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圣 经 探 险 者 第 八 课 亚伯拉罕—神的朋友 | |||
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Lesson 8
Reading: Genesis 12-13 Abraham is one of the
most important figures in the Bible. The record of his life is covered
from Genesis 11:26 to 25:10. The importance of his life
emerges as we read through these chapters and note not only the
outstanding faith of this remarkable man, but also the promises that God
made to him. These promises were made not to him only, but flow through
him to all who understand and believe them. We will see the importance of
these things as we read through his life and consider these promises.
Because of
Abraham’s faith we find that he was given the title
"the Friend of God" (James 2:23). Apart from the details that
are given of his life and other references to him in the Old Testament,
there are over 70 occasions where he is mentioned in the New Testament. In
fact the teaching of the Gospel of the New Testament is unintelligible
without an understanding of the promises that God made to Abraham.
The Gospel that the Lord Jesus Christ taught is bound up with God’s promise to Abraham: "The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8). 主耶稣所传的福音与神对亚伯拉罕所作的承诺有密切关系：“并且圣经既然预先看明，神要叫外邦人因信称义，就早已传福音给亚伯拉罕，说：万国都必因你得福”（加拉太书3：8）。 The Call of Abraham (Genesis 11:27-32)神呼招亚伯拉罕（创世纪11：27-32） We first notice that Abraham’s original name was Abram (Gen 11:27). His name was changed by God for a specific reason, as we will see when we come to Genesis 17:5. He lived in Ur, an important city in Chaldea, on the Euphrates River near its mouth. Archaeologists who have researched the area tell us that Ur was a well established city in its day, providing all that was considered modern and necessary for very comfortable living. 我们首先注意到亚伯拉罕的原名叫亚伯兰（创世纪11：27）。在创世纪17：5中，我们将看到由于一个特殊的原因，神将他的名字改为亚伯拉罕。他居住在吾珥—迦勒底的一个主要城市，临近幼发拉底河口。考古学家在该地区已经发现了吾珥的遗址！遗址显示这曾是一个发时很发达的城市。 Verse 30第30节 "But Sarai
was barren; she had no child" Abram had married Sarai who
was his half sister (Genesis 20:12). The fact that she was unable
to bear children is impressed upon our minds early in the account of their
lives. This becomes a very important point in God’s dealings with them. We will find that Sarai has her name changed
to Sarah at the same time as Abram’s name is
changed to Abraham (Genesis 17:15). Verse 31第31节 "they went forth...from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan" The reason for this journey was because God had spoken to Abram, instructing him to leave Ur (Acts 7:2-4). While dwelling in Haran before they came to Canaan, Abram’s father, Terah, died. “他们出了迦勒底的吾珥，往迦南地地去”。这将迁徙是神对亚伯兰说的，神启示他离开吾珥（使徒行传7：2-4）。走到迦南地的哈兰时，亚伯兰的父亲他拉就死了。 God’s Promise of Blessing to Abram
(Genesis
12:1-3)神承诺赐福亚伯兰（创世纪12：1-3） Verse 1第1节 "Get thee
out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father’s house, unto a land that I will
show thee" In Ur Terah had served "other gods" and God had
called Abram from this environment of idolatry that was in his household
(Joshua 24:2-3). It is necessary that any who
choose to follow God and Christ must separate themselves from all that can
hinder their total service (Matthew
19:27-30;
2 Corinthians
6:17-18). In
faith Abram set out in obedience to God’s command
(Hebrews 11:8). Verse 2 第2节 "I will make of thee a great nation" Here God speaks of the development of the nation of Israel which came from Abram. Later it did become a great nation in the days of David and Solomon but, because of disobedience, the Kingdom was destroyed and the Jews finally scattered by the Romans in AD 70. After centuries of dispersion they began to return to their homeland, and in 1948 Israel was again declared a nation. Since then the Jews have continued to return to their land from many countries.“我必叫你成为大国”。在此神说到了从亚伯兰而来的以色列的繁荣。这以后以色列在大卫与所罗门时代的确是一个大国。但是由于背离神，这个王国在公元后70年被罗马人攻陷，犹太人因而四散，几个世纪后他们才重回故土。在1948年以色列宣布立国，此后犹太人才陆续回国。 Israel will be fully regathered after the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth (Ezekiel 37:21-23). They will be educated in the truth of the promises made to Abraham and see their fulfilment in the Lord Jesus Christ. They will then be restored to inherit the land promised to Abraham and live under the rulership of Christ, as will all other nations (Jeremiah 30:10-11; 31:31-34; 33:15-21; Ezekiel 37:21-28; Romans 11:1, 14-28).以色列在基督重临时必将完全统一（以西结书37：21-23）。他们将见到神对亚伯拉罕所作的许诺完全实现。他们将被重新引到神许诺亚伯拉罕的土地。在基督的统领下，就象其它所有的王国（耶利米书30：10-11；31：31-34；33：15-21；以西结书37：21-28；罗马书11：1，14-28）。 "I will bless thee, and make thy name great" Although God did bless Abram in temporal matters during his life, this promise has yet to be completely fulfilled at the return of Jesus Christ (Matthew 8:11). “我必赐福于你，叫你的名为大”。虽然神只是暂时地赐福亚伯兰，但这一许诺仍会由于基督的重临而完全实现（马太福音8：11）。 Verse 3 第3节 "I will
bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee"
History has shown this to be true, both in the life of Abraham himself,
and with the people of Israel, his descendants. Babylon and Edom are two
ancient nations that were punished by God because they afflicted the Jews.
In our day Hitler tried to destroy Israel, and because of this Germany was
crushed by God. In contrast to this, Britain found that her fortunes
increased while she protected Israel. "in thee
shall all families of the earth be blessed" This is the most
important point of these promises. Through Abraham all families of the
earth will be blessed by God. Thus the blessing is offered to both Jew and
Gentile. But how can this be so? Paul states that this is the essence of
the Gospel: "The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In
thee shall all nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8). As we follow through
God’s dealings with Abraham we will see what this
blessing is, and how God has made it available to all mankind through
faith in Jesus Christ. Abram
Journeys to Canaan (Genesis 12 -
13:4) Abram, in obedience to God, left Haran and commenced his journey to seek the land that God had promised him. With him went Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, together with their servants and their substance. Abram was 75 years old as he commenced this journey. We can follow the journey of Abram by reading Genesis 12. 亚伯兰遵照神的指示，离开哈兰去寻找神许的那片土地。他的妻子撒莱与侄子罗得于他一起，带着他们的随便从和物资。那时亚伯兰已经75岁，我们可以通过阅读创世纪第12章了解这神对他说：“我要把这地赐给你的后裔”（第7节）。 He arrived at Sichem (Shechem), in the land of Canaan (today Israel), and there God spoke to him saying, "Unto thy seed will I give this land" (v7). Abram was now aware that the land that he had been promised was the land of Israel, as we now know it. However we note that here God promised the land to his seed. We recall that Sarai was barren, so this would present a question to the mind of Abram, for he had no seed. In response Abram built an altar and worshipped God there (v7). 亚伯兰知道以色列就是神所许敬口畏口疰所知。但我们注意到神在此把这地赐给了他的后裔，我们也知道撒莱不生育，这就在亚伯兰脑中有了一个问题，因为他没有后裔。由此亚伯兰就筑了一座坛去崇拜神（第7节）。 From Sichem Abram journeyed south to Bethel and then, because of a famine, he journeyed further south into Egypt. He returned from Egypt into the land that he had been promised and dwelt between Bethel and Hai, or Ai (Genesis 13:3-4).从示剑亚伯兰又逐渐往迦南地，由于饥荒，亚伯兰就下埃及去后来他又从埃及迁回来，就往在原（13：3-14） Abram and Lot Separate (Genesis 13:5-13) 亚伯来和罗德分手（创世纪13：5-13） As God promised, so He blessed Abram. He was now very rich and had an abundance of cattle and goods. Lot had likewise been blessed while he was with Abram (Genesis 13:2,5-6). However strife arose between the herdmen of Abram and Lot which was resolved by Abram suggesting that they separate company. 神承诺了，因此他祝福亚伯兰。亚伯兰那时很富有，他的金银与牲畜极多。与亚伯兰同行的罗得一样也受到神的祝福（创世13：2，5-6）。亚伯兰的牧人与罗得的牧人有矛盾，亚伯兰就建议他们分开。 Abram gave the choice of land to Lot who elected to take his belongings to the plain of the Jordan River near to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. We are told that "the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly" (v13). We will see as we progress through the life of Abram what disastrous effects this move to Sodom had upon the family of Lot. 亚伯兰让罗得选，罗得就选了约旦河的平原，靠近所多玛人和蛾摩拉人的城邑。我们知道“所多玛人在神面前罪大恶极”（第13节），果然，灾祸就降到了罗得的头上。 Abram is
Promised THE WORLD (Genesis
13:14-17) After Lot
had left Abram, God spoke again to him. This time we have one of
the most important promises in the Bible. Abram was told to look from the heights of the hill country near Bethel to the north, south, east and west. He would have taken in quite a panorama of the land from that position. God then spoke to him.亚伯兰被告知从靠近伯特利的最高的山和东西南北眺望，从那儿他可以见到极为广阔的一片土地，然后神就对他说：
Verse 15 第15节 "For all
the LAND which thou seest" Although what he could see would
have been extensive, the promise was not limited to only the land that he
could see from that vantage point. Paul later comments that in fact he was
promised the world (Romans 4:13). "To THEE
will I give it" Abram was to inherit it himself. "And to
THY SEED" The land was not to be given to Abram alone but to
his seed also. Again we realise that this was impossible, humanly
speaking, as Sarai was barren. Paul explains that the word "seed" in the
Hebrew here refers to only one person (Galatians 3:16). "for
ever" Here is the key to the understanding of this promise.
How could a mortal man inherit a land for ever? The only possibility is
that he be raised from the dead and given immortality. The Meaning
of this Wonderful Promise Revealed in the
NewTestament Rather than speculate on the meaning of this promise, we shall consider the way that it is explained by Christ and the New Testament writers. Paul devotes a whole chapter in his letter to the Galatians to explain the importance of this promise. 我们可以看一下基督以及新约的作者对这许诺的解释，这只仅仅猜测旧约中的含义要好的多。 Galatians 3:16 Here Paul directs the mind of his readers to this promise in Genesis 13:15: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made". He then makes this point: "He saith not, And to seeds, as of many"; that is, He did not say that He had promised it to many seeds of Abraham in the plural, "but as of one". Thus Paul shows by reading the Hebrew carefully, that God has said that He has promised the land to Abraham and to a singular seed of his. He now explains who that one seed is; "And to thy seed (singular), which is Christ". 保罗给加拉太书3：16在此保罗这样对读者解释：“所应许的原是向亚伯拉罕和他的子孙说的，”他接着说：“神并不是说众子孙，指着许多人”。那就是说神并没有把地许给亚伯拉罕的众子孙，“而是你的一个子孙”。保罗的阐述是建立在仔细阅读希伯来书的基础上，那就是神许给亚伯拉罕及他的一个子孙。他又解释说：“那一个子孙，就是基督”。 We now understand that
God promised the land to Abraham and Christ for ever. How
can it be possible for Abraham to inherit it? It must mean that Abraham
will be raised from the dead and given immortality. This is exactly the
way that Paul interprets the promises; "I stand and am judged for
the hope of the promise made of God
unto the fathers.......why should it be thought a thing incredible with
you, that God should raise the dead?"
(Acts 26:6-8; cp Luke 13:28-29). Paul Further
Expounds this Promise in Galatians
3:26-29 Paul now shows how we
can share in the hope of the promise that God made to Abraham. We become
the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (v26). Our faith motivates us
to obey God’s commandments. The first step in
identification with Christ is baptism (Mark 16:15-16). Verse
27 By baptism one loses his old identity and "puts on Christ". He is
then "in Christ" (cp Romans 6:3-8; Galatians 2:20). Verse
28
Paul shows that all, no matter what race, rank or gender, through baptism
put on Christ. Thus a whole multitude, collectively, become
"ONE in Christ Jesus". Verse
29
"and if ye be Christ’s" Thus, through
baptism into Christ, we become Christ’s. "then are
ye Abraham’s seed", that is
the seed of Genesis 13:15 who with Abraham were promised
immortality so that they could inherit the earth "for ever". "and heirs
according to the promise" Now we see how this great promise
can include us. Through the Lord Jesus Christ we become heirs of the
promises to inherit eternal life on earth with Abraham and Jesus Christ.
Further References to this Promise 其它关于这承诺的：
Journey of Abraham (Genesis
12-13)
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