Wednesday, 22nd December 2021
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-10 God’s Judgement
V1-2 ‘How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger! He cast down from heaven to the earth the beauty of Israel, and did not remember His footstool in the day of His anger. The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied all the dwelling places of Jacob. He has thrown down in His wrath the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its princes.’ Everything the Israelites had was from God. Do we also see that we can be where we are today is because of the Grace of God? What are the ‘treasures’ that can really protect us?
V3 ‘He has cut off in fierce anger every horn of Israel; He has drawn back His right hand from before the enemy. He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire Devouring all around.’ God no longer showed His mercy because only fire can destroy all the sins of people. God wanted to completely demolish the strength of Israelites, so they knew that everything they had they could not rely on, and the idols they worshipped would fade away. God wanted the temple to be the place of worship, not just a place to meet up, to social or to carry out religious rituals. People should no longer live in their fanaticise and lies, but to face the reality, and to turn back to God.
V7 ‘The Lord has spurned His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has given up the walls of her palaces into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord as on the day of a set feast.’ All the buildings were just empty objects, when people no longer worshipped God, then God’s presence would leave. God made up His mind to demolish and destroy, so the people of Israelites would not rely on these ‘treasures’ anymore. God’s intention was good, it was out of love, even though it seemed that God was cruel, but this was the only way for the Israelites to repent and return. All the lies would be destroyed, and everything would return back to zero.
V10 ‘The elders of the daughter of Zion sit on the ground and keep silence; they throw dust on their heads and gird themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem bow their heads to the ground.’ The leaders of the city did not have their authority and power anymore, they failed because of their sins. God is love but He is also righteous, He gives us opportunity to repent, but when we decide to continue sinning, His judgement will come.
Section Two V11-17 The Illusion of the False Prophet
V11 ‘My eyes fail with tears, my heart is troubled; my bile is poured on the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because the children and the infants faint in the streets of the city.’ It’s easy to give up and leave God when we face troubles in our lives. The people of Israel lost hope and motivation. They only wanted to feed themselves, they focused on the ‘treasures’ and they stopped seeking God.
V14 ‘Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions; they have not uncovered your iniquity, to bring back your captives, but have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions.’ The prophets were supposed to preach the truth of God, but instead of doing so, the prophets of Israel only spoke the words of praise to please people. They did not speak the truth and therefore the judgement also came upon them. V15 ‘All who pass by clap their hands at you; they hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that is called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”’ The city of Jerusalem was no longer the place people wanted to go, its glorious past has gone. The prophets did not show the people their sins and did not give them the opportunity to repent.
V18-22
V18 ‘Their heart cried out to the Lord, “O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no relief; give your eyes no rest.’ We must seek God, stop living in this world of illusion, but to call out to God, and He will take over. When we are willing to be convicted for sins, for judgement and for righteousness, then God’s hand will reach out to us, this is His heart, for us to turn back to Him. When we fully rely on God, then we can find the only way out!
V22 ‘You have invited as to a feast day the terrors that surround me. In the day of the Lord’s anger there was no refugee or survivor. Those whom I have borne and brought up my enemies have destroyed.’ There is nothing we can rely on in this world, especially in the past two years, with the virus, the economy, and everything happens around us, our hearts are worried, and we are full of fear. This is the time we must hold onto God more, but our sins and our pride stop us coming closer to God. We tend to choose to rely on what we can see and what we can hear, instead of our Creator God.
In this lost city, we must pray more, to seek God more, and to stop relying on our own strength. Let there be no gap in our lives for sins to come in, and let God’s presence fill every aspect of our lives.
耶利米哀歌 2 – 在失落的圣城日子如何度过
2021年12月22日 星期三
潘锡安牧师
一、神的审判 v.1-10
V1 神发怒的时候，审判就来到，“遮蔽锡安城”，说明神的审判是完全的。当罪充满耶路撒冷，神的审判就来到这里。以色列的华美是从神而来，但神如今都拆毁了。“脚凳”指圣殿中的约柜，神现在不记念他与以色列的约，因为以色列完全没有遵行神所赐给他们的诫命。
V2 以色列人所拥有的都是神给的，那我们是否看到我们能走到如今都是神的恩典？我们以为可以保护我们的“保障”、后路，都会倾覆，因为神要以色列人警醒起来，单单倚靠他。
V3 “角”是力量的意思。以色列的力量其实都是从神而来。神的“右手”代表他的帮助、拯救，如今神说他不再帮助和拯救以色列了。唯有在火里面才能炼净一切的罪。
V4 神让他的百姓知道他们不能再靠自己，也知道他们所倚靠的外邦都不能帮助他们。神的审判将所有的罪从神的子民中除灭，拯救才会临到。”帐篷”原文是圣殿，神要的不是宗教的东西，而是人心灵和诚实的敬拜。
V5 唯有彻底的拆毁，人才会清醒过来，不再活在蒙骗当中。
V6 神再一次说，这些人聚在圣殿中并非真正的敬拜。神不要表面虚假的东西，他要的是以色列人的心。“君王和祭司”没有让以色列的心归向神，所以神厌恶他们。
V7 神不要这些虚空的建筑物，他创造天地，如何能被人局限在一个地方？当人没有真正在敬拜他的时候，这个地方就是不洁的，被神厌恶。
V8 神要以色列人不要再倚靠那些“外郭和城墙”，他让人看到毁坏之物后能学到功课、回转过来。
V9 “锡安的门”也都没有办法保护以色列人。神让以色列的君王都被掳去，因为他们都没有带领百姓在神的律例里面敬拜神。
V10 以色列百姓一败涂地，他们的“处女垂头至地”，因为城中的男生被杀戮了。神是爱，但神也是公义。当我们没有珍惜神给我们的机会时，审判就来了。
二、假先知的迷惑 v.11-22
V11 当我们遇到物质上的困境时，很容易离开神，无法坚持信仰。
V12 “谷、酒”原文是粮食。他们已经完全失去盼望，心里想要的就是填饱自己的肚腹。
V13-14 神在对他的百姓说：锡安啊、耶路撒冷，你们还不愿意去相信、不愿意看见真光真感觉、不愿意谦卑跟从神，“你的先知为你见虚假和愚昧的异象”。先知本来应当让人知道真理，认识到自己的罪，但这里的先知只会认同人的感受，讲好听舒服的话，没有说真话，没有进到自己的责任。
V15-16 耶路撒冷再不是令人羡慕的城，因为神的拯救和保护都没有与他们在一起，“你的仇敌都向你大大张口”，他们就被仇敌任意抢夺。
V17 在以色列人面前的是羞辱、失败，他们仇敌被高举，因为神已经离开以色列，以色列活在罪里面，只是依靠假先知跟他们说好听的话，让自己感觉舒服。这些假先知没有却没有让百姓知罪认罪。我们是否只顾虑人的情感而没有将真理带给他们？
V18 在这个失落的圣城，我们要向神祈求，不要活在虚无、情欲里面。神要我们向他求告，他就会出手。唯有当我们为罪为义为审判自己责备自己，就好像尼尼微城的人从约拿那里知道自己的罪之后就全城披麻蒙灰、认罪悔改，这才是神所要的。唯有认罪悔改才是生路，不然我们会在罪里越陷越深。
V19 在这个神审判、假先知迷惑的时候，我们更要警醒起来向神呼喊。当我们知道自己的罪的时候，即便是晚上我们都要起来跟神祷告，为自己也为家庭和执政掌权的“举手祷告”。
V20 作者在这里求神记念他的仆人，因他们不能靠那些假先知所讲的虚无的话。
V21-22 “耶和华发怒的日子，无人逃脱，无人存留。。。仇敌都杀净了”。 在这个疫情肆虐的世代，我们将来要面对更多问题。人心惶惶，我们会害怕事情的发生不如自己所期待，所以我们会去寻找那些假先知来安慰我们。神对我们所怀的是赐平安的意念，但我们的罪和骄傲让我们跌倒。我们选择摸得着看得到的东西，却没有选择那位看不见的神。
在这个失落的圣城，我们的生活应该是逆向的。求神帮助我们警醒过来，不断祷告，用心灵和诚实敬拜神。