於2013-08-02發佈

每週一妥拉 2013/7/28-8/3
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。 

這週的閱讀進度(7/28-8/3)稱為『看啊』(R'eh),讀經內容包括: 
妥拉:申命記11:26-16:17
先知書:以賽亞書54:11-55:5

*申命記11:26. 『看哪,我今日將祝福與咒詛的話都陳明在你們面前。』 

請禱告:以色列的眼睛能被打看,當我們走在帶來咒詛的道路上,我們會知曉。禱告我們有眼光看見咒詛與祝福的差別─禱告有恩典『尋訪古道,哪是善道』,便行在其間!(耶利米書6:16; 18:15)

*申命記12:2, 5. 『你們要將所趕出的國民事奉神的各地方(places),無論是在高山,在小山,在各青翠樹下,都毀壞了。但耶和華─你們的神從你們各支派中選擇何處為立祂名的居所(place),你們就當往那裡去求問。』 

這週的妥拉進度至少十六次提到『居所/地方』(單數),就是以色列的神選擇立祂名與居住之地─此與事奉迦南眾神的各地方(複數)成為對比,那些崇拜偶像之名的地方要完全毀壞(12:3)。當然,獨一真神所選擇居住的『地方』是耶路撒冷,早在四十年前摩西過紅海後,先知性地歌頌神時就提到過(出埃及記15:17)。

請禱告:為著耶路撒冷的平安,神的榮耀會回到那裡,信主的彌賽亞肢體會在成熟與合一中被建造。神會興起有智慧與恩膏的彌賽亞領袖,成為錫安眾城門的長老;正如在出埃及後,神一回到以色列就『選擇』耶路撒冷,現在祂也會與世界各地祂的子民一同回來,『收回猶大作祂聖地的分,也必再揀選耶路撒冷。』(撒迦利亞書2:12)

*申命記12:8. 『我們今日在這裡所行的是各人行自己眼中看為正的事,你們將來不可這樣行。』 

當以色列進入應許之地,神對敬拜與政府有著特別的吩咐─不是各人行自己的事,而是『行耶和華眼中看為正的事』(12:25, 28)。有審判官(下週妥拉主題)斷定事情,有祭司讓敬拜持續進行。接下來的四百年,人們都照著這指示行,只不過最後還是把它丟棄了:在士師記結尾我們讀到『各人任意而行』。

*申命記12:16; 12:23. 『只是不可吃血,要倒在地上,如同倒水一樣。』『只是你要心意堅定,不可吃血,因為血是生命;不可將血(希伯來原文nefesh -生命)與肉同吃。』 

在妥拉裡不斷重申這樣的禁令,然而早在摩西律法之前神就已經禁止了。事實上,在創世記9:4-5,此禁令甚至與謀殺放在一起。幾千年後,當耶穌回到天上,在耶路撒冷彌賽亞肢體的長老會,要求新約教會的猶太信徒與外邦信徒禁戒祭偶像的物和血(使徒行傳15:20,29)。近年來西方的書籍與電影大大流行吸血鬼和『僵屍』(特別迎合年輕人口味;暮光之城系列不過是冰山一角),伴隨著生動圖像、喚起對血飢渴的描繪,有沒有可能撒旦想要讓這古老的罪死灰復燃(即使是間接用『充滿想像』的形式)呢?正如在伊甸園,撒旦是用建議的方式說『神豈是真說不許你們嗎?』 

*申命記14:2. 『因為你歸耶和華─你神為聖潔的民,耶和華從地上的萬民中揀選你特作自己的子民。』

*申命記14:26.『你用這銀子,隨心所欲,或買牛羊,或買清酒濃酒,凡你心所想的都可以買;你和你的家屬在耶和華─你神的面前吃喝快樂。 』

*申命記16:1. 『你要注意亞筆月(猶太曆的第一個月,巴比倫和今日都稱為尼散月),向耶和華─你的神守逾越節,因為耶和華─你的神在亞筆月夜間領你出埃及。』

*申命記16:16. 『你一切的男丁要在除酵節(逾越節)、七七節(五旬節)、住棚節,一年三次,在耶和華─你神所選擇的地方朝見祂,卻不可空手朝見。 』 

註釋

上週的先知書從以賽亞書49:14延伸到51:3;這週是以賽亞書54:11-55:5。下週又回到以賽亞書51:12-52:12,下下週再次讀到以賽亞書54:1-10。在這裡關於『恩膏受苦僕人』的偉大詩篇卻神秘地消失,內容從以賽亞書52:13到以賽亞書53章全。因為許多猶太人只讀在會堂聽見的閱讀內容,許多人甚至沒注意到以賽亞書53章的存在。倘若他們閱讀,這章就在他們的聖經裡,雖然拉比的註解常常小心轉移任何引領他們把『僕人』與彌賽亞耶穌聯想的可能性,但在古老的猶太註釋中確實將此僕人與要來的受膏者連在一起。

毫無疑問,第一世紀的彌賽亞信徒知道這僕人指的是誰。在使徒行傳8:35,耶路撒冷早期彌賽亞肢體的執事腓利『就開口從這段經文,對衣索匹亞的大臣傳講耶穌』。當然,耶穌的存在也可以在這些以賽亞書的段落中看出(特別參考上週以賽亞書50:5-7),但所有的以色列人正在渴求53章的真理。

請禱告:聖靈將引領許多猶太人閱讀以賽亞書52:13到53章。禱告『帕子』被除去,使他們可以看見、明白並相信那位曾來到地上,住在我們中間,受苦並『背負眾人的罪孽』,受死、被埋與復活。禱告對這位公義者的啟示,並認識『使許多人得稱為義』的那位!

*以賽亞書54:11: 『你這受困苦、被風飄蕩不得安慰的人哪,我必以彩色安置你的石頭,以藍寶石立定你的根基。』

請禱告:以色列的身分可以被恢復,不是恢復她遭拒絕、受苦、逼迫與大屠殺的身分,而是她蒙創造宇宙萬物之神的揀選,被分別出來如同特別珍寶的身分。

*以賽亞書54:13. 『你的兒女都要受耶和華的教訓;你的兒女必大享平安。』

請禱告:神充滿愛的忌邪會臨到以色列目前的世代身上,斷開在以色列許多家庭、學校所教導的邪惡價值,甦醒他們對真理的熱情;好讓他們回應聖靈、尋訪古道,行在其間使他們心裡得安息(耶利米書6:16)。

*以賽亞書54:14. 『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。』以色列要脫離恐怖主義,她首先要因公義得堅立。『神使那無罪(無罪:原文是不知罪)的,替我們成為罪,好叫我們在他裡面成為神的義。』(哥林多後書5:21)

請禱告:因著神的憐憫,叫世人為罪、為義、為審判,自己責備自己的聖靈(約翰福音16:8)被差來,會大大運行在以色列全地。

*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55:3. 『你們當就近我來;側耳而聽,就必得活。』

請禱告:以色列百姓的耳朵能被打開,側耳來聽神的話。現在有許多『風』在以色列境內吹起(希伯來文的『風』和『靈』為同一個字)。請禱告在以色列的信徒會『側耳聽聖靈對會眾所說的話』。

*以賽亞書55:5b. 『因為祂已經榮耀你。』在這裡『榮耀』的希伯來文可能用『榮美』來表達會更好,相同的動詞也被使用在以賽亞書61:3,聖靈恩膏彌賽亞,賜『榮美代替灰塵』給錫安悲哀的人。

請禱告:以色列能領會她拒絕二千年的耶穌基督,就是那位渴望並會使她榮美的彌賽亞。

下週的閱讀進度(8/4-8/10)稱為『審判官』(Shophetim),讀經內容包括:妥拉─申命記16:18-21:9;先知書─以賽亞書51:12-52:12。

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 illustrati on 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.

The readings for this week, 28 July—3 August 2013 are called R'eh—"See!":
TORAH: Deuteronomy 11:26—16:17 
HAFTARAH: Isaiah 54:11—55:5 

*Deuteronomy 11:26. "See! I am setting before you today blessing and curse." 

PLEASE PRAY: For sight to see the difference between ways whose very nature brings a curse and those which are blessed—for grace to ask "for the ancient paths, the good way," to see and to walk in it! (Jeremiah 6:16; 18:15).

*Deuteronomy 12:2, 5. "You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods."& nbsp; "But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go." 

At least 16 times in this Torah portion this 'place' (singular) is mentioned where Israel's One God YHVH would choose to place His name and to dwell. This one place as compared to the many "places" where the multiple gods of Canaan were worshipped. 

Those places were to be utterly destroyed, and with them the very names of the gods which had been worshipped there (12:3). The "place" where the One God would place HIS name and choose to dwell in a unique way was, of course, Jerusalem. This had been prophetically alluded to by Moses 40 years before in his Song, just after the crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15:17).

PLEASE PRAY: For the peace of Jerusalem.that God's glory would return there, that there the believing Body of Messiah would be established in maturity and unity. Pray that God would raise up wise and anointed Messianic leaders to be Elders in the Gates of Zion. That as God "chose" Jerusalem when He first returned Israel to the land following the Exodus, He would now, with the return of His people from around the world, "take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and again choose Jerusalem" (Zechariah 2:12).

*Deuteronomy 12:8. "You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes." 

God had a special order for worship and government waiting for the people when they would enter the land—it wasn't to be "everyone for himself". Rather, they were to "do what is right in the sight of YHVH your God" (12:25, 28). There would be Judges (the title for next week's Parasha) for civil matters, and the Priesthood to keep the worship "in line". There would be periods during the next 400 years when the people followed this directive—but eventually it would be abandoned: the closing words of the Book of Judges read, "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes."

*Deuteronomy 12:16; 12:23. "Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water." "Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life (Hebrew: nefesh—soul); you may not eat the life with the meat." 

This prohibition is made repeatedly in the Torah, yet long before the Law of Moses it was forbidden by God. In fact, in Genesis 9:4-5, it was placed right alongside murder. Thousands of years later, after Yeshua had returned to Heaven, the high council of the Messianic Body in Jerusalem forbade the consumption of blood by all Gentile as well as Jewish believers of the New Testament Church (Acts 15:20,29).
 
With the recently awakened popularity of vampirism and "zombies" in books and films in the West (catering especially to the young; the "Twilight" series being only the tip of the iceberg), accompanied by graphic, sensual descriptions of awakened blood-hunger, might it be that Satan is seeking to bring back this ancient sin (albeit, for now, in a vicarious "fantasy" form)? As in Eden, Satan's way is to suggest, "Has God indeed said, 'Thou shalt not.'?"

*Deuteronomy 14:2. "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be for Him a specially treasured people of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."

*Deuteronomy 14:26. "You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires; for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household." 

*Deuteronomy 16:1. "Observe th e month of Aviv (The "First Month"; Babylonian and modern usage: Nisan), and keep the Passover to YHVH your God, for in the month of Aviv YHVH your God brought you out of Egypt by night."

*Deuteronomy 16:16. "Three times a year all your males shall appear before YHVH your God in the place which He chooses; at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Pesach/Passover), at the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot), and at the feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot); and they shall not appear before YHVH empty handed."

NOTE

Last week's Haphtarah extended from Isaiah 49:14 to 51:3; this week's is 54:11—55:5. Next week's will go back to 51:12—52:12, and the following will come again to 54:1-10. What is mysteriously absent here is the great poem of the "Anointed Suffering Servant", extending from Isaiah 52:13 through all of Isaiah 53. Because many Jews are only exposed to the readings they hear in Synagogue, many, many are unaware that Isaiah 53 even exists. It is in their Bibles if they looked.although often with rabbinic commentaries carefully calculated to turn them away from any possible interpretation which might lead them in the direction of associating the "servant" with the Messiah Yeshua. Yet there are ancient Jewish commentaries which do associate the Servant here with the coming Anointed One (i.e. Messiah). 
Certainly, the Messianic Jews of the 1st Century knew to whom it was referring. In Acts 8:35, Philip, a deacon in the early Messianic Body of Jerusalem, "beginning at this Scripture, preached Yeshua" to a visiting Ethiopian official. Of course, 

Yeshua's presence may also be discerned in almost all of these Isaiah passages (See especially last week's Isaiah 50:5-7). But all of Israel is starving for the truths of Chapter 53.

PLEASE PRAY: That the Holy Spirit will lead many to read the portion 52:13-53. Pray for the "veil" to be lifted that they may see and have understanding and believe in the one who came first to live and release Kingdom life among us, to suffer and "bear the sin of many", to die and be buried, to be raised to see His seed and prolong His days. Pray for revelation of this righteous One, the knowledge of whom "justifies many!"

*Isaiah 54:11: "O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, and lay your foundations with sapphires." 

PLEASE PRAY: That Israel's sense of iden tity be restored—not an identity related to her rejection, suffering, persecution and the Holocaust, but rather an identity of a people chosen to be set apart as a special treasure of the God Who created the Universe.

*Isaiah 54:13-14. "All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children."

PLEASE PRAY: For the present generation of Israeli children.that the loving jealousy of God would be loosed over them, cutting through the evil values being taught in so many homes and schools in Israel, awakening a zeal for Truth; that they would respond to the Holy Spirit and ask for the ancient paths where they will find rest for their souls (Jeremiah 6:16).

*Isaiah 54:14. "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." For Israel to be delivered from terrorism she must first become established in righteousness. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21 NASB). 

PLEASE PRAY: That in God's mercy the Spirit which was sent to convict the world concerning Sin and Righteousn ess and Judgment (John 16:8) will move strongly across all of Israel.

*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 55:3. "Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live." 

PLEASE PRAY: "That Israeli ears will be opened to hear the living Word. There are many "winds" blowing in Israel right now (In Hebrew "wind" and "spirit" are the same word). Pray that believers in Israel will "have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the congregations."

*Isaiah 55:5b. ".For He has glorified you." The Hebrew word for "glorified" here might better be rendered "beautified you." It is the verb form of the same word used in Isaiah 61:3, where the Spirit anoints the Messiah to give those who mourn in Zion "beauty for ashes." 

PLEASE PRAY: For Israel to come to realize that the one whom she has been resisting for 2000 years is the very One who longs to make her beautiful.and shall!  
Martin and Norma Sarvis
Jerusalem

[The Torah and Haftarah portions for next week 4-10 August are called Shophetim ("Judges"): TORAH: Deuteronomy 16:18—21:9; HAFTARAH: Isaiah 51:12—5:12]