Day 5 March 02


Day 5 March 02

Passage: Isaiah 40:18-26
In today's passage, a list of questions was mentioned as before. All of these are God's further instructions for helping His people to know Him. Some might be surprised as to why God should put in such effort. And we also don't have sufficient evidence to indicate that the people had a clear and correct understanding about God. In fact, God's people did not even recognize and comprehend the God portrayed in the pages from Genesis to Deuteronomy. Ever since the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they did not take God's instructions seriously in their worship and did not apply them in their lives. After living for several hundreds of years among the Canaanites, the religious culture of the Israelites was mixed with pagan ideas and practices. In the assimilation process, many incorrect assumptions and strange ideas about God gradually influenced their thinking. Now, while the Israelites were residing in Babylon, God took this opportunity to redirect His people to learn about Him.

Who is this God? How can I know about this God? These two questions are the most important and the most essential to them. The first question concerns the essence of God. The second question deals with the accurate way of approaching God. Of course, God was in no way discussing with them about comparative religions or the theology of worship.

God pointed out directly that the gods His people were familiar with were only lifeless idols and not the true God. He does not wish to be understood by the usual religious frameworks of other religions.

Firstly, He reminded them that He was the God who created the heavens and the earth. He is the God above all gods. He alone gives life and takes away life. Whenever they look to the sky, the stars are displayed by His handiwork. In brief, His people must first recognize God as the great Creator and Sustainer of all that exists. Knowing who the awesome Creator God is, is not the solution to our quest of how the universe came about. (That is the question of the modern man, but not the question of the ancient scriptures.)

Understanding and knowing what kind of Creator He is, is the first step to comprehend who the Almighty God is and what God will do for them. Then they will learn how to build their trust in Him.

Prayer: Lord God, the Israelites need to relearn about You. We too need to go through a similar process in order to relearn the secret of trusting You. 

第五天 Mar 02

经文：以赛亚书 40:18-26
今天的经文里，一样列出了许多的问题，同样的，这一切都是耶和华上帝在进一步引导百姓认识祂自己。有些人或许会惊讶，为什么上帝需要做这样的事，然而我们没有理由假设百姓对神有清楚及正确的认识。实际上，《创世记》到《申命记》中的上帝是百姓所不了解及不认识的上帝。以色列人民自从进入应许地生活就不曾认真按神的吩咐敬拜神以及生活。在几百年住在迦南地的时间里，以色列的文化与迦南地及四周国家的宗教文化相混杂，在混杂过程中他们对上帝也有许多不正确的假设与想法。如今以色列百姓住在巴比伦，这时耶和华上帝还必须重新引导百姓认识自己。 认识耶和华神是谁？  怎样认识耶和华神？是两个最重要及根本的问题。第一个问题涉及的是什么内容？第二个问题涉及的是方法是否正确？当然，神不是在跟百姓进行宗教比较或讨论神学方法论。

神直接了当地向百姓指出，他们生活中所熟悉、所见的一般神明不是耶和华上帝 !神要百姓决不按一般的宗教想法去了解神。耶和华神首先提醒百姓，祂是创造天地、在一切之上的神。耶和华也是使到一切存活或消失的神，百姓每当仰望天空时所看到的星体是耶和华所摆设的!简单的说，神要百姓从耶和华上帝是创造主开始，认识神是谁。
认识神是创造主，不是为了解答宇宙是如何产生的问题（那是我们才会问的问题），了解耶和华是怎样的创造主，百姓才能明白神接下来会为百姓做什么？百姓要怎样信靠耶和华神？   

祷告：耶和华上帝，以色列需要重新认识祢，我们也需要重新认识祢，能让我们可以重新学习如何信靠祢。

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