peter said? “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”(1 Peter 5:8) You can’t say that I know it has always been this way before and just accept it from now on. This is really wrong.  Don’t be proud because you are filled with the Holy Spirit, but humbly pursue being full of the Holy Spirit, knowing that life can only come from God. As the scripture says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”(1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

Each of us has the opportunity, like the members of the worst church in Laodicea, which had no overcomers, in the Book of Revelation. They shut Jesus out, but Jesus still said this, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”(Revelation 3:20) As long as we open our hearts, He will work in us.  You must know that God is infinite, humans are limited, and everyone makes mistakes.  But God gives us an opportunity to repent, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John 1:9) A person who teaches others that he can only speak what God wants him to speak during Bible study will be a person who is so proud that he cannot see his own pride. Such a person should really repent.

In “3. Methods to discern our old self” of “1092 Hearing ears, methods to discern spiritual matters and old-self ones,” we gave a brief testimony on how to use the words of the Bible as the absolute standard to distinguish.  Those who are interested in this topic can go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/” and click “Understanding of Spiritual Life” to find this article.

 ​(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

      我們看到基督徒行出來、吃飯前要謝飯的教導，為地上的食物而感謝神。如果是心甘情願、而內心真正感謝讚美神，不把謝飯當作是一種儀式，會是蒙神兌納的一個感謝祭。但要知道，聖經並沒有要基督徒如此謝飯，這只是約定俗成。如果我們要謝飯，也應該至少按照聖經的教導去感謝讚美神！

        有人的第一個反應可能會是，怎麼會是這樣呢？目前的教會不都是如此做，不是因聖經的教導要我們謝飯嗎？不是的，目前謝飯的形式只是約定俗成，所以要請你們聽我們娓娓道來，看看聖經是怎麼講。

        要瞭解這一點，我們必須相信神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的，要瞭解聖經的一致性不是指字句上的，如果是，就會看到字句上會有明顯的矛盾。相信神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的，就會看到神要藉著這明顯的矛盾告訴我們什麼，知道不是默示或印刷的錯誤，所以我們首先要看的是，神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的。第二，我們就用這樣的聖經一致性，來看看聖經到底是怎麼說主禱文中的飲食，同時我們也討論了猶太人的傳統，和相關嗎哪的議題。第三，網路上有許多錯誤的訊息，我們一定不要不思考的全盤接受，要用聖經的話語和其中有的概念，作為絕對的標準去分辨，我們指出在何處可以找到以前所作的一個如此的見証。 關於聖經的概念這一點，我們是指如三位一體這辭一樣，在聖經沒有用過這辭，但絕對有神是三位一體的神的概念。我們也用聖經作為絕對的標準去討論了預知和預定的對錯，看到撤但用對錯相雜的話去引誘人，說明為什麼他對提幔人以利法所說的就是這樣的話。聖經應許基督徒如果直求的話，一定會被聖靈充滿，只是沒有說時間。我們要追求的是要如司提反般的滿有聖靈，看到了人只要打開心門，每一個人都會有機會。

1. 神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的

        當一個人真正相信，神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的，就可能會看見一些別人看不到的事情，我就舉一個自己所遭過的例子來說明這一點。在一次團契的聚會中，有一位姊妹提到了一個我以前有的一個問題，就是這兩個經文似乎是矛盾的！先是神對挪亞說，『凡有血肉的活物，每樣兩個，一公一母，你要帶進方舟，好在你那裏保全生命。』(創世記 6:19) 然後又說，『凡潔淨的畜類，你要帶七公七母；不潔淨的畜類，你要帶一公一母。』(創世記 7:2) 只從這兩節經文，我們會很自然的問，到底進方舟的潔淨的畜類是一公一母還是七公七母？

        另一位姊妹回答說，前面是說種類，後者是講實際上方舟的數目。在這點上，這位姊妹是相信神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的，知道不是默示或印刷的錯誤，所以她看到了我們沒有看到的事情。事後我也意識到了，這是和聖經話語相符合的，因前者接著說，『飛鳥各從其類，牲畜各從其類，地上的昆蟲各從其類，每樣兩個，要到你那裏，好保全生命。』(創世記 6:20) 這的確是在講種類。後者的確是在講實際的數目，要不在洪水後，怎麼能有『挪亞為耶和華築了一座壇，拿各類潔淨的牲畜、飛鳥獻在壇上為燔祭。』(創世記 8:20) 如果進方舟潔淨的牲畜只有一公一母，那潔淨的牲畜不是會因此而絕種了嗎？

        我們再另提一個經文，『誰知道人的靈(H7307, spirit)是往上升，獸的魂(H7307)是下入地呢？』(傳道書 3:21) 這裏原文用的都是靈，我們會很自然的問獸怎麼會有靈呢？對的，獸沒有靈，只有人在創造時才有，『耶和華神用地上的塵土造人，將生氣吹在他鼻孔裏，他就成了(有靈)的活人，名叫亞當。』(創世記 2:7) 在這節經文中原文沒有提到靈，首先提到人有靈的經文是在這裏，『耶和華說：「人既屬乎血氣，我的靈就不永遠住在他裏面，然而他的日子還可到一百二十年。』(創世記 6:3) 這裏明明在原文都是用靈字，相信神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的，就會知道這不是聖經的錯誤，而會想到在希伯來文中，魂和靈是可以互用的。在中文的傳統中，只說靈魂，沒有分開說的，所以和合本常常靈和魂不分，看到靈魂，必須看英文或是原文才行。

        我們以前在『2096 于宏潔的新人門訓  –  不合乎聖經的地方  (1) 』中的『2. 聖經的一致性是指神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的』，詳細的討論過這一點，並舉了一個聖經上有明顯的矛盾的例子，且討論了神藉著這樣的矛盾要告訴我們什麼。有興趣的人可以到『https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的網站後，按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』，找到這篇文章。

2. 聖經怎麼說到糧食？

       舊約很清楚的說到，『…使你知道人活着不是單靠食物，乃是靠耶和華口裏所出的一切話。』(申命記 8:3) 這也是耶穌受洗後受試探時所引用的，『…經上記着說：『人活着，不是單靠食物，乃是靠神口裏所出的一切話。』』(馬太福音 4:4) 是的，聖經是說，基督徒活著不是單靠著地上的食物，還要靠靈糧，缺一不可。

       有人可能會問，耶穌不是在主禱文中說，『我們日用的飲食，今日賜給我們。』 (馬太福音 6:11) 對的，但請注意耶穌接著又說，『…不要憂慮說：『吃甚麼？喝甚麼？穿甚麼？』這都是外邦人所求的。…』(馬太福音 6:31-32) 如果飲食是指地上的食物，對基督徒而言，這豈不是矛盾的嗎？但我們相信神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的，所以這裏的飲食不是指地上的飲食，耶穌的話不會自相矛盾的，唯一邏輯上的解釋是這食物是如前所述的，包括了地上的食物和靈糧。其實我們也可看到，在主禱文的這節經文前，都是在講屬天的事，在這經文後，都是講屬地的事，這節經文同時講屬天和屬地的事，也是合情合理的。

        有人就會問，依照猶太人的傳統他們會謝飯，他們不是基於這經文嗎？『你吃得飽足，就要稱頌耶和華你的神，因他將那美地賜給你了。』(申命記 8:10) 在這之前很清楚的說到人活著的，不是單靠食物，只是為吃得飽足而感謝，不會是全部！更重要的是，我們不能說是猶太人的習俗就是對的。如果是這樣，以色列就不會在復國之前，滅國這麼久，耶穌也不會在新約中這麼嚴厲的審判法利賽人。我們實在是要用聖經的話語作為我們絕對的標準去分辨！

       我們知道，『他苦煉你，任你飢餓，將你和你列祖所不認識的嗎哪賜給你吃，…』(申命記 8:3) 我們就來看一個舊約關於嗎哪的經文，『他們每日早晨，按着各人的飯量收取，日頭一發熱，就消化了。』(出埃及記 16:21) 有人就基於這經文，說這是屬靈的原則，我們必須一大早去領受靈糧，否則就消化了。鼓勵人早起，用早上最好的時間去讀經禱告是好的，但聖經從沒有說靈糧只有早上有！而且這是假設每一個人最好的時間都是早上起來時，但有些人最好的時間不是這樣，且教導人在新約時代去守律法，是非常不合宜的。

        新約時代的教導是，『不要消滅聖靈的感動。』(帖撒羅尼迦前書 5:19) 且說，『不住地禱告。』(帖撒羅尼迦前書 5:17) 如果禱告不在早上而有聖靈的感動，那麼就不能得到靈糧嗎？絕對不是！不要忘了，神有絕對的主權，『因他對摩西說：「我要憐憫誰，就憐憫誰；要恩待誰，就恩待誰。」』(羅馬書 9:15) 其實聖經有很多地方都提到這點，我們現在只看這經文，『這一切都是這位聖靈所運行、隨己意分給各人的。』(哥林多前書 12:11) 看上下文我們就知道這一切在這裏是指什麼？我要強調的是隨己意，聖靈是三位一體的神中的一位，這經文不是說祂有絕對的主權嗎？在新約時代，只要神願意，我們是可以隨時隨地領受靈糧的，這樣教導人需要早起去領受靈糧，是不符合聖經的！

3. 用聖經的話語作絕對的標準來分辨

        我們知道，『聖經都是神所默示的，…』(提摩太後書 3:16) 當保羅寫下這句子的時候，新約如啓示錄尚不存在，所以保羅說的這句話絕不是指全部新約。但基督徒相信，整本聖經都是神所默示的，基督徒是要在信心中的。當一個人完全相信聖經是神所默示的，就不會把聖經的話打折扣，不會因自己沒看見就更改聖經的話語去適合自己的理論，知道是我們的錯，不是神的錯。不把聖經的話打折扣上，這是很不容易的！我們就在下面看一個這樣的例子。

        聖經在這經文說得很清楚，同時有預知和預定，『因為他預先所知道的人，就預先定下效法(be conformed to, 模成)他兒子的模樣，使他兒子在許多弟兄中作長子。』(羅馬書 8:29) 所以預知和預定是一體的兩面，就像一枚硬幣，有頭和尾，但仍是一枚硬幣。馬丁路德只看見有預知，而喀爾文只說有預定，都是把這句經文打了折扣，在這一點上跌倒了！

       其實聖經說得很清楚，當一個公認為屬靈的人犯了錯誤時，影響會非常的大。我們就看一個例子，所羅門建造聖殿應該是一個公認屬靈的人，但『所羅門年老的時候，他的妃嬪誘惑他的心去隨從別神，…所羅門為摩押可憎的神基抹和亞捫人可憎的神摩洛，在耶路撒冷對面的山上建築邱壇。他為那些向自己的神燒香獻祭的外邦女子，就是他娶來的妃嬪也是這樣行。』(列王紀上 11:4-8) 他建的邱壇到約西亞年間才除掉(參列王紀下 23:13-14)，那時猶大已經快滅亡了，我們看到這錯誤影響有多大！現在呢？很多人在爭論到底是預知或是預定對，按照聖經，兩個都不對！

        我們再看看網路說要謝飯的一些例子是怎麼說。有人引用這經文，『到了坐席的時候，耶穌拿起餅來，祝謝了，擘開，遞給他們(去以馬忤斯的兩門徒)。』(路加福音 24:30) 於是結論說，耶穌不是吃飯前要謝飯嗎！如果我們繼續看後面的經文，『兩個人就把路上所遇見，和擘餅的時候怎麼被他們認出來的事，都述說了一遍。』(路加福音 24:35) 我們就知道祝謝只是為了擘餅，不是為謝飯。

        擘餅禮是耶穌自己設立的，就像這樣的如經文所述，『又拿起餅來，祝謝了，就擘開，遞給他們，說：「這是我的身體，為你們捨的，你們也應當如此行，為的是記念我。」』(路加福音 22:19) 這也是先祝謝了，然後象徵著身體為我們擘開了。又有人說保羅在吃飯前是先謝飯，他們引用的是保羅遇見船難後發生的事，在船上，『保羅說了這話，就拿着餅，在眾人面前祝謝了神，擘開吃。』(使徒行傳 27:35) 他那裏是在謝飯，他是在擘餅！早期的教會都是在擘餅，就如這經文所說，『都恆心遵守使徒的教訓，彼此交接，擘餅，祈禱。』(使徒行傳 2:42) 他們也『…在家中擘餅，存着歡喜、誠實的心用飯。』(使徒行傳 2:46) 沒有說吃飯前要謝飯的，但是要為著擘餅而祝謝，記念主耶穌為我們身體擘開。

    人有自由意志，我們不知道網路上到底有多少不同的看法，即使我們知道，大概也不可能在這一篇文章中回答所有的問題，所以我們最後就看一個提到的問題，是有人引用了和五餅二魚的神蹟有關的經文，『於是吩咐眾人坐在草地上，就拿着這五個餅、兩條魚，望着天祝福，擘開餅，遞給門徒，門徒又遞給眾人。他們都吃，並且吃飽了，把剩下的零碎收拾起來，裝滿了十二個籃子。』(馬太福音 14:19-20) 另外七餅數魚的神蹟也有類似的經文，『他就吩咐眾人坐在地上，拿着這七個餅和幾條魚，祝謝了，擘開，遞給門徒，門徒又遞給眾人。』(馬太福音 15:35-36) 於是就結論說，耶穌吃飯前不是要先謝飯嗎？我們就從神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的來看這事。

       首先我們注意到餵飽五千人的神蹟非常重要，在四本福音中都有，但餵飽四千人的神蹟在約翰福音沒有，不是那不重要，而是約翰福音就著約翰選擇的標準只選擇了七個神蹟，『但記這些事，要叫你們信耶穌是基督，是神的兒子，並且叫你們信了他，就可以因他的名得生命。』(約翰福音 20:31) 所以他說得很清楚，『耶穌在門徒面前另外行了許多神蹟(signs, G4592)，沒有記在這書上。』(約翰福音 20:30) 我們就看神蹟這個字，原文用的是 G4592，是記號的意思，所以約翰是在用五餅二魚的神蹟作記號，作什麼記號呢？

       我們看見，耶穌顯這記號的原因是和眾人理解的不同的，『耶穌回答說：「我實實在在地告訴你們：你們找我，並不是因見了神蹟，乃是因吃餅得飽。不要為那必壞的食物勞力，要為那存到永生的食物勞力，就是人子要賜給你們的，因為人子是父神所印證的。」』(約翰福音 6:26-27) 祂說得很清楚，『…我就是生命的糧，…』(約翰福音 6:35) 所以耶穌除了供給他們地上的食物外，主要的是要他們意識到祂就是天上賜與他們的靈糧，是祂也要供給他們的，但羣眾並沒有意識到這點，因為在第二天的一番話後，『從此，他門徒中多有退去的，不再和他同行。』(約翰福音 6:66) 在這裏，望着天祝福，擘開餅，是和擘餅禮相同，不是謝飯，擘開餅是象徵著祂的身體為我們擘開，成為我們的供給，當祂釘十字架時，『耶穌大聲喊叫，氣就斷了。殿裏的幔子從上到下裂為兩半。』(馬可福音 15:37-38) ) 祂的身體的確是為我們擘開了！希伯來書這樣說，『弟兄們，我們既因耶穌的血，得以坦然進入至聖所，是藉着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。』(希伯來書 10:19-20) 從神藉著聖經告訴我們是一致的來看，祝福不是在謝飯，擘開餅也是在供給我們靈糧。真的，要用聖經的話語作為絕對的標準，我們才可能分辨！

     我們特別強調，不要中了撒但(魔鬼)的詭計，當初那古蛇(魔鬼)引誘夏娃不是用對錯相雜的話嗎？(參創世記 3:4-5)  在約伯記中，撒但藉著對提幔人以利法說的話，去對約伯作靈界的攻擊時，對他說的話也是對錯相雜的，以致於他以為是從神來的！當一個人看到對錯相雜的話對的部份時，常常不會注意到其中含有一部份是錯的，而會全盤接受，就正中了撤但的計謀。

    我們就看看為什麼我們會說以利法得到夜中異象是對錯相雜的。經文說：『我暗暗地得了默示，我耳朵也聽其細微的聲音。在思念夜中異象之間，世人沉睡的時候，恐懼、戰兢臨到我身，使我百骨打戰。有靈從我面前經過，我身上的毫毛直立。那靈停住，我卻不能辨其形狀；有影像在我眼前，我在靜默中聽見有聲音說：『必死的人豈能比神公義嗎？人豈能比造他的主潔淨嗎？主不信靠他的臣僕，並且指他的使者為愚昧；何況那住在土房、根基在塵土裏被蠹蟲所毀壞的人呢？早晚之間就被毀滅，永歸無有，無人理會。他帳棚的繩索豈不從中抽出來呢？他死，且是無智慧而死。』』(約伯記 4:12-21)

     我們先看那靈是如何有聲音說的，這些話好像都很對，的確，必死的人豈能比神公義，等等。但如果說主不信靠他的臣僕，則是不全對的，因那只是對那些墮落的天使如撒但般而言。以天使米迦勒為例，在舊約中說，『但我要將那錄在真確書上的事告訴你，除了你們的大君米迦勒之外，沒有幫助我抵擋這兩魔君的。』(但以理書 10:21) 新約的啓示錄更明講，『在天上就有了爭戰。米迦勒同他的使者與龍爭戰，龍也同牠的使者去爭戰。』(啓示錄 12:7) 如果說神不相信米迦勒，你想這樣的事會發生嗎？我們再看看天使加百列，舊約說到，『我但以理見了這異象，願意明白其中的意思，忽有一位形狀像人的站在我面前。我又聽見烏萊河兩岸中有人聲呼叫說：「加百列啊，要使此人明白這異象。」』(但以理書 8:15-16) 在新約中，『…天使加百列奉神的差遣往加利利的一座城去，這城名叫拿撒勒。』(路加福音 1:26) 如果主不信靠加百列，怎麼會讓加百列傳遞訊息呢？其實一開始以利法就應該知道，那靈不是從神來的，聖靈怎麼會使他百骨打戰呢？  

     如果我們看約伯記最後的結局，就知道那靈是撒但，由結局反過來看，也會知道那靈說的話有問題。這有一點像一個做研究的人，先預測結果，然後看可不可以推導出這結果來，如果可以，就正面的發表結果，讓別人瞭解，這不就是從結局看到那靈是撒但，而神藉聖經告訴我們是一致的，就知道那些話一定是對錯相雜的，然後就會比較容易去找錯的部份。我不是說聖經就是這樣寫的，但是從人的角度這樣想，常常可以看到一些平常看不到的事情。當然做研究時不能推導出預測的結果，就只好放棄，重新來過。

      我們就看另一句話，『…他死，且是無智慧而死。』(約伯記 4:21) 這是在說每一個人的死，但『在耶和華眼中，看聖民之死極為寶貴。』(詩篇 116:15) 所以不是所有聖民都是無智慧而死，我們從新約就可以找到一個反例，所以這句話是錯的。這反例是在司提反身上顯出來，『司提反是以智慧和聖靈說話，眾人敵擋不住。』(使徒行傳 6:10) 司提反是一個滿有聖靈的人。

     那麼有人可能會問，聖經為什麼說他死時仍是有智慧的呢？基督徒是要如剛才羅馬書 8:29 所說，要模成耶穌的形像，我們也知道，『…神本性一切的豐盛，都有形有體地居住在基督裏面，你們在他裏面也得了豐盛。…』(歌羅西書 2:9-10) 而耶穌基督是以聖靈的形式內住在我們裏面，祂的豐盛絕對包括了智慧，所以不要訝異司提反是有智慧的人。我們看看他死時的情景，『他們正用石頭打的時候，司提反呼籲主說：「求主耶穌接收我的靈(魂)(G4151)！」又跪下大聲喊着說：「主啊，不要將這罪歸於他們！」說了這話，就睡了。…』(使徒行傳 7:59-60) 這不是和耶穌在十字架上說的類似嗎？ 『當下耶穌說：「父啊，赦免他們！因為他們所做的，他們不曉得。」…』(路加福音 23:34) 且『耶穌大聲喊着說：「父啊！我將我的靈(魂)(G4151)交在你手裏。」說了這話，氣就斷了。』(路加福音 23:46) 所以他是一個模成耶穌形像的人。

     如果有人還有疑問，我們可以再看看其他經文，『但司提反被聖靈充滿，定睛望天，看見神的榮耀，又看見耶穌站在神的右邊，就說：「我看見天開了，人子站在神的右邊！」』(使徒行傳 7:55-56) 司提反是第一個為主殉道的人，耶穌站著迎接他，平時都是基督獻了一次永遠的贖罪祭後，『…就在神的右邊坐下了…等候他仇敵成了他的腳凳。』(希伯來書 10:12-13)  新約就只有他是唯一被主站著迎接的人。而且，被聖靈充滿的人，怎麼會沒有智慧呢？

    所以我們所要追求的是如司提凡般的滿有聖靈而不是一次性的被聖靈充滿。關於被聖靈充滿，聖經應許我們，只要是基督徒照著聖經去求都可做到，『因為，凡祈求的，就得着；尋找的，就尋見；叩門的，就給他開門。』(路加福音 11:10) 這是指一次性的聖靈充滿而言，因接著經文就說，『你們雖然不好，尚且知道拿好東西給兒女，何況天父，豈不更將聖靈給求他的人嗎？』(路加福音 11:13) 那麼要如何求呢？聖經是這樣說，『我告訴你們：雖不因他是朋友起來給他，但因他情詞迫切地直求(G335, imporunity, persistence)，就必起來照他所需用的給他。』(路加福音 11:8) 直求這個字在原文的意思是說堅持，堅持到一個甚至使人覺得毫無羞恥而反感的地步，所以有些英文譯本會說他的無恥。

    為什麼會這樣講呢？如果你看前面的經文，我們可以看到那人已告訴朋友他在床上了，不想起來，而他的朋友一定要他起來！在我們來說，我們明知自己是罪人，不配得聖靈充滿，但我們可以直求天父，祂應許會以聖靈充滿我們的。請注意，這裏沒有說何時會充滿我們，因神有絕對的主權，凡事有定時，祂會選祂認為最好的時間充滿我們的，我們只要做的是直求。

     有一位弟兄做過這樣的見証，他看了這些經文後就在某天跪在地上跟神禱告說，如果祢今天不充滿了，我就不起來，最後他只好起來，這是他沒有注意到這是沒有說時間的應許，但他的確做到了直求。最終雖然我不知在什麼時候，他的確被聖靈充滿了，因他做了撒但都不能做的預知，只有神能做。如果撒但能預知的話，他就不會介入耶穌的釘十字架去完成救恩，他的確是介入了，因經文很清楚說，『他(加略人西門的兒子猶大)吃了以後，撒但就入了他的心。 …』(約翰福音 13:27)

     說到被聖靈充滿，我們一定要分辨，不要被邪靈充滿，而做了連自己都不知道的撒但的工作，猶如約伯記中的提幔人以利法一樣。聖靈的工作一定會使你更相信聖經，因經文說的很清楚，『但保惠師，就是父因我的名所要差來的聖靈，他要將一切的事指教你們，並且要叫你們想起我對你們所說的一切話。』(約翰福音 14:26) 邪靈會常常讓人膨脹自我，以為自己看見了別人看不見的東西，摩門經就是這樣來的。

     回到剛才那位弟兄，我相信他是至少墮落了一部份，因他有些事不照聖經所說的去行，會更改聖經的話，這是不對的。其實神在工作撒但也在作工，彼得不是這樣說嗎？『務要謹守、警醒，因為你們的仇敵魔鬼，如同吼叫的獅子，遍地遊行，尋找可吞吃的人。』(彼得前書 5:8) 不能說我知道以前總是如此，就以後全盤接受，這實在是錯的。不要因被聖靈充滿而驕傲，要謙卑的追求滿有聖靈，知道生命只能從神來，如經文所說，『我栽種了，亞波羅澆灌了，惟有神叫他生長。可見栽種的算不得甚麼，澆灌的也算不得甚麼，只在那叫他生長的神。』(哥林多前書 3:6-7)

    我們每個人都有機會的，像啓示錄中沒有得勝者的最差的老底嘉教會，把耶穌關在門外，耶穌仍然這樣說，『看哪，我站在門外叩門，若有聽見我聲音就開門的，我要進到他那裏去，我與他，他與我一同坐席。』(啓示錄 3:20) 只要我們打開心門，祂就會工作在我們身上。要知道，神是無限，人是有限，是人都會犯錯誤的。但神給了我們一個悔改的機會，『我們若認自己的罪，神是信實的，是公義的，必要赦免我們的罪，洗淨我們一切的不義。』(約翰一書 1:9) 一個人教導別人說，在查經時，自己只能講神要他講的話，會是一個驕傲到看不到自己驕傲的人，這樣的人實在是應該悔改。

    在『2092 能聽的耳，屬靈和屬老我的分辨方法』中的『3. 屬老我分辨的方法』，我們作了一個簡短的見証，說明如何用聖經的話語作為絕對的標準去分辨。對這話題有興趣的人，可到『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的網站後，按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』，找到這篇文章。

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

如果你还没有在「https://youtu.be/rvK1Nzn7WBg?si=lEVPlG1pEOdxmctr」看过，谈以上话题的「同在」第一期视频，建议你花不到三十分钟的时间看看，这样比较容易知道为什么我会如此讨论。       

在第一期的视频中约 26:05 分钟说到，希望能和我们一起成长，我相信他不只是说说而已，因此在以下的视频中，我就将这次我因没看到而学习到的东西，和那视频中不按照圣经话语讲的部份，相当详细的放在这视频中。       

在知道神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的前提下，也请你们看一看我们基于圣经话语的逻辑是否有错误？谢谢。        

以下的讨论是基于这些经文，所以我们先列出经文：『他夜间起来，带著两个妻子、两个使女，并十一个儿子都过了雅博渡口。先打发他们过河，又打发所有的都过去，只剩下雅各一人。有一个人来和他摔跤，直到黎明。那人见自己胜不过他，就将他的大腿窝摸了一把，雅各的大腿窝正在摔跤的时候就扭了。那人说：「天黎明了，容我去吧！」 雅各说：「你不给我祝福，我就不容你去。」』(创世记 32:22-26)

1. 对不懂原文的人读经时，有时有必要看原文和用汇编          

约在第一期的视频 4 分钟的时候，他提到要多看几个版本，这是对的，但说到看那一版本都没有问题，这样的叙述就会有问题。如果你多看不同的版本，可能就会发觉，没有问题的地方是大同小异，但有问题的地方，翻译会很不相同，在英文的版本中，甚至还会找到意义正好完全相反的例子，所以读经有时非要看原文不可，才有可能不强解圣经。他举了一个必须看原文经文的例子，就是『那人见自己胜不过他，就将他的大腿窝摸了一把(H5060)，雅各的大腿窝正在摔跤的时候就扭了。』(创世记 32:25, 和合本)        

我不懂原文，就用工具书如汇编(Strong’s Concordance)来了解原文的字义。可能你已经知道，汇编对作者选定的那一个原文版本，基本上每一个都有编号，也就是用一个数目来表示这个字，所以括弧内的 H5060 就是这字「摸了一把」的编号。因为旧约多数是用希伯来文(Hebrew)写的，少数是用亚兰文写的，因此旧约的字都是以 H 开始。新约是用希腊文(Greek)写的，因此开始都是用 G，譬如说，『因为他预先所知道的人，就预先定下效法(G4832, 模成, to be conformed, 汇编)他儿子的模样，使他儿子在许多弟兄中作长子。』(罗马书 8:29, 和合本) 顺便一提的是，原文不是说效法，因为效法是可以包括表面上的模仿的效法，或是有真正里面的改变的效法，后者就是模成的意思，也就是原文的意思，所以会说，变成基督徒后会有生命本质的改变。        

在这里，就分享一下对不懂原文的人，汇编是可以如何的使用。汇编的作者既然把每一个字都编了号，就很容易查出圣经中所有用同一个字的经文，如果那些经文足够多的话，就可以从那些经文中看出那个字的意义。以刚才的 H5060 为例，按照汇编，那个字在旧约中出现了150 次，虽然只在创世记出现了 8 次，但也足够知道那个字的意义。一个典型的例子就是，『于是亚比米勒晓谕众民说：「凡沾著(H5060)这个人，或是他妻子的，定要把他治死。」』(创世记 26:11) 新译本翻成打了一下，你想这个字怎么会是「打了一下」呢？很明显的是新译本的翻译错了。       

汇编是用英文写的，如果你了解英文，最好用英文的。如果不懂英文，你可到我们以前讨论过的文章『2041 如何用汇编使不懂原文的人用原文读经？』 找这篇文章，你可以到『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的网站后，按『对属灵生命的了解』。 #####2. 神没有说雅各诡诈，反而有人如此说        

在约 17:10 分钟的时候，他说到看遍圣经，你看到了神给雅各的定罪吗？这是对的，神没有定罪的，我们从人的角度看就把雅各定罪吗？        

我们先从以扫的角度来看，『以扫说：「他名雅各岂不是正对吗？因为他欺骗了我两次，他从前夺了我长子的名分；你看，他现在又夺了我的福分。」…』(创世记 27:36) 从发生的事情中，我们就可以看到以扫的错误在那里。        

第一次是『雅各说：「你今日把长子的名分卖给我吧！」』(创世记 25:31) 『雅各说：「你今日对我起誓吧！」以扫就对他起了誓，把长子的名分卖给雅各。』(创世记 25:33) 雅各骗了他吗？没有，是如第一期所说的，以扫发过誓但现在却不认帐了！我们再看圣经怎么定罪以扫更会知道这点，『…这就是以扫轻看了他长子的名分。』(创世记 25:34) 在以扫的眼中，长子的名分就只值一碗红豆汤，他最后得到的比他要求的多一点，包括了饼(参创世记 25:34)。        

第二次是以撒年老时想为以扫祝福，我没有看到以撒是一意孤行。就如第一期所说的，在雅各出生的时候，以撒就应该已经知道，『…将来大的要服事小的。』(创世记 25:23) 他也应该知道以扫已经将长子的名份卖给了雅各，但他仍要从人的角度看，一意孤行的要给以扫长子的祝福，只因为他爱以扫。一直到他祝福完了雅各，才醒悟这是神的旨意，是不能更改的，我们看他战兢的反应就可以知道这点，『以撒就大大地战兢说：「你未来之先，是谁得了野味拿来给我呢？我已经吃了，为他祝福，他将来也必蒙福。」』(创世记 27:33)        

我们再从利百加的角度来看，她是付了代价帮雅各得到他所应得的。雅各本是不敢用欺骗父亲的手段，但『他母亲对他说：「我儿，你招的咒诅归到我身上；你只管听我的话去把羊羔给我拿来。」』(创世记 27:13) 圣经没明说她是否因此而得到咒诅，我们只知道在雅各离开她到他母舅拉班那里后，终其余生，她都没有再见到雅各，这对她来说是相当难过的。但我们知道，『不要自欺，神是轻慢不得的。…』(加拉太书 6:7) 既然圣经没有明说，我们就不要乱猜，猜也没有用，我们是不会得到唯一的结论的。其实，如果不是神的作为，一个人即使欺骗别人成功，他能够因此骗到神的祝福吗？     

『以扫因他父亲给雅各祝的福，就怨恨雅各，心里说：「为我父亲居丧的日子近了，到那时候，我要杀我的兄弟雅各。」有人把利百加大儿子以扫的话告诉利百加，她就打发人去，叫了她小儿子雅各来，对他说：「你哥哥以扫想要杀你，报仇雪恨。现在，我儿，你要听我的话：起来逃往哈兰我哥哥拉班那里去，同他住些日子，直等你哥哥的怒气消了。』(创世记 27:41-44) 雅各的确因利百加的坚持而欺骗了他的父亲，也因此必须逃到拉班那里去，我们后面能看到雅各的逃避，也是神的旨意，因祂的旨意就这样成全了。     

『耶和华说：「我的意念非同你们的意念，我的道路非同你们的道路。天怎样高过地，照样，我的道路高过你们的道路，我的意念高过你们的意念。』(以赛亚书 55:8-9) 这就是这样的一个例子。其实在新约中也可常常看到这一点，譬如说，在使徒行传中，基督徒受到逼害，但福音就因此传开了。真正的相信这点，就会在遭遇困难时仍然坚持信仰，知道『你们所遇见的试探，无非是人所能受的。神是信实的，必不叫你们受试探过于所能受的。在受试探的时候，总要给你们开一条出路，叫你们能忍受得住。』(哥林多前书 10:13) 如果有需要的话，神会亲自介入的，一个例子是在约伯记中，神在旋风中对约伯说话。所以这样做是会蒙福的。        

再说拉班，圣经是这样说，『你们(拉结和利亚)的父亲欺哄我，十次改了我的工价，然而神不容他害我。』(创世记 31:7) 是拉班欺哄了雅各，而神帮助了雅各，拉班欺哄雅各的事实，更在利亚和拉结的事上很明显的看出来(参创世记 29:16-25)。但圣经不是明说，以色列就因此有了十二支派吗？神的旨意不就是因此成就了吗？所以说，雅各的逃避，也是神的旨意。

3. 关于只剩雅各一人的经文注释        

关于他对这经文的解释，『只剩下雅各一人。…』(创世记 32:24)，约从 4:35 开始，相当的长。你们看过原先的视频，就知道我们不太可能每次都引用他讲的大约时间，所以我们的讨论是整体性的。        

我以前也听过别人说过雅各是奸诈的，预备在情况不对就要跑，看他的视频，我相信他说雅各不是准备要跑是对的。雅各这次的回来是神要他回来的，经文说得很清楚，『耶和华对雅各说：「你要回你祖你父之地，到你亲族那里去，我必与你同在。」』(创世记 31:3) 我没有注意到这视频中引用的经文，『雅各仍旧行路，神的使者遇见他。雅各看见他们就说：「这是神的军兵。」于是给那地方起名叫玛哈念。』(创世记 32:1-2)  神的确是如祂所应许的，与雅各同在。        

我们看到雅各这次已准备好见他哥哥以扫，解决他们之间的宿怨，因为『雅各打发人先往西珥地去，就是以东地，见他哥哥以扫。』(创世记 32:3) 既使是神要他回来，他也大可偷偷回来，虽然圣经没有明讲，我们可以从结局看出神是要雅各回来达到这目的，面对这宿怨且解决它。        

我们先看到『所打发的人回到雅各那里说：「我们到了你哥哥以扫那里，他带著四百人，正迎著你来。」』(创世记 32:6) 以扫如果是欢迎雅各而来，你想用得著四百人吗？尤其，『雅各就甚惧怕，而且愁烦…』(创世记 32:7) 很显然的，雅各是认为以扫原是不怀好心的，于是他从人的角度做了他认为最好的事情，送给以扫大礼物(参创世记 32:13-21)，『…因雅各心里说：「我借著在我前头去的礼物解他的恨，然后再见他的面，或者他容纳我。」』(创世记 32:20) 你想雅会是准备跑吗？尤其是我们知道，『雅各就为拉结服事了七年。他因为深爱拉结，就看这七年如同几天。』(创世记 29:20) 如果说他是准备要抛弃拉结和利亚及儿女逃跑，他怎么会这样的向神祷告呢？『求你救我脱离我哥哥以扫的手，因为我怕他来杀我，连妻子带儿女一同杀了。』(创世记 32:11)  从神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的来看，就会很清楚的知道，雅各不是准备情况不好就跑！        

最后是『他自己在他们(妻子和孩子)前头过去，一连七次俯伏在地，才就近他哥哥。以扫跑来迎接他，将他抱住，又搂著他的颈项与他亲嘴，两个人就哭了。』(创世记 33:3-4) 他怎么会准备要跑呢？我想是以扫改变了主意，神听了雅各的祷告，成就了祂的应许，『你曾说：『我必定厚待你，使你的后裔如同海边的沙，多得不可胜数。』』(创世记 32:12) 意念中告诉我说，这是以扫想起了兄弟之情，我怀疑这是从圣灵来的，因为如果以扫会如此，怎么会一开始带四百人来？如果以扫是看了礼物才想到兄弟之情，这叫什么兄弟之情？要分辩，尤其是超自然的事，要不就会像提幔人以利法一样，做了撒但的工还以为在为神作工呢？(参约伯记 4:12-21 中对错相杂的话)     

要分辩，不要一直做属灵的婴孩，『…成了那必须吃奶、不能吃干粮的人！凡只能吃奶的，都不熟练仁义的道理，因为他是婴孩；惟独长大成人的，才能吃干粮，他们的心窍习练得通达，就能分辩好歹了。』(希伯来书 5:12-14) 要长大成人，一定要知道只有神能让生命生长，就像经文所说，『我(保罗)栽种了，亚波罗浇灌了，惟有神叫他生长。可见栽种的算不得甚么，浇灌的也算不得甚么，只在那叫他生长的神。』(哥林多前书 3:6-7)        

我相信神的确是作了工，成就了祂的应许，所以我们看到了以扫的改变，但圣经没有明说祂是如何做的工。犹如保罗和西拉在宣道时，圣经记载，『圣灵既然禁止他们在亚西亚讲道，他们就经过弗吕家、加拉太一带地方，到了每西亚的边界，他们想要往庇推尼去，耶稣的灵却不许。他们就越过每西亚下到特罗亚去。』(使徒行传 16:6-8) 只说禁止他们，没有说到用何法，这里不是也这样吗？

4.  这个和雅各摔角的人是谁？       

我们来看这经文，『那人说：「你的名不要再叫雅各，要叫以色列，因为你与神(H430, 复数, 原文为 elohiym)与人较力，都得了胜。」』(创世记 32:28) 经文最开始只是说，『…有一个人来和他(雅各)摔跤…』(创世记 32:24)，但这里明说了雅各是和神摔跤，所以那人是三位一体的神中的一位。因耶和华对摩西说：『…你不能看见我的面，因为人见我的面不能存活。』(出埃及记 33:20) 所以雅各看见的不可能是耶和华。加上人不可能看见圣灵，所以雅各看见的是道成肉体前的基督。       

其实在旧约里，有不止一处的地方都可以看见有这样的叙述，耶和华在旧约中有时是指道成肉身前的基督，如亚伯拉罕看见的耶和华(参创世记 18:22-33)。当我们看到旧约说到耶和华，有时是指道成肉身前的基督，我们就能从神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的，看清楚一些经文所要表示的。

5. 雅各与与神与人较力都得了胜        

『那人说：「你的名不要再叫雅各，要叫以色列，因为你与神与人较力，都得了胜。」』(创世记 32:28) 我一直不懂这节经文，因为神是大能的神，人怎么能与神较力而得胜呢？一直到我看见了视频的解说才明白了。对的，与神较力而能得胜是指属灵的事，人如果选择不要神，神真是没有办法，因为神给了人自由意志，祂没有强迫人选择过。一开始亚当和夏娃可以选择不顺服神，对于法老所遭遇的十灾，显示出祂可以制造环境，但不强迫法老的决定。前九灾都不会真正的和法老自己的人身有关，到第十灾时，法老的长子死了，他倔服了，让摩西带领以色列人出了埃及。所以从神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的来看，神都是任凭(H7185)法老自己做所有的决定。        

这字 H7185 出现 29 次，在出埃及只出现两次，就是『我要使(H7185)法老的心刚硬，也要在埃及地多行神迹奇事。』(出埃及记 7:3) 和『那时法老几乎不容(H7185)我们去，耶和华就把埃及地所有头生的，无论是人是牲畜，都杀了，…』(出埃及记 13:15)  当我们看所有的这 29 次时，没有一次是神使人心刚硬的。我们再看这一节经文，『法老心里刚硬，不肯听从摩西、亚伦，正如耶和华所说的。』(出埃及记 7:13) 是法老自己心刚硬，神只是任凭他的心刚硬。        

我们再看一节经文，『耶和华对摩西说：「你回到埃及的时候要留意，将我指示你的一切奇事，行在法老面前，但我要使(H2388, 或作任凭)他的心刚硬，他必不容百姓去。』(出埃及记 4:21) 这字 H2388 出现了 290 次，从神借著圣经告诉我们是一致的来看，在这里显然是应该翻作任凭。        

视频也说明了以扫和雅各的不同，以扫是轻看长子的名份不要神，而雅各是一心要抓住神，也用要神祝福的行动表示出来。难怪『（双子还没有生下来，善恶还没有作出来，只因要显明神拣选人的旨意，不在乎人的行为，乃在乎召人的主。）神就对利百加说：「将来大的要服事小的。」』(罗马书 9:11-12) 这是预定。这也正是这预言所说的相同，『耶和华对她(利百加)说：「两国在你腹内，两族要从你身上出来；这族必强于那族，将来大的要服事小的。」』(创世记 25:23) 因神早已预知他们将来的行为，也就是为什么这样说，『…雅各是我所爱的，以扫是我所恶的。』(罗马书 9:13) 难怪罗马书说同时有预知和预定，『…他预先所知道的人，就预先定下效法(模成)他儿子的模样…』(罗马书 8:29)  所以说预知和预定是一体的两面。        

至于视频谈到的神为什么一开始不摸他一下，我们就可以看到在开始时是神在让他，也看到了视频所说的那摸他一下是神的恩典，雅各的确是没有选择的跛了，但他选择没有抱怨神，因为他知道这是神的心意，让他完全依靠神。雅各过雅博渡口是跛的，即使他想和以扫争战也是不可能，所以他非要完全依靠神不可。当人这样，神会有需要时亲自作工的。        

最后要提一下的是视频约 8 分钟的时候，提到了以扫带领四百人来「迎接」雅各，我相信这是口误，因为不论和合本和新译本都翻成「迎著你」。这个字不能读错，如果以扫原先就是迎接，我们就看不见他的改变，看不见神的工作。有人会说，这有什么关系，这和救恩的计划无关，不会影响我相信耶稣是神的儿子。不会这样影响相信是对的，，但救恩的计划不只是如此，如大使命所说的，『…使万民作我的门徒，…凡我所吩咐你们的，都教训他们遵守，…』(马太福音 28:19-20) 也就是说，这样只是救恩的开始，要能走上成圣的道路，持续的得著生命。不是一个人信而受洗就立刻改变的，而会有持续的生命改变。就像预知和预定是一体的两面一样，不强解圣经并活出来、和生命的成长也是一体的两面。我们知道，『…信道是从听道来的，听道是从基督的话来的。』(罗马书 10:17) 有些人不识字不能读经，只能用听的。对一个能读经的人，生命改变的程度，常常反应在读经仔细的程度上，所以读经时要非常谨慎，「读出来」神要借著圣经告诉我们什么，不要读进去自己的想法。

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)  

If you haven’t watched the first video of “With Thee” on the above topics in Chinese at “https://youtu.be/rvK1Nzn7WBg?si=lEVPlG1pEOdxmctr“, I suggest you spend less than thirty minutes watching it. By this way, it’s easier to see why I’m discussing this. If you don’t know the Chinese, it is also ok to read the rest of the article just by ignoring the timing referred to that video since the discussions are based upon Genesis 32:23-26.

In that video at about 26:05 minutes, he said that he hopes to grow with us. I believe he is not just talking, so in the following article, I’ll talk about what I learned due to that video, because I didn’t see them previously. I’ll also discuss the parts of that video that are not based on biblical words. Under the premise that God telling us through the Bible is consistent, please also take a look at whether there are any errors in our logic based on the words of the Bible?  Thanks.

The following discussions are based on these verses, so we list them first: “He took them and sent them across the stream. And he sent across whatever he had. Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.””(Genesis 32:22-26)

1. To people who do not understand the original languages, it is sometimes necessary to read the original languages by using the Strong’s Concordance when reading the Bible 

About 4 minutes, he mentions that there is a need to read a few more versions of the Bible translation. This is right, but saying that there is no problem in reading which version, such a narrative will be problematic.  If you look at different versions of translation, you may find that the parts that have no problems are similar, but the translations of the parts that have problems will be very different. In the English version, you will even find examples with completely opposite meanings. When reading the Bible, sometimes you have to read the version with original languages such as Greek and Hebrew, so that you have a chance of not forcefully interpret the Bible.  He gave an example that must be read in the original language in Chinese translation, which is “When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched (H5060) the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.”(Genesis 32:25)

I don’t understand the original languages, so I use a tool book such as the Strong’s Concordance to understand the meaning of an word in the original language. You may already know that even the Bible in original languages has different versions. For the version selected by the author of the Strong’s Concordance, a number is used to represent the word, so H5060 in brackets is the number of the word “touched” .  Because most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and a few were written in Aramaic, the words in the Old Testament all begin with H.  The New Testament is written in Greek, so it always starts with G, for example, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed (G4832) to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”(Romans 8:29) So, after one person becomes a Christian, the essence of his life will be changed.

Here, let’s share how the Strong’s Concordance can be used by people who don’t understand the original languages.  Since the author of the Strong’s Concordance has numbered each word, it is easy to find all the verses in the Bible that use the same word. If there are enough of those verses, the meaning of that word can be understood from those verses.  Take H5060 just now as an example. According to the compilation, that word appears 150 times in the Old Testament. Although it only appears 8 times in Genesis, it is enough to know the meaning of that word.  A typical example is, “Then Abimelech spoke to all the people, saying, “Whoever touches (H5060) this man or his wife must be put to death.” (Genesis 26:11) The the Chinese translation of CNV translates it as “hit a bit”. Why does anyone think about this word means “hit a bit”?  It is obvious that the CNV is wrong, contradictory to what said in that video.

In terms of how to use the Strong’s Concordance, we discussed before in “1041 For those who don’t know original languages to read Bible.”  To find this article, you can go to the website “https://a-christian-voice.com/” and click “Understanding of Spiritual Life.”

2. God did not say that Jacob was deceitful, but some people said so

At about 17:10 minutes, he said that after reading the Bible, have you seen God’s condemnation of Jacob?  This is right. God didn’t condemned him. There is no reason at all for us to condemn Jacob from a human perspective.

To see this, let’s first look at it from Esau’s perspective first. “Then he said, “Is he not rightly named Jacob, for he has supplanted me these two times? He took away my birthright, and behold, now he has taken away my blessing.” …”(Genesis 27:36) From what happened, we can see where Esau’s mistake was.

The first time was when “…Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.””(Genesis 25:31) “And Jacob said, “First swear to me”; so he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob.”(Genesis 25:33) Did Jacob lie to him?  No, as mentioned in that video, Esau swore an oath but now he denies it!  We will know this even more when we look at how the Bible condemns Esau, “…Thus Esau despised his birthright.”(Genesis 25:34) In Esau’s eyes, the birthright was only worth a bowl of lentil stew. In the end, he got a little more than he asked for, including bread (see Genesis 25:34) .

The second time was when Isaac wanted to bless Esau when Isaac was old. As mentioned in that video, when Jacob was born, Isaac should have known, “…the older shall serve the younger.”(Genesis 25:23) He should also know that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob, but he still wanted to look at it from a human perspective and insisted on giving Esau the blessing of the firstborn just because he loved Esau.  It wasn’t until he finished blessing Jacob that he realized that this was God’s will and could not be changed. We can know this by looking at his trembling reaction. “Then Isaac trembled violently, and said, “Who was he then that hunted game and brought it to me, so that I ate of all of it before you came, and blessed him? Yes, and he shall be blessed.””(Genesis 27:33)

Let’s look at it from Rebekah’s perspective. She paid a price to help Jacob got what he deserved.  Jacob did not dare to deceive his father originally, “But his mother said to him, “Your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me.””(Genesis 27:13) The Bible does not say whether she was cursed because of this. We only know that after Jacob left her to live with Laban, she never saw Jacob again for the rest of her life. This was very difficult for her. It’s quite sad.  But we know, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”(Galatians 6:7) Since the Bible does not say it clearly, we should not make random guesses. Guessing is useless. We will not get the only conclusion.  In fact, if it is not an act of God, even if a person successfully deceives others, can he defraud God’s blessings?

“So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him; and Esau said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” Now when the words of her elder son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent and called her younger son Jacob, and said to him, “Behold your brother Esau is consoling himself concerning you by planning to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, and arise, flee to Haran, to my brother Laban! Stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury subsides.”(Genesis 27:41-44) Jacob did because of Rebekah’s persistence. He deceived his father and therefore had to flee to Laban. We can see later that Jacob’s escape was also God’s will, because His will was fulfilled in this way.

​”“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.”(Isaiah 55:8-9) This is an example of this. In fact, this can be seen often in the New Testament. For example, in the book of Acts, Christians were persecuted, but the Gospel was thus spread. If you truly believe this, you will still persevere in your faith when you encounter difficulties, knowing that “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”(1 Corinthians 10:13) God will intervene Himself if necessary. An example of this is in the book of Job, God spoke to Job in the whirlwind (see Job 38:1) So, it is a blessing to really believe so and do so correspondingly.

​

Regarding Laban, the Bible says, “Yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times; however, God did not allow him to hurt me.”(Genesis 31:7) It was Laban who deceived Jacob, and God helped Jacob. The fact that Laban deceived Jacob was even more obvious in the matter of Leah and Rachel (see Genesis 29:16-25).  But doesn’t the Bible clearly say that Israel had the twelve tribes because of this?  Isn’t this how God’s will is accomplished?  Therefore, Jacob’s escape was also God’s will.

3.  Commentary on Jacob being the only one left

​​​​​​Concerning his interpretation of this scripture, “Then Jacob was left alone, …”(Genesis 32:24), starting about 4:35, which is quite long.  If you have seen the original video, you know that we are unlikely to quote the approximate time he spoke every time, so our discussion is holistic.

I have heard others said before that Jacob is treacherous and is ready to run away if the situation goes wrong. Watching his video, I believe he is right when he says that Jacob is not ready to run away.  Jacob came back this time because God wanted him to come back. The scriptures make it very clear, “Then the LORD said to Jacob, “Return to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.””(Genesis 31:3) I didn’t notice the scripture quoted in that video, “Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim.”(Genesis 32:1-2) God was indeed with Jacob as He promised.

We see that Jacob was ready to meet his brother Esau this time to settle their old feud, since “…Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.”(Genesis 32:3) Even if God wants him to come back, he can come back secretly. Although the Bible does not say it explicitly, we can see from the ending that God wants Jacob to come back to achieve this goal. Faced with this old feud and fix it.

We first see, “The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.””(Genesis 32:6) If Esau were to welcome Jacob, do you think he would need four hundred people?  In particular, due to the old feud, “…Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; …”(Genesis 32:7) Obviously, Jacob thought that Esau had evil intentions, so he did what he did to him from a human perspective. He thought it was the best thing to do and gave Esau a great gift (see Genesis 32:13-21), “…For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.””(Genesis 32:20) Do you think Jacob is going to run away?  Especially we know, “So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.”(Genesis 29:20) If he was planning to abandon Rachel, Leah, and their children and run away, how could he pray to God like this?  “Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children.”(Genesis 32:11) Judging from the consistency of what God tells us through the Bible, we can clearly know that Jacob wasn’t planning to run away no matter what.

“But he himself passed on ahead of them and bowed down to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.”(Genesis 33:3-4) How could he be ready to run if he went ahead of them?  I think it was Esau who changed his mind. God listened to Jacob’s prayer and fulfilled His promise, “For You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be numbered.’”(Genesis 32:12) My mind told me that this was Esau remembering brotherhood. I doubted that this came from the Holy Spirit, because if Esau was like this, how could he lead four hundred people in the first place? Come?  If Esau only thought of brotherhood after seeing the gifts, what kind of brotherhood is this?  You have to be discerning, especially about supernatural things, or else you will be like Eliphaz the Temanite, doing the work of Satan and thinking you are working for God?  (See the mixed words of right and wrong in Job 4:12-21)

Don’t ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​continue to be a spiritual baby, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”(Hebrews 5:12-14) To grow up, you must know that only God can make life grow. Just as the scripture says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”(1 Corinthians 3:6-

I believe that God has indeed done work and fulfilled His promises, so we have seen the change in Esau, but the Bible does not clearly say how He did the work.  Just like when Paul and Silas were preaching, the Bible records, “They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.”(Acts 16:6-8) It only said to ban them, but not how to ban. Isn’t it the same here?

4. Who is this man wrestling with Jacob?

Let’s look at this verse, “He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God(H430, plural, original text: elohiym) and with men and have prevailed.””(Genesis 32:28) The scripture just says at the beginning, “…a man wrestled with him until daybreak.”(Genesis 32:24), but here it is clearly stated that Jacob was wrestled with God, so that man was one of the Trinity.  For the Lord said to Moses, “…You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”(Exodus 33:20) So it could not have been Jehovah that Jacob saw.  In addition, it is impossible for people to see the Holy Spirit, so what Jacob saw was Christ before the incarnation.

In fact, in the Old Testament, we can see such narratives in more than one place. In the Old Testament, Jehovah sometimes refers to Christ before the incarnation, such as the Jehovah seen by Abraham (see Genesis 18:22-33) .  When we see that the Old Testament speaks of Jehovah, sometimes referring to the pre-incarnate Christ, we can see the consistency with what God tells us through the Bible and see clearly what some scriptures are trying to express.

5. Jacob struggled with God and men and prevailed

“​He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.””(Genesis 32:28) I have never understood this verse, because God is a powerful God, how can man compete with God and win?  It wasn’t until I saw that video explanation that I understood.  Yes, contending with God and being able to win refers to a spiritual matter. If a person chooses not to want God, God really has no choice, because God has given people free will and He has never forced people to choose.  To see this, at the beginning, Adam and Eve could choose to disobey God. The ten plagues that befell Pharaoh showed that He could create circumstances but did not force Pharaoh’s decision.  The first nine plagues would not really be related to Pharaoh’s own family. By the tenth plague, Pharaoh’s eldest son died. He was no longer stubborn and let Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  Therefore, judging from the consistency of what God tells us through the Bible, God allowed (H7185) Pharaoh to make all his own decisions.

This word H7185 appears 29 times, and it only appears twice in Exodus, which is “But I will harden (H7185) Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.”(Exodus 7:3) and “It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn (H7185) about letting us go, that the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. …”(Exodus 13:15) When we look at all 29 times, not once did God harden the heart.  Let’s look at this verse, “Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.”(Exodus 7:13) It was Pharaoh’s own heart that was hardened, and God just allowed his heart to be hardened.

Let’s look at another verse, “The LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden (H2388, or let him go according to UV) his heart so that he will not let the people go.”(Exodus 4:21). This word H2388 appears 290 times. From the fact that God tells us through the Bible is consistent, it should obviously be translated as “allowed his heart to be hardened” here.

The video also explains the difference between Esau and Jacob. Esau despised his birthright and did not want God, while Jacob was determined to grasp God and expressed it by his actions of seeking God’s blessing.  No wonder, it is said in the book of Romans, “for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.””(Romans 9:11-12) This is a predestination.  This is exactly what the prophecy said, “The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people shall be stronger than the other; And the older shall serve the younger.”(Genesis 25:23) Because God has already foreknew their future behavior, that is why He said, “…Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”(Romans 9:13) No wonder the book of Romans says that there is both foreknowledge and predestination, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, …”(Romans 8 :29) So foreknowledge and predestination are two sides of the same coin.

As for why God didn’t touch him in the beginning as mentioned in that video, we can see that it was God Who is politely not let him to lose at the beginning, and we also saw that touching him as mentioned in the video was God’s grace. Jacob indeed had no choice to be lame, but he chose not to complain to God because he knew that this was God’s will, allowing him to rely entirely on God.  Jacob was lame when he crossed the ford of the Jabbok. Even if he wanted to fight Esau, it was impossible for him to do so by then. Therefore, he had to rely entirely on God.  When people are like this, God will work Himself when necessary.

The last thing I want to mention is that about 8 minutes into the video, it is mentioned that Esau led 400 people to “welcome” Jacob. I believe this is a slip of the tongue, because both the UV and CNV are translated as “to meet you.”  This word cannot be misunderstood. If Esau originally welcomed Jacob, we would not be able to see Esau’s change and thus the work of God.  Some people will say, what does this matter? It has nothing to do with the plan of salvation and will not affect my belief that Jesus is the Son of God.  It’s right that it’ll not affect this belief, but the plan of salvation is more than just this. As the Great Commission says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, …teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; …”(Matthew 28:19-20) In other words, this is only the beginning of salvation. You must be able to embark on the road to sanctification and continue to gain life.  It is not something that changes immediately after a person believes and is baptized, but there is a continuous change in life.  Just like foreknowledge and predestination are two sides of the same coin, not interpreting the Bible forcefully and living it out, and the growth of life are also two sides of the same coin.  We know, “…faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”(Romans 10:17) Some people are illiterate and cannot read the Bible, so they can only listen to it.  For a person who can read the Bible, the degree of life change is often reflected in the degree of carefulness in reading the Bible. Therefore, we must be very careful when reading the Bible. “Read out” what God wants to tell us through the Bible, and do not read into your own thoughts.

 ​

 ​(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

我们首先看到新约明讲神的奥秘就是基督。新旧约都是同一位神，祂从不改变。在旧约的书卷中，我们可以看到关于基督的描述，结合新旧约在一起，可以很清楚的知道，在亚伯拉罕献以撒的例子中，基督是如何被描述的。第二，我们看到七碗灾难是从天上存法柜的殿打开起始，及明说的第一碗的灾难。第三，我们说到了第二碗到第五碗的灾难，比较其和第二号到第五号的灾难，看到了类似的部份，但显然是增加了灾难的强度，也看到了人的刚硬不悔改，并举了一个旧约的例子。最后，在第六碗的灾难中，我们看到了哈米吉多顿的战役，对伪三位一体来说，的确是最后的一次大战，虽然真正最后的战争是在千年国度之后，但那时只有撒但介入。

1. 神的大怒和奥秘        

『我又看见在天上有异象，大而且奇，就是七位天使掌管末了的七灾，因为神的大怒在这七灾中发尽了。我看见仿佛有玻璃海，其中有火搀杂。又看见那些胜了兽和兽的像，并牠名字数目的人，都站在玻璃海上，拿著神的琴，唱神仆人摩西的歌和羔羊的歌，说：「主神，全能者啊，你的作为大哉，奇哉！万世之王啊，你的道途义哉，诚哉！主啊，谁敢不敬畏你，不将荣耀归与你的名呢？因为独有你是圣的，万民都要来在你面前敬拜，因你公义的作为已经显出来了。」』(启示录 15:1-4)    

这里说到神仆人摩西的歌和羔羊的歌，很清楚把内容说出来了，并非指摩西以前作的歌。经文也很清楚的说到，神的大怒要在最后的七碗之灾才能全发尽了！我们以前分享过，『但在第七位天使吹号发声的时候，神的奥秘就成全了，正如神所传给他仆人众先知的佳音。』(启示录 10:7) 那时神的奥秘就成全了，那么神的奥秘，也就是说，传给他仆人众先知的佳音是什么呢？我们首先看到奥秘这字在和合本的翻译中被保罗用过多次，其中的经文说，『惟有神能照我所传的福音和所讲的耶稣基督，并照永古隐藏不言的奥秘，坚固你们的心。这奥秘如今显明出来，而且按著永生神的命，借众先知的书指示万国的民，使他们信服真道(obedience of faith)。』(罗马书 16:25-26) 『这奥秘就是外邦人在基督耶稣里，借著福音，得以同为后嗣，同为一体，同蒙应许。』(以弗所书 3:6) 他更明说，『…使他们真知神的奥秘就是基督；所积蓄的一切智慧知识，都在他里面藏著。』(歌罗西书 2:2-3)        

在旧约时代只有以色列民为选民，但心中顺服耶和华的也算，如经文说，『若有外人寄居在你们中间，愿意向耶和华守逾越节，他要照逾越节的律例、典章行，不管是寄居的是本地人，同归一例。』(民数记 9:14) 这也可以从其他经文中如所罗门的祷告中看出，『论到不属你民以色列的外邦人，为你名从远方而来，(他们听人论说你的大名和大能的手，并伸出来的膀臂)向这殿祷告，求你在天上你的居所垂听，照著外邦人所祈求的而行，使天下万民都认识你的名，敬畏你像你的民以色列一样，又使他们知道我建造的这殿，是称为你名下的。』(列王纪上 8:41-43) 神一向是顺服神之人的神。        

我们不可能在这里说到所有在旧约中和基督有关的经文，现在我们就从亚伯拉罕献以撒的一个例子中，看看旧约的书中是在这例子中是如何提到基督的。先是『神说：「你带著你的儿子，就是你独生的儿子，你所爱的以撒，往摩利亚地去，在我所要指示你的山上，把他献为燔祭。」』(创世记 22:2) 这是神的要求。最后是『亚伯拉罕举目观看，不料，有一只公羊，两角扣在稠密的小树中，亚伯拉罕就取了那只公羊来，献为燔祭，代替他的儿子。』(创世记 22:13) 在这里，是公羊取代了以撒，所以在这里是提到了取代的观念。在新约中，是耶稣基督取代了我们，成了那代罪的羔羊！要不然，没有人会有机会的。        

我们再从以撒的角度看，『他们到了神所指示的地方，亚伯拉罕在那里筑坛，把柴摆好，捆绑他的儿子以撒，放在坛的柴上。亚伯拉罕就伸手拿刀，要杀他的儿子。』(创世记 22:9-10) 那时以撒已经不小，但他让他父亲捆绑他在祭坛上，我们看到了以撒是信任他的父亲，以致于死。这不就像新约所说的，基督耶稣『…虚己，取了奴仆的形像，成为人的样式。既有人的样子，就自己卑微，存心顺服，以至于死，且死在十字架上。』(腓立比书 2:7-8) 所以有人不为过的说，以撒在这情况下是预表基督的。        

当然，在这件事情上，我们也看到了『亚伯拉罕所信的，是那叫死人复活、使无变为有的神，…』(罗马书 4:17) 所以『亚伯拉罕因著信，被试验的时候，就把以撒献上；这便是那欢喜领受应许的，将自己独生的儿子献上。论到这儿子，曾有话说：「从以撒生的才要称为你的后裔。」他以为神还能叫人从死里复活，他也仿佛从死中得回他的儿子来。』(希伯来书 11:17-19) 神要亚伯拉罕献上以撒而亚伯拉罕照做了，献祭都是献死祭，所以亚伯拉罕知道献以撒会使以撒死，而他又知道以撒有后裔，那么以撒非活不可，也就是为什么说亚伯拉罕是相信神能使人死而复活。最后是以撒没有真死，所以只是仿佛，因神在此时要介绍的是取代的概念，而不是要让以撒死而复活，这要等到新约中的耶稣，祂是死而复活而活到永久。难怪『亚伯拉罕给那地方起名叫「耶和华以勒」，直到今日人还说：「在耶和华的山上必有预备。」』(创世记 22:14) 所以这里是说 一定要在耶和华的山上，神必有预备，所以我们要准备好自己，在耶和华的山上。     

新旧约都是同一位神，祂从不改变。『不要自欺，神是轻慢不得的。…』(加拉太书 6:7) 神爱世人，为我们准备了救恩，但祂也说得清楚，『公义和公平，是你宝座的根基；慈爱和诚实，行在你前面。』(诗篇 89:14) 我们不能骗自己在新约中只能说讲爱而不说到祂也是有公义的神，我们要传讲神的爱，也同时要人了解他的公义，在神仆人摩西的歌和羔羊的歌的内容中不是很清楚的说，『…独有你是圣的，…你公义的作为已经显出来了。』(启示录 15:4) 我们可从启示录中，看到神最终的审判，那真的不是我们所想要的。我们不要作那不信的人，因为『信他的人，不被定罪；不信的人，罪已经定了，因为他不信神独生子的名。』(约翰福音 3:18)     

『总要趁著还有今日，天天彼此相劝，免得你们中间有人被罪迷惑，心里就刚硬了。我们若将起初确实的信心坚持到底，就在基督里有分了。』(希伯来书 3:13-14) 我们要有一个能听的耳，我们知道，『可见信道是从听道来的，听道是从基督的话来的。』(罗马书 10:17) 没有一个能听的耳会影响我们的救恩，因为我们会因此而看不到神做的事，人有自由意志，神只好任凭我们自己做错误的决定，这是很可怕的！

2. 七碗的开始和第一碗      

『此后，我看见在天上那存法柜的殿开了。那掌管七灾的七位天使从殿中出来，穿著洁白光明的细麻衣，胸间束著金带。四活物中有一个把盛满了活到永永远远之神大怒的七个金碗给了那七位天使。因神的荣耀和能力，殿中充满了烟。于是没有人能以进殿，直等到那七位天使所降的七灾完毕了。我听见有大声音从殿中出来，向那七位天使说：「你们去，把盛神大怒的七碗倒在地上！」第一位天使便去，把碗倒在地上，就有恶而且毒的疮生在那些有兽印记、拜兽像的人身上。』(启示录 15:1-16:2)      

我们以前分享过，殿的打开是为著审判而来就不多讲了。第一碗的灾难只是开始，这也是以前警告过的，『…那些拜兽和兽像，受牠名之印记的，昼夜不得安宁。』(启示录 14:11) 即使有这警告，人还是如此做。我们以前分享过，天上有约柜外，除了摆陈设饼的桌子，还有其他会幕中的每一件器具。这桌子的目的本是要为奉献于神而有的，在天上是以实际的行动取代了有形的桌子。因为地上的物件要反射出天上的物件，所以很清楚的说，『制造帐幕和其中的一切器具，都要照我所指示你的样式。』(出埃及记 25:9)        

我们看到殿的显现是为著审判，开始了七碗，我们也看到了那时没有人能进殿。在旧约中立起帐幕时，『当时，云彩遮盖会幕，耶和华的荣光就充满了帐幕。摩西不能进会幕，因为云彩停在其上，并且耶和华的荣光充满了帐幕。』(出埃及记 40:34-35) 在建立所罗门圣殿时发生过两次，一次是在祭司将耶和华的约柜抬进至圣所后，在他们出圣所的时候后，『…那时，耶和华的殿有云充满，甚至祭司不能站立供职，因为耶和华的荣光充满了神的殿。』(历代志下 5:13-14) 当『所罗门祈祷已毕，就有火从天上降下来，烧尽燔祭和别的祭。耶和华的荣光充满了殿。因耶和华的荣光充满了耶和华殿，所以祭司不能进殿。』(历代志下 7:1-2)     

在回归重建圣殿时，我们没有看见耶和华的荣光充满了殿。为什么会这样，其实圣经是重建了，但花了许多的时间，从波斯王塞鲁士第二年二月立这殿的根基(参以斯拉记 3:8-12)，到『大利乌王第六年，亚达月初三日，这殿修成了。』(以斯拉记 6:15) 而其间还需要『…耶和华的话临到先知哈该说：「这殿仍然荒凉，你们自己还住天花板的房屋吗？」』(哈该书 1:3-4) 和前两次神的荣光充满的光景相比，的确是不能比。

3. 第二碗到第五碗       

『第二位天使把碗倒在海里，海就变成血，好像死人的血，海中的活物都死了。第三位天使把碗倒在江河与众水的泉源里，水就变成血了。我听见掌管众水的天使说：「昔在、今在的圣者啊，你这样判断是公义的！他们曾流圣徒与先知的血，现在你给他们血喝，这是他们所该受的。」我又听见祭坛中有声音说：「是的，主神，全能者啊！你的判断义哉！诚哉！」第四位天使把碗倒在日头上，叫日头能用火烤人。人被大热所烤，就亵渎那有权掌管这些灾的神之名，并不悔改将荣耀归给神。第五位天使把碗倒在兽的座位上，兽的国就黑暗了。人因疼痛就咬自己的舌头；又因所受的疼痛和生的疮，就亵渎天上的神，并不悔改所行的。』(启示录 16:3-11)        

我们首先把第二碗和第二号比较，『第二位天使吹号，就有仿佛火烧著的大山扔在海中。海的三分之一变成血，海中的活物死了三分之一，船只也坏了三分之一。』(启示录 8:8-9) 这第二碗的灾难和第二号的灾难有些类似，只是更严重了！同样的，你们以较一些，就知道第三碗比第三号更严重些，且人没有水不能存活，即使是血水也非喝不可，难怪说『他们曾流圣徒与先知的血，现在你给他们血喝，这是他们所该受的。』(启示录 16:6)        

第四号时是日月星的三分之一黑暗了，第四碗却是叫日头能用火烤人，看起好像矛盾，其实没有矛盾，从现在的科技来说，只需要神在那段时间中控制太阳上的核反应就可以了，神是全能的神，这点对祂来说实在是小事一件。我们看到人心实在刚硬，仍不悔改所作的，只看到眼前的事，却忘了根源，犹如在耶利米书中所说，『那些住在埃及地巴忒罗知道自己妻子向别神烧香的，与旁边站立的众妇女，聚集成群，回答耶利米说：「论到你奉耶和华的名向我们所说的话，我们必不听从。我们定要成就我们口中所出的一切话，向天后烧香、浇奠祭，按著我们与我们列祖、君王、首领在犹大的城邑中和耶路撒冷的街市上素常所行的一样；因为那时我们吃饱饭、享福乐，并不见灾祸。自从我们停止向天后烧香、浇奠祭，我们倒缺乏一切，又因刀剑饥荒灭绝。」』(耶利米书 44:15-18) 是神在这之前保守了他们，而他们不自知，以为以前做的是对的，直到神追讨他们罪过的时候，因为『凡事都有定期，天下万务都有定时。』(传道书 3:1) 不是神有问题，是我们有问题。     

最后是，『加利亚的儿子约哈难和一切军长却将所剩下的犹大人，…与先知耶利米以及尼利亚的儿子巴录，都带入埃及地，到了答比匿。这是因他们不听从耶和华的话。』(耶利米书 43:5-7) 虽然耶利米警告过他们，『所以万军之耶和华以色列的神如此说：我必向你们变脸降灾，以致剪除犹大众人。那定意进入埃及地、在那里寄居的，就是所剩下的犹大人，我必使他们尽都灭绝。…』(耶利米书 44:11-12)        

第五号时，只是…开了无底坑，便有烟从坑里往上冒，好像大火炉的烟，日头和天空都因这烟昏暗了。』(启示录 9:2) 但现在兽的国是全黑暗了，只是人心更加刚硬，亵渎且并不悔改，实在不能说神没有给人机会悔改。

4. 第六碗       

『第六位天使把碗倒在幼发拉底大河上，河水就干了，要给那从日出之地所来的众王预备道路。我又看见三个污秽的灵，好像青蛙，从龙口、兽口并假先知的口中出来。他们本是鬼魔的灵，施行奇事，出去到普天下众王那里，叫他们在神全能者的大日聚集争战。（看哪！我来像贼一样。那警醒、看守衣服、免得赤身而行叫人见他羞耻的有福了！）那三个鬼魔便叫众王聚集在一处，希伯来话叫作哈米吉多顿。』(启示录 16:12-16)        

我们首先要说是那三个污秽的灵是伪三位一体，我们在『2100 从海中和地中上来的两兽 – 启示录 (10) 』详细的讨论过这点，对这话题有兴趣的人可以到『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的网站后，按『对属灵生命的了解』，找到这篇短文。       

从这里可看主还没有再来，因仍说祂来像贼一样。在这里又可以看到上次「2021」中，谈到的启示录 14:6-20 是说以后要发生审判之事的大纲，因其中提到云上的人子的事，尚未在时间中发生。在以后的启示录中，的确没有说到耶稣再来的确实时间。        

最后我们看到了哈米吉多顿的战役，对伪三位一体来说，这的确是最后的一次大战，因为接著『…假先知，也与兽同被擒拿。他们两个就活活地被扔在烧著硫磺的火湖里。』(启示录 19:20) 撒但也被捉住，就开始了千年国度(参启示录 20:1-6) 最后的一次的大战是在千年国度后，只有撒但介入，撒但被放出来后就迷惑地上四方的列国，围住圣徒的营与蒙爱的城，就有火从天降下，烧灭了他们。那迷惑他们的魔鬼被扔在硫磺的火湖里，就是兽和假先知所在的地方。他们必昼夜受痛苦，直到永永远远。(参启示录 20:7-10)

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)  

       我們首先看到新約明講神的奧秘就是基督。新舊約都是同一位神，祂從不改變。在舊約的書卷中，我們可以看到關於基督的描述，結合新舊約在一起，可以很清楚的知道，在亞伯拉罕獻以撒的例子中，基督是如何被描述的。第二，我們看到七碗災難是從天上存法櫃的殿打開起始，及明說的第一碗的災難。第三，我們說到了第二碗到第五碗的災難，比較其和第二號到第五號的災難，看到了類似的部份，但顯然是增加了災難的強度，也看到了人的剛硬不悔改，並舉了一個舊約的例子。最後，在第六碗的災難中，我們看到了哈米吉多頓的戰役，對偽三位一體來說，的確是最後的一次大戰，雖然真正最後的戰爭是在千年國度之後，但那時只有撒但介入。

1. 神的大怒和奧秘

        『我又看見在天上有異象，大而且奇，就是七位天使掌管末了的七災，因為神的大怒在這七災中發盡了。我看見彷彿有玻璃海，其中有火攙雜。又看見那些勝了獸和獸的像，並牠名字數目的人，都站在玻璃海上，拿着神的琴，唱神僕人摩西的歌和羔羊的歌，說：「主神，全能者啊，你的作為大哉，奇哉！萬世之王啊，你的道途義哉，誠哉！主啊，誰敢不敬畏你，不將榮耀歸與你的名呢？因為獨有你是聖的，萬民都要來在你面前敬拜，因你公義的作為已經顯出來了。」』(啓示錄 15:1-4)

    這裏說到神僕人摩西的歌和羔羊的歌，很清楚把內容說出來了，並非指摩西以前作的歌。經文也很清楚的說到，神的大怒要在最後的七碗之災才能全發盡了！我們以前分享過，『但在第七位天使吹號發聲的時候，神的奧秘就成全了，正如神所傳給他僕人眾先知的佳音。』(啓示錄 10:7) 那時神的奧秘就成全了，那麼神的奧秘，也就是說，傳給他僕人眾先知的佳音是什麼呢？我們首先看到奧秘這字在和合本的翻譯中被保羅用過多次，其中的經文說，『惟有神能照我所傳的福音和所講的耶穌基督，並照永古隱藏不言的奧秘，堅固你們的心。這奧秘如今顯明出來，而且按着永生神的命，藉眾先知的書指示萬國的民，使他們信服真道(obedience of faith)。』(羅馬書 16:25-26) 『這奧秘就是外邦人在基督耶穌裏，藉着福音，得以同為後嗣，同為一體，同蒙應許。』(以弗所書 3:6) 他更明說，『…使他們真知神的奧秘就是基督；所積蓄的一切智慧知識，都在他裏面藏着。』(歌羅西書 2:2-3)

        在舊約時代只有以色列民為選民，但心中順服耶和華的也算，如經文說，『若有外人寄居在你們中間，願意向耶和華守逾越節，他要照逾越節的律例、典章行，不管是寄居的是本地人，同歸一例。』(民數記 9:14) 這也可以從其他經文中如所羅門的禱告中看出，『論到不屬你民以色列的外邦人，為你名從遠方而來，(他們聽人論說你的大名和大能的手，並伸出來的膀臂)向這殿禱告，求你在天上你的居所垂聽，照着外邦人所祈求的而行，使天下萬民都認識你的名，敬畏你像你的民以色列一樣，又使他們知道我建造的這殿，是稱為你名下的。』(列王紀上 8:41-43) 神一向是順服神之人的神。

        我們不可能在這裏說到所有在舊約中和基督有關的經文，現在我們就從亞伯拉罕獻以撒的一個例子中，看看舊約的書中是在這例子中是如何提到基督的。先是『神說：「你帶着你的兒子，就是你獨生的兒子，你所愛的以撒，往摩利亞地去，在我所要指示你的山上，把他獻為燔祭。」』(創世記 22:2) 這是神的要求。最後是『亞伯拉罕舉目觀看，不料，有一隻公羊，兩角扣在稠密的小樹中，亞伯拉罕就取了那隻公羊來，獻為燔祭，代替他的兒子。』(創世記 22:13) 在這裏，是公羊取代了以撒，所以在這裏是提到了取代的觀念。在新約中，是耶穌基督取代了我們，成了那代罪的羔羊！要不然，沒有人會有機會的。

        我們再從以撒的角度看，『他們到了神所指示的地方，亞伯拉罕在那裏築壇，把柴擺好，捆綁他的兒子以撒，放在壇的柴上。亞伯拉罕就伸手拿刀，要殺他的兒子。』(創世記 22:9-10) 那時以撒已經不小，但他讓他父親捆綁他在祭壇上，我們看到了以撒是信任他的父親，以致於死。這不就像新約所說的，基督耶穌『…虛己，取了奴僕的形像，成為人的樣式。既有人的樣子，就自己卑微，存心順服，以至於死，且死在十字架上。』(腓立比書 2:7-8) 所以有人不為過的說，以撒在這情況下是預表基督的。

        當然，在這件事情上，我們也看到了『亞伯拉罕所信的，是那叫死人復活、使無變為有的神，…』(羅馬書 4:17) 所以『亞伯拉罕因着信，被試驗的時候，就把以撒獻上；這便是那歡喜領受應許的，將自己獨生的兒子獻上。論到這兒子，曾有話說：「從以撒生的才要稱為你的後裔。」他以為神還能叫人從死裏復活，他也彷彿從死中得回他的兒子來。』(希伯來書 11:17-19) 神要亞伯拉罕獻上以撒而亞伯拉罕照做了，獻祭都是獻死祭，所以亞伯拉罕知道獻以撒會使以撒死，而他又知道以撒有後裔，那麼以撒非活不可，也就是為什麼說亞伯拉罕是相信神能使人死而復活。最後是以撒沒有真死，所以只是彷彿，因神在此時要介紹的是取代的概念，而不是要讓以撒死而復活，這要等到新約中的耶穌，祂是死而復活而活到永久。難怪『亞伯拉罕給那地方起名叫「耶和華以勒」，直到今日人還說：「在耶和華的山上必有預備。」』(創世記 22:14) 所以這裏是說

一定要在耶和華的山上，神必有預備，所以我們要準備好自己，在耶和華的山上。

     新舊約都是同一位神，祂從不改變。『不要自欺，神是輕慢不得的。…』(加拉太書 6:7) 神愛世人，為我們準備了救恩，但祂也說得清楚，『公義和公平，是你寶座的根基；慈愛和誠實，行在你前面。』(詩篇 89:14) 我們不能騙自己在新約中只能說講愛而不說到祂也是有公義的神，我們要傳講神的愛，也同時要人瞭解他的公義，在神僕人摩西的歌和羔羊的歌的內容中不是很清楚的說，『…獨有你是聖的，…你公義的作為已經顯出來了。』(啓示錄 15:4) 我們可從啓示錄中，看到神最終的審判，那真的不是我們所想要的。我們不要作那不信的人，因為『信他的人，不被定罪；不信的人，罪已經定了，因為他不信神獨生子的名。』(約翰福音 3:18)

     『總要趁着還有今日，天天彼此相勸，免得你們中間有人被罪迷惑，心裏就剛硬了。我們若將起初確實的信心堅持到底，就在基督裏有分了。』(希伯來書 3:13-14) 我們要有一個能聽的耳，我們知道，『可見信道是從聽道來的，聽道是從基督的話來的。』(羅馬書 10:17) 沒有一個能聽的耳會影響我們的救恩，因為我們會因此而看不到神做的事，人有自由意志，神只好任憑我們自己做錯誤的決定，這是很可怕的！

2. 七碗的開始和第一碗

       『此後，我看見在天上那存法櫃的殿開了。那掌管七災的七位天使從殿中出來，穿着潔白光明的細麻衣，胸間束着金帶。四活物中有一個把盛滿了活到永永遠遠之神大怒的七個金碗給了那七位天使。因神的榮耀和能力，殿中充滿了煙。於是沒有人能以進殿，直等到那七位天使所降的七災完畢了。我聽見有大聲音從殿中出來，向那七位天使說：「你們去，把盛神大怒的七碗倒在地上！」第一位天使便去，把碗倒在地上，就有惡而且毒的瘡生在那些有獸印記、拜獸像的人身上。』(啓示錄 15:1-16:2)

      我們以前分享過，殿的打開是為著審判而來就不多講了。第一碗的災難只是開始，這也是以前警告過的，『…那些拜獸和獸像，受牠名之印記的，晝夜不得安寧。』(啓示錄 14:11) 即使有這警告，人還是如此做。我們以前分享過，天上有約櫃外，除了擺陳設餅的桌子，還有其他會幕中的每一件器具。這桌子的目的本是要為奉獻於神而有的，在天上是以實際的行動取代了有形的桌子。因為地上的物件要反射出天上的物件，所以很清楚的說，『製造帳幕和其中的一切器具，都要照我所指示你的樣式。』(出埃及記 25:9)

        我們看到殿的顯現是為著審判，開始了七碗，我們也看到了那時沒有人能進殿。在舊約中立起帳幕時，『當時，雲彩遮蓋會幕，耶和華的榮光就充滿了帳幕。摩西不能進會幕，因為雲彩停在其上，並且耶和華的榮光充滿了帳幕。』(出埃及記 40:34-35) 在建立所羅門聖殿時發生過兩次，一次是在祭司將耶和華的約櫃抬進至聖所後，在他們出聖所的時候後，『…那時，耶和華的殿有雲充滿，甚至祭司不能站立供職，因為耶和華的榮光充滿了神的殿。』(歷代志下 5:13-14) 當『所羅門祈禱已畢，就有火從天上降下來，燒盡燔祭和別的祭。耶和華的榮光充滿了殿。因耶和華的榮光充滿了耶和華殿，所以祭司不能進殿。』(歷代志下 7:1-2)

     在回歸重建聖殿時，我們沒有看見耶和華的榮光充滿了殿。為什麼會這樣，其實聖經是重建了，但花了許多的時間，從波斯王塞魯士第二年二月立這殿的根基(參以斯拉記 3:8-12)，到『大利烏王第六年，亞達月初三日，這殿修成了。』(以斯拉記 6:15) 而其間還需要『…耶和華的話臨到先知哈該說：「這殿仍然荒涼，你們自己還住天花板的房屋嗎？」』(哈該書 1:3-4) 和前兩次神的榮光充滿的光景相比，的確是不能比。

3. 第二碗到第五碗

       『第二位天使把碗倒在海裏，海就變成血，好像死人的血，海中的活物都死了。第三位天使把碗倒在江河與眾水的泉源裏，水就變成血了。我聽見掌管眾水的天使說：「昔在、今在的聖者啊，你這樣判斷是公義的！他們曾流聖徒與先知的血，現在你給他們血喝，這是他們所該受的。」我又聽見祭壇中有聲音說：「是的，主神，全能者啊！你的判斷義哉！誠哉！」第四位天使把碗倒在日頭上，叫日頭能用火烤人。人被大熱所烤，就褻瀆那有權掌管這些災的神之名，並不悔改將榮耀歸給神。第五位天使把碗倒在獸的座位上，獸的國就黑暗了。人因疼痛就咬自己的舌頭；又因所受的疼痛和生的瘡，就褻瀆天上的神，並不悔改所行的。』(啓示錄 16:3-11)

        我們首先把第二碗和第二號比較，『第二位天使吹號，就有彷彿火燒着的大山扔在海中。海的三分之一變成血，海中的活物死了三分之一，船隻也壞了三分之一。』(啓示錄 8:8-9) 這第二碗的災難和第二號的災難有些類似，只是更嚴重了！同樣的，你們以較一些，就知道第三碗比第三號更嚴重些，且人沒有水不能存活，即使是血水也非喝不可，難怪說『他們曾流聖徒與先知的血，現在你給他們血喝，這是他們所該受的。』(啓示錄 16:6) 

        第四號時是日月星的三分之一黑暗了，第四碗卻是叫日頭能用火烤人，看起好像矛盾，其實沒有矛盾，從現在的科技來說，只需要神在那段時間中控制太陽上的核反應就可以了，神是全能的神，這點對祂來說實在是小事一件。我們看到人心實在剛硬，仍不悔改所作的，只看到眼前的事，卻忘了根源，猶如在耶利米書中所說，『那些住在埃及地巴忒羅知道自己妻子向別神燒香的，與旁邊站立的眾婦女，聚集成羣，回答耶利米說：「論到你奉耶和華的名向我們所說的話，我們必不聽從。我們定要成就我們口中所出的一切話，向天后燒香、澆奠祭，按着我們與我們列祖、君王、首領在猶大的城邑中和耶路撒冷的街市上素常所行的一樣；因為那時我們吃飽飯、享福樂，並不見災禍。自從我們停止向天后燒香、澆奠祭，我們倒缺乏一切，又因刀劍饑荒滅絕。」』(耶利米書 44:15-18) 是神在這之前保守了他們，而他們不自知，以為以前做的是對的，直到神追討他們罪過的時候，因為『凡事都有定期，天下萬務都有定時。』(傳道書 3:1) 不是神有問題，是我們有問題。

     最後是，『加利亞的兒子約哈難和一切軍長卻將所剩下的猶大人，…與先知耶利米以及尼利亞的兒子巴錄，都帶入埃及地，到了答比匿。這是因他們不聽從耶和華的話。』(耶利米書 43:5-7) 雖然耶利米警告過他們，『所以萬軍之耶和華以色列的神如此說：我必向你們變臉降災，以致剪除猶大眾人。那定意進入埃及地、在那裏寄居的，就是所剩下的猶大人，我必使他們盡都滅絕。…』(耶利米書 44:11-12)

        第五號時，只是…開了無底坑，便有煙從坑裏往上冒，好像大火爐的煙，日頭和天空都因這煙昏暗了。』(啓示錄 9:2) 但現在獸的國是全黑暗了，只是人心更加剛硬，褻瀆且並不悔改，實在不能說神沒有給人機會悔改。

4. 第六碗

       『第六位天使把碗倒在幼發拉底大河上，河水就乾了，要給那從日出之地所來的眾王預備道路。我又看見三個污穢的靈，好像青蛙，從龍口、獸口並假先知的口中出來。他們本是鬼魔的靈，施行奇事，出去到普天下眾王那裏，叫他們在神全能者的大日聚集爭戰。（看哪！我來像賊一樣。那警醒、看守衣服、免得赤身而行叫人見他羞恥的有福了！）那三個鬼魔便叫眾王聚集在一處，希伯來話叫作哈米吉多頓。』(啓示錄 16:12-16)

        我們首先要說是那三個污穢的靈是偽三位一體，我們在『2100 從海中和地中上來的兩獸 – 啓示錄 (10) 』詳細的討論過這點，對這話題有興趣的人可以到『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』的網站後，按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』，找到這篇短文。

       從這裏可看主還沒有再來，因仍說祂來像賊一樣。在這裏又可以看到上次「2021」中，談到的啓示錄 14:6-20 是說以後要發生審判之事的大綱，因其中提到雲上的人子的事，尚未在時間中發生。在以後的啓示錄中，的確沒有說到耶穌再來的確實時間。

        最後我們看到了哈米吉多頓的戰役，對偽三位一體來說，這的確是最後的一次大戰，因為接著『…假先知，也與獸同被擒拿。他們兩個就活活地被扔在燒着硫磺的火湖裏。』(啓示錄 19:20) 撒但也被捉住，就開始了千年國度(參啓示錄 20:1-6) 最後的一次的大戰是在千年國度後，只有撒但介入，撒但被放出來後就迷惑地上四方的列國，圍住聖徒的營與蒙愛的城，就有火從天降下，燒滅了他們。那迷惑他們的魔鬼被扔在硫磺的火湖裏，就是獸和假先知所在的地方。他們必晝夜受痛苦，直到永永遠遠。(參啓示錄 20:7-10)

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)