2018-10-10


理解邪惡的模式Comprehending the Pattern ofEvil

[每日靈修] 10/10/2018,  駱鴻銘編譯

洪水過後,挪亞和他的家人開始重新住在地上。挪亞的後裔成了獵人和建造者。有一項新技術出現了,提供更穩定、更合適的住所。磚和灰泥成為建造整個城市的方法:「他們就拿磚當石頭,又拿石漆當灰泥。他們說:『來吧!我們要建造一座城和一座塔,塔頂通天,為要傳揚我們的名。』」(創十一3b-4)。

洪水過後,挪亞立刻立起了一座祭壇,在上面獻上感恩和崇拜的祭。巴別塔的建築工程是另一回事。再一次,它是企圖要假裝獨立自主,伸手摘天,企圖把上帝從祂的寶座上拉下來,好叫人可以傳揚自己的名。這項努力的結果是什麼呢?這項原始的科學嘗試帶來的是混亂。人的語言被變亂了,彼此的溝通讓位給牙牙學語。

這種模式至今都沒有改變。科技越進步,混亂就越嚴重。工具越複雜,暴力也越精巧。

活在神的面光中(在神面前禱告):
你的生命中是否有需要被拆除的屬靈「巴別塔」,例如試圖為自己揚名立萬?一個優先於上帝的項目?一個比上帝更重要的偶像?

進一步研讀:
創十一49 他們說:「來吧!我們要建造一座城和一座塔,塔頂通天,為要傳揚我們的名,免得我們分散在全地上。」 耶和華降臨,要看看世人所建造的城和塔。 耶和華說:「看哪,他們成為一樣的人民,都是一樣的言語,如今既做起這事來,以後他們所要做的事就沒有不成就的了。 我們下去,在那裏變亂他們的口音,使他們的言語彼此不通。」 於是耶和華使他們從那裏分散在全地上;他們就停工,不造那城了。因為耶和華在那裏變亂天下人的言語,使眾人分散在全地上,所以那城名叫巴別(就是變亂的意思)。


Comprehending the Pattern of Evil

After the flood, Noah and his family began to repopulate the earth. Noah’s descendants became hunters and builders. A new technology emerged to provide more stable and suitable shelter. Brick and mortar became the means by which whole cities could be built: “They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves”” (Gen. 11:3b-4).

Immediately after the flood, Noah erected an altar, a structure on which to offer the sacrifice of praise and worship. The building project at Babel was something else. Again, it was a reach of pretended autonomy, a stretch for heaven, an attempt to rip God down from His throne that man might make for himself a name. The result of this effort? This primitive scientific undertaking was chaos. The language of man was confused and communication gave way to babbling.

This pattern has not changed. The greater the technology, the greater the chaos. The more sophisticated the tools, the more sophisticated the violence.

Coram Deo
Are there spiritual “Babels” in your life that need to be torn down, such as an attempt to make a name for yourself? A project that takes precedence over God? An idol that is more important than God?

Passages for Further Study
Genesis 11:4–9