旧约 - 以斯拉记(Ezra)第8章

These are now the chief of their fathers, and this is the genealogy of them that went up with me from Babylon, in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.
Of the sons of Phinehas; Gershom: of the sons of Ithamar; Daniel: of the sons of David; Hattush.
Of the sons of Shechaniah, of the sons of Pharosh; Zechariah: and with him were reckoned by genealogy of the males an hundred and fifty.
Of the sons of Pahathmoab; Elihoenai the son of Zerahiah, and with him two hundred males.
Of the sons of Shechaniah; the son of Jahaziel, and with him three hundred males.
Of the sons also of Adin; Ebed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty males.
And of the sons of Elam; Jeshaiah the son of Athaliah, and with him seventy males.
And of the sons of Shephatiah; Zebadiah the son of Michael, and with him fourscore males.
Of the sons of Joab; Obadiah the son of Jehiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen males.
And of the sons of Shelomith; the son of Josiphiah, and with him an hundred and threescore males.
And of the sons of Bebai; Zechariah the son of Bebai, and with him twenty and eight males.
And of the sons of Azgad; Johanan the son of Hakkatan, and with him an hundred and ten males.
And of the last sons of Adonikam, whose names are these, Eliphelet, Jeiel, and Shemaiah, and with them threescore males.
Of the sons also of Bigvai; Uthai, and Zabbud, and with them seventy males.
And I gathered them together to the river that runneth to Ahava; and there abode we in tents three days: and I viewed the people, and the priests, and found there none of the sons of Levi.
Then sent I for Eliezer, for Ariel, for Shemaiah, and for Elnathan, and for Jarib, and for Elnathan, and for Nathan, and for Zechariah, and for Meshullam, chief men; also for Joiarib, and for Elnathan, men of understanding.
And I sent them with commandment unto Iddo the chief at the place Casiphia, and I told them what they should say unto Iddo, and to his brethren the Nethinims, at the place Casiphia, that they should bring unto us ministers for the house of our God.
And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;
And Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brethren and their sons, twenty;
Also of the Nethinims, whom David and the princes had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinims: all of them were expressed by name.
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.
Then I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them,
And weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, even the offering of the house of our God, which the king, and his counsellors, and his lords, and all Israel there present, had offered:
I even weighed unto their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and silver vessels an hundred talents, and of gold an hundred talents;
Also twenty basons of gold, of a thousand drams; and two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold.
And I said unto them, Ye are holy unto the LORD; the vessels are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering unto the LORD God of your fathers.
Watch ye, and keep them, until ye weigh them before the chief of the priests and the Levites, and chief of the fathers of Israel, at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the LORD.
So took the priests and the Levites the weight of the silver, and the gold, and the vessels, to bring them to Jerusalem unto the house of our God.
Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go unto Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.
And we came to Jerusalem, and abode there three days.
Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites;
By number and by weight of every one: and all the weight was written at that time.
Also the children of those that had been carried away, which were come out of the captivity, offered burnt offerings unto the God of Israel, twelve bullocks for all Israel, ninety and six rams, seventy and seven lambs, twelve he goats for a sin offering: all this was a burnt offering unto the LORD.
And they delivered the king's commissions unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors on this side the river: and they furthered the people, and 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》