神的异象
执行失败任务的呼召！
经文
耶利米书五18-31
18耶和华说：就是到那时，我也不将你们毁灭净尽。
19百姓若说：耶和华我们的神为甚么向我们行这一切事呢？你就对他们说：你们怎样离弃耶和华（原文是我），在你们的地上事奉外邦神，也必照样在不属你们的地上事奉外邦人。
20当传扬在雅各家，报告在犹大说：
21愚昧无知的百姓啊，你们有眼不看，有耳不听，现在当听这话。
22耶和华说：你们怎么不惧怕我呢？我以永远的定例，用沙为海的界限，水不得越过。因此，你们在我面前还不战兢吗？波浪虽然翻腾，却不能逾越；虽然匉訇，却不能过去。
23但这百姓有背叛忤逆的心；他们叛我而去，
24心内也不说：我们应当敬畏耶和华我们的神；他按时赐雨，就是秋雨春雨，又为我们定收割的节令，永存不废。
25你们的罪孽使这些事转离你们；你们的罪恶使你们不能得福。
26因为在我民中有恶人。他们埋伏窥探，好像捕鸟的人；他们设立圈套陷害人。
27笼内怎样满了雀鸟，他们的房中也照样充满诡诈；所以他们得成为大，而且富足。
28他们肥胖光润，作恶过甚，不为人伸冤！就是不为孤儿伸冤，不使他亨通，也不为穷人辨屈。
29耶和华说：我岂不因这些事讨罪呢？岂不报复这样的国民呢？
30国中有可惊骇、可憎恶的事：
31就是先知说假预言，祭司藉他们把持权柄；我的百姓也喜爱这些事，到了结局你们怎样行呢？
信息分享
当以赛亚以「我在这里，请差遣我」回应了神的呼召后，以下的话便描述了神给他的任务：「你去告诉这百姓说：『你们听是要听见，却不明白；看是要看见，却不晓得。』要使这百姓心蒙脂油，耳朵发沉，眼睛昏迷；恐怕眼睛看见，耳朵听见，心里明白，回转过来，便得医治。」（赛六9-10）。这是多么令人沮丧的任务──它是一个去面对失败的任务！神清楚告诉以赛亚，他的资讯是带着讽刺但恰当的效果，让犹大那些叛逆的百姓硬着他们麻木的心，而显示出审判的警告更为确实。
以赛亚愿意成为神的使者后，神告诉他，他的资讯会使人心变硬而不是软化。你认为以赛亚听了有甚么感受？他所得到的不是拯救的话，而是冷酷的话。无论他有甚么感受，我们清楚地看到一件事──他开始忠心地传讲神所要他说的话。
我在想，要是神委派我们去执行失败的任务，那么有多少人还会以「我在这里，请差遣我」来回应神？就我个人来说，我会有很大的挣扎。当使命临到的时候，如果我们不知道结果会是成功还是失败的话，很少人会愿意去执行神所吩咐的事。也许那是因为我们对神的认识不够。我们只是看到神的一部分。
「不是要他明白，而是要他坚立」
进深研究
太二十六36-45，六10；罗六13
1. 耶稣怎样回应一条似乎是引向失败的路？
2. 在主祷文中，有甚么是我们需要继续呼应的？
祈祷
神啊！我是您的门徒，但有时我会害怕跟随您的带领。求您帮助我按您的吩咐去做而不问结果。也求您帮助我不是按我的感受，而是按您的话去衡量成功。奉耶稣的名祈求，阿们。
The Vision of God
A call to failure!
Bible reading:
Jeremiah 5:18-31
18 "Yet even in those days," declares the Lord, "I will not destroy you completely.
19 And when the people ask, 'Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?' you will tell them, 'As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.'
20 "Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah:
21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear:
22 Should you not fear me?" declares the Lord. "Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.
23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away.
24 They do not say to themselves, 'Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.'
25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good.
26 "Among my people are the wicked who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch people.
27 Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful
28 and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor.
29 Should I not punish them for this?" declares the Lord. "Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?
30 "A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?
Message
Once Isaiah has responded to the call of God with the words "Here am I. Send me!" the task he has been set is given in these words: "Go and tell this people: 'Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed!" (Isa. 6:9-10). What a depressing commission. This is none other than a call to failure! God clearly tells Isaiah that his message will have the ironic but justly deserved effect of hardening the callous hearts of the rebellious people of Judah, thus rendering the warnings of judgment sure.
How do you think Isaiah felt about the fact that after offering himself as a messenger of God he is told that his message will have a hardening rather than a softening effect? He is given not so much a saving word as a searing word. Whatever he felt, we know one thing for certain - he set out to faithfully preach the word he had been given.
How many of us, I wonder, would respond to God with the words "Here I am. Send me!" if we thought God would commission us to failure? Speaking personally, I think I would have a big struggle with that. When the chips are down, few of us are willing to do what God says when we don't know whether the outcome will be successful or not. Perhaps it is because we don't know God well enough. We have seen Him only in part.
"It was not up to him to understand, but to stand"
Prayer
O God, I am Your disciple, but sometimes I am afraid to follow where You lead me. Help me do Your bidding whatever the outcome. And help me evaluate success not by what my senses say, but by what You say. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Further study
Matthew 26:36-45; 6:10
Romans 6:13
1. How did Jesus respond to what seemed a path to failure?
2. What do we need to continually echo in the Lord's prayer?
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背景音乐版权属 赞美之泉音乐事工 所有，承蒙允准使用。