智慧與知識的根基─啟示錄

我們接著要研讀的經文是在啟示錄一章17節：

我一看見，就仆倒在祂腳前，像死了一樣。祂用右手按著我，說：不要懼怕！我是首先的，我是末後的。 

約翰在領受此啟示的時候，他是十二門徒當中唯一還活著的。因此，他與主耶穌同行的時間超過其他使徒，他是與耶穌最親密的使徒，當他們在最後的晚餐時，約翰會靠在主的胸前。儘管約翰有如此非凡的歷史，當他看見主的榮耀時，他仆倒就像死了一樣！ 

在今日教會最大的屬靈蒙蔽與錯誤教義來源，便是缺乏對主的敬畏。祂是如此奇妙可畏的神，不是隨便可以輕視的。詩篇一百一十一篇和箴言九章7節告訴我們：『敬畏耶和華是智慧的開端』。箴言一章7節說：『敬畏耶和華是知識的開端』。因此敬畏主同時是智慧與知識的根基。 

根基支撐著整個建築物；倘若我們除去根基，每一個建造在其上的事物便會倒塌。所以有一些根基教義，諸如敬畏主─我們絕不要離開它們。 

一些現代的聖經翻譯為了迎合政治性正確而被淡化或竄改，害怕冒犯讀者勝過忠於神的話嚴謹的翻譯。有一些將希伯來文和希臘文『敬畏』（fear）這個字，翻譯成比較溫和的『尊敬』（respect）。倘若你在原文中尋找這些字，你會發現『驚駭』（terror）這個字比『敬畏』更為貼切。當約翰注視主，這便是他所經歷的，當他仆倒像死了一樣，這絕不是『敬畏』的溫和表現。 

主也想與祂的百姓如同充滿愛的新郎對新婦的關係，這即是何以使徒保羅說我們必須看見『神的恩慈和嚴厲』（參考羅馬書11:22），要真正認識神，我們必須同時認識祂的恩慈和嚴厲。兩者會在不同的時間與地方出現，但在約翰的啟示，祂多半被啟示為令人可畏與驚駭的神。倘若我們無法接受此，我們就沒有對主敬畏的適當根基，也無法完全認識祂。 

祂想要將祂這方面的自己啟示給祂的僕人，我們必須欣然接受。正如我們將看見，這是祂在教會時期主要呈現的樣式。這是智慧與知識的根基，若沒有堅固根基，沒有任何重要事物可以安全地被建造其上。關於祂比較恩慈的啟示會出現在啟示錄最後，當其被建造在純淨與聖潔敬畏主的根基上，我們將會正確瞭解祂恩慈的本質。 

神是充滿愛的天上父親，你可以爬到祂的膝上，感受祂深切熱情的溫柔感動。我們需要此，但我們也需要謹記在心：祂是一位令人敬畏的全能神。那些只看見祂恩慈的人至少有一半被蒙蔽，那些只看見祂嚴厲的人也至少有一半被蒙蔽。唯有知道並走在兩者之間，才能讓我們持守在生命的道路上。

(摘自喬納 word for the week,Week15, 2016)


 
The Foundation of Wisdom and Knowledge—The Book of Revelation
Week 15, 2016
Rick Joyner

         The next verse in our study is Revelation 1:17:    

         And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last” (NKJV). 

         At the time John received this revelation, he was the only one of the twelve still alive. Therefore, he had walked with the Lord Jesus more than any other apostle. The most intimate of the apostles with Jesus, John would lean his head up against the Lord’s breast as they reclined for their last meal together. Even with this remarkable history, when John saw the Lord in His glory, he fell at His feet like a dead man!

         One of the biggest sources of spiritual delusion and false doctrine in the church today is the lack of the fear of the Lord. He is an awesome God not to be trifled with. Psalm 111:10 and Proverbs 9:10 tells us that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Proverbs 1:7 says that “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” So the fear of the Lord is the foundation of both wisdom and knowledge.

         A foundation holds up an entire building. If you remove it, everything built upon it collapses. So it is with foundational doctrines like the fear of the Lord—we never leave them.

         Some modern translations of the Scriptures have been diluted or corrupted by seemingly trying to be politically correct, or more afraid of offending readers than adhering to strict translations of the Word of God. Some have translated the Hebrew and Greek words for “fear” in these texts into a milder “respect.” If you search out these words in the original translation, you’ll find that a more accurate translation than “fear” would have been “terror.” John experienced this when he beheld the Lord. When you fall on the ground “like a dead man,” it is not a mild form of fear.

         The Lord also wants to relate to His people as a loving bridegroom to His bride. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote that we must “behold then the kindness and severity of God” (see Romans 11:22). To know God as He is, we must relate to both His kindness and severity. There are times and places for both, but in John’s revelation, He is mostly revealed as the awesome and terrifying God. If we cannot handle this, we do not have a proper foundation in the fear of the Lord and do not fully know Him as He is.

         He wants to give this revelation of Himself to His bondservants, and we must embrace it. As we will see, this is mostly how He will reveal Himself during the church age. This is the foundation of wisdom and knowledge, and without a solid foundation nothing of significance can be safely built. A gentler revelation of Him is given at the end of Revelation, and we will rightly understand it when it is built upon the foundation of the pure and holy fear of the Lord.

         God is our loving Heavenly Father, and you can crawl up on His lap and feel His gentle touch of deep affection. We need this, but we also need to keep in mind that He is an awesome Almighty God. Those who only see His kindness are at least half deceived. Those who only see His severity are also at least half deceived. It takes knowing and walking in the tension of both that keeps us on the path of life.