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圣 经 探 险 者 第 七 课 从挪亚到亚伯拉罕 | ||
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Lesson 7 Reading: Genesis
9-11 The Rainbow
and its Significance (Genesis
9:8-17) After the flood God
again spoke to Noah and his sons, this time telling them that He would
never again destroy all living creatures with a flood. The rainbow was to
be the token of this covenant that He had made (Genesis 9:8-10). God said, "I do set My
bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and
the earth" (v13). A covenant is "a
binding agreement or promise", and as this covenant is made by God
Himself, then there is no doubt that it will be fulfilled. The rainbow
then is a token, sign or reminder of this covenant that
God made. The wonder of the rainbow is that when we see it in the heavens
at the time of rain God Himself is also beholding it, for He said, "I
will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between
God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth"
(v16). The rainbow should
also cause us to realise that God will not continually tolerate wickedness
and ungodliness upon the earth. It should remind us that God has judged
the world in the past and that He will again judge it as He has foretold
(Acts 17:31; 2 Peter 3:3-7; Matthew
24:37-39). The
judgement at the return of Christ will not be by flood but with an
exhibition of divine power that will include catastrophic destruction
through earthquake (Ezekiel
38:18-23;
Joel 3:12-16; Zechariah
14:1-5). All
wise-hearted people will appreciate that God has provided a way to escape
this judgement to come and will seek to avail themselves of it (1 Peter 3:20-21; Mark 16:15-16). The Period
from the Flood to Abraham (Genesis 9 -
11) The period from the
flood to the time when Abram left Ur was a period of 427 years. During
this time man again turned from God and pursued a form of idolatry that
brought forth God’s judgements upon them.
Noah had three sons,
Shem, Ham and Japheth. The descendants who came from these three sons are
set out in Genesis 10. In reading through these
lines of descent one person is set forth in particular in the line of Ham.
Ham begat Cush and Cush begat Nimrod (Genesis 10:6-8). This Nimrod was a
"mighty one in the earth" (v8) and in his military might he
set up a kingdom. This is the first kingdom mentioned in
the Bible and it had its capital at Babel (margin "Greek, Babylon"), in
the land of Shinar (v10). Thus Nimrod ascribed to
himself power and authority over his fellow man and ruled them. This
kingdom became the seat of apostate worship which still persisted in the
days of Daniel the prophet (Daniel 1:1-2). In the New Testament
Babylon is used to typify that apostate Christian religious system which
rules the earth today but which will be destroyed at the return of Christ
(Revelation 14:8; 17:5; 18:2,10,21). The Tower
of Babel (Genesis
11:1-9) In the days following
the flood "the whole earth was of one language, and of one
speech" (v1). Mankind had settled in the fertile plains of the
Euphrates River in the area of ancient Babylon. Very soon they turned to
their own methods to unify their activities. This policy also included a
false form of worship. Their aim was to build "a city and a tower,
whose top may reach unto heaven" (v4). 那时，“天下人的口音，言语都是一样”（第1节）。他们在古巴比伦幼发拉底河附近富饶的平原上居住。很快地，他们以自己的方法寻求统一，其中包括了一个错误的崇拜形式。他们的目的是“建造一座城和一座塔，塔顶通天”（第4节）。 What was the root cause for this human inventiveness that produced this policy for unification and worship? God had set forth the way in which He was to be worshipped. If they followed Him then they would be unified as His people. He was their King; they did not need a man-made kingdom like that which Nimrod established. 造成这些人制定这种统一和这种崇拜形式的根源是什么呢？神已设立了他接受崇拜的方式，如人遵循他的方式则成为神的子民，他是他们的王；他们不需要人建立的王国。
Verse 4 第4节 "whose top
may reach unto heaven" The words "may reach" are
not in the Hebrew. It is felt that the top of the tower was decorated with
signs similar to those of the zodiac which astrologers derived from the
heavenly bodies. Archaeologists have found in the region of Babylon
ziggurats (religious towers that, it was felt, took the worshippers closer
to the heavens as they worshipped the heavenly bodies). "Let us make us a name" The purpose was that man in his foolish pride wanted to make a name for himself (Psalm 49:11-13).“让我们传扬我们的名”。这目的是人由于愚蠢的骄傲企图传扬他们自己的名（诗篇49：11-13）。 Verse 6 第6节 "which
they have imagined to do" Here was the root of the problem
again defined. It was the "imagination of the thoughts of the
heart" that produced the evil that brought forth the judgement of the
flood (Genesis 6:5). God had identified this
problem again in Genesis 8:21 for "the imagination of
man’s heart is evil from his
youth". Now their evil hearts had "imagined" to establish a
religious worship that would unite man politically and religiously. God
realised that if He did not stop this, then there would be no restraint to
their wickedness. God therefore acted by
confusing their language which caused them to be scattered abroad upon the
face of the whole earth in groups which spoke the same language. This of
course brought an end to their building project, and resulted in the
division of the nations as we see it today. Verse 9 第9节 "therefore is the name of it called Babel" The margin notes that the word has the idea of "confusion". Where it occurs in Genesis 10:10 the margin notes that in the Greek it is termed "Babylon". We have in the English the word "babble" which means the unintelligible sound of many voices, none of which can be clearly distinguished. As we have mentioned, this word became the foundation title for the first Kingdom of men to be established on the earth. “所以那城名叫巴别”。注释中解释“babel”意为“变乱”。在创世纪10：10中，希腊语称之为“巴比伦”，英文中，我们用“babble”一词表示各种不清楚的声音。所有这些声音很难区分。如我们前面提到的，这一词成为人在地上建立的第一个国家的名称。 How appropriate that all the efforts of man to establish his own form of government or rulership have failed. They will always prove futile for "it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23). That is why God’s solution is to send forth His Son to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth (Daniel 2:44; Matthew 6:9-10).人建立自己的政府和统治的努力失败了，这是合宜的。这种企图总是无效果的，因为“行路的人也不能定自己的脚步”（耶利米书10：23）。所以神派他的儿子在地上建立神的国（但以理书2：44；马太福音6：9-10）。 God’s Plan to Unify
Mankind Although God scattered
mankind by confusing and dividing their language it is His ultimate
purpose to bring a unity out of every nation, tongue and people through
the gospel (Rev 5:9-10). Jesus instructed his
disciples: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature. He that believeth and is baptised shall be saved"
(Mark 16:15-16). This great work of spreading the gospel to all languages and peoples commenced on the Day of Pentecost when Peter and the apostles were given the ability by the power of the Holy Spirit to speak in the various languages of the assembled multitude gathered in Jerusalem at that time (Acts 2:1-11). 五旬节时，当彼得与其他门徒在耶路撒冷聚集时，被圣灵充满，按着圣灵所赐的口才说起各国的话，从那时起就开始了传播福音给万民的伟大工作（使徒行传2：1-11）。 Those who responded to
the message of Peter and the apostles were baptised (Acts 2:41). Thus commenced the spread of
the gospel which unites men and women of all nationalities into the one
family of God through Jesus Christ (Romans 1:16). Later the Apostle Paul was
specifically chosen to take the gospel to the Gentiles (non Jews)
(Acts 9:15; Rom 15:15-16).
You may now go to the questions form. Once again fill in the questions and your e-mail address and "submit" the form. Again you will receive the password to lesson three. 第7课 问题 1．我们从虹中学到了什么？ 2．挪亚的三个儿子分别叫什么名字？ 3．洪水后开始建的塔叫什么？ 4．神用什么办法阻止造塔并使人四散？ 5．“巴比伦”是什么意思？ 6．在新约中，“巴比伦”这个词被用来指在基督重临时必被摧毁的宗教，这个宗教是什么？ 7．向万民宣扬并使万民归于神的信息，在圣经中被称为什么？ | |||
