QT 26/02/2025 Wed. Isaiah 13. Can He Really Do it? 祂真的能做到吗？
QT 26/02/2025 Wed. Isaiah 13. Can He Really Do it?
READ http://www.esvbible.org/isaiah13
Isaiah 13:10–11
[10] For the stars of the heavens and their constellations
will not give their light;
the sun will be dark at its rising,
and the moon will not shed its light.
[11] I will punish the world for its evil,
and the wicked for their iniquity;
I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant,
and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. (ESV)
Humans do boast. But when it is time to deliver, sometimes nothing happens. But the prophet exhorted that The LORD is lord over nature and creation, lord over the wicked and over evil. Isaiah's audience were to take heart that pride and arrogance would be ended and laid low (13:10–11). The LORD can really do it.
While Babylon (13:1, 19) have walked with much pride in their waywardness, The LORD was powerful enough to raise the Medes kingdom to deal with them:-
Isaiah 13:17–19
[17] Behold, I am stirring up the Medes against them,
who have no regard for silver
and do not delight in gold.
[18] Their bows will slaughter the young men;
they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb;
their eyes will not pity children.
[19] And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
the splendor and pomp of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them. (ESV)
REFLECTION: If God is trustworthy (Isaiah 7–39) and those who trust in Him would find life while those who do not would result in destruction (Isaiah 7–12), on whom shall we place our trust?
Chapters 13–23 teaches that the destiny of the nations and their people are in the hands of the LORD. The main component of history is His story, God's story (Isaiah 24–27). Trusting the nations instead of trusting the King of history is foolishness (Isaiah 28–33).
REFLECTION: Would we carefully trust God and end up being a beautiful garden or trust the nations and end up a desert (Isaiah 34–35)? This question is so important and the consequences so drastically different that we should repeat the message of Isaiah again and again.
QT 26/02/2025 星期三. 以赛亚书 13. 祂真的能做到吗？
阅读 http://m.bbintl.org/bible/ncv/isa/13
以赛亚书 13:10-11 天上的星星和众星座不再发光；太阳刚出来就变为黑暗，月亮也不再发光。11 我必因世界的邪恶施行刑罚，也必因恶人的罪孽惩罚他们；我要使狂妄人的骄傲止息，使强暴人的狂傲降卑。
人类的确会自夸。但到了该兑现的时候，有时什么也不会发生。但先知劝诫说，耶和华是自然界和造物的主宰，也是恶人和邪恶的真正主宰。以赛亚的听众应该感到这个事实：骄傲和傲慢将被终结和击倒（13:10-11）。耶和华真的能做到。
虽然巴比伦（13:1, 19）在他们的行事为人很骄傲，但耶和华有足够的权柄兴起玛代王国来对付他们：-
以赛亚书 13:17-19 看哪！我要激动玛代人来攻击他们。玛代人不重视银子，也不喜爱金子。18 他们的弓箭必射倒年轻人，他们不怜悯妇人腹中的婴儿；他们的眼也不顾惜小孩。19 巴比伦本是列国中的华美，是迦勒底人引以为傲的荣耀，必像 神倾覆的所多玛、蛾摩拉一样。
反思：如果上帝是可信赖的（以赛亚书 7-39 章），信靠他的人会得到生命，而不信靠他的人则会遭到毁灭（以赛亚书 7-12 章），那么我们应该信靠谁？
第 13-23 章告诉我们，列国及其人民的命运掌握在耶和华手中。历史本身的主要内容其实就是神自己的故事（以赛亚书 24-27）。相信列国而不相信历史之王是愚昧的（以赛亚书 28-33）。
反思：我们是否会小心翼翼地选择相信上帝，最终成为美丽的花园，还是相信列国，最终成为沙漠（以赛亚书 34-35）？这个问题如此重要，而后果却大相径庭，因此我们应该一再重复以赛亚的信息。
