Bible

 

約書亞記 4

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1 國民盡都過了約但河,耶和華就對約書亞

2 你從民中要揀選十二個,每支派

3 吩咐他們:你們從這裡,從約但河中、祭司站定的地方,取十二塊石頭帶過去,放在你們今夜要住宿的地方。

4 於是,約書亞將他從以色列人中所預備的那十二個,每支派,都召了來。

5 對他們:你們下約但河中,過到耶和華─你們的約櫃前頭,按著以色列人十二支派的數目,每石頭扛在肩上。

6 這些石頭在你們中間可以作為證據。日後,你們的子孫問你們:這些石頭是甚麼意思?

7 你們就對他們:這是因為約但河的水在耶和華的約櫃前斷絕;約櫃過約但河的時候,約但河的水就斷絕了。這些石頭要作以色列人永遠紀念

8 以色列人就照約書亞所吩咐的,按著以色列人支派的數目,從約但河中取了十二塊石頭,都遵耶和華所吩咐約書亞的行了。他們把石頭帶過去,到他們所住宿的地方,就放在那裡。

9 約書亞另把十二塊石頭立在約但河中,在抬約櫃的祭司站立的地方;直到今日,那石頭還在那裡。

10 抬約櫃的祭司站在約但河中,等到耶和華曉諭約書亞吩咐百姓的事辦完了,是照摩西所吩咐約書亞的一切。於是百姓急速過去了。

11 眾百姓盡都過了河,耶和華的約櫃和祭司就在百姓面前過去。

12 流便人、迦得人、瑪拿西半支派的人都照摩西所吩咐他們的,帶著兵器在以色列人前頭過去。

13 約有四萬人都準備打仗,在耶和華面前過去,到耶利哥平原,等候上陣。

14 當那日,耶和華使約書亞在以色列眾人眼前尊大。在他平生的日子,百姓敬畏他,像從前敬畏摩西一樣。

15 耶和華曉諭約書亞

16 你吩咐抬法櫃的祭司從約但河裡上來。

17 約書亞就吩咐祭司說:你們從約但河裡上來。

18 耶和華約櫃的祭司從約但河裡上來,掌剛落旱地,約但河的水就流到原處,仍舊漲過兩岸。

19 初十日,百姓從約但河裡上來,就在吉甲,在耶利哥的東邊安營。

20 他們從約但河中取來的那十二塊石頭,約書亞就立在吉甲

21 以色列人:日後你們的子孫問他們的父親:這些石頭是甚麼意思?

22 你們就告訴他們以色列人曾走乾地過這約但河;

23 因為耶和華─你們的在你們前面使約但河的水乾了,等著你們過來,就如耶和華─你們的從前在我們前面使紅乾了,等著我們過來一樣,

24 要使上萬民都知道耶和華的大有能力,也要使你們永遠敬畏耶和華─你們的

   

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Moses

  

At the inmost level, the story of Moses -- like all of the Bible -- is about the Lord and his spiritual development during his human life as Jesus. Moses's role represents establishing forms of worship and to make the people obedient. As such, his primary representation is "the Law of God," the rules God gave the people of Israel to follow in order to represent spiritual things. This can be interpreted narrowly as the Ten Commandments, more broadly as the books of Moses, or most broadly as the entire Bible. Fittingly, his spiritual meaning is complex and important, and evolves throughout the course of his life. To understand it, it helps to understand the meaning of the events in which he was involved. At a more basic level, Moses's story deals with the establishment of the third church to serve as a container of knowledge of the Lord. The first such church -- the Most Ancient Church, represented by Adam and centered on love of the Lord -- had fallen prey to human pride and was destroyed. The second -- the Ancient Church, represented by Noah and the generations that followed him -- was centered on love of the neighbor, wisdom from the Lord and knowledge of the correspondences between natural and spiritual things. It fell prey to the pride of intelligence, however -- represented by the Tower of Babel -- and at the time of Moses was in scattered pockets that were sliding into idolatry. On an external level, of course, Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt through 40 years in the wilderness to the border of the homeland God had promised them. Along the way, he established and codified their religious system, and oversaw the creation of its most holy objects. Those rules and the forms of worship they created were given as containers for deeper ideas about the Lord, deeper truth, and at some points -- especially when he was first leading his people away from Egypt, a time before the rules had been written down -- Moses takes on the deeper representation of Divine Truth itself, truth from the Lord. At other times -- especially after Mount Sinai -- he has a less exalted meaning, representing the people of Israel themselves due to his position as their leader. Through Moses the Lord established a third church, one more external than its predecessors but one that could preserve knowledge of the Lord and could, through worship that represented spiritual things, make it possible for the Bible to be written and passed to future generations.