旧约 - 出埃及记(Exodus)第23章

"Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.
"Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.
"If you come across your enemy's ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him.
If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it.
"Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
"Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
"Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.
"For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops,
but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and your olive grove.
"Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed.
"Be careful to do everything I have said to you. Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips.
"Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
"Celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in that month you came out of Egypt. "No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
"Celebrate the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the crops you sow in your field. "Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.
"Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign LORD.
"Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. "The fat of my festival offerings must not be kept until morning.
"Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
"See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.
Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him.
If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.
My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out.
Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces.
Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you,
and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
"I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run.
I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.
But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you.
Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
"I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you.
Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods.
Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you."
出埃及记第廿三章   第 23 章 

  出 23:1> 神严禁人制造或散布谣言。我能勒住自己的舌头吗? 

  23:1 闲言闲语、毁谤中伤、作假见证,既破坏家庭,妨碍合作,还会搅乱公平的制度;说长道短,会制造纷争。即使谎言不是由你发出,但如果你把它告诉别人,你就难辞其咎。所以不要传播谣言,让它就止于你处,不再流传。(参箴 26:20 ) 

  出 23:2-3> 人心都是偏的,小小的不公平也可以接受吧──不可以?这…… 

  23:2-3 人会偏袒富人,失去公正,这两节经文却叫人不可偏袒穷人,而造成不平。对于贫富一视同仁,才算是不偏不倚。无论给穷人或富人特权,都有违公正,所以不要因群众的压力,影响你对某人的判断。我们要按照人人平等的原则行事,并公正地作出判断。 

  出 23:4-5> 我怎样对待与己有隔阂的人或仇人呢? 

  23:4-5 世人有冤必报,才算公道;叫人宽大仇敌,是一种新的主张,令人惊讶。神不单叫人认识这种想法,更立为律例。人如果看见仇敌的牲畜走迷了路,也必须把它牵回,即使失主可能利用牲畜来加害自己,也要交给他。在路加福音好撒马利亚人的比喻中,主耶稣明确教导我们,要帮助人(参路 10:30-37 )就连仇敌都不例外。我们以公义来对待朋友,尚且不容易,若能用神公平而慈爱的律法对待仇敌,必然显出我们与世人是何等的不同。 

  出 23:20-21> 神要差遣“使者”,走在以色列人前面,这一位使者是谁? 

  23:20-21 最可能就是神自己。神以使者的形像显现,和祂在云柱与火柱之中显现( 13:21-22 )完全一样。“祂是奉我名来的”,这是指在这位使者身上,显明神的大能与本领。 

  出 23:24-25> “不可效法他们的行为……”我所看重的是什么? 

  23:24-25 人很容易受生活习俗所感染,所谓“近朱者赤,近墨者黑”。神叫以色列人要小心选择日常接触的人,以免他们的信仰与生活导致百姓偏离神。我们也活在价值观与人生观迥异的人群之中,神要我们在生活中彰显祂,基督徒的生活方式与世人的标准不同,矛盾在所难免。我们的生活,应先看重“顺服神”而不是“得世人称赞与喜悦”。 

  出 23:29> 神不是应许把迦南地赐给以色列人吗?怎么?又不急于赶出迦南人? 

  23:29 神解决问题不一定是即时的,延迟并非意味祂真的不采取行动。神未把以色列人的仇敌即时赶走,祂要以色列人继续与祂同心,坚持到底,最后成功必然会逐步来到。 

  出 23:32-33> 神不断叫以色列人远避荒淫的宗教与假神。原因何在? 

  23:32-33 以色列人在埃及的时候,到处都是偶像与行巫术的;不过,离开那里并不表示他们就得以免受异教风俗的影响。在迦南地也会受偶像的感染。神知道祂的子民需要耳提面命,所以一再强调要防止异教风俗。 

  圣经中的律法和世俗社会的法律──《灵修版圣经注释》