This week we
will continue the study of the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament.
At the announcement of the good news — “Here is your God” — His great plan of salvation — the Lord challenges His people with the question: “To whom will you compare me?” to convince them to put their trust in Him alone, even though they have sinned and will suffer judgment:
40:12-14—The Incomparability of God’s Wisdom
(1) Even with the advanced technology we have today, how much do we know about the oceans, the heavens (the universe), the dust (the lands) and the mountains?
(2) With the extreme difficulties in surveying the ocean floor (to find the missing Malaysian Airline (MH370) in mind), how will you answer these questions in vv. 12-13?
(3) What is the point of asking these questions according to vv. 13-14?
(4) How then can you apply the answers from vv. 13-14 to how God deals with
40:15-20—The Incomparability of God to Nations and their Idols
(5) To what does the Lord liken the nations?
(6) What conclusion does He draw?
(7) How do idols differ from God?
40:21-26—“Do you not know? Have you not heard”
(8) What has God revealed to us through His creation and His word, concerning the following?
a. Who the Creator is (vv. 22, 26)
b. Who is enthroned to rule over all creation
c. What the shape of the earth is
d. How He has dealt with the rulers of the world
(9) How then should we answer the question in v. 25?
(10) What does it mean by the “Holy One”?
40:27-31—“Do you not know? Have you not heard” — The Application
(11) What conclusion can we draw from the above? (v. 28a)
(12) What might be the reason for Jacob’s complaint? (v. 27)
(13) What should Jacob know and do instead? Why? (vv. 28-31)
(14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
本週我們繼續研讀舊約以賽亞書。請慢慢細心讀每天指定的經文至少兩遍，然後反復思考問題。 因書卷的篇幅長度，我們不會像其他書卷的逐節思想，乃以靈修式的多以重點來作反思。
神要安慰、安慰祂受加倍懲罰的百姓，就向他們宣告那好信息，就是“看哪，你們的神” —這救恩的計劃。隨即，祂就問他們：“你們究竟將誰比神？” ，藉此希望他們單單信靠祂：
40:12-14—神的智慧誰能相比？
(1) 雖然今天的科學和科技非常先進，我們到底對海洋、宇宙、大地和山嶺認識有多少？
(2) 至今（已是多年了）我們仍未能尋獲失蹤的馬航班機MH730，其中原因是我們對海底的地型所知有限。我們可以怎樣回答40:12-13的問題？
(3) 神為何要發出這些問題？(40:13-14)
(4) 我們可以怎樣藉這些問題的答案，應用在神對以色列、對列國和祂「以馬內利」的救恩計劃上？
40:15-20—列國與其偶像不能與神相比
(5) 神在40:15以什麼比喻萬民？
(6) 祂繼而作出什麼結論？
(7) 偶像與神有什麼分別？
40:21-26—豈不知道與聽見？
(8) 神藉著所創造的和祂的話語(聖經) 讓我們知道與聽見：
a. 誰是創造者？(40:22, 26)
b. 誰在掌管這世界？(40:22)
c. 這地球是什麼形狀的？(40:22)
d. 神怎樣處理世上的君王？(40:23)
(9) 我們當怎樣回答40:25的問題？
(10) 為何神在這特稱自己為“那聖者/The Holy One” ？
40:27-31—“豈不知道與聽見” 的應用
(11) 從上一段，你可得到什麼結論？(40:28a)
(12) 這裡提到雅各的什麼質疑？這質疑的原因是什麼？
(13) 與其質疑，雅各明白到什麼？該作什麼？
(14) 今日對你主要的提醒是什麼？你可以怎樣應用在自己的生命中？
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?” (Isa. 40:12)
The disappearance of the Malaysian airliner (MH370) on March 8, 2014 is certainly a great tragedy. To this day, nine months after its disappearance, it is still nowhere to be found. However, in the beginning weeks after its disappearance, not only were the families and friends of its passengers hopeful that it could be found soon because, as some of them put it, “It is such a big object”, the authorities and scientists were equally confident that they could locate it without much difficulties. The reason for such optimism lay squarely on our confidence in our advanced technology — if we could scale the mountains of the moon and reach Mars, we could easily access the depths of any ocean on earth.
However, as days
turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, such optimism has given way to
the following reality:
“Vast, unknown spaces still exist for humans to explore. Of course, outer space is still mostly unknown. But some of the most interesting and hardest to reach places are much closer to home. They are on the ocean floor. Only a tiny fraction of the ocean floor has ever been studied. Why? Humans can’t travel deep below the water’s surface without special vehicles. The pressure of the water is too great. Total darkness and extreme cold make it even more difficult.”
(Earth Science in Maine)
As we continue to pray for the search of the missing plane and the families of its passengers, we should also learn, once again, to humble ourselves before the Creator God, to confess our arrogance, because “Before Him, all nations are as nothing” and in our sinful state, we “are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing” (40:17).
「誰曾用手心量諸水，用手虎口量蒼天，用升斗盛大地的塵土，用秤稱山嶺，用天平平岡陵呢？」(賽40:12)
馬航MH730在2014年3月8日的失蹤實在是一件悲慘的事件。直至今天，仍無踪影。在發生事件的初期，人人都以為會很快就能找到航機。不是嗎？像不少人所說：這樣大的航機，可藏在那裡？連科學家和搜索的專家也以為不久就能尋獲。這樣的信心，完全是因為以為今天的科技和科學發達—連月球、火星都能登陸、探測，何況是地球本身的一角！
但是，很快的，“週”變為“月”，至今全無踪影。我們現在才曉得：“還有極廣闊的領域是人類要探索的。當然，絕大部份的太空也是人不知的；但有一些極難達、人最感興趣的地方是更靠近我們的。它們就是海底。只有極少部份的海底曾被探討。為什麼呢？人類沒有特殊裝備的船隻是不能進到那些海洋極深之處。那裡的水壓太大，加上是非常黑暗和寒冷，是很困難下去的。”( Earth Science in Maine)
故此，當我們繼續為這航機的尋覓和機上的乘客家人禱告之餘，讓我們同時謙卑在造物主的面前，承認人的傲慢，知道「萬民在祂面前好像虛無，被祂看為不及虛無，乃為虛空。」(40:17)
The message of God’s incomparability continues with the emphasis on Him being the Master of human history: He has raised (or stirred up) a forthcoming world power from the East who is identified as Cyrus, the king of Persia in 44:28 and 45:1.
41:1-7—A Challenge to the Nations to Judge
(1) In the Assyrian Era, the Lord, through Isaiah, clearly prophesies about the rise of Cyrus. The time of Isaiah would be followed by the era of Babylonians and then that of the Persians (i.e. the prophecy came more than 150 years before the fact):
a. What will Cyrus do to the nations of the world? (vv. 2-3)
b. How will the nations respond to the invasion by Cyrus? (vv. 5-7)
(2) Does history, like the rise of Cyrus, happen by accident? (v. 4)
(3) How does this demonstrate Who God is? (v. 4)
(4) How should such a fact silence these idolatrous nations?
(5) How should such a fact silence all the gods and idols in the world?
41:8-20—A Comfort to Israel: As the nations fear and tremble at the sight of Cyrus, the Lord asks Israel not to be afraid and gives them the following reasons:
(6) Vv. 8-10—They are different from the nations:
a. Who are they to God? (vv. 8-9)
b. Why should they not fear? (v. 10)
(7) Vv. 11-16—God is their help
a. What will happen to those who rage against them? (vv. 11-12)
b. Why? (v. 13)
c. What will Israel become to their enemies? (vv. 15-16)
d. Why then does the Lord still call Jacob a “worm” and Israel “little”? (v. 14)
(8) Vv. 17-20—Poor and Needy
a. How may we understand the spiritual condition of Israel in their sufferings under God’s judgment?
b. What does the promise that “the Lord will answer them” imply?
c. What does the imagery of vv. 18-19 depict of the blessings they will experience?
d. What is the purpose of God’s miraculous work in answer to their prayers? (v. 20)
41:21-29—A challenge to the Nations and Their Idols
(9) What does the Lord challenge the idols to do in vv. 22-23?
(10) What is the message behind this challenge? (v. 24)
(11) The Lord points out that He is the one who announces and causes the rise of Cyrus (as judgment to the nations) and foretells the sending of a messenger to bear good news of salvation to Zion (see 40:9):
a. In both cases, how does He differ from the idols?
b. In both cases, how does Christianity differ from other religions?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
請慢慢細心讀每天指定的經文至少兩遍，然後反復思考問題。
神繼續論到祂的無可比擬，並指出祂是掌管歷史的、是祂興起那東方的王來行祂的旨意。在及後的44:28 和 45:1清楚的介紹這王，他就是波斯的古列王。
41:1-7—要與列邦辯論
(1) 藉著以賽亞，神在這亞述時代預言了巴比倫的興起、更預言波斯繼巴比倫會成為世界的霸權(換句話說，這些都是尚未發生的歷史，是在超過150年前所說的預言):
a. 這東方的王會怎樣對待列國？(41:2-3)
b. 列國會怎樣面對波斯的侵略？(41:5-7)
(2) 這段世界歷史會是偶然而發的嗎？(41:4)
(3) 因此，我們知道耶和華是位怎樣的神？(41:4)
(4) 這樣，列國當怎樣回應神？(41:1)
(5) 今日的世人和他們所敬邦的偶像和神靈，當怎樣回應這掌管歷史的神？
41:8-20—以色列的安慰—列國固然會因古列而戰兢，神卻叫以色列不要害怕，並給予以下的原因：
(6) 他們與列國有別(41:8-10)
a. 他們與神有什麼特別的關係？(41:8-9)
b. 為何他們不用害怕？(41:10)
(7) 神是他們的幫助(41:11-16)
a. 與他們相爭的會得到什麼結局？(41:11-12)
b. 為什麼？(41:13)
c. 神會使以色列變成什麼？(41:15-16)
d. 既然如此，為何神卻稱雅各(即以色列) 為「蟲」?(41:14)
(8) 困苦窮乏(41:17-20)
a. 這裡怎樣描寫被神審判的以色列的景況？
b. 神說祂必應允他們，這應許的背後意味著什麼？
c. 41:18-19用什麼來比喻他們要得的福氣？
d. 這一切是要成就什麼呢？(41:20)
41:21-29—對列國和偶像的挑戰
(9) 神對偶像發出什麼挑戰？(41:22-23)
(10) 這挑戰背後的信息是什麼？(41:24)
(11) 在此，神指出(i) 祂預早宣告古列的興起，並使用他作列國的審判，(ii) 也預早告訴錫安會差使者報救恩的佳音(見40:9):
a. 這兩件事怎樣顯出神與偶像的分別
b. 怎樣顯出基督教與其他宗教的分別？
(12) 今日對你主要的提醒是什麼？你可以怎樣應用在自己的生命中？
“ 'Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you,’ declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.” (Isa. 41:14)
As the Lord continues His message of “comfort” (40:1) to Israel, He urges them repeatedly not to be afraid in chapter 41 (vv. 10, 13, and 14), and the reasons He gives are very moving and they include:
- Israel is special because He has chosen them as His servant and they are the descendants of His friend, Abraham (41:8).
- In spite of their sufferings in the hand of the nations because of their sins, He is still with them and He is still their God (41:10).
- He will take hold of their right hand, i.e. to be their strength (41:13).
The message of comfort continues with God’s promise to make them into a “threshing sledge” that will crush their enemies into chaff, who are as strong and mighty as mountains and hills (41:15-16). However, such a promise is preceded by pointing out that they are “worm Jacob” and “little Israel” (41:14). In other words, it is never their strength that conquers their enemies; it is always the doing of the Lord.
These days, as we seek to win the world for Christ, we like to think that we need more Christians to be among the successful, the powerful and the learned, not knowing that by ourselves, we remain “worm Jacob and little Israel”. If we are able to do anything for Christ, it is by the work of the Holy Spirit without whose help, we are more a liability to Kingdom work than an asset!
「你這蟲雅各和你們以色列人，不要害怕！耶和華說：我必幫助你。你的救贖主就是以色列的聖者。」(賽41:14)
第41章是繼續上文“安慰” 的信息(40:1) 。神不斷鼓勵以色列不要害怕(41:10, 13, 14) ，而所列出的原因甚是感人：
- 以色列實在很特別：是祂所揀選、是祂的僕人、更是祂朋友亞伯拉罕的後裔(41:8) ；
- 雖然他們因罪而在列國的侵略中受罰，神仍與他們同在、仍是他們的神(41:10) ；
- 並且祂必幫助他們，成為他們的力量(這是右手被攙扶的意思—41:13) 。
這“安慰” 的信息繼續應許他們會變成打糧的快器，把如山嶺的敵人打成粉碎(41:15-16) 。奇怪的是，這些應許之先，神卻說他們是蟲(或譯小蟲—41:14) ；意思是這一切並非因他們有什麼本事，能勝敵完全是神的作為。
今天，在要為基督作見證的事上，我們總以為需要更多有成就、有權勢、有學問的基督徒。這是完全忽略了我們是像雅各一樣，是“小蟲” 而已。若然我們能為基督作什麼，那仍完完全全是聖靈的工作；沒有祂的幫助，我們只會成為神國的禍患，而非祝福！
Now, the “servant” who will bring justice to the nations is being introduced in a bit more detail:
42:1-9—The Servant
(1) What are the things being introduced concerning this “servant” and what is His mission, according to v.1?
(2) Normally we associate the bringing forth of justice with authority and power, but what is being emphasized about this servant in vv. 2-3 and why?
(3) In what will the world (as symbolized by the islands) put their hope and why? (v. 4)
(4) In emphasizing He is the one who has called this servant, what does the Lord emphasize about Himself and why? (v. 5)
(5) The mission of this servant is so unlike any of the servants of God in the Old Testament (vv. 6-7). How is this mission fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ in the following terms?
a. A (new) covenant (Lk. 22:20)
b. Light for the Gentiles (Matt. 4:13-16)
c. Making the blind see, freeing captives and releasing the captives (Matt. 11:5; Lk. 4:21)
42:10-13—Call to Praise
(6) Who are the people being called to give praise? (see Note below)
(7) Why are they called to sing a “new” song?
42:14-17—Time to Act
(8) Why has the Lord been quiet? Why has He held Himself back and not unleashed His judgment? (Exod. 34:6)
(9) To whom will the Lord show mercy and to whom will He judge? (vv. 16-17)
42:18-25—Israel, the Blind Servant
(10) Why does the Lord call
(11) What is God's desire which this servant has failed to honor? (v. 21, 24)
(12) How dull is the heart of this servant? (v. 25)
(13) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
Note:
According to Keil and Delitzsch, Sela is the rock-city of
請慢慢細心讀每天指定的經文至少兩遍，然後反復思考問題。
這一章開始較詳細給我們介紹這在地上設立公理的「僕人」：
42:1-9—公理的僕人
(1) 第1節顯示這「僕人」有什麼特別之處？
(2) 我們一想到“公理” ，很自然想到權與力，但42:2-3所強調的是什麼？為什麼？
(3) 眾海島(萬國的代名詞) 所等候的是什麼？為什麼？(42:4)
(4) 在聲明祂是召僕人的那位時，神怎樣指出祂自己是誰？(42:5) 用意何在？
(5) 42:6-7論到這僕人的工作，明顯地與舊約所有其他的神僕不同：以下幾點怎樣完全在基督耶穌身上成就？
a. 作眾民的約(原文並非指中保，雖然祂也確是中保) ？(參路22:20)
b. 作外邦之光？(太4:13-16)
c. 使瞎子看見、釋放被囚的、在黑暗中的？(太11:5; 路4:21)
42:10-13—當讚美神
(6) 這裡呼籲誰要發聲讚美神？(參下註)
(7) 為何唱的是「新歌」？
42:14-17—不再靜默
(8) 為何神要到現在才不閉口，發出審判？(出34:6)
(9) 神要向誰發憐憫？向誰發怒？(42:16-17)
42:18-25—眼瞎的僕人
(10) 為何神稱以色列為眼瞎、耳聾的僕人？(42:20)
(11) 神對僕人的心意是什麼？(42:21,24)
(12) 這僕人是怎樣的遲鈍？(42:25)
(13) 今日對你主要的提醒是什麼？你可以怎樣應用在自己的生命中？
註：按解經家Keil & Delitzsch指出，西拉是以東的“石城” ；基達則是定居的亞拉伯人(恰與”bedu” 即遊蕩的Bedouins相反)。(K&D, 419)
“He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out.” (Isa. 42:2-3)
In introducing His “servant”, the Messiah, and His mission in a bit more detail, the Lord emphasizes three times that His mission is to bring justice on earth (vv. 1, 3 and 4). It may seem odd to us, because we would think that the emphasis of His mission should be on salvation. The reason why we may have such a misunderstanding is because we have been influenced by the world’s definition of justice.
We normally think of justice in terms of fairness, impartiality, being right or correct, and we also associate it with the giving of reward or penalty as deserved. This is, indeed, very close to the definition given by Webster Dictionary as it defines it as “the use of authority and power to uphold what is right, just and lawful”.
As a result, the symbol of the administration of justice is often depicted by a goddess (often blind-folded), holding a set of scales and a sword.
However, Webster defines justice beyond this as it refers to justice as “the quality of being righteous”. Now, that is closer to the biblical notion of justice. In biblical terms, justice obviously entails what Webster has first defined, but the Bible is even more concerned with the establishment of a people that will possess “the quality of being righteous”, and this is more than the doing of the right thing, but intrinsically entails a right relationship with God, without which no one is righteous for no one can do the right thing (Eccl. 7:20).
As a result, the New Testament word for justice in Greek is often translated as being righteous or justified, and that is the core mission of the Messiah/Servant in Isaiah 42.
Unlike the world, He is not to bring forth justice by authority and power, or by protest, demonstration, yelling or screaming. Isaiah says, “He will not shout, or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets” (42:2). No, it is not a sign of compromise, tolerance of sin, inaction or timidity. Rather, it depicts who He is — a Messiah of gentleness and meekness (Matt. 11:28-29).
If we understand that the real enemy of justice is sin — yours and mine, we would dare not call for justice, because if you and I get what we deserve, we should be in hell! You see, those bruised reeds and smoldering wicks are not so much victims of injustice, but doers of injustice. We sinners have already been weighted down and oppressed by sin like a bruised reed and a smoldering wick, waiting for eternal damnation. Instead of exercising His power and authority to judge and punish, Christ has come to suffer the consequence of our injustice and died on the cross, so that by believing in Him, we may be given His righteousness (Rom. 3:22).
This is God’s kind of justice!
「祂不喧嚷，不揚聲，也不使街上聽見他的聲音。壓傷的蘆葦，祂不折斷；將殘的燈火，祂不吹滅。祂憑真實將公理傳開。」(賽42:2-3)
當神將祂的僕人，就是彌賽亞和祂的工作在此稍為詳盡的加以介紹時，祂三次的論到其使命是要在地上設立公理(41:1, 3, 4) 。我們可能因此感到意外，因為我們以為祂的使命是帶來救恩。我們這樣想，是因我們對公理的認識，已被世俗的思想所影響而有偏差。
一般而言，我們想到公理，就想到公允、不偏私、是正直或正確的；也會聯想到公允的賞罰。這是與韋士大字典的定義相近：“公理是使用權柄和力量去支持正直、公允和合法的。”
也因這樣，一般施法的徵記是以那蒙上眼睛的女神像作代表：她一手持天平、一手持劍！
不過韋士大字典繼續的補充說：「公理是與公義的本質有關」。這句話就更近乎聖經的真理。當然，聖經中的公理也包含了韋士大字典第一部份的定義，但聖經更著重的是公義的本質；意思是超越是否做合公義的行為。故此，聖經最著重的是要人與神有正確的關係—欠缺與神正確的關係，就沒有人是公義的；正如傳道書所說：「時常行善而不犯罪的義人，世上實在沒有。」(傳7:20)
故此，新約聖經論到公理這字時，多是繙作“公義” 或“稱義” 。這正是彌賽亞，這僕人在以賽亞書第42章這裡論到的使命。
祂是與世俗的觀念絕然不同，不是用權勢、力量來帶來公理；不是以抗議、示威、叫喊的方式。相反的，祂是“不喧嚷，不揚聲，也不使街上聽見他的聲音”(42:2) 。不過，這絕非懦弱、妥協、不勇敢或過份容忍的表現；乃是顯出彌賽亞柔和謙卑的本質(太11:28-29) 。
我們要知道，不公、不義的根源是人的罪—包括你和我的罪。如果我們真是要求公理，我們首先要面對的是審判—就是地獄的審判！其實，這裡的壓傷的蘆葦，將殘的燈火，不是指無辜的受害者；乃是首先指到我們行不義、被罪所壓傷、奄奄一息、等候永刑的人。但基督耶穌不但沒有使用權能，更是把自己來代替我們接受了不公、不義的懲罰，被釘死在十字架上；叫「神的義、因信耶穌基督，加給一切相信的人」(羅3:22) 。
這就是神的公理！
After the introduction of the Messiah who shall bring forth justice, the oracle returns to the “fear not” motif of the previous chapter:
43:1-7—Fear Not
(1) V. 1 and v. 7 serve as an “inclusio”. What is being repeated by the two verses and what is its significance?
(2) In
assuring