於2018-10-12發佈


每週一妥拉 2018/10/7-10/13 

從古時起,世界各地的猶太會堂會一週一次在安息日讀經,從摩西五經(妥拉)到先知的書(先知書)。每週的讀經內容都有一個希伯來名稱,其出自經文內容起頭的字。每週慣例讀經的實例剛好記載在路加福音四章16節,耶穌來到拿撒勒的會堂,讀了一段先知書(以賽亞書61章)。我們發現每週一次閱讀這些內容,不僅提供我們機會,與世界成千上萬的猶太人來確認神話語的內容,在我們為以色列與猶太人的代禱上,聖靈更時常貼切的啟發具體的內容禱告。

布勒月/瑪西班月─第八個月

這週三(1010日)是希伯來曆第八個月的『月朔/新月』,現代希伯來曆使用巴比倫名瑪西班月,古時則使用迦南名布勒月,正如列王記上6:38所記載的,到了布勒月所羅門王完成在耶路撒冷的建殿,耗時七年。

讓我們祈求神賜下此新月份的恩典─關於祂道路的異象、指示、勇氣、愛與殷勤!

來完成所有即將應驗的任務。

挪亞

這週的閱讀10/7-10/13稱為『挪亞』(Noach):
妥拉創世記6:9-11:32
先知書:以賽亞書 54:1-55:5

*創世記 6:9. 挪亞是個義人,在當時的世代是個完全人(或無可指責)。挪亞與神同行。』 

『完全』(perfect)這個字在詩篇25:21又翻成『純全』(integrity):『純全、正直保守我,因為我等候祢。』在詩篇101篇當大衛論到當如何行在他家中,3次使用到這個字。他說:『我要用智慧行完全的道。祢幾時到我這裡來呢?我要存完全的心行在我家中。邪僻的事,我都不擺在我眼前;悖逆人所做的事,我甚恨惡,不容沾在我身上。彎曲的心思,我必遠離;一切的惡人(或譯:惡事),我不認識。我眼要看國中的誠實人,叫他們與我同住;行為完全的,他要伺候我。』(詩篇101:2-4,6)

正如像挪亞一樣生長在墮落又極度罪惡的世界裡,他透過『與神同行』使他能管理自己的行為與一家人的純全,對我們這些很快就要活在『像挪亞的日子一樣』之人,緊緊『與神同行』,以純全智慧行完全的道尤為重要。那些我們允許進入我們居所的事物(因此也進入我們的眼目和家人當中),我們便與其連結並受其影響。

*創世記 6:11-13. 世界在神面前敗壞,地上滿了強暴神觀看世界,見是敗壞了;凡有血氣的人在地上都敗壞了行為。神就對挪亞說:凡有血氣的人,他的盡頭已經來到我面前;因為地上滿了他們的強暴,我要把他們和地一併毀滅。』

血氣之人的領導帶來敗壞與毀滅;新約對末後的預言說那會再次『像挪亞的日子一樣』。撒迦利亞書2:11-13指示我們在末後的日子,當彌賽亞要再次收回猶大、揀選耶路撒冷,當主從祂聖所興起時,對信徒而言很重要的是他們要對血氣說『安靜下來』(13節)。我們若沒有在聖靈的能力中釘死我們的血氣,它將會成為我們的敗壞,就像挪亞的日子一樣。

*創世記6:14.你要用歌斐木造一隻方舟,分一間一間地造,裡外抹上松香。』這裡『方舟』的希伯來文是teva ,指的是盒子或箱子(以色列今日的信箱就是用這個字)。出埃及記2:3用來裝小摩西的箱子亦是同一個字(約櫃則使用不同的希伯來文)。

在這裡顯出極大的救贖景象,經文中提到的『抹上』(cover)和『松香』(pitch)與救贖的字相通。在彼得前書3:18-22,使徒彼得描繪出約櫃如同在耶穌裡的救恩,我們的良心藉由祂的受死與復活而被施洗。

*創世記7:15. 凡有血肉、有氣息的活物,都一對一對地到挪亞那裡,進入方舟。』

*創世記9:3.凡活著的動物都可以作你們的食物。這一切我都賜給你們,如同菜蔬一樣。』神是唯一將肉與菜蔬『賜給』人吃的那位,關於個人決定吃肉或不吃肉,我們需要尊重個人在神面前的良心(羅馬書14)。然而,有些人教導不吃肉是神的理想,因為在伊甸園和洪水前的食物都沒有肉,這種說法並不符合這段經文。那是一段已經被挪走的時期,我們懷疑這樣的時期(不吃肉),可能只會在神的眾子顯現出來後(羅馬書8:19-25)才會再出現。

*創世記9:4. 惟獨肉帶著血,那就是他的生命,你們不可吃。『生命』的希伯來文是 chaim,但在這裡卻用『靈魂』(nephesh)這個字,這句話應是:『惟獨肉帶著血,那就是他的靈魂,你們不可吃。』

在利未記17:13-14重申此:『凡以色列人,或是寄居在他們中間的外人,若打獵得了可吃的禽獸,必放出他的血來,用土掩蓋。論到一切活物的生命(靈魂),就在血中。所以我對以色列人說:無論什麼活物的血,你們都不可吃,因為一切活物的血就是他的生命(靈魂)。凡吃了血的,必被剪除。』 

在創世記2:7,『耶和華神用地上的塵土造人,將生氣(生命chaim吹在他鼻孔裡,他就成了有(靈魂nephesh的活人,名叫亞當』。動物也被稱為『活物』,但他們不是神造人的方式所造成的,神也沒有把生氣吹在祂們裡面,使他們成了有靈的生物,神也沒有以創造性的行動,照著祂的形象造這些活物(創1:26-27)。所以靈魂與生物的血有關,但人和動物有所不同。我們並不是在說一個人的靈需要他的每一滴血呈現出來,但血藉由身體帶來生命。對賜生命的神而言,血是非常珍貴的,不是給人當作補品來用。這不僅在摩西律法下禁止(上述利未記的經文),早在摩西律法之前的創世記這裡,神也禁止挪亞和他子孫吃血,在主回到天上後,相信耶穌是彌賽亞的肢體(猶太人和外邦人)也禁止吃血(使徒行傳15:20)。

當該隱謀殺亞伯,『他兄弟的血有聲音從地裡向神哀告』。犯了罪的靈魂必須死,所有人都犯了罪,所以死亡在亞當的後代中掌權,只有一位除外─由童女所生救主的血除外,耶穌這位『末後的亞當』純淨沒有犯罪(希伯來書4:15)。因此,『祂必洗淨許多國民(以賽亞書52:15),『這血所說的比亞伯的血所說的更美(希伯來書12:24)。神以『(靈魂)為贖罪祭(以賽亞書53:10),用祂所流的血,『祂將命(靈魂)傾倒』,並『擔當多人的罪(以賽亞書53:12)。 

*創世記9:13.我把虹放在雲彩中,這就可作我與地立約的記號了。』說到這節經文,一個很受歡迎的英文聖經研讀註解說:『雨和彩虹無疑早在挪亞洪水前存在很久,但在洪水之後,彩虹有一個象徵挪亞之約的新定義。』

然而,若『彩虹』一直存在,神就不需要如此有力宣告『我把虹放在雲彩中』,祂只要稍微提到洪水之後,彩虹有了新的定義即可!此外,創世記2:5-6已經描述當時的環境『耶和華神還沒有降雨在地上…但有霧氣從地上騰,滋潤遍地,』在挪亞的日子前並沒有改變,後來才第一次提到:『大淵的泉源都裂開了,天上的窗戶也敞開了』,神『要降雨在地上』(創世記7:11, 4) 

*創世記10:25.希伯生了兩個兒子,一個名叫法勒【法勒就是分的意思】,因為那時人就分地居住。分這個字也有『分開』與『斷成好幾部分』的意思。一些人建議說這裡可能真的提到有一個時期,有一些大洲改變成現代地圖的模樣,這也可以解釋從伊甸流出的四道河(創世記2:10-14),何以不再顯出如此的相關性。  

還有一些人則認為在此改變以前,伊甸園是被放在今日的耶路撒冷,將『首先的亞當』犯罪之地藉著『末後的亞當』耶穌以死來贖回。有趣的是,在猶太人傳統的教導,亞當和夏娃被葬在希伯崙,當年亞伯拉罕購買用來埋在撒拉的土地上,距離耶路撒冷只有三十公里(創世記 23),最終亞伯拉罕、撒拉、以撒、利百加、雅各和利亞都葬在那裡。

先知書

這週的先知書閱讀充滿神對祂子民的心腸與憐憫計畫;我們可以祈求神使用這些經文來協助我們禱告,禱告這週在會堂裡聽見這些經文的人,在靈魂深處能湧出屬天的啟示!禱告以色列將知道她是蒙愛的,她會認她的罪,承認她需要一位救贖主,並瞭解到主是她唯一的救贖主,她的公義將從祂而來! 

*以賽亞書54:5.因為造你的是你的丈夫;萬軍之耶和華是祂的名。救贖你的是以色列的聖者;祂必稱為全地之神。這位全地之神選擇將自己與祂賜給祂僕人雅各─以色列的名連在一起。凡不謙卑自己來承認此『身份』的國家,將發現自己正在抵擋這位萬國與全宇宙的神。

*以賽亞書54:7-10.我離棄你不過片時,卻要施大恩將你收回。我的怒氣漲溢,頃刻之間向你掩面,卻要以永遠的慈愛憐恤你。這是耶和華─你的救贖主說的。這事在我好像挪亞的洪水。我怎樣起誓不再使挪亞的洪水漫過遍地,我也照樣起誓不再向你發怒,也不斥責你。大山可以挪開,小山可以遷移;但我的慈愛必不離開你;我平安的約也不遷移。這是憐恤你的耶和華說的 

*以賽亞書54:13-15. 你的兒女都要受耶和華的教訓;你的兒女必大享平安。你必因公義得堅立,必遠離欺壓,不致害怕;你必遠離驚嚇,驚嚇必不臨近你。即或有人聚集,卻不由於我;凡聚集攻擊你的,必因你仆倒(或譯:投降你)。』  

*以賽亞書54:17.『凡為攻擊你造成的器械必不利用;凡在審判時興起用舌攻擊你的,你必定他為有罪。這是耶和華僕人的產業,是他們從我所得的義。這是耶和華說的。』

*以賽亞書55:1-3. 你們一切乾渴的都當就近水來;沒有銀錢的也可以來。你們都來,買了吃;不用銀錢,不用價值,也來買酒和奶。你們為何花錢(原文是平銀)買那不足為食物的?用勞碌得來的買那不使人飽足的呢?你們要留意聽我的話就能吃那美物,得享肥甘,心中喜樂。你們當就近我來;側耳而聽,就必得活。我必與你們立永約,就是應許大衛那可靠的恩典。』

下週的閱讀(10/14-10/20)稱為『你要離開』(Lekh Lekha),讀經進度為妥拉:創世記12:1-17:27;先知書:以賽亞書40:27-41:16。

馬汀和娜瑪賽維士(Martin & Norma Sarvis
於耶路撒冷



THIS WEEK’S TORAH PORTION:
 
From ancient times there has been a weekly portion (Parashah) from the first five books of Moses (The Torah) and an ending (Haftarah) from the Prophets read on the Sabbath in synagogues around the world.  This portion is given a Hebrew name drawn from the opening words of the Torah passage. An illustration of this practice appears to have been recorded in Luke 4:16 where Yeshua (Jesus) arrived in the synagogue in Nazareth and was asked to read the portion (Isaiah 61) from the Prophets.  We have found that in perusing these weekly readings, not only are we provided opportunity to identify in the context of God’s Word with millions of Jewish people around the world, but very often the Holy Spirit will illumine specific passages pertinent that week in our intercession for the Land and people of Israel.  All texts are those of English translations of the Scriptures.
 
Eighth Month
This Wednesday (October 10th) will be Rosh Chodesh—the “head” of the Eighth Hebrew month.  Today, Hebrew calendars use the Babylonian name Cheshvan.  In ancient times the Canaanite name Bul was used, as in I Kings 6:38 where, after seven years, Solomon completed the House of the LORD in Jerusalem. 
 
Let us ask God for grace over this new month—for vision, instruction, courage and love and attentiveness to His ways!  To bring to completion all those tasks whose time of fulfillment is come. 
 
NOACH
 
The reading for this week 7-13 October 2018 is called No’ach (the “ch” pronounced in the throat, as with “Bach”)  “Noah”:
 
TORAH:  Genesis 6:9—11:32  
HAFTARAH:  Isaiah 54:1—55:5*
 
*Genesis 6:9Noah was a just man, perfect (or, “blameless”) in his generations; Noah walked with God.” 
 
“Perfect” or “blameless” are translations of the Hebrew word tome, which may, as in Psalm 25:21, also be rendered “integrity”: “Let integrity and uprightness guard me for I wait for you” (NKJV).  In Psalm 101 David uses this word three times regarding his every-day walk within his house, "I will ponder the way that is blameless.  Oh when will you come to me?  I will walk with integrity of heart within my house.  I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.  I hate the work of those who fall away, it shall not cling to me…My eyes shall be upon the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me” (Psalm 101:2-4, 6). 
 
Even as Noah, living in a perverse and exceedingly sinful world, was through his “walk with God” enabled to with integrity govern his personal walk and that of his house, it is of paramount importance that those of us living in a time which in many ways appears to be rapidly becoming “as it was in the days of Noah”  hold close to our “walk with God”—that we in integrity ponder the way we walk, the things we  allow access into our dwellings (and thence into our eyes and those of our families!), and with whom we associate and allow ourselves to be influenced. 
 
*Genesis 6:11-13.  “Now the earth had gone to ruin before God, the earth was filled with wrongdoing.  God saw the earth, and here: it had gone to ruin, for all flesh had ruined its way upon the earth.  God said to Noah:  An end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with wrongdoing through them:  here, I am about to bring ruin upon them, along with the earth” (Everett Fox translation; emphases ours)
 
Flesh, given its lead, brings ruin and destruction. As alluded to above, in the New Covenant, Yeshua prophesied that in latter days it would again be “as it was in the days of Noah”.   Zechariah 2:11-13 instructs us regarding those days—as the LORD is “aroused from His holy habitation,” as Messiah draws near to “again take possession of Judah and to choose Jerusalem” —it will be imperative that we as Believers say “Hush!” (Verse 13; Hebrew: Hass!) to our flesh.  Either we, in the power of the Holy Spirit, crucify it, or, as in the days of Noah, it will be our ruin.
 
*Genesis 6:14. “Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms [or nests] in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.”   The English word “ark” is used here for Hebrew teva which means a box or case (the word is used for ‘mailbox’ in Israel today).  It is the same as that used to shelter the baby Moses in Exodus 2:3 (The “Ark of the Covenant” uses a different Hebrew word). 
 
There is much redemption pictured here.  The very Hebrew word translated “cover” and “pitch” (kopher) is identical with the word for atonement.  In I Peter 3:18-22 the apostle Peter pictures the ark as a type of our salvation in Yeshua, our consciences being baptized through His death and resurrection!
 
*Genesis 7:15. “They (the animals) came to Noah into the ark…of all flesh in which is the spirit of life”.
 
*Genesis 9:4a.  “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you.  I have given you all.  I have given you all things, even as the green herbs (NKJV).  
 
God is the One who has now “given” humankind meat to eat, as well as plants.  We are to honor each man’s conscience before God with regard to personal decisions to eat or not eat meat (Romans 14).  However, it is difficult to reconcile with this Scripture the teachings of some who hold that God’s ideal for humankind today is the meatless sustenance afforded them in Eden and before the Flood. That was a season which has been taken away and may not, we suspect, be returned until the final “revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:19-25).
 
*Genesis 9:4b.    “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” 
 
The word usually translated “life” in Hebrew is chaim.  Yet here, the word nephesh— “soul” is used— “But you shall not eat flesh with its soul, that is, its blood.” 
 
This will be reiterated in Leviticus 17:13-14, “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; for it is the soul of all flesh. Its blood sustains its soul. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the soul of all flesh is its blood.”
 
In Genesis 2:7, “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [i.e. chaim], and man became a living soul [i.e. nephesh].   The animals also were called nephesh-chayah— “living souls” (1:24); they also were “formed by God” from the earth (2:19); but God did not release into them a creative act making them into His image as He did to the Man (1:26-27).  So “soul” relates to a life-factor in the blood of living creatures—yet different in man from that in animals.  We are not implying that the individual spirit of a human being is present in every drop of his blood.  But blood carries life throughout the body, it is precious to the God of Life, and was not to be consumed as a nourishment-source for man.  This is not just a prohibition under the Mosaic “Law” (Leviticus passage above); it was prohibited here to Noah and his descendants by God long before that Law, and it was prohibited for the Believing Body of Messiah (both Jew and Gentile) after the Lord’s return to heaven (Acts 15:20).
 
When Cain murdered Abel, the “voice of [his] brothers blood cried out” to God from the ground. 
 
The soul that sins must die.  All have sinned, so death reigns in the very blood-line of all children of Adam—Except for One.  The Blood of the virgin-born Savior, the “Second Adam”, Yeshua, was pure and without sin (Hebrews 4:15).  Thus, it could “sprinkle many nations” (Isaiah 52:15) with a “sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel (Hebrews 12:24).  God made “His soul an offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10)—and with the shedding of His blood, “He poured out His soul (nephesh) unto death” and “bore the sin of many” (53:12). 
 
*Genesis 9:13. “I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth…”
 
Regarding this verse, a note in a popular English language study Bible remarks, “Rain and the rainbow doubtless existed long before the time of Noah’s flood, but after the flood the rainbow took on new meaning as the sign of the Noahic covenant.” 
 
But surely, God would not have so forcefully declared, “I set My bow in the cloud..,” if the “bow” had been there all along and He were merely “adding a new significance to it after the Flood!  Also, there is little to question that the circumstances described in Genesis 2:5-6 (“the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth…but a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.”) had been altered before Noah’s day, when the “fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened” and it is mentioned for the first time that God “sent rain upon the earth” (Genesis 7:11, 4).
 
*Genesis 10:25. “To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided…”  
 
The word may mean “split apart”, “broken away into sections.”  Some have suggested that this may actually allude to a period in which certain of the continental shiftings discernible on modern-day maps took place.  Which might explain why, for instance, the four rivers branching out from the large one coming out of Eden (Genesis 2:10-14) no longer appear to be in that same relation to each other.  Some even suggest that before this shifting, Eden was itself located where Jerusalem is today…making the place where the “First Adam” sinned the place where that sin was atoned for in the death of the “Second Adam” Yeshua. It is interesting that Jewish tradition teaches that Adam and Eve are both buried in Hebron, only 30 km south of Jerusalem on the plot of land purchased by Abraham (Genesis 23) as a burial place for Sarah, and which eventually held Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah.
 
Haftarah
This week’s reading from the prophet Isaiah is filled with God’s heart and merciful plan for His people Israel.  Ask God to use these verses to help in your prayers.  Pray that the souls of those who hear them read in synagogues this weekend will be quickened with divine revelation!  Pray that Israel will know that she is loved, that she will be convicted of her sin and need for a Redeemer, that she will understand that the LORD Himself is her only Redeemer and that her righteousness comes from Him!   
 
*Isaiah 54:5. “For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth.”  
 
The God of all the earth has sovereignly chosen to identify Himself with the name He gave to his servant Jacob—Israel.  Nations or religions which will not humble themselves to acknowledge this “identification” will find themselves standing against the very God of all nations and the universe itself.
 
*Isaiah 54:7-10.  “‘For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you.  With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the LORD, your Redeemer.  ‘For this is like the waters of Noah to Me, For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.  For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of shalom be removed,’ says the LORD who has mercy on you”.
 
*Isaiah 54:13-15.  “All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children.  In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you.  Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me, whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.”
 
*Isaiah 54:17. “‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is from Me,’ says the LORD.”
 
*Isaiah 55:1-3.  “Ho!  Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.  Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.  Incline your ear, and come to Me.  Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you—the sure mercies of David.”

Martin & Norma Sarvis
Jerusalem

[The readings for next week (14-20 October) are called Lech Lekha— “Go Forth, Yourself”.  TORAH: Genesis 12:1—17:27; HAFTARAH: Isaiah 40:27—41:16.]