約書亞記 第07章 中英摘要

  神是愛,神也是烈火。約書亞記第7章裡面,亞干拿了當滅之物,被石頭打死。不過是偷件衣服、二百舍客勒銀子、一條金子,有必要死嗎?神為什麼這麼嚴格?這是因為亞干的罪不是「拿」、而是「違背」神的話。神在一個時代的關鍵點,執行命令是必須非常嚴格確實的。非常時期、使用非常原則。這就比如軍隊在打仗、作戰的緊急時刻,軍令如山,所有口令動作都必須嚴格遵守。

  回顧約書亞記第6章,以色列人戰勝了當時迦南地最強的耶利哥城。其實我們人的心裡有很多仇敵、很多難處,就像是強大的耶利哥城。困難就是肉體的軟弱,肉體是生命、本來是好的,但經過人不順服神,罪進到肉體裡。人生的困難,可能來自家人、鄰居或老闆,而真正的問題,其實只有一兩個。攻打耶利哥城,就是神要我們針對最重要、最困難的點去解決。處理了核心問題,其他問題就跟著迎刃而解了。即使肉體漸漸毀壞,我們的靈命卻能因著神而越來越剛強。在人不能、在神無所不能,因在神沒有難成的事。

  第7章以色列人攻打艾城,卻遭遇慘敗。原因就是來自輕敵。艾城跟耶利哥城相較,的確是很小的城,但驕者必敗,錯誤評估敵情的以色列人、只派兩三千出戰,大意輕敵,以致嚐到失敗苦果。第二個失敗的原因,是輕忽神。他們忽略之前是如何依靠神攻打耶利哥城而得勝,而此次艾城之行並未先禱告神。

  艾城的人擊殺了以色列三十六人,眾民的心消化如水。約書亞哀哭,神說,就是因為有人犯了罪,違背了命令,拿了不該拿的東西。百姓必須自潔,當滅之物若不除掉,以色列人在仇敵面前將站立不住,神也不再與人同在了。

  這一章節讓我們了解,我們要自潔、要認罪悔改、不可輕敵、輕慢,並時時敬畏神、禱告神、交託神,把神的話當作食物,並且按部就班、循序漸進地接受訓練,裝備自己。每個弟兄姊妹都有不同恩賜與長處,就像是各個不同的器皿,為主所用。人是先看到人,才認識神。我們以行動認真服事,人看到你的典範,才會跟隨你、走向神。

2015/9/10 葉長老 風美小組信息 / 孝偲 摘錄整理

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Joshua 7

  God is love, but He is also fire. In Joshua 7, Achan was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things, and was stoned to death. He only took a robe, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekel, did he deserve to die? Why was God so harsh on him? We need to know that Achan’s sin was not in taking those things but in disobeying God. In a crucial time of an era, God has to be very strict and precise in executing His orders. His principles must be observed with extra care in such a critical moment. This is like an army that is engaging in a war; in such a crucial moment, every order must be strictly obeyed.

  Let us look back to Joshua 6. In that chapter, the Israelites took down the most powerful city in the land of Canaan, Jericho. In fact, we all have to face our enemies and different difficulties, just like the powerful Jericho. The difficulties can be the weakness of our flesh. Our body is our life, which should be good. However, because of the disobedience of man, sin came into our flesh. Our difficulties can also come from our families, neighbors, or bosses, but there would be only one or two real problems to be dealt with. The Israelites’ taking down of Jericho symbolizes that God wants us to deal with the most serious and difficult problems in our lives. When we solve the core issues in our lives, other minor problems will also be solved. Even though our bodies will deteriorate gradually, but our spirit will become stronger because of God. “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Nothing is impossible for God.

  In Joshua 7, the Israelites attacked Ai, but they failed to take it down. It was because they underestimated the enemy. Comparing to Jericho, Ai was indeed a small city, but pride goes before a fall. The Israelites sent only 2000-3000 people out to take the city; they underestimated their enemy, so they failed. The second reason for the failure of the Israelites was that they ignored God. They forgot how they took down Jericho through the power of God, and they didn’t pray to God before they set out to take Ai.

People from Ai killed 36 Israelites, at this the hearts of the Israelites melted in fear and became like water. Joshua cried to God, and God told him that they were defeated because the Israel had sinned and disobeyed God’s command; they took things they should not have taken. The Israelites must consecrate themselves and remove the devoted things among them, otherwise God would not be with them anymore and they would not be able to stand against their enemies.

  In this chapter, we learn that we need to repent and consecrate ourselves. We also learn that we should not be proud and underestimate our enemies. We should always stand in awe of God and pray to Him. We should take God’s words as food. We should gradually equip ourselves, and train ourselves step by step. We all have different gifts, in a sense, we are like different kinds of vessels, but we will all be used by God. People will know God through you; if we take our belief and service to God seriously, people will see our good behaviors and follow us to God.

2015/9/10 Message by Elder Yeh