旧约 - 士师记(Judges)第4章

After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim.
Because he had nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years, they cried to the LORD for help.
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time.
She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided.
She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor.
I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.'"
Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."
"Very well," Deborah said, "I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honor will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh,
where he summoned Zebulun and Naphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.
Now Heber the Kenite had left the other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses' brother-in-law, and pitched his tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.
When they told Sisera that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor,
Sisera gathered together his nine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River.
Then Deborah said to Barak, "Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?" So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by ten thousand men.
At Barak's advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot.
But Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All the troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.
Sisera, however, fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite.
Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Come, my lord, come right in. Don't be afraid." So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him.
"I'm thirsty," he said. "Please give me some water." She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.
"Stand in the doorway of the tent," he told her. "If someone comes by and asks you, 'Is anyone here?' say 'No.'"
But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.
Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera, and Jael went out to meet him. "Come," she said, "I will show you the man you're looking for." So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple--dead.
On that day God subdued Jabin, the Canaanite king, before the Israelites.
And the hand of the Israelites grew stronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyed him.
士师记第四章   第 4 章 

  士 4:1> 人犯罪得罪的是神,因此我最先要说的话是向祂忏悔…… 

  4:1 以色列人又做了耶和华眼中看为恶的事。我们犯罪既伤害自己又伤害别人,总括来说,一切的罪皆得罪神,因为犯罪就是不尊重祂的命令、轻视祂管辖我们的权柄。大卫认罪祷告时向神说:“我向你犯罪,惟独得罪了你;在你眼前行了这恶。”(参诗 51:4 )。认识罪的严重性,是除去生活中罪恶的第一步。 

  士 4:2-3> 叫耶宾的王不是被约书亚打败了吗?这里── 

  4:2-3 关于耶宾,我们所知不多。在许多年以前,约书亚曾打败了一个叫耶宾的王,并放火焚烧夏琐城,将之夷为平地(参书 11:1-11 )。这时可能夏琐城已被重建,也可能是耶宾想重建它。 

  这是士师时代惟一的一次,有仇敌从以色列本地兴起。以色列人未能将所有的迦南人赶出去,迦南人就重整军队,想卷土重来。假使当初他们顺服神把迦南人逐出那地,就不会发生这场战争。 

  士 4:2-3> 倚仗先进武器欺压别人,这民族注定要败亡── 

  4:2-3 铁车是古代的坦克,用铁或木头制造,是当时最厉害的武器,由 一两 头马拉着前行;有些铁车甚至有锋利的刀从轮下伸出,用以杀戮步兵。迦南人有九百辆铁车,以色列人无法打败这支强大的军队。耶宾和西西拉横行无忌地欺压以色列人,直到一位对神忠心的女先知底波拉兴起求告神,才把他们打败。 

  士师的职责 

  士 4:3> 你是要到走头无路时才寻求神的帮助么?为什么不早早呼求神? 

  4:3 以色列人受了二十年的欺压,忍无可忍,终于求神帮助。我们面对困境或陷入挣扎时,应当先求神拯救,以色列人选择自行其是,自然弄得一团糟。我们也常犯同样错误。不要神帮助,想自行管理一生,就会弄得焦头烂额;对比之下,如果我们每天与神相交,就不会为自己带来痛苦,这是以色列人一直没有学到的功课。遇到困境,神要我们先来到祂面前,寻求祂的力量与指引。 

  士 4:4> 在当时的社会习俗下,神竟拣选女性作士师,这对我们有何指导意义? 

  4:4 圣经记载好几个妇女曾成为民族领袖,底波拉是其中突出的一位;神拣选她领导以色列人,她显然是最胜任的。神可以从男女老幼之中,随意拣选人来领导祂的百姓,所以对于神拣选来领导你的人,不要怀有成见。 

  士 4:6-8> 接受任务时讨价还价,说到底是什么问题? 

  4:6-8 巴拉是胆怯,还是真需要别人的支持呢?我们对他的性格不清楚,但是底波拉毅然遵神吩咐去行,却显出伟大领袖的特质。底波拉告诉巴拉,神要与他一同争战,不过他觉得这应许并不够,还是要底波拉与他同去。这显出他内心倚靠人的力量多过相信神的应许。真正有信心的人,神一吩咐就挺身而出,即使要他独力去做也不怕。 

  士 4:9> 从这件事上可看到底波拉的哪些特质? 

  4:9 底波拉是如何得到别人尊敬的?她不但领导全民作战,更值得注意的是,她在战后以诗歌激励百姓为神而活。她的行事为人吸引以色列人团结一致,甚至连军队的统帅巴拉都尊敬她;她也是女先知,主要任务是鼓励百姓顺服神。负责领导之人,不可不知被领导者的属灵情况,真正的领袖关心他所领导的群众,而不只是事业的成就。 

  4:11 希百是雅亿的丈夫( 4:17 ),他是基尼族人,他们虽然早已与以色列联盟,但可能因为耶宾的军队强大之故,他决定倒向耶宾。可能是希百告诉西西拉,以色列军队在他泊山附近安营( 4:12 ;请参看地图),希百本人虽甘愿与耶宾和他的军队同祸福,他的妻子雅亿则有不同的选择( 4:21 )。 

  以色列人打败耶宾 

  士 4:18-21> 西西拉为何如此放心睡去?雅亿的举动是否出乎意料? 

  4:18-21 雅亿同意西西拉进入她帐棚中躲藏,他心中一定极其高兴。第一,因为雅亿是希百的妻子,而希百是忠于他军队之人(参看上段经文注释),故他的妻子一定可靠。第二,按当时的风俗习惯,从来不准男人进入妇女的帐棚,所以不会有人想到去那里搜索他。 

  尽管雅亿的丈夫希百忠于西西拉的军队,她本人则不同。那时由妇女担任支搭帐棚的工作,所以在西西拉睡着的时候,雅亿轻而易举地把帐棚的橛子钉入他的头中。底波拉的预言就这样应验了:打败西西拉的尊荣,要归于一位又英勇又足智多谋的妇人,却不归于巴拉( 4:9 )。──《灵修版圣经注释》