[今日經文 Today’s Reading: 歷代志下 2 Chronicles 34-36]
19 王聽見律法的話，就撕裂衣服。 20 王吩咐希勒家與沙番的兒子亞希甘、米迦的兒子亞比頓、沙番書記和王的臣僕亞撒雅，說： 21 「你們去，以所發現這書上的話，為我、為以色列和猶大倖存的人求問耶和華；因為我們的祖先沒有遵守耶和華的話，沒有照這書上所記的一切去做，耶和華的烈怒就倒在我們身上。」
歷代志下 2 Chronicles 34:19-21
19 And when the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes. 20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the secretary, and Asaiah the king’s servant, saying, 21 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”
當耶和華的律法書在聖殿裡被發現並被大聲朗讀時，約西亞王撕裂了自己的衣服，因為他知道“我們的祖先沒有遵守耶和華的話，沒有照這書上所記的一切去做。 “
聖經應該像一面鏡子，暴露我們生活中的一切，讓我們意識到需要清潔的地方。 不幸的是，包括教會領袖在內的許多基督徒允許周圍的文化而不是聖經作為我們的鏡子，因此我們“撕毀聖經”改變上帝的真理以適應世界的形象。 這並不是什麼新鮮事：托馬斯·杰斐遜從他的聖經中剪除了福音書中描述的所有奇蹟，從而產生了他自己的聖經，稱為“杰斐遜聖經”。 今天，許多人正在做同樣的事情來製作他們自己的聖經。
當我們面對處理聖言和世界的挑戰時，約翰·斯托特 (John Stott) 給了我們這樣的責任：
使上帝不變的信息與這變化萬千的世界建立關係；拒絕為建立關係而犧牲真理；或為真理而放棄關係；定意要兼顧聖經的真理與時代的需要。
約西亞不僅因懊悔而撕裂衣服，還決心“在耶和華面前立約，要盡心盡性跟從耶和華，遵守他的誡命、法度、律例，實行這書上所記這約的話。” (34:31)
願我們將耶和華的話語作為我們堅定的標準，並知道，正如約翰斯托特所說，我們的工作是“按照神的話在世上生活”。
禱告：親愛的神，願祢的話撕裂我們的衣服，更撕裂我們的心！ 幫助我們遵循祢的話語，反駁我們的文化關於如何生活的說法。 奉耶穌的名，阿們。
When the LORD’s Book of the Law was found in the temple and was read aloud, King Josiah tore his clothing because he learned that “our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book.”
The Bible should be like a mirror to expose what is in our lives, to make us aware of the areas that need cleansing. Unfortunately, many Christians including church leaders allow the surrounding culture rather than the Bible to be our mirror, and consequently we “tear the Bible” to alter God’s teachings to fit the image of the world. This is nothing new: Thomas Jefferson literally cut out from his copy of the Bible all of the miracles described in the Gospels, resulting in his own bible called “The Jefferson Bible”. Today many are doing the same to produce their own bibles.
John Stott gives us this charge as we face the challenge of handling the Word and the world:
Be a person who struggles to relate God’s unchanging Word to our ever-changing world, who refuses to sacrifice truth to relevance to truth, but who resolves instead in equal measure to be faithful to Scripture and pertinent to today.
Josiah did not simply tear his clothes in remorse but furthermore determined to “make a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.” (34:31)
May we keep the Word of the LORD as our firm standard and know, as John Stott stated, that our job is “to live under the Word in the World.”
Prayer: Dear God, may Your Word tear our clothes and moreover our hearts! Help us to follow Your Word, countering what our culture says regarding how to live. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
