申一35~39　这恶世代的人，连一个也不得见我起誓要赐给你们列祖的美地，唯有耶孚尼的儿子迦勒……〔和〕嫩的儿子约书亚……〔以及〕你们的孩子，就是你们所说要被掳掠的，……必进入那地。我要将那地赐给他们，他们必得为业。

　　我们经过的困难越多，我们对主就越有用。……神所拣选并救赎的人需要历经各种阻挠。历经这一切事之后，神的百姓就预备好去据有神所应许之地。

　　除了约书亚和迦勒以外，那些够资格并预备好去据有地的人，都是年轻的一代。他们是第二代。年长的一代，第一代的人，历经许多事，学了许多功课。然而，他们不够资格进入那地。第一代所学的功课，必然有一部分传承给第二代。……年轻的一代从出生就被摆在一个地位，承受他们家族的传统，并他们父母所经历的一切（民数记生命读经，四六四页）。

　　Deut. 1:35-39 Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall by any means see the good land which I have sworn to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh…[and] Joshua the son of Nun….Moreover your little ones, who you said would be prey, and your children…shall enter there. And to them I will give it, and they will possess it.

　　The more difficulties we pass through, the more useful we will be to the Lord….God's chosen and redeemed people needed to undergo different kinds of frustrations. As a result of all these things, God's people were ready to take possession of the God-promised land.

　　With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, those who were qualified and ready to take possession of the land were younger ones. They were of the second generation. The older ones, those of the first generation, had passed through many things and had learned many lessons. However, they were not qualified to enter into the land. The lessons learned by the first generation surely became part of the heritage passed on to the second generation….By their birth the younger ones were put into a position to inherit the tradition of their family and all that their parents had experienced. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 367-368)

　　我信父老们曾对他们的孩子说过自己在埃及、从埃及出来以及在旷野中的经历。毫无疑问，父老们必定说到他们在埃及为奴时曾受到何等残酷的对待；说到神如何在祂的怜悯里，打发摩西将他们从辖制下解救出来；说到他们怎样在次月的第十四日守逾越节；说到他们如何出埃及、过红海。父老们也必定向孩子们解释过，他们进入旷野，没有食物，但神用吗哪喂养他们，并且用流自被击打之磐石的水供应他们。他们也可能解释过，虽然他们后来感觉吗哪可厌，但他们仍珍赏它。……不仅如此，年轻的一代也得以认识摩西，晓得他给以色列人极大的帮助。摩西没有被准许进入美地，但他对神的子民贡献了许多积极的因素。

　　第二代不像第一代经历那么多，但他们得着了第一代所经历的益处。我相信年长的一代把他们所经历、所享受、所遭遇的一切都告诉了年轻的一代。这些话乃是对第二代的培育或建造的一部分。第一代所经历的不是徒然的，因为这些都传给了第二代。年长一代所经历的，实际上不是为他们自己，乃是为建造年轻的一代效力。所以，神能够从第二代中预备六十几万人，这一班人有丰富的承受和刚强的背景，够资格组成军队，与神一同并为着神争战。

　　今天在主的恢复中，原则也是一样。主的恢复在美国已经有二十七年，也经过了许多事。你认为这一切事都是徒然的么？绝不是徒然的。这些事传给主恢复中年轻的一代，对于建造他们，并预备他们与神一同并为着神争战，非常有果效。主恢复中年轻的一代承受了丰富的产业。因着这产业传给年轻的一代，甚至构成到他们里面，我充分地确信，当进一步的试验来到时，会有非常正面的结果。……在旧约里，第二代从第一代所领受的，使年轻的一代预备好去据有美地（民数记生命读经，四六四至四六五页）。

　　参读：民数记生命读经，第五十二篇。

　　I believe that the fathers spoke to their children about their experiences in Egypt, in the exodus from Egypt, and in the wilderness. No doubt, the fathers spoke about how they were cruelly treated as slaves in Egypt, about how God in His mercy sent Moses to deliver them from bondage, about how they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month, and about how they marched out of Egypt and crossed the Red Sea. The fathers must have also explained to their children that they entered into the wilderness without food but that God fed them with manna and supplied them with water from the smitten rock. They might have also explained that although they eventually felt that manna was loathsome, they nevertheless appreciated it….Furthermore, the younger ones learned about Moses and about the great help he rendered to the people of Israel. Moses himself was not allowed to enter into the good land, but he contributed many constructive factors to God's people.

　　The second generation did not pass through as much as the first generation did, but they received the benefit of what the first generation experienced. I believe that the older generation told the younger generation about all they experienced, enjoyed, and suffered. This speaking was part of the raising up, or the building up, of the second generation. What the first generation experienced was not experienced in vain, for it was passed on to the second generation. What the older ones experienced actually was not effective for them, but it was very effective in building up the younger ones. Therefore, God was able to prepare from the second generation more than six hundred thousand men with a rich inheritance and strong background who were qualified to be formed into an army to fight with Him and for Him.

　　The principle is the same with us in the Lord's recovery today. The recovery has been in the United States for twenty-seven years and has passed through many things. Do you think that all these things have been in vain? They certainly have not been in vain. These things are being passed on to the younger ones in the Lord's recovery and will be very effective in building them up and preparing them to fight with God and for God. The younger ones in the Lord's recovery have a rich inheritance. Because this inheritance is being passed on to the younger ones and even being constituted into them, I have the full assurance that when a further testing comes, there will be a very positive result.

　　In the Old Testament, what the second generation received from the first generation made the younger ones ready to take possession of the good land. (Life-study of Numbers, pp. 368-369)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Numbers, msg. 52