神的異象
多麼可惜!
經文
以賽亞書八1-10
1耶和華對我說:你取一個大牌,拿人所用的筆(或譯:人常用的字),寫上瑪黑珥沙拉勒哈施罷斯(就是擄掠速臨、搶奪快到的意思)。
2我要用誠實的見證人,祭司烏利亞和耶比利家的兒子撒迦利亞記錄這事。
3我─以賽亞與妻子(原文是女先知)同室;他懷孕生子,耶和華就對我說:給他起名叫瑪黑珥沙拉勒哈施罷斯;
4因為在這小孩子不曉得叫父叫母之先,大馬色的財寶和撒瑪利亞的擄物必在亞述王面前搬了去。
5耶和華又曉諭我說:
6這百姓既厭棄西羅亞緩流的水,喜悅利汛和利瑪利的兒子;
7因此,主必使大河翻騰的水猛然沖來,就是亞述王和他所有的威勢,必漫過一切的水道,漲過兩岸;
8必沖入猶大,漲溢氾濫,直到頸項。以馬內利啊,他展開翅膀,遍滿你的地。
9列國的人民哪,任憑你們喧嚷,終必破壞;遠方的眾人哪,當側耳而聽!任憑你們束起腰來,終必破壞;你們束起腰來,終必破壞。
10任憑你們同謀,終歸無有;任憑你們言定,終不成立;因為神與我們同在。
信息分享
在我們來研讀以賽亞在聖殿裡領受從神而來的一個悲劇性的異象以前,我們必須先對他的個人歷史有一個認識。
我們不能確實知道以賽亞在甚麼時候出生,但我們知道他是在烏西雅、約坦、亞哈斯和希西家的時代說預言,所以他的事奉是大約在主前740到至少主前687年期間展開的。「以賽亞」這個名字的意思是「耶和華拯救」。我們今天的經文顯示他和一位「女先知」結了婚(3節),並有兩個兒子:施亞雅述(七3)和瑪黑珥沙拉勒哈施罷斯。正如你記得的,這位先知向我們介紹他所看見的神的異象時說:「當烏西雅王崩的那年,我見主……」烏西雅是誰?他是主前791至740年期間猶大的王。最初他是敬虔的君王,但後來他在聖殿燒香(代下二十六16-21:),因而患上大痲瘋,一直到死時都沒有痊癒。
烏西雅王死的時候,猶大進入了一段黑暗時期。在這靈性低潮的時候,以賽亞得到耶和華的異象,振奮起來。以賽亞的異象在烏西雅死後不久出現,這是出於巧合嗎?我認為不是。在某種程度上,烏西雅的死觸發了以賽亞的靈性危機,令他更準備好將目光從地上轉到天上。這對生命來說是多麼真實啊。只有當某些事情發生,令我們一敗塗地時,我們才會向上看。有時地上的保障需要被除去,然後我們才能看到坐在寶座上神的榮耀。這是多麼可惜的事!
「我們總是在一敗塗地的時候才懂得仰望神」
進深研究
伯四十二1-5;詩一四一1-10
1. 約伯看見神的偉大以後說了甚麼?
2. 詩篇的作者觀察惡人的時候說了甚麼?
祈禱
天父,我感到非常的難過,因為我在生活中,常常將注意力集中在周圍的事物多於上面的事情。求您赦免我,幫助我將視線多放在天上。奉主耶穌的聖名祈求。阿們。
The Vision of God
How sad!
Bible reading:
Isaiah 8:1-10
1 The Lord said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz."[a]
2 So I called in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me.
3 Then I made love to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
4 For before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria."
5 The Lord spoke to me again:
6 "Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates— the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks
8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, Immanuel[b]!"
9 Raise the war cry,[c] you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
Message
Before concentrating on the dramatic vision given to Isaiah in the Temple, we must take a few moments to acquaint ourselves with his personal history.
We do not know exactly when Isaiah was born but we do know that he prophesied during the time of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. This puts his ministry from around 740 to at least 687 BC. The name "Isaiah" means "the Lord saves", and the passage before us today shows that he was married to a "prophetess" (v.3) and had two sons - Shear Jashub (7:3) and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. The prophet, you remember, introduced his vision of God to us by informing us that "in the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord." Just who was Uzziah? Uzziah was king of Judah from 791 to 740 BC. At first he was a godly king, but when he burned incense in the Temple (2 Chron. 26:16-21) he was struck with leprosy and remained leprous until his death.
When Uzziah died, a period of darkness descended on Judah. In the midst of this spiritual despondency Isaiah was given a vision of the Lord high and lifted up. Was the fact that Isaiah's vision occurred soon after Uzziah's death a mere coincidence? I don't think so. In some way Uzziah's death triggered in Isaiah a spiritual crisis that made him more ready to lift his gaze from earth to heaven. How true to life this is. We look up only when something happens that knocks us flat on our backs. How sad that sometimes earthly securities have to be removed before we can see the glory of Him who sits upon the throne.
"We look up only when we are knocked back"
Prayer
Father, I am deeply sorry that I go through life with my gaze focused more on that which is around me than on that which is above me. Forgive me and help me develop a more heavenward gaze. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Further study
Job 42:1-5
Psalm 141:1-10
1. What did Job say after he saw God's greatness?
2. What did the psalmist say on observing the evildoers?
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