舊約中的教會和以色列TheChurch and Israel in the Old Testament
作者：Iain Duguid 譯者：駱鴻銘
起初，上帝創造了亞當和夏娃成為一個敬拜的群體：祂要作他們的上帝，他們要作祂的子民。然而，人的墮落徹底破壞了彼此之間以及與上帝的團契相交，這種分裂在下一代當中，當該隱謀殺他的兄弟時進一步加深了。由該隱的世系所開展的遠離上帝的軌跡，最終成了在巴別（創十一）之假冒的崇拜群體。與此同時，由一群真正的敬拜者所組成的世系，從塞特一直延伸到亞伯蘭（亞伯拉罕）——上帝應許他，要使他成為一個大國，並透過他祝福地上的萬民（創十二1～3）。
In
the beginning, God created Adam and Eve to be a worshipping community: He would
be their God and they would be His people. The fall, however, shattered their
fellowship with one another as well as with God, a division that was deepened
even further in the next generation when Cain murdered his brother. The
trajectory away from God begun by Cain’s line ended with a counterfeit
worshipping community in Babel (Gen. 11). At the same time, a line of true
worshippers ran through Seth to Abram—Abraham—whom God promised to make a great
nation and through whom He promised to bless all nations of the earth (Gen.
12:1–3).
上帝應許亞伯拉罕的孫兒雅各，祂要使他的十二個兒子成為一個和諧的「萬民組成的群體（community of
nations）」（創廿八3；和合本作：萬族），敬拜上帝，這個群體要其新名「以色列」而聞名。重要的是，這裏用於「群體」的希伯來文是qāhāl，其中舊約的希臘文譯本經常被譯為ekklēsia，「教會」。「崇拜群體」的這個目標，在以色列百姓出埃及之後、來到西奈山時達成了。在那裏，上帝宣佈以色列民是祂寶貴的產業，一個祭司的國度、聖潔的國度（出十九5～6）。耶和華應許要住在他們中間，作他們的上帝（出廿九45）。但是百姓在承諾與耶和華立約後不久，立刻就離棄了祂。當摩西在山頂接受耶和華的指示時，百姓卻在山腳下製造假神。從一開始就很清楚，「聖潔的國民」沒有能力堅守它的呼召。
God
promised Abraham’s grandson Jacob that He would make his twelve sons into a
harmonious worshipping “community of nations” (Gen. 28:3) that would be known
by his new name, “Israel.” Significantly, the Hebrew word used here for
“community” is qāhāl, which the Greek translation of the Old Testament often
renders as ekklēsia, “church.” This goal of a worshipping community was reached
after the exodus from Egypt when the people came to Mount Sinai. There God
declared the Israelites to be His treasured possession, a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation (Ex. 19:5–6). The Lord promised to dwell among them as their
God (Ex. 29:45). But the people had no sooner committed themselves to this
covenant relationship with the Lord than they abandoned Him. While Moses was at
the top of the mountain receiving instruction from the Lord, the people were at
the bottom fashioning false gods. It was clear from the outset that the “holy
nation” had no power to live up to its calling.
眾先知向我們展示了以色列其餘的歷史：儘管上帝是信實的，但他們卻是敗壞和叛逆的兒女（賽一2），也是淫婦（何一～三）。這種不忠的傳統同樣屬於北國和南國：以色列和猶大是來自同一家族的兩個乖謬的姐妹（結十六、廿三），她們都將面對毀滅和被擄的懲罰（結四4～6）。耶和華不能住在這樣一群不聖潔的民中間。祂撇棄了祂在耶路撒冷所揀選的居所，讓祂的百姓接受他們巴比倫敵人的憐憫（結八～十一）。
The
prophets unfold for us the rest of Israel’s history: in spite of God’s
faithfulness to them, they were corrupt and rebellious children (Isa. 1:2) and
an adulterous wife (Hos. 1–3). This heritage of unfaithfulness belonged equally
to the northern and southern kingdoms: Israel and Judah were two twisted
sisters from the same family (Ezek. 16; 23) who would each face the punishment
of destruction and exile (Ezek. 4:4–6). The Lord could not dwell in the midst
of such an unholy people. He abandoned His chosen dwelling place in Jerusalem,
leaving His people at the mercy of their Babylonian enemies (Ezek. 8–11).
然而，被擄以色列民的毀滅，不會是故事的結尾。因為耶和華已經將祂的名字附加在以色列身上，因此以色列必須得到復興，以免祂的聖名在列國中被褻瀆（結廿14）。在西奈山所作的應許必須被應驗（耶卅三20～21），因此以色列和猶大這兩個國家會被耶和華恢復成為一個單一的、重新聯合的身體，由以色列所有支派組成（耶卅一1），接受一位君王的統治（結卅七16～22）。最重要的應許是將以色列民會有一個屬靈的轉變，成為一群新的百姓，在一個新約（耶卅一31～33）之下，他們反應遲鈍的心會被上帝的靈澆灌而成為新心（結卅六22～28）。新以色列民將成為耶和華的僕人，成為外邦人的光，為萬民帶來醫治（賽四二6、10）。然而，以賽亞書四十～四十八章所描述的新以色列，仍然是一個不斷掙扎和軟弱的人，他們需要不斷的勸勉，以追求順服；也需要鼓勵，以信靠相信上帝對他們的慈愛。為了成全上帝的旨意，需要另一個更好的以色列人，一個願意代替以色列民的僕人，祂要做以色列無法做的事，履行她的呼召，把光帶給萬民（賽四九6）。
Yet
the destruction of Israel in the exile could not be the end of the story.
Because the Lord had attached His name to Israel, the nation would have to be
restored lest His holy name be profaned among the nations (Ezek. 20:14). The
promises made at Mount Sinai had to be fulfilled (Jer. 33:20–21), so the two
nations of Israel and Judah would be restored by the Lord into a single,
reunited body made up of all of the clans of Israel (Jer. 31:1) under a single
king (Ezek. 37:16–22). The most important promise was the spiritual
transformation of Israel into a new people whose unresponsive hearts would be
changed into new hearts under a new covenant (Jer. 31:31–33) by an outpouring
of God’s Spirit (Ezek. 36:22–28). The new Israel would become the Lord’s
servant, a light for the Gentiles, bringing healing to all nations (Isa. 42:6,
10). However, the new Israel depicted in Isaiah 40–48 continued to be a
struggling and weak people who needed constant exhortation to pursue obedience
as well as encouragement to trust in God’s faithful love for them. To fulfill
God’s purposes, another, better Israel would be required, a servant who would
take Israel’s place, doing what Israel was unable to do, fulfilling her calling
to bring light to the nations (Isa. 49:6).
這個僕人「以色列」藉著耶穌基督的位格取了肉身。從祂出生的那一刻起，祂就重演了以色列的歷史，祂下到埃及，以便祂可以成為上帝從埃及召出來的真正的兒子（太二15，引用何十一11）。正如以色列人渡過紅海一樣，耶穌也經過洗禮之水（太三），然後被帶到曠野，在那裏祂成功地面對以色列民未能忍受的同樣試探（太四）。在祂傳道的一開始，耶穌就大聲朗誦以賽亞書六十一章1～2節，宣告聖經在祂的聽眾面前已經應驗了（路四18～19）：祂自己就是上帝應許的僕人，上帝的靈在祂身上。作為新以色列人，耶穌完全滿足了律法的要求。耶利米預言的新約是藉著祂的血所立的（路廿二20）。耶穌應驗了上帝對人的聖潔的原始計劃，從而親自體現了眾先知所尋找的新以色列。
This
servant “Israel” took flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. From the moment of
His birth, He reenacted Israel’s history, going down to Egypt so that He could
be the true son whom God called out of Egypt (Matt. 2:15, quoting Hos. 11:1).
Just as Israel passed through the Red Sea, Jesus passed through the waters of
baptism (Matt. 3) before being led out into the wilderness, where He
successfully faced the same temptations that Israel had failed to endure (Matt.
4). At the beginning of His ministry, Jesus read aloud Isaiah 61:1–2, declaring
that the Scripture had been fulfilled in His hearers’ presence (Luke 4:18–19):
He was Himself the promised Servant upon whom God’s Spirit rested. As the new
Israel, Jesus perfectly fulfilled the demands of the law. The new covenant that
Jeremiah anticipated was established in His blood (Luke 22:20). Jesus fulfilled
God’s original design for human holiness, thereby personally embodying the new
Israel for which the prophets looked.
既然耶穌基督自己就是新以色列人，那些憑著信心與祂聯合的人，也被併入到上帝的以色列民裏（加六16）。祂是真葡萄樹，以色列經典的舊約形象，我們是祂的枝子（約十五）。因為基督是上帝家的活石，那些與祂聯合的人在那房裏也成為活石（彼前二4～5），並且可以用舊約中描述以色列的相同術語來描述：在基督裏，我們是「被揀選的族類，君尊的祭司，聖潔的國民」（彼前二9～10）。
Since
Jesus Christ is Himself the new Israel, all those united to Him by faith are
also incorporated into the Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). He is the true vine, the
classic Old Testament image for Israel, and we are His branches (John 15).
Because Christ is the living cornerstone of God’s house, those who are joined
to Him become living stones in that house (1 Peter 2:4–5) and can be described
by the same terminology that described Israel in the Old Testament: in Christ,
we are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Peter 2:9–10).
因此，作為新約的一部分，以色列不是亞伯拉罕血緣的後裔，而是分享了亞伯拉罕的悔改和信心（路三8）。上帝的新百姓包括猶太人和外邦人（加三28），因為他們都被嫁接到新的橄欖樹、基督/以色列身上（羅十一17～24）。這並不是說，上帝已經忘記了祂對亞伯拉罕血緣後裔的應許（羅十一1）。當然不是。但並非所有從以色列生的，都是新以色列的一部分（羅九6）。眾先知所應許的以色列的復興，是當福音傳到耶路撒冷、猶太（南國）、撒瑪利亞（北國）和地極之後完成的，上帝的光要藉此傳給外邦人（徒一8）。
Being
part of this new covenant Israel is, thus, not a matter of physical descent
from Abraham, but rather sharing Abraham’s repentance and faith (Luke 3:8). The
new people of God includes Jews and Gentiles together (Gal 3:28), as both are
grafted into the new olive tree, Christ/ Israel (Rom. 11:17–24). That does not
mean that God has forgotten His promises to those physically descended from
Abraham (Rom. 11:1). Certainly not. But not everyone who is descended
physically from Israel is part of the new Israel (Rom. 9:6). The restoration of
Israel promised in the prophets is accomplished as the gospel is preached to
Jerusalem and Judea (the southern kingdom), Samaria (the northern kingdom), and
to the ends of the earth, thereby finally bringing God’s light to the Gentiles
(Acts 1:8).
在啟示錄中，約翰聽到神的百姓被描述為是由十四萬四千人組成的群體，由以色列的十二個支派構成（啟七4～8）。然而，當他再次觀望時，他發現同一群百姓是來自萬族萬民，沒有人能數得過來（啟七9～12）。耶和華的新婦，用於舊約中的以色列的形象，就是教會，有一天會永遠不再被她的罪所玷污，而是為了她的丈夫裝飾整齊（啟廿一2）。在那一日，上帝對以色列最初的目的和計劃——有一群屬祂自己的統一的、聖潔的子民——最終將在基督與祂教會的婚姻中得到應驗。
In
the book of Revelation, John heard God’s people described as a group of 144,000
made up of the twelve tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:4–8). Yet when he looked again,
he discovered that the same group was an innumerable crowd from every tribe and
nation (Rev. 7:9–12). The Lord’s bride, the image used in the Old Testament for
Israel, is the church and will one day be defiled by her sin no longer but
beautifully adorned for her husband (Rev. 21:2). In that day, God’s original
purpose and plan for Israel—to have a united, holy people belonging to Himself—will
finally be fulfilled in the marriage of Christ and His church.
Dr.
Iain Duguid is professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary
in Philadelphia and founding pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Glenside,
Pa. He is author of Is Jesus in the Old Testament?
