Day 34 April 04
Day 34 April 04
Passage: Isaiah 51:17-52:6
In the preceding passage, it was a wakeup call for the God
who fights for his people. Now, the prophet makes two more wakeup calls, but
this time to Jerusalem. First, she must sober up from collapsing after drinking
spiked wine. The ferocity of the spiked wine came from God’s wrath, and the
outcome was waves of calamities. Jerusalem was brought to its knees after the
drink. Now, it lay slumped in an alley, like a discarded or neglected corpse.
Its children were too pre-occupied with their own troubles to search for it
(51:20). But it is time to wake up, because God had decided to remove the cup
and it shall no longer drink from it (51:22). God will instead put it into the
hands of their tormentors (51:23). That refers to the oppressing Babylonians.
God will repay them with their destruction. Babylon’s fate will be like the
present slumped and incurable Jerusalem.
But Jerusalem shall wake up (52:1). The prophet then aroused
its pride of freedom. The metaphor described how God redeemed Jerusalem like a
redeemed slave. But God paid nothing (52:3), because Assyria and Babylon
offered nothing to Jerusalem. When the Israelites took refuge in Egypt, it was
not exactly hospitable, but neither was it hostile at first. But Assyria and
Babylon were brutal to the Israelites, and arrogant towards God (52:5). Since
they were insufferable, God shall not suffer them. Thus, in redeeming
Jerusalem, Babylon’s fate was unlike Egypt’s (see Is. 43:3). Cyrus of Persia
would rob them of everything and Babylon would be annihilated. Now, God wants
to acknowledge his daughter, and after sobering up, Jerusalem shall see God
clearly. Through the toss and turns, it saw that neither its embarrassment in
the past nor its future freedom were by chance. This is the awakening of
Jerusalem.
Prayer: God, you are the one who
awakens and stirs us up! We praise you.
第三十四天
April 04
昨日的经文，提到唤醒了为子民征战的耶和华。如今，先知又来两段呼唤，不过这次是要唤醒耶路撒冷。首先是要从喝了毒酒而烂醉如泥的状况唤醒过来。这毒酒的猛烈来自耶和华的愤怒，而实质的后果就是重重的患难。耶路撒冷喝下这苦杯后一蹶不振。如今它是醉死街头，如同暴尸在外，却无人理会。它的孩子自身难保，更谈不上去找寻帮助它（51:20）。但此时是耶路撒冷苏醒的时候，因为耶和华决定除去这杯，它不必再喝了（51:22）。耶和华反而以此杯灌醉欺压他们的敌人（51:23）。这就是在当时横行霸道的巴比伦。神要以其人之道，还治其人之身。巴比伦的遭遇将如同此时被践踏，难以翻身的耶路撒冷。
但耶路撒冷就要被唤醒过来(52:1)。先知随后唤醒它得了自由的尊严。这段比喻形容耶和华好比赎回了耶路撒冷的卖身契。但耶和华说祂分文也不必给(52:3)，因为亚述和巴比伦当初的掳掠也是无本生意。以色列人在埃及的情况算是寄居，虽不是热情款待，但至少起初是彼此不扰民。但亚述和巴比伦却是对以色列人残暴，而且对耶和华态度傲慢(52:5)。
它们既然不可一世，那耶和华也不把它们放在眼里。所以，赎回耶路撒冷的方式，巴比伦的遭遇就不如埃及（参以赛亚43:3）。波斯的古列将掠夺一切，巴比伦从此荡然无存。此时耶和华要认回这个女儿，而苏醒后耶路撒冷也要认清耶和华。因为经过了这一番折腾，它知道之前的窘态，和之后的自由都不是偶然的。这就是耶路撒冷的觉醒。
祷告：耶和华，祢是让人觉醒、翻身的主啊!我们赞美祢。
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