QT 24/02/2025 Mon. Isaiah 11. Evidence or Truth? Pathway or Highway? 证据还是真理？道路还是公路？
QT 24/02/2025 Mon. Isaiah 11. Evidence or Truth? Pathway or Highway?
READ http://www.esvbible.org/isaiah11
Judges in the courts seek to base their judgment on witnesses' accounts, documentary evidence received and by their own observations of people/exhibits. Judges decide by what their eyes see or what their ears hear. Yet this person known as "Branch" in Isaiah 11:1 judges by another criteria!
Isaiah 11:3–5
[3] And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
[4] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
[5] Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (ESV)
REFLECTION: If this Branch does not judge by what his eyes see nor by what his ears hear, then how can he ever come to a proper judgment of the issue before him?
But this "Branch" referred to by Isaiah can do that. This is because he judges by righteousness and with equity (rather than available evidence)—he will always judge correctly. This Branch is able to avoid misjudgments that might arise from insufficient, corrupted or faked evidence. This Branch would not be handicapped by the suppression of relevant witnesses or missing documents. For the human judge, there is nothing else to rely on. But for this Branch, he is assured of judging with righteousness (not mere by evidence) because this Branch is all knowing:
(1) He has the pedigree of ancestry, Jessee (11:1) who is the father of King David;
(2) He has the Spirit of the LORD who shall rest upon him (11:2);
(3) He has the Spirit of wisdom and understanding (11:2);
(4) He has the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD; and
Not only has this Branch received the above competence, He himself has the internal inclination and delight to seek the LORD:
(5) "And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD" (11:3).
The arrival of this Branch shall bring peace in both the political world and among nature (Isaiah 11:6–9), hope for all the remnants of many peoples (Isaiah 11:10–11), even for Israel and Judah (Isaiah 11:12–15).
Isaiah 11:16
[16] And there will be a highway from Assyria
for the remnant that remains of his people,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt. (ESV)
Isaiah was pointing to The LORD doing another exodus, again—a highway that would be carrying multitudes towards salvation offered by the LORD. As we start the week again, let us continue to trust The LORD with His decisions and how He cares for His people. May your minds be filled with more spiritual positives this week.
QT 24/02/2025 星期一. 以赛亚书 11. 证据还是真理？道路还是公路？
阅读 http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/isa/11
法庭上的法官会根据证人的陈述、收到的书面证据以及自己对人或物品的观察做出判决。法官根据自己的眼睛所见或耳朵所闻做出判决。然而，在以赛亚书 11：1 中被称为 “枝条” 的人却以另一种标准进行判断！
以赛亚书 11:3-5 他必以敬畏耶和华为乐。行审判不凭眼见，断是非也不凭耳闻。4 却要以公义审判贫穷人，以正直判断世上的谦卑人。以口中的杖击打世界。以嘴里的气杀戮恶人。5 公义必当他的腰带，信实必当他胁下的带子。
反思：如果这支派不以眼睛所见和耳朵所听来判断，那么他怎么能对摆在他面前的问题做出正确的判断呢？
但以赛亚所提到的 “枝条” 却能做到这一点。这是因为他以公义和公平（而不是现有的证据）进行判断--他的判断总是正确的。 这个分支能够避免因证据不足、篡改或伪造的证据而产生的错误判断。他不会因为相关证人被压制或文件丢失而受到影响。对于人类法官来说，没有其他可以依赖的东西。但对以赛亚所预言的这 “枝条” 来说，他可以确保以正义（而不仅仅是证据）进行审判，因为这 “枝条” 无所不知：
(1）他有尊贵祖先的血统，耶西（11:1）是大卫王的父亲；
(2) 他有耶和华的灵在他身上（11:2）；
(3）他有智慧和理解的灵（11:2）；
(4) 他有知识和敬畏耶和华的灵；以及
这“枝条”不仅获得了上述能力，他本身也有寻求耶和华的内在倾向和喜乐：
(5）“他必以敬畏耶和华为乐”（11:3）。
这枝子的到来将为政治世界和自然界带来和平（以赛亚书 11：6-9），为许多民族的所有余民带来希望（以赛亚书 11：10-11），甚至为以色列和犹大带来希望（以赛亚书 11：12-15）。
以赛亚书 11:16 为着 神的余民，就是那些在亚述剩下归回的，必有一条大路给他们归回，正如以色列人从埃及地上来的日子一样。
以赛亚指出，耶和华正在进行另一次“出埃及”，这将是一条载着无数人走向耶和华所提供的救赎的一条大路。新的一周又开始了，让我们继续相信耶和华的决定，相信祂如何眷顾祂的子民。愿你们的思想在本周就因此充满更多属灵的积极因素。
