從迷惘到信靠
神──那偉大的「我是」
經文
出埃及記六1-8
1耶和華對摩西說:現在你必看見我向法老所行的事,使他因我大能的手容以色列人去,且把他們趕出他的地。
2神曉諭摩西說:我是耶和華。
3我從前向亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各顯現為全能的神;至於我名耶和華,他們未曾知道。
4我與他們堅定所立的約,要把他們寄居的迦南地賜給他們。
5我也聽見以色列人被埃及人苦待的哀聲,我也記念我的約。
6所以你要對以色列人說:我是耶和華;我要用伸出來的膀臂重重的刑罰埃及人,救贖你們脫離他們的重擔,不作他們的苦工。
7我要以你們為我的百姓,我也要作你們的神。你們要知道我是耶和華你們的神,是救你們脫離埃及人之重擔的。
8我起誓應許給亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的那地,我要把你們領進去,將那地賜給你們為業。我是耶和華。
信息分享
我們看到哈巴谷怎樣建立一個可以思考問題的屬靈處境;我們也看到他的辦法是以可靠和毫無爭議的事實──神的本性、品格和屬性──來重新確保自己對神的倚靠。
昨天我們看到他以聚焦於神的永恆本性來重新恢復自己的信心,接著他又以神的存在來提醒自己,他祈求的對象是「耶和華我的神」(哈一12),正如原來希伯來語的意思一樣,他是採用了神的偉大名字──耶和華來作這個禱告。「耶和華」這名字告訴我們,神是自己存在的神,是永恆的「我是」。神曾吩咐摩西告訴以色列人說:「那自有的,打發我到你們這裡來」(出三14),就是這時神給摩西祂自己的名字。「我是自有永有」的意思是「我是絕對、自存的一位」。自存是表示神不是倚靠其他人才能存在的。請仔細思考這一重點!祂是永恆中唯一不倚靠任何人或物而存在的(當然,除了三位一體其他的成員在外)。
哈巴谷的下一步是向自己重新保證神是聖潔的,他說:「我的聖者」(哈一12)。這是另一個定點──神是絕對正義的。當你注意這樣的經文時,不禁會提問:主可以做不公義的事情嗎?當然不能;這是絕對不可思議的事情。但是這對先知有甚麼影響呢?有的,他的問題因此開始消失。為甚麼?因為當我們把神看得越大,我們的困難就會變得越小。
「神不需倚靠任何人」
進深研究
約十1-36,六35,八23,八58,十一25
1. 列出上述經文中基督的「我是」。
2. 在約翰福音中另外找出五個「我是」。
祈禱
神啊,求您幫助我,將我所有的困難都放在您的本性和您的品格這個框架內。我知道如果我這樣做,就不會認為它們是不能解決的。阿們。
From Confusion to Confidence
God - the great "I Am"
Bible reading:
Exodus 6:1-8
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."
2 God also said to Moses, "I am the Lord.
3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,[a] but by my name the Lord[b] I did not make myself fully known to them.
4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners.
5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.
8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.'"
Message
We are looking at the way in which Habakkuk established a spiritual context in which he could think through his problem, and we are seeing that his strategy was to sure himself with those things which are reliable and beyond dispute the nature, the character and the attributes of God.
Yesterday we saw how he reassured himself by focusing on the eternal nature of God. Next he reminds himself of God's self-existence. He calls on the "Lord my God" (Hab. 1:12, AV). Here, as can be seen from the original Hebrew, he uses that great name for God - Jehovah. That name tells us that God is the self-existing One, the eternal "I Am". This was the name which God gave to Moses when He told him to say to the Israelites: "I Am has sent me to you" (Ex. 3:14). The name "I Am who I Am" means "I am the Absolute, the self-existent One." Self-existence means that God is dependent upon no one. Just think of that! He is the only being in eternity (apart, of course, from the other members of the Trinity) who does not depend upon anyone or anything for His existence.
Habakkuk's next step is to reassure himself with the thought of God's holiness: "My Holy One" (Hab. 1:12). Here is another fixed point - God is absolutely righteous. The moment you focus on a Scripture like that, you are forced to ask: Can the Lord do anything that is unrighteous? Of course not; such a thing is unthinkable. What is the effect of this on the prophet? His problem begins to fade. And why? Because the bigger our view of God, the smaller our view of our problems.
"God is dependent upon no one"
Prayer
O God, help me to set all my problems within the framework of Your nature and Your character. I know that if I can do this, then I will see them no longer as unsolvable, but as solutions in disguise. Amen.
Further study
John 10:1-36; 6:35; 8:23; 8:58; 11:25
1. List the "I Am's" of Christ in the above verses.
2. Find 5 more in John's Gospel.
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