Day 9 March 06


Day 9 March 06

Passage: Isaiah 41:21-29
What does a “true God” mean? This question cannot be answered with one or two devotionals. But today’s passage can explain two areas on this topic.

First, the true God can only be the God who created the world and guided history. In the passage, God questioned the Babylonian gods. Can they interpret the present situation? Can they predict the future? In the events that happened, what roles did they play?
The Old Testament prophets have prophesized about the future many times, including the rise and fall of their nation and others. Although the Babylonian priests claimed that it was their god Marduk who led the Persian king Cyrus to attack them as punishment, it was claimed only after their country was attacked by the Persians. In other words, that was an afterthought. This clearly answers the earlier questions from the prophet: the Babylonian gods could not do it! They failed to interpret or predict anything. Only God is the true God that determines the future, and only his prophets can foretell the future.

Secondly, the true God is like a devoted potter, fully intending to shape clay into usable vessels; “like a potter treading the clay” (verse 25; See Jeremiah 18; Isaiah 29:13-16) describes the tragic fate of the imminent destruction of Babylon. “Tread” implies God’s servant Cyrus, but it also refers to God’s methods. To tread the clay is to make it formless, so that it can be reshaped into vessels. The process of shaping is varied and dynamic, and similarly God also uses many different ways to mold the sraelites and humanity. Whether through blessing, or severe discipline (like Cyrus crushing the self-deifying Babylon, or in the earlier days, the exiling of Israel and Judah), God continually molds humanity, till they live out the divine will of their creation.

Simply put, our lives must turn towards God, whether it is Israel or Babylon of the past, or us today. God has never given up, nor stop molding humanity.

Reflection: In this Lent period, are we ready for God to renew our lives, so that we may be vessels pleasing to God ?

第九天 Mar 06


经文：以赛亚书 41:21-29
何谓真神 ？  这问题绝非一两篇灵修短文所能回答。但今天所学习的经文却要从两个方面说明什么是真神。 第一、真神只能是那位创造世界、主导历史的上帝。在经文中，上帝问巴比伦的神明。他们能否诠释现状？能否预言未来？在已发生的事件中，他们起了怎样的作用？   

旧约的先知多次预言未来，包括本国和他国的兴衰存亡。而巴比伦的祭司只在国家遭到波斯攻占之后才说那是巴比伦神明马杜克（Marduk）带领波斯王古列起兵惩罚自己国家。用现在的话说就是：马后炮。这就清楚地回答了先前的问题：他们做不到!他们无法诠释、无法预知… 惟有耶和华才是能决定未来的真神、而只有祂的先知才能预告未来。

第二、真神就如同全情投入的窑匠，要把泥巴塑造成可用的器皿。经文以“窑匠踹泥” (25节; 参: 耶18; 赛29:13-16) 形象地描绘了巴比伦即将遭遇的悲惨命运。“踹泥”意指上帝的使者古列，同时也指上帝的手法。踹泥是把泥巴化为无形，之后再重新把它塑造成器皿，塑造器皿的过程多变而灵活，说的就是上帝如何以多种不同的方式不断地塑造以色列和世人。或赐予福分，或严厉惩罚（如古列消灭了把自己视为神的巴比伦，以及在更早时，以色列南北两国的人民被全部掳走，被迫失去家园），上帝不停地鞭策塑造世人，直到他们能活出其被造的本意。

简而言之，我们的生命要向着上帝，无论是当日的以色列、巴比伦或是今天的我们，上帝从未放弃，不断地鞭策、塑造世人。

反思：在这大斋节期间，我们是否预备让上帝也来更新我们的生命，使我们成为更合神心意的器皿？   

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