旧约 - 以斯拉记(Ezra)第8章

These are the family heads and those registered with them who came up with me from Babylon during the reign of King Artaxerxes:
of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom; of the descendants of Ithamar, Daniel; of the descendants of David, Hattush
of the descendants of Shecaniah; of the descendants of Parosh, Zechariah, and with him were registered 150 men;
of the descendants of Pahath-Moab, Eliehoenai son of Zerahiah, and with him 200 men;
of the descendants of Zattu, Shecaniah son of Jahaziel, and with him 300 men;
of the descendants of Adin, Ebed son of Jonathan, and with him 50 men;
of the descendants of Elam, Jeshaiah son of Athaliah, and with him 70 men;
of the descendants of Shephatiah, Zebadiah son of Michael, and with him 80 men;
of the descendants of Joab, Obadiah son of Jehiel, and with him 218 men;
of the descendants of Bani, Shelomith son of Josiphiah, and with him 160 men;
of the descendants of Bebai, Zechariah son of Bebai, and with him 28 men;
of the descendants of Azgad, Johanan son of Hakkatan, and with him 110 men;
of the descendants of Adonikam, the last ones, whose names were Eliphelet, Jeuel and Shemaiah, and with them 60 men;
of the descendants of Bigvai, Uthai and Zaccur, and with them 70 men.
I assembled them at the canal that flows toward Ahava, and we camped there three days. When I checked among the people and the priests, I found no Levites there.
So I summoned Eliezer, Ariel, Shemaiah, Elnathan, Jarib, Elnathan, Nathan, Zechariah and Meshullam, who were leaders, and Joiarib and Elnathan, who were men of learning,
and I sent them to Iddo, the leader in Casiphia. I told them what to say to Iddo and his kinsmen, the temple servants in Casiphia, so that they might bring attendants to us for the house of our God.
Because the gracious hand of our God was on us, they brought us Sherebiah, a capable man, from the descendants of Mahli son of Levi, the son of Israel, and Sherebiah's sons and brothers, 18 men;
and Hashabiah, together with Jeshaiah from the descendants of Merari, and his brothers and nephews, 20 men.
They also brought 220 of the temple servants--a body that David and the officials had established to assist the Levites. All were registered by name.
There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.
I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, "The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him."
So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.
Then I set apart twelve of the leading priests, together with Sherebiah, Hashabiah and ten of their brothers,
and I weighed out to them the offering of silver and gold and the articles that the king, his advisers, his officials and all Israel present there had donated for the house of our God.
I weighed out to them 650 talents of silver, silver articles weighing 100 talents, 100 talents of gold,
20 bowls of gold valued at 1,000 darics, and two fine articles of polished bronze, as precious as gold.
I said to them, "You as well as these articles are consecrated to the LORD. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.
Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel."
Then the priests and Levites received the silver and gold and sacred articles that had been weighed out to be taken to the house of our God in Jerusalem.
On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way.
So we arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested three days.
On the fourth day, in the house of our God, we weighed out the silver and gold and the sacred articles into the hands of Meremoth son of Uriah, the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with him, and so were the Levites Jozabad son of Jeshua and Noadiah son of Binnui.
Everything was accounted for by number and weight, and the entire weight was recorded at that time.
Then the exiles who had returned from captivity sacrificed burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven male lambs and, as a sin offering, twelve male goats. All this was a burnt offering to the LORD.
They also delivered the king's orders to the royal satraps and to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, who then gave assistance to the people and to the house of God.
以斯拉记第八章   第 8 章 

  拉 8:15> 没有利未人!但──他们不是神特别拣选的吗?我们呢?怎样回应神的呼召为祂作工? 

  8:15 由于等候利未人回应呼召,加入归回的行伍,以斯拉回国的进度被耽延。神曾号召利未人作特别事奉,可惜愿意付代价的人很少。神赐人各种才能,使我们为祂的国度尽忠(参罗 12:4-8 ),所以不要坐着等被招募,要主动找寻事奉的机会。不要踌躇畏缩,阻碍神的工作。“各人要照所得的恩赐彼此服事,作神百般恩赐的好管家。”(参彼前 4:10 ) 

  以斯拉和百姓回国的路线图 

  拉 8:21> 敬虔祷告,全然呈交──当前路受阻时,他们这样行了!我们行了没有? 

  8:21 以斯拉和百姓步行约一千四百多公里路,在历时四个月的旅程中,经历了重重险阻。他们祈求神看顾,保守一路上的平安。我们的人生旅程也可能经历以斯拉遇到的困难和危险,我们也需要求神引领、求祂保护。 

  拉 8:21-23> “兵马未动,粮草先行”,但以斯拉却是先禁食祷告,我是否凡事先求告神? 

  8:21-23 准备行装之前,以斯拉先做好灵性上的准备。百姓祈祷、禁食,表示倚靠神的保护、相信祂掌管一切并承认人自己的软弱,没有祂就不能成行。我们当凡事先求告神,不管前路如何,都要作好准备迎接未来。 

  拉 8:23> 禁食祷告──为什么这么重要?以斯拉他们不相信神会保守吗? 

  8:23 以斯拉知道神会保护祂的子民,但并没有视之为理所当然的。他知道祷告是蒙神赐福的途径,所以他和众人谦卑禁食祈祷,而神也应允了他们的祈求。禁食使他们谦卑,因为饥饿提醒人要倚靠神;禁食也使他们有更多时间祈祷和默想。 

  我们的祈祷常常会流于表面化,太过注重言词的修饰,但郑重的祷告需要人专心致志,它能彻底改变我们,使我们明白神的旨意。没有认真的祈祷,只会把神当作我们临渴掘井的工具。 

  拉 8:26> 啊!那些金子、银子多得很呢! 

  8:26 六百五十他连得的银子大约重 22 吨,不论是否有官兵护送,均是一批数目庞大的财宝。 

  拉 8:28-29> 交托和信任紧密相关,对神尚且不容易,对人啊,这…… 

  8:28-29 圣殿里每件器物都是奉献给神的圣物,要小心看管、分别为圣,留作特别用途。管家的职分就是要好好保护神交托的一切,要视一切由祂而来和为祂所用。神把什么交给了你,要你好好看守呢? 

  拉 8:36> 8:36 总督的官阶相当于省长。──《灵修版圣经注释》