QT 06/03/2025 Thu. Isaiah 19. Embrace a God who offers something, not nothing. 拥抱有而非无的上帝。

QT 06/03/2025 Thu. Isaiah 19. Embrace a God who offers something, not nothing.
READ http://www.esvbible.org/isaiah19

It was not Baal, the Canaanite storm-god, that rode on clouds, but the LORD:

Isaiah 19:1–3
[1] An oracle concerning Egypt.
Behold, the LORD is riding on a swift cloud
and comes to Egypt;
and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence,
and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.
[2] And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians,
and they will fight, each against another
and each against his neighbor,
city against city, kingdom against kingdom;
[3] and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,
and I will confound their counsel;
and they will inquire of the idols and the sorcerers,
and the mediums and the necromancers; (ESV)

Egypt of Isaiah's time had many gods. It was no surprise that these idols would "tremble" while their worshippers would melt within them. The LORD had shown Himself victorious in Exodus 12:12:-

Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. (ESV)

Therefore, history has shown that the powerful LORD cannot be manipulated nor defeated. Instead, His love can be trusted. The in-fighting and self-contradictions among the Egyptians not only decreased their energy level to deal with life's main issues (19:2), these distractions caused them to lose hope, increased disappointment with life and eventually "the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out" (19:3).

REFLECTION: Many a time, feelings of lostness and emptiness come upon us after living in the contradictions of life—claiming one type of life narrative, but yet living out life in a totally different way than what was claimed. Don't you agree?

Living in contradictions is not new. Claiming that there is no afterlife yet hoping that someone will punish the aggressor in the "next life" is one such example. Claiming that there is no god, yet shout out "God where are you?" when disasters strike is another.

What is more serious is that The LORD would not passively let this contradiction remain. Isaiah 19:3 spoke of the LORD taking loving corrective steps to confound and inquire of the sorcerers, mediums and necromancers the logic of their advice to others.

Visitors to Egypt today see the remains of the grandeur of the Sphinx and the magnificent pyramids constructed to hold the Pharaohs who spent most of their adult life constructing them. Yet all pyramids point to one self-explanatory silent statement—Pharaohs die and lay buried under millions of tons of granite and stone.

REFLECTION: In view of Isaiah 19, readers are to self-check whether they have bought into a dead false religion, lived in contradictions, or have they embraced a living God who triumphs over all nations of the world.

Isaiah 19:23–25 [23] In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
[24] In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, [25] whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.” (ESV)

Let "that day" be today. Hope in God for "that day", when all different nations would find meaning in life in the same God.

QT 06/03/2025 星期四. 以赛亚书 19. 拥抱有而非无的上帝。
阅读 http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/isa/19

驾云的不是迦南暴风之神巴力，而是耶和华：

以赛亚书 19:1-3 论埃及的默示。看哪，耶和华乘驾快云，临到埃及。埃及的偶像在他面前战兢。埃及人的心在里面消化。2 我必激动埃及人攻击埃及人，弟兄攻击弟兄，邻舍攻击邻舍，这城攻击那城，这国攻击那国。3 埃及人的心神，必在里面耗尽。我必败坏他们的谋略。他们必求问偶像，和念咒的，交鬼的，行巫术的。

以赛亚时代的埃及有许多神。这些偶像会 “战兢”，而它们的崇拜者的心会在里面中融化，这并不奇怪。耶和华曾在《出埃及记》12:12 中显示自己的胜利：-

出埃及记 12:12 因为在那一夜我要走遍埃及地，把埃及地所有头生的，无论是人或是牲畜，都要杀掉；我也要审判埃及的一切神祇，我是耶和华。

因此，历史表明，强大的耶和华是不可操纵、不可战胜的。相反，祂的爱值得信赖。埃及人之间的内斗和自我矛盾不仅降低了他们处理生活中主要问题的能量水平（19：2），这些分心的事情还使他们失去了希望，增加了对生活的失望，最终 “埃及人的意志必消沉”（19：3）。

反思：很多时候，身处在生活的矛盾中，我们会感到迷失和空虚 - - 声称过着某种生活方式，但实际上却以完全不同的方式生活。你不觉得吗？

生活在矛盾中并不新鲜。声称没有来世，却希望有人在 “来世” 惩罚侵犯者，就是这样一个例子。声称没有神，却在灾难来临时大喊 “神啊，你在哪里？” 也是一个例子。

更严重的是，耶和华不会消极地让这种矛盾继续存在。以赛亚书 19:3 说，耶和华采取了充满爱的纠正措施来迷惑巫师、灵媒和死灵法师，并询问他们给别人的建议的逻辑。

今天，来到埃及的游客看到的是狮身人面像的宏伟遗迹，以及为容纳法老而建造的宏伟金字塔，法老们把自己成年后的大部分时间都花在了建造金字塔上。然而，所有金字塔都指向一个不言自明的无声宣言--法老死后被埋葬在数百万吨的石砾之下。

反思：从以赛亚书第19章来看，读者应该自我检查一下，自己是信了一个死的假宗教，生活在矛盾之中，还是拥戴了一位战胜世界万国的永生上帝。

以赛亚书 19:23-25  到那日，必有一条从埃及通到亚述的大道；亚述人要进到埃及，埃及人也要进入亚述；埃及人要与亚述人一同敬拜耶和华。24 到那日，以色列必与埃及和亚述一起成为地上列国的祝福。25 万军之耶和华赐福给他们，说：“我的子民埃及，我手的工程亚述，我的产业以色列，都是有福的！”

让 “那日 ”就在今天。向上帝祈求 “那日”，让所有不同的民族都能在同一位上帝那里找到生命的意义。