於2018-02-26發佈


接受神的印記─啟示錄       

這週我們將談到啟示錄十四章1-5節,這段經文與獸和獸的印記形成對比,同時也啟示我們要如何不去拜獸或接受其印記:

我又觀看,見羔羊站在錫安山,同祂又有十四萬四千人,都有祂的名和祂父的名寫在額上。 

我聽見從天上有聲音,像眾水的聲音和大雷的聲音,並且我所聽見的好像彈琴的所彈的琴聲。

他們在寶座前,並在四活物和眾長老前唱歌,彷彿是新歌;除了從地上買來的那十四萬四千人以外,沒有人能學這歌。 

這些人未曾沾染婦女,他們原是童身。羔羊無論往哪裡去,他們都跟隨他。他們是從人間買來的,作初熟的果子歸與神和羔羊。 

在他們口中察不出謊言來;他們是沒有瑕疵的。 

在獸的印記之後,此團體可能在啟示錄中受到最多的推測。約翰一開頭先說:『我又觀看,所以這是他看到獸與獸的印記緊接著所看到的。此團體立刻引人注意的是,他們沒有獸的印記,而是有主的名和天父的名寫在額上。這代表要避免拜獸的方法就是敬拜主,並將祂的名寫在我們的額上。 

就這麼簡單?沒錯。欺騙往往來自猜測的結果。如果我們真的敬拜主,首先把我們對祂的愛和奉獻放在首位,我們就不會崇拜世上的事物。我們若有神的印記,魔鬼將無法把牠的印記放在我們身上。我們若有神的印記,我們便知道祂是我們的源頭,我們便不會倚靠獸的方式來『買賣或交易』。 

有許多關於十四萬四千人是否是真實數目的猜測,有一些具說服力的爭論說這是真實數目,也有人認為是象徵數目。我總以字面意義來看聖經,除非有確切證據其為象徵性。在這裡我並沒有看見象徵意義,但並不代表這就是末世得贖的所有人數。正如我們在啟示錄七章所看見的,在提到十四萬四千人後,我們看見『大群』多到沒有人可以數過來,他們是從『大患難』中出來敬拜神。因此,此特別團體是在得贖的人當中,但得贖人數遠大過於此。 

若要講清楚我認為十四萬四千人是誰,以每週一話的篇幅可能需要花上好幾週的時間,但顯然此圖體是以獨特的方式被分別出來,並有其獨特的目的。我個人認為他們是以諾預言會在末世降臨的『大能使者』。無論如何,我們可以採取這裡所建立關於敬拜主並將祂的名字放在額上的原則。在末了的大試煉被稱為『大患難』,其實就是與我們到底拜誰有關─是敬拜神還是世上的事物。 在這裡的重點是,我們要決定我們將事奉誰,因為我們不能事奉上帝又事奉另一個神。為此緣故,我們需要瞭解獸的本質,好讓我們不照牠的方式事奉牠,而是在我們的熱愛與信靠上將神放在首位。要記得,假神不單是某個我們熱愛超過對神熱愛的事物,更是我們對它的信靠過於神。我們應將此測試應用在每件我們熱愛或信靠的事物中。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week,Week49, 2017)


 
Receiving God's Mark—The Book of Revelation

         This week we will cover Revelation 14:1-5, and the antithesis to the beast and his mark, which also reveals how we keep from worshiping the beast or taking its mark.

Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. 

And I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder, and the voice which I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps.

And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one could learn the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth.

These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.

         This group may be the most speculated about from the Book of Revelation, second only to the mark of the beast. John begins this part of the text with then I looked….” So this is what he saw immediately after viewing the beast and the mark of the beast. What stands out about this group is that they do not have the mark of the beast; instead they have the name of the Lord and the Father written on their foreheads. This states that the way not to worship the beast is to worship the Lord and have His name written on our foreheads.

         Is it that simple? Yes. Deception often comes through complications resulting from speculations. If we truly worship the Lord, keeping Him first in our affections and devotion, we will not worship the things of this earth, the beast that comes up out of the earth, or anything else. If we have taken God’s mark, the devil will not be able to put his mark on us. If we have taken God’s mark then we know Him as our Source—we will not have to depend on “buying, selling, or trading” in the ways of this beast.

         There is also much speculation about whether this 144,000 is a literal number. There are persuasive arguments that this is the case, as well as arguments that consider this number to be symbolic. I always take Scripture literally unless there is compelling evidence that it is intended to be symbolic, which I do not see here. However, if it is a literal number, this does not mean that these are all who are redeemed at the end of the age. As we see in Revelation 7, there is a “great company” too big to count that came out of “the great tribulation” worshipping God. So this is a unique group within the redeemed, but the redeemed number is much larger.

         Establishing who I think this 144,000 is would take many weeks to cover in this format, but it seems obvious that this group is set apart in a unique way and has a unique purpose. Personally, I think they are the “messengers of power” that Enoch prophesied would come at the end of the age. Regardless, we can take the principle established here about worshiping the Lord and taking His name on our foreheads. The great trial at the end called the “great tribulation” is about whom we really worship—God or the things of this world.

         The biggest point being made here is for each of us to settle who we will serve, because we cannot serve God and another god. For that reason, we must understand the nature of the beast so that we do not serve it by living according to its ways, and that we keep God first in our affections and in our trust. A false god is not just something we have affection for that eclipses our affection for God—it is also what we put our trust in more than God. We should apply this test to everything that has our affection or that we put our trust in.