旧约 - 耶利米书(Jeremiah)第7章

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Stand in the gate of the LORD's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the LORD, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the LORD.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.
Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these.
For if ye throughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye throughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour;
If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt:
Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.
Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;
And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.
But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.
And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.
Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?
The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.
Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces?
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh.
For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices:
But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them:
Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck: they did worse than their fathers.
Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them; but they will not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but they will not answer thee.
But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the LORD their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth.
Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.
For the children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
耶利米书第七章   第 7 章 

  耶 7:1-10:25> 犹大人以为只要仰赖圣殿的存在,便可高枕无忧。今天教会中是否也存在一些类似的迷信心态? 

  7:1-10:25 这段经文一开始,描述神差遣耶利米到圣殿门口去指正人们的错误想法,因他们误以为神一定不会降灾祸到圣殿和住在圣殿附近的人身上。耶利米对百姓虚假空洞的信仰、膜拜偶像的行为和百姓与领袖同样沉溺于可耻的罪恶提出了指责和控诉。他预言犹大国受审判和被放逐的日子即将来到,这预言果然在约雅敬王执政时期应验了。约雅敬受制于埃及,变成了傀儡皇帝。其实,犹大国曾在约西亚王统治期间有过短暂的灵命复兴,但在约西亚王驾崩后,国家再次动荡不安,连许多善政也分崩离析,最后更荡然无存。这段经文的主题包括虚假的宗教、拜偶像和假冒为善。耶利米几乎为这些言论而丧命,幸得犹大的一些官员相助,救了他的命( 26 章)。 

  耶 7:2-3> 究竟怎样的教会生活才算得上敬虔的标准?参与聚会还不够吗? 

  7:2-3 百姓一面照常进行敬拜活动,一面却过着充满罪恶的生活,这是没有献身与神的宗教信仰。我们也很容易犯同样的毛病。如果我们去教会聚会、守圣餐、教主日学或参加唱诗班,却不是真心为神而做,那么所做的一切只是虚有其表,毫无意义。只有我们的动机是出于讨神喜悦,而不是单单满足教会的要求,我们所做的一切才美好。 

  耶 7:9-11> 先知与主耶稣都称圣殿为神“名下的殿”,我有否体验到教会生活与神的名有何关系? 

  7:9-11 昔日犹大人看圣殿和今日大多数人看教会的态度有不少共同之处:( 1 )他们不把圣殿视为生活的一部分。我们也是走进教堂才肃然敬拜神,一步出教堂,整个星期的生活就我行我素,忘掉了神。( 2 )圣殿的外貌比信心的内涵更重要。今天,人把参加教会活动时个人的外表、形像和群体的归属感看得比为神改变了的生命还重要。( 3 )当时的人把圣殿视为庇护所。现在很多人也以为依附于宗教便可消灾解难。 

  耶 7:11-12> 示罗的命运,不久也降临到耶路撒冷,显示神的审判不偏不倚。 

  7:11-12 主耶稣洁净圣殿时曾引用了这句经文(参可 11:17 ;路 19:46 ),可见在耶稣基督和耶利米两个不同的时代都同样出现在圣殿中行恶的情况。神的会幕曾设于示罗,但示罗同样遭神离弃( 26:6 ;参诗 78:60 )。倘若神不因会幕在示罗而予以额外的保护,祂又怎能因圣殿在耶路撒冷而予以特别的优待? 

  耶 7:15> “以法莲的一切后裔”是否有特别的所指? 

  7:15 以法莲即北国以色列的别称,于公元前 722 年被亚述所灭。 

  耶 7:18> “天后”是指哪一个外邦的神只?是犹大人常敬拜的偶像吗? 

  7:18 “天后”是伊施他尔神的称号,即美索不达米亚的爱和生育女神。耶路撒冷沦陷后,逃亡到埃及的犹大人仍然拜祭这个女神( 44:17 )。根据在埃及出土的公元前五世纪的蒲草纸文献记录,天后的确是当地犹太人敬奉的神只。 

  耶 7:19> 离弃了活水的泉源,只会使自己的生命枯竭。我生命的源头…… 

  7:19 “我们离弃神,到底谁会受害?”这问题的答案是:我们自己!神是我们灵性健壮的惟一源头,我们离开神就像植物离开了阳光和水,结果就是丧掉生命。 

  耶 7:21-23> 宗教上的礼仪,需要内心的真诚相配。我的教会生活,有多少只是徒具外表? 

  7:21-23 神为了鼓励人们欢喜快乐地顺服祂,设立了献祭的礼仪(参利未记)。献祭本身并没有令神喜悦之处,但人们藉着这些奉献,可省察到自己的罪孽和转眼仰望神,再次为神而活。百姓虽然忠心耿耿地履行献祭礼仪,却忘记了献祭的真正目的和意义,因此他们不再顺服神。耶利米提醒百姓,一个人若非在每个生活细节上都顺服神,那么就算他照常进行宗教活动,其信仰也是毫无意义的(参何 7 章附表)。 

  耶 7:25> 神的教诲与提醒,从来没有减少,却被以色列人忽略与轻蔑…… 

  7:25 从摩西到旧约时代结束,神差遣了很多先知到以色列和犹大两国。不论当时的情况多恶劣,神都照样兴起先知,叫他们指正百姓冥顽不灵的心。 

  耶 7:31-32> 以色列人要在行邪恶之地遭受审判,因为人莫想可以逃过罪的刑罚…… 

  7:31-32 陀斐特(意思是火烧之地)的高处(邱坛)建在欣嫩子谷中,那里本是公共垃圾场和丢弃城中瓦砾的地方,后来以色列人设立邱坛,焚烧自己的孩子献与摩洛神(参王下 23:10 )。然而,他们这个献祭之谷将被巴比伦变成杀戮之谷。在这里杀害自己儿女祭拜偶像的人,必在这里遭到屠杀。──《灵修版圣经注释》