《士師vs自私》Day 05
總要看見的基甸
1 以色列人又行耶和華眼中看為惡的事，耶和華就把他們交在米甸人手裏七年。 2 米甸人壓制以色列人；以色列人因為米甸人，就在山中挖穴、挖洞、建造營寨。 3 以色列人每逢撒種之後，米甸人、亞瑪力人，和東方人都上來攻打他們， 4 對着他們安營，毀壞土產，直到迦薩，沒有給以色列人留下食物，牛、羊、驢也沒有留下； 5 因為那些人帶着牲畜帳棚來，像蝗蟲那樣多，人和駱駝無數，都進入國內，毀壞全地。 6 以色列人因米甸人的緣故，極其窮乏，就呼求耶和華。7 以色列人因米甸人的緣故，呼求耶和華， 8 耶和華就差遣先知到以色列人那裏，對他們說：「耶和華－以色列的上帝如此說：『我曾領你們從埃及上來，出了為奴之家， 9救你們脫離埃及人的手，並脫離一切欺壓你們之人的手，把他們從你們面前趕出，將他們的地賜給你們』； 10 又對你們說：『我是耶和華－你們的上帝。你們住在亞摩利人的地，不可敬畏他們的神。你們竟不聽從我的話。』」
11 耶和華的使者到了俄弗拉，坐在亞比以謝族人約阿施的橡樹下。約阿施的兒子基甸正在酒醡那裏打麥子，為要防備米甸人。 12 耶和華的使者向基甸顯現，對他說：「大能的勇士啊，耶和華與你同在！」 13 基甸說：「主啊，耶和華若與我們同在，我們何致遭遇這一切事呢？我們的列祖不是向我們說『耶和華領我們從埃及上來』嗎？祂那樣奇妙的作為在哪裏呢？現在祂卻丟棄我們，將我們交在米甸人手裏。」 14 耶和華觀看基甸，說：「你靠着你這能力去從米甸人手裏拯救以色列人，不是我差遣你去的嗎？」 15 基甸說：「主啊，我有何能拯救以色列人呢？我家在瑪拿西支派中是至貧窮的。我在我父家是至微小的。」 16 耶和華對他說：「我與你同在，你就必擊打米甸人，如擊打一人一樣。」 17 基甸說：「我若在祢眼前蒙恩，求祢給我一個證據，使我知道與我說話的就是主。 18 求祢不要離開這裏，等我歸回將禮物帶來供在祢面前。」主說：「我必等你回來。」19 基甸去預備了一隻山羊羔，用一伊法細麵做了無酵餅，將肉放在筐內，把湯盛在壺中，帶到橡樹下，獻在使者面前。 20 上帝的使者吩咐基甸說：「將肉和無酵餅放在這磐石上，把湯倒出來。」他就這樣行了。 21 耶和華的使者伸出手內的杖，杖頭挨了肉和無酵餅，就有火從磐石中出來，燒盡了肉和無酵餅。耶和華的使者也就不見了。 22 基甸見他是耶和華的使者，就說：「哀哉！主耶和華啊，我不好了，因為我覿面看見耶和華的使者。」 23 耶和華對他說：「你放心，不要懼怕，你必不致死。」 24 於是基甸在那裏為耶和華築了一座壇，起名叫「耶和華沙龍」。（這壇在亞比以謝族的俄弗拉直到如今。）(士師記六1-24)
36 基甸對上帝說：「祢若果照着所說的話，藉我手拯救以色列人， 37 我就把一團羊毛放在禾場上：若單是羊毛上有露水，別的地方都是乾的，我就知道祢必照着所說的話，藉我手拯救以色列人。」 38 次日早晨基甸起來，見果然是這樣；將羊毛擠一擠，從羊毛中擰出滿盆的露水來。 39 基甸又對上帝說：「求祢不要向我發怒，我再說這一次：讓我將羊毛再試一次。但願羊毛是乾的，別的地方都有露水。」 40 這夜上帝也如此行：獨羊毛上是乾的，別的地方都有露水。(士師記六36-40)
1 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. 7 When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 8 He sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” 13“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” 17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.” 19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (Judges 6:1-24)
36 Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand asYou have promised— 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. (Judges 6:36-40)
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” 13“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” 17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.” 19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (Judges 6:1-24)
36 Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand asYou have promised— 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. (Judges 6:36-40)
敵人：米甸人
士師：基甸 (Gideon)
被欺壓時間：7年
國中太平時間：40年
分享：今天來到第四位士師基甸 (Gideon)，他跟之前三位士師有點分別，並不像他們那般信靠上帝。士師循環 * 同樣發生在基甸之時，因為以色列人行惡，上帝把他們交在米甸人手裏七年。雖然時間不長，但聖經形容「以色列人因米甸人的緣故，極其窮乏」(參v.6)。當以色到人呼求上帝時，上帝差使者呼召基甸成為士師。
基甸聽到上帝的呼召後，並不是立即接受，也不感到喜悅。相反，他質疑自己的能力和身份，並且對上帝的計劃感到懷疑。(參v.15-16) 為了得到更多的肯定，他兩次求證據。第一次，他要求把禮物供在上帝面前，上帝使火從磐石中出來，燒盡了基甸的供物。第二次是出名的羊毛證據。基甸一天要求羊毛濕，其他地方乾；另一天則提出相反要求。
基甸兩次求證據，上帝都「出手」讓基甸得償所願。這是證明基甸求證據是合理嗎？不是！上帝出手證明了祂憐憫人的軟弱，畢竟基甸被長期欺壓，沒有信心也情有可原，但仍然不能因此而把其不信合理化。耶穌曾這樣對多馬說：「你因看見了我才信；那沒有看見就信的有福了。」(參約翰福音二十29) 保羅也道出了基督徒行事的基礎：「因我們行事為人是憑著信心，不是憑著眼見。」(哥林多後書五7)
憑眼見，亞伯拉罕與撒拉年老不能生育；憑眼見，喇合不應該幫助探子；憑眼見，大衛只是牧羊童；憑眼見，耶穌也只不過是木匠兒子⋯⋯ 各位，我們今天活出的信仰是那一種？是憑信心的，還是憑眼見的？願主賜我們屬靈眼睛，以信心看前路，一步一步跟主走！
反思與實踐：你認識「憑信而行」的難處是什麼？現在正面對什麼難關？祈禱上帝讓你在看不清前路的情況下「憑信而行」吧！
禱告：親愛的天父，求祢幫助我們學懂憑信而行，而不是憑眼見而行。雖然這是很困難的事，但我們希望操練這樣的信心，不希望好像基甸一樣，一而再、再而三地求證據。就算在困難中根本看不清前路，求祢讓我們憑信而行！以上禱告，奉主耶穌得勝的名求，阿們。
* 士師循環包括：犯罪 ＞ 懲罰 ＞ 呼求 ＞ 拯救 ＞ 太平
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