耶和華阿、眾神之中誰能像你、誰能像你至聖至榮、可頌可畏、施行奇事。(出十五11)
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11)
無與倫比 NOTHING CAN COMPARE
讀經: 以賽亞書 四十 18~31
SCRIPTURE READING: Isaiah 40:18-31
釋義: 這段聖經環繞一個非常清晰的主題: 神是超然、無可比擬。以賽亞重複強調: 「你們究竟將誰比神，用甚麼形像與神比較呢？」(18) 「那聖者說：你們將誰比我，叫他與我相等呢？」(25)明確地指出這個重要的神學觀念:
Insight: This passage surrounds a very clear theme: God is above all things, nothing can compare. Isaiah emphasizes repeatedly: “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?” (18) “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.” (25) These verses clearly point out the following theological concepts:
- 高深莫測的創造智慧(12-14) -- 四次提到沒有「誰」能夠量度受造的天地宇宙, 神也沒有咨詢或聽取任何「指教」(13,14)。
- The wisdom in creation that is beyond comprehension (12-14) — The Chinese version of these verses mentions four times “who” can measure things in the universe that were created. God also did not seek or listen to any “counsel” (13,14).
- 人算什麼(15-17) — 人雖稱自己為萬物之靈, 但在不少生活領域已經給由自己發明和製造的電腦比下去了, 何況與創造人的主宰相比,豈不是先知所形容的, 是一滴水、天平上的微塵, 「在他跟前好像不存在，在他看來，只是烏有和虛空。」(18;新譯本)
- What is man (15-17) — Despite the claim to be the most intelligent among all creatures, we are outdone in many areas of our lives by the computers that we ourselves invented and made, let alone how we do compared to the master who created us. Wouldn’t we be like a drop of water or dust on a scale as the prophet describes - “as nothing before him…..accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness” (18)?
- 非任何形像/偶像足以表達(18-19) — 以賽亞比任何一位先知,更揭露拜偶像的愚昧。(見四一7,22-24四二17四六5-7四八5)以賽亞偶看重的問題不是偶像的真假。因為上文指出製造偶像的人只是虛空,他造成的偶像當然虛假。先知是解釋十誡的第二誡, 指出這些「像」不足與從來沒有人見過的神的形像作比較或表彰。
- No image/idol is adequate in depicting God (18-19) — No one exposes the ignorance of idol worship better than Isaiah (see 41:7,22-24, 42:17, 46:5-7, 48:5). Isaiah’s emphasis is not on whether the idol is real or not. As it has been stated earlier that idols are made by men who are just nothing and emptiness, the idols they made are no doubt fake. Here the prophet is explaining the second of the Ten Commandments, declaring that these ‘likenesses’ are not adequate as objects of comparison or depiction for the image of God whom no one has ever seen.
- 超越創造之上(21-22) — 「神坐在地球大圈之上」, 活在創造的宇宙底下的人根本無法想像那位「天和天上的天, 尚且不足祂居住」(王上八27代下二7六18)的神是實在怎樣的。
- Above all creations (21-22) — “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth” (22). “Heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain Him” (1 Kings 8:27, 2 Chronicles 2:7, 6:18). Men who live within the universe that God created basically cannot imagine what God is really like.
- 掌管君王興廢(23-24) — 面臨被擄危機的以色列人來說, 這點至為重要。既然神掌管國家興亡, 只要神施恩典, 他們就可以從被擄的厄運中得轉機。
- In control of the rise and fall of kings (23-24) — To the Israelites who are facing the threat of being carried off, this is extremely important. Since God controls the rise and fall of the nation, if God pours out His grace on them, their terrible fate of being carried off can be turned around.
兒童團的導師帶一個四歲男童去划船, 男童問他會不會游泳。他說會。過了幾分鐘, 男童又問:「你會只用一隻手游嗎？」他說大概可以的。他們離岸漸遠, 男童再問: 「你會單手游水, 另一隻手抱著一個孩子嗎？」
The leader of the children’s ministry took a four year old boy to row a boat. The boy asked if he could swim. He said yes. A few minutes later, the boy had another question, ‘Can you swim with one arm?’ He said pretty much. As they were getting farther from shore, the boy asked again, ‘Can you swim with one arm while holding a child with the other?’
關於神偉大的本質, 以賽亞問:「你豈不曾知道嗎？你豈不曾聽見嗎？永在的神耶和華，創造地極的主，並不疲乏，也不困倦；他的智慧無法測度。」(28)
Regarding the nature of God’s greatness, Isaiah asks, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.“ (28)
但對於人來說, 神的偉大的意義, 莫過於祂施行祂的大能幫助只算虛無的人: 「疲乏的，他賜能力；軟弱的，他加力量。」(29)
But what means the most to us regarding God’s greatness is that He would use His great might to help us men that are accounted as merely nothing – “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.” (29)
你是否因認識這位偉大的神而獻上感謝, 更重要的是: 你有否把握應許, 「但那等候耶和華的必從新得力。他們必如鷹展翅上騰；他們奔跑卻不困倦，行走卻不疲乏。」(31)
Do you give thanks for knowing this God of greatness? More importantly, are you holding on to the promise - “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (31)
每日讀經 by 洪同勉牧師 Rev. Tommy Hung
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