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圣 经 探 险 者 第 十 七 课 流放的犹太人从巴比伦回归 | ||
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Reading: Ezra 1 第17课 阅读 以斯拉论1 As we have seen, God foretold that the Jews would be captive in Babylon for a period of 70 years and at the end of that time they would return to Jerusalem and Judah. You will find the details of this set out in your notes - "Jeremiah’s Remarkable 70 year Prophecy" (Lesson 15). 正如我们所知，神预言犹太人将在巴比伦度70年的流放生涯，末了，才得以重返耶路撒冷，详情在“耶利米非凡的70年预言”中有述。 Daniel, who had been captive in Babylon for the whole period, realised that this 70 year period foretold by Jeremiah had drawn to a close and offered an impassioned prayer to God asking Him to make it possible for the Jews to return to Jerusalem and to their land. This prayer is recorded in Daniel 9. Particularly note his requests (v1-4 & 16-19). 先知但以理，这70年中一直留在巴比伦，70年末，他意识到犹太人有可能得以重返耶路撒冷，因此他就向神祷告，这祷告记录在但以理书9中，特别是第1-4节和16-19节。 God was faithful to His word and so He overshadowed international affairs so that His prophecy would be fulfilled. Today God is still overshadowing international affairs so that His revealed will regarding the return of the Lord Jesus Christ will be fulfilled exactly as He has foretold (Daniel 4:17).神坚这他的话，他使他的预言一一得以实现，现在，神仍旧掌握着世上的事，所以基督耶稣的重临也必应验（但以强书4：17）。 The Decree
of Cyrus Cyrus, the outstanding
king and military leader of the Medo-Persian Empire, overthrew the kingdom
of Babylon in BC 538. Not long after coming to power he made the
remarkable decree recorded in Ezra 1:1-4. As we read through this
decree we notice some very interesting facts. 玛代波斯帝国王古列公元前538年攻陷巴比伦城，他掌权后不久，就颁布了一条非凡的法令，我们在阅读时，应注意一些有趣的事实。 Verse 1 第1节 "that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled" This particularly refers to the prophecy of Jeremiah regarding the 70 year captivity (Jeremiah 25:8-12; 29:10-14).“耶和华为要应验借耶利米口所说的话”，这指先知耶利米所作的预言（耶利米书25：8-12；29：10-14）。 "the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus" The motivation for this decree was initiated by God Himself who caused Cyrus to fulfil a prophecy of Isaiah recorded over 200 years before the event. In Isaiah Cyrus is foretold by name, and so too is the proclamation that he would make concerning the rebuilding of the Temple and Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1-4).“就激动波斯王古列的心”，颁布这法令的动机是神，但古列王激动，去应验200年前借耶利米口所作的预言，在以赛亚书中，古列的名字也被预言，同时也预言他必下令重建耶路撒冷和圣殿（以赛亚书44：28；45：1-4）。 Verse
2 第2节 The Books
of Ezra, Haggai and Zechariah Many Jews responded to the decree of Cyrus and journeyed back from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. The book of Ezra records the details and trials associated with the return of Jews to the desolated area of Judah and the ruins of Jerusalem. They returned with enthusiasm to rebuild, under the leadership of Joshua the Priest and Zerubbabel, but suffered many trials and difficulties. 许多犹太人听到了古列王的这一法令，从巴比伦回到耶路撒冷。以斯拉记中记载了犹太人到犹大的荒野及耶路撒冷的遗址旅途中的一些事，他们在大祭司约书亚和所罗巴伯带领下，重建耶路撒冷和圣殿，但遭遇到许多困难。 God’s spirit then came upon two of the returned exiles, Haggai and Zechariah, who were involved in the work of rebuilding. We read of their influence upon the people in Ezra 5:1-2: "Then rose up Zerubbabel.... and Joshua....and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God (Haggai and Zechariah) helping them." 神的灵降临到两个，哈该和撒迦利亚身上，他们参予了重建的工作。在以斯拉记5：1-2中我们读道：“于是所罗巴伯与约书亚都起来动手建造耶路撒冷，有神的先知（哈该和撒迦利亚）在那里帮助他们。” Note how that these
two faithful prophets not only gave encouragement through their message
but also became involved in the work for we read that with them were
"the prophets of God helping them". The messages of Haggai and
Zechariah are recorded in the books that bear their names. The remainder
of the book of Ezra tells of the rebuilding work and completion of the
Temple for worship, and then the labour of Ezra the priest as he
endeavoured to re-establish the true worship of God amongst the people.
两位神的先知不仅传递神的消息，同时也参加重建的工作，这信息在哈该书与撒迦利丛书中有述，以斯拉记中还记载了重建的工程和圣殿的完工以及以斯拉为恢复人民对神的崇拜所作的努力。 Nehemiah
and Malachi Once the Temple was completed, the Jews faced the task of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. This was an enormous work and it was Nehemiah, a Jew and trusted servant of Artaxerxes the Persian King now ruling the great Medo-Persian Empire, who approached Artaxerxes with a petition to be allowed to return to Jerusalem and oversee the rebuilding of the city walls (Nehemiah 2:1-6). 圣殿完工后，犹太人要重建耶路撒冷的城墙，尼希米恳求波斯王亚达薛西颁召让他回去耶路撒冷，以便重建城墙（尼希米记2：1-6）。 His request was granted and, returning to Jerusalem, he organised this great work. The details of the trials and problems that he faced and how the work was finally achieved through the overshadowing hand of God is revealed in the book of Nehemiah. 他的请求被批准了，因此他得以组织是项工作，在神的帮助下，城墙终于得以重建，详情九载于尼希米记中。 During the period covered in the book of Nehemiah we find that there was a decline in the faithfulness of the Jews. They allowed the worship of God to become a meaningless formal ritual. God sent his messenger, Malachi the prophet, to call the people back to faithfulness in their worship (Malachi 1:6-8). His stern yet encouraging message, though brief, is set out in the prophecy of Malachi. 尼希米记所描述的时代期间，犹太人的信仰再次背离，他们对献祭的事非常疏忽，神就差他的信使，先知玛拉基去警醒人民回到信徒的正道上来，神的消息记录于玛拉基的预言中。 From the
Return of the Exiles until Jesus Christ The last historical events recorded in the Old Testament relate to the return of the exiles to Jerusalem, the re-establishment of Temple worship and the rebuilding of the city walls. 旧约中最后记载的历史事件是犹太人重回耶路撒冷，重建圣殿以及重建城墙。 These events were concluded around BC 450. For details of the 450 year period from the days of Nehemiah and Malachi through to the birth of Jesus Christ we need to look at the secular history of the period. 这些事大约在公元前450年完成，从尼希米和玛拉基的时代到基督出生，中间大约450年，我们先看一下这期间非宗教的历史。 Daniel gave several prophecies that particularly relate to this period. These prophecies are found in Daniel 8, 9 and 11. The 11th chapter in particular deals prophetically with the events that followed the overthrow of the Persian Empire by the Greeks in BC 333 through to the rise of the Roman power. 但以理对这一时期有过几次预言，我们可以在但以理书8、9、11章中读到，第11章特别预言了波斯被希腊攻陷，以及罗马帝国的兴起。 Alexander the Great, after destroying the Medo-Persian Empire, died in Babylon in BC 323. His Empire was finally divided into four sections and controlled by his four generals. The section north of Israel was called the Seleucid Kingdom, while that south of Israel in Egypt was ruled by the Ptolemies. These two kingdoms continually contended with each other over ownership of Israel. In Daniel 11 they are spoken of as "the king of the north" and "the king of the south" (v5-35), for this was their geographic relationship to Israel. 亚历山大大帝在灭亡了玛代波斯帝国之后，公元前323年死于巴比伦。他的帝国被手下四个将领所分，以色列以北称塞琉西王朝，以色列以南在埃及的托勒密王朝的统治，这两个王朝长期争战不休，在候以理书11中被称为“北方的王”和“南方的王”（第5节-35节），正是由于它们所处的地理位置。 Finally a resistance force was raised in Israel by the priestly family named Hasmon. They were the "Hasmoneans" and were also known as the "Maccabees" after the Greek form of the name of their leader, Judas ben Mattathias. 最后有一祭司家庭兴起，他们被称为“哈斯蒙人”，也被称之为“马加比人”，这是由于他们首领的希腊名为犹大·马加比。 The Seleucid King Antiochus IV Epiphanes had desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem and forbidden Jews to worship after the manner of their law. This motivated the revolt that burst out in the village of Modein, and led to Judas later overpowering the military force of the Seleucid army. 塞琉西的国王安条克四世埃皮法纳继安囊渎神库存并不准犹太人按照他们的朝拜，这些举动激起了民众的反抗，后来导致了犹太人对抗塞琉西王朝军队的胜利。 The Hasmonean (Maccabee) family was subsequently established as the high priest and ruling family in BC 163. This line continued to BC 37 when the last Hasmonean high priest / king was slain and Herod the Great, a pro-Roman Idumean (Edomite), was given rulership of Judea by Rome. 哈斯蒙家族（马加比家族）迅速在公元前163年建立了祭司地位，这一直延续到公元前37年最后一个哈斯蒙祭司被暗杀，随即以东人希律一世被罗马指派管理犹太地。 The northern Seleucid Kingdom was overthrown by Rome in BC 67 and the Egyptian Ptolemaic Empire ended with the death of Queen Cleopatra in BC 30. Judea was overthrown by Rome and became part of its Empire in BC 63. 北方的塞琉西王国在公元前67年被罗马征服，埃及的托勒密王国在克娄巴特拉女王死（公元前30年）后也灭亡了。所以犹太也地被罗马征服，在公元前63年成为罗马帝国中的一部分。 Thus when Jesus was born Israel and its neighbour countries were part of the Roman Empire, with Herod the Great ruling as King over Judea and Caesar Augustus as Emperor of the Roman Empire. 所以耻稣出生在以色列，它的领国都是罗马帝国的一部分，希律一世统治犹地区为王，恺撒·奥古斯都为罗马帝国的皇帝。
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