Tuesday, 26th October 2021
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-9 Ask and be Answered
V4-5 ‘So Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him; for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them. Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.’ God still wanted Israel to return to Him, and therefore when Jehoahaz prayed, God answered him.
V7 ‘For He left of the army of Jehoahaz only fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers; for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.’ God still did not give up on Israel. God gave them a lot of opportunities to return and repent, when the people asked, God answered, but they still did not turn back from their wicked ways. God answered the Israelites that He would give them a deliverer, but it was not what they expected. So even though they won the battle by God’s grace, they still turned away from God to worship the idols.
Section Two V10-21 Just Believe
V10-11 ‘In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz became king over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but walked in them.’ Generation after generation, the kings were still making the same mistakes.
V12 ‘Now the rest of the acts of Joash, all that he did, and his might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?’ God gave the king the strength to fight the battles. He also knew Elisha was the man of God and the battle belonged to God. But did he really see Elisha as the prophet? Or just a person, who can help them to know God’s plan and to win the battle? A lot of time we only saw the outward appearance of people, things and environment, we see God too lightly, and we only believe in what we see. When God promised Israel He will send a deliverer, what did they believe?
V14-16 ‘Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Jehoash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!” And Elisha said to him, “Take a bow and some arrows.” So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, “Put your hand on the bow.” So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.’ God answered Jehoahaz’s plea by giving him his son, Jehoash, who came to Elisha at his sickbed and received strength from God to fight their enemy.
V17-19 ‘And he said, “Open the east window”; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, “Shoot”; and he shot. And he said, “The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.” Then he said, “Take the arrows”; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground”; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.”’ Elisha was upset because after he told the king they were the arrows of the Lord’s deliverance, he only struck the ground three times. Was the king striking the ground for the sake of doing, or did he really believe that God can help him win the battle with Syrians?
A lot of time we believe but we do not believe enough. We thought God will help us according to our ways, and we don’t believe in God’s way. We thought we were going to shoot the arrows, but God asked us to strike the arrows on the ground, at the end, God’s blessings and deliverance are unable to come upon us in full measure. May God help us to have this faith, to humble ourselves more and to obey God more!
Section Three V22-25 God is Able
Even though the Israelites were in defeat for many times, but because God promised the king of Israel that he could defeat Syrians three times, therefore He made it happen. God is able, the people kept on breaking the promise and kept on turning their backs against God, but because of God’s mercy and love, He did not destroy them. In the end times, God continues to give us opportunities to turn back and to seek Him, but we do not see the destruction is upon us, instead we still want to do our own things, seek our own ways, and gather our own treasures in our lives.
We do not know what will happen tomorrow, but God already given us the deliverer. Have faith in God, stop walking in our own ways, and let His blessings come to us.
列王纪下 13 – 怜悯以色列的神
2021年10月26日 星期二
潘锡安牧师
我们身处末世，应该以什么态度去面对日益加重的疫情等天灾人祸呢？在列王纪里记载的以色列人面对争战时的反应可以给我们一些启发，也让我们学习到神是一位怎样的神。
一、（v.1-9）恳求就应允
V1-2 “耶户的儿子约哈斯”是以色列国新登基的王。他在位十七年，“行耶和华眼中看为恶的事”。“尼八的儿子耶罗波安使以色列人陷在罪里的那罪”指的是拜金牛犊的罪 – 当初耶罗波安因着害怕民众要去犹大国耶路撒冷的圣殿朝拜神而离开他，不相信神给他的应许，所以在以色列国制造金牛犊给民众拜。以色列人过了这么多代，依然摆脱不了耶罗波安留下来的这罪 。当人犯罪的时候，他们常常只看到表面的罪行却没有深究罪的根源。 我们生命中有很多问题，其根源就是我们害怕、里面没有安全感、对神没有信心，面对无论是金钱、权势、甚至我们里面的情欲、爱，我们都不觉得神能帮助、满足我们，于是想要自己去掌控，无法倚靠神，没有办法活在生命树的气息之下。虽然以色列人一错再错，神仍然在等待他们。神是充满怜悯的，他知道我们靠自己是不行的，所以我们不要停留在自己老我的生命当中。
V3-4 当亚兰王不断来攻打以色列的时候，约哈斯就“恳求耶和华”。虽然约哈斯是神眼里看为恶的君，但当他愿意恳承认自己不行、将主权交还给神的时候，神“就应允他，因为见以色列人所受亚兰王的欺压”，正如神当初看见以色列百姓在埃及所受的苦。
V5-6 约哈斯经历了神的拯救后，没有真正的回转，反而变本加厉。当初他恳求神之后，神没有给约哈斯能力，而是賜下另一个“拯救者”。约哈斯见自己没有被使用，又继续去求其他的偶像（亚舍拉）。求神帮助我们，当我们的祷告蒙应允后，让我们不要对神不满足而离开他。
V7 神帮助以色列人脱离了亚兰人的欺压，但是以色列人不仅回去拜金牛犊，甚至还去拜亚舍拉，以致遭到亚兰王的践踏。但神仍然为以色列人存留了“五十马兵、十辆战车、一万步兵”，没有完全灭绝他们。
二、（v.10-21）只要信
V10 -11 约哈斯作王十七年，没有将以色列人带出罪的根源，他死后，他的儿子“约阿施在撒马利亚登基，做以色列王十六年”。跟他的父亲一样，约阿施“行耶和华眼中看为恶的事”，依然害怕百姓回犹大的耶路撒冷去敬拜神。
V12 根据这节的记载可以看出，以色列王约阿施是有争战能力的。
V14 在先知以利沙患病临死之际，约阿施来看他，为他痛哭，称以利沙为“我父啊！我父啊！以色列的战车马兵啊！”。他通过以利沙过去所行的神迹奇事知道以利沙是属神的人，知道争战得胜在乎耶和华。当初神听到约哈斯王的恳求，“赐给以色列人一位拯救者”（V5），人们很容易想到这人可能是先知以利沙，因为以利沙很厉害，可以帮助以色列打胜仗，却没有透过这些表面现象看到背后神对以色列更深的心意。神所赐给约哈斯王那个盼望，其实就是他的儿子约阿施。
V15-17 神借着以利沙按手在约阿施的手上，使他的手可以拉弓射箭，“是耶和华的得胜箭，就是战胜亚兰人的箭”，这说明约阿施王有了从神而来的能力。
V18-19 约阿施用箭打地三次，“神人”就生气了，因为约阿施没有看重这些“耶和华的得胜箭”。在他眼里，似乎是自己把箭射出去比较厉害，他不觉得“打地”也是一个象征胜利的重要方式，所以虽然手中拿着许多箭，却只是很敷衍的打了地三次，就只被祝福三次。约阿施信神，但他信不足，就没有办法经历神完全丰盛的祝福。我们是蒙神呼召、被神拣选的人，神已经按手在我们身上使我们有能力，我们是否愿意按照神的方式来行事，还是觉得只有自己的方式厉害？求神给我们信心，愿意谦卑顺服。
三、（v.22-25）神能够
虽然以色列只剩下极少的兵马（V7），但神既然应许他们得胜三次，神就能够做到，因为神纪念他“与亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各所立的约“，以色列如此顽梗，神本来可以灭绝他们，但他仍然”施恩给以色列人，怜恤他们，眷顾他们，不肯灭尽他们，尚未赶逐他们离开自己面前”（V23）。
神爱我们，一直给我们机会回转。我们在疫情泛滥的末世时刻，是否还是只想着如何为自己谋世上的好处、只为自己的情欲而活，还是愿意聚宝在天上，活出神给我们在地上的大使命、门训万民？神在四围寻找那一个为他摆上的人，我们愿意来回应他吗？