旧约 - 约珥书(Joel)第1章

The word of the LORD that came to Joel son of Pethuel.
Hear this, you elders; listen, all who live in the land. Has anything like this ever happened in your days or in the days of your forefathers?
Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.
What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.
Wake up, you drunkards, and weep! Wail, all you drinkers of wine; wail because of the new wine, for it has been snatched from your lips.
A nation has invaded my land, powerful and without number; it has the teeth of a lion, the fangs of a lioness.
It has laid waste my vines and ruined my fig trees. It has stripped off their bark and thrown it away, leaving their branches white.
Mourn like a virgin in sackcloth grieving for the husband of her youth.
Grain offerings and drink offerings are cut off from the house of the LORD. The priests are in mourning, those who minister before the LORD.
The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails.
Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed.
The vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree--all the trees of the field--are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.
Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.
Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD.
Alas for that day! For the day of the LORD is near; it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes--joy and gladness from the house of our God?
The seeds are shriveled beneath the clods. The storehouses are in ruins, the granaries have been broken down, for the grain has dried up.
How the cattle moan! The herds mill about because they have no pasture; even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
To you, O LORD, I call, for fire has devoured the open pastures and flames have burned up all the trees of the field.
Even the wild animals pant for you; the streams of water have dried up and fire has devoured the open pastures.
约珥书第一章   第 1 章 

  约珥 

  珥 1:1> 先知约珥的信息是…… 

  1:1 约珥是南国犹大的先知。约珥书中并没有提到约珥是哪个时期的人,但一般认为,他是在约阿施作王期间(公元前 835-796 年)作先知的。无论如何,约珥书的写作日期是次要的,最重要的还是其恒久不变的信息:罪必定招致神的审判,但神的怜恤也必定随着祂的公义而来。 

  珥 1:3> 教导子女是父母的责任,汲取长辈的教训是晚辈的福分。你的想法是…… 

  1:3 神劝喻作父母的,要把自己民族的历史传与后代,并要他们将学到的教训,反覆讲给子孙听。对年轻一代而言,长辈的生活经历是最宝贵的财富,它能帮助他们重走前辈的成功之路并避免重蹈失败的覆辙。 

  珥 1:4> 蝗虫灾害,不是对付埃及人的吗?怎么…… 

  1:4 蝗虫造成的灾害,简直就象遭入侵军队蹂躏一样可怕。它们集结成群,数不胜数( 1:6 ),在距地数公尺以上飞过时,阳光都被遮住变成黑暗( 2:2 )。当它们停在地上,便会完全掩盖所经之地( 2:9 ),并且吃尽所有的草木( 1:7-12 )。 

  珥 1:4> 蝗灾真的临到犹大了吗? 

  1:4 约珥详尽的描述,让不少人相信他指的是一场已经发生、或将要发生的蝗虫灾害;另一派意见则认为蝗虫象征入侵的敌军。其实二者皆是可以预知的。蝗虫代表毁坏,约珥意在指出神要因人的罪施刑罚,他称这审判为“耶和华的日子”。 

  珥 1:5> 要清醒,且要哭泣。为什么要如此?我今天生活挺好的…… 

  1:5 百姓的身体与道德意志都已衰颓,他们对罪已没有了知觉。约珥催促他们要从得意忘形中觉醒,并且趁早承认己过;否则,一切都要被毁坏,就连使他们醉倒的葡萄也必遭毁。今天,安逸丰富的生活可使我们丧失警觉性,故此,我们切不可让物质的丰裕阻碍我们灵命的更新。 

  珥 1:9> 只剩得大地白茫茫真干净…… 

  1:9 因为全地被毁,已无上好的面粉及酒作素祭和奠祭。(有关此两祭的详情,请参利 1-2 章)。 

  珥 1:13> 1:13 麻布是丧服;在此是悔改的象征。 

  珥 1:14> 禁食可不是为了减肥,而是── 

  1:14 禁食的日子,是百姓不吃东西,以谦卑、为罪忧伤的心灵迫切祷告来寻求神的一段时间。旧约时代,百姓会在灾难临到时禁食,好使他们能定睛仰望神,并以此显示他们内心的改变,及对神真正的委身(参士 20:26 ;王上 21:27 ;拉 8:21 ;拿 3:5 )。严肃会是个公开的宗教活动,让所有人都能在神面前悔改,祈求神的怜恤。 

  珥 1:15> 耶和华的日子,是在过去、现在,还是将来? 

  1:15 “耶和华的日子”是旧约常见的句子,尤见于约珥书( 2:1 , 11 , 31 ; 3:14 ),均是指一些特别事件发生的日子。这些事件可能是眼前的事,如蝗虫之灾;也可能是将要发生的事,如耶路撒冷被毁或敌国被打败;还可能是末后的事,如历史终结时,神要击败一切邪恶的势力。 

  即使耶和华的日子是指现在发生的事,也实在预示着末日。历史终结之时,将有两件事情发生:( 1 )一切罪恶要受最后的审判;( 2 )一切忠贞的信徒要得最后的奖赏。公义与真理必然得胜,但在此之前却必多有苦难(参亚 14:1-3 )。我们信靠神,这末日就为我们带来希望,因为到那日,所有坚信神的人必要相聚,直到永远。 

  珥 1:15-19> 耶和华的日子,我怕吗?其实,打雷我都怕…… 

  1:15-19 没有神,毁灭是必然的结局。那些还没有接受神为个人救主、领受祂的慈爱和赦免的人,将要在神面前接受审判。因此,当趁我们还有机会的时候,寻求神的爱和怜恤( 2:32 )。──《灵修版圣经注释》