士師記對教會有何教導？What Judges Teaches the Church

作者:  W. Robert Godfrey   譯者: Maria Marta

https://www.ligonier.org/blog/what-judges-teaches-church/

https://plus.google.com/u/1/106695469993489516884/posts/7fZhw9sSHRP

「那一代的人都歸到他們的列祖那裡以後，有另一代的人興起來了；他們不認識耶和華，也不知道耶和華為以色列人所行的事。」（士師記 2: 10）

出現這個局面似乎難以置信。約書亞之後僅過了一代人，以色列人就不再認識上帝了。怎麽可能發展到這個局面？

這個問題不僅對古代以色列人十分重要，對我們也同樣重要。教會也一代接一代地見證「突然衰落」。我們如何能理解和預防這種災難？

針對我們的問題，士師記提供了非常清晰的答案。它的答案沒有回答一般答案可能提及到的一切，但卻回答了具體、關鍵的事情，我們必須仔細思考這些事情，以明白以色列的景況和我們的弱點。

首先，士師記告诉我们，當以色列人從在上帝話語中因信得生，轉离到在世界的智慧和價值觀中憑眼見而活的時候，他們便陷入災難当中。如我們在士師記第二至第三章看到的，以色列人快速落入大罪和叛逆中：事奉雕像和巴力祭壇，與不敬拜上帝的人通婚。偶像崇拜和与異族通婚是約書亞一而再三警告以色列人的兩項大罪（書廿三6–13）。有充分的理由证明，這兩種罪相互關聯。一種罪引起，並加深另一種罪。

落入偶像崇拜和與異族通婚並非偶然發生，然而，這些大罪卻是以色列人較早時作出種種妥協的最終結果。在士師記開頭，以色列人忠心事奉上帝，但從第一章19節開始轉變，我們讀到：「耶和華與猶大同在，猶大就佔領了山地；但不能趕走平原的居民，因為他們有鐵車。」看來以色列人不是真的在攻打鐵車時被擊敗；相反，他們似乎一看見鐵車就決定不進攻。這決定似乎十分合理和恰當-------對憑眼見而活的人來說。鐵車是那個時代最強大的軍事武器。

然而，以色列被吩咐要在上帝的話語中因信得生。上帝的說話通過約書亞，臨到以色列人：「迦南人雖然擁有鐵車，勢力強大，你們也能把他們趕出去」（書十七18）。 在士師記後面的篇章，我們看到上帝是如何信守祂的應許，因為盡管迦南國王耶賓擁有九百輛鐵車，但底波拉和巴拉克卻能將他擊敗（士四3）。上帝的說話提醒祂的百姓，上帝「喜歡的不是馬的力大，他喜悅的不是人的腿快。耶和華喜悅敬畏他的人，喜悅仰望他慈愛的人。」（詩一四七10–11）

我們可以看到問題出在何處-------憑眼見而活，而非因信得生-------但這裏沒有告訴我們為何出了問題。為此，我們必須再次求助於約書亞記的說話：

約書亞對眾民說：「你們不能事奉耶和華，因為他是聖潔的　神；他是嫉妒的神，他必不赦免你們的過犯和罪惡。如果你們離棄耶和華，去事奉外族人的神，那麼在耶和華賜福給你們之後，他必轉而降禍與你們，把你們消滅。」(書廿四19–20)

現在你可能會說，且慢。假如以色列人不能事奉上帝，為何要向他們問責？在何種意義上他們不能事奉？約書亞說那些話是什麼意思？他的意思既不是指百姓個人未重生，所以他們不能事奉；也不是指他們未能完美地遵守律法，所以他們不能事奉。他似乎說以色列將沒有領袖-------沒有摩西，沒有約書亞，更沒認識他們的長老------因此他們不會在忠於上帝的聖言的環境中被帶領，被保守。

約書亞意識到上帝不會賜給他們另一個摩西或約書亞。祂將賜給他們士師，士師將是他們的拯救者（士二16）。但士師只是地方性和暫時性的領袖。上帝在士師記中以各種方式對以色列和我們所作的教訓是：人民需要一個好的，忠心的王。以色列的問題清楚明確：「在那些日子，以色列中沒有王，各人都行自己看為對的事。」（士十七6）。

以色列必須認識到他們需要一位王，進而渴望一位君王--------不是像列國那樣的國王，如治理他們的掃羅王，而是一個合上帝心意的人，也就是大衛。但即使大衛最終也不能保護和帶領上帝的百姓。他犯罪，他的家分裂，而且他死了。那麼誰是那位領袖-----完美、忠心、不朽的領袖？顯然，唯獨耶穌是這樣一位君王。

那麼，對教會存在的問題以及其問題有什麼解藥呢？怎樣一代接一代地保存上帝救恩的知識呢？按照上帝的聖言跟隨耶穌。教會未能這樣做，教會就會發現她們自己像以色列那樣，不能因信得生，而是憑眼見而活。但教會回轉歸向耶穌，跟隨忠心宣講上帝聖言的牧者，教會就會活在上帝的面前。士師記是一面鏡子，促使我們自問：「耶穌是我們的君王嗎？我們在上帝的話語中因信得生嗎？」如果答案是肯定的，那麼教會將會一代接一代的認識上帝。

本文原刊于Tabletalk雜誌。 

What Judges Teaches the Church

FROM Nathan W. Bingham

And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. (Judg. 2:10)

It seems incredible that it could happen. Only a generation after Joshua, Israel no longer knew the Lord. How is such a development possible?

This is a very important question, not just for the ancient Israelites, but for us. Churches, too, have seen sudden decline from one generation to another. How can we understand and prevent this kind of calamity?

The book of Judges provides a very clear answer to our questions. Its answer does not say everything that might be said in general, but it does say specific, crucial things that we must ponder to understand both Israel’s situation and our vulnerability.

To begin with, Judges shows us that Israel descended into calamity when it moved away from living by faith in the Word of God to living by sight in the wisdom and values of the world. As we see in Judges 2–3, Israel rapidly descended into gross sin and disobedience, serving the statues and altars of the Baals and intermarrying with those who did not worship the Lord. Idolatry and intermarriage are the great sins against which Joshua warned Israel again and again (Josh. 23:6–13). And with good reason, for these two great sins are interconnected. The one leads to and reinforces the other.

This descent into idolatry and intermarriage did not just happen, however. These gross sins were the end results of various compromises that Israel had made earlier. Israel had served the Lord faithfully in the opening of the book of Judges, but that begins to change at Judges 1:19, where we read, “And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.” It does not appear that the Israelites actually fought against the chariots of iron and were defeated; rather, it seems that they saw the chariots of iron and decided not to fight. That decision seems very reasonable and proper—to a people living by sight. Chariots of iron were the most powerful military weapon of that time.

Israel, however, was called to live by faith in the Word of God. The Word of God had come to her through Joshua, who said, “For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong” (Josh. 17:18). Later in the book of Judges, we are shown how God kept His promise because Deborah and Barak were able to defeat Jabin, a king of the Canaanites, even though he had nine hundred chariots of iron (Judg. 4:3). The Word of God reminds God’s people that God’s “delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love” (Ps. 147:10–11).

We can see what went wrong—living by sight and not by faith—but that does not show us why things went wrong. For that, we must turn again to the words of Joshua:

But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” (Josh. 24:19–20)

Now wait a moment, you may be saying. If Israel was not able, how were they accountable? In what sense were they not able? What did Joshua mean when he said those words? He did not mean that the people were individually unregenerate and so were unable. He did not mean that they would not be perfect in keeping the law and so would be unable. He seems to have said that they would be leaderless—having neither Moses, nor Joshua, nor the elders who knew them—and so would not be led and guarded in faithfulness to the Word of God.

Joshua was recognizing that God would not give them another Moses or Joshua. He would give them judges who would be for them saviors (Judg. 2:16). But these judges would be only regional and temporary leaders. The lesson that God was teaching Israel—and us—in a variety of ways in the book of Judges is that the people needed a good and faithful king. Israel’s problem was clear: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6).

Israel had to learn its need for a king and in turn to yearn for a king—not a king like the nations as they would have in Saul, but a man after God’s own heart, namely, David. Yet even David could not protect and lead God’s people ultimately. He sinned, his house was divided, and he died. Who, then, is the leader—perfect, faithful, and undying—for God’s people? Obviously, only Jesus is such a king.

What is the antidote, then, for the church and its problems? What will preserve a saving knowledge of God from generation to generation? It is following King Jesus according to His Word. Where the church fails to do so, it will find itself, like Israel, unable to live by faith rather than sight. But where the church turns to Jesus and follows ministers who faithfully preach His Word, it will live before Him. The book of Judges is a mirror held up to the church that forces us to ask ourselves, “Is Jesus our king and do we live by faith in His Word?” If the answer is yes, the church from generation to generation will know the Lord.

This post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.