2017-07-06


在救贖歷史上出埃及是上帝百姓生命中最重要的事件。然而,與出埃及同樣重要,甚至對我們來說更重要的是, 在出埃及記第三章看到上帝啟示祂屬性的宏偉壯麗。這一宏偉壯麗的屬性包含兩個榮耀而緊密相關的真理,沒有這些真理,基督教的上帝無法被人理解,和受人敬拜。與以色列從埃及被拯救出來同樣重要的是,除非這個屬性鑲在上帝雙重屬性的啟示的架構裡,就如上帝自己聲明所表述的,和在燃燒的荊棘叢中所呈現的那樣,不然它是不可能得到正確的理解。

當上帝來到摩西面前,祂宣告自己是「我是你父親的神,是亞伯拉罕的神、以撒的神、雅各的神」(出三6)。在這裡,上帝確認自己是立約的神,一位擁有至高主權,啟動與祂的百姓的關系的神。上帝要摩西認識的第一件事是,祂是上帝,祂與祂的百姓同在(12節),祂將拯救他們出埃及(8節),目的是要他們單單敬拜祂(12節)。上帝透過摩西來成就祂的盟約應許。

摩西意識到這個出自上帝的稱呼的重要性。所以他猶豫了。他尋找推辭的借口。他首先指出自己的不足(「我是誰?」; 11節),上帝回應指出祂的全然充足的供應(「我必與你同在」;12節)。

隨後摩西問了一個乍看起來可能顯得奇怪的問題。他想知道上帝的名字。他求問上帝名字的原因是因為,正如我們在舊約所看到的,人的名字通常指出他的性格。摩西懇求上帝啟示祂的性情,好讓以色列知道,那位呼召摩西的上帝是全然充足的。祂有能力實現應許的拯救。

上帝告訴摩西祂的名字------「自有永有者」------是上帝的全然與完備自足的啟示。它是上帝自存(aseity)的啟示。上帝由己而出(巴刻註: a se aseity 一字源自拉丁文 a se,即祂自己有生命,並可從祂自己裏面汲取無盡的能力)。上帝,唯獨上帝不依靠任何事而獨立自足。這意味著,為了摩西和以色列,上帝不依靠法老的合作來實現祂所應許的事。

上帝的名字------「自有的(我是)」(I Am----是耶和華名字的根形式。約翰·加爾文恰當地說道,這個名字在舊約聖經中賜給我們,「每當提到祂那不可透知的(incomprehensible)的本質時,欽佩之情油然而生,並充滿我們的心思。」 在耶和華名字裏確定的「不可透知的本質」,在舊約中提及超過五千次。

因此,在出埃及記第三章中,上帝以兩種方式確認自己。祂告訴摩西,祂是立約的神,祂與祂的百姓同在;祂是自存的神,祂不需要任何事物,以便成為祂所是(誰),和完成祂計劃所要做的事。

這就將我們帶回到燃燒的荊棘叢裡。 這個神蹟的目的不僅僅是讓摩西感到驚愕; 它展示了上帝對摩西宣告的祂自己的雙重屬性。 燃燒的荊棘說明了神學家所謂的上帝之超越性(trascendence)和臨在性(immanence)。 燃燒荊棘的啟示是關於「自有的」(我是),和永遠都是完然獨立、自給自足的啟示。上帝是豐滿和完全是神,正如祂所說,祂應許和計劃「下來」(出三8)與祂的子民同在,並將他們贖回。 燃燒的荊棘將我們指向關於那一位的最高峰的啟示:祂是豐滿、全然、自存的神,祂來把祂的子民贖回,祂是以馬內利(神與我們同在)。燃燒的荊棘將我們指向耶穌基督自己(太一23; 廿八20)。

在出埃及記第三章的上帝的雙重屬性的啟示,對所有那些尋求參與合乎聖經的護教任務的人來說都是至關重要的。地球上沒有其他的宗教認識這種神。我們所捍衛的信仰是完全獨一無二的。我們的信仰以聖經賜給我們,關於上帝宏偉壯麗的屬性這一啟示開始和結束。

本譯文的聖經經文皆引自《聖經新譯本》。

本文原刊於Tabletalk雜誌。

註:

耶和華(Yahweh)這名字,是上帝在燃燒的荊棘向摩西啟示的名字,意思是「我是」。對上帝這種令人難以置信的屬性,神學家用一個特殊的字來描繪:「自存性」(aseity)。意思是: 祂就是、靠祂自己、獨立於一切之外。God is. Yahweh, the name by which he revealed himself to Moses at the burning bush, means "I am." The theologians have a special word for this mind-boggling attribute of the God who is there; they speak of it as his "aseity." He just is, by himself, and independent of all else.
--〈什麼是改革宗(歸正)信仰? 加爾文主義最精彩的要點〉
WhatIs the Reformed Faith? High Points of Calvinism
譯者/校對者:Maria Marta/誠之




“I AM WHO I AM”
FROM K. Scott Oliphint

One of the most significant events in the life of the Lord’s people in redemptive history is the exodus. However, as important as the exodus is, it is even more important for us to see that in Exodus 3, God reveals the majestic magnificence of His character. It is a magnificence that contains two glorious truths, inextricably linked, without which the Christian God cannot be understood or worshiped. As important as the salvation of Israel from Egypt is, it cannot properly be understood unless it is framed within the revelation of God’s twofold character as expressed by God’s own declaration and as displayed in the burning bush.

As God comes to Moses, He announces Himself as “the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6). Here God identifies Himself as the covenant God, the One who has sovereignly initiated a relationship with His people. The first thing that God wants Moses to recognize is that He is a God who is with His people (v. 12), who will deliver them from Egypt (v. 8), and who has redeemed them for the purpose of worshiping Him alone (v. 12). God is accomplishing His covenant promise to Israel through Moses.

Moses recognizes the sheer weight of this call from God. So he hesitates. He looks for a way out. He first points to his own insufficiency (“Who am I?”; v. 11), and God points back to His all-sufficiency (“But I will be with you”; v. 12).

But then Moses asks something that might, at first glance, seem strange. He wants to know God’s name. The reason he asks for God’s name is because, as we see in the Old Testament, the name of someone often designates the character of the person. Moses is asking God for a revelation of His character so that Israel may know that the One who has called Moses is sufficient. He is able to achieve the deliverance promised.

The name that God gives to Moses—“I AM WHO I AM”—is a revelation of God’s utter and complete self-sufficiency. It is a revelation of God’s aseity. He alone is of Himself (a se). God, and only God, is dependent on nothing. And this means, for Moses and for Israel, that God is not dependent on Pharaoh’s cooperation to accomplish what He has promised.

This name of God—“I Am”—is the root form of the name Yahweh. John Calvin rightly says that this name is given to us in the Old Testament “that our minds may be filled with admiration as often as his incomprehensible essence is mentioned.” That “incomprehensible essence,” given in the name Yahweh, is mentioned more than five thousand times in the Old Testament.

In Exodus 3, therefore, God identifies Himself in two ways. He tells Moses that He is the covenant God, who is with His people, and that He is the self-existing God, who needs nothing in order to be who He is and to do what He purposes to do.

This brings us to the burning bush. The purpose of that miracle was not simply that Moses might be amazed; it was to display God’s own twofold character that He had announced to Moses. The burning bush illustrates what theologians call God’s trascendence and immanence. The revelation of the burning bush was a revelation that the “I Am” is and always will be utterly independent and self-suffiicient. He is fully and completely God even as He promises and plans to “come down” (Ex. 3:8) to be with His people and to redeem them. The burning bush points us to that climactic revelation of the One who is fully and completely the self-existing God, who comes down to redeem a people, and who is Immanuel (God with us). It points us to Jesus Christ Himself (Matt. 1:23; 28:20).

The revelation of God’s twofold character in Exodus 3 is essential to grasp for all who seek to engage in the biblical task of apologetics. No other religion on the face of the earth recognizes this kind of God. The faith we defend is wholly unique. It begins and ends with the revelation of this majestic mystery of God’s character given to us in Holy Scripture.

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.