[今日經文 Today’s Reading: 創世記 Genesis 27-29]
12 他做夢，看哪，一個梯子立在地上，梯子的頂端直伸到天；看哪， 神的使者在梯子上，上去下來。 13 看哪，耶和華站在梯子上面，說：「我是耶和華—你祖父亞伯拉罕的 神，以撒的 神。你現在躺臥之地，我要將它賜給你和你的後裔。…」
創世記 genesis 28:12-13
12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. …”
上帝沒有孫子。 每一代人都需要認識神是祂的神。 神向雅各顯現說：「我是耶和華，你祖亞伯拉罕的神，也是以撒的神。」儘管雅各欺騙了他的兄弟以掃，使他失去了父親以撒的祝福，但因著神與亞伯拉罕立的約，上帝仍然向雅各伸出援手。
神的應許是給後代的，但每一代人都需要宣稱自己對神的信仰。 雅各不僅開啟了前往叔叔家的新的地上旅程，也開啟了尋找神的信仰之旅。 於是他「許願說：『神若與我同在，在我所行的路上保佑我，給我食物吃，衣服穿， 21 使我平平安安回到我父親的家，我就必以耶和華為我的 神。 …」（創 28:20-21）儘管雅各對他的父親進行了欺騙，但在雅各離開家之前，以撒仍然祝福雅各。
救贖是上帝的約臨到一代又一代人。每一代人都有責任將救贖的好消息傳遞給他們的世代和後代，以便祂的救贖能夠在地上被建立。
~重新連結世代 Reconnecting the Generations
願我們祝福我們的孩子繼續能領受神的應許！ 願我們的孩子們將他們對上帝的信仰視為自己的信仰，讓他們父親的上帝成為他們自己的上帝，因為上帝是世世代代的神，而不僅僅是一代人的神。
禱告：親愛的上帝，願祢幫助我們的孩子，讓祢成為他們的神！ 讓他們能親自尋求祢並經歷祢。 奉耶穌的名，阿們！
God has no grandchildren. Every generation needs to know God as his God. God revealed Himself to Jacob with these words: “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. ” Even though Jacob had cheated his brother Esau out of their father Isaac’s blessing, for the sake of the covenant He had made with Abraham, God still reached out to Jacob.
God’s promise is for the generations to follow, yet the member of each generation needs to claim his/her own faith in God. Jacob not only started a new physical journey to go to his uncle’s home, but he also started his journey of faith to find God. So he “made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God…” (Gen. 28:20-21) And Isaac still blessed Jacob before Jacob left home despite the deceitfulness with which Jacob had acted with his father.
Salvation is about God’s covenant applied to generation after generation. Each generation is responsible for passing on the good news of redemption to their generation and the generations coming after them so that his salvation is established on earth.
~ Reconnecting the Generations by Daphne Kirk
May we bless our children to continue to receive the promises of God! May our children claim their faith in God as their own, to make their father’s God their own God, for God is the God of Generations, not of only one generation.
Prayer: Dear God, may You help our children to make You their God! Let them seek You and experience You personally. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
希伯來語單字 Hebrew words:
- אָב ‘āḇ (n) = father 父親
- דּוֹר dôr (n) = generation; period 世代
- זֶרַע zere (n) = offspring 後裔
- [] אֶרֶץ ‘eh’-rets (n) = land; earth 地
