在這個星期你想要慶祝的三個特別節日
錫安之光 2018年10月6日
偉大救恩日(或大和撒那日,Hoshana Rabba,2018年9月30日)
9月30日(主日),我們將要慶祝住棚節的最後一天,也是個最大之日。這一天稱為“偉大救恩日),就在這一天,主耶穌向世人表明他是彌賽亞。主耶穌時代的猶太人明白這一天所具有的先知性的、關乎彌賽亞的意義。而今天,外邦的耶穌的跟隨者們也應該明白這一天的意義。
在聖殿時期,人們在“偉大救恩日”會舉行非常考究的水儀式。 以色列的祭司們、歌唱的和作樂的在儀式中從聖殿行進到希羅亞池。他們從希羅亞池收集流水盛在金的大甕中。他們高唱、呼喊“主啊,拯救我們”,祭司們就把水運回聖殿。在聖殿,他們把水潑在祭壇的底座周圍來祈求雨水。(要知道,在乾旱的猶大地,生命需要充足的雨水—到如今仍然一樣。)
這個水奠的儀式並不僅僅是祈求自然界的雨水。它也是一種先知性的代禱,祈求彌賽亞到來時要澆灌的聖靈的恩雨。這個代求的行動是基於聖經的經文,這些經文說到在彌賽亞來的時候,生命的活水被澆灌下來。在主耶穌在世的時代慶祝住棚節的猶太人知道這些經文,並且把“偉大救恩日”的這個儀式看作是祈求彌賽亞來臨的象徵性的禱告。
於是,主耶穌在福音書中所說的一段話就顯得那麼合宜:“ 節期的末日,就是最大之日,耶穌站著高聲說:人若渴了,可以到我這裡來喝。信我的人就如經上所說:從他的腹中要流出活水的江河來。”(約翰福音7章37-38節)
因為那些聽到耶穌說話的人明白他對自己的暗指,所以這立刻引發了關於他是彌賽亞的爭論。同樣的爭論在現今的猶太人中間依然存在。因此,“偉大救恩日”是為以色列禱告的最佳時機:“凡饑渴的人都到耶穌這裡來喝!”
許多拉比傳統是與“偉大救恩日”相關的。這些傳統與聖經的符合程度各不相同,所以請你用禱告來分辨可以在多大程度上認同它們。例如其中的一個傳統教導住棚節的最後一天代表著神聖審判的最後一天,會決定新的一年的命運。“偉大救恩日”被認為是小“贖罪日”,神在這一天可能賜下特別的憐憫。據說,在住棚節的最後一天天門會打開,為要釋放在“吹角日”發出並在“贖罪日”封存的審判書。天門打開被看作是通向神的門被打開。另一個相關的觀念是神在這一天決定在接下來的一年中每個國家的降雨量。
傳統上並不要求在稱為小“贖罪日“的“偉大救恩日”禁食,但是要求遵守一些其他的儀式,例如:在呼求赦免時傳遞妥拉卷軸七次,抽打柳條直到葉子全部落掉象徵把罪除淨,以及背誦一些禱告文。
儘管住棚節是喜樂的日子,可是“偉大救恩日“在傳統上卻顯出對赦罪的不確定。因此,主是何等有恩典,他在那一天表明他是彌賽亞,要赦免所有相信他的人的罪。”所以,你們必從救恩的泉源歡然取水。“ (以賽亞書12章3節)
住棚節之後,兩個值得歡慶的日子!
上週你有沒有在棚子裡和主親近呢?我希望你也有機會和我一樣,享受單單與神在帳幕裡的甜美相處。我非常寶貴在戶外支搭的簡單的棚子裡與主相交的馨香—真是不捨得結束。
聖會節(Shemini Atzeret): 2018年10月1日
顯然,神也不願意這麼快就結束住棚節。或許這就是為什麼在為期一周的住棚節的慶典和獻祭結束之後,祂還要我們在他面前停留一天: “七日內要將火獻祭給耶和華。第八日當守聖會,要將火獻祭給耶和華。這是嚴肅會,什麼勞碌的工都不可做。”(利未記23:36,亦參考民數記 29:35)
在住棚節開始的第八日 (提斯利月 22日),是一個特地要被分別出來、“僅僅”和神會面的日子,那是一個安息日。在這一天,神並沒有要求我們要舉行任何特殊的儀式,僅僅要我們嚴肅地會聚在一起,或舉行神聖的集會 (只獻上平常的平安祭即可)。這莊嚴的集會稱為“聖會節”(Shemini Atzeret),直譯為“第八日聖會”。“atzeret” 這個字源于希伯來文,意思是延遲或拖延。這個字意一部分源於利未記23:36節,另一部分則是根據希伯來文法,拉比們將“Shemini Atzeret ”解釋為與神徘徊的時間,好比美好的回憶。
有些拉比的傳統認為“Shemini Atzeret ”還有其他的意義。他們認為住棚節主要是以色列替列國向神獻祭的節期。 (這是因為在住棚節時,神命令以色列要獻祭 70頭牛,拉比們認為70 這個數位是象徵列國的數目。此外,撒迦利亞書 14章裡提到住棚節與列國有關)。因此,在忙碌地為其他國家獻祭七天之後,Shemini Atzeret 這一天是神與祂的百姓們的私會,也就是如同家人之間的親密會聚。
你可能知道,住棚節也預表著在將來的彌賽亞千禧年世代,神與祂的子民一起同住。雖然那將是非常榮耀的世代,但卻不是最榮耀的終點。在那之後還有更大的、永恆的榮耀等待著神的子民。記得嗎,在聖經中數字 8通常代表新的開始。因此,第八日的聖會節極可能象徵著在彌賽亞千禧年之後我們在新天新地仍然與主相交。(啟示錄 21:1) 照這個意思,聖會節似乎預示了我們將在主面前永久地享受與祂徘徊和同在的歡樂!
妥拉節(Simchat Torah):2018年10月2日
在以色列,聖會節和提斯利月22日的妥拉節(“歡慶妥拉”)是合在一天慶祝的。在以色列以外的地方,則是在聖會節的第二天提斯利月23日慶祝妥拉節。
妥拉節是拉比的傳統,是聖經之外的一個節日。但它本質上並非不符合聖經。傳統上,這個節日的重點是我們開心地完成了一年的妥拉誦讀並立即重新啟動新一年的讀經計畫。我們會手裡拿著妥拉卷軸唱歌跳舞,表達我們的喜悅。
我們也可以用敬拜的心,以主耶穌為中心慶祝妥拉節,來感謝神賜給我們的無可比擬的禮物—他的話。 “我多麼愛慕你的律法…… 你的命令使我比仇敵有智慧…… 願我的口湧出讚美, 因你將你的律例教導了我。” (詩篇119:97, 98, 171)
這個星期,無論你用什麼方式慶祝這三個特別的節日,願你在主裡的喜樂充足、豐盛,並持續一整年!
資料來源:
myjewishlearning.com, hebrew4christians.com, sefaria.org, jewishvirtuallibrary.org
住棚節的歡慶也包括奉獻:“各人要按自己的力量,照耶和華你神所賜的福分,奉獻禮物。” (申命記16:17)如果你想要在住棚節奉獻,或者我們分享的教導祝福了你,你可以考慮奉獻給錫安之光。錫安之光是美國501 C3免稅的事工。謝謝!
Hoshana Rabbah: Sukkot’s Grand Finale
SEPTEMBER 28, 2018
Hoshana Rabba (September 30, 2018)
This Sunday, September 30, we will celebrate the last and greatest day of the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles). Called Hoshana Rabba (Great Salvation), it is the day on which Yeshua revealed publicly that He is Messiah. The day carries prophetic and messianic significance which the Jews of Yeshua’s time understood. Today, followers of Yeshua who are not Jewish deserve to understand that significance, too.
In Temple times the Hoshana Rabba was marked by an elaborate water ritual. Israel’s priests, singers and musicians would proceed ceremoniously from the Temple to the Pool of Siloam. From the pool they collected running water in large, golden urns. Chanting and crying “Hosheana” (Lord, save us), the priests then carried the water back to the Temple. There they poured it out at the base of the altar as a petitionary act for rain. (Bear in mind that in the dry land of Judea, life depended—and still does—on adequate rainfall.)
But this water libation ceremony was not only about physical rain. It was also a type of prophetic intercession for spiritual rain associated with the coming of Messiah. The petitionary act was based on the Hebrew Scriptures which speak of life giving waters poured out in the Messianic Age. The Jews celebrating Sukkot in Yeshua’s day were aware of these prophetic Scriptures and viewed the Hoshana Rabba ritual as a symbolic prayer for Messiah.
How beautifully appropriate, then, that “On the last and greatest day of the feast, Yeshua stood and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive.” (John 7:37-38)
Because those who heard Yeshua understood what He was implying about Himself, arguments over His messiahship immediately arose. Among our Jewish people today, some of those same arguments still persist. Therefore, Hoshana Rabba is an ideal time to pray over Israel: “If anyone is thirsty, come to Yeshua and drink!”
Many other rabbinic traditions are associated with Hoshana Rabba. These traditions are of varying degrees of consistency with the Scriptures, so please prayerfully discern the extent—if any—to which you might embrace them. One tradition, for example, teaches the last day of Sukkot represents the final day of divine judgment in which the fate of the new year is determined. Hoshana Rabba is treated as a mini Yom Kippur in which God may give special mercy.This is because the gates of heaven are said to open on the last day of Sukkot in order to dispatch the verdict issued on Yom Teruah and sealed on Yom Kippur. When those gates are open, the rabbis believe there is open access to God. A related belief is that God determines on this day how much rain each nation will receive in the coming year.
Tradition does not require fasting on Hoshana Rabba as a mini Yom Kippur, but mandates other rituals. These include, for example, circling Torah scrolls seven times while plaintively crying out for forgiveness, beating lulav willows until all their leaves fall out to signify the shedding of sin, and the reciting of certain prayers.
Traditionally practiced, Hoshana Rabba can reflect a somber uncertainty of forgiveness, despite the joy of Sukkot. How gracious of the Lord, therefore, to reveal His messianic identity on that day, with forgiveness of sin for all who trust in Him. “Therefore, with joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation.” (Isaiah 12:3)
Sources:
myjewishlearning.com, hebrew4christians.com, sefaria.org, jewishvirtuallibrary.org