应许遥不可及时——亞伯拉罕的信心之旅（八）
When Promises Seem Far Away——
Abraham’s Journey of Faith Message of No.8
亚伯拉罕的信心之旅第八篇的信息：『HOW WONDERFUL IS HIS LOVE！HOW GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS他爱多奇妙，信实和广大！』
主讲：林慈信牧师_校对：刘加立弟兄_文字：范弟兄
纵览OVERVIEW：Now let us look at Chapter 15现在我们来看（《创世记》）第十五章：This is how God give Abraham the assurance of his promises上帝是这样子把确据给亚伯拉罕的。In verse 9：God instructed Abram to bring certain animals and Abram knew exactly what to do：He cut them in half except for the birds第9节：上帝说要把一些动物带来，亚伯拉罕完全知道是要做什么事的；他就把它们劈开成两半，除了鸟没有劈开。The birds of prey came and Abram drove them away有飞鸟下来，要吃那个死的动物的肉，亚伯拉罕把他们赶走。Then the sun went down, a deep sleep fell on Abram——verse 12（《创世记》第十五章）12节：日落有大黑暗，亚伯拉罕沉睡了。And then God spoke to Abram，from verse 13 to verse 16从（《创世记》）第13节到16节，上帝向亚伯兰说话；and He told Abram what was going to happen in the next four hundreds plus years上帝预告将来400多年会发生什么事：Abram’s descendants would be oppressed亚伯拉罕的后裔要被压迫的，but then God will rescue them上帝要搭救他们。And therefore Abraham himself，God promised him his peace for death而对亚伯拉罕他自己呢，上帝说他必定平平安安的去世。
Now we come to verse 17现在我们来到第17节了：The sun has gone down and it was dark（《创世记》）17节：日落天黑。And now we will read a smoking firepot and a flaming torch我们读到，有一个冒烟的炉和烧着的火把。And these two things went through or between the pieces of animal meat这两个东西从这些肉块中经过。And Bible says in verse 18（《创世记》）18节，圣经说：In this way on that day，God made a covenant with Abram在那天耶和华与亚伯兰立约的。
IV.THE MEANING OF THE COVENANT INAUGURATION CEREMONY这个设立圣约的仪式的意义
What is the meaning of this ceremony这个仪式的意义是什么呢？Abram knew this ceremony——it was familiar to him亚伯拉罕知道这个仪式是怎么一件事，所以他是很熟悉的。In the ancient Near East, this was the way two parties went to make a covenant在古近东时代，两方面立约的时候往往用这个仪式的。It is a self-maledictory oath这个是一种的自我咒诅的一种的立约、一种誓约。Usually both parties would walk through the pieces of the animal meat一般来说立约的双方都会从这些死的肉块中间走过的。
We know that in 18th century BC，there was a covenant made in Syria我们知道在主前十八世纪，在叙利亚有立约：Abba-EI-I says he was bound to Yarim-lim-II（阿勒颇雅姆哈德王朝的汉穆拉比一世的大儿子阿巴·埃勒一世继承王位；二儿子获得Irridu城邦的统治权）——有两方透过发誓立约He made an oath to the second party。And he had cut the throat of a sheep他就把一只羊的喉咙把它切开了。In 15th century BC在主前十五世纪，in Qatna，there were cuneiform texts“to cut a covenant.”（卡特纳为亚摩利城邦，楔形文本）当时有“立约”这两个字原文是“契”——“契入”的“契”——契约。Also，Hebrew、Aramaic、Phoenician texts不但在那个地方，希伯来文、亚兰文等等都有这类的经文（楔形文本）的。And then in 8th century BC in Mari到了主前第八世纪在马里这个地方，at the conclusion of a covenant someone killed a donkey在立约结束的时候，这仪式是把一个驴子宰了。And also in 8th century BC，there was a Babylonian treaty在主前第八世纪另外有巴比伦的条约：Again some people was making a covenant with someone else一方和另外一方立约，and the text reads这个条约这样说的“just as this calf is cut to pieces，so may Mati’el be cut to pieces and his nobles be cut to pieces他说：正如这条牛被切成这么多快；同样的，玛提艾尔也愿他被切成肉块，他的贵族也被切成肉块”（引自《诸约中的基督》from Palmer Robertson《Christ in the Covenants》）。In other words，if you or if I do not keep the covenant换言之，假若我或者你不守约，if we violate the covenant假若我们违背这个约，then the parties at this point make a solemn oath他们就很严肃地发誓说：“May I be cut to pieces like these animals are cut to pieces愿我被切成肉块，正如这些动物一样”。We may not think of this is a very beautiful ceremony我们一般不会说这个是很美的一个仪式，but that was the way they’ve done但那个当时是他们做事的方法——By oath they made covenants with one and another他们透过发誓彼此立约的。
Now let us notice that in the ancient covenants both parties A and B walked through the animal pieces请注意，在古近东的条约里面，两方——第一方、第二方都走过肉块的。But in 《Genesis》15 only God go through the pieces但是在《创世记》第十五章唯有耶和华上帝经过这些肉块的。Abraham cannot make such an oath亚伯拉罕不能这样子立约的，because he like us，he is a covenant breaker因为亚伯拉罕跟我们一样，都是背约的罪人。If he makes such an oath，he will perish亚伯兰假如这样子发誓立约的话，他必灭亡的。So only God made this oath所以只有上帝这样子发誓。
And 《Hebrews》tells us that since there is no one higher than God，so God swears with his own life《希伯来书》告诉我们，既然没有任何比上帝更高的，所以上帝指着他的性命发誓。And so God walks through the pieces himself——for himself and for us上帝是代表他自己走过这个肉块的，也代表我们走过肉块的。God promised that if he would break the covenant then may he perished上帝发誓说：假如他背约的话，愿他灭亡。Of course God would never break the covenant当然上帝永远不会背约的，the only party that may break covenant would be ourselves只有我们罪人才会背约的。This is how God loves us上帝是这样爱我们的，he took care of the reality that we will be breaking covenant他也把“我们会背约”这个事实、这个问题也处理掉了。
Later on，in history of the Old Testament we read similar covenant ceremonies that involved in blood后来，在旧约的历史我们也读到一些类似的立约的仪式。You see，a covenant is an oath made with blood——it’s a life and death oath立约是一个血盟——用血来立一个生死的誓约的。In《Exodus》24在《出埃及记》二十四章，we read about Moses officiating the covenant with the people of Israel我们读到摩西为上帝执行他的约，在以色列人身上。Now it is not practical for so many thousands of Israelis walk through the meat of certain animals当然，成千上万的以色列人要走过几个动物的肉块是不实际的。So Moses used another method所以摩西用另外一个方法，he sprinkled the blood on the people摩西向以色列人洒这个血。
Then we get《Jeremiah》34然后我们读到《耶利米书》三十四章17到20节verse 17 to 20：There the prophet Jeremiah read God’s law to the king and people在那里，耶利米把上帝的律法读给王和以色列民、犹大民听。This is 1400 years later这个是1400年之后的事，and birds in the sky and meat cut into pieces would mentioned again但是他们又再一次提到天上的飞鸟和被切开的肉块。And so《Jeremiah》34 went back to Abraham’s covenant and Moses’ covenant《耶利米书》三十四章又指回亚伯拉罕的约跟摩西的约的。Since the people of Judah broke the covenant既然犹大人背约了，may they be come to pieces愿他们被切成肉块。So judgement is real所以审判是真的，they are consequences to breaking the covenant背约是有后果的。
In《Genesis》15 on that day and God promised to bring the curse upon himself if we sin在《创世记》十五章那一天，上帝应许他发誓说：当我们背约的时候，愿他受咒诅。Well，that promise became a reality那个应许至终成为事实了。On the cross at Calvary，God not only promised to bring the curse on himself在各各他山上的十字架，上帝不仅仅发誓愿咒诅临在他自己，he actually brought the curse on himself——on Jesus Christ the son上帝事实上把咒诅放在他自己身上——在耶稣基督圣子的身上。That’s how great God’s love is上帝的爱就是那么的伟大！
V.REPRISE重申：
How does God love上帝怎么爱的呢？How wonderful is His love他的爱究竟有多奇妙呢？We must understand what is covenant is，in order to understand God’s love我们必须理解到神的约是什么，才能够理解到神的爱是什么！The covenant is God coming to make a vow with us上帝跟我们立约的意思是说：他临到我们，向我们发誓。We are sinners，we are covenant breakers我们是罪人，我们是背约的。God brings us his faithfulness and his love上帝把他的信实跟他的爱赐给我们：we are faithless我们是背约的、我们是不忠诚的；God is faithful，he never changes上帝是信实的，他永不改变。
And so to every person who trusts in God by trusting in his son所以每一位相信耶稣基督、相信上帝的人，God gives us Jesus’s obedience上帝给我们耶稣基督的顺服，and Jesus also took the curse for our disobedience同时耶稣基督为我们的不顺服承担了咒诅。We must see the double gifts that Jesus gives us我们必须看到：耶稣基督给我们的恩赐是一份双重的恩赐：（1）Negatively，Jesus took the curse从消极来看，耶稣承担这个咒诅。We cannot afford to take the curse我们不可能承担的。Just like later on in（《Genesis》）Chapter 22，Isaac could not atone for his（35:27）就等于到了二十二章的时侯，以撒也不可能为自己赎罪的。Jesus had to take the curse耶稣必须为我们承担咒诅的。（2）But on the positive side但是从积极正面来看，God is faithful上帝是信实的，Jesus is obedient耶稣是顺服的。So when we trust Him所以当我们信靠耶稣基督的时候，God gives us his unchanging love and Jesus’perfect obedient record当我们信耶稣的时候，上帝给我们他不变的信实慈爱，他也把耶稣基督的完全顺服的所赚来的义也同时赐给我们。So therefore only if we completely trust in God’s love、in Christ所以我们唯独完全依靠上帝在耶稣基督里的爱；only if we completely trust in God’s faithfulness当我们完全依靠上帝的信实，then can we begin to learn the true meaning of love我们才能够开始体会到爱的真意，because then Jesus keeps the covenant for us这样子耶稣为我们守约，Jesus took the curse for covenant disobedience for us as well同时为耶稣我们的背约承担咒诅。
What is love? What is faith爱是什么？信心是什么？It is make a covenant、make a commitment爱是承诺、委身，信心也是承诺、委身。But dear brothers and sisters，we cannot even begin to make a commitment弟兄姐妹，我们不可能立约的来爱、来信靠上帝，unless God make a commitment first除非上帝先来为我们承诺、为我们委身。Because our God has kept covenant for us因为神为我们立约、守约，then it becomes possible for us to give ourselves and dedicate ourselves to God and to live for Christ因为神先守约承当了这个约——承诺了，我们才有可能把自己奉献给神的。
Let us thank God for his love让我们为上帝的大爱感谢他：because it is a strong、dependable、faithful love因为上帝的爱是坚固的爱、信实的爱、守约的爱；our love is limited我们的爱是有限的——we often break our promises我们往往说了、做了一个应许也不去兑现的。God is not like that上帝不是这样子的。And so that’s the assurance God gave Abram on that day上帝在那一天就是这样子的把确据给亚伯兰。Abram says“How do I know for sure”亚伯兰问：“我怎么才能确实知道”？We believe，but our faith is weak我们相信，但是我们信心是软弱的；look to God、look to Christ for the strength of our faith我们的信心若是需要有能力，唯独仰望耶稣基督，仰望我们的上帝。
Let us pray together我们来祷告：Father we grateful for that your word is strong and unchanging上帝感谢你，你的话语是坚固而不改变的；your love is strong and unchanging你的爱也是坚固不改变的。Father help us to remove wrong emotions of love from our minds天父帮助我们除去一些对爱的错误的理解，and make us ever more every day，ever more appreciative of your covenant faithfulness and your covenant grace让我们一天过一天，更加的体会到你的立约守约的信实、你立约守约的爱。For we do not deserve any of it这一切都是我们不配得到的，and yet you pledged your own life for our sake但是你竟然为我们的缘故，用你自己的性命来做承诺。Thank you Jesus Christ for all that you’ve done感谢主耶稣为我们成就的一切，for your obedience and for your death为你的顺服，我们感恩；为你的死，我们感恩。We’ll never pay you back我们永远不可能偿还你的爱，but we worship you and we commit ourselves live for you但是我们敬拜你，我们也承诺为你而活。Your name we pray奉主耶稣基督你自己的名求。阿们！未经同意，请勿擅自在其它网站或平台转载和刊登课程的逐字稿；课程的逐字稿的版权归「中华展望」，禁止复印出版等商业用途。ccnci.org中华展望圣约学院[email protected]
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