神的異象
我看見主
經文
出埃及記二十四章1至18節
1耶和華對摩西說:你和亞倫、拿答、亞比戶,並以色列長老中的七十人,都要上到我這裡來,遠遠的下拜。
2惟獨你可以親近耶和華;他們卻不可親近;百姓也不可和你一同上來。
3摩西下山,將耶和華的命令典章都述說與百姓聽。眾百姓齊聲說:耶和華所吩咐的,我們都必遵行。
4摩西將耶和華的命令都寫上。清早起來,在山下築一座壇,按以色列十二支派立十二根柱子,
5又打發以色列人中的少年人去獻燔祭,又向耶和華獻牛為平安祭。
6摩西將血一半盛在盆中,一半洒在壇上;
7又將約書念給百姓聽。他們說:耶和華所吩咐的,我們都必遵行。
8摩西將血洒在百姓身上,說:你看!這是立約的血,是耶和華按這一切話與你們立約的憑據。
9摩西、亞倫、拿答、亞比戶,並以色列長老中的七十人,都上了山。
10他們看見以色列的神,他腳下彷彿有平鋪的藍寶石,如同天色明淨。
11他的手不加害在以色列的尊者身上。他們觀看神;他們又吃又喝。
12耶和華對摩西說:你上山到我這裡來,住在這裡,我要將石版並我所寫的律法和誡命賜給你,使你可以教訓百姓。
13摩西和他的幫手約書亞起來,上了神的山。
14摩西對長老說:你們在這裡等著,等到我們再回來,有亞倫、戶珥與你們同在。凡有爭訟的,都可以就近他們去。
15摩西上山,有雲彩把山遮蓋。
16耶和華的榮耀停於西乃山;雲彩遮蓋山六天,第七天他從雲中召摩西。
17耶和華的榮耀在山頂上,在以色列人眼前,形狀如烈火。
18摩西進入雲中上山,在山上四十晝夜。
信息分享
我要給大家一個提醒,在我們開始思想信息的這幾天裡,佔據在我們內心的一個意識是:神容許我們腳下的支柱被除去,是為了讓我們對祂全然倚靠;這不論是對國家或個人來說,都是那麼的真實。
我們現在正處於很大的國際動盪之中──包括在意識形態、政治和經濟等方面。每一個管理神的宇宙的計劃,只要是與神自己的計劃不同,都會證明是無效的。我很喜歡這樣的一個小故事:一個小男孩在上主日學時,老師要他用組成復活節(Easter)的幾個字母,作為一個詞句的開頭字母,結果他說:「所有別的救主都提早退休」(Every Alternative Saviour Takes Early Retirement)。所有欠缺耶穌基督的系統都註定會失敗,因為它們沒有與宇宙和諧一致。也許,最偉大的佈道工具便是列國的動搖。因為世界上能夠動搖的都被動搖了,以致那不能動搖的便顯露出來。神正以很多人所不明白的方式來預備世界,以迎接祂的國度顯現。
但你個人的生命又怎樣呢?它有沒有被搖動了?你最近有些甚麼樣的經歷?你有沒有好像以賽亞那樣,看到你的希望和期待被放在棺材裡?如果有,你便要注意──這一切都可能是神給你新異象的前奏。神往往需要將我們內心的寶座清理好,然後才能夠以祂自己來把它填滿。最後,你可能會說:「在我所有盼望和期望都失去的那一年,我看見主!」
「神正預備世界,以迎接祂的國度顯現」
進深研究
創三十二1-31;出二十四9-11
1. 那個人向雅各說了甚麼?
2. 雅各如何形容他遇見那人的地方?
祈禱
天父,我多麼渴望前面的日子充滿異象和機遇。求您以我以前從不知道的方式向我顯出您的榮耀。奉基督我主的名祈求。阿們。
The Vision of God
"I saw the Lord"
Bible reading:
Exodus 24:1-18
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You are to worship at a distance.
2 but Moses alone is to approach the Lord; the others must not come near. And the people may not come up with him."
3 When Moses went and told the people all the Lord's words and laws, they responded with one voice, "Everything the Lord has said we will do."
4 Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said. He got up early the next morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up twelve stone pillars representing the twelve tribes of Israel.
5 Then he sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord.
6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splashed against the altar.
7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey."
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, "This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words."
9 Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up.
10 and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.
11 But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, "Come up to me on the mountain and stay here, and I will give you the tablets of stone with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction."
13 Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide, and Moses went up on the mountain of God.
14 He said to the elders, "Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them."
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it,
16 and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud.
17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
18 Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
Message
I remind you that the thought occupying our minds in these opening days of our meditations is this: God allows the props to be knocked out from beneath our feet in order that we might rest our weight fully upon Him. And this is as true for nations as it is for individuals.
We are in the midst of a great international shake-up at the moment - ideologically, politically, and economically. Every programme for the running of God's universe which is an alternative to His own is being shown to be ineffective. I love the story of the little boy in Sunday school who, when asked to make an acrostic from the word Easter, came up with this: "Every Alternative Saviour Takes Early Retirement." All systems that leave out Jesus Christ are doomed to failure for they are not in harmony with the universe. Probably the greatest form of evangelism that is going on at the moment is the shaking of the nations. What is shakeable is being shaken so that the unshakeable might appear. God is preparing the world for the revelation of His kingdom in a way that many cannot discern.
But what about your own personal life? Is that being shaken? What kind of experiences have you had recently? Have you seen, as Isaiah did, your hopes and expectations put in a coffin? Then take heart - all this could be the prelude to a new vision of God. God has often to empty the throne of our hearts before He fills it with Himself. You may yet say: "In the year that all my hopes and expectations came crashing down, I saw the Lord."
"God is preparing the world for the revelation of His kingdom"
Prayer
O Father, how I long that the months ahead will become for me ones of vision and venture. Show me Your glory, I pray, in a way I have never known before. I ask this in and through the Name of Christ my Lord. Amen.
Further study
Genesis 32:1-31
Exodus 24:9-11
1. What did the man say to Jacob?
2. What did Jacob say of the place where he met the man?
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